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 32
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Jonathan, born Aug. 5, 1744, married Mrs. Hannah Goodhne, daughter of Zachariah and Sarah Goodhue.
Josiah, born Jan. 11, 1748, died young.
Bette, born Mar. 12, 1752.
Benjamin, born Aug. 12, 1754. Killed at battle of Bunker Hill.
Josiah, born June 29, 1758, married Mrs. Thankful Hildreth. The term "Mrs." is not a proof that she had ever been married as this was applied to single women also.
Jonathan, Sr., Jonathan, Jr., Benjamin, and Josiah are on the Roll of Honor.
A son of Jonathan and Rebecca, also named Jonathan2, mar- ried, in 1772, Hannah, daughter of Zachariah and Sarah (Rich- ardson) Goodhue, and is on record on the town books as Jona- than, Jr. The father and son both served in the Revolution. Jonathan2 died Oct. 20, 1813, and his son Jonathan born July 10, 1777, married Oct. 18, 1810, Hannah daughter of William Wood, who owned the farm which his son conveyed to the town for a town farm. It was probably Jonathan2 who built the house in New Boston village, which, about 1860, was removed and the present one built.
Jonathan2 and Hannah (Goodhue) were married Nov. 26, 1772. Their children were:
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Hannah, born Sept. 20, 1773, married David Abbott.
Jonathan, born July 10, 1777 married Hannah Wood. John, born March 3, 1781 married Meribah Rowell.
Rhoda, born May 18, 1783.
Phineas, born Apr. 24, 1788.
Jonathan3 and Hannah Wood were married Oct. 18, 1810. Their children were :
Jonathan Cotton, born Ang. 5, 1811, married Lydia Cheever. Hannah, born March 10, 1813, married Micah Colburn, Jr. Maria, born June 20, 1815, never married.
Sewall Wood, born Nov. 10, 1817.
Martha, born Jan. 4, 1821, married Thomas Dana Coburn. Benjamin, married Arvila Keyes.
The highway now passing Rockwood Coburn's house formerly ran several rods further to the east in what is now a field, and on this highway there was a house which was probably the home of Jonathan1; as it became the home of Jonathan2 and was an old house in the time of Jonathan3. Jonathan2 in his later years, 1800, gave a deed of it to his son Jonathan3 mak- ing provision for himself during his lifetime. The farm, formerly known as the town farm, was owned by Hannah Wood and her brother, Samuel P. The farm was divided into the eastern and western halves. The line of division was from the center of the back of the house across the center of the kitchen, the center of the front entry and the center of the front door.
At his marriage, Jonathan3 lived on this farm, the eastern half of which he sold in 1831 to the town of Dracut, and the same year, Samuel sold the western half. Jonathan3 then removed to New Boston, and occupied an old house which stood near the site of the present Crosby house owned by his brother John, who married Meribah Rowell. It was also the home of an unmarried sister, Rhoda. The house was old and was torn down before 1860, and the site is now occupied by the present house. The cellar of the house in the field was in exis- tence until recent years and when the field was cultivated the plow would turn out stones bearing the marks of contact with wagon wheels. By the laying out of the road passing the house built by Thaddeus Coburn, now Rockwood D. Coburn's, the
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road passing the house occupied by Jonathan1 was discontinued, this old road very likely ran to Jonathan Coburn house, later owned by John W. Peabody.
FRYE
This family came to Dracut early, but at what date is not known. The vital records of the town give the marriage in 1758 of Timothy Fry and Hannah Calton of Andover. There was a large family of children, among them Jedediah, Timothy and Reuben. Jedediah2, also spelt Jedidia, owned the farm north of Pleasant Street where Upland and Swain Streets are now located, which was later the Swain farm. Timothy, Jr.2, was a soldier in the Revolution and he lived at the old house now standing on Pleasant Street, opposite Swain Street, later known as the Pollard house. He died November 6, 1811.
