USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 11
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assisted his stepmother in carrying on the farm and the bringing up of the younger chil- dren. He early learned the trade of shoemak- ing, a business then carried on in small shops, and later manufactured them on his own ac- count. Children: I. Sarah Joanna, born August 31, 1823, died November 19, 1823. 2. Mary, born March 19, 1825; married, Novem- ber 27, 1845, Josiah B. Gleason; resided at Lexington. 3. Sarah, born February 24, 1827, married, January 1, 1851, Royal T. Bryant, resided at Lexington. 4. Edward Amos, born September 23, 1828; married, Oc- tober 13, 1860, Almira Chamberlain, of Bed- ford; children: Walter Chamberlain; Carrie Louise, born August 4, 1864 ; Lydia Cornelia, born November 29, 1867; Almira Florence, born July 23, 1869; Abbie Gertrude, born Oc- tober 6, 1871 ; Mary Belle, born May 23, 1875 ; and Edwin Chamberlain. 5. William Green, born December 1, 1834; married, June II, 1868, Clara A. Smith, of Bedford; children : Edith Smith, born October 5, 1872; Clara Howard, born November 25, 1877 ; Lilla, born May 7, 1880. 6. Abby Louisa, born June 15, 1839. 7. Frederick Alonzo, born January 13, 184I, see forward.
(VII) Frederick Alonzo Hartwell, son of Amos Hartwell (6), born at Bedford, June 13, 1841 ; married, at Woburn, November 23, 1865, Lavinia Augusta Nichols, born at Wo- burn, December 24, 1843, daughter of Sylves- ter and Lavinia (Munroe) Nichols. Mr. Hartwell was educated in the public schools of his native town, supplemented by a course at the Warren Academy, Woburn. After completing his education he entered the em- ploy of E. O. Soles, provision dealer, Woburn, where he remained for two years, then he went to Medford and worked for James Woodbridge, provision dealer, and stayed there for two years, and then returned to Wo- burn and found employment with Alexander Ellis, grocer, where he was for another two years. Later he went into the employment of Hiram Whitford, of Woburn, dealer in gro- ceries and provisions, and in 1864 he bought out the business of Mr. Whitford and carried on a successful business until December 5, 1902, when he sold out to Wallace M. Bul- finch. Mr. Hartwell is the owner of the build- ing bearing his name, on Main street, opposite the common, Woburn, and owns also a fine residence on Pleasant street, Woburn. He has dealt largely in real estate, and has accumu- lated a good property. He is a member of the Woburn Congregational church, and is a member of its parish committee. He is a
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member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Pilgrim Fathers. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Hartwell en- joys the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, is genial, and well liked by all. Chil- dren: I. Fanny Taylor, born August 13, 1868, married, April 28, 1892, Alvah Chester Cotton, of Woburn ; children : Dorothea Hart- well (Cotton), born May 23, 1893; Gertrude Florence (Cotton), born December 21, 1894. 2. Harry Gardner, born August 24, 1871, died November 16, 1900; married, June 24, 1894, May A. Allen, of Worcester, she died June 19, 1902 ; one child, Beatrice, born January 25, 1899. 3. Herbert Cabot, born March 18, 1873 ; married, May 17, 1896, Dora T. Ronco, of Woburn, child: Ruth. 4. William Winn, born September 1, 1874; married, June 15, 1899, Jennie Childs. 5. Florence May, born May 21, 1876; married, June 15, 1899, Lewis Waldron Patten, of Woburn; children: Win- throp Hartwell ( Patten), born December 23, 1899; Willis Waldron (Patten), born August 20, 1901; Richard Chamberlain (Patten) born November 16, 1903; Helen Elizabeth (Pat- ten), born March 23, 1906. 6. Ernest Nich- ols, born February 25, 1878. 7. Edward Amos, born September 17, 1879; married, April 19, 1906, Minnie La Bay; one child : Edward Amos, Jr., born March 9, 1907.
SKINNER Thomas Skinner, the immi- grant ancestor, was born in England. He bought an es- tate in Boston in 1673 near Exchange street. He was a baker by trade. Little is known of him. From the names and other indications his descendants in Boston have the identical names of the Skinner family of Windsor and Hartford, Connecticut, and Malden, Massa- chusetts. It seems likely that he must have been closely related.
John Skinner, of Hartford, Connecticut, was one of the Hooker party and of the origi- nal proprietors. He came, it is said, from Braintree, England, and in his family there is a tradition that after the Revolution in Eng- land three Skinner brothers, one of whom had been high sheriff, fled to America, one of whom settled in Connecticut, another in Ver- mont and the third in Maryland. John Skin- ner married Mary Loomis, who married ( sec- ond) Owen Tudor.
