USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 172
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1446, when Throwley was allotted to Eleanor, the wife of Richard Lewknor. From the manner of the division it is quite evident that he died without leaving de- scendants to transmit his name to posterity. The next reference to this name known to the writer is in the county of Lincoln, where it has existed for more than four centuries. In A.D. 1459, William Towne, D.D., was collated (became the clergyman of the parish) at Stow in Lindsey, in this county. In A.D. 1470 he was appointed almoner to King Henry VI. In old age he accepted an income from the parish, and died A.D. 1496. In 1470, John Towne, Professor of Divinity, succeeded Alexander Prowett, of Lincoln, as precentor (leader of the choir in the Cathedral), which place lie resigned in 1473 for the prebend of Dunholme.
John Towne, of Irby, county of Lincoln, made his will Nov. 18, 1540. To be buried in the church of St. Andrews, at Irby. Legacies to Anne, Thomas, and George Towne, his brother William, of Irby, being principal heir and executor. His will was proved June 1, 1541. John Towne, of Ludborough, county of Lincoln, executed his will under date of Jan. 24, 1637. Sons, Leonard, John, and William, and brother Richard Towne.
Richard Towne, of Braceby, in the same county, married Ann, and had children as follows : Richard, who died 1617, leaving wife Alice, son Leonard, and daughter Helen, not twenty-one years of age; Ed- ward, who had children in 1630; Elizabeth, who mar- ried - Phillips ; Helen, who married - Oxman ; Prudence, who married - Walton ; Ann, who married - Armstrong ; Ketherine, baptized Oct. 14, 1599; Mary, baptized April 15, 1601; William, bap- tized May 21, 1603, and Margery. The earliest we find the name in this country is in 1635, when Wil- liam Towne was an inhabitant of Cambridge. On the 18th of the month of April, 1637, he appeared before the General Court and took the oath required to become a freeman or voter. He was town clerk in 1639 ; purchased land in Cambridge of David Stone and Thomas Danforth in 1653, and in 1655 of Ed- mund Goffee ; was tythingman in 1680, and died April 30, 1685, aged eighty years. His wife Martha died January, 1674. His children were Mary and Peter.
We come now to William Towne, the Anglo- Ameri- can progenitor of descendants who have settled in a majority of the States in the American Union. Of his birthplace or parentage we know nothing positive, though he may have come from the county of Lin- coln, in England, and may have been the son of Richard and Ann Towne, of Braceby. The earliest positive information we have relative to him is at Yarmouth, Norfolk County, a city of considerable maritime importance, situated on the east coast of England, one hundred and eight miles in a direct line, and one hundred and twenty miles by railroad north- east from London.
William Towne and Joanna Blessing were married in the St. Nicholas Church, in Yarmouth, March 23,
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1620, and had their first six children baptized there. The next we hear of the family is at Salem, Essex Co., Mass. William Towne's residence was in that part of Salem known as the North Fields. He re- mained here till 1651, the year following the incor- poration of the town of Topsfield, where he purchased a tract of land in the latter place of William Paine, of Ipswich, containing about forty acres. In 1652 he sold his property in Salem to Henry Bullock ; in 1656 purchased additional land in Topsfield, and in 1663, "in consideration of mutual affection and contem- plated marriage of their son, Joseph Towne, with Phebe, the daughter of Thomas Perkins," he and his wife conveyed to their son Joseph two-thirds of their home wherein they did then dwell, with barn, out- buildings, yard, gardens, and orchards, lying, situated, and being in Topsfield, together with one-third of all his real estate. All these conveyances being made with the desire that this said son should have the first refusal of the remaining third when the same should be sold. He died about 1672. The six children bap- tized in Yarmouth, England, were Rebecca, John, Susanna, Edmund, Jacob, and Mary; Sarah and JOSEPH were born and baptized in Salem.
JOSEPH Towne, youngest son of William and Joanna Towne, was born in 1639, and married Phebe, daughter of Deacon Thomas Perkins, of Topsfield. He accompanied his father in his removal from Salem to Topsfield, was made a freeman March 22, 1690, was a member of the church at the latter place, and died 1713, aged seventy-four years. Their children were Phebe, Joanna, Mary, Susanna, Joseph, Sarah, John, and Martha.
JOSEPH Towne, son of Joseph and Phebe Perkins Towne, was born in Topsfield, March 22, 1673, and Nov. 9, 1699, married Margaret Case, of Salem. They were admitted to the church in 1709. He gave his estate to his son David in 1749. Children, Margaret, Joseph, Archilaus, Israel, Elisha, Bartholomew, Mary, David, Abigale, Phebe, Hannah, Martha, Sarah, and Joanna.
