USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 89
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(II) Captain Samuel Brigham, son of Thomas Brigham (I), was born in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, January 12, 1652, and died in Marlborough, July 24, 1713. At the time of his mother's marriage to Edmund Rice, he was three years old, and removed with her to Sudbury and Marlborough. He had a "twenty-five acre grant in the first lay- ing out of Worcester in 1673, it lying in the
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eastern squadron next to the County Road to Boston." He was a lieutenant of Captain Thomas Howe and was rewarded by govern- ment for military services in Queen Anne's war. . A garrison was established at his house in this war. In 1707 he drew a lot of twenty- one acres and a lot of one hundred and three acres south of Tobacco Meadow, bounded by the path to his Stony Brook Meadow, where, in his right, his heirs drew other lots. He was town treasurer in 1699 and 1703; select- man in 1707 and 1710; representative to the general court in 1697-99 and in 1705. He re- sided three-fourths of a mile east of East Vil- lage, near the old tan-yard of the Late Cap- tain Daniel Brigham. He was the first man to engage in the tanning and shoemaking trades in Marlborough. The first tannery in the town was erected by him about 1700, near his dwelling house on present East Main street. This tannery, said to have been the first west of Charlestown, descended in regu- lar succession to Captain Daniel Brigham, who retired from active business in the early fifties, when the tannery ceased to be used! It was taken down piecemeal, and by 1876 it had entirely disappeared. He married Eliza- beth Howe, born April 5, 1665, died July 26, 1739, daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Ward) Howe, of Marlborough.
Samuel Brigham is buried in the old ceme- tery in the rear of the academy in Marl- borough, the only one of the second genera- tions of Brighams whose grave is marked. He died intestate; his widow and eldest son administered the estate, which was valued at one thousand two hundred and sixty three pounds, eight shillings.
Children, born at Marlborough: I. Eliza- beth, born March 24, 1685, married Samuel Robinson. 2. Hepsibah, born January 25, 1686, married John Maynard. 3. Samuel, born January 25, 1689, mentioned below. 4. Lydia, born March 6, 1691. 5. Jedediah, born June 8, 1693. 6. Jotham, born Decem- ber 23, 1695. 7. Timothy, born October 10, 1698. 8. Charles, born December 30, 1700. 9. Persis, born July 10, 1703, married, No- vember 22, 1721, Edward Baker, Jr., a first settler of Westborough, Massachusetts. IO. Antipas, born October 16, 1706, died April 23, 1.746, at Grafton, Massachusetts.
(III) Captain Samuel Brigham, son of Captain Samuel Brigham (2), was born at Marlborough, January 25, 1689, and died at Grafton, September 1, 1771. In December, 1727, leave was granted by the general court to him and thirty-nine others to purchase
Grafton of the Indians, under restrictions and conditions, which seem to have been strictly observed. He settled in the south part of Marlborough, and held many town offices. He was moderator of meetings, assessor in 1739-40; town treasurer; town clerk in 1754- 55; selectman in 1741-42-44-46-48-49-54; in 1716 one of a committee "to seat the meet- ing." He left a large estate, settled without an administrator. He served in the Colonial wars, being on the alarm list, Second Sud- bury Company, in 1757, under Captain Josiah Richardson.
He married, August 23, 1716, Abigail Moore, who died November 20, 1731, aged thirty-five. Children: I. Samuel, born June 13, 1717, died June 14, 1717. 2. Sybillah, born October 15, 1718, died September 27, 1807; married Eleazer Goddard, of Athol and Framingham. 3. Mary, born April 13, 1720. 4. Abigail, born December 10, 1721, died September 27, 1755. 5. Samuel born March 3, 1723. 6. Phineas, born December 18, 1725, died August 23, 1736. 7. Uriah, born September 10, 1727, mentioned below. 8. George, born March 17, 1730.
