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 34
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The good minister had a bluff, hearty manner, and, as was the almost universal custom among the clergy in the earlier days of his pastorate, partook of an occasional glass of rum. While calling one day on a parishioner of his, the good woman brought forth a bottle of rum and pouring out some in a glass put a spoonful of molasses in it.
'No sweetening,' said the minister, 'it needs no sweetening.' .Why, Mr. Bradley,' she replied, 'it could not be too sweet for you if it was all molasses.' 'Well, well, pour it in, then,' responded the good pastor, always susceptible to flattery.
In the pulpit he had many little mannerisms which, far from detracting from the regard in which he was held, made him, if possible, more popular among his parishioners and acquaint- ances. On the occasion of the dedication of a school in Sacca- rappa, being called upon for the prayer, he responded, and ended with these words: 'Oh God, make this school as good as the Gorham school, and you know that that is not what it is cracked up to be.'
During an especially dry summer Parson Bradley was occupy- ing one Sunday the pulpit of the Congregational church in Scarboro, and being requested to pray for rain, in his charac- teristic style he invoked the divine blessing in this manner : .O God, send us rain, but you know that this ground needs dressing far more than it does rain.' The soil in that vicinity being rather poor suggested the coupling of this hint to its owners with his supplication to the Lord.
In his day the parson was politically a strong Federalist, and subsequently a Whig. During the administration of the democratic president, James K. Polk, the good minister was called upon to address a school in the town of Westbrook, and in trying to impress the boys with the importance of study, he called their attention to the fact that in this country any boy had a chance of becoming president of the United States, and went on to say, 'Perhaps some of you may be a man as good as Washington, some of von may be as good as Adams, some one of you as worthy as Harrison, and the Lord knows that any of you may be equal to a Polk.'
On another occasion he was attending the funeral of the wife of one of the most prominent citizens in the town of Westbrook.
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In the course of his prayer he said, 'Oh Lord, be merciful to the bereaved husband. Especially, Lord, we pray thee, to prevent him from making such a fool of himself as most men do who lose their wives.' "
Nehemiah5 married Lydia French and they had five children. He lived near Bradley's ferry and was the ferryman in the em- ploy of his brother Joseph, he also had a shoemaker's shop. Another Bradley family resided in the town. This was Isaac Bradley, who was born in Haverhill in 1749, and came to Dra- cut where he married in 1772, "Marget," daughter of Ephraim Hildreth. In the same year he bought of Ezekiel Hale a dwell- ing house on the south side of Pleasant Street, near the mills, then owned by Hale. The building stood at the crossing where the electric road crosses Pleasant Street and is a few rods from its former location, fronting now on Lakeview Avenue. In 1779, he bought of Hale 11/2 acres of land between his house and Beaver Brook, with a scythe mill, water privileges, etc. This property passed to his son, Benjamin Bradley, who lived in a farm house between Lakeview Avenue and Brookside Street. Six members of the Bradley families served in the Revolution.
PARKER
Deacon Thomas Parker, the Progenitor of the Parkers of Dracut, was born in 1605 and died in 1683. He came to America from London, England, in 1635, as a passenger in the ship Susan and Ellin, and the same year married Amy, whose surname is not known. He resided at Lynn two years, but, later, removed to Reading which, at that time, was being settled. His grave is to be seen in one of the old cemeteries of Wakefield, formerly a part of Reading. He was a deacon in the church at Reading and assisted in its establishment. He, with Deacon Thomas Kendall and Deacon William Cowdrey consti- tuted the board of founders of the church. His good judgment and ability caused him to be elected to the office of commissioner and his duty was to act as judge in the trial of cases which did not properly belong to a higher court. There were eleven chil- dren and the Parkers of Dracut are descended from the third son who was known as Sergeant John.
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The descendants of Deacon Thomas have taken an active part in the wars which occurred in the early days in the history of this country. In the Colonial wars he was represented by five sons, three grandsons, eight great-grandsons and twelve great- great-grandsons. On April 19, 1775, at the battle of Lexington and Concord, he was represented by six great-grandsons and twenty-three great-great-grandsons. In the Revolutionary war he had six great-grandsons and thirty-two great-great-grand- sons. Among these were men holding every rank from private to general.
