USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dracut > History of Dracut, Massachusetts, called by the Indians Augumtoocooke and before incorporation, the wildernesse north of the Merrimac. First permanment settlement in 1669 and incorporated as a town in 1701 > Part 31
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COBURN AND COLBURN
The earliest mention of the name is found during the reign of Henry VIII, who became King of England in the year 1509. At that time the name was spelled Colbarne, becoming later Colburne, Colburn and Coburn. The home of this family was in Staffordshire, and Feb. 6, 1553, Edward Colbarne, gentle- man, was elected a member of Parliament. Henry VIII died in 1547 and as his son, Edward VI, reigned only six years, Edward Colbarne must have been a member of Parliament during the reign of King Edward's sister, Mary, known in history as "Bloody Mary," who married Philip of Spain, son of the Em- peror Charles V. Edward had a brother, Sir George Colburne. The will of Edward Colbarne, gentleman, of the city of Litchfield, was proved July 13, 1568 in the probate court of Canterbury.
He bequeaths to wife Katherine and her daughter, lands I bought in Colwyche (now Colwich). To William Colbarne son of Roger Colbarne 5 works as well as the wood, bricks and tiles he sold when managing the works and woods in Hoppas Haye. His executors were his brother Francis Colbarne and Richard Allen, servant. It is interesting to know that at that early day the names of Coburn and Dracut had a connection which a century later (1669) was renewed when a possible descendant, Edward Colburn became the first settler of the town of Dracut
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in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. In 1553 when Edward was a member of Parliament from Stafford, Sir Philip Draycot was member from Litchfield while later Edward represented Litch- field and Stafford was represented by Sir Philip Draycot. The similarity of the names of the earlier Colburns to those of the settlers of Dracut render it very probable that this family was the immediate ancestors of the Dracut family of a century later.
It is difficult to ascertain from what this name is derived. In the "Genealogy of the Colburn-Coburn Families" it is stated that "Names of Cockburn, Colborne, Colburn and Coburn are to be found in the histories of Great Britain and Ireland, but however spelt, it is generally agreed by those who have made a study of the name that the English and Scotch pronuncia- tin is Coburn. In England at the present day we have proof of this in the name of the locality in London, High Holburn, which is pronounced Hoburn *
* * There is good reason to believe that the name is not a Saxon but Scandinavian name, and that the family came to England with the Danes, that they were sea kings and that the name means either black bear or king's bear. It is possible that it may be a Scotch name, meaning Coldstream, a burn being a small brook or, English, relating to an occupation viz. a coal burner."
In William Arthur's "Etymological Dictionary of Family Names," the word Colburn is given as a Cornish-British word, meaning the dry well or the well on the neck of the hill.
In the list of passengers who sailed from Liverpool in 1635 on the Ship Defenee in command of Capt. Bostock, the name of Edward Colburn appears. His home was in Wilts County, England, and when, at the age of seventeen, he arrived in Boston, he went to Ipswich and was employed by Nathaniel Saltonstall, who owned a large estate in that town, and who later committed the management of the farm to him. The plan of the town of Ipswich does not include any farm belonging to Edward, although he owned some outlying land. He married Hannah, whose surname is not given in the records, but refer- ences in private letters lead to the conclusion that her name was Rolfe. His neighbor, Samuel Varnum, had purchased in 1668, a tract of land in what was known as "The Wilderness
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north of the Merrimac," which later became Dracut. Large tracts of land in this vicinity were for sale and probably in- fluenced by his neighbor Varnum at Ipswich he purchased a tract as already described in a former chapter. As the Indians were troublesome, he occupied a garrison house near the river, and with his wife and children, who were born at Ipswich, he removed here in 1669. His children were Edward, John, Robert, Thomas, Daniel, Hannah, Ezra, Joseph, and Lydia. The greater part of the Coburns and Colburns in the United States descend from the six younger brothers, Edward2 being killed in King Philip's war in 1675, as already recorded. The descendants of Edward and Hannah had been promi- nent in public affairs in town and state. In the lists of those who served in the different wars which have occurred since the settlement of the town, the name of this family appears defend- ing the rights and liberties of the country. On the Roll of Honor the names of 33 Coburns appear as serving in the War of the Revolution.