(IV) Lieutenant Uriah Brigham, son of Captain Samuel Brigham (3), was born in Marlborough, September 10, 1727, and died there October 22, 1782. He was brought up as a gentleman's son, and never did manual labor. He lived in the style of the English gentry, receiving the visits of the elite from far and near, keeping open house, in which there was no limit to his hospitality. His estate bore the strain of such a lavish style of living much better than might have been expected, lasting through his time, but was so involved at his death that the administrators had employ- ment for thirty years. He resided in the south part of Marlborough on a part of the estate which had belonged to his father. He was warden in 1764; selectman in 1765-68-69, and town clerk in 1769. He was in the Col- onial war in 1762, in Captain Thomas How's company, Colonel Ward's regiment, Third Marlborough company. He married, July 12, 1750, Sarah Breck Gott, born March 21, 1729, died January 31, 1815, daughter of Dr. Benjamin and Sarah (Breck) Gott, of Marl- borough. Children, born in Marlborough: I. John Gott, born February 8, 1750-51, men- tioned below. 2. Henry, born October 26, 1752. 3. Sarah, born January 22, 1755, mar- ried Dr. Nathaniel Gott, of Wenham, Massa- chusetts. 4. Uriah, born July II, 1757. 5. Abigail, born December 31, 1759, married David Wait. ยท 6. Persis, born April 7, 1762,
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married Alexander Watson. 7. Edward, born June 13, 1764. 8. Nathaniel, born Au- gust 17, 1766, died young. 9. Robert, born December 14, 1769, died young. 10. Anne, born August 16, 1773, married Charles Saf- ford. II. Robert Breck, born January 2, 1776, died about 1815, unmarried.
(V) John Gott Brigham, son of Uriah Brigham (4), was born in Marlborough, Feb- ruary 8, 1750-51, and died April 30, 1816. He resided in Marlborough. He was a soldier in the Revolution, being a private in Captain Morse's company, Colonel Howe's regiment. He was five feet, nine inches in height, of a dark complexion. He married, January 10, 1833, Mary Collins. Children, born in Marl- borough: I. Hepsibah, born October 30, 1794. 2. John Gott, born August 2, 1796, mentioned below.
(VI) John Gott Brigham, son of John Gott Brigham (5), was born August 2, 1796, and died November 27, 1871. He was a wheel- wright and resided in Concord, Massachu- setts. He married, January 9, 1820, Lucy Howe, born June. 6, 1798, died February 28, 1863, daughter of Benjamin and Abigail (Howe) Howe, of Marlborough. Children, the two eldest born in Marlborough, the others in Concord: I. Hepsibah Collins, born October 21, 1821, died August 7, 1872; mar- ried George Albert Houghton. 2. William Eustis, born April 14, 1823. 3. George Howe, born December 5, 1824, married Melissa Wheelock, of Newport, Vermont. 4. Alonzo Howe, born April 16, 1826, mentioned below. 5. John Edward, born March 9, 1828, mar- ried Isabella Smith. 6. Harrison Gray, born November 4, 1829, married Josephine Gar- field. 7. Francis Eugene, born October 10, 1831, died September II, 1833. 8. Mary Ann, born May 3, 1834, married Francis Bacon. 9. Lucy Jane, born July 3, 1836, died Octo- ber, 1873.
(VII) Alonzo Howe Brigham, son of John Gott Brigham (6), was born in Concord, Mas- sachusetts, April 16, 1826, and died there January 5, 1892. He was a farmer and re- sided at. Concord. He married, January 4, 1863, in Neponset, Massachusetts, Mary Elizabeth Parmenter, born June 17, 1836, daughter of Amory M. Parmenter, of Marl- borough, Massachusetts. Children, born at Concord: I. Frank A., born December 15, 1863, died August 5, 1866. 2. Lucie Howe, born June 3, 1865, married Frank Wheeler, of Concord, Massachusetts, mentioned else- where in this work. 3. John Burt, born De- cember 18, 1866, married, August 7, 1904,
Flora Stuart, of East Boston. 4. Harry Win- throp, born December 22, 1868. 5. Amy Belle, born January II, 1871, died December 25, 1871. 6. Alice May, born September 14, 1877, married, March 25, 1897, Harry Sidney Walcott.
