Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 115

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 115

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27, 1864, married, May 12, 1886, Henry Hornblower, of Arlington, Massachusetts, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, June 8, 1863, son of Edward T. and Isabel (Whiting) Hornblower, of Arlington. Mr. Hornblower is of the banking firm of Hornblower & Weeks, Boston, New York, and other cities. Children, all born in Arlington: i. Ruth, born April 18, 1887, student at Vassar; ii. Helen, born March 25, 1889, student at Vassar; iii. Ralph, born February 26, 1891, student at Harvard University. 3. Cyrus, Jr., born June 26, 1867, died March 14, 1875. 4. William Blake, born July 15, 1869, mentioned below. 5. Charles Adams, born August 24, 1871, died February 1, 1875.

(VIII) William Blake Wood, son of Cyrus Wood (7), was born at Arlington, Massachu- setts, July 15, 1869. He received his educa- tion in the Arlington public schools, gradu- ating from the Cotting high school at seven- teen years of age. During the summer vaca- tions he worked under the tuition of his father in the mechanical department of the ice tool manufacture. After his graduation from the high school he entered the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology at Boston, where he took a course of mechanical engineering of one year, at the expiration of which time, owing to his father's impaired health, he left his studies and entered the machine depart- ment of his father's factory, (Wm. T. Wood & Co.), serving for a time in the forge shop. At the expiration of three years his father's health was broken, and he took the position of manager of the mechanical department of the plant, having previously been given one half of his father's interest in the business, and he continued as such until his father's death, July 21, 1896, when he became asso- ciate partner with his father's partner, Will- iam E. Wood, under the old firm name of Wm. T. Wood & Co. The partnership of the two cousins continued until February 1, 1905, when the business was merged into the Gif- ford Wood Company, manufacturers of ice elevating machinery and ice tools, with Will- iam E. Wood, president; Malcom Gifford, vice-president ; Arthur Gifford, secretary and treasurer ; William B. Wood, general super- intendent,-a corporation under New York laws-, the Wood cousins retaining their homes at Arlington, and the Gifford brothers continuing in charge of the foundry and ma- chine.shop at Hudson, N. Y., with the general office at that place.

Mr. Wood devotes his entire time to the interests of the factory, but owing to his im-

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paired hearing is not active in society. He quietly enjoys the pleasures of his home. He and his wife are members of the Arlington First Baptist Church, he having joined at an early age; he has served the society as treas- urer and collector, and at the present time is serving as auditor. He is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the Republi- can Club of Boston; Arlington Boat Club ; Massachusetts Ice Dealers' Association and similar organizations in Connecticut, Vermont, New York and Iowa; the Middle States Ice Producers' Association; Western Ice Manu- facturers' Association, and the Southern Ice Exchange. He is a director of the Gifford Wood Company.

William B. Wood married, December 3, 1891, Lillie Wright Knowles, born October 24, 1869, died at Arlington, Massachusetts, March 22, 1893, daughter of Alfred H. and Sarah (Mayo) Knowles. Alfred Knowles is a plumber and steam fitter, a civil war veteran, having been a member of Company F, Twen- ty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.

Children of William B. and Lillie W. (Knowles) Wood, all born in Arlington : I. Philip, born March 2, 1893. Mr. Wood mar- ried (second), December 12, 1894, Mabel Florence Adams of Arlington, born at Nashua, New Hampshire, March 7, 1873, daughter of Prescott Augustus and Adeline Phebe (Hills) Adams. Prescott A. Adams was formerly a railroad man. Children 2. Rosamond, born February 9, 1896. 3. Win- throp Adams, October 24, 1897. 4. Elizabeth, December 15, 1902.

