USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
Samuel un Ites will 1704
* FRANCIS KENDALL1 came from England to Woburn about 1640, and had four sons, Francis, Thomas, Ralph, and JACOB2, the last of whom, born in 1686, had nine sons, of whom JOHN3, Ebenezer, and Abraham settled in what is now Dun- stable, Mass., about 1726. The sons of JOHN3 were JOHN4, Jacob, Temple, Edward, and Zebedee. JOHN4 had two sons, John and ZEBEDEE5, who was the father of AMOS KENDALL6.
22I
AMOS KENDALL.
1873]
of the interest of Prof. Samuel F. Morse in the magnetic tele- graph, and was the founder and first president of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Washington. He married for his first wife, Oct. 1, 1818, Miss Mary B. Woolfolk, by whom he had four children ; and for his second wife, in 1826, Miss Jane Kyle, by whom he had ten children. She died at Washington in June, 1864. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him, in 1849, by Dartmouth College. He was a friend of the common-school system and a liberal benefactor. To the Calvary Baptist Church at Washington, which he was led to join from hearing a sermon by the Rev. A. B. Earle on, " Almost thou per- suadest me to be a Christian," delivered March 23, 1865, and of which he was an active member, he gave in all $ 115,000. He also contributed about $20,000 to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, $6,000 to found a scholarship in Columbia College, and about $25,000 in aid of two mission schools, one of which is called Kendall's Chapel. In the autumn of 1862 he went to live at "Kendall Green," in Taunton, N. J., and in 1866 made a long visit to Europe and the Holy Land. He died at Washington, on the twelfth day of November, 1869, leaving in manuscript an Autobiography, which his son-in-law has since published in a handsome volume of seven hundred pages.
Mr. Kendall was a vigorous writer, and faithfully served the administration of whose cabinet he was a member so influ- ential as to be called the President's "right-hand" man. He was a prominent actor on the political arena for almost a third of a century ; he was a public benefactor and a devout Christian. On the morning of his death he asked to see the sun rise, and then exclaiming, " How beautiful, how beautiful !" he soon closed his eyes, and died in peace.
At his funeral the Rev. Dr. Sunderland said, "He was a man of great modesty of disposition. He sought no display, and if he had a fault it was that he was altogether too retiring and diffident. He was an honest man, purely and exactly a faithful man. Honest and faithful to his fellow-men, he was no less so to his God." Of him, also, the Rev. Dr. Samson said, " From his youthful editorials up to his elaborate papers there were a clearness and force and a fascination, of which many
222
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
still speak as having riveted their attention whenever they took up anything coming from his pen. . As age and the refining influence of growing religious faith and hope mel- lowed the ripening fruit of his last years, a sweetness and serenity of temper came over him which made his family and every circle where his hoary locks were seen moving, take on a new delight because of his presence."
The following description of Deacon Zebedee Kendall's farm is taken from his distinguished son's entertaining Auto- biography : -
" The farm was composed of bog meadow, pine plains, and oak hills. The meadows yielded the coarser kinds of grasses, intermixed with various ferns, cranberry-vines, and small bushes, but they also sup- plied most of the hay on which the cattle subsisted during the long New England winters. Through these meadows meandered a slug- gish stream called Salmon Brook, stocked with various kinds of fish. The pine plains rested on a bed of gravel, and, except along the foot of the hills, were almost barren. From these, however, the bread of the family was for the most part drawn. Next to the hills there were two four-acre fields, cultivated alternately in corn and rye. The corn crop was always manured, and the rye was sown in the fall among the corn, so that these fields were manured alternately every other year. The plains between the fields and the meadows were generally used as sheep pastures, but once in five or six years they produced a very small crop of rye of excellent quality.
" The oak hills were composed of a clay soil, so full of rocks in many places as to preclude cultivation without removing them. With great labor small tracts were so far cleared as to become good upland meadow, furnishing excellent hay for horses and working spans. These uplands supplied an abundance of stones, with which the whole farm, except the pine plains, was enclosed ; the fences were of stone, combined with posts and rails. The upland meadows were cultivated in potatoes or corn once in five or six years, but seldom in rye, on account of its inferior quality when produced on a clay soil. A patch of flax was generally a part of the annual crop, and this, with the wool from a small flock of sheep, manu- factured and made up in the household, furnished almost the entire cloth- ing of the family. The rougher portions of the upland, much of which was never cultivated, furnished pasturage for the horses, oxen, and milch cows during the summer."