John Whitcomb, immi-
WHITCOMB grant ancestor of this family in America, was un- doubtedly of English birth, and the name was originally Whetcombe. He was long supposed to be the son of Symon Whet- combe, who was one of the original patentees of the old Massachusetts Bay Colony, but the publication of the will of John Whetcombe of Sherbourne, Dorsetshire, England, probated in 1598, shows that Symon was then a minor, and that he could not have been the father of the American progenitor, who was born about 1588. Some authorities believe that the American John was brother of Symon, and the John Whetcombe mentioned in the will of Symon's father.
John Whitcomb settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and was a church member there in 1635; this and the birth of his young- est son Josiah, in 1638, are the only events of his family life recorded during the years he spent in Dorchester. Later evidence shows him to have been well-to-do for the times, a man of intelligence and enterprise, much given to buying and selling land. In 1640 he removed to Scituate, where he owned land, one piece being a farm of one hundred and eight acres near the mouth of the North river, on the Marshfield side, and after 1646, when he became one of the Conihasset part- ners, he owned the lands which through that transaction became his share. While in Scitu- ate he was constable, then one of the most important offices. He was admitted a free- man June 3, 1652. In 1644 he sold his farm on North river to Thomas Hicks; in 1654 he sold half his share in Conihasset lands to John Williams, Jr., giving the other half to his son Robert. In the same year he re- moved to Lancaster, Massachusetts, where he had bought a share two years before, when the town was laid out. Not all his children accompanied him thither; Catherine married and settled in Scituate; Robert remained in Scituate and settled in Boston. John Whit- comb and his son John are counted among the pioneer settlers of the town of Lancaster, originally the Nashaway Plantation. The homestead of John, Sr., was on lot No. 33;
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John, Jr. had lot No. 34. The present post office and bank building in Lancaster is on the original house lot.
He died September 24, 1662, aged about seventy-four years. He married in England, Frances who made a will May 12, 1671, and died at Lancaster May 17, 1671. The agreement of division of John Whit- comb's estate has the name spelt by his own children three different ways-Wetcomb, Whetcomb and Whitcomb, October 7, 1662. Children: I. Catherine, married, 1644, Ro- dolphus Ellmes, of Scituate, nine children. 2. James, born in England, settled in Boston; owned five acres of land opposite Boston Common; died in Boston, November 23, 1686; married first, Rebecca second
Elizabeth -; had ten children. 3. John, Jr., may have been the eldest son, and was most closely associated in later life with his father; married May 19, 1669 or 1671; died April 7, 1683, leaving wife Mary and two daughters. 4. Robert, remained at Scituate; married Mary, daughter of General James Cudworth, in Rhode Island; they were the first to settle in the Beeches, the family place at Scituate. 5. Jonathan, born about 1630, in England; settled in Lancaster,Massachu- setts, and Wethersfield, Connecticut. 6. Abi- gail. 7. Job, land surveyor at Lancaster ; married May 19, 1669, Mary -; settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut. 8. Josiah, men- tioned below.
(II) Josiah Whitcomb, son of John Whit- comb (I), was born in Dorchester, Massachu- setts, in 1638. He accompanied his father from Scituate to Lancaster in 1654, and his name appears often on the earliest town records. In 1688 he was paid a bounty for killing a wolf, and he and his brother Job figured in an action for damages to a neigh- bor's swine. It seems that Stephen Gates, their next neighbor, had three pigs killed by the Whitcomb boys, and their father agreed to settle for the damage by paying forty-five shillings in wheat "within a week after Michael tyde next 1658 to be payed at his house in Sudbury," but later Whitcomb asked the general court to relieve him from payment. The court decided in favor of Gates, because he had the note, though Whit- comb alleged that the note was obtained by false representations and that he was not li- able for the hogs. "It was by reason of age and weakness I did not consider of it that I had no right to pay anything to him before he did duly make it apeare that I had damni- fied him." (See Gates family).
