USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 21
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Jones was admitted a freeman April 18, 1690; was a captain; one of the original members and the first deacon of the church in Weston, to which office he was elected January 4, 1709- 10. About 1690 the three portions of Water- town (Watertown, Waltham, and Weston) were designated as the precincts of Captain Bond's company, of Captain Garfield's com- pany, and of Lieutenant Jones' company. He was a selectman of Watertown, 1685-1687, 1690, 1702, 1709, and after 1712 of Weston. He was a prominent and influential citizen, and among his descendants are to be found many who have been prominent in state, church and military service. Children: I. Lydia, born August 25, 1668; married, Janu- ary 2, 1687-8, Nathaniel Coolidge, Jr. 2. Josiah, born October 20, 1670; married Abi- gail Barnes. 3. Mary, born December 10, 1672, married, at Hannah, July 5, 1693, John Brewer, of Sudbury. 4. Nathaniel, born De- cember 31, 1674, married first, Mary , married second Flagg;' and died at
Falmouth ( Portland), Maine, November, 1745. 5. Samuel, born July 9, 1677; see for- ward. 6. James, born September 4, 1679; married Sarah Moore, of Sudbury ; died Sep- tember 14, 1770, aged ninety-one years. 7. Sarah, born February 6, 1681 ; married, May 20, 1704, John Warren, and died July 9, 1705. 8. Anna, born June 28, 1684, married Deacon John Mixer, and died in 1736. 9 John, born March 19, 1666-7 ; married December 8, 1715, Mehitable Garfield, who died February 13, 1642; he died December 8, 1773, aged eighty- seven years. IO. Isaac, baptized May 25, 1690, removed to Bolton, Connecticut.
(III) Ensign Samuel Jones, son of Captain Josiah Jones (2), born at Watertown, west precinct, now Weston, July 9, 1677, died there, January 25, 1717-18; married, May 9, 1700, Mary Woolson, born November 28, 1673, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Hyde) Wool- son, of Newton ; she married second, October I, 1724, Major Francis Fulham, of Weston, and died December 2, 1757, aged eighty-four years. Children : I. Samuel, born May 13, 1706, married, October 29, 1730, Tabitha Hobbs : she married second, May 29, 1745, William Munroe, of Lexington. 2. Moses, born June 20, 1709, see forward. 3. Mary, died May 7, 1716.
(IV) Moses Jones, son of Ensign Samuel Jones (3), born at Watertown, west precinct, June 20, 1709, died at Weston, July 21, 1755, married July 20, 1737, Hannah Bemis, of Watertown, who died December 27, 1798, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Peirce)
Bemis. Her father, Joseph Bemis, who died at Waltham, June 9, 1741, in his will dated May 4, 1738, says : "I give and bequeath unto my daughter Hannah Jones the sum of ten pounds to be paid within four years next after my wife's decease." Children : I. Moses, born October 9, 1737. 2. Joseph, born December 4, 1739. 3. Solomon, born April 20, 1742, see forward. 4. Mary, born December 23, 1744. 5. Hannah, born September 23, 1747. 6. Phineas, born March 29, 1749-50.
(V) Solomon Jones, son of Moses Jones (4), born at Weston, April 20, 1742, died at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, February 18, 1806 ; married, March 14, 1764, Beulah Strat- ton, born at Weston, January 17, 1744, died at Washington, New Hampshire, June 28, 1832, daughter of Jonathan and Dinah (Bemis) Stratton. Solomon Jones was a soldier in the French and Indian war in 1759, and served also in the Revolutionary war. He removed from Weston to Hillsborough, New Hamp- shire, about the year 1800. Children: I. Moses, born June 20, 1764, see forward. 2. Lydia, baptized August 24, 1766. 3. Sally, baptized March 27, 1768. 4. Solomon, bap- tized June 6, 1773. 5. Joseph, baptized June 6, 1773.