Mr. Kendall thus vividly describes the discipline of his father's family : -
223
A WILD FLOWER.
1873]
" Grace before and thanks after meat, and morning and evening prayers, with the reading of a chapter in the Bible and the singing of a hymn of Sunday, accompanied by the bass-viol, played by their eldest son while he was at home, constituted the regular religious exercises of the family. The father and mother never failed to attend church on Sunday, except in case of sickness or when absent from home ; and the entire family, one member only excepted, were required to maintain a like regularity in Sab- bath observances. Except in special cases, all labor beyond the simplest preparation of food for man and beast, and all recreation were strictly pro- hibited on Sunday. The evening was spent in learning and reciting the Westminster Catechism, in reading religious books, and in practising sacred music. The whole family could sing, and when all were present, could carry all the four parts of ordinary tunes."
The following incident indicates the change which came over the good Dea. Zebedee Kendall, in respect to the use of an innocent instrument : -
" When Amos was a little boy, a fiddle was an abomination to his father and mother. His eldest brother, who had quite a taste for music, having constructed a bass-viol or two, determined to try his hand upon a fiddle, and produced a very good instrument. Not daring to bring it to the house, he kept it in a cooper's shop, not far distant. His father, hunting there for something one day, mounted a bench so that his head was raised above the beams of the shop, when his eyes fell upon the unlucky fiddle. He took it by the neck, and apostrophizing it, ' This is the first time I ever saw you !' dashed it into the fireplace.
" Being on a visit to his parents about thirty years afterwards, Amos Kendall went to meeting in Dunstable on a Sunday, and there sat his father in the deacon's seat, beneath the pulpit, as in former times, and there was a fiddle in the choir ! "
Mr. Kendall sometimes invoked the Muses. The following graceful lines were sent to his wife in 1829 :-
TO A WILD FLOWER. BY AMOS KENDALL.
On the white cliffs of Elkhorn, with cedars o'erspread, Where beauty and wildness in silence repose,
A gay little wild flower raised up its head,
By zephyrs caressed as in sweetness it rose.
Its beauties no culture could ever impart,
No garden nor meadow can boast such a gem ;
All native it blossomed, for never had art
Transplanted its root or enamelled its stem.
224
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
I saw it and loved it ; and now on my breast It breathes out its fragrance, its beauty displays ;
My heart leaps to meet it, in ecstasy blest,
The dream of my nights and the charm of my days.
And oh, thought of rapture ! not like other flower Does it droop on the air, life and loveliness flinging ; But its charms and its fragrance increase every hour, And sweet little buds all around it are springing.
Autobiography, p. 288.
On his return from Europe, Mr. Kendall said to a friend of the writer, Jeremiah Colburn, Esq., of Boston, "I was thin and slender when a boy, I was thin and slender when I arrived at manhood, and you see I am thin and slender still."
The Rev. SAMUEL HOWE TOLMAN, only son of the Rev. Samuel and Rachel (Damon) Tolman, was born here Aug. 12, 1826, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1848, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1852. He acted as city missionary in Bath, Me., from 1853 to 1855, and was ordained as pastor of the church at Wilmington, Mass., Aug. 14, 1856. He was dismissed in 1870, and became pastor of the church in Lenox, Mass., April 2, 1872 ; but his mind becoming shat- tered, he committed suicide at Nelson, N. H., Oct. 6, 1873. He was a faithful and highly esteemed minister of the gospel .*
The Rev. JOHN SPAULDING, D. D., though born in Mason, N. H., Nov. 30, 1800, went to Middlebury College in 1821, from Dunstable, where he had been for some time employed in working on a farm. He studied theology at Andover, and was ordained as an evangelist at Newburyport, Sept. 25, 1828. On the same day he was married to Miss Olive C. B. Kendall, daughter of Capt. Jonas Kendall, of Dunstable. She died March 14, 1852, and her remains were brought to her native town for interment. The field of Dr. Spaulding's early min- isterial labors was in the West. In 1841 he became secretary of the American Seamen's Society in New York City. He delivered a very able historical discourse in the church at Dun- stable, Nov. 19, 1865, and subsequently published an Autobiog-
* See Congregational Quarterly for January, 1874.