Josiah married, January 4, 1664, in Lancas- ter, Rebecca, daughter of Lawrence and Ann (Linton) Waters, of Watertown, Lancaster and Charlestown, Massachusetts. She was born February, 1640. During Queen Ann's war, 1702-1717, he was allowed a garrison for protection against the Indians; it was situ- ate in what is now Bolton, then Lancaster. He was commander of the garrison. In 1705 he was selectman; in 1708 was one of thirty who signed the church covenant, and he con- tributed liberally to the support of the church; in 1710 was a deputy to the general court. In his will dated March 20, 1718, he gave to each of his children an eighth part of his right in the town of Littleton, Massa- chusetts. His widow died in 1726. A rough granite slab marks his grave in Lancaster, and gives the date of his death March 21, 1718, in his eightieth year. Children: I. Jo- siah, Jr., born November 12, 1665, died same day. 2. Josiah, Jr., born January 7, 1666 or 1667. 3. David, born February 20, 1668, mentioned below. 4. Rebecca, born Novem- ber 12, 1671 ; married Jacob Houghton, 1704. 5. Johannah, born March 8, 1674; married, De- cember 26, 1708, Peter Joslin; she died Sep- tember 24, 1717. 6. Hezekiah, born Septem- ber 14, 1681. 7. Deborah, born December 26, 1683; probably died young. 8. Damaris, married in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Na- thaniel Wilder. 9. Mary. 10. Abigail, born March 13, 1687; married Josiah White, June 26, 1706. II. Eunice.
(III) David Whitcomb, son of Josiah Whitcomb (2), was married May 31, 1700, in Concord, Massachusetts, to Mary (Hayward) Fairbanks, widow, a descendant of Resolved White, who came over in the "Mayflower," a small boy, with his father and mother, and whose brother Peregrine is famous as the first white child born in Massachusetts, or New England. Her husband, Jonathan Fair- banks, was killed by the Indians at Lancaster, September 4, 1697; she was taken captive, but was returned January 17, 1699, on the Province Galley from Casco Bay. While in captivity she acquired a knowledge of herbs from the Indians, and was afterward for this reason called Doctress. They lived in the southeastern corner of what is now Bolton, and he kept a tavern. He died intestate April II, 1730, and his wife Mary died January 5, 1734, in the sixty-seventh years of her age. The real estate of David was divided among his heirs by a partition agreement. Children: I. David. 2. Jonathan. 3. Joseph, born 1700, mentioned below. 4. Rebecca, bap-
Quince et Whitcomb
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tized 1708, married Ezra Sawyer, January 16, 1725-6. 5. Benjamin, born 1710, baptized November 26, 1710, at Lancaster. 6. Simon, baptized March 7, 1713-4.
(IV) Joseph Whitcomb, son of David Whitcomb (3), was born in Lancaster, 1700. He married, January 20, 1725, Damaris, daughter of John and Anna (Houghton) Priest. They settled in Lancaster, in what is now Leominster; removed about 1760 to West Swanzey, New Hampshire, where his wife died November 12, 1770. He moved into the wilderness, built a saw mill and grist mill, making the privilege on which now stand the Stratton mills and the box and bucket shops. He owned an extensive tract of land, was a man of high standing, and a leading citizen. He died November, 1792, aged ninety-two years, and was buried in Swanzey; his wife died November 12, 1770. In the expedition which laid siege to Louis- burg in 1745, Joseph Whitcomb was lieuten- ant in Company Four, of which John War- ner was captain, in Colonel Samuel Willard's regiment. In the Crown Point expedition, 1755, he was lieutenant, and in the conquest of Canada, 1758, was captain in Colonel Timothy Ruggles's regiment.
Children: I. Abigail, born April 13, 1726; married Derby. 2. Elizabeth, born December 3, 1728. 3. Lieutenant Joseph, born March 15, 1731-2; soldier in Revolu- tion. 4. Benjamin, born September 1, 1735; died young. 5. Damaris, born January 7, 1737, died young. 6. Benjamin, born Sep- tember 29, 1738. 7. Colonel Jonathan Priest, born January 14, 1740, at Leominster; was in the Revolution. 8. Colonel Elisha (twin), born October 18, 1742. 9. Elizabeth (twin), born October 18, 1742. 10. Damaris, born May 21, 1746; married April 3, 1765, Jona- than Carter; she died July 6, 1820. II. Gen- eral Philemon, born October 29, 1748. 12. Abijah, born June 25, 1751; mentioned be- low. 13. Anna, born 1755; married June 19, 1775, John Carter, of Leominster.