(VI) Moses Jones, son of Solomon Jones (5), born at Weston, June 20, and baptized October 22, 1764, died at Washington, New Hampshire, May 7, 1840; married first, at Weston, May 12, 1786, Hepzibah Dilloway, who died at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, January, 1801; married second, February 9, 1802, Catherine Graves, born at Washington, New Hampshire, 'September 29, 1784, died there. January 21, 1865, daughter of William and Lucy (Wheeler) Graves. Directly after his first marriage Mr. Jones removed to Hills- borough and settled on Bible Hill. Later he removed to the farm now known as the "Ten- ney Place," and about 1817 he removed to Washington. Children by first wife: I. Moses, born at Hillsborough, August 10, 1787. 2. Charles, born at Hillsborough, September 22, 1789, see forward. 3. William, born at Hillsborough, October, 1791. 4. Isaac, born at Hillsborough, January 7, 1795. 5. Mary D., born at Hillsborough, June 10, 1797, married, March 24, 1824, Alfred Gordon, of Washing- ton, New Hampshire. 6. Martha, born at Hillsborough, April , 13, 1799, married Asa Kimball, of Henniker, New Hampshire. Chil- dren by second wife: 7. Solomon E., born at Hillsborough, September 13, 1803; married, June 9, 1831, Harriet L. Smith, of Sharon, Massachusetts. 8. Simon W., born at Hills-
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borough, February 6, 1805; married, June 4, 1828, Eliza G. Newman, of Washington. 9. Nathaniel G., born at Hillsborough, May 20, 1806, married first, December 21, 1826, Asenath Graves, of Washington, who died February 9, 1843; and married second, June 7, 1843, Elvira Gage, of Wilton, New Hamp- shire. 10. Hiram, born at Hillsborough, May 17, 1808, married Diadema Rand. II. Cath- erine M., born at Hillsborough, February 22, 1814, married first, November 7, 1834, Gilman Spaulding, of Lempster, New Hampshire; and married second, October 19, 1848, Stephen F. Farrar, of Washington, New Hampshire. 12. Amos B., born at Hillsborough, May 7, 1815, married, April, 1841, Clarissa Millard, of Connecticut. 13. Eliza A., born at Washing- ton, March 15, 1820, married Samuel Gage, of Washington; she died there, December 25, I869.
(VII) Charles Jones, son of Moses Jones (6), born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, September 22, 1789, died there, December 12, 1872; married, 1809, Abigail Severns. She died at Hillsborough, October 4, 1876. Mr. Jones resided a short time at Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, and in 1812 removed to Washington, New Hampshire. Children: I. Abigail S., born at Roxbury, March 26, 1810; married, April 29, 1830, Nathaniel B. Wilson. She died at Terre Haute, Indiana, June 13, 1880, and her husband died there January 20, 1884. 2. Adaline B., born at Roxbury, June 18, 1811, married, November 25, 1829, William L. Woods. 3. Charles, born at Washington, September 12, 1812; married, September 12, 1838, Clarissa Cutler. 4. Samuel, born at Washington, March 29, 1814, died April 15, 1814. 5. Martha J., born at Wash- ington, March 23, 1815; married first, January 15, 1839, George Smith of Mil- ford, New Hampshire; and married second, January 24, 1860, Simeon Buck, of Windsor, New Hampshire. 6. Catherine M., born at Washington, September 23, 1816; married first, 1839, Sylvester Dean, of Burlington, Massachusetts ; and married second, Novem- ber 6, 1861, Henry Train, of Washington, New Hampshire. She died March 22, 1886. 7. William Franklin, born at Washington, May I, 1818, see forward. 8. Henry D., born at Washington, March 21, 1821; married Susan Nichols ; resided at Hill, New Hamp- shire, and died October 6, 1857. 9. Joanna, born at Washington, March 7, 1822, died March 14, 1822. 10. Mary D., born at Wash- ington, June 17, 1823 ; married, December 22, 1842, Henry Taylor; she died at Woburn,
Massachusetts, May 19, 1889. 11. Joseph C., born at Washington, May 25, 1825; married first, January 28, 1847, Clara H. Dow, who died at Washington, September 16, 1865; and married second, October 16, 1866, Mrs. Mary Frances (Carr) Morrill. 12. Nancy A., born at Washington, August 28, 1827; married, May 25, 1847, Gilbert H. Buzzell. 13. Eliza A., born at Washington, October 29, 1829; married, December II, 1849, Edward W. Dodge. 14. Moses G., born at Washington, December 2, 1831, died April 18, 1834.