ISRAEL Towne, son of Joseph, and third descendant of William, who came from England, was born in Topsfield, Mass., March 24, 1705, and May 23, 1729, married Grace Gardner, of Middleton, Mass. He was one of the early settlers of Narragansett, No. 3 (Amherst, N. H.), probably 1734. Capt. Israel Towne died in Amherst in the year, 1803, aged ninety- six years. Their children were Thomas, Archilaus, Israel, Moses, Gardner, Elisabeth, Susanna, Mary.
Esq., died in Stoddard, April 28, 1813, aged seventy- seven years. Their children were Israel, William, Gardener, Benjamin, Andrew , Lydia, Daniel, Hannah, Lemuel.
GARDNER Towne, son of Israel and Lydia Hop- kins Towne, and fifth descendant of William the first settler, was born in Amherst, May 1, 1765, and Jan. 27, 1795, married Lucy Bancroft, of Tyngsborough, Mass., daughter of Col. Ebenezer Bancroft. She was born June 7, 1773. In 1782 he went with his father from Amherst to Stoddard. At an early age he began merchandising and the keeping of a public-house, in both of which he continued business successfully until his death. He held many offices in town and county affairs, was justice of the peace, and a mem- ber of the Masonic order in high standing. His official docket was larger than any other justice in the county of Cheshire at that time. Col. Ebenezer Bancroft, the father of Incy Bancroft Towne, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was last but one to leave the intrenchments of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and in making his escape leaped the ranks of the British, and left his long Indian gun on their shoulders and ran. In his flight he received thirteen bullet-holes in his clothes and lost one forefinger. He claimed to have shot the cannon-ball that struck the Brattle Street Church, Boston, which remained there until the church was taken down a few years since. The British soldiers were encamped in the church at that time. He based' his claim to this honor upon the fact that he fired every ball that was thrown into Boston from Cambridge that day.
Gardner Towne died in Stoddard, N. H., Dec. 16, 1815. His wife died in the same place April 14, 1849. Their children were Christiana, Rebecca, Ban- croft, Susanna, Oka, Cleon G., Orr Noble, Ebenezer Bancroft, Lucy Bancroft, Solon, Mary.
EBENEZER BANCROFT TOWNE, son of Gardner and Lucy Bancroft Towne, and sixth descendant of Wil- liam the first settler, was born in Stoddard, N. H., Dec. 14, 1809. After the death of his father, he lived with his mother until her marriage with Levi Warren, of Alstead, N. H., and was afterwards with the Rev. Isaac Robinson, of Stoddard, N. H., about two years, and with Deacon John Farwell and his son, John, Jr., of Tyngsborough, Mass., six years, and was offered an heirship if he would remain with the latter until twenty-one. He began his apprenticeship with Sam- uel S. Lawrence, in Tyngsborough, at fifty-two dollars a year and board, and finished it with his brother, Orr N., in Boston, at two thousand a year. He was a partner with his brothers Orr Noble (in Boston) and Cleon Gardner (in Stoddard) until Orr Noble's re- tirement from business. He then associated himself with William W. Kendrick, under the style of Towne & Kendrick, and four years afterwards George W. Skinner, another of the salesmen, was admitted as partner. This firm carried on an extensive business
ISRAEL Towne, son of Israel Towne, and fourth de- scendant of William the first settler, was born in Topsfield, Mass., Nov. 16, 1736, and when very young came with his father to Amherst, N. H., where he remained till about 1782, when he went to Stoddard, N. H. He was an enterprising, active man, filled various town offices, being selectman in 1769 and 1773, and married Lydia Hopkins, of Milford, July 31, 1760. She was born April 27, 1737. Israel Towne, in hats, caps, buffalo robes, furs, and straw goods, in
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Boston, until Mr. Towne, compelled by ill health, retired from the firm. His business career, in city and country, covered a period of more than fifty years, during which time he met every financial obligation at maturity, and never had a bill but what was paid at the first presentation, when just. He has had six partners in business,-three in his Boston business, two in a country store, and one in tanning hides into leather,-and never had the least trouble with either of them, neither did they at any time show him the disrespect to use a profane word in his presence. Since residing in Bristol County he was county com- missioner six years (two terms), and got the nomina- tion for a third term, but declined the honor. He has been connected with the Bristol County Agricultural Society, as treasurer and in other responsible posi- tions, about ten years. He at the present time (1883) is engaged in no business.
