Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV, Part 95

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 95


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1875


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


(II) James Hildreth, son of Sergeant Rich- ard Hildreth (I), was born in England in 1631, according to an affidavit made Septem- ber 30, 1651, to be found in the Middlesex files, and which establishes the fact that Rich- ard was his father. He was a freeman in 1665. He died intestate. The estate was ad- ministered by his son-in-law, Israel Proctor. The division of the estate in 1695 names the children then living in the order of birth. James Hildreth married, June 1, 1659, Mar- garet Ward. He died April 14, 1695. Children : I. Richard. 2. Margaret, married Israel Proc- tor. 3. Abigail. 4. Dorothy. 5. Ephraim, mentioned below.


(III) Major Ephraim Hildreth, son of James Hildreth (2), born in Chelmsford, Jan- uary 9, 1680, died in Dracut, formerly a part of Chelmsford, September 26, 1740. He mar- ried, 1707, Mercy Richardson, born January 9, 1688, in Chelmsford, died in Dracut, De- cember 25, 1743, daughter of Lieutenant Jo- siah and Mercy (Parish) Richardson. Her mother was daughter of Robert and Elisabeth (Blanchard) Parish, of Groton; her father was son of Captain Josiah and Remembrance (Underwood) Richardson, and grandson of Ezekiel and Susannah Richardson of Woburn.


Ephraim Hildreth seems to have been a surveyor, and was repeatedly employed by the town. During his early life he was a resident of Chelmsford, and after the part of the town in which he lived became Dracut, he became identified with the history of the new town. He was town clerk of Dracut most of the time from 1713 to his death in 1740, and was suc- ceeded by his son Ephraim. It is rather re- markable. that the succession continued through four generations. After Ephraim Jr. came William and William Jr. in direct line. On March 3, 1800, Lieutenant Israel Hildreth was chosen town clerk, the fifth Hildreth in successive generations to hold the position. Major Hildreth was a commissioner Septem- ber 3, 1734, from Dracut to other neighboring towns concerning a new county, of which Chelmsford was to be the county seat, He was sergeant in 1712. He was assessor, sur- veyor of highways, tythingman, town treas- urer, trustee and selectman of the town of Dracut at various times; served on many special committees for the town ; became cap- tain about 1722, and major about 1736. His will was proved 1740. It mentions his chil- dren by name. Children: 1. Ephraim Jr., born July 18, 1708; died in Dracut August 5, 1769; was very prominent in Dracut; town


clerk, selectman, ensign and many other of- fices ; married February II, 1735, Mary Clark, of Chelmsford. 2. Josiah, born February 14, 1710; died in Dracut, August 7, 1754; mar- ried Rebecca Wright, of Dracut, December 20, 1740; town clerk 1747. 3. Robert, born May 18, 1713; married November 15, 1734, Sarah Abbott, of Andover. 4. Mercy (or Mary), born January 27, 1715 ; died in Dracut, December 10, 1729. 5. Zachariah, born Sep- tember 26, 1718; died in Dracut, January 10, 1745. 6. Thomas, born August 5, 1721 ; died at Fort Cumberland, Maryland, December 4, 1755. 7. William, born August 30, 1723; died September 5, 1813. 8. Levi, born October 13, 1726. 9. Elijah, born May 23, 1728; men- tioned below. 10. Mercy, born May 27, 1732.


(IV) Elijah Hildreth, son of Major Eph- raim Hildreth (3), born in Dracut, May 23, 1728, died there May 14, 1814. He married first, December 27, 1746, Hannah Colburn, who died May II, 1753. He married second, February 1, 1755, Susanna Barker, who died October 17, 1764. He married third, June I, 1765, Mrs. Hannah (Richardson) Coburn, of Dracut, born December 25, 1725, died October 19, 1807, daughter of Captain Josiah and Lydia Richardson, and widow of Joshua Co- burn. He was chosen a reeve of Dracut March 20, 1748. He did work on the meeting house in 1749. With his brothers he joined in deeding land to the town of Dracut for a burying ground, according to the wish of his father, then deceased. He was surveyor of highways in 1764, constable in 1766. He was enrolled as a minute man in the revolution, and was first on the roll of Captain Simon Hunt's company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regi- ment of guards, from July I, to December 16, 1778. Children of first wife : I. Jeremiah, born March 3, 1748; died November 26, 1753. 2. Hannah, born May 4, 1750; died February 23, 1755. Children of second wife: 3. Israel, born October 13, 1755, mentioned below. 4. Hannah, born October 15, 1757 ; married July 6, 1775, Obadiah Richardson ; died January 16, 1850. 5. Susannah, born September 30, 1764; married November 23, 1785, William Richardson. Child of third wife: 6. Huldah, born February 2, 1766.