(VIII) William Franklin Jones, son of Charles Jones (7), born at Washington, New Hampshire, May 1, 1818, died at Hillsbor- ough, New Hampshire, June 21, 1872; mar- ried April 28, 1841, Ruth A. Wheeler, born at Unity, New Hampshire, April II, 1820, died at Woburn, Massachusetts, August 19, 1901, aged eighty-one years, four months and eight days. Mr. Jones was educated in the district schools of his native town. In his early years he worked on his father's farm, and later en -. gaged in the manufacture of washboards and bobbins at Washington, and carried on a suc- cessful business until 1851, when he removed with his family to Baltimore, Maryland, and entered the fur trade, buying and selling raw furs. In 1860 he returned to Washington and settled on the farm which had been his father's, the farm containing some one hundred and fifty acres, and he also had a large sugar maple orchard. Here he carried on general farming for several years, when he sold his property and removed to Hillsborough. Chil- dren : I. Charlie Arthur, born at Washington, September 9, 1847, see forward. 2. Kate A., born at Baltimore, December 13, 1856.
(IX) Charlie Arthur Jones, son of William Franklin Jones (8), born at Washington, New Hampshire, September 9, 1847; married, at Woburn, Massachusetts, August 3, 1870, Emily Eaton Tidd, born at Woburn, July 25, 1849, daughter of Charles and Abigail (Eaton) Tidd. He spent a large part of his boyhood at Baltimore, Maryland, where he was educated in a private school, and later re- turned to Washington, where he concluded his education in the district schools. In 1867 he went to Boston and entered the employ of Lemuel A. Coolidge, grocer, as a clerk, in his store at the corner of Kingston and Beach streets ; later in the same year he became an apprentice of John Cummings, manufacturer of leather at Woburn, Massachusetts, where he remained until July 21, 1868. He then be- came bookkeeper for Alexander Ellis, grocer, of Woburn, leaving this position February 7,
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1870. He accepted subsequently a similar po- sition with J. T. Steele & Company, successors to Steele, Eaton & Company, Franklin street, Boston, which he held for about a year. He next accepted a position with Samuel Walker & Company, wholesale boot and shoe manu- facturers, Summer street, Boston, and re- mained with them until January, 1873, when he entered the employ of Palmer & Whitman, manufacturers of furniture, Charlestown street, Boston, as traveling salesman and clerk until March 1, 1888. He then accepted a po- sition in the Woburn Five Cent Savings Bank, and has remained there, serving in all the grades from assistant treasurer to president, which place he still holds. He was a director of the old First National Bank of Woburn; was connected with the Woburn Gas Light Company ; was for twenty-nine years treas- urer, and for twenty-five years clerk of the Woburn First Baptist church, a member of its standing committee, and for sixteen years a deacon. He was elected representative to the Massachusetts legislature from Woburn in 1890, and was clerk of the committee on banks and.banking. Since 1880 he has held a num- ber of town and city offices among them school committee and city auditor. He is a director of the Puritan Trust Company of Bos- ton, is on the executive board, and is (1907) acting president. He is a trustee and chair- man of the finance committee of the Newton Theological Institution; a trustee of Colby College, Waterville, Maine; and a member of its finance committee. He is a member of Mount Horeb Lodge of Masons of Woburn, of Woburn Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and of Boston Commandery, of Knights Templar, and of Massachusetts Consistory, 32nd degree, Scottish Rite Masonry. He is a member of the New Hampshire Natives Club of Boston, and is a member of Baptist Social Union, and has served as director and vice-president of that organization. Mr. Jones is a Democrat in politics, and served as a delegate to the state convention which nominated William E. Rus- sell for governor. Children: Emily, Amelia, Anna, born May ,25, 1883, died in infancy ; and Arthur Viall, born September 2, 1886, a student at Harvard College.
PECK Deacon Paul Peck, immigrant an- cestor of this family, born in coun- ty Essex, England, 1608, came to Boston in 1635 in the ship "Defense," and re- mained in Boston and vicinity until 1636, when he went with Rev. Thomas Hooker and
party to Hartford, and became one of the founders of that city and the state of Con- necticut. He was a proprietor of Hartford in 1639, and became a leading citizen. His home was on what is now Washington street not far from Trinity College site, and the lo- cality is still known among the old citizens by the name of the first settler. He was dea- con of the church from 1681 until his death, December 23, 1695. His will, dated June 25, 1695, was proved January 15, 1695-96. His inventory amounted to 536 pounds five shill- ings. He bequeathed to his wife Martha; children Paul, Joseph, Martha Cornwall, Mary Andrew, Sarah Clark, Elizabeth How; grandsons Paul and Samuel Peck; son-in- law, John Shepherd; granddaughter, Ruth Beach, and son-in-law, John Bouton. Chil- dren: I. Paul, born 1639. 2. Martha, born 1641, married, June 8, 1665, John Cornwall. 3. Elizabeth, born 1643, married
How, of Wallingford. 4. John, born Decem- ber 22, 1645. 5. Samuel, born 1647, men- tioned below. 6. Joseph, born 1650, baptized December 22, 1650. 7. Sarah, born 1653, married Thomas Clark, of Hartford. 8. Hannah, born 1656, married, May 12, 1680, John Shepherd. 9. Mary, born 1662, mar- ried John Andrew, of Hartford; died in 1752.