The descendants of Edward1 are recorded in "The Genealogy of the Colburn-Coburn Families," published in 1913. His sons were Edward Jr. born 1642, who, in 1675, was killed by the Indians. This was during King Philip's war, which was in- tended to be a war of extermination of the white settlers. A small company of soldiers who had been sent to Brookfield to assist in the suppression of an Indian uprising, while marching to a place designated by the Indians for the conclusion of a treaty, were attacked by about 200 Indians and Edward Jr. with others were killed.
John, the second son, born 1644, married Hannah Reed. In the division of land made by his father while living, John re- ceived a lot on the river, and as many of his descendants lived in Dracut he probably settled here. Robert, born about 1666, married Mary Bishop of Chelmsford. Although he received his share in the Webb purchase, he sold, in 1700, the year before his death, his share to his brother Daniel. His home was in Bev- erly, where his children were born. The descendants of Robert are found in nearly all of the states, few, if any, ever living in Dracut. There have been men of great ability among them one of whom deserves particular mention. This was Foster
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D. Coburn, who was in the eighth generation. He served in the Civil War in an Illinois regiment and at its close he went to Kansas City, Kansas, where he engaged in farming, which be- came his life work. Recognizing the need of better methods of farming and the opportunities for advancement in the service he made a study of the business of farming and wrote exten- sively on the subject, some of his subjects being "Alfalfa," "Swine in America," "The Helpful Hen," "Cow Culture," "'Corn and Sorghums," and many others. He became State Secretary of Agrculture, a position which he has held several times. He has had no ambition for holding political office, re- fusing the nomination for Governor of the State, declining the appointment which was offered him of U. S. Senator and of a position in the Cabinet as National Secretary of Agrculture. "Hampton Magazine" says: "In the Agricultural Colleges of Australia, where his books are used in the courses of instruction, in all the great farm institutes of the Middle West, among authorities everywhere, Coburn of Kansas is the biggest and safest authority of the century."
In the line of Robert in the seventh generation we find Zerah Colburn, Vermont's famous mathematical prodigy, whose birth occurred in Cabot, Sept. 1, 1804. At the age of six years he was described as being "surprisingly gifted as an arithmetical cal- culator." Having been widely exhibited in Vermont, his pre- cocity attracted attention elsewhere and he was taken on an extended tour. Boston people found he could answer problems sooner, much sooner, than they could be done on paper. On short notice and without pencil or paper he found the number of seconds in 2,000 years. Observers said he computed the number of seconds in 11 years in less than four seconds. Square and cube roots he extracted with unexplainable ease. Skeptics failed to dumfound him and wherever he went he found that his reputation had preceded him.
Carrying letters of introduction, the boy went to England, Scotland and Ireland. Learned profesors received him with acclaim. When asked to square 888,888, he gave the correct result in 12 figures and then multiplied the product by 49. Colburn appears to have had a strangle hold on factoring. He could give all the factors of many large numbers. Prominent
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mathematicians, baffled by his consistency in replying to rapid fire questions in arithmetic, gave him a certain number of 10 figures. Mentally and with little loss of time he found the only two factors which it had. It was said to him that his marvelous powers combined rapidity, remarkable accuracy and unfailing menory. Unconsciously, sometimes, while doing his most difficult tasks, he would go into bodily contortions, a cir- cumstance to which his observers attached great importance.
That he should have turned his genius to financial account was not uncharacteristic of human nature. Money and fame came to him at his beckoning and he lived to accomplish a good many things that were worth while, but students of this wonder- ful calculator love best to read of his earlier years before his public demonstrations were made for gain. In one way or another and at divers times in an eventful career he received the foundation for a broad education at the Westminster school in England, the Royal college in Paris and at the University of Vermont. He became a minister and preached in Vermont towns for nine years. Death overtook him in 1839 while he was a professor of languages at Norwich, Conn.
The third son of Edward was Thomas, who was married twice and to whom thirteen children were born. He received a por- tion of the Evered purchase and the Satchell land which was deeded to him by his father. His home was probably in Dracut.