BLAKE Many years since the late H. G. Somerby, Esq., made extended investigations in England, and the results of his search were published in 1881, by W. H. Whitmore, Esq., under the title "A Record of the Blakes of Somerset- shire, England, especially in the line of Wil- liam Blake, of Dorchester, Mass., &c." Mr. Somerby endeavored to show an unbroken line running back to the year 1347, locating the family first in Wiltshire, and subsequently at Over Stowey in Somersetshire, and gave many interesting items about the various fam- ilies. While perhaps a large portion of these statements may be correct, all need to be veri- fied before being fully accepted by us; as to true pedigree, those who are especially in- terested in these problems are referred to the "Genealogy of the Blake family," under the title, "Increase Blake, his Ancestors and De- scendants," and also to an article published by

Francis E. Blake, in the "New England His- torical and Genealogical Register" for Janu- ary, 1891. For the benefit of those who can- not consult the publications mentioned before, we give a few items relating to the Over Stowey branches of this ancient family.

Humphrey Blake, in the early part of the sixteenth century, is found in Somersetshire. He became lord of the manor of Plainfield, in the parish of Over Stowey. The manor house was standing until recent years, a portion of it evidently as originally built. Humphrey Blake died in 1558. By his wife Agnes he had seven children. The second son Robert was grandfather of the renowned Admiral Blake; the eldest son John Blake, born 1521, succeed- ed to the manor of Plainfield. His wife was Jane and they had seven children.

William Blake, eldest son of John, by the will of his father, was bequeathed lands in Over Stowey, Bishops Lydiard, and elsewhere. No subsequent trace of him is found upon the parish registers, and he is the miel who is supposed to have settled in Pitminster, Eng- land. The foregoing references were secured by the late Rev. Charles M. Blake, A. S. A., and to him is due the credit for what informa- tion has been disclosed concerning the early ancestry of this family.

(I) William Blake, of Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, son of William Blake, of Pitminster, county Somerset, England, baptized there July 10, 1594, died at Dorchester, Massachu- setts, October 25, 1663. Married, at Pitmins- ter, September 23, 1617, Mrs. Agnes Band, who died at Dorchester, Massachusetts, July 22, 1678. The maiden name of his wife is not certainly known, and there is no authority for the statement that he came to this country in 1630 in the ship "Mary and John." It is believed that he came to New England in the fall of 1635 or early in 1636, and remained at Dorchester or Roxbury while the plan of set- tlement of the country about the Connecticut river was being considered. Whether he went to Springfield in 1636 is not settled, but it is sure that he soon returned if he went to Springfield to Dorchester, where he spent the remaining days of his life, as one of its prom- inent and leading citizens. In 1656 he was elected to the important office of town clerk, and at the same time was chosen clerk of the writs for the county of Suffolk. His great- grandson recorded in his "Annals of Dor- chester" under date of 1663 the quaint entry. regarding his great-grandfather : "This year Died Mr. William Blake who had been Clerk of ye Writs for ye County of Suffolk, and

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Recorder for ye Town near eight years. He was also Clerk of ye Training band. He died ye 25th of ye 8th mo. 1663, in ye 69th Year of his Age." He made a gift to the town for the repairing of the burying ground, as a be- quest in his will provided the work should be done within a year after his decease. His will was dated September 3, 1661, and pro- bated January 28, 1664. Children : I. John, baptized at Pitminster, England, August 30, 1618, died at Boston, Massachusetts, January 25, 1688-89; married, August 16, 1654, Mrs. Mary (Souther) Shaw, who died January 7, 1693-94. 2. Anne, baptized at Pitminster, England, August 30, 1618, married (first) Jacob Leager, of Boston, Massachusetts, who died February 24, 1662-63; married (second) Hallowell; she died July 12, 1681. 3. William, baptized at Pitminster, England, September 6, 1620, died at Milton, Massachusetts, Septem- ber 3, 1703; married (first) Anna -; married (second), November 22, 1693, Mrs. Hannah (Tolman) Lyon, who died at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, August 4, 1729. 4. James, see forward. 5. Edward, died at Mil- ton, Massachusetts,' September 3, 1692; mar- ried Patience Poke, who died August II, 1690.