Reuben, a brother, was also in the Revolution.
Enoch3 married, September 20, 1806, Polly Ellsworth of Gilmanton, N. H. He was a son of Timothy2. He died Feb- ruary 11, 1834, and is buried in the Hildreth Cemetery, where his father, Timothy2, is laid. His son was Ellsworth4 who was a stone mason, and, in 1831, lived in a cottage on Pleasant Street, adjoining the Post Office on the east. Timothy4, George+ and William+ went West and settled there. James+ was the only son of Enoch to remain in Dracut. He was born November 26, 1818, and married Harriet Lane. He purchased a house on Brookside Street, near the site of the Hamblett saw mill, and died at the age of 80. He was a brick layer by trade.
Fox
The name, Fox, is found in Ireland as early as A. D., 1033. Previous to this time and before it was anglicised the name was Shanach. It is one of the rare instances in which the surname is the name of an animal. Before the seventeenth century the "Book of Martyrs" was written by one Fox and this book and the Bible were the only books to which Bunyan had access when he wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress." During the same century, the name, in England, was spelled Fawkes, as it is recorded in history that in 1604 an attempt was made to
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destroy the House of Parliament with the king by storing in the cellar barrels of gun powder to be exploded when Parliament was in session. The plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes, as leader, and others were arrested. For many years the day was celebrated annually in England, and even since that time the fifth of November has been known as Gunpowder Day. There were processions, illuminations and other features and a song was sung in which were the lines,
"Happy the man, happy the day
That caught Guy Fawkes in the middle of his play."
"Nov. 5 was celebrated in some of the Northern Colonies by fireworks, by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes or by carrying about the village two hideous pumpkin faces supposed to represent the Pope & the Devil and then consigning them to a bonfire."
The English ancestor of the family was Thomas1, who, in 1640, married Rebecca-and died in 1658. His son, Elijhalet2, born in England, married, in 1665, Mary Wheeler, who died in 1678 and three years later he married Mary Hunt, daughter of John Stone and widow of Isaac Hunt. Nathaniel3 was born in Concord, February 18, 1683, and his death is recorded in the Dracut records as occurring December 20, 1765, "in 82d year," presumably in Dracut, but Cutter, in his "Middlesex Families," states that he died at Concord where his gravestone can be found. He removed to Dracut, July 31, 1714.
When the Reserved Land was divided in 1721, he was assigned the eleventh lot on the river, east of Belcher's line. As these lots cannot be identified by their exact boundary lines, allowing an average width for the first ten lots would place this lot between MeManmon's greenhouses and Varnum's Landing, now Bell Grove. There is no record showing that he ever lived on this lot, but as each one had lots assigned them according to value, it was often the case that more than one lot was given them, so a second lot was laid out to Nathaniel Fox and Onesiphorous Marsh. This was the first lot in the range of lots on Marsh Hill, bounded on the north by the Coburn New Meadows. Marsh sold his share to Fox. The lot
FRED A. FOX
(Set Page 388)
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is now owned and occupied by Frank P.8 and Clinton W.9 at the north end, and Eugene C.8 at the south end of the original farm.
Nathaniel3 lived on another range of lots known as the 200 acres and lying east of Draent Center. His first wife was Hannah Merriam, to whom he was married January 11, 1710. They had six children, three of whom were born in Dracut. For a second wife, he married, October 18, 1760, Elizabetlı Brown. Isaac4, son of Nathaniel was born in Concord, Febru- ary 17, 1712. He was twice married. His first wife, whom he married in 1738, was Abigail Prescott. He married the second wife, Hannah L. Blanchard, in 1755. His daughter, Hannah, born in 1746, married, in 1768, Ebenezer Varnum, whose farm was formerly owned by Isaac4, and afterward by Prescott Varnum, later by Archibald O. Varnum, and in more recent years by George D. Coburn.
