History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 188

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 188

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Simeon and Persis (Whitney) Wetherbee were the parents of seven children : Andrew, Simeon, Caroline, Samuel Norman, Silas, Edward, who died in infancy, and Edward. Andrew married Nancy Wheeler, of Littleton, settled in town, and removed to Stowe; Simeon married Caroline Blanchard and settled in town; Caroline married Mr. Oliver Mead, of this town; Samuel Norman married Caroline Wheeler, of Stow, and settled on the farm where his father had lived before him. They have two children living. Silas married Mary Parmenter, of Marlborough, and resides in that place ; Edward married Susan With- ington, and they with their children, Persis and Al- fred, are living in this town.

The ancestor of another branch of the Wetherbee family settled on the farm where Mr. John H. Whit- comb now lives, and one of the family, for at least four generations, has borne the name of Samuel. Samuel, who was the son of Samuel and Sarah Wetherbee, and Betsy, his wife, were the parents of seven chil-

dren : Charles, Betsey, Sally, Lucinda and Lucy, Dolly, and Samuel (1807-72). Charles, Lucinda and Lucy died young. Betsey married Daniel Houghton, of Harvard ; Sally married Ephraim Whitcomb, of Littleton ; Dolly married Joel Hayward, of Ashby ; and Samuel married Maria Fletcher, for his first wife, and for the second, Naomi Chandler, of Maine. Sam- uel and Naomi (Chandler) Wetherbee were the par- ents of two children-Maria, who married John H. Whitcomb and is settled on the old Wetherbee place (their children are the sixth generation that have oc- cupied it) and Charles T., who married Mercy Hoar.

Phinehas Wetherbee, the ancestor of a third branch of the Wetherbee family, was quite an old man in 1770, and owned the farm where W. H. Furbush now lives. His son Phinehas owned the place in 1783. The first house, of logs, was built in the second field north of Mr. Parker's, the original grant of land con- taining something more than 200 acres. Old deeds show that they were in quite good circumstances for those times, owning not only this land, but making quite large money transactions. As an illustration may be mentioned the fact that the first Phinehas Wetherbee paid $1000 to a man in Littleton as a sub- stitute in the army, 1775-1778. They were active and interested in town and public affairs. The first deed describes the land as being in Littleton, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in the tenth year of the reign of George the Third. Mr. Augustus W. Wetherbee, the last and only representative of this branch in town, says, " I have heard my grandfather speak of the first of the family, and how they often saw the Indians looking into their windows at night." I quote also from his Centennial speech : "It is some- thing more than a hundred and sixty years since my ancestors broke the soil and built their cabin in the field just back of the house now owned by Mr. Parker, and for one hundred and fifty-five years they lived there and at the old homestead where Mr. Furbush now lives, and tilled those same acres ; and there was I born and here have I lived the most of my life. In yonder graveyard one of the first stones erected is to the memory of one of my ancestors. Well do I re- member the stories of my grandmother, of the early settlers' struggles with the Indian and wild beast, of how they used to go to the market on horse-back, with their saddle-bags on before and a carcass or two of veal or mutton strapped on behind, the roads mere cart paths then ; of how they used to come up to wor- ship God on this very spot on which we now stand, on horseback, the husband riding before and the wife and two or three children on a piilion behind."

Phinehas Wetherbee had seven children: John, Daniel, Phinehas, Betty, Caty, Dolly and Hannah. John Wetherbee, born April 19, 1783, married Linda Wood, born May 17, 1784, and they had three chil- dren : Oliver, John and Lucinda. John Wetherbee, Sr., was very energetic and enterprising, but at the age of twenty-three, after over-exertion in fighting a

1 Mrs. Johnston bas died since the writing of this history.

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fire in the woods, took a severe cold, which resulted in paralysis of his right side, so that for twenty-eight years he could not walk a step, and for fifty-eight years he was able to do but very little. He acquired, however, quite a property, owning half of the original farm. He was town treasurer for quite a number of years, and was especially interested in church affairs, He died May 18, 1864; his wife, Linda, died Mareh 2, 1863.