225
SCHOOL-TEACHERS.
1873]
raphy entitled From the Plow to the Pulpit, which is written in a very pleasing style.
Aside from its college graduates, Dunstable has produced many sons and daughters who, by their virtues and abilities, have adorned alike the offices of public and the quiet walks of private and domestic life.
Among its teachers may be mentioned Miss SUSANNAH BANCROFT, daughter of Col. Ebenezer Bancroft, who taught successfully for many years. She married the Rev. David Howe Williston of Tunbridge, Vt., and died Jan. 8, 1838. Her sister, CHLOE BANCROFT, born Nov. 8, 1768, was also a noted teacher in her day. She married Oliver Richardson, of Chelmsford, and died Jan. 17, 1807. Miss ELIZABETH KEN- DALL, daughter of Temple Kendall, and born Feb. 8, 1760, was long a popular teacher. Miss CATHARINE PARKHURST, daughter of Joel Parkhurst, Esq., born March 14, 1770, and Miss SUSANNAH WOODS were eminent school-mistresses. Miss RHODA TAYLOR, daughter of Dea. Samuel Taylor, attained distinction as a teacher. She married Mr. Oliver Wright, and had a daughter who went out as a teacher to Burmah. Miss SALLY INGALLS stood high as a teacher as early as 1816, and afterwards married a Mr. Fife. Miss SARAH BENNETT, daughter of Jonathan Bennett, Esq., acquired an enviable reputation as a teacher, and subsequently married Dr. Hezekiah Eldredge. The Misses SUSAN, CATHARINE, and AMANDA KENDALL, daughters of Capt. Jonas Kendall, were all good and faithful teachers. This family purchased the first piano owned in Dunstable. Miss MARIA SWALLOW, afterwards Mrs. Francis Fletcher, taught for several years with success. She is the daughter of Asa and Susannah (Woods) Swallow, and at the close of her services as a teacher was married to Lieut. Francis Fletcher, whom she survives. Her father, born May 1, 1767, was the son of Amaziah Swallow, who was born Nov. 22, 1732. He married, first, Elizabeth Kendall in 1758, and second, Mrs. Mary Woods, Feb. 16, 1786. The Misses HANNAH and ROXANNA TAYLOR, daughters of Mr. Jonas Taylor, were well educated and highly esteemed as teachers. The former married Mr. James Bowers, of Lowell, and is still living. In
15
226
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
the year 1831 as many as twenty-two teachers received cer- tificates from the examining committee as being qualified for the office of teacher. Several had studied at the academies in Groton, Bradford, and New Ipswich. At a later period Miss EMMA TAYLOR, daughter of Mr. Samuel Taylor, and now the wife of the Rev. F. D. Sargent, of Brookline, N. H., was held in high estimation as a teacher. Miss HANNAH M. PARKHURST, daughter of Henry Parkhurst, has obtained an enviable reputation as a teacher in the State of New York
The teachers of the public schools in 1873 were Caroline F. Danforth, Lucy A. Robbins, R. E. Luce, A. A. Bancroft, Lizzie Nottage, Emma J. Cheney, Hattie J. Murphy, and Ellen E. Kendall.
ALFRED MARK FLETCHER, born in Dunstable, Sept. 13, 1850, studied music two years in Berlin, and is now a noted teacher of the organ and piano in Chicago.
Dr. JOHN A. CUMMINGS, son of John Alfred Cummings, attained celebrity as a dentist, and was the inventor of the application of vulcanized rubber to dental purposes. He visited Europe in 1863, and died in 1869. His great-grandfather, Nathaniel Cummings, was one of the earliest settlers at Unquetynasset.
The following is a list of persons in the town of Dunstable qualified to vote in elections, for State, county, and town officers, and for representatives to Congress, as made out by the selectmen the twentieth day of February, 1873 :-
BLODGETT, GEORGE Z.
CUMMINGS, ISAAC P.
BLODGETT, GEORGE T.
CUMMINGS, ALLEN, Esq.
BLOOD, MILES
CUMMINGS, OLIVER
BLOOD, W. E.