Mr. Towne married for his first wife Almeda Wil- son, daughter of Joel and Polly Wilson, of Stoddard, N. H. She left no children. She died in Amherst, N. H., Oct. 21, 1845; and for his second, Mrs. Chlora Adaline Gilmore, widow of the late H. T. Gilmore, of Raynham, Mass., and daughter of Sylvanus and Polly Braman, of Norton, Mass., who is still living, and by whom he has had three children,-Almeda Wilson (who died at two years old), Edward Bancroft (who is designated E. B. Towne, Jr., because there is an- other in a brother's family having the same initials), and Etta Buffington.
E. B. Towne, Jr., is a wholesale dealer in hats, furs, etc., in Boston.
NATHAN W. SHAW.
We are indebted to Capt. J. W. D. Hall for the fol- lowing ancestral history of the Shaw family.
Benjamin Shaw, the ancestor, was one of the early settlers of Taunton ; was a shareholder in the Taun- ton Iron-Works in 16-, and had a saw-mill on the stream above the works now Raynham; he died in 1723; wife Hannah and son.
Deacon Jonathan Shaw, born 1705; died 1768; had wife, Mercy, who died Jan. 8, 1750 : son.
Deacon Jonathan Shaw, married (2d) Mrs. Han- nah, widow of Lieut. Stephen Dean.
Col. Jonathan Shaw, born Feb. 14, 1732; died Nov. 27, 1797 ; married only daughter of Nehemiah and Bethiah (Williams) Hall,1 born 1735; died 1781 : son.
Col. Jonathan Shaw, married (2) Lydia Godfrey, of Taunton, who married (2d) Dr. George Wheaton, of Norton.
Jonathan Shaw, who was a justice of the peace and
born Sept. 6, 1758; died May 12, 1829; married Lydia, born ; son, Cassini Shaw.
Cassini was a farmer, a quiet unobtrusive man who shrank from any kind of publicity or official position. A useful, meritorious, and much respected citizen. He was so rigidly strict in his temperance principles that when it was the custom of the county to have intoxicating drinks at all public gatherings, he was the first man to raise a building without furnishing his neighbors who helped him liquor to drink. An- other fact which illustrates the consistency and per- sistency of the man is the fact that, from the time he was twenty-one years of age to the day of his death, he never failed to cast his vote at every election with the Whig and Republican party, whose opinions he espoused. He was a great reader, and especially in his declining years he spent most of his time perus- ing his favorite authors, and seemed to derive great comfort and pleasure from his books. In religious belief he was a Unitarian, and was a regular attend- ant at service. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He married Clarissa, daughter of John Walker, of Dighton, Nov. 2, 1817. They had two children, Re- becca W. (now Mrs. A. P. Slade, of Somerset,-see Slade biography ), and Nathan W., born Oct. 11, 1823. Mrs. Shaw died March 27, 1863, and Mr. Shaw died Dec. 27, 1881.
NATHAN W. SHAW had what educational facilities were afforded by the common schools of his district, and an attendance at Bristol Academy and Bridge- water Normal School. He was brought up on the farm, and when twenty-one years of age began teach- ing school. This he continued during the winter months fourteen years. He has always been much interested in and given much attention to educational matters. He has been a member of the school com- mittee of Raynham twenty-eight years, and is now superintendent of public schools. He has been as- sessor fifteen years, and has been justice of the peace more than twenty years. He has been several years trustee of Bristol Academy.
He married, June 19, 1856, Sarah J., daughter of Jahaziah S. and Jane (Sampson) King, of Raynham. She was born Sept. 7, 1832. They have but one son, Alexander W., born Sept. 14, 1868.
Mrs. Shaw is descended from one of the oldest and most respectable families of Raynham. Concerning her father, we clip the following notice of his death from a Taunton paper :
" Mr. Jahaziah S. King died at his residence in Raynham, Wednesday morning last, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Mr. King was of a retiring disposition, a kind-hearted and liberal man. He had always lived in Raynham, being born on the same farm on which he died. At one time he was largely engaged in manufacturing, and in the early days of the California gold discovery he had a large trade in shovels, picks, and forks. Mr. King was a man of an inventive turn. He made the first scoop-shovel
1 Nehemiah Hall3, son of Joseph3, George1, married Bethiah Williams3 from Richard Williams. Both ancestors were among the chief founders of Taunton in 1639.
Joseph Mr. White
Martin ( Millimes
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in this country, and also invented a machine for rolling down the straps on shovels, before which all were hammered down by hand. He afterwards in- vented a machine for making sharp-pointed clinch- nails."
MARTIN G. WILLIAMS.