(V) Lieutenant Israel Hildreth, son of Elijah Hildreth (4), born October 13, 1755, died September 6, 1839; married, April 28, 1781, Susanna Hale, who died February 27, 1834. When he was nineteen years old he went to Newburyport and went on a schooner as privateersman under Captain Timothy


d


.


1876


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


Newman. During the first engagement, with an English brig, Captain Newman cursed a gunner for flinching when his gun was fired. Lieutenant Hildreth used often to tell how he volunteered to take the gunner's place and successfully fired the piece, with the threats of the captain ringing in his ears. On an- other, he, by an audacious stratagem and sim- ulated idiocy, aided by a fiddle and one man, escaped capture and death by a British man- of-war. A few years later he was a lieutenant in the Middlesex militia. He served in the revolution as a private at Claverstock, New York, from October 19, to November 23, 1779, in Captain John Porter's company, Colonel Samuel Denny's regiment. He was elected deputy to the general court May 3, 1793, and was re-elected representative six times, the last occasion being May 2, 1806. He filled in succession nearly all the offices in the gift of his townsmen-was assessor, con- stable, tax collector, overseer of the poor, member of school committee, town clerk, town treasurer, tythingman and selectman, besides various less important trusts; was justice of the peace also. He was a member of the old meeting house at Dracut Center. Children : I. Elijah, born October 3, 1781 ; married April 3, 1803, Jane Parker; died October 27, 1839. 2. Susannah, born October II, 1783; married December 29, 1803, Moses Fletcher. 3. Lydia, born April 16, 1786; married November IO, 1803, Captain Samuel Hildreth. 4. Israel, born December 12, 1789; died June 2, 1790. 5. Israel, born February 28, 1791 ; mentioned below. 6. Elizabeth, born May 28, 1793; married February 2, 1815, Jeremiah Kidder Jr. ; married second, February 24, 1824, Phin- eas Wood, Esq.


(VI) Dr. Israel Hildreth, son of Lieutenant Israel Hildreth (5), was born at Dracut, Feb- ruary 28, 1791. He commenced the practice of his profession in his native town in 1815, after studying under Dr. Thomas of Tyngs- borough and Dr. Wyman of Chelmsford, tak- ing also a course of medical lectures in Boston and receiving a license to practice from the censors of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was a member of Pentucket Lodge of Free Masons of Lowell, and was elected master Oc- tober 28, 1819, serving five years and declin- ing re-election. He was surgeon of the Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry. He was active in town affairs, served as surveyor, justice of the peace, moderator, member of the school committee and on many important com- mittees and in other town offices. He had an


extensive practice, but gradually other inter- ests absorbed all his time and he relinquished medicine for business. "Dr. Hildreth was en- dowed with most extraordinary powers of mind. His native eloquence as well as his peculiar tastes and talents especially adapted him to the forum or bar, and if circumstances in early life had led him in that direction he would have attained the highest eminence. In the equally useful and honorable though less showy profession which he selected, he held an enviable position. He was a keen sagacious observer of the phenomena of disease and hence a successful practitioner." "Dr. Hil- dreth was void of timidity, earnest even to as- perity, prompt, energetic, dignified, scholarly, and never disheartened by opposition. He gave shape, substance, life and grace of and diction to whatever enterprise his well-bal- anced brain and judgment gave attention. * * He was well read in theology, he loved poetry and was captivated by science. * * He lacked the requisites for a suc- * cessful politician. His doctrines, objects and public policy were open. He had no gifts for strategy, no disposition to drill men into mere machines politically."