Sergeant John2 Parker was born in 1640 and died in 1698. His home was in Reading, at a locality known as Cowdrey hill. In 1667 he married Hannah the fourth daughter of Deacon Thomas Kendall. By this marriage the name Kendall was introduced into the family. The only son of Deacon Ken- dall dying when young, the daughters agreed that their first born sons should be named Kendall, and thus in the early records the name of Kendall Parker appears frequently. Ser- geant John served in King Philip's war in 1675 and 1676, and during the last named year he was wounded. While a farmer by occupation, his services were in demand as a surveyor. Sergeant John had thirteen children, and the fourth son, Johnathan3, married, in 1706, Anna Flint. He died in Reading in 1746.
In their family of five children, the youngest was named Kendall, who was born in Reading, April 23, 1723. He married Mary Harris of Methuen, and with his brother Tim- othy+ settled on land on both sides of the line between Methuen and Dracut. Four children were born to this couple and after the death of the mother he married Priscilla Austin and there were seven children by this marriage. It is from four of these brothers, viz., Kendall, Jr.5, Peter5, Jonathan5 and Nathan5 that the Parkers of Dracut are descended. The name of Kendall5 is found on the Roll of Honor as a private in Capt. Stephen Russell's company, which hurried to Lexington on April 19, 1775. The next year he was a corporal in Capt. Reed's company, in Col. Varnum's regiment. It is an interest- ing fact that at Concord and Lexington, on that memorable day, there were twenty-nine men who were related to each other, mostly cousins, twenty-six of whom bore the name of Parker.
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Kendall5, Jr., was born April 4, 1752, and died April 6, 1807. In 1777, he married Mrs. Dolly (Jones) Richardson, daughter of Nathaniel and Jane Jones, and widow of Jonas Richardson. He was active in town affairs, holding the office of surveyor, collector and constable. In 1787, the selectmen ordered the treasurer to pay to them twelve shillings "to Deliver to Mr. Kindall Parker Jun' for Expenses for man and Horses Carrying Provisions to the Army." His home was at the corner of Bridge and Pleasant Streets, where Cyrus Udell now lives. While living he disposed of his property to his children after making provision for his widow.
One of his children, Samuel6, the youngest, lived at the homestead at the Center. He was born April 10, 1794, and died December 20, 1850. He married, April 19, 1821, Sarah Harris of Methuen. His occupation was that of blacksmith and his shop stood on the point of land formed by the inter- section of Pleasant Street and Aiken Avenue, near the hay scales. There were ten children, among them Samuel7, Jr., who died in 1865, and William F., never married. Benjamin7 married Rowena M., daughter of Jonathan6 Parker, and Levi N.7, who married Sarah E. Noyes of Bow, N. H. A daughter, Sarah, who never married, lived at Dracut Center, and died at an advanced age.
Peter5 was born in 1754, and died in 1809. In 1785 he married Bridget, daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Richardson) Coburn, the fifth in descent from Edward1 Colburn, the first of the name in Dracut. His life as a Dracut farmer was un- eventful, but his record as a soldier is honorable. Besides his service in the Dracut companies, he was in Capt. Wright's company in Col. Brooks' regiment at White Plains, and in Lieut. Flint's company in Col. Poor's regiment. His name is in "New York in the Revolution" and in the pay books of the treasurer of the State of New York. The company to which he belonged was in the battle at White Plains, in October, 1776, and the regiment commanded by Col. Brooks covered the retreat of the American troops. After the battle, he, with others, was selected to accompany the wounded to their destination.
Theodore6 was the youngest of the eight children of Peter and Bridget. He was born in 1799 and died in 1865. He
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married, in 1830, Lydia, daughter of Eldad Carter, one of the earliest settlers of Wilmington. She died in 1832, leaving a son, Theodore E.7. He married Frances Brackett, and their son, Theodore E.8, married Harriet Talbot. Theodore6 married a second wife, in 1834, Hannah, daughter of Deacon Moses and Mary (Derby) Greeley of Hudson, N. H. Their children were Mary7 who married Leonard H. Morrison, Moses G.7, and Adelaide, who died in infancy. He was an enterprising man and established blacksmith shops in Dracut and Andover. In- heriting the homestead, he managed his farm and conducted the business of blacksmithing at the same time. He was dili- gent, upright and honorable in his business relations, acquiring a cempetency which relieved him from care in his declining years. In those days the duties of a smith were more varied than at the present day. He must know how to shoe horses and oxen, iron sleighs, sleds and carts, fashion knives and carpenters' tools, and do all kinds of repairing in iron work. He was also an expert in the art of brazing iron and, what was far more difficult, he understood the silvering of iron, which required skill of a high order. He was an active and earnest member of the Baptist Church at Methuen, but he retained a love for the Dracut Center Church, where his father worshipped and always retained in his possession the old square pew until, with others, it was removed to give place to improvements.