Oliver Wetherbee (1805-75) married Mary Whit- comb, and they had three children : Jonathan Kimn- ball Wood, Martha M. and Marietta C. Mrs. Mary (Whiteomb) Wetherbee is still living at the age of eighty-two years, with her son Kimball, who married Jane Tuttle, and resides at South Acton. Kimball Wetherbee commenced work with the Tuttles at South Aeton as a clerk, and worked his way up to his present position, one of the firmn of Tuttles, Jones & Wetherbee. He has been much in town offiee and has been several times a candidate for the General Court. Martha M. Wetherbee (1839-65) is said to have been "one of the best of women, aetive everywhere, a splendid teacher and musician." Mari- etta C. (1850-80), married Charles B. Stone, and they have one daughter, who lives with her father at West Acton.1

John Wetherbee (1807-74) married Louisa S. Brown. They were the parents of two children; Francis Wood, who died in infaney, and Augustus Winslow, who married Hattie Lane (1844-84), and settled in his native town. Mr. A. W. Wetherbee is interested in all that pertains to the town, and has held various positions of usefulness therein. He was sent Representative in 1881. He is especially inter- ested in ehureh affairs and has held the positions of chorister and elerk for many years. Mrs. Louisa S. Wetherbee died several years ago.

Oliver Wetherbee eommeneed teaching when about twenty years of age and beeame quite a noted teacher. He was elected to town office soon after he was twenty-one, and nearly all his life held offiee, either as selectman, assessor, town elerk or treasurer, often more than onee, and for many years was sehool super- intendent. He and his brother John were early in- terested in military affairs, both belonging to the company in town as long as it existed, John holding the rank of first lieutenant. They were both much interested in musie, playing together in church and in private for nearly forty years, more than thirty years in church. Oliver Wetherbee was chorister forty-four years and church clerk eighteen years. Both were active in political and public affairs.

Lucinda Wetherbee (1821-82) married John W. Phillips, a noted architeet. He superintended the erection of several fine buildings in Lowell, among them the new jail. He was an Englishman by birth. They are both dead, also John H., their second child ;

the others, William W., Josie and Charles, are living in Jonesville, Wisconsin.

Phinehas Wetherbee, of West Acton, is the son of Daniel Wetherbee, brother of the first John Wether- bee.

Miss Sarah Hager, who was an inmate of the Stone families for a period of thirty-five years, furnishes most of the information with regard to this family. Silas Stone built the house that Mr. Cunningham now occupies, about the close of the last century. He had four sons and several daughters. One of the daughters married Capt. Oliver Taylor, Jr., of Box- borough. His son Phinheas went to New Hampshire and married Miss Hannah Jones, of Ware, by whom he had one daughter and seven sons, four of whom are now living-Phinehas J. Stone, president of the Charlestown Five Cent Savings Bank; Amos Stone, treasurer of the said bank ; Jasper Stone, jeweler, 45 Main Street, Charlestown, Mass .; and Jonathan Stone, landholder Revere, Mass. While Phinehas Stone was residing in New Hampshire he was appointed eolonel in the army of the War of 1812. He was on duty several months. He moved his family to Charles- town about the year 1825. Phinehas J. Stone has held the position of mayor of Charlestown and Amos Stone was county treasurer for a number of years.

Jasper Stone, son of Silas and Euniee Stone, re- sided in Boston a few years. He married Mary Bab- coek, of Weston, Mass. Joseph Stone, son of Silas and Eunice Stone, married Sarah W. Stowe, of Hills- borough, N. H., and they resided with his parents, ex- peeting to see them through life, but he died when thirty-seven years of age, in consequence of which his brother Jasper returned to the homestead and eared for his parents the remainder of their lives. They lived to be more than eighty years of age. Jas- per Stone died when about seventy-six and his widow lived to the age of ninety-three years. Both Jasper and Joseph Stone have been sent as representative from Boxborough.

A granddaughter of Silas Stone, Sally Mallory, who was brought up from ehildhood in Boxborough, mar- ried Mr. Aaron Fiske, of Needham, March 29, 1831.

Time and space forbid a farther extension of these family sketehes, which are of so great interest, but I eannot refrain a brief mention of a few names alike worthy of record with those already given.

Christopher Page, a son of the Captain Christopher Page of early times, still visits his native town and early home (where Mr. Jerome Priest now resides) in sumn- mer, making his stay with Mr. and Mrs. Priest, both of whom are descendants of old residents. Mrs. Priest's maiden-name was Louisa Hoar, a daughter of Mr. John Hoar. Mr. Jerome Priest is a son of Benjamin Priest, who, in his time, was actively en- gaged in town affairs, having been seleetman for sev- eral years.