He married, December 16, 1813, Dolly Jones, of Dracut, born 1792, daughter of Oli- ver Jones and Dolly (Clement) Jones, and granddaughter of Hugh Jones Jr., of Dracut, who married August 10, 1751, Sarah Fletch- er .. Dolly Clements, born August 16, 1762, was daughter of Daniel and Eunice Clements. Dr. Hildreth died April 6, 1859. Dolly (Jones) Hildreth died February 26, 1858. Children: I. Rowena, born September 21, 1814; married May 2, 1833, Henry Reade, who died August 2, 1878. 2. Sarah Jones, born August 17, 1816; married May 16, 1844, General Benjamin Franklin Butler (see sketch) ; she died April 8, 1876. 3. Fisher Ames, born February 5, 1818; married No- vember 5, 1846, Lauretta Coburn ; he died July 9, 1873. 4. Susan, born November 24, 1819; married August 21, 1850, William Prentiss Webster ; she died April 12, 1874. 5. Har- riett, born August 21, 1821 ; married April 24, 1855, Franklin Fiske Heard; she died May 1, 1866. 6. Dolly Maria, born September 30, 1824; married April 5, 1852, Colonel John Milton Grosvenor Parker, of Lowell. 7. John Richardson Cole, born March I, 1825; died April 10, 1826. 8. Laura Wright, born Sep- tember 6, 1826; married July 23, 1863, George Howard Pearson; she died January 5, 1891.


STRUGGLE


henry Stoddard Ruggles.


RUGGLES COAT-OF-ARMS


OLD RUGGLES HOME Brattle St, Cambridge, Mass.


-


1877


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


"Ruggles : from Rugeley, a local name in Stafford- shire. Members of the family who emigrated to New England in 1637 spelled the name Ruggle, and their descendants have it both with and without the s. The arms of Rugeley and Ruggles are identical." *- British Family Names, 2nd ed., by Rev. Henry Barber, F. S. A., London, England.


"Descended from an ancient and respectable family of the name of Ruggeley, though since corrupted to Ruggles, they were, says Sir William Dugdale, gentle- men of good note. In the tenth year of Henry V. they resided at Hawkesbeard, in Staffordshire. Nicholas Rug- geley, Esq., of Hawkesbeard, bought an estate in War- wickshire, and about 1423 removed to Dunton, in the same county. At the beginning of the sixteenth cen- tury a younger branch of the family removed first into Lincolnshire and soon after to Suffolk, of which branch was George Ruggles, the author." ;- Wright's History of County of Essex, England.


(I) Thomas Ruggles, of Sud-


RUGGLES bury, Suffolk, England, Es- quire; will made June 21, 1547. His children: I. Nicholas Ruggles, of Sudbury, Suffolk. 2. John Ruggles, of Stan- stead, Suffolk, will proved May 19, 1566; I. Ann Ruggles; 2. Elizabeth Ruggles.


(II) Nicholas Ruggles, of Sudbury, Suf- folk. His children: I. Roger Ruggles, mar- ried February 23, 1573, Margery Dandye. 2. George Ruggles, of Sudbury, Suffolk; will proved May 16, 1616; married June 5, 1575, Alice Dandye. 3. Thomas Ruggles, of Sud- bury, Suffolk, and Nazing, Essex. 4. Ed- ward Ruggles. 5. William Ruggles, married October 6, 1577, Mary Brundish. 6. Robert Ruggles, of Lavenham, Suffolk ; died June 21, 1605. I. Margery Ruggles, married January 19, 1584, John Drury.


(III) Thomas Ruggles, of Sudbury, Suf- folk, and Nazing, Essex. His children : I. Thomas Ruggles, of Nazing, Essex, and Rox- bury, Massachusetts ; married Mary Curtis. 2. John Ruggles, of Nazing, Essex, and Rox- bury, Massachusetts. 3. Samuel Ruggles. 4. Nathaniel Ruggles. I. Florence Ruggles. 2. Mary Ruggles.


(IV) Thomas Ruggles, of Nazing, Essex, and Roxbury, Massachusetts, (1637) ; will made November 9, 1644; married November I, 1620, Mary Curtis, sister of William Curtis, the first of Roxbury. His children: I. Thom- as Ruggles, died in England. 2. John Rug- gles, baptized January 6, 1625; married Abi- gail Craft. 3. Samuel Ruggles, born 1629, married Hannah Fowle. I. Sarah Ruggles, married William Lyon.


(V) John Ruggles, of Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, baptized January 6, 1625 ; died Sep- tember 15. 1658; will made September 9, same year ; married January 24, 1651, Abigail,


daughter of Griffin Craft, the first settler in Roxbury. His children: I. John Ruggles, born January 22, 1654, married Martha De- votion. 2. Thomas Ruggles, born January 28, 1655. 3. Samuel Ruggles, born August 16, 1657.


(VI) John Ruggles, of Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, born January 22, 1654, died Decem- ber 16, 1694; married September 1, 1674, Martha, daughter of Edward Devotion (De Vaution), a French Huguenot of noble family. His children: I. John Ruggles, born March 16, 1680; married Sarah Tilden. 2. Edward Ruggles, born October 2, 1691, married Han- nah Craft. I. Abigail Ruggles, married Thomas Richardson. 2. Martha Ruggles, married Jonathan Smith.