(II) Samuel Peck, son of Paul Peck (I), was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1647. He settled in West Hartford and lived there until his death, January 10, 1696. He mar- ried Elizabeth
(III) Samuel Peck, son of Samuel Peck (2), as born in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1672. He settled in Middletown, now the town of Berlin, Connecticut, and married, 1701, Abigail Collier, daughter of Joseph. He died December 9, 1765, and his wife October 28, 1742. Children, born at Kensington: I. Samuel, born January 6, 1701. 2. Moses, April, 1703. 3. Isaac, at Scarborough, No- vember 2, 1706. 4. Abijah, December 28, 1707. 5. Zebulon, September 1, 1712, men- tioned below. 6. Amos, at Kensington, March 5, 1715. 7. Abel, at Kensington, De- cember 28, 1717, died September 19, 1742. 8. Elisha, March II, 1720. 9. Elijah, at Lynn, July 23, 1723, married Mary Strong, daugh- ter of Hewett Strong.
(IV) Zebulon Peck, son of Samuel Peck (3), was born in Middletown, Connecticut, September 1, 1712, and died at Bristol, Con- necticut, January 13,'1795. He married, July IO, 1735; Mary Edwards, daughter of Josiah Edwards, of Easthampton, Long Island. His wife died May 23, 1790. Children: I. Abigail,
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born May 20, 1736, married Hezekiah Gridley and removed to Clinton, New York, where she died April 21, 1826. 2. Justus, Novem- ber 14, 1737. 3. Elizabeth, September 30, 1739, died November 16, 1741. 4. Mary, Au- gust 12, 1741, married Israel Fuller, July 23, 1761, and she died October II, 1785. 5. Zeb- ulon, born at Meriden, April 15, 1743. 6. Abel, at Meriden in 1745, mentioned below. 7. David, at Bristol, May 13, 1749. 8. Lament, May 8, 1751, at Farmington, now Bristol. 9. Eliza- beth, at Bristol, married, December 16, 1772, Abel Hawley; died at Clinton, New York, March 12, 1816. IO. Josiah, January 19, 1755.
(V) Abel Peck, son of Zebulon Peck (4), was born at Meriden in 1745. He was a sol- dier in the Revolution, corporal in the Sixth Company, Captain Noahdiah Hooker, from May to December, 1775, in the Second Con- necticut regiment, under General Spence, and served during the siege of Boston at Rox- bury. Part of his regiment took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was also a soldier in the Eighth Connecticut Line in the Con- tinental army, and died on his way home from Valley Forge of disease contracted in the ser- vice, January 26, 1778. He married, Febru- ary II, 1768, Abigail Gaylord, of Bristol. His widow married (second) Deacon James Wells, of Newington, September 4, 1785. Children of Abel and Abigail Peck: 1. Samuel, born January 5, 1769, mentioned below. 2. Can- dace, January 16, 1771, married Jonathan Stoddard; died 1826. 3. Abel, Jr., January 12, 1774, married Huldah Abernathy. 4. Abigail, May 13, 1776, married Timothy Steadman.
(VI) Samuel Peck, son of Abel Peck (5), born in Bristol, Connecticut, January 5, 1769, died there April 1, 1826. He was a farmer in his native town. He married there June 6, 1791, Hannah Manross, who died May 5, 1855. Children, born at Bristol: I. Sylves- ter, August 12, 1794, married, May 28, 1818, Fanny Roberts, who was born September 24, 1792; he died at West Haven, May 11, 1868; children born at West Haven: i. Lafayette, January 22, 1822, died July 18, 1850; ii. Syl- vester B., January 25, 1827, died August 27, 1828; iii. Mary Jane, February 10, 1829, mar- ried Charles N. Shumway, of Oxford, New York: iv. Angeline C., February 13, 1832, died June 21, 1856; v. Helen Sophie, July 19, 1834. 2. Emily, April 21, 1797, died April 3, 1803. 3. Angeline, May 28, 1799, married, December 23, 1824, Oren Ives. 4. Samuel, May 3, 1803, married, March 14, 1827, settled
in Virginia. 5. Emily, March 9, 1805, mar- ried, July 25, 1825, Anson Beckwith; she died July 16, 1851. 6. Abel G., January 8, 1807, mentioned below.