Tower Hazzard, whose father was a slave, was a

1 The daughter, Elma Stone, has recently died.

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good man aud much respected. His son, Tower, is living in Harvard at the present time.

The Silas Taylor family of one hundred years ago have descendants living in Acton. This family were very active in all that pertained to the interest of the town in early years, having served the town in many positions of public trust. Several of the slabs in the lower "burying-ground" bear the names of mem- bers of this family.

The late Varnum Taylor was a grandson of Capt. Oliver Taylor, who was highway surveyor and col- lector when the district was incorporated, in 1783. Capt. Oliver Taylor set out the elm tree in front of the Taylor residence, bringing it from " Wolf Swamp" on his shoulder when but a sapling. A few years ago the Taylor family and their friends held a pic-nic beneath its wide-spreading shade. Capt. Oliver Tay- lor took part in some of the battles of the Revolu- tionary War. Both Capt. Oliver Taylor, Jr., and Varnum Taylor, his son, have held various positions of trust and usefulness in their native town. Mary Taylor, a danghter of Capt. Oliver Taylor, was a teacher in town for many years, and is now living in West Acton. Mrs. Varnum Taylor is living with her daughter, Mrs D. W. Cobleigh ; but the Taylor estate is still in the hands of the family.

Miss Josie M. Fletcher, of West Acton, is a daugh- ter of Mr. John Fletcher, who was at one time select- man of Boxborough for a number of years.

Mr. Oliver Stevens, who is the son of William Ste- vens, is still living on the old Stevens estate, in the southwest part of the town. William Stevens was School Committee and selectman quite a long time.

Lyman Bigelow, the proprietor of the store "on the hill," was town clerk for fourteen years ; select- man, assessor and overseer of the poor for several years, and Superintending School Committee for sev- eral years. He was universally respected. His son, Lyman Waldo, also served the town as treasurer and town clerk. Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow were very much interested in the Universalist Church and its welfare

The Draper family dates back more than a hundred years. Their ancestor, Boston Draper, helped to pay for the "old Harvard meeting-house," in 1775, and from time to time the Draper name appears on record in various responsible positions. Reuben Draper built the house where B. S. Mead now lives. He was a very ingenions man. Simon Whitney Draper built the house which J. F. Hayward now occupies.

Mr. Francis Conant, who for some years held im- portant town office, has seven sons and three daugh- tera, most of whom are settled near their native town. Charles H. Conant is a lawyer, in Lowell; Albert F. and Nelson B. are in business in Littleton, under the firm-name of Conant & Co. John G. and Edwin H. Conant-the firm of Conant Bros.& Co .- are in busi- ness in Shirley ; George F. Conant is following the oc- cupation of a civil engineer in Decatur, Alabama ; Waldo E. Conant, of the firm of Conant, Houghton

& Co., is engaged in a suspender manufactory at Littleton Common; Julia Conant is assistant matrou at Bradford Seminary ; Adelia M., who married Geo. A. Parker, and buried her, husband, is teaching in a training-school at Bridgeport, Conn .; and Lizzie S. married Eugene B. Parker, of Littleton, and resides in that place. All are honored and respected mem- bers of society,

Mr. Frank A. Patch, son of Jonathan, who was the son of Isaac and Rachel (Cobleigh) Patch, has re- cently erected a beautiful residence on the Ewings place, the home of his mother and step-father, and has made other improvements. Mr. Patch, who a short time ago was doing business in Winchester, is now proprietor of a furniture store on Washington Street, Boston. He resides in Boxborough. O. K. and B. Henry Patch, of South Acton, sons of Nathan Patch, who was selectman, assessor and overseer of poor for several years, are grandsons of Mr. Isaac Patch, formerly of this town.

The name of Dr. D. Robins will doubtless arouse pleasant memories in the hearts of many of the older residents of the town. Here among these quiet hills he followed the calling of a country doctor for many years, and made his home upon the place now owned and occupied by Mr. J. H. Orndorff. Dr. Robins was he of whom, in 1792, the records said, " Voted that the Dr. sit in the fore-seat of the front." He was selectman and town clerk for several years. De- scendants of this worthy man are about us still.

CHAPTER LXIII.

READING.

BY HORACE G. WADLIN.