(II) James Blake, son of William Blake (I), baptized at Pitminster, county Somerset, England, April 27, 1624, died June 28, 1700. Married (first), about 1651, Elizabeth Clapp, who died at Dorchester, Massachusetts, Jan- uary 16, 1693-94, in the sixty-first year of her age, daughter of Deacon Edward and Pru- dence (Clap) Clapp, of Dorchester, Massa-

chusetts. Married (second), at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, September 17, 1695, Elizabeth (Smith) Hunt, widow of Peter Hunt, and daughter of Henry and Judith Smith. He lived in the north part of Dorchester in a house so good that in 1669 the town voted to build one for its minister like it. This house was retained in his family until 1825, and subsequently remained for many years in the possession of some one else. When ordered re- moved in 1895 by the city the Dorchester His- torical Society acquired possession of it and fitted it up for its uses. Its present location is Richardson Park; pictures of this house are plenty in the local histories of this section. Mr. Blake was a busy man; for thirteen years served as selectman, constable, deputy, re- corder, sergeant, deacon, ruling elder for many years, besides numerous other offices. He was an excellent penman, and his judgment and capacity were greatly respected by his neigh- bors. An account of his life has been pre-

served in which are memoranda now of great value relating to his family and townsmen, and a variety of items of interest to the pres- ent generations, but much of it being written in cipher is difficult of translation. Children : I. James, see forward. 2. John, born March 16, 1656-57, died March 2, 1718; married Han- nah , who married (second), January 14, 1719-20, Hopestill Humphrey, died May 16, 1729. 3. Elizabeth, born October 3, 1658, died June 5, 1700; married Jeremiah Fuller. 4. Jonathan, born July 12, 1660, died Novem- ber 10, 1660. 5. Sarah, born February 28, 1665, died May 22, 1666. 6. Joseph, born August 27, 1667, died February 1, 1738-39 ; married Mehitable Bird, who died April 15, 1751.

(III) James Blake, son of James Blake (2), born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, August 15, 1652, died October 22, 1732, aged eighty years. Married (first), February 6, 1681, Hannah Macey, who died June 1, 1683, aged twenty- three years, daughter of George and Hannah Macey, of Taunton, Massachusetts. Married (second), July 8, 1684, Ruth Bachellor, born at Hampton, New Hampshire, May 9, 1662, died at Dorchester, January II, 1752, aged ninety years, daughter of Nathaniel and De- borah (Smith) Bachellor. His house was the second house built, about the year 1681, on the peninsula now known as South Boston. It was very near the southeast corner of Broad- way and P street. It was followed by a new one about 1721, which was almost entirely de- stroyed by the British troops in a raid on Feb- ruary 13, 1776. Soon after the Revolution another house was built near this spot and re- mained until 1835, when the larger house now standing on the spot was erected. This es- tate remained in the possession of the Blake family until 1866. Mr. Blake's attention was given to farming, and he was occasionally elected to some office. His property was di- vided between his two sons. His funeral, from a bill of expense, was an unusual affair. His epitaph at Dorchester after giving his name and age states : "He was a member in full communion with ye Church of Christ in Dor- chester above 55 years, and a Deacon of ye same Church above 23 years." Children, all by second wife, were: 1. Hannah, born Sep- tember 16, 1685, died October 2, 1686. 2. James, born April 29, 1688. died December 4, 1750; married Wait Simpson, who died May 22, 1753. 3. Increase, born June 8, 1699, see forward.

