USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 33
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HARLOW
The introduction to this
sketch is taken from the ac- count of the Harlow family in the "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County," published by the Lew- is Publishing Company, and written for it by Major William T. Harlow of Worcester. He says:
"In a book on "Derivation of Family Names," by Rev. William Arthur, it is said that the name Harlow is derived from the town of Harlow in England. The modern town of Harlow is situate on the east bank of the River Stort, in the county of Essex, twen-
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ty-three miles north of London, on the high road to Newcastle, and is a station of the Great Eastern railway. Territorially the town is only a small fraction of and nominally it is the last surviving relic of a much larger tract of land, once called the Half Hundred of Harlow, or Dimidium de Herloua, and by the latter name many times mentioned in Domesday Book. It extended twelve miles from north to south, and six miles in width, along the east side of the River Stort, and contained seventy-two square miles. As to the identity of the Dimidium of Domesday with the Half Hundred, and of the names of Herloua and Harlow, my authority is Mor- ant's "History of the County of Essex"-an elaborate work in two ponderous volumes, wherein the learned author traces everything in the county back to Saxon origins. The Half Hundred of Harlow contained eleven parishes, of which one was called the parish of Harlow, which parish included six manors (landed estates) of which one was called Har- lowbury. The term hundred, originally used by the ancient Saxons to mean one hundred men, assigned with their families, under a quasi-military form of organization, to occu- py a large tract of land, in time became the name of the tract itself, and later came to sig- nify an intermediate territorial division, now obsolete, between town and county.
"Mr. Arthur classifies Harlow with names of local origin, i. e. names derived from places and leaves his derivation of the name from the town of Harlow to rest on unsupported as- sertion. This is not the place to discuss at length the learned opinions of accepted au- thorities, but I beg to suggest, what in the absence of proof to the contrary seems to me the more probable supposition, that Har- low was orignally the name of a man of whom the town is a namesake. Towns, al- ways the products of men, not infrequently take their names from those of men, of which one may recall numerous instances, capable historically of easy proof. As to the reverse derivation of English family names from those of towns, I make bold to challenge proof of a single instance. I limit my chal -. lenge to English names, in which I do not include titles of rank, nor names with the pre- fix de or its equivalent. But my purpose in referring to the origin of our family name is to show its high antiquity, and to suggest to others where, with time and opportunity for foreign research, which the present scribe hath not, they may look for light upon our earlier family history.
"(I) William Harlow, the immigrant ances- tor of this family, was unaccompanied by wife, parents or kindred of any degree. His name appears here first on a list of residents dated 1629-30, at Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1637 ten men of Lynn (originally called Saugus) had leave granted them to take up and settle land in Sandwich, and nine of the ten, with forty- six others, of whom William Harlow was one, removed to Sandwich and settled there. The same year one Thomas Hampton, of Sand- wich (not one of the new-comers from Lynn) died without family or kindred, leaving a will of which William Harlow was both an attest- ing witness and legatee, colony law allowing such attesting. The same year also he was fined for keeping "3 hogges unwringed." In 1639 he was proposed for admission as a free- man, and took the preliminary oath of fideli- ty. In 1640 he had assigned to him at a town meeting of Sandwich, four acres. Later he removed to Plymouth. He was a cooper by trade. He built several houses in Plymouth, of which one built in 1667 on a lot granted him by the town and described as a "little knoll or parcel, lying near his now dwelling house on the westerly side of the road to seti a new house upon," still stands where it was built on the road to Sandwich (now named Sandwich Street) about a quarter of a mile southerly from Plymouth postoffice. Anoth- er house built by him in 1660, referred to in the above description, called the Doten House, stood on the easterly side of the same road, a few rods further south, till 1898, when it was taken down. The house that is still standing was framed out of the old timbers of the Pilgrim Fort, on Burial Hill, in Ply- mouth. As sergeant of the south company, Captain William Harlow had had charge of the old fort for many years, and after King Philip's war (1675-6) he bought it of the town and used the old timbers in the construc- tion of his new house. In 1882, when some repairs were made on this house, a ponderous iron hinge of the fort gate, attached to a tim- ber, was discovered, and may now be seen with other Pilgrim relics in Pilgrim Hall. Sergeant Harlow did military duty at a period when the Home Guards were not a laughing stock, ready day and night, without compul- sion or compensation, to defend home and country against the savage foe. No details of his military service are preserved, but there can be no doubt of his employment in the Indian warfare of his time, of which the chief event was the great Narragansett fight, when both the Plymouth companies were
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present under the command of Major Wil- liam Bradford. Doubtless Sergeant Harlow was with his company when every able-bodied man in the colony was there.