Sometime between the years 1649 and 1652 there came from Chichester, England, Thomas Skinner who settled in Malden, Massachusetts, with his wife and two sons-Thomas, born in
Subdeanerie Parish, July 25, 1645, settled in Colchester, Connecticut, and Abraham, born September 29, 1649, ancestor of the Malden family and the Woodstock family.
We find in Boston, sons, no doubt of Thomas. of Boston : I. Thomas, Jr., freeman, 1690 ; mar- ried Mary and Elizabeth -; chil- dren : i. Rebecca, born January 22, 1677; ii. John, April 2, 1679; iii. Sarah, September 18,. 1687. 2. John, mentioned below. 3. Chris- topher, married Agnes -; and had Grace,. born October 30, 1670. 4. Francis, com- manded fort at Pemaquid, May, 1683 (Regis- ter XI, page 33) ; married Mary and. had Sarah, born, November 24, 1670. Richard. Skinner, of Marblehead, who married, No- vember 30, 1682, Alice Woods, was also a. relative of this family.
"(II) John Skinner, mentioned above, was. born about 1645; married Elizabeth
Children, born in Boston: I. Mary, born Oc- tober 26, 1666. 2. John, born January 22,. 1668, died young. 3. Joseph, born January 8, 1669, mentioned below. 4. Elizabeth, born. October 6, 1672. 5. Sarah, born January 23, .. 1676 (mother was Sarah). 6. John, born. October 13, 1679. 7. (?) William.
(III) Joseph Skinner, son of John Skinner (2), was born in Boston, January 8, 1669, married Elizabeth Children, born in Boston: I. Elizabeth, born April 27, 1696. 2. Joseph, Jr., born July 26, 1697. 3. John, born October 3, 1698, mentioned below. 4. Joseph,. Jr., born April 9, 1701. 5. Sarah, born Octo- ber I, 1703.
(IV) John Skinner, son of Joseph Skinner- (3), was born in Boston, October 3, 1698 .. He married Sarah He was of the grantees of the town of Alstead, New Hamp- shire, all being residents of Boston, fifty-one in number, in 1750. The town was not settled till 1763 and he probably did not go to the town himself. Children: I. Sarah, born in Boston, May 16, 1725. 2. Abner, mentioned: below. Probably others.
(V) Abner Skinner, probably son of John Skinner (4), was born about 1740. He set -. tled in Surrey, New Hampshire, during the Revolution. He was second lieutenant in Captain Elisha Mack's company, Colonel Ash- ley's regiment, in June, 1777, sent to reinforce the Continental army at Ticonderoga. Lieu- tenant Skinner was living in Surrey in 1790. His only son surviving: I. Jonathan, born: about 1765, mentioned below.
(VI) Jonathan Skinner, son of Abner Skinner (5), was born about 1765. He set- tled in Alstead, New Hampshire, and died
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there. He was a well-to-do farmer and a prominent citizen. He married Thankful Lyons and had five children, among whom was Abner, born in 1791, mentioned below.
(VII) Abner Skinner, son of Jonathan Skinner (6), was born in Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1791, and died in Lowell in 1861. He was educated in the common schools and then entered a mill at Strafford, Vermont, to learn the business of woolen manufacture. After a time he engaged in this cess. He gave up his mill to take a responsible business on his own account with much suc- position in the Middlesex Mills of Lowell, and continued in this position until he retired shortly before his death. In politics Mr. Skin- ner was a Republican; in religion a Spiritual- ist. He had the esteem and respect of all who knew him. He was upright, honorable and of sterling character. He married in Vermont, Hannah Young, a native of New Hampshire, daughter of Rev. Joab Young, the first minis- ter at Strafford, Vermont. Children of Abner and Hannah Skinner : I. Adelbert, born 1825, died unmarried. 2. Susan A., born 1827, died unmarried. 3. Arabella, born 1829, lives in the home of her father, Merrimack street, Lowell, unmarried, and is well known for her piety and benevolence.
Samuel Sweetser, son of SWEETSER Michael Sweetser, was born about the year 1732. He settled in Saugus, Massachusetts, but later in life removed to South Reading, now Wake- field, where he died in 1818 at the age of eighty-six years. He lived during his later years in South Reading with his daughter Lydia in the house now or lately owned by James J. Mansfield. This house was pre- viously occupied by Daniel Sweetser, his son He had a large family. Among his children were: John, mentioned below ; Daniel, Moses, Ezra, Aaron, Elias, Lydia, never married ; lived in the Sweetser homestead after her father's death.