CUMMINGS, EVERETT M.
BENNETT, JAMES
CARKIN, AMOS
BUTTERFIELD, DEXTER
CARKIN, ALBERT B.
BUTTERFIELD, ASA T.
DARLING, DAVID L.
BROOKS, LAWRENCE
DOWNING, JAMES L.
BROOKS, EDWIN H.
DAVIS, MOSES
CHAPMAN, ELBRIDGE G.
DAVIS, JAMES A.
CHAPMAN, CHARLES H.
DAVIS, THADDEUS U.
CHENEY, THOMAS F.
DAVIS, WM. A.
CHENEY, JOHN B.
DANFORTH, VILAS
CHENEY, WM. F.
DIVOLL, CHARLES B.
CUMMINGS, JOSIAH T.
FLETCHER, FRANCIS
1873]
VOTERS IN 1873.
227
FLETCHER, GEORGE W.
PERKINS, JEREMIAH
FRENCH, BENJAMIN, Esq. FRENCH, WM. L.
PAGE, WM. H.
PLUMMER, JOHN K.
FARNHAM, GEORGE
PRESCOTT, CHAS. A.
GILSON, ANDREW J.
RYDER, SANFORD U.
GILSON, GEORGE F.
ROBBINS, JOTHAM
GILSON, ASAHIEL
ROBBINS, FREEMAN L.
GILSON, JAMES H.
RIDEAUT, DAVID
GILSON, JOEL
RIDEAUT, DAVID F.
GILSON, JEROME F.
RICHARDSON, DANIEL
GILSON, ALVA
ROBY, GILMAN
GOSS, JOSEPH W.
ROCKWELL, CHARLES
GOOK, GEORGE
RYDER, JAMES H.
HALL, IRA
SEARLES, CHARLES W.
HALL, IRA B.
SPAULDING, SAMUEL T.
HOWARD, SAMUEL
SPAULDING, JONAS
HALEY, EDWARD
SPAULDING, HIRAM
JEWETT, ASHUR G.
STURTEVANT, ASAPH E.
KENDALL, ISAAC
SWALLOW, JOHN
KENDALL, JAMES
SWALLOW, DANIEL
KENDALL, CHILES
SWALLOW, ALPHEUS
KENDALL, JONAS C.
SWALLOW, JAMES M.
KENDALL, ANDREW T.
STEADMAN, EBENEZER
KENDALL, NATHANIEL C.
STORY, SOLOMON
KENDALL, WM.
STORY, ARTHUR B.
KENDALL, ALMOND M.
TAYLOR, SAMUEL S.
KEYES, DARWIN P.
TAYLOR, ISAAC O.
KEMP, WM. N.
TAYLOR, OLIVER
MARSHALL, CLEMENT
TAYLOR, ELIOTT O.
PROCTOR, JOSIAH C., Esq.
TUTTLE, CHARLES
PROCTOR, JONATHAN
TOLLES, HENRY J.
PROCTOR, Z. P.
TULLY, HENRY L.
PARKHURST, GEORGE
UPTON, PETER K.
PARKHURST, THOMAS H.
WOODWARD, JAMES
PARKHURST, ALBERT L.
WOODWARD, JAMES C.
PARKHURST, JOHN A.
WOODWARD, CHARLES N.
PARKHURST, BENAJAH
WOODWARD, JONATHAN H.
PARKHURST, AMERICUS 1
WOODWARD, ANDREW J.
PARKHURST, OWEN A.
WHITCOMB, LOWELL
PARKHURST, JACOB, Jr.
WESTON, CHARLES E.
PARKHURST, LYMAN V.
WESTON, JAMES E.
PARKER, THOMAS
WOODS, ISAAC N.
PARKER, JONATHAN
WOODS, SUMNER
PARKER, LIBNI
WRIGHT, GEORGE P.
PARKER, L. H.
YOUNG, WALLACE N.
DUNSTABLE, Feb. 20, 1873.
FREEMAN L. ROBBINS, WASHINGTON E. BLOOD, JOHN A. PARKHURST, - Selectmen of Dunstable.
228
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
CHAPTER XIV.