David4, son of Nathaniel, born in Dracut, March 19, 1717, married Mary Colburn, great-granddaughter of Edward1. The line is Edward1, Thomas2, Josiah3, Mary4. They had nine children. David received from his father, Nathaniel, the farm on Marsh Hill, which has since remained in the Fox family. He is on record as dying "in the army at Senecteda," Sept. 24, 1758.
His son, David5, succeeded him on the farm. He was born July 8, 1751, and married Sarah, daughter of Capt. Stephen Russell. He, with his brother, Josiah, served in the Revolution- ary Army and died in 1832. His son, Russell6, married Hepsi- beth Peabody, and purchased the Amasa Peabody farm on Marsh Hill which he left to his son, Dana R7. who was succeeded by his son, Daniel D.8, and he, in turn, by his son, Everett B.9, the present owner.
Samuel6, son of David, was born September 7, 1786, and was twice married. His first wife was Abi Wilson, and his second was Dorcas, daughter of Eliphalet5 Fox who was a brother of David5. He came into possession of his father's farm which he later exchanged with his nephew, Darius L.7, son of Russell, and received from him the Levi Jones farm, which was originally the southerly end of the lot assigned to Nathaniel in the division of 1721. This was later owned by
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his son, Samuel Adams7 Fox, and now by his son, Eugene C.8 Darius L.7, at his death, left the farm to his son, Eben T.8, at whose death it became the property of his widow, Martha (Hill) Fox, and her son, Clinton W.9
Eliphalet5, son of David, Sr.4, was born February 27, 1749; married, November 13, 1770, Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Stephen Russell, a sister of the wife of David, Jr .; they had twelve or thirteen children. They lived at the Russell house on Pleasant Street, east of Hovey Square, which is now standing. The oldest son, Eliphalet, Jr.6, married Rhoda, daughter of Jonathan and Bette (Hildreth) Taylor, and they were the parents of eight children, one of whom, Margaret7, lived on Sladen Street and died in 1907, aged 93. One of her sisters, Harriet, married Life Webster, who lived at the westerly end of Dracut, which was annexed to Lowell.
Peter6, son of Eliphalet5, had a son Jonathan6, who lived on the Methuen Road, also several daughters, one of whom married Nathan Thissell, Sr. Jonathan4, son of Nathaniel was born April 28, 1719, and, in 1746, married Mary Barron. He died October 17, 1753, and his widow married William Colburn, Jr. He received from his father a farm of seventy-five acres to which he added by purchase. After 1800, it was owned by Renben Jones until his death in 1808, when it ceased to be cultivated and is nearly covered by a growth of trees. The cellar is now in an open piece of ground about three-fourths of a mile south of the George Eastman farm, lately owned by George R. Fox and northeast of Loon Hill Road. Daniel4, son of Nathaniel, was born February 8, 1722, and died September 20, 1769. His first wife was Mary Jones; his second, Mrs. Mary Durin, and his third, Mrs. Ruth Jaquith. He inherited the homestead and succeeded his father as deacon of the church.
In the public library of the town there is an old book, a combination of diary and account book, which contained a record of the children of Daniel4. "Jesse, born 1747-8, Feb 8. Abijah, born July 24, 1750. Jacob and Rachel, twins, born Oct. 1, 1752. Lydia, born March 30, 1755. Joel, born May 6, 1757, children of Daniel and Mary (Jones). Molle, born Oct. 14, 1761, daughter of Daniel and Mary Durin. Elijah, born Dec. 28, 1766, son of Daniel and Ruth (Jaquith)."
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Elijah5 married Mrs. Sarah Butler, and lived at Pelham, N. H. Abijah5 and Joel5 settled in Dracut, the first named on the homestead and the second, Joel5, settled on the Curtis farm, which adjoins the home farm and which was owned by his son Joel6, and grandson, James7, who with his sister, Lydia, remained there during their lives. Abijah5 married Mercy Harris. He was a deacon in the church and served in the Revolutionary army. He had five children, the youngest, Capt. Nathaniel6, who will be remembered by the older residents of the town, inherited the farm.