John Sweetser, son of Samuel Sweetser, was born in Saugus, Massachusetts, about the year 1760, and died at South Reading in 1847. He resided on the place lately occupied by Rev. R. W. Cushman. He was a shoe manufacturer and later in life a farmer. In both occupations he showed himself enterpris- ing and successful. He was a man of excep- tional intelligence, punctuality and probity. He was an earnest patriot and a soldier in the Revolution. He resided in later life on the
farm owned and occupied later by his son-in- law, Rev. Dana Clayes. Mr. Sweetser mar- ried (first), 1782, Elizabeth Green, daughter of William and Susanna Green. He married. (second), 1817, Rebecca Hawkes, of Lancas- ter, daughter of Adam Hawkes, of Saugus. His widow died in 1866, aged one hundred years, lacking only two months. Children of John and Elizabeth Sweetser: I. John, born. 1785, married, 1807, Betsey Bryant, of Stone- ham, and settled in Lynnfield. 2. Betsey, born 1789, married, 1811, Daniel Green, of Stoneham. 3. Rebecca, born 1796, married, 1822, Rev. Dana Clayes, of Plainfield, New Hampshire, and Wakefield, Massachusetts. 4. Hiram, born 1802, mentioned below.
Hiram Sweetser, son of John Sweetser, was born in South Reading, on March 31, 1802. He settled in his native place and was a prosperous farmer, a man of good ability and great industry. He was an active citizen, often honored with offices of trust and responsibility by his townsmen, and promi- nent in the church. He died September 8, 1874. He married Elizabeth Healey, of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, the daugh- ter of Levi and Abigail (Dodge) Healey. She was born in 1804, and died in 1898. Children :: I. Sarah Elizabeth, born August 12, 1827, married (first) Benjamin Walton; married (second) Manning W. Sullivan. 2. George H., born September 15, 1830, mentioned be- low. 3. Edward Healey, born November I, 1844, was a soldier in the Civil war ; married, April II, 1871, Betty Blucher; children : Rosalin, died young; Della, born December 30, 1874, married and has three children.
George Hiram Sweetser, eldest son of Hiram Sweetser, was born at South Read- ing, September 15, 1830. He attended the public schools of his native town, and was one- of the first to graduate in the high school there. Between terms of school he worked on his father's farm. Afterward he learned the trade of shoemaker in his native town, at home and the bench, picking up the trade, and he followed his trade for forty years in Wake- field. He was a prudent man, and invested his savings wisely in Wakefield real estate so that since he retired from active work in the shoe business he has been occupied with the care and management of his real estate. In addi- tion to his own real estate he has had charge of many estates in the vicinity and has been called upon and has settled various estates in the probate court. His modest but honorable career is evidence of the possibilities of a com- petence for every American mechanic who
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practices the simple virtues of industry, thrift, prudence, coupled with patience and foresight. Mr. Sweetser is respected and honored by all his townsmen not only for his substantial suc- cess in life, and his business capacity, but for his integrity and character, his example of good citizenship. He has been especially prominent in the affairs of the First Baptist Church of Wakefield, of which he was the clerk for twenty-eight years, and collector twenty years. He devoted much of his time and energy during the active years of his life to the raising of funds for the church edifice. The sum of one hundred thousand dollars was raised through his efforts largely, and it has been truly said that without his financial aid the beautiful church building would never have been completed. In politics he is a Re- publican. He has been superintendent of streets, town clerk, and very prominent in town affairs for many years.
He married (first), November 24, 1853, Hannah M. Sweetser, daughter of Lowell and Phebe (Evans) Sweetser, mentioned above. She died June, 1883. He married (second) Anna Evelyn (Kingman) Gay. Children of George Hiram and Hannah M. Sweetser: I. Clara J., born January 26, 1855, married George G. Floyd, no issue. 2. Lyman Ells- worth, born February 3, 1862, married Addie M. Eaton, child, Marjorie, born March 23, 1898.