INSCRIPTIONS ON THE HEADSTONES OF THE OLD CEMETERY ON MEETING- HOUSE HILL. - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE BURIAL-PLACE NEAR THE SITE OF " THE HAUNTED HOUSE." - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE GRAVESTONES IN THE OLD BURIAL-PLACE AT LITTLE'S STATION. - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE GRAVEYARD NEAR THE HOUSE OF ALPHEUS SWALLOW, ESQ. - INSCRIP- TIONS FROM THE CENTRAL CEMETERY. - LIST OF DEATHS, FROM THE TOWN RECORDS. - LIST OF BIRTHS, FROM THE TOWN RECORDS.
" The churchyard, to the inhabitants of a rural parish, is the place to which as they grow older all their thoughts and feelings turn."
JOHN WILSON.
" Our labors done, securely laid In this our last retreat, Unheeded o'er our silent dust The storms of life shall beat."
HENRY K. WHITE.
THE following inscriptions on the head-stones in the old burial-place on Meeting-House Hill were copied by Mr. Dexter Butterfield : -
Here Lyes the Body of Mrs. RACHEL TAYLOR, who Departed this Life the 17th of February, A. D. 1754, Aged 5 years, 9 months, and 4 days.
Here Lyes the Body of RACHAL PIKE, Relict (sic) of Beniamin, who Departed this Life the 26th of Decemb., A. D. 1754, Aged 7 years, 4 months, & 14.
This is the First pas.
Here lies Buried The Body of Ensign EBENEZER PARKHURST, who Departed This Life June The 13th, 1757, in The 58th Year of his Age.
From Deaths Arita no Age is Free.
MEMENTO MORI. Here lies Buried the body of Lieut. JOHN KEN- DALL, who departed this life July the 27th, An. Dom., 1759, Aged 63 years, 6 months, and 8 days. Few and Evil.
Life is a Blessing can't be sold, The Ransom is too high ; Justice will ne'er be brib'd with gold, That Man may never die.
229
INSCRIPTIONS ON MEETING-HOUSE HILL.
1873]
You see the Foolish & the Wise, The Timerous & the Brave, Quit their Possessions, close their eyes, And hasten to the Grave. - WATTS.
MEMENTO MORI. Here lies the Body of Mr. JOHN STEEL, who Departed this Life August the 8th, 1760, Aged 57 years.
The Memory of The Just Is Blist.
Here lies Buried the Body of JOSEPH GOODHUE, Son of the Rev. Josiah Goodhue and Mrs. Elizabeth his Wife, who departed this life the 4th day of March, 1761, Aged 19 Days.
From Deaths Arrest no age is free.
Here lies the Body of Mrs. JANE STEEL, Relict of Mr. John Steel, who Departed This Life Nov. 20, A. D. 1764, in the 60th year of her age
Here lies the Body of Mrs. RUTH KENDALL, the wife of Mr. Abra- ham Kendall, who departed this Life June 17, A. D. 1765, in the 69th year of her age.
Here lies the Body of Mrs. SARAH FRENCH, wife of Mr. Ebenezer French, who departed this Life, May 22d, 1767, in the 27th year of her age.
Here lies the Body of Mrs. ABIGAIL BLOOD, Wife of Mr. Robert Blood, who departed this Life August 14, 1767, In the 31st year of her age.
MEMENTO MORI. Here lies the body of Capt. JOHN CUMMINGS, who departed this Life Aug. 15th, 1770, In ye 75 year of his Age.
Mrs. JOANNA BUTTERFIELD, wife of Capt. Leonard Butterfield, who departed this Life May ye 26th, 1771, aged 28.
In Memory of Mr. JOSEPH PIKE, who Departed this Life March 28th, 1778, In the 88 year of his age.
MEMENTO MORI. In Memory of Mrs. MARY READ, wife of Mr. Timothy Read, Junr., who departed this Life Nov. 3d, 1778, in the 71st year of her age.
MEMENTO MORI. Here Lies the Body of Miss SCIBEL READ, Daughter of Mr. Timothy Read, Junr., and Mrs. Susannah, his wife, who Departed this Life, July ye 27th, 1781, Aged 18 years, 3 months, & 6 days.
Dear friends for me pray Do not weep,
I am not dead but here Do sleep, Within this solid Lump of Clay, Until the Reserection day ; And here indeed I must Remain, Till Christ shall Raise me up again.