(VII) Edward Ruggles, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, born October 2, 1691, died September 16, 1765; will made December 4, 1764 .* Married, June 24, 1716, Hannah, daughter of Samuel Craft, of Roxbury; mar- ried (second) Mrs. Abigail Williams. His children (by first wife) : I. Samuel Ruggles, born March 29, 1717. 2. Edward Ruggles, born June 22, 1724; married Ann Sumner. 3. Thomas Ruggles, born November 15, 1729. 4. Benjamin Ruggles, born February 19, 1731. I. Hannah Ruggles. 2. Elizabeth Ruggles. 3. Abigail Ruggles.


(VIII) Edward Ruggles, of Pomfret, Con- necticut, born June 22, 1724, died December 25, 1797; married Ann, daughter of Samuel Sumner, lineal descendant of William Sumner, of Dorchester, 1636, and Robert Tucker, of Weymouth, 1635, and Milton, 1662. His children: I. Benjamin Ruggles, of Pomfret, born August 10, 1747, a soldier in the Revolu- tion ; married Elizabeth Durkee; their son was Hon. Benjamin Ruggles, United States Sen- ator from Ohio, 1815-33. 2. Samuel Ruggles, of Willington, born February 25, 1751, a sol- dier in the Revolution; married Lucy Robin- son. 3. Edward Ruggles, of Pomfret, born April 3, 1763. 4. Thomas Ruggles, of Wind- sor, Vermont, born August II, 1765; married Elethea Smith; their son was Stephen Pres- ton Ruggles, of Boston, inventor and phil- anthropist; among his patented devices was the movable platen of the printing press. I Abigail Ruggles. 2. Elizabeth Ruggles. 3. Ann Ruggles. 4. Hannah Ruggles.


(IX) Samuel Ruggles, of Willington, Con- necticut, born February 25, 1751, a soldier of the Revolution ; died October 23, 1778; mar-


*In Christ Church, Philadelphia, is a silver vessel of the communion service, on which is engraved the Rug- gles arms.


¡George Ruggles was an active member of the London Company which founded Virginia, and in The William and Mary College Historical Magazine, vol. v, is a short account of his service in colonizing Virginia, and print of the Ruggles arms.


*He left for the times a large property. His hold- ings included the Cambridge estate and others in Rox- bury, Newton and Warw'ck, Massachusetts, Pom- fret, Connecticut; and extensive woodlands in Canada.


1878


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


ried September 17, 1772, Lucy, daughter of John Robinson, of Lebanon, lineal descendant of William Robinson, of Dorchester, Samuel Hinckley, of Barnstable, William Peabody, of Duxbury, and John Alden, of Plymouth. His children : I. Ebenezer Ruggles, of Walpole, New Hampshire, born December 17, 1773. 2. John Ruggles, of Rutland, Vermont, born February 3, 1776.


(X) Major John Ruggles, of Rutland, Ver- mont, born February 3, 1776. He was a great landholder, and his farm embraced a large portion of the ground now covered by the most populous and important section of the city of Rutland, including both sides of Mer- chants' Row; his mansion on West street, formerly "Ruggles Hill," is still standing. He died February 19, 1831. He married, De- cember 15, 1807, Eunice, daughter of Phineas Kingsley, of Rutland, a soldier of the Revolu- tion, lineal descendant of John Kingsley, one of the founders of Taunton, and Henry Ad- ams, of Braintree (now Quincy), the ances- tor of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams, and the Revolutionary patriot, Samuel Adams. Their children: I. Gershom Cheney Ruggles, of Rutland, born February 3, 1810, married Mary Cheney, daughter of Hon. Moses Leavitt Neal, of Londonderry, New Hampshire. 2. Henry Bond Ruggles, of Boston and Wakefield, Massachusetts, born July 9, 1813. 3. George Fitch Ruggles, of Aurora, Illinois, born December 12, 1818; married Louisa, daughter of Hon. John Gould, of Essex, New York. I. Julia Sparrow Rug- gles, married William H. Elmore, of Peru, New York.