Hans L. Carstein, coal mer- CARSTEIN chant, North Cambridge, Massachusetts, was born in Schleswig, Germany, March 17, 1841, son of Claus P. and Margareta (Detlefsen) Carsten- sen. Claus P. Carstensen was a farmer and land owner, and during the war between Prus- sia and Denmark in 1848, he was in command of a military company, and it was through political differences that he was obliged to leave Germany in 1850 and seek refuge in the United States. On his way from New York to California by way of Panama he was a victim of yellow fever, dying at Panama in 1851. His property was confiscated and his family lost its usual income. His son Hans L., under the custom of Germany, received a good commercial education, and he then went to sea before the mast, and after fifteen years sea service he came back to Germany, master of his ship. The Franco-Prussian war having closed, he brought his mother and sisters to the United States to join a brother who had
preceded them. They arrived in Boston, Mas- sachusetts, 1871, at the time of the great Chi- cago fire, and his first work was one of philan- thropy, to collect clothing throughout the city for the relief of the sufferers in Chicago, mak- ing his appeals for help on Boston Common, and receiving not only clothing, but provisions and money. He joined his brother Theodore in the paint, oil and wall paper business on Hanover street, Boston, and meeting with severe business reverses in 1873, during the financial panic of that year, they gave up the business two years later. Meantime his sister Theresa had married Frank Ganter, who was carrying on the provision business in Jamaica Plain, and in closing out the paint, oil and wall paper business he joined him as a partner. In 1884 he bought out the coal business of Benjamin F. Rogers at North Cambridge, and from an output of two thousand tons annually he built up the business so that in 1906 the output from his yards was thirty-six thousand tons annually.
He married (first), in 1876, Ida Peterson, daughter of Peterson, a German Luth- eran clergyman, and they had one son, Gustav E. Carstein, born July 24, 1881, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and he was prepared for college, going through Harvard, class of 1905, and on leaving college engaged in busi- ness with his father, as manager of the yards. Mrs. Carstein died in 1882. He married (second), June 17, 1883, Magdalene, daugh- ter of the Rev. C. F. Doring, a German Luth- eran clergyman. By this second marriage his children were: Lorenzo F., born May 14, 1884, graduated at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, in 1906, and was assigned to the Asiatic squadron at the Philippines. Hans L., Jr., born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 13, 1885, who after leaving the public school took a two-years' course at Ashburnham Academy, Massachu- setts, and a three-years' course at Culvers Military Academy in Indiana, graduating as a commissioned officer-first lieutenant quar- termaster, preparatory to engaging in business with his father and elder brother. Gretchen, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 22, 1888, was prepared for entrance to Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, at the Gilman School, Cambridge.
Mr. Carstein became a layman and lay reader in the Protestant Episcopal church, of which his family were also members, and he conducted mission work in East Cambridge from 1891, in connection with the Church of
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the Ascension, where he conducted service every other Sunday and had a congregation of between sixty and seventy German families, residents of the neighborhood of the Mission House. With his family he was connected with St. James' Church, North Cambridge, from 1888, and he was made treasurer of the church corporation. He was also a member of the Pilgrim Fathers, of the Young Men's Christian Association of Cambridge, and held office as director, trustee and treasurer of the organization. He was also made trustee of the Fitchman Estates in Cambridge. He was elected to membership in the Cambridge and Colonial clubs, and in the Middlesex Republi- can Club. His public service in an official capacity included membership in the common council of Cambridge, 1899, and city alderman for six consecutive years, 1890-96, and in 1896 he refused further nomination on account of ill health. As a member of the board of alder- men he was a member of the finance commit- tee, and the highway committee, all special committees and chairman of the investigating committee. In the board he advocated the ex- tension of the Boston subway to Cambridge, being the first member to open this subject on committees, and for three years he was chairman of the committee appointed to act on part of the city government, and before he left the board the matter was practically set- tled, and the subway assured. In this conten- tion he invited fifty of the most prominent citizens of Cambridge to meet at the City Hall and confer with him and Mayor Augustin J. Daly, and after several meetings and animated discussions it was unanimously voted that the subway system was far superior to the ele- vated system for securing effective and rea- sonable rapid transit from Boston to Harvard Square. Mr. Carstein was made a delegate from the eighth Massachusetts district to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1904, as an acknowledgment of his work in the interests of the party in Cambridge, and he composed a campaign song which was re- ceived with rousing cheers when sung to the air "Die Wacht am Rhein" by the delegates, when Theodore Roosevelt was nominated, the chairman of the Massachusetts delegation hav- ing provided five thousand copies with both words and music printed for distribution in the Convention Hall. His brother, Lawrence William Carstein, is a resident of Boston, and his sister, Mrs. Ganter, of Jamaica Plain, in 1907 his own home being at No. 45 Cogswell avenue, Cambridge.