(V) Abijah Whitcomb, son of Captain Joseph Whitcomb (4), was born June 25, 175I, at Leominster, Massachusetts, and moved with the family to Swanzey, New Hampshire. He built a saw and grist mill on the west side of the river at West Swanzey, and later with his brother Philemon built a saw mill at what is now Spragueville, New Hampshire. He was a soldier in the Revo- lution and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, and served eight months and a half in the army at Cambridge in 1775. He was a
pensioner late in life. He was in Captain Jonathan Whitcomb's company, Colonel Reed's regiment. Four, of his brothers had commissions in the army, while Abijah, the youngest, was a private. His brother, Cap- tain Jonathan, who commanded the company in which Abijah was, was entertaining some visitors at Cambridge, and without ceremony ordered Abijah to fetch some rum. He felt slighted at not being introduced to the visit- ors, and so, it is said, bawled out: "Which will you have, Brother Jonathan, Old Eng- land or New England?" The five brothers settled in Swanzey, and of this line comes the character made famous on the stage as Joshua Whitcomb. In 1840 Abijah was liv- ing with Joseph Whitcomb, Swanzey. He mar- ried first, November 6, 1786, Mary Seaver, born November 8, 1764, died August 25, 1789, daughter of Shubal Seaver. Abijah married second, February 6, 1791, Susanna Warner, born August 19, 1766, died December IO, 1825, daughter of Daniel Warner. Abijah died May 17, 1847. Children: I. Abijah, born October 25, 1791; married November 24, 1815, Susanna Graves, born 1790, died November, 1845, daughter of Elijah Graves; he died October 10, 1872; children: i. Caro- line Maria, born January 7, 1818, died April 29, 1867; ii. Benjamin Franklin, born Sep- tember 7, 1820. 2. Joseph, born January 31, 1800, mentioned below. 3. Susanna, born January 4, 1807; married William Read.
(VI) Joseph Whitcomb, son of Abijah Whitcomb (5), was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, January 31, 1800, and died May 8, 1842. He married Betsey Page, who was born in Rupert, Vermont, in 1799, and died August 9, 1873. Their children, all born at Swanzey: I. Chestina, born April 21, 1829; resides in Toronto, Canada; married Septem- ber 23, 1853, James Elbridge Underwood, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. 2. Joseph Page, born April 29, 1831; resides in Keene, New Hampshire; married Mary Elizabeth Good- now; children: i. Alice Mary, born February 7, 1856; married November, 1886, Marshall W. Nims, of Concord, New Hampshire; ii. Carrie Elizabeth, born January 5, 1862; teacher at Keene (New Hampshire), high school. 3. Irvine Abijah, born April 9, 1839; mentioned below.
(VII) Irvine Abijah Whitcomb, son of Joseph Whitcomb (6), born at Swanzey, New Hampshire, April 9, 1839. He was educated at the district school in old No. 5, and at Mt. Caesar Academy at Swanzey Centre, from which he was graduated at the age of sixteen.
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He was familiar with hard work, like most boys of his day, and at the completion of his schooling went to work in the pail factory in his native town. In a few years he left the mill and opened a stationery store in Law- rence, Massachusetts, where for some years he was very successful. Disaster finally com- ing upon him through no fault of his, he was obliged to settle with his creditors as best he could, and wind up the business. His char- acter is well shown by the fact that he later paid all these debts with interest, a form of honesty that is by no means common in these times. He then accepted a position as travel- ing agent for the Boston, Concord & Mon- treal railroad, going south as far as Balti- more, west as far as St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo. The six years he spent in this position made him thoroughly familiar with the railroad business, and re- vealed to him its possibilities. He was forty years old when he began the life work that made his name known throughout the civil- ized world. He formed a partnership with Walter Raymond. In 1879 Raymond &
Whitcomb put into successful operation their plans to manage railroad excursions in the United States. These trips proving suc- cessful, they were gradually extended until they reached the Pacific coast and beyond, and finally the Raymond & Whitcomb ex- cursions became known all over the world. The first excursion to California from the east was in the spring of 1881. The party consisted of two hundred and eighty-four per- sons, and the train was divided in two sec- tions. Before this, however, Raymond & Whitcomb had made trips to Washington, the White Mountains, Montreal, Quebec, Niagara Falls, etc. In 1882 the firm sent out five trains each carrying a hundred or more passengers. The business greatly increased from year to year, and new routes were se- lected. The first winter excursion covered a period of seven months, carrying sixty pas- sengers; the second numbered one hundred and thirty-eight, and the third over four hun- dred.