"In civil affairs, William Harlow, having been admitted a freeman in 1654, served as a juror or grand juror every year; was rated (assessor) and excise man many years; dep- uty to the general court two sessions; select- man fifteen years, and chairman of the board at the time of his death. He was also active in the church affairs, and his name is of very frequent occurrence in the records of the col- ony, town and church. The inventory of his estate, real and personal, foots up to 234 pounds 16 shillings II pence, and it was or- dered by the court that his four sons have all his lands, the eldest to have a double portion, according to our law, saving to the widow her thirds, the remainder to be divided among the seven daughters.
"What was William Harlow's age at his death? According to the town records he died August 26, 1691, aged sixty-seven years. This would fix his birth in 1624, and his age at thirteen years when he removed from Lynn to Sandwich, and witnessed Hampton's will and was mulcted for keeping swine contrary to law, and at fifteen when he applied for ad- mission as freeman and took the oath of fi- delity, and at sixteen when he had a parcel of land assigned to him by public authority. And still earlier he must have crossed the sea without care of parents or other kindred. Everywhere apparently treated as a man af- ter his appearance here, we can have little doubt that he was at least twenty-one years old when he left England, and that he must have been at least seventy-five years old when he died."
He married, at Plymouth, December 30, 1649, Rebecca Bartlett, who bore him four children, and died 1657, aged twenty-eight. He married second, July 15, 1658, Mary Faunce, who bore him four children, and died October 4, 1664. He married third, January 15, 1665, Mary Shelley, who bore him five children and survived him. Of his thirteen children, all but the first-born lived to grow up. The children of his first wife were: I. William, born and died 1650. 2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. Rebecca, born June 12, 1655. 4. William, born June 2, 1657. The children of his second wife were: 5. Mary, born May 9, 1659. 6. Repentance, born No- vember 22, 1660. 7. John, born October 19, 1662. 8. Nathaniel, born September 30, 1664 .. The children by his third wife were: 9. Han-
nah, born October 28, 1665. 10. Bathsheba, born April 21, 1667. II. Joanna, born March 24, 1669. 12. Mehitable, born October 4, 1672. 13. Judith, born August 2, 1676.
William Harlow's first wife was a daughter of Robert and Mary (Warren) Bartlett, and granddaughter of Richard Warren, the Pil- grim. The name of her grandmother (War- ren's wife) was Elizabeth Juat Marsh, and she was, when she married Warren, the widow of one Marsh, Juat being her maiden name. She did not come over in the "May -. flower" in 1620 with her husband, but later, in 1623, in the ship "Ann," in which at the same time came Bartlett and Mary Warren, not then married, and two other daughters of the Pilgrim and his wife.
(II) Samuel Harlow, son of William Har- low (I), was born in Plymouth, January 27, 1652. He followed his father's calling of cooper, and received as his double share of his father's estate the house built out of the old fort timbers, and lived in it during the re- mainder of his life. He was admitted a free- man in 1689, and held divers minor offices. Like his father, he bore the prefix of Ser- geant, having succeeded him as orderly in the South Company. At the time of King Phil- ip's war, Samuel was twenty-three years old, and it is more than probable that he took part in the Narragansett fight. He married first Priscilla , and second Hannah
whose parentage and surnames are unknown. Their Christian names were common among the Pilgrims, and that Samuel's wives were both of Pilgrim stock is little short of cer- tain, considering that in his time there were few Plymouth families without at least one "Mayflower" ancestor. He died March 2, 1734, aged eighty-two years. His second wife survived him. His child by his first wife was: I. Rebecca, born January 27, 1678; by his second wife: 2. John, born December 29, 1685. 3. Hannah, born November 15, 1688. 4. Samuel, born August 14, 1690. 5. William, born July 26, 1692. 6. Eleazer, born April 18, 1694. 7. Priscilla, born Oc- tober 3, 1695.