James Scully, father of John SCULLY Timothy Scully, was born in Ireland, from whence he emi- grated to the United States, in 1845. Prior to his emigration he married Mary Murphy, also a native of Ireland, living at the present time (1907), and they made their home in Charles- town, Massachusetts, where he was engaged in selling piling up to 1877, when he removed to Groton, Connecticut, where he followed the occupation of a quarryman in a granite quarry, which he controlled up to the year of his death, I900. The children of James and Mary (Murphy) Scully are: I. John Timothy, see forward. 2. Mary, married Daniel H. Lehan, of East Cambridge, six children: Daniel, en- gaged in shipping business in Boston; Mary, married Philip Hendrick, of Arlington ; John, James, William and Catherine, unmarried. 3. Francis Patrick, born November 24, 1856, graduated at the Harvard University Medical School, 1879, practiced medicine in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine, and was in receipt of a large practice. He was a man of fine physique, an athlete of note, and was highly esteemed by a wide circle of friends. His death occurred in Portland, . Maine, November, 1886. 4. Julia, wife of Thomas Casey, a granite dealer in New Lon- don, Connecticut. They are the parents of seven children: Elizabeth, married Arthur Davis, of New London, Connecticut ; one son, Frederick Thomas; John Francis, a student in medicine at Columbia ; James Scully, a stu- dent in law at Columbia; Francis, William, Mary and Clara Casey. 5. Joanna, born April 14, 1861, unmarried. 6. James, J., became a partner in business with his brother, John Timothy. He married, August 15, 1904, Flor- ence I., daughter of Joseph and Martha (Sweeney) Paul, of Boston. No issue.
John Timothy Scully, eldest child of James and Mary (Murphy) Scully, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 3, 1849. He attended the Charlestown public schools, and upon the completion of his studies worked for his father in the piling business up to 1877, when he engaged in the business of gen- eral contractor, giving special attention to the redeeming of lands under water by the process of filling up, draining and constructing piled bulkheads to prevent overflowing by high tides. In 1905 the business was incorporated as the John T. Scully Foundation & Trans- portation Company. He has taken an active part in politics, and is known as Governor Russell's mascot. He was elected a member
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of the Cambridge city council, 1877 ; a repre- sentative in the general court of Massachu- setts, 1887 ; a member of the Democratic state committee ; a member of the board of survey of Cambridge for two years, resigning in 1905.
Mr. Scully married (first), February 12, 1873, Alice R., daughter of Robert and Ellen (Rowe) Brine, representatives of an old fam- ily of Cambridge, and their children were: I. Ellen Rowe, born August 19, 1875, married Dr. George H. Lee, son of John H. Lee, of Boston ; one child, John H. Lee. 2. Mary E., born March 12, 1877, became the wife of Thomas Murray, of Brighton, Massachusetts, paying teller of the International Trust Com- pany of Boston. 3. John Timothy, Jr., born October, 1879, attended the public schools of Cambridge and Brighton, and later pursued a three years course in the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology. He married, December 29, 1902, Catherine, daughter of Frederick John and Catherine Susanna (Power) Byrne, of Brooklyn, New York, and their children are: Catherine, John T., George and Mada- line. John T. Scully, Jr., became a partner with his father when the business was incor- porated, in 1905, as the John T. Scully Foun- dation & Transportation Company ; he was appointed secretary of the corporation. Alice R. (Brine) Scully, mother of these children, died April 16, 1891. Mr. Scully married (sec- ond), April 3, 1892, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Martha (Sweeney) Paul, of Bos- ton, and by this marriage had four children : I. Francis Paul, born March 7, 1894. 2. James Newman, born January 7, 1897. 3. Genevieve, born October 7, 1899. 4. Flor- ence, born March 13, 1901.
FLETCHER Fletcher is an ancient Eng- lish surname, meaning an arrow maker. The origin of the family is traced to Burgundy, though the lineage of the American pioneer has not yet been determined. The progenitor in Eng- land came with the Earl of Richmond in the latter part of the thirteenth century, with two other nobles from Chillon, now in Switzerland, Portier, whose name became spelled Porter ; and grandson whose descendants spell the name Grandison. De la Flechiere was the original spelling of the Fletcher surname. The ancient coat of arms was : Sable, a cross flory between four scallop shells argent.
(I) Robert Fletcher, the immigrant ances- tor, was born in England, in 1592. According
to an old family tradition he came from York- shire, one of the northern counties. He set- tled in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1630, and became a wealthy and influential citizen. He was appointed constable by the general court for the town of Concord. He removed to Chelmsford and was one of the citizens who signed the invitation to Mr. John Fiske and the members of the Wenham church to re- move to Chelmsford. He died at Concord, April 3, 1677, aged eighty-five. His will was dated February 4, 1672. He commits his wife to the care of his son Francis and his wife, bequeathed to his sons Francis, William and Samuel. The inventory of his estate is dated May 12, 1677. . Children: I. Luke, born in England, died in Concord, Massachu- setts, May 21, 1665, probably unmarried. 2. William, born in England, in 1622, married, October 7, 1645, Lydia Bates ; died November 6, 1677. 3. Cary, daughter, married
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