Martin G. Williams, third son and child of Francis and Louisa (Gilmore) Williams, was born Dec. 11, 1807, on the old home of the Williams family in Taunton, and is a descendant in the seventh genera- tion from Richard Williams, who settled in Taunton in 1638. (For ancestral history, see history of Taun- ton, heading, " The Williams Family.") He labored in early life at the various avocations of farming, brick-making, and lumbering, and had advantages of the schools of his native town. He remained at his father's home until he attained his majority. He then passed a few months at Ellsworth, Me., and then for six years he was at work for his father. In 1834 he came to Raynham, and settled on a farm of forty acres given to him by his father. He assiduously applied himself to agriculture, and has been very successful. He married Tempe, daughter of Joseph and Zervia (Dillingham) Hamlen, of Barnstable, Mass., Feb. 16, 1842. They had two children,- Emma Bathsheba and Melvin Gilmore. Emma was born Aug. 8, 1844, and was married to Bradford B. King, of Raynham, Nov. 18, 1880. They reside with Mr. Williams, whose wife died March 23, 1877. Mel- vin G., born Nov. 23, 1846, married Mrs. Susan W. Greenough, daughter of William O. Snow, of Rayn- ham, Sept. 27, 1882. He resides near his father.
In 1842, Mr. Williams purchased the saw- and grist-mills of John and Salmon Washburn, and has kept them in operation until the present time. His son and son-in-law are the active workers of the busi- ness now, for of late years Mr. Williams has been confined most of the time to his house. For about twenty years of his life he was engaged in the man- ufacture of boat-nails, which business at one time assumed quite large proportions. Mr. Williams inherits the caution, prudence, and financial skill so largely developed in his father, and is fond of safe investments, never being dazzled by brilliant specu- lations. He is stockholder in various corporations and railroads, is a man of good, practical common sense, and sound judgment. Raynham has probably never had a better citizen, or one who more highly respected the majesty of the law. He is Unitarian in church belief, and Whig and Republican in poli- tics, ever, however, preferring the ease and freedom of his quiet home to the cares and turmoil of official station.
JOSEPH W. WHITE.
There are many conflicting accounts in the bio- graphical and genealogical records of most of the early settlers in New England, owing to the meagre data which, in the colonial days, was placed on record, and the White family is no exception in this particular. We find it impossible, from the authorities at hand, to trace with positive certainty the ancestral history of that branch of the White family now re- siding in Raynham. The first one of whom we can obtain reliable information was John White, who in 1731 was a landholder and resident of that part of Taunton now Raynham. That he was a man of consequence and prominence is shown by the fre- quent mention he receives in the early records of that town.
He had a son named Samuel, born in Raynham, who had by his wife Susan a son also named Sam- uel. His will, dated May 20, 1755, is still in exist- ence and in the possession of his descendant, Joseph W. White, the present town clerk of Raynham. This Samuel, Jr., married Hannah Andrews, of Rayn- ham, about 1760. They had six children, the oldest of whom was Perez, born Feb. 1, 1762. Samuel was by occupation a miller, and died April 26, 1808. Perez followed the same avocation as his father, and succeeded to his father's possessions. He married Deborah Leach, of Bridgewater, Jan. 1, 1788. Their children were Sybil, Sidney, Sybil2, Daniel L., Isaac K., Samuel D., and Deborah L. Perez was an influ- ential and much-respected citizen of Raynham, and was sexton of the old Congregational Church of that town many years. In 1818 he moved to Westmore- land, N. H., where he engaged in farming, and there spent the remainder of his days. He died June 13, 1850, in his eighty-ninth year.
Isaac K. was born Aug. 29, 1801, in Raynham, Mass., grew up to manhood there, and when a young man was captain of militia. He removed to West- moreland, N. H., and married Penelope Knight, of that town, Jan. 1, 1825. They had ten children,- Joseph W., born Oct. 1, 1825 ; Eunice K. (deceased) ; Eunice K.2 (deceased) ; Lucy A., born Aug. 31, 1830 (now Mrs. William Patton, of Westmoreland, N. H.) ; Fanny M. (deceased), born Aug. 20, 1832; Henry K., born Oct. 16, 1834 (now a farmer in his native town) ; Damon D., born Nov. 28, 1836; John V. (deceased), born May 2, 1839; Frances M., born June 20, 1842 (now the widow of Rev. Trueman A. Jackson, who died in Andersonville prison, October, 1864. She is now a practitioner of medicine, and resides in Em- poria, Kan. She is a graduate of Medical Depart- ment of Boston University) ; Susan E., born Jan. 13, 1845.