Daniel2, the fourth son of Edward1, married Sarah Blood, a granddaughter of Major Simon Willard, who was a noted Indian fighter in King Philip's war in 1647. Major Willard was one of the Commissioners, who, in 1652, was appointed to locate the northern boundary of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, where his initials of "S. W." are to be found on the famous Endicott Rock at the Weirs. Daniel's wife's home was at Concord in this state, and after ten years' residence in Dra- cut, he purchased land in the first named town where, after 1697, his three youngest children were born. His nine children, with the exception of the youngest, settled in Dracut. Ezra2, the fifth son, married Hannah Varnum, of Ipswich, and, in com- mon with his brothers, receiving a portion of the Evered and Satchell land from his father, he lived in Dracut, where many of the descendants of his six children settled. Joseph2, the
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youngest son of Edward, received from his father his share in the lands already mentioned and in addition he received by will the garrison house now known as the Durkee House. He was the one selected to care for his father in his declining years. Although his home was in Dracut, there are only a small num- ber of his descendants in town. There is but one representative in town of John2, viz Hon. Arthur W Colburn who is in the ninth generation. None of the descendants of Robert2 settled in Dracut. Of the nine children of Daniel2, only two sons had families. Of the descendants of later years, Elizabeth, Augus- tus, Erastus, Charles F. and Phineas are dead; the brothers Gilbert Sylvester, George D. and Silas R. the latter the com- piler of this history, also Lyman, of East Dracut, and the brothers Otis P. and Oliver J., at present residing in town.
These comprise all those who claim descent from Daniel2 and lived in Dracut. Among the descendants of Thomas2, special mention should be made of Rev. Isaac D. Colburn, in the sev- enth generation, who became interested in foreign missionary work, and in 1863, with his wife, sailed for Burmah, called at that time Farther India. Of his seven children six were born at different stations in India, viz. Maulmain, Amherst, Tavoy and Rangoon, the youngest being born after his return to Amer- ica which, on account of ill health, occurred in 1880. In this line were the brothers George B.7 and Frank? well known in Lowell, natives of Dracut and sons of George W.", who was an able and prominent citizen of Dracut. In this line was Charles B.6 who established the paints and oil business in Lowell, also Joseph B. V.6, a resident of Varnum Avenue.
The descendants of Ezra2 include several families who lived in Dracut. Of those who were prominent, one line at least can be located on their farms. Samuel3 lived near his grandfather's garrison house on Varnum Avenue, Jonathan4 lived at New Boston Village on the farm lately owned by John W. Peabody. His sons, Saul5, Jonathan5 and Micah5, occupied farms in the same village. The names of Saul5 and Thaddeus5 are on the Roll of Honor, the former on his 18th birthday being engaged in battle. They were very young when enlisting, as Thaddeus was three years younger than Saul. Both returned and settled in New Boston Village where their descendants lived. Saul6 Jr.
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was in the war of 1812 and held the office of the Matross. He served in a Billerica Company under Capt. Isaac Barrows in the artillery. His office requiring him to assist the gunners in loading, firing and sponging the cannon and to march with the store wagon as guard and assistant. The descendants of Ezra2 in Dracut are Horatio Jesse, and Elmer W., who are great grandsons of Saul5. Rockwood D. and Henry G., great grand- sons of Thaddeus5, and Lovell W. grandson of Micah5. Capt. Peter Coburn was of this line, but for many years has had no descendants of the name in Dracut. None of the male line have lived in Dracut in the later years who could claim Joseph2 as their ancestor.
One of the descendants of Joseph, the youngest son of Ed- ward1, is Abner in the sixth generation who was the son of Eleazer, he was born in Tyngsboro, but, with his parents, re- moved to Canaan, Maine, now included in the town of Skow- hegan. Soon after reaching his twenty-first year, he was en- gaged in school teaching and surveying. In 1830, he engaged in lumbering with his father and brother, Philander, and this became the life work of these sons. They purchased thousands of acres of western woodlands, and by judicious management became millionaires. As a public man his services in places of trust were conducted in a highly honorable manner. In 1862, he was nominated for Governor of Maine and elected, receiving 4000 votes more than were cast for his opponents. "He was one of the loyal War Governors who held up the hands of Lincoln in those troublous times. He was Governor in fact as well as in name, and there was no power behind the throne. The business of the state was conducted on strict business prin- ciples with the same integrity which characterized the man in all the relations of life." ["Hist. of Coburn Family."] At his death his public bequests exceeded one million dollars.