The old house stood on the side of the road, as was the custom in those days, door yards being considered superfluous. This house was demolished and Nathaniel built a new one, placing it away from the road on the present site. This was afterwards burned and the present one erected. He married Fanny Richardson, daughter of Samuel, Jr., and there were eleven children, none of whom are now living. Milton7 suc- ceeded his father on the farm, which he enlarged by purchasing adjoining land. At his death, the farm passed to his son, Fred A.8, and now is owned by his son Harold M.4 Nine of this name were in the Revolution.
Capt. Nathaniel Fox, the sixth in descent from the English ancestor Thomas, came into possession of the farm which was owned by his ancestors. He was a practical farmer, ready to adopt new methods and to keep pace with modern improve- ments. He was not anxious to hold public office, although when his services were required in any duties, he accepted the trust and by his sound sense and good judgment performed these duties in a satisfactory manner. Possessing good executive ability, he was placed in command of a company of militia thus receiving the title of captain. Honored and respected by all, he passed from earth full of years and regretted by his townspeople.
Milton Fox was the son of Capt. Nathaniel and Fanny Fox, and became the owner of the home farm. Inheriting his father's good judgment, he continued improvements which had caused the farm to be a model farm and by purchase enlarged the farm to which he gave his time and study. He was es- pecially successful in the raising of cattle and the production
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of milk for the market. His broad acres provided large quan- tities of hay, which found a ready market in the neighboring city. He also raised many acres of cabbages which he sent to the Boston market. In common with his father, he did not seek public office, but was deeply interested in the affairs of the town endeavoring by his influence and example to promote its best interests.
Fred A. Fox was born March 25, 1846, and died May 22, 1907. He married, January 12, 1882, Mary Lizzie, daughter of Edward and Phebe (Hayes) Richardson. He became the owner of the large farm owned by his father, Milton, at his death, thus being the sixth in descent from the original owner, Nathaniel. He was a student at Gilmanton, N. H. Academy and the Colby Academy at New London, N. H. Completing his studies, he returned to Dracut to become the manager of his father's farm, thus gaining experience which enabled him, when owner, to become a successful farmer. He had no incli- nation to hold office in town or state, although interested in the welfare of the town. His children and grandchildren form the seventh and eighth generations to occupy the ancestral acres.
Darius L. Fox was a descendant in the seventh generation of Edward Colburn and Nathaniel Fox. Exchanging farms with his uncle, Samuel, he lived ou the farm which has been owned and occupied by the descendants of Nathaniel ever since the laying out of the reserved land. The good spirit of his Revolutionary ancestors, David Fox, Jr., and Capt. Stephen Russell was shown in his quiet, unobstrusive life. He attended faithfully to whatever public duties he was called upon to per- form. He will be remembered as a good citizen and a generous, accommodating neighbor ready to help in all good work.
GOODHUE
The name in the earlier days was spelled Goodhew and Goodhugh, and within the memory of the present generation was pronounced Goody. William1, when twenty-four years of age came from England and settled at Ipswich. He had two sons, Joseph2 and William, Jr.2. Ebenezer3, son of Joseph, was born 1685 and died 1747. He was the first of the name to live in Dracut. At the division of the reserved land in 1721,
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he was assigned the first lot on the Merrimack River, east of Belcher's line. It was a tract of forty-six acres and was that land lying east of Beacon Street, reaching to the river. He held the offices of selectman, in 1712, and town treasurer, in 1714. He was an owner of other tracts of land as his name appears affixed to deeds shows. His son, Zachariah4, born 1725, was in the Revolution, also his grandson, Zachariah5. The Goodhue home was at the Navy Yard village, where Zachariah, Jr., had an interest in the saw and grist mill which stood at the east end of the dam, where a one-story brick building is now located. May 1, 1793, he conveyed to Joshua Bradley 24/48 of saw mill and the same proportion of land "on which the saw mill stands where the grist mill formerly stood lately owned by Capt Hale deceased and myself." Aside from this ownership, the Goodhue family were farmers.