(IV) Increase Blake, son of James Blake (3), born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, June

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8, 1699, died Married, at Boston, Massachusetts, July 23, 1724, Anne Gray, born at Boston, March 16, 1704-05, died at Boston, June 20, 1751, daughter of Edward and Susanna (Harrison) Gray, the former of whom was a celebrated rope maker in Boston, and accumulated a large property. Anne Gray was a sister of Harrison Gray, treasurer of the Province. The Rev. Ellis Gray, pastor of the Second Church in Boston, was another brother, and for this reason the names of Ellis and Harrison Gray have been retained among the descendants in this group of the Blake family to the present time. Mr. Blake was a tin slate worker, a business which seems to be general in his family. He was not much in public life. In 1740 he was an innholder on Merchants Row, and for a series of years held the office of sealer of weights and measures. He leased of the town of Boston one of the shops at the town dock, in 1737, and also again in 1744. His house in the neighborhood of Milk and Batterymarch streets was destroyed in the great fire of March, 1760. James Blake, only brother of Mr. Blake, was an annalist. Children: I. Ann, born May 8, 1725, married, November 6, 1746, Thomas An- drews, who died in Boston, June 2, 1752, aged thirty-five years. 2. Increase, born October 28, 1726, died at Worcester, Massachusetts, February 28, 1795 ; married (first), April 18, 1754, Anne Crafts, who died March 21, 1762, aged twenty-eight years; married (second), December 7, 1762, Elizabeth Bridge, who died at Worcester, November 22, 1792, aged sixty- one years. 3. Edward, born July 9, 1728, died about 1792; married, October 24, 1751, Re- becca Hallowell, who died July 27, 1821, aged ninety years. 4. James, born March 20, 1730, living in 1774. 5. Harrison, born September 10, 1731, living in 1774. 6. Milton, born Sep- tember 14, 1732, married, March 26, 1770, Dorcas Ward. 7. Hannah, born September 9, 1733, died November 10, 1815; married (pub- lished July I, 1752) Colonel Thomas Dawes, who died January 2, 1809. 8. Susannah, born October 14, 1734, married (published Septem- ber 25, 1755) Captain Caleb Prince, who died in 1763. 9. John, born June 22, 1736, died be- fore June 30, 1758; married, November 28, 1757, Anne Clarage. 10. Thomas, born Jan- uary 14, 1737-38. II. Benjamin, see forward. 12. Joseph, born July 5, 1740, died September 14, 1817; married, December 3, 1761, Sarah Dawes, who died February, 1774. 13. Na- thaniel, born September 28, 1741, died Octo- ber 15, 1741. 14. Ellis Gray, born September 9, 1743. died December, 1793 ; married, at Wor-

cester, August 23, 1778, Jane Cook. 15. Mary, born August 17, 1745, married, at Boston, March 1, 1770, Simon Whipple. 16. Sarah, born August 18, 1746, married Josiah Bach- elder, of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

(V) Benjamin Blake, son of Increase Blake (4), born at Boston, Massachusetts, May 9, 1739, died October 12, 1809. Married, at Boston, August 17, 1763, Elizabeth Harris, who died September 17, 1813, aged seventy- seven years. Benjamin Blake resided at Bos- ton. Children : I. Ann, born April 12, 1764, died October 17, 1839; married, September 30, 1787, Edward Oliver, of Boston, who died February 24, 1830. 2. Increase, born July 3, 1765, died in Boston, July 10, 1807; married Mary Jenkins, of Bristol, England, who died in Boston, January 4, 1808. 3. Elizabeth, born July 3, 1765, died October 3, 1765. 4. Eliza- beth, born July 10, 1766, died March, 1801 ; married, August 6, 1789, Captain William Williams, who died at Calcutta, 1808. 5. Ellis Gray, born May 10, 1768, died at Petersburg, Virginia, January 26, 1816; married Mary Taylor, who died June 3, 1811, daughter of Colonel Henry Taylor, of Southampton coun- ty, Virginia. 6. Nathaniel, born April 2, 1770, see forward. 7. Ebenezer, born June 24, 1772, died February 2, 1773. 8. Ebenezer, born October 23, 1773, died August, 1776.