The business was incorporated in the state of Maine in 1900, under the name of Ray- mond & Whitcomb Company, Mr. Raymond being the first president, and Mr. Whitcomb, general manager and treasurer of the com- pany. In 1903 or 1904 Mr. Whitcomb was made president, and retained that position, as well as that of treasurer, until his death. The company has offices at 25 Union Square, New York; 1005 Chestnut street, Philadelphia;
Park Building, Fifth avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 133 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. The Agencies: Union Ticket Of- fice, 377 Main street, Buffalo, New York; New York Central City Ticket Office, Uni- versity Block, Syracuse, New York; 20 State street, Rochester, New York; 64 North Pearl street, Albany, New York; 33 Seneca street, Geneva, New York; 385 Main street, Wor- cester, Massachusetts; 404 Main street, Springfield, Massachusetts; 216 West Fourth street, Los Angeles, California; San Francis- co, California; 132 Third street, Portland, Oregon; 20 Cockspur street, S. W. London; 14 Hare street, Calcutta; 59 Hornby Row, Bombay, India. Besides these mentioned, there are correspondents in Paris and Lon- London, and all other agents of the Com- pagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits and the Trans-Siberian Railway throughout Europe. Besides organizing and managing personally conducted tours, the company makes a business of providing the ordering of cars for family and other parties anywhere in the world, selling foreign exchange, pro- viding letters of credit, travelers' checks, bankers' money orders to all parts of the world. The company sells railroad and steamship tickets at regular rates to all points, and has as authorized agents from Boston, the Boston & Albany, the Boston & Maine, the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford, including the steamship lines; from New York, the New York Central & Hudson River, West Shore, Baltimore & Ohio, Le- high Valley, Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Erie; from Philadelphia, the Baltimore & Ohio, Philadelphia & Reading; also the United Railways of Havana, all the principal lake and river steamship lines, coastwise lines of steamers to points in Maine and the maritime provinces, the Chesapeake Bay ports, the South, the West Indies, Porto Rico, South America, Alaska, also all trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific steamship lines.
These excursions were not managed solely to save money, but to make traveling more comfortable and freer from those petty details that are so annoying to many people. Ladies and those unaccustomed to travel were taken in charge and cared for in such a satisfactory manner that these excursions soon acquired a popularity that has persisted to the present day. They catered to the best classes in the community. They gained their confidence and patronage, and it was their constant aim to give their patrons a little more than they promised, never anything short of what was
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stated in their announcements, and many can bear witness to their faithfulness in living up to this standard. Much of this excellent re- sult was due to the arduous and intelligent effort of Mr. Whitcomb, and it was largely through his great energy, perseverance and tact that he was enabled to place this enter- prise upon its successful foundation. The business involved an infinite amount of de- tail. Mr. Whitcomb knew the railroads, their officers, managers and conductors, times of moving trains, connections to be made, places for stop-overs, the names of the parlor and sleeping cars, the hotels and eating houses and their owners and managers, carriage men and stage proprietors, in fact every one and everything having to do with his business, to which his great energy was entirely devoted. Mr. Whitcomb was the pioneer in this par- ticular branch of industry in this country. His energy, his honesty, his reliability, his ability to accomplish results, his loyalty to his friends and to the public, his generosity, and his great humanity, all go to the formation of that high character which his friends and ac- quaintances will always associate with his memory.
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