The later families of this name, in this village, were des- cendants of Zachariah5. They purchased outlying land and kept a large stock of cattle and horses. Enoch F. was an en- terprising man and at different periods was farmer, butcher and tavern keeper, holding a lease for a short time of the B. F. Varnum tavern at the Center, where the fire department build- ing now stands. His sons, Carlos A. and Cornelius, succeeded him on the farm and later Henry, the oldest son of Enoch F., had his home there. Henry, in his younger days, was engaged in whale fishing, voyaging to the Pacific Ocean.
Besides those already mentioned two more of the name of Goodhne served in the Revolution. The family which settled in the neighborhood of the paper mill was descended from one of the sons of William1, viz., William, Jr. The first of this line living in Dracut was Moses who was in the fourth generation; born, 1752; died, 1824. His sons, Aaron and Daniel, succeeded him in the ownership of the mill property as described in the chapter relating to the paper mill.
Ralph Goodhue, formerly living in the Kenwood district, was a descendant of Joseph2 another son of the immigrant. He was in the eighth generation, a son of Wadleigh7, but none of his ancestral line resided in Dracut. He married, September 5, 1869, Juline Frances Miner. His daughter, Amy H., was the first librarian in the town library.
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HALL
Richard Hall, in 1676, was a freeman living in Bradford, and the line commences with him. His son, Richard2, was born February 6, 1676, and married Mehitable Barker, his son, Ephraim3, was born February 10, 1717, and married Eunice -. Ephraim3 was the first of the name to settle in Dracut, and his farm, located on the road to Methuen, became the westerly part of the late George Kelley's farm. His son, Ephraim4, was born September 3, 1741, and married Lydia, daughter of Stephen Russell. The date of intentions of marriage is March 9, 1765. He purchased property on Marsh Hill in the range of land in reserved lands, bordering on Colburn's new meadows, which remained in the family four generations.
His son, Phineas5 was born January 1, 1768, and married Patty, daughter of Ezekiel and Martha Cheever. He inherited his father's farm, which he transferred by deed to his son, Ira6, who was born September 30, 1804, and married April 26, 1831, Polly, daughter of Joel and Hannah Fox. Ira was active in the affairs of the town. He was interested in its development and as a town officer he performed the duties with good judg- ment and for its best interest. A descendant of the Revo- Intionary soldiers, Ephraim Hall and Capt. Stephen Russell, he inherited the privileges of that class of men who fought to establish our independence, and in his life he practiced those principles while performing his duties as a citizen and town officer.
Four of his children arrived at maturity, viz., Ira Volney, who resided at Acton; Leroy C., a merchant; Gayton M., for many years town clerk of Dracut, and Oscar A., superintendent of the Gage Ice Co. of Lowell. The family was represented in the Revolution by Ephraim, Sr.4, and his three sons, Ephraim, Jr., Asa and Moses. Three more of this name are on the Roll of Honor as serving in the war.
HAMBLETT
William Hamblett was born in England and married Sarah Hubbard, a widow. The date of his arrival in this
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country is not known, but in 1642 he was at Watertown, where he was one of the proprietors. He removed to Billerica in 1656 and to Woburn in 1679. His son, Jacob2, was born at Cam- bridge about 1645, and married Hannah Parker. His son, Joseph3, born at Woburn in 1681, married Hannah Cullen. Their son, Joseph4, born at Woburn in 1708, married Susan Durrant and removed to Pelham, N. H. He was one of the first to settle on the territory afterward called Pelham. He was the first of the name to reside in Dracut, where in 1745, his son, John5, was born, who, in 1772, married Elizabeth Perham of Dunstable. Joseph+ owned land on both sides of Beaver Brook at Collinsville and operated a saw and gristmill, which, in 1773, he sold to his son, John5, who conducted it until 1789, when he exchanged properties with Isaac Parker, taking in exchange the farm formerly owned by Dr. James Abbott.