READING, one of the oldest towns in the Common- wealth, was settled in 1639 upon " an inland planta- tion at the head of the bounds " of the township of Lynn. Out of its ancient territory three towns have been formed, the two other than itself being North Reading and Wakefield, formerly called South Read- ing, within whose precincts the foundation of the old town was laid. The early history of Reading, there- fore, is identical with that of the other towns men- tioned.

The settlement of Reading followed close upon the first migration to the Colonies. In December, 1620, the "Mayflower" reached Plymouth, bringing her little company of families. Eight years were spent in unremitting toil, in unceasing warfare with a rugged wilderness and unpropitious climate ; then a company of Puritans, led by Endicott, settled at Salem. At about this time William Blackstone, an Episcopalian, moved by a desire to withdraw from as- scciation with the Puritans of the settlements, came

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

to the peninsula which is now called Boston. In 1639, under a charter granted by Charles I., a settle- ment was made at Lym. From Lynn a few families pushed on into the interior, and after a day's journey came to a little lake surrounded by the primeval for- est. To the south and west were low hills, and an- other lake, whose bosom had, till then, borne only the canoe of the savage.

The country presented then, and presents now, no marked features, but its situation was favorable. It was well-watered and the soil was good. The hillsides sloping to the south were well adapted to the cultivation of small crops. To the northward the forest promised an abundant supply of timber for their dwellings. From the lakes, well stocked with fish, the Saugus River flowed down to the parent set- tlement at Lynn, while on the other side the Ipswich ran to the ocean, and around its mouth the planta- tions at Ipswich had already been established. Not too far away were the growing settlements at Salem and Boston.

It is probable that some of these families came from Reading, England, and, doubtless to preserve in the wilderness the memory of their old home, they called their settlement, made in 1639, near the shores of Lake Quannapowitt, after its name. Four years later the Colony Court incorporated the town, giving it an area of four miles square. This did not include the territory which afterward became North Reading, this being added by a subsequent grant.

The antecedents and characteristics of the first set- tlers were like those of all the founders of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony. They possessed indomitable energy and untiring industry, and, more than all, were inspired by a purpose, which had no small part in the successes they achieved. They faced discourage- inent with unbending will and patient self-denial. Their adherence to duty, their general integrity and fidelity, formed the basis of those peculiar New Eng- land traits of character, which have justly merited the esteem of their descendants.

The need of food and shelter was immediate and pressing. A mill for grinding corn and sawing lum- ber was required. This want the early settlers at once proceeded to satisfy. In 1644, the year of incorpora- tion, the town made a compact witli John Poole, who had settled on the river near the site now occupied by the Wakefield Rattan Company, to guarantee him certain mill privileges, in return for which he was to grind the grists of the settlers ; and the privileges were to be retained by him and his descendants as long as he continued to maintain such a mill.

Besides this provision for their material needs other things were not less important. A churchi must be es- tablished, and-that good order might be maintained, to the end that other families might be attracted thither, and the town thus grow in numbers and in- portance-a form of government must be adopted to regulate the public affairs. Hence, we find that even

previous to incorporation a rude meeting-house had been built and a pastor was soon called-the twelfth church in the Colony.

Two dangers threatened the inhabitants: one, as- sault by Indians, the other the ravages of the wolves and bears which filled the woods around them. To meet the first, a military company was formed in the town. This had been made obligatory upon every settlement, by the action of the Colony Court. Against the other, the town offered a bounty of twenty shillings per head for every wolf killed; and a public herdsman was appointed to guard the cattle from the wolves by night, and to see that they might not " eat up and destroy in the Somer, what should be for them in the winter."

The first pastor, Rev. Mr. Green, having died, Rev. Mr. Haugh, a graduate of Harvard College, was called to succeed him. The question of hard or soft money, of currency or coin, did not trouble our fathers. It was agreed that the new pastor's rates or salary should be "payed him every quarter-one-half in wheat, pease and barley, and the other half in rye and In- dian." Even under this natural mode of payment it appears that, as happens in our day, some were back- ward in paying their allotment, for we read that "George Davis and Tho. Clarke were chosen to gather up that part of Mr. Haugh's rate that will not be freely payed without constraint."

All persons were obliged to submit to a tax for the support of the pulpit, though leaving town before the year was out. The pastor was the head of affairs, and his advice was sought upon all important subjects. Notices of public meetings and proclamations of any sort were then, as is frequently the case now, posted at the church doors.