(VI) Nathaniel Blake, son of Benjamin Blake (5), born at Boston, Massachusetts, April 2, 1770, died there June 27, 1803, aged thirty-three years. Married, February 25, 1794, Lucy Parker, born 1772, died in Boston, November 3, 1806, aged thirty-four years, daughter of Nathan and Sally Parker, of Hali- fax, Nova Scotia. Nathaniel Blake was a sail- maker and lived at Liberty square, Boston. Children : I. Nathaniel, born January 9, 1795, died at Watertown, Massachusetts, March 9, 1869; married, December 8, 1822, Bridget Shelton, who died at Boston, July 4, 1830. 2. Ellis Gray, born March 21, 1796, see forward. 3. Joseph, born April 4, 1797. 4. Sophia M., born June 30, 1798, died 1803. 5. John Adams, born September 15, 1800, died 1803. 6. Ann Maria, born March 17, 1803, died 1803.

(VII) Ellis Gray Blake, son of Nathaniel and Lucy (Parker) Blake, born March 21, 1796, in Boston ; married first, in Boston, May 31, 1818, Sarah Blake Wiswall, daughter of Oliver and Hannah (Blake) Wiswall, born June, 1802, died in Boston, April 16, 1821, aged eighteen years ten months ; married sec- ond, in Boston, November 15, 1821, Ann E. Wyman, daughter of Samuel and Mary P. Wyman, born November 9, 1804, in Cam-

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bridge, died June 26, 1881, in Arlington. El- lis G. Blake died in West Cambridge (Arling- ton) June 25, 1841. Mr. Blake as a boy went to Jonathan Snelling's school, in Boston, ac. cording to his own account, written perhaps in 1809: "the last of my writing in Boston previous to my departure from hence for Petersburg in Virginia, where I had only one quarter more schooling, and that at the ex- pense of my uncle; and after whom I was named." After learning his trade as a printer in Petersburg, Virginia, he removed to Rich- mond, in 1815, and worked in the office of the Richmond Daily Compiler and in the office of the Virginia Argus. Later he was in business there with a partner, and they lost everything in the great Richmond fire. Mr. Blake was a printer in Boston for the greater part of his life (being on Poplar street in 1825), and was also for many years marine reporter for the Boston Mercantile Journal, afterwards Boston Journal during the period when it was conducted by Captain Sleeper. He was a member of the Howard Benevolent Society, and his certificate of membership, issued 1818, is preserved. He was also a member of the "Winslow Blues," a military company of Bos- ton. He was also connected with the Boston City Guards, and served so long and so faith- fully that in 1828 they presented him with a silver cup, which is now in possession of his grandson, Ellis G. Blake, at Lake Helen, Florida. The musket, with which he trained in the Boston City Guards, is in possession of his son, Captain Stephen P. Blake, at Bis- cayne, Florida. The musket is of French manufacture, inscribed on the lock "Manu- facture De Charlotteville," and is one which was brought over with the French fleet that came to help the American colonists during the revolutionary war. He was a member of the Boston Fire Department, and was hoseman with Engine No. 9. He was clerk of the fire department for many years, and the records are still preserved at the Boston city clerk's office. His home was in West Cambridge until 1835, in the old Wyman house now standing on Massachusetts avenue, No. 334. In 1835 he moved to Lexington in order to give his children the benefit of instruction in the Lexington Academy. The academy closed in the fall of 1837, and in the spring of 1838 he moved back to West Cambridge, where he lived in a house, now gone, which stood where Palmer street now joins Massachusetts ave- nue, and in which house he died.

He was of slight build, very active, and possessed of great endurance. He was a very

rapid walker, and frequently would walk from the Boston office to his home in one hour. There was no omnibus line at that time. Even when living in Lexington he would walk from Boston to that place once or twice every week. after his work was done, and that would usually be at a late hour.