In politics Isaac K. was formerly a Whig, but upon the dissolution of that party he became a Democrat, and was twice elected to the New Hampshire State Legislature on that ticket. He was a deacon of the Universalist Church, and a man of strict morality,
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
sterling integrity, and of broad and liberal views. He died in Raynham, Mass., while on a visit to his son, Damon D., July 9, 1881. Mrs. White had preceded him only a few years; she died Sept. 10, 1874.
JOSEPH W. WHITE was born in Westmoreland, N. H. When a young man, in 1849, he came to Raynham, Mass., and engaged with George W. King as an employé in his tack-works. In 1858 he changed his occupation and took up shoe manufac- turing, which has been his pursuit to the present time, he now being engaged in the shoe manufacturing es- tablishment of his brother.
He is one of the most respected and esteemed citi- zens of the town. In 1872 he was chosen deacon of the Congregational Church of Raynham. In 1873 he was chosen town clerk and treasurer, and has held that position to the present time. In 1876 he was elected to the State Legislature. He has been for many years and is now justice of the peace. All the various trusts reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen have been conscientiously discharged, and the duties of officer, Christian, and citizen faithfully performed. He married, June 16, 1853, Rowena Hayward, daugh- ter of Dr. Elisha Hayward, of Raynham They have two living children,-Clarence H., born Oct. 8, 1863 (graduated at Bristol Academy June, 1882, and now, 1883, a student at Amherst College), and Harry T., born Nov. 2, 1868.
DAMON D. WHITE was born in Westmoreland, N. H., Nov. 28, 1836. He was brought up on the farm and in the blacksmith-shop with his father until twenty years of age. In 1857 he came to Northern Massachusetts, and worked one year in a chair-factory. His start in life was not very encour- aging, as his employer failed and he lost the most of his year's wages. In the autumn of 1858 he came to Raynham, and soon after commenced work, running a pegging-machine in the shoe-factory which he now owns, and which was then owned by Martin White, and run as a "bottoming-shop" by A. & A. B. Keith. This factory was first established in March, 1859, and Mr. White was one of the first operators. He continued in this establishment until the spring of 1868. Having accumulated some money, he de- termined to start in business for himself. In pursu- ance of this idea he spent some months traveling through the West, looking for a location. Not find- ing a satisfactory site he returned to Massachusetts, and engaged with Orr & Sears, of North Bridgewater, as a shoe-bottomer, where he worked one year. He then started a manufactory of his own in that town, which he conducted about a year and a half, when he closed out and returned to Raynham. Here he rented a factory of William Snow, began manufacturing shoes, and continued in this place till 1873, when he rented of Martin White the factory in which fourteen years before he had learned his trade. One year later, upon the decease of Martin White, he pur- chased the factory, and is now the owner and pro-
prietor. The business has assumed considerable proportions. Mr. White manufactures from ten to fifteen cases per day, and employs about forty-five hands. His goods are chiefly placed in the New England market, and his trade is largely to Boston jobbers. He married April 15, 1862, Huldah A., daughter of Zenis and Harriet Britton, of West- moreland, N. H. They have one child, Hattie M., born Jan. 13, 1876.
GEORGE W. KING.
PHILIP KING, the first American ancestor of George Washington King, of Raynham, emigrated from England in company with a brother, Cyrus, and settled at Braintree some time prior to 1680. He came to Raynham, then Taunton, bought land, built a house, and became a permanent settler. The deed of sale to him of this land bears date 1680. He married Judith, daughter of Rev. William Whit- man, of Milton. He was a man of high character, courage, and decision, and was well adapted to be a leader in the pioneer days. He was a man of ster- ling honesty, and won the love of the Indians by his just dealings, and, during all the troublous times of Indian warfare, was never molested by them, nor his property injured. He was captain, and, probably, a deputy to Plymouth. A large number attended his funeral, which was conducted with military honors. He had seven children, of whom John was youngest and only son. He was born about 1681, and died in 1741. He married, in 1700, Alice Dean, who died in 1746. He was, like his father, a very devout and con- scientious man. Rev. Mr. Sanford says of him, "The contract to build the second meeting-house in Taunton was taken by John King. He drew logs and timber on the ice of Taunton River, and landed them at Barney Hill, a little this side of the village. The house was three stories high, containing, like the old South Church, Boston, two tiers of galleries on three sides. It was built in 1729. The expense of the house much exceeded his expectations, and to make up his loss the town made him a present of the " Great Neck," so called, in Raynham. John, like his father, felt a great interest in the welfare of the Indians. He educated two men at his own expense to become missionaries to their native brethren. Their names were Campbell and Occum. He had, according to Rev. Mr. Sanford, six sons and two daughters,-Philip, John, Josiah, David, Jonathan, Benjamin, Hannah, and Abigail.
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