(XI) Henry Bond Ruggles, of Boston and Wakefield, Massachusetts, born July 9, 1813, died November 9, 1897. He married, May 31, 1836, Parna Bird, daughter of Simeon Dunbar, of North Bridgewater ; married (sec- ond) August 4, 1844, Mary Goodwin, daugh- ter of Jonathan Ross, of Harrison, Maine, granddaughter of Jonathan Ross, of Shap- leigh, and John Goodwin, of Arundel, both soldiers of the Revolution, and lineal descend- ant of Hugh Ross, of Berwick, Daniel Good- win, of Kittery, Captain Roger Plaisted, of Berwick, Rev. John Wheelwright, the founder of Exeter, New Hampshire, Abraham Preble, of Scituate, ancestor of General Jedediah and Commodore Edward Preble, Nathaniel Til- den, of Scituate, ancestor of Governor Sam- uel J. Tilden, of New York, Nathan Lord, of Kittery, Anthony Emery, of Newbury, and Maturin Ricker, of Cocheco, New Hampshire.


His children: I. Francis Dunbar Ruggles, born August 17, 1837, of New Orleans, Louisi- ana; killed in battle, Fredericksburg, Vir- ginia, December 13, 1862, Washington Artil- lery of New Orleans, Confederate States Army. 2. Henry Stoddard Ruggles, born October 31, 1846, of Wakefield, Massachu- setts. I. Mary Elizabeth Ruggles, died in early life.


(XII) Henry Stoddard Ruggles, of Wake- field, born October 31, 1846; married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William Ryan, of Bos- ton, lineal descendant of James Ryan, Esq., of Kilkeyll, Ireland. His children: I. Henry Ruggles, born February 20, 1879, died Jan- uary 24, 1881. 2. Francis Dunbar Ruggles, born August 9, 1883. 3. Horace Cheney Ruggles, born June 18, 1887, died February 9, 1888. I. Alicia Ruggles, married Charles Arthur Atwell. 2. Emmeline Ruggles. 3. Mary Rosamond Ruggles. 4. Marguerite Ruggles. 5. Mabel Lyman Ruggles. 6. Louisa Kingsley Ruggles. 7. Lucia Dalton Ruggles. 8. Julia Parker Ruggles.


MEIGS Dr. Joe V. Meigs was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, January 22, 1867. He was educated in the public schools of that city and studied his profession in the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, graduating in 1889. He opened an office soon after graduation and settled to the practice of medicine in the city of Lowell, achieving a high rank in his pro- fession. He is independent in politics. He belongs to the following medical societies : American Medical Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, Middlesex North District Medical Society and Massachusetts Medico- Legal Society. He is surgeon to St. John's Hospital, Lowell; surgeon to Lowell General Hospital; surgeon to Lowell Hospital, and associate medical examiner of Fifth Middle- sex District.


He married Sarah Maria Parker, born in Lowell September 4, 1867, daughter of Col- onel John Milton Grosvenor and Dolly Maria (Hildreth) Parker. (See sketch of Parker family, Lowell; and of Hildreth family). Mrs. Meigs was educated in the public and high schools of Lowell ; is a member of St. Anne's Protestant Episcopal Church of Lowell and of the Middlesex Club. Children: I. Eu- genia, born December 14, 1890. 2. Joe V. Jr., born October 24, 1892. 3. Hildreth, born July 25, 1895.


1879


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


The surnames Samson dates


SAMSON back to the first use of sur- names and is of ancient origin. It is of the same class as Thompson, Johnson, those denoting relationship. Most of the Samsons, or Sampsons, as the name is often spelled in America, are descended from Henry and Abraham Samson, of Duxbury, who are supposed to have been brothers. Henry Sam- son came to America in the "Mayflower" with the family of his uncle, Edward Tilly. He was made a freeman January 5, 1635-36, and was a volunteer for the Pequot war in 1637. He resided in Duxbury. He married Ann Plummer. He died December 24, 1684.


(I) Abraham Samson, probably brother of Henry Samson, came from England some time after his brother, probably in 1629 or 1630. He settled in Duxbury and was on the list of those able to bear arms in 1643. He was one of the fifty-four original grantees of the town of Bridgewater in 1645, all of whom resided in Duxbury, but he did not remove there. He was surveyor of highways in 1648; constable 1653. He was admitted a freeman in 1654. He died some time after 1686. He married Nash, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Nash, of Duxbury. Children : I. Samuel, born about 1646, married Esther 2. George; born 1655, married Elizabeth