Deacon Joshua Colburn was born in Dracut, being in the seventh generation from Edward1. He succeeded his father Dea. Joshua, Sr. as an officer in the church. After his marriage with Hannah Tenney, he resided in New Hampshire, but a brother who had settled on the home farm prefering other business, he removed to Dracut, where his death occurred in 1886. He was a man whose influence, whether exerted in home
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life or in public, was always for good. His public duties were those connected with the church and the affairs of the district school which were performed with good judgment. During his life, he made additions to the number of acres which com- prised the original farm which at his death he left to his son, Selden.
Deacon Selden Colburn, his son, was born in Dracut, Dec. 28, 1849. He married, in 1875, Jane, daughter of John and Jane Murkland. He was educated in the Dracut schools, and as his inclinations were for farming he entered upon the farm duties which occupied his time and attention until his death which occurred Feb. 15, 1914. Long experience and love of his chosen vocation enabled him to conduct the business of the farm in a successful manner. While not seeking public office, he was chairman of the school board, an office for which he was espe- cially qualified owing to his executive ability, which he possessed in a marked degree. He was devoted to the work of the church holding the office once filled by his progenitors. In 1909 he married for his second wife Lavina Mccutcheon, daughter of William and Margaret.
Arthur W. Colburn, his son, was born Dec. 1, 1877, and at- tended the public schools of Dracut. He inherited a love for the science of agriculture and entered the New Hampshire Agri- cultural College, graduating in 1897, receiving the title of Bachelor of Science. He is an active member of the Center Con- gregational Church in which he has been deeply interested and the duties of the offices connected with the church he has per- formed in an acceptable manner. He is a member of Central- ville Lodge, I. O. O. F. and of Dracut Grange, at one time holding the office of Master of the Grange. In town affairs he has been a member of the school committee, and of the board of selectmen and assessors. In 1909, he was appointed collector of taxes, and this office he still holds. As Representative to the General Court, he was a member of the House in 1915 and 1916, and the three years following he was a member of the Senate. In the many offices he has held, he has shown good executive ability combined with rare judgement and a thorough acquaintance with the duties which he has been called upon to perform.
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George W. Coburn was the youngest son of Gen. Simon and Molly Varnum Coburn. He received his education in the Centralville and Bradford Academies. He possessed good ex- ecutive ability, which was recognized by the town, and he per- formed the duties which were required of him as a town officer in a manner acceptable to the citizens of Dracut. He was chosen to represent the town at the General Court in 1853 and 1854, and was active in introducing measures of great benefit to the Commonwealth. Upon the organization of the U. S. Internal Revenue system in 1862, he was appointed assistant assessor and later Deputy collector, offices which he filled for 16 years. He was general referee and advisor in cases of dis- pute, and was always ready with words of sympathy and advice to anyone who was in trouble. He was an earnest advocate of temperance and used his influence in the cause. In his later years he engaged in real estate and insurance business, which was his occupation at the time of his death.
CLEMENT
The name is derived from the Latin word Clemens, meaning mild, meek, gentle. The family descends from Albert Clements, Marshal of France in 1183. The Draent family is descended from Robert, who came from England early in the year 1642. He landed at Salisbury and proceeded to Haverhill with his family, consisting of wife and children. He was the first De- pnty of the town to the General Court and until 1654 was associate judge and County Commissioner. Of the succeeding generations but little is known except a genealogical record. Robert2, born in 1624, married Elizabeth Faun or Fane. Rob- ert3 married Elizabeth Palmer. Nathaniel+ married Eleanor Coburn, daughter of Daniel2. He was the first of the name to reside in Dracut. He came into possession of one or more of the long narrow lots above Collinsville between Beaver Brook and Long Pond, which was a part of the Grant of 1693. This included the present Clement farm and the Hill farm which adjoins it on the north. His house stood on the southerly slope of the hill on which the buildings now stand, and reference is made to it in the chapter relating to the establishment of the
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province line. He divided his farm giving the northern half to his son, David, and the southern half to Daniel. He was probably buried on the knoll north of the present Oakland cem- etery, described in the chapter relating to cemeteries.