· (III) William Harlow, son of Sergeant Samuel Harlow (2), was born in Plymouth, July 26, 1692, and died April II, 1751, in Ply- mouth. He married Mercy Rider, daughter of John. She was born November 14, 1696, and died January 21, 1772. Both are buried on Burying Hill, and have gravestones, his be- ing the oldest in America on a Harlow grave. He and his wife were members of the Ply- mouth Church. . (In this pedigree the lineage
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follows Davis's "Landmarks of Plymouth," rather than the older sketch in the "New Eng- land Genealogical Register," which makes the fourth generation (William Harlow) descend from William (3), instead of Samuel (3). It seems that William (3), son of William (2), had a son William, born September 27, 1715, while Samuel's son William, given below. was born October 14, 1718. The lineage here given has been proved correct. Children, born at Plymouth: I. Sarah, born Novem- ber 15, 1715; married Eleazer Churchill. 2. Benjamin, born November 20, 1716; married Elizabeth Stevens. 3. William, born October 14, 1718; mentioned below. 4. Hannah, born January 14, 1720; married Ebenezer Samp- son. 5. Mercy, born February 14, 1722; mar- ried Sylvanus Holmes. 6. Keziah, born No- vember 5, 1723; died January 25, 1725-6. 7. Samuel, born September 7, 1726; died June II, 1767; sea captain. 8. Phebe, born Octo- ber 21, 1728; married Edward Stephens. 9. Rebecca, born April 16, 1732; married Eben- ezer Rawson. 10. Seth, born September 10, 1736; died June 30, 1802.
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(IV) William Harlow, son of William Har- low (3), was born October 14, 1718, married Hannah Bartlett, of Plymouth, and removed to the adjacent town of Middleborough before 1739, and became a prominent citizen, mod- erator of town meetings and town officer ; on the committee of safety and correspond- ence, which is counted by the patriotic so- cieties as Revolutionary service. His son was a lieutenant and his grandson in this lineage served in the navy in the war. There fore the descendants of William Harlow have the three generations upon which to enter the patriotic societies. Children, born at Middleborough: I. Joseph. 2. Ezra, men- tioned below. 3. Hannah. 4. Mary. 5. Wil- liam, married Olive Jackson. 6. Joshua. 7. Ephraim.
(V) Ezra Harlow, son of William Harlow (5), was born in Middleborough, about 1740- 5, and married, 1768, Elizabeth Ellis, daugh- ter of William Ellis (See App. "Plymouth History"). He was an officer in the revolu- tion, corporal in Captain Jesse Harlow's company on the Lexington Alarm, April 20, 1775; sergeant in the second company, Lieu- tenant John Barrows, Colonel Ephraim Sprout, in 1776 and 1778, in two Rhode Island alarms; also second lieutenant in Captain Abner Bourn's company (third) in the Fourth Plymouth militia regiment; also sec- ond lieutenant in Captain Edward Sparrow's company for three months in the Continental
army in 1780. He was a farmer in Middle- borough. Children, born at Middleborough: I. Joseph, born -; married Susanna
2. Ellis, born about 1768; mentioned below. 3. Thomas, born 1773. 4. Lydia, born 1774. 5. Betsey, born 1775. 6. Ezra, born 1777, died young. 7. William, born 1779. 8. Otis, born 1781. 9. Samuel, born 1783. 10. Hannah, born 1785. 11. Josiah, born 1786. 12. Patience, born 1789. 13. Sally, born 1791. 14. Ezra, born 1793.
(VI) Ellis Harlow, son of Ezra Harlow (5), was born in Middleborough, Massachusetts, about 1768. (The impossible date of birth is given by Davis as 1771). He settled in Ply- mouth, and married there in 1785, Sarah Holmes. (See appendix of "Plymouth His- tory"). He was a mariner by occupation, but removed about 1796 to Harvard, Massachu- setts, and in 1798 he bought the old forge at Harvard formerly owned by Captain Jabez Keep, and operated by bog-ore from Groton. In 1818 he sold the forge privilege and land to William Adams. During his ownership he built a grist mill in the place of the iron mill. He served in the revolution, as well as his father and grandfather, as a boy on the brigantine "Hazard," Captain Simeon Sam- son, in October, 1777, and subsequently. A record of shoes delivered the crew of the "Hazard" from the prize-ship "Live Oaks" includes shoes for this boy. He was prob- ably about ten years old when on the ship-of- war. He married in 1785, and if the date of his parents' marriage is given correctly by Davis, he was not more than nine years old when in the navy, and was married at seven- teen. Numerous instances of such early mar- riages are to be found. He was selectman and assessor in 1809. In politics a Democrat, he signed an angry protest against the gov- ernment and the war of 1812. Children, born at Plymouth: I. Bradford, born 1785. 2. Sally, born 1787, married Cornelius Morey. 3. Ellis, born 1790, mentioned below. 4. Jabez, born 1793, married Hannah Harlow. 5. Lucia, born 1795. At Harvard: 6. William Holmes, born October 2, 1798. 7. Charles, born April 1, 1800.