(VII) Abel Gaylord Peck, son of Samuel Peck (6), born at Bristol, Connecticut, Janu- ary 8, 1807, died at Arlington, Massachu- setts, November 12, 1870. After a common school education he started in early life, in Bos- ton, selling dry goods from a cart in the surrounding towns. He gradually increased
his stock until he had thirty teams on the road, peddling from house to house. About 1854 he discontinued this method and opened a store on Milk street, Boston, corner of Theatre alley, in partnership with Samuel R. Payson and his brother, William W. Peck, who later died. The firm name was A. G. Peck & Co. They dealt in dry goods, doing a wholesale business until 1858, when they sold out to Rawson, Brigham& Pratt. Mr. Peck later entered the brokerage business, dealing in commericial paper, and having an office with Alderman Gore on Kilby street. In 1864 his son William G. entered his employ and in 1869 was admitted as a partner under the firm name of A. G. Peck & Son, which con- tinued up to the decease of the senior mem- ber in 1870, since which time William G. Peck has conducted it. Mr. Peck owned one of the most beautiful and conspicuous resi- dences of Arlington, which is now standing at 74 Pleasant street, August 15, 1850, he bought of the Nathaniel Lombard estate the large tract of land on which this large man- sion was built. The old mansion house on this estate was formerly occupied by the old First Parish Church building, built in 1734, and removed to that spot in 1804. This build- ing Mr. Peck sold, the purchaser sawing it into two equal sections so that it could be stone at Watertown. His will, dated January taken to its present location on Pleasant street. Mr. Peck was a man of medium size and of quiet habits, greatly devoted to his family. He was a man of sound judgment and quick decision. He was a member of Dr. Rogers' church, Winter street, Boston, and later of the Arlington Congregational church, where he served on the standing committee and as treasurer of the society. He was a Whig, later a Republican, serving on vari- ous town committees. He was a director of the Atlantic National Bank of Boston, the Chelsea Gas Light Company, was vice-presi- dent of the Arlington Savings Bank, being one of its incorporators and trustees.
He married (first) Lydia H. Reed, at
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Stoughton, Massachusetts, November 26, 1834, who died at Boston, November 27, 1835, aged twenty years. He married (second), January 18, 1838, at Boston, Eliza Ann Boles, born October 28, 1814, at Methuen, Massa- chusetts, and died at Arlington, June 2, 1904, daughter of John and Persis Ann (Wood- bury) Boles, of Methuen. Child of the first wife: I. Lydia Morgianna, born November 17, 1835, married Dr. Henry M. Field, of Ar- lington, now of Los Angeles, California, and had three children. Children of the second wife : 2. Persis Ann, born October 17, 1838, drowned while skating on Spy Pond at Ar- lington, December 20, 1853. 3. William Gay- lord, born November 12, 1841, mentioned be- low. 4. Angeline Moore, born October 18, 1848, married, June 20, 1878, John Q. A. Brackett, governor of Massachusetts, and had four children. 5. John Clifford, born 1851, died in infancy.
(VII) William Gaylord Peck, son of Abel Gaylord Peck (6), was born at Boston, Massa- chusetts, November 12, 1841. He entered the primary department of the Chauncy Hall school, attending until he was ten years of age, when he removed with his parents to Arlington where he attended the public school until he was about fourteen year's of age. In 1856 he entered Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, gradu- ating in 1860, and entering Yale, graduating in 1864 with a degree of A. B. He later re- ceived a degree of A. M. Soon after leaving college he entered his father's employ, being taken into partnership with him in the brokerage business in 1868. Since his fa- ther's death in 1870 he has conducted the business himself. After the great Boston fire in 1872 he was forced to secure new quarters at Post Office square, where he remained till 1898, then removing to 85 Water street, where he conducts a brokerage business chiefly in mortgage loans and fire insurance. Mr. Peck has, as one of the heirs, recently opened the property of his father into a new residential section known as Lombard road. The estate has been divided into building lots bordering on Spy pond and is valuable prop- erty in the best section of Arlington. In 1872 was elected trustee of the Arlington Five Cents Savings Bank; 1873 a member of the investment committee; 1883 chosen presi- dent; to all above offices he has been an- nually re-elected to this date; 1872, director of Chelsea Gas . Light Company, and sub- sequently elected as president; director of North American Insurance Company and
Boston Ice Company; 1894 elected director of Atlantic National Bank, Boston, holding that office at present time.