Attendance upon divine worship was strictly en- joined and enforced, and we read in the records that "Henry Felch, being convicted of departing the pub- lique assembly when the ordinance of Baptism was about to be administered, was admonished by the Court of his sin and ordered to pay costs ... two shillings." And, later, "Saml. Dunton and wife were summoned in Court to answer for not coming to the publique worship of God on the Lord's day."

Equally zealous were they in the management of civil affairs. The citizens were required to be present at all town-meetings under penalty of fine; and on one occasion "Geo. Davis was fined 1s. 6d. for ab- sence." Not only was their attendance required, but promptness was likewise enforced; for "Nicholas Brown, Edward Taylor, Zackery Fitch and Jonas Eaton wcre fined 6d. each for being late at town- meeting," and in 1657 it was ordered "that there shall be two general town-meetings in every year; . .. and every inhabitant that absents himself from these meetings shall pay 2s. 6d. if lie be not there by 9 o'clock in the morning."

Many of the laws which governed the town in its infancy are curious and instructive, showing the strict

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manner of life of the fathers. For instance, the Colony Court enacted, "that if any young man at- tempt to address a young woman without the con- sent of her parents, or, in case of their absence, of the Colony Court, he shall be fiued £5 for the first of- fence, £10 for the second, and imprisoned for the third." Under this law Matthew Stanley, of Read- ing, "for winning the affections of John Tarbox's daughter. without her parents' consent, was fiued £5, with 23. 6d. fees."

" Nicholas Pinion was fined for swearing," and, in 1649, three married women of Reading were fined five shillings each for scolding. The ducking-stool and stocks and the whipping-post were in common use for the punishment of minor offences, and a char- acteristic incident is related by Drake wherein one Edward Palmer, for asking an excessive price for a pair of stocks, which he was hired to frame, had the privilege of sitting in them an hour himself.

Humorous as these old laws seem to us, they had an important part in sustaining that purity of life and character to secure which no sacrifice was too great, no duty too hard.

During the first century of the settlement the In- dians several times declared war upon the Colonists, and the men of Reading were never backward in re- sponding to the requisitions from the Colony Court for aid in quelling the outbreaks. The most impor- tant occasion for such service was the noted "King Philip's War," which began in 1675, and to which Reading furnished its quota under Major Swayne. This Major Swayne won high honors in these Indian wars, and was afterward appointed commander-in- chief of the Colony forces, despatched upon an ex- pedition against the Kennebec Indians, and furnished with ten pounds to fit himself for the undertaking.

Toward the close of the century occurred the cele- brated witchcraft delusion, numbering among its victims many innocent persons who were put to death under the excitement of the time. Four women of Reading were arrested and tried upon this charge, at a time when to be suspected of such a crime was usually followed by immediate conviction. Fortun- ately, they were subsequently released.

In October, 1651, the territory now known as North Reading was added to the town.

In 1673 the first mention of "Wood End," long a local name for that part of the old town which now forms the present Reading, occurs in the records. In 1693 a public school was established, it being voted to assess "a rate of four pounds for a scoole in the toume for three months, and if longer time, pro- portionable-and two pounds for the west end of the town (wood end) and one pound for those that live on the north side of Ipswich river, if they set up a scoole for reading and writing." And in 1697 we read that "the selectmen did agree with Jonathan Poole for the keeping a scoole in this towne for to tech the young people to wright, to read and to cast

up accounts, soe far as ye said Poole could, and they capable to larne in the time."

The first school-house within the present limits of Reading, that is to say in the "west end " or " wood end" of the old town, was built, so it is supposed, in 1708, near the corner of what are now Woburn and Washington Streets. At this date the town voted to maintain a school at Wood End one-quarter of the time, and, that this section might receive representa- tion, Ensign Nathaniel Parker was added to the School Committee.

During the latter half of the first century of the settlement many of its founders passed to their final rest, the first cemetery was provided for, and the lit- tle hamlet had experienced the three great events of life,-"weddings, funcrals and christenings." The ties were rapidly forming to hold them to the new world of which they had become a part, and slowly the memories of the motherland were absorbed in the past as, over the horizon, came, day by day, the fore- shadowing of that great future which to them was a sealed book.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 188

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226