(VII) Ellis Harlow, son of Ellis Harlow (6), was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1790. He removed with his father to Har- vard, Massachusetts, when a boy of six or seven years of age, and was educated there in the district schools. He married, January 12, 1814, Miriam Holden, born October 9, 1793, died at Ayer, May 3, 1876. He died July 24, 1875. He was a farmer at Shirley. Mrs. Har-
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low was the daughter of Phineas Holden, born at Shirley, July 14, 1760, and his wife, Miriam Longley, daughter of Jonas and Esther (Patterson) Longley. Asa Holden (4), father of Phineas Holden, was born at Groton, Massachusetts, August 23, 1732; married first, December 6, 1757, Dorothy Wait, of Groton, who died July 5, 1807; sec- ond, October 28, 1810, Sibil Lakin, of Pep- perell; he died June 23, 1813; settled on land that had been in possession of his ancestors back to Richard Holden, the immigrant, now situate in Shirley, and still owned by the Holden family. Asa was a leading citizen, selectman fifteen years. Asa was the son of Nathaniel and Abigail (Stone) Holden; . grandson of Stephen Holden; and great- grandson of Richard Holden (I), who came from England to America in May, 1634, set- tled at Ipswich; married, 1640, Martha Fos- dick, and in 1644 removed to Watertown. About 1656-7, with sons Samuel and Justin- ian, he removed to Groton, now Shirley; he is the founder of the numerous Holden family of Worcester county and vicinity. Ellis Har- low was selectman of Harvard 1831, 1834 to 1839, 1843 ; representative to the general court in 1843-4 and 1850; justice of the peace in 1853.
Children of Ellis and Miriam (Holden) Harlow : I. Phineas Holden, born Decem- ber 14, 1814; mentioned below. 2. Henri- etta H., born September 21, 1816; married Christopher Loring Willard, May 1I, 1843, and settled in Ayer; children: i. Andrew L., born October 10, 1849, died August 21, 1850; ii. Etta F., born October 15, 1850, married November 27, 1870, died at Ayer, October 30, 1876; iii. Dorcasina H., born March 27, 1854, died February 21, 1861; iv. Carrie A., born April 26, 1857. 3. William H., born July 14, 1818; married first, January 1, 1852, Phebe K. George, who died May 29, 1855; married second, March 24, 1857, Sarah Rogers, and lived in Ayer. 4. Edward E., born October 17, 1820; married Catharine W. Bowker, April 29, 1844, died May 31, 1858; children: i. Ella G., born January 10, 1846; ii. George E., born October 31, 1847; iii. Catharine E., born November 27, 1849; iv. Edwin P., born May 23, 1854; v. Andrew F., born May 24, 1857. 5. Andrew J., born April 19, 1824: married June 18, 1848, and had: i. Fred H., born February 18, 1851, died Janu- ary 24, 1870. 6. Dorcasina B., born April 9, 1826; married O. R. Whiting, June 10, 1853, died April 13, 1854; had child William H., born April 5, 1854.
(VIII) Phineas Holden Harlow, son of Ellis Harlow (7), was born in Shirley, Massa- chusetts, December 14, 1814. He was edu- cated in the common schools there, and be- came a skilful carpenter. After following his trade for a time he carried on a farm at Har- vard. He served as selectman several years. He married, April 17, 1838, Nancy Hapgood, of Harvard. Children: I. Anna E., born March 23, 1839, died June 9, 1907. 2. Charles E., born November 6, 1840; served in the civil war in the Eleventh Massachu- setts Battery, and died in service, March 2, 1864. 3. Edward Omar, born December 25, 1842; see forward. 4. Clara Miriam, born January, 1845. 5. Susan M., born April 23, 1847, died December 27, 1871. 6. Adeline Sawyer, born July 21, 1849. 7. George Hap- good, born December 10, 1851. 8. John Bowker, born June 28, 1854. 9. Mary Wetherbee, born December 23, 1857.
(IX) Edward Omar Harlow, son of Phine- as Holden Harlow (8), was born December 25, 1842. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and at
He en- Lawrence Academy, Groton. listed, September 9, 1861, in Company H, Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, in which
he served hiş
full term of three years. He took the field with his regiment at Annapolis, Maryland, and participated in General Ambrose E. Burnside's famous campaign in North Caro- lina, including the Hatteras Inlet debarkation and consequent engagements, and the battle at Roanoke Island, followed by those at New- ·berne, Whitehall and Goldsborough. As a result of the constant exposure he was taken ill, and for nine months was a hospital inmate at Beaufort, North Carolina. Having conval- esced, he was found unfitted for field service, and he was assigned to clerical duty in the hospital, and was so occupied until the ex- piration of his term of service, September 9, 1864, when he was honorably discharged. Re- turning home, he established himself in busi- ness in Ayer, but after a year sold out and removed to Kansas, where he bought a farm and remained for seven years. He then re- turned to Boston, where he engaged in mer- cantile affairs for a time, then removing to Ayer, where he purchased a meat and provi- sion store which he has conducted with gratifying success to the present time. The establishment is located on Main street, Ayer, and is conducted under the firm name of Har- low. & Parsons .. He is a Republican in po- litics, and has never been an aspirant to pub-
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lic honors. He is a charter member of George S. Boutwell Post, Grand Army of the Repub- lic, in which he is past commander. He is a member of Caleb Butler Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Ida Mckinley Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; of Emer- son Council, Royal Arcanum; and of the Knights of Honor. He attends the Congre- gational church.