3. Abraham, born about 1658, married Lorah Standish. 4. Isaac, mentioned below. Prob- ably others.


(II) Isaac Samson, son of Abraham Sam- son (I), was born in Duxbury, Massachu- setts, in 1660. He was one of the first set- tlers of Plympton, and lived on the spot where stood the house occupied in 1800 by Elijah Bisbee. It was the second house from Plymp- ton Green on the north side of the road leading westward from the Green to Dunham's Neck. He married Lydia Standish, daughter of Al- exander Standish, sister of Lorah Standish, who married his brother, and descendant of Captain Myles Standish, the Pilgrim ancestor. She was living in March, 1733-34. Children : I. Isaac, mentioned below. 2. Jonathan, born February 9, 1690, married Joanna Lucas. 3. Josiah, born June 5, 1692, unmarried; died March 29, 1731. 4. Lydia, born April 22, 1694, unmarried. 5. Ephraim, born May 8, 1698, married Abigail Horrel. 6. Peleg (twin), born November 12, 1700, married Mary Ring. 7. Priscilla (twin), born November 12, 1700, married Jabez Fuller. 8. Barnabas, born February 12, 1704-05, married Experience Atkins.


(III) Isaac Samson, son of Isaac Samson


(2), was born in Plympton, April 18, 1688. He married (first) Sarah - ---; (second) Eliz- abeth He resided in Plympton until after the death of his first wife, when he re- moved to Middleborough, where he died in 1750. His will is dated February 23, 1748, and proved May 7, 1750. He calls himself yeoman, and mentions his wife and children. His son John he appointed to be executor, and required him to support his aged grandmoth- er. Children of the first wife, born in Plymp- ton: I. Hannah, born April 21, 1716, mar- ried, February 2, 1737-38, Robert Sproat. 2. Uriah, born July 30, 1717, married, 1746, Anna White. 3. Sarah, born January 4, 1719-20, married, November II, 1742, Peter Walker, of Taunton. 4. John, born about 1724. 5. Margaret, born April 15, 1728, mar- ried, December 3, 1747, Nathan Pratt. Chil- ough: 6. Isaac. 7. Elizabeth. 8. Lydia. 9. dren of the second wife, born in Middlebor- Anna. IO. Phebe. II. Jacob, mentioned be- low.


(IV) Sergeant Jacob Samson, son of Isaac Samson (3), was born about 1737. He was a minor at the time his father died and a guardian was appointed for him by the court. He was a soldier in the French war, and ac- cording to the family tradition was in the bat- tle on the Monongahela when Braddock was defeated July 9, 1755. He was also in the Revolution, and was sergeant in a company of militia from Hampshire county, which served at Ticonderoga three months, from Septem- ber I, 1776. Children : I. Jacob, born 1760, died April 8, 1842; settled first in New Salem and removed to Vermont; children: i. Cal- vin, born May 31, 1783, married - Mill- ard, died May 2, 1846; ii. Phebe; iii. Joel, born September 17, 1791, died April 20, 1860, married twice; iv. Jacob, died April 8, 1830; v. Deborah; vi. Polly; vii. Elsie. 2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. Liscom, married and had children also.


(V) Samuel Samson, son of Sergeant Jacob Samson (4), was born in New Salem about 1770. He resided in New Salem. Among his children was John, mentioned below.


(VI) John Samson, son of Samuel Samson (5), was born in New Salem, Massachusetts, .about 1800. He settled in Lunenburg in the same county. He learned the trade of chair- making. He resided in the south part of the town of Lunenburg on the Shirley road. Prior to 1837, however, he returned to New Salem and followed his trade in addition to farming until his death in that town in 1842. He mar- ried Rachel Foster, who was born in Lunen-


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1880


MIDDLESEX COUNTY.


burg, died at New Salem. Children: I. Se- wall Diggins, mentioned below. 2. John Saw- yer, born at Lunenburg, July 24, 1833, died March 17, 1898; married (first), January I, 1856, Sarah S. Hatstat, of New Salem, born March 17, 1836, died June 10, 1862; married (second), October 19, 1864, Emma L. Hodge, of Granville, Massachusetts, born November 8, 1840, died April 18, 1901; child of the first wife: i. Bion Melville, born June 19, 1860, married Annie L. Walker, of Cleve- land, Ohio, and have Harold Melville, born December 1, 1888, and Helen Walker, April 23, 1891. Children of the second wife: ii. George Chauncey, born April 22, 1867; iii. Dora Belle, born February 16, 1870, died March 16, 1872; iv. Elsie, born January 13, 1877, died February 15, 1877; v. John Saw- yer, Jr., born December 19, 1878, died July 19, 1879; vi. Harry March, born November 16, 1880, married, April 26, 1906, Emma A. Higgins, of South Hadley.




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