The farmhouse, built in the style of the time, was two-story with the large chimney in the center and painted red. It stood on the Mammoth Road nearly opposite where the tene- ments of the American Woolen Company now stand. The house, in recent years, was demolished, but its site can be found at the present time. There was a family of seven children.
John6, Jr., lived in Maine. Life6, born, 1780; died, 1874; married, 1808, Rachel, daughter of John Bowers. He pur- chased the Stanley house at the Navy Yard and was a farmer by occupation. He, as justice of the peace, transacted legal business and served as selectman and held other important offi- ces in the town. His son, Charles?, was a mason by trade, but later he became a farmer and purchased the Bradley property on Hildreth Street, adjoining the Blanchard Hospital grounds. His sons, Albert8 and Arthur8, who were also masons reside in Dracut. George7, the younger son of Life6, was a blacksmith and lived at the Navy Yard, where he, at one time, operated the sawmill which stood on the brook below the bridge at the mill and between Brookside Street and "New England." He had one son, George Eugene8, now deceased.
Theodore6, son of John, was a wheelwright, and built and operated the sawmill just mentioned. His sons, Theodore H.7, was a millwright, Daniel V.7 was a carpenter and Warren C.7
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was a manufacturer. He had other sons and daughters who never married. Theodore6 purchased the Garrison House farm on Riverside Street, but, retiring from active life, he removed to the Parker Varnum House on Varnum Avenue, which he had bought. Peter6, son of John, born in 1775, married Polly Goodhne, and inherited the homestead at Collinsville. His children removed from Dracut. The family was represented in the Revolution by Jonathan, who was a drummer boy at Bunker Hill.
HILDRETH
The Hildreths came from England before 1643, as at that date Richard1 Hildreth was admitted as a freeman of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The name has been spelled in different ways as many of our names in New England have been changed to conform to present usage. A very common way of pro- nouncing it was "Hildrick."
Richard1 settled at Woburn, then called Charlestown Village, where he was living at the date above mentioned. Ten years later, in company with twenty-eight others, "he petitioned Hon. John Endicott and other honorable magistrates at Boston for certain grants of land for Chelmford on the river Merrimack at a necke of land, next to Concord river near to Pawtucket, it being a very comfortable place to accommodate a company of God's people upon : that may with God's blessing and assistance live comfortably upon and do good in that place for church and commonwealth." [Reade's "Hildreth Family."]
His son, James2, had a son, Ephraim3, who was the first of the name in Dracut. In 1709, Ephraim3 purchased of the heirs of John Alcock 1300 acres. The land on the north side of the river was not at first occupied by the Chelmsford settlers, as the river seemed to them to be a barrier to prevent settlement.
In Chelmsford, there were garrison houses and reasonable protection from the Indians. In the "Wildernesse" they would be exposed to incursions from the savages and the settlers were reluctant to overcome these difficulties. The success of the Coburn and Varnums, who came from Ipswich, was of value to others, as it showed that it was possible to live on the north side of the river.
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The Indian War of 1675 was ended and the low price of land influenced the Hildreths to become settlers on the north side of the river also. The territory from the mouth of Beaver brook to Tyng's Island was controlled by the Coburns and Varnums; but the Russell grant on the east side of the brook was unoccupied. It had been divided in 1687, and the western half sold to John Alcock. This became the property of his two daughters, one the wife of Benjamin Walker of Boston and the other the wife of Ephraim Hunt of Weymouth. Portions of this property are in the possession of Ephraim's descendants. North of the 1300 acres mentioned, is the Billerica grant of 500 acres which he purchased.
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