Jonathan5, son of Kendall4, was born February 18, 1764, and died August 31, 1834. He married Alice Guttterson. Of the ten children, only two will be mentioned in this history, viz., Worthy6 and Aiken6. In 1802, he purchased a farm of Josiah Wood, situated on the Methuen Road, north of the road on which his father's farm was situated. This farm he left to his two sons above mentioned. His house was the Parker Tavern and was famous for its hall in which were held dancing parties which were patronized by the young people of Lowell. He served in the Revolution in the companies of Capt. Russell and Capt. Varnum. His son, Worthy6, born in 1803, married Mary Nudd, and owned the tavern building and the eastern half of the farm; while Aiken6 owned the western half, where he made his home.
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
Nathan5, son of Kendall, Sr., was born in May, 1776, and died September 2, 1852. He married, in 1801, Elsa Gilchrest. In 1800, he purchased a part of the homestead farm of Isaac Barker, situated on the crossroad leading from the Varnum cemetery to the Methuen Road. Six children were born, only one son reaching maturity. This was Nathan6, Jr., who was born July 7, 1805, and died March 16, 1870. He married Fannie, daughter of Nathaniel and Anna Jones. He owned the home farm, and of his ten children, two only of the sons settled in Dracut, viz., William Sumner7 and Bernice7. Another family by the name of Parker resided in Dracut.
The progenitor of this line was Abraham, born about 1612, and married, in 1644, Rose Whitlock. John2, born in 1647, married. in 1678, Mary Danforth. John3, born about 1683, married Deborah or Rebecca John4, born in 1711,
married Hannah -. Ephraim5, born in 1738, married, in 1762, Sybil Warren. John6, born in 1763, married, in 1784, Mercy Coburn, who was in the fifth generation from Edward1. The line is Edward1, Joseph2, Aaron3, Aaron4, Mercy5. Perley7, son of John, was born in 1796, and married, in 1825, Sarah Grosvenor, widow of William Butler of Pelham, N. H. John M. G.8 was born in 1826, and married, in 1852, Dolly Maria, daughter of Israel Hildreth. Another son of John6 and Mercy was Asa7, who was born in 1791, and married, in 1814, Elizabeth, daughter of Obadiah and Hannah Richardson. Two only of the fourteen children of Asa settled in Dracut, viz., John I.8 who married Eliza - -, and Perley who married Mrs. Harriet Cole. One son of Asa7, Obadiah8, was killed by light- ning while mowing in a meadow.
One of the younger sons was named Merrill Richardson Parker, and his adventures seem like a romance. Born in Dracut in 1837, at thirteen years of age, he went to New York, where he, as a sailor, made several voyages to Liverpool on the merchant vessels, named Dreadnaught and Sidon, and in the Charlotte of Derby to Newcastle, Shields and the North Sea; also to Bombay and Hong Kong. Returning to England, he left the sea and was employed in London by the Colt Fire Arms Co. At the commencement of the Crimean War, he enlisted in the 90th Light Infantry, and served in the English army, being at the
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siege of Sebastopol in 1855, when eighteen years of age. He was present and took an active part in the battle of Balaklava and while stationed on a hill he saw the famous charge of the Light Brigade which the poet laureate of England, Lord Tenny- son, so forcibly describes in the poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade."
"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volleyed and thundered, Stormed at with shot and shell.
Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death
Into the mouth of hell, Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air, Sabring the gunners there; Charging an army while All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery smoke Right through the line they broke.
Cossack and Russian Reeled from the sabre stroke.
Shattered and sundered, Then they rode back, but not, Not the six hundred."
As this was a war in which America was not engaged, the conclusion is that he had an adventurous spirit which led him into perils and dangers from which he escaped unharmed, and after his discharge from the army, which ocenrred October 1, 1856, he returned to Hartford, Conn., where he again entered the employ of the Colt Fire Arms Co.
The youngest son of Asa and Elizabeth was named Alfred F. He enlisted in August, 1862, in the 1st Conn. Cavalry and was present at the battle of Fredericksburg. The following year the company served as provost guard at Baltimore. They
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were later ordered to the Shenandoah Valley and served under Gen. Phil Sheridan. He was at the Battle of Cedar Creek where the 6th Corp was in danger of being beaten by the Con- federates under Gen. Early, but being assisted by the 1st Conn. Cavalry, the victory was won. He received his discharge from the army in 1865.