Daniel5 married Eunice Hunt, the name on the town records being spelled Unis. David5 married Molly -, two of their sons, Isaac and David Jr. serving in the Revolution. Moses6, son of Daniel5, born Sept. 24, 1758, married, in 1781, Mrs. Rachel Perham, of Dunstable. When sixteen years of age he was at the Battle of Bunker Hill and his musket is in existence with the letters M. C. cut in the stock. Asa7, son of Moses, was born Sept. 28, 1784. He was a captain in the militia and mar- ried June 6, 1812, Elizabeth Wilson of Pelham, N. H. He married for second wife Mrs. Delia Marland of Windham, N. H. Asa8 was born May 8, 1813, and married Nov. 30, 1837, Hannah J. Peabody, of Methuen. Inheriting the Clement farm, he pursued the occupation of farmer. He became interested in horticulture, and by careful study of this branch of farming, he became very successful in fruit raising and the growing of trees, and grape vines. He was one of the original members of the Middlesex North Agricultural Society, serving as presi- dent from Sept. 25, 1867 to Sept. 20, 1869, and for eight years was a delegate to the State Board of Agriculture. He was interested in the Farmers' Institute, before which he read es- says on farming which he had prepared. He was an active member of the Pawtucket Church, serving as deacon and Sun- day school superintendent. As a member of the Board of Se- lectmen and the school committee, he rendered valuable serv- ice to the town. In 1869 he represented the district in the General Court. Five of the name served in the Revolution. The children of Asa8 were Arthur M. now living in Dracut, Dr. George, Mrs. Warren C Hamblett and Mrs. Joseph M. Wilson.
CHEEVER
The name is derived from the French Chever, which means to master or overcome. The first of the name in the country was Ezekiel, who was a famous master in the Boston Latin school
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and the name Ezekiel was frequent in the later generations. The Cheevers were in Dracut before the time of the division and allotment of the Reserved Lands of 1720.
Nathaniel received the third lot in the range north of the Coburn New Meadows lying between Beaver Brook and Island Pond; also the fifteenth lot on the river. He died Sept. 4, 1762. His brother Ezekiel married Hannah Phillips, of Marblehead, in 1738. Their son, Ezekiel, married Mrs. Martha Hall in 1764 and he served in the Revolutionary War. Their son, Ezekiel, born in 1776, married in 1804 Elizabeth Gayge of Pelham, N. H., and they were the parents of the elderly ladies, Hannah and Eliza, whose death occurred in recent years.
John, a brother of the last named Ezekiel married in 1798 Isbell Maloone, as spelled in the town records, a daughter of William and Sarah Malone the cellar of whose house may be seen on the top of Loon, more properly, Malone's hill. Seven children were born, two of whom, Oliver and Elbridge Gerry, will be remembered by the older residents of the town.
The first Cheever house was built in what is now a pasture north of the farm buildings formerly owned by C. H. Stickney. In accordance with an early custom it was located near a spring of water, from which they could obtain their supply until wells could be dug. It was thought to have peculiar medicinal prop- erties and still furnish water of a superior quality. At the time of location of this house the highways had not been laid out and the ways leading to the ferries were by paths but upon the allotment of Reserved Land and the town ways being ac- cepted this house with others in similar situations was aban- doned and a new honse built on the public road. Thus it is understood what is meant by the location of cellars in the woods and pastures with no apparent means of reaching a high- way.
The present Cheever house on the Stickney farm was built about the time of the Revolution. The farm is supposed to include the north end of some of the river lots granted to the Cheevers in 1721, and absence of early deeds leads to this con- clusion. During the Revolution a deserter from the British army found employment on this farm and one day while en- gaged in threshing, a file of soldiers who were hunting for de-
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serters were seen on the road which now leads to Lawrence. Knowing his danger a messenger hurried to notify him of their approach, upon which he ran out of the barn across the fields and hid in the woods where he remained two weeks, until the danger was past, being supplied with food by sympathetic friends.
CROSBY
The word Crosby is composed of two words Cross and By, meaning the town of the cross. Simeon Crosby was born in 1608, and sailed in 1635 for America in the ship Susan and Ellen, settling in Cambridge, where he died in 1639. One of his descendants, named Jonathan1, lived at Billerica but later re- moved to Dracut, and married, Mar. 21, 1743, Rebecca, daughter of Dea. Edward Coburn3. The children of Jonathan1 and Rebecca were:
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