Mr. Harlow married, February 15, 1872. Mary Lowe Poole, of Gloucester Massachu- setts, only child of James Poole and his wife, Emily Choate, both of Rockport, the father being a sea captain. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Harlow: I. Ellis Bacon, born in Kan- sas, October 23, 1873; educated in public schools in Ayer; engaged in the provision business in Boston, and later in Acton; still later became associated with firm of Harlow & Parsons, in Ayer, with whom he is still en- gaged; married, June 29, 1898, Lillian A., daughter of George and Laura Downing, of Ayer; his children are: Ruth Choate, born August 15, 1901, and Edward Ellis, born January 25, 1908. 2. Holden Choate, born April 4, 1888; educated in public schools of Ayer, and Powder Point School of Duxbury; attended Hanley Electrical School in Boston, is now in the block signal department of the Boston & Maine railroad.
Rev. Ralph Wheelock, WHEELOCK the immigrant, was born in Shropshire, England, in 1600. He was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England, where he received his B. A. in 1626 and his M. A. in 1631. He became an eminent preacher in England, but because of his non-conformist views he was persecuted and finally in 1637 sought refuge with his Puritan fellows in New England. He was at Watertown for a short time, but located permanently at Dedham, Massachusetts. He brought with him from England his wife Rebecca and his daughter also named Rebecca. In the biography of his great-grandson, Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, who founded Dartmouth College, we are told that the ship was driven back once by storms and that the voyage was long and distressing. He was one of the founders of the town and church of Dedham, learned, devout, unselfish, practical, indefatigable. In 1638 he made his home in that part of Dedham that was set off as Medfield. He was admitted a freeman March 13, 1638-39; was selectman, school- . master, deputy to the general court, commis-
sioner to end small causes, appointed magis- trate to perform marriages while at Dedhanı and was equally prominent in the new town of Medfield. He built his house at Medfield in 1651-52. He was made clerk of the writs in 1642, was selectman of Medfield 1651 to 1655, school teacher and justice of the peace. He made his will May 3, 1681; the inventory was dated January 31, 1683, and the will proved May 1, 1684. He bequeathed to his eldest son Gershon and other sons Benjamin, Eleazer and Samuel; sons-in-law Increase Ward and Joseph Warren; grandchild Rebec- ca Craft; refers in his will to his deceased wife and appoints George Barbour one of the overseers of the will. His wife died in 1680. Two of his sons, Benjamin and Eleazer, set- tled in Mendon, Massachusetts. Eleazer's farm was in the vicinity of Goat and Wolf Hills, now in the northern part of Uxbridge on Great river, and he was a daring man and famous hunter of wild beasts, then very abundant in that region.
Rev. Ralph Wheelock declined to take charge of any particular church, but preached occasionally in Medfield and the adjacent new settlements. The residue of his life was passed in useful labors and principally in the instruction of the youth. He was a wise counselor in civil and ecclesiastical matters. Such ability and piety as he possessed were much needed and employed in the infancy of the country. He lived to a good old age, universally loved and respected, and deceased November, 1683, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. (From the Memoirs of Dr. Eleazer Wheelock, published in 181I).
Children : I. Rebecca, born in England about 1632, married, June 7, 1654, John Crafts. 2. Peregrine, born about 1634, mar- ried, 1669, John Warfield (the child men- tioned in the Memoirs as born on the voy- age). 3. Gershom, born 1636, resided at Medfield; married Hannah Stoddard, of Hingham. 4. Mary, born 1638, married, 1661, Joseph Miles. 5. Benjamin, mentioned below. 6. Samuel, born September 22, 1642, married, 1678, Sarah Kendrick; she married (second) Josiah Rockwood. 7. Record, born December 15, 1643, married, 1672, Increase Ward. 8. Eleazer, born 1644, father of Ralph, who settled at Windham, Connecticut, and whose son was Rev. Dr. Eleazer Wheel- ock, founder and first president of Dartmouth College and Moor's Charity School. 9. Ex- perience, born 1648.
(II) Benjamin Wheelock, son of Rev. Ralph Wheelock (I), was born in Medfield,
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