The spirit which prompted Merrill Parker to engage in a military capacity was inherited by his sons. His oldest son, Merrill, Jr., served in the late war and was badly wounded at the battle of the Marne, receiving injuries to arm and knee, which confined him in the hospital 16 months, but re- covered and returned home. The second son, Roswell H., was a member of the 9th Machine Gun Co., who, after qualifying for the position of 2d lieutenant, was sent to France where he also took part in the battle of the Marne and was promoted to the office of 1st lieutenant. In this battle he received a gun- shot wound and the enemy stripped him and left him lying in the rain. He was resened by his men and recovered of his wounds and returned to America.
The home of John6 and Mercy was on the southern slope of Marsh Hill, the house standing near the house of Eugene C. Fox, near the line of the Russell Grant, called Belcher's Farm Line and on the north side of the road. A slight depression shows where the building stood. When about 1825 the country road, now Bridge Street, was opened the present building became the Parker Home, the last of the name to occupy it being John I.8, son of Asa7 and Elizabeth. Perley7, son of John6, lived at Dracut heights, now Centralville, where he owned a farm and the same locality was the home of his son, John M. G.8
The Parkers came into possession of the land by purchase as their entry into Dracut was after the division of the reserved land. In the Proprietors' Record an account is given of land "adjoining Primes lot on Merrimack River, comprising 210 acres was laid out June 2, 1715, to Rev. John Higginson." In the Essex County records the transfer of this tract on June 27, 1715, from John Higgison, Sr., to John, Jr., is recorded. March 23, 1742. Timothy Parker, of Reading, purchased the rights in the Higginson tract. The deed recites, "This land
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is the same as deeded to John Higginson, Jr., by his father, John Higginson, 27 June 1715," and quotes from an earlier deed, and described as a "Certain Tract of upland and meadow Scituate within the Township of Dracut it being that Tract of Land which was granted unto me out of the Reserved Land in Dracutt by the Town of Dracutt and with the Consent of the major part of the Proprietors of the reserved lands my part being the thirtieth part of the whole reserved lands where of there is laid out to me one price of land containing two hundred and ten acres joining upon Dracut East Line and is in breadth one hundred and eighty poles from said Dracutt Line westward to a black oak tree marked and thence three hundred and twenty poles on a due north line and thence East northerly to Dracutt line." Also "a certain piece of meadow, 15 acres of land laid ont at the head of Dennisons brook. Also 317 acres east of Dracutt line laid out by the General Court."
Two years later, Timothy sold two-fifths of the tract to his father, Jonathan. As this lot in Dracut joined another east of the Metlinen line, granted by the General Court, the sub- sequent transfers must have included both lots. Timothy's brothers, John and Kendall, owned shares which were held in common until November 18, 1745, when there was a division. As only the descendants of Kendall, Sr., are in Dracut, the shares of the others were in Methuen or else were purchased by him.
In 1789, Kendall sold the land on the north side of the road to his son, Peter, and the tract on the south side to his son, Jonathan. In the deed the amount given is "fourty acres" and was "a part of the farm called Higgersons farm." This later became the property of his youngest son, Theodore, who pur- chased, in 1826, the land on the south side of the road which Jonathan had sold to Peter Harris. Theodore was the last of the name to occupy the farm although a part of it was in possession of his son, Dr. Moses G., at the time of his death.
Among the professional men whose birthplace was Dracut and whose lives have been active and useful, Dr. Moses G. Parker occupies a prominent place. His ancestry from Deacon Thomas1 has already been recorded. A brief sketch of his life was printed in the Lowell Courier from which we
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quote : "He attended the schools of Dracut, the Howe School of Billerica and Phillips Academy at Andover, gradnating from the Harvard Medical School in 1864. He immediately entered the United States service as Assistant Surgeon in the Second U. S. Colored Cavalry, and remained in the service until the close of the war, having been in engagements in Virginia, at Suffolk, Chickahominy, Jamestown, Wilson's Landing and Bermuda Hundreds. He volunteered to go on board the gun- boat Commodore Perry during the bombardment of Fort Clifton on the Appomattox River when she burst her 100 lb. Parrott gun, and assisted the surgeon in caring for the wounded. After this he was with his regiment before Petersburg, and on Jnly 30, 1864, was so near the explosion of the mine that he saw and heard the terrible upheaval that formed the crater. Later he was assigned to hospital duty and was placed in charge of the first division of the Point of Rocks Hospital, Va., containing 1,000 beds.