Mr. John D. Freeman, born in Boston, January 22, 1800, and who died in Arlington, March 16, 1893, was a printer by trade and worked on the New England Palladium, the Boston Journal, and other papers. He knew Mr. Blake, and he frequently told his daugh- ter Susan and her husband, William E. Wood, of Mr. Blake's remarkable agility in getting the latest ship news to the Portland stage by running after it long after it had left its start- ing-point in Boston. He also testified to his cheerfulness of disposition, his tendency to be humorous, and to his excellent conversa- tional powers. Nathan Robbins of West Cambridge, born September 7, 1803, died September 5, 1888, and who was president of Faneuil Hall National Bank of Boston for a long period of years the latter part of his life, was then in business in Boston, and said that Mr. Blake was the best informed man on all topics he had ever met. He was singularly unselfish and was greatly beloved by his ac- quaintances, always forward in doing acts of kindness and accommodation. He was a mem- ber of the Baptist church, and exerted a strong religious influence. His beautiful handwrit- ing was an indication of his general neatness and sense of order. His tendency to work to the limit of endurance caused his last illness, typhoid fever, to get too great a hold on his constitution, and after a sickness of five days he died at the age of forty-five years. Child by first marriage : i. Oliver Wiswall, born Sep- tember 25, 1819, at Boston ; married August 17, 1842, Sarah J. Warren. Children by sec- ond marriage, all born in West Cambridge, except Harriet : ii. Stephen Palmer, born July 30, 1882: married, October 29, 1856, Abby T. Wood. iii. Mary Ann, born January 7, 1825; married, October, 1848, Henry Hart, of Boston, who died January 31, 1856. She died November, 1849. No children. iv. Sophia Matilda, born September 7. 1827 : mar-

ried, October 17, 1850, William T. Wood. v.

Ebenezer Nelson, born February 9, 1831 ; married September 15, 1858, Annie E. Whit- ten. vi. Martha Russell. born August 18, 1833; married, October 28, 1855, George E. Richardson. vii. Harriet Morse, born January 17. 1837, at Lexington ; married, August 20, 1857, Cyrus Wood. viii. Sarah Prescott, born

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November 9, 1839; married November 5, 1863, John S. Crosby.

(VIII) Stephen Palmer Blake, first son of Ellis Gray Blake, who was born March 21, 1796, and Ann (Wyman) Blake, who was born November 9, 1804, was born July 30, 1822, at West Cambridge, Massachusetts. His early education was obtained in West Cam- bridge schools. In 1835 his father moved to Lexington in order to give his children the benefit of study at the Lexington Academy where Stephen attended with his older half- brother, Oliver, and the three next youngest children. This academy closed in the fall of 1837 and they attended the North district school that winter. In the spring of 1838 the family returned to West Cambridge. Through acquaintance with Captain John F. Bowers, who attended the Baptist church in Lexington with the Blake family, Stephen was allowed in 1838 to sail with him as cabin-boy, and a sea- faring life began which continued till June, 1871. The first voyage in the brig "Mars," from Boston, July 18, 1838, via Richmond, Virginia, to Antwerp, Liverpool, thence to Mobile and to New York, occupied eleven months. The second mate on this voyage, Samuel Sparks, is mentioned in Richard H. Dana's widely-read book "Two Years Before the Mast." Stephen's ardor for the sea was not dampened by the experiences of this first long voyage, for it was followed by three more with Captain Bowers, who died at sea on the fourth of these voyages. Faithful and prompt atten- tion to duty as it presented itself from day to day, and a close observance of the excellent principles taught by his family and by Captain Bowers, who was a God-fearing man and one who never failed to observe Sunday worship on board ship, caused Stephen to rapidly ad- vance in his career. A letter which his father wrote late in the night before the day he sailed on his first voyage has been carried by him from that day to this. From ordinary seaman to second mate and first mate, progress was rapid, for he had no inclination to be content with the average sailor's life. Navigation was carefully studied under the guidance of friend- ly officers. It was with the instruments of Captain Reuben Hopkins, of West Cambridge, that he learned to take observations of the sun. Captain Gorham P. Low of Gloucester, Massachusetts, of the "Moscow," on a voyage to Sumatra instructed him how to "work out time" at sea. In January, 1849, as mate of the brig "Pauline," a small vessel of 149 tons, Captain Leonard French, master, a perilous and long voyage was taken via Cape Horn

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Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 115

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 912