Mr. Peck is a Republican; he has served his party as delegate to the various conven- tions and on the Republican state committee; was a member of the house of representatives in 1877 and 1880; in 1877 .was clerk of the committee on education, and in 1880 held the chairmanship of same committee. He was se- lectman of Arlington from 1874 to 1877 in- clusive; on the water board in 1880-81-82. He is at present chairman of the sinking fund commission; trustee of the Pratt fund for town purposes; trustee of the Elbridge Farmer fund, an endowment for the Robbins Library. He served on the committee of the Soldiers' Monument and was treasurer of that fund. He was formerly a trustee of the cemetery, and, on the cemetery committee. He was member of the Sigma Epsilon and Alpha Sigma Phi clubs, and of the D. K. E. of Yale College; also editor of the Yale Lit- erary Magazine in 1863; formerly a member of the Exchange Club. He is an honorary member of the Arlington Boat Club, and was trustee of the old boat club. He is a life mem- ber of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- ciety of Boston. He is a member of the Con- gregational church, serving often as moder- ator.
He married, November 22, 1878, Anna Maria Newell, born May 1, 1854, at Arling- ton, and died September, 1884, daughter of Charles Henry and Maria Davidson (Gage) Newell. Her father was an ice merchant at Boston, Massachusetts, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Children: 1. Chester Gaylord, born November 22, 1879. 2. Lilian Newell, August 24, 1882, married, at Arlington, Oc- tober 31, 1906, William Davidson Elwell, of Arlington.
The Staples family is of con- STAPLES siderable antiquity in Eng- land. The name has been variously written Staple, Stapel, Stapelle and Stapul. A number of persons are mentioned of this surname among the nobility of England and the coats-of-arms they have borne are de- scribed in various works on heraldry. The Irish family carries on its coat-of-arms a rep- resentation of an iron staple, showing perhaps the supposed origin of the name and two English branches carry similar designs on their armor. The family historian thinks it more likely that the surname was taken from
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the trade, stapler, meaning wool dealer, and William and Charles Hastings, and the south- ern line is marked by the northern boundary of the farm of Nathan R. George. The place he gives also as the origin of part of the fam- ily at least the French village of Estaples, a small seaport eleven miles from Boulogne. . was known later as the Stone Tavern stand. Hugh d'Estaples figured in history in the days of William the Norman.
(I) John Staples, the immigrant ancestor, was born in England and settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts, before 1636, when he had six acres of land assigned to him in the plain and three acres in the east field; also in Harris lot in the West Plain and in a second division in 1651 he drew a "great lot." His home was at the foot of King Oak hill in North Wey- mouth. He was admitted a freeman, May 10, 1648. He and his son were active in town affairs. He died at Dorchester. His inven- tory was taken July 13, 1683. His will was dated March 18, 1681-82, and proved August 2, 1683, bequeathing to sons John, Abraham, Joseph and to daughters Rebecca and Sarah. Children : 1. John. 2. Rebecca, born Novem- ber 2, 1639, married Samuel Sumner. 3. Abraham, born about 1640, mentioned below. 4. Joseph, born February 19, 1641-42. 5. Sarah, married Increase Sumner. 6. Joseph, born 1647, according to one authority, indi- cating that the first of the name died young. (II) Abraham Staples, son of John Staples (I), was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, about 1640. He was a weaver, and when a young man lived at Dorchester where he united with the church under the Rev. Rich- ard Mather, March 20, 1658, and from there he was dismissed to the Weymouth Church, January 13, 1660. He married, July 7, 1660, at Weymouth, Mary Randall, daughter of Robert Randall, who came from Berkshire, England. Her sister, Hannah Randall, mar- ried John Warfield. Both the families settled at Mendon. Some of the town records have been shown to err in giving the name Han- nah as the wife of Abraham Staples ; he was married but once. In 1662 Abraham Staples was associated with a number of Weymouth and Braintree men to form a new settlement. Their petition to the general court was grant- ed, and after purchasing the tract from the Nipmuck Indians they began their settlement in Mendon, as the town was called later, in the fall of 1662 or spring of 1663, for Abra- ham Staples, Jr., was born in Mendon, June 14, 1663. His lot was on the Main street west of the church from a little stream across the main street and down the eastern slope of the hill to Muddy brook ; the northern line cuts the present street diagonally, running through the village near the brick office of the late
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