At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge and, in 1866, commenced the practice of medicine in Lowell, Mass. He soon became prominent in his profession and was elected a member of the staff of St. John's Hospital, a trustee of the Lowell General Hospital, and was twice president of the Middlesex North District Medical Society. He invented a thermo cautery in 1876, and becoming interested in photog- raphy, he discovered the rotary motion in the fire of lightning and was the first to show by photography that the electric cur- rent rotates. The discovery was recorded by the New York Electric Club Review, and London Engineering in 1888. Being interested in electrical science, he realized the value of the tele- phone and was one of the first to become financially interested in the Lowell District Co., in 1879, becoming a director in this and other companies and vice-president in the Boston and Northern Telephone Company. In 1883, when these and other companies consolidated to form the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, he became a director and member of the executive committee, which office he retained until his death.
He travelled extensively in Europe and in this country, having made an extended trip to the Northwest into Alaska
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and south into Mexico. In 1892, he became interested in the Sons of the American Revolution and was a member of its board of managers. He was a charter member of the Old Middlesex Chapter and for two terms held the office of president. He was president of the State Society for two terms and in 1911-1912 was president general of the National Society, S. A. R. He was a delegate to the National Arbitration and Peace Con- gress in New York, in 1907, and a United States delegate to the seventeenth International Medical Congress held in London, England, in 1913. His death occurred at his home in Lowell."
RICHARDSON
The name is, literally, like many others, Richard's son, Richard meaning of a powerful, rich or generous disposition. The progenitor of the Dracut family was Ezekiel, who came from England at an early date and settled at Woburn. His wife's name was Susanna and they were the parents of seven children, among them were Josiah2 and James2, who were the ones from whom the Dracut families descended. Thomas3, son of James, married Hannah, daughter of Edward1 Colburn, and settled near his father-in-law on Varnum Avenue. Josiah2 and his son, Josiah3, lived at Chelmsford. Josiah4 was the first of the name to settle in Dracut, and at a general town meeting held October 27, 1712, leave was granted him to be a settled inliabi- tant of Dracut on the lot, No. 10, which his father took up with the consent of the general court. Josiah3 died October 17, 1711. Vincent in his Memorial describes the lot as having "Merrimack river on the south, the Solomon lot on the west, on the north and east it had marked trees. It was one of the fifteen lots that lay between Mr. Belcher's farm and Mr. Winthrop's farm and near Walker's brook and was the thirtieth part of the undivided land in the township of Dracut." His occupancy of the lot is uncertain, for later he purchased land of Jonathan Belcher, on what is now Hildreth street in Centralville and where he re- sided until his death.
The limits of this history forbid a record of all the descend- ants of Josiah4 and his wife Lydia -. Those who settled in Dracut will be mentioned. Of the twelve children, Ephraim5, born November 12, 1722, married Elizabeth Richardson.
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Ephraim6, born December 27, 1745, married Eleanor Richard- son and lived on the farm later owned by Jonathan Fox. His son, Ephraim7, married Hannah Richardson. His son Ephraim Oakley8, married his cousin, Sarah Varnum. Moses5, born May 14, 1724, married Elizabeth Coburn. His son, Obadiah6, married Hannah Hildreth. Obadiah, Jr.7 married Rhoda Hazelton.
The daughters of Obadiah6 lived in Dracut and died at an advanced age. Their names were Sarah, married Isaac Coburn, lived at Navy Yard; Hannah, married Ephraim Richardson ; Clarissa, married Amos Boynton; Lydia, married Colonel Pres- cott Varnum; Sophia, married William Foster, Jr .; Elizabeth, married Asa Parker; Charlotte, married Reuben Coburn. The last named died at the age of 72, and the others at ages ranging from 80 to 94.
Merrill? married Mercy Wood. Their sons were John Mer- rill8, born September 30, 1821; Increase Sumner8, born March 3, 1824; Abel8, born August 20, 1827. David5 had a son, Reuben6, who married Deborah Butterfield. They had sons, Reuben?, who lived near the Hildreth Cemetery, and Levi7, who lived on the Mammoth Road, above Collinsville. David5 had a son, Thaddeus6, who married Polly Currier of Methuen. Their son, Thaddeus7, married Betsy M. Bradford. David5 had a son, Samuel6, born February 14, 1761, who married Prudence Wood. They were the parents of three brothers who were prominent citizens of Dracut. Samuel", Jr., married Hannah Varnum. Of their ten children, Phineas8, Edward8 and Calvin8 settled in Dracut.
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