230
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1873
Erected in Memory of Mrs. ELIZABETH SWALLOW, wife of Lieut. Amaziah Swallow, who departed this Life Dec. 9th, A. D., 1784, Aged 45 years, Io months, and 17 days.
Retire, my Friends, dry up your Tears,
Here I must lie till Christ appears.
In Memory of Mrs. ELIZABETH CUMINGS, wife of Capt. John Cum- ings, who died July 2d, 1793, Aged 78.
In Memory of Mr. TIMOTHY READ, who departed this Life April 26th, 1799, in the 86th year of his age.
Sacred In Memory of Mr. ABRAHAM KENDALL, who died Nov. 14, 1799, Aet 87.
In Memory of Mrs. HANNAH TAYLOR, wife of Mr. David Taylor, who died Oct. 3d, 1800, Aged 81 years.
Behold and see, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I ; As I am now, so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me.
Erected in Memory of Capt. LEONARD BUTTERFIELD, who departed this Life Nov. 17, 1800, Aged 60 years.
Erected in Memory of Lieut. AMAZIAH SWALLOW, who died Jan. 2Ist, 1803, Oct. 17.
In memory of Mr. EBENEZER FRENCH, who died April 14, 1808, In his 77th year.
Sacred to the memory of Mr. DAVID TAYLOR, who died Dec. 15, 1809, Aet 88.
The following inscriptions are abbreviated :-
Olive, wife of Capt. Leonard Butterfield, d. Jan. 26, 1817, aged 79 years. John, son of Capt. Leonard Butterfield, d. Oct. 18, 1778, aged 10 months. Sarah, dau. of Capt. Leonard Butterfield, d. June 30, 1809, aged 31 years. Sarah, dau. of Capt. Leonard Butterfield, d. Oct. 28, 1778, aged 9 years. Molly, dau. of Capt. John Cummings, d. Aug. 24, 1758, aged II years. Jane, wife of Robert Dunn, d. Nov. 6, 1811, aged 74 years. Robert Dunn, d. Jan. 8, 1808, aged 74 years. Samuel Dunn, d. Nov. 9, 1798, aged 34 years. Polly, dau. of Jesse Dutton, d. Oct. 18, 1778, aged I y. 9 m. 5 days. Hannah, wife of Jonathan Emerson, d. Jan. 21, 1756, aged 23 years. William, son of Jonathan Fletcher, d. Oct. 21, 1778, aged 6 years and II months. Francis, son of Thomas Fletcher, d. Apr. 9, 1773, aged I year, 4 months, and 9 days. Susanna, dau. of Jonathan Fletcher, d. Oct. 15, 1778, aged 2 years, 4 months, and 9 days. Susanna, wife of Ebenezer French, d. Dec. 27, 1808, aged 73 years. Mary D., dau. of John French, d. Feb. 14, 1817, aged 4 years. Adford Jaquith, d. July 16, 1791, aged 82 years. Margaret, wife of Adford Jaquith, d. Jan. 24, 1776, aged 62
1
231
1873] INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE TYNG BURIAL-PLACE.
years. Jane, wife of Abraham Kendall. d. Apr. 28, 1806, aged 84 years. Susanna, relict of Lieut. John Kendall, d. June 17, 1766, aged 66 years. Mary, relict (or daughter) of Isaac Pike, d. Jan. 10, 1776, aged 21 years and I0 months. Lydia, dau. of Benjamin Pike, d. Dec. 17, 1754, aged I year, 5 months, and 20 days. Benjamin, son of Benjamin Pike, d Sept. 1, 1757, aged 7 months. Leonard, son of Eleazer Read, d. Sept. 3, 1788, aged 1 year. Betsy, dau. of Eleazer Read, d. May 8, 1789, aged 8 years. Martha, dau. of Timothy Read, d. Jan. 20, 1758, aged 16 years. Rebeckah, dau. of Timothy Read, d. Sept. 22, 1778, aged 8 years. James, son of Timothy Read, d. Sept. 23, 1778, aged one year. Betsy, wife of Lieut. Josiah Stevens, d. July 28, 1800, aged 27 years. Mary, dau. of Ama- ziah Swallow, d. Nov. 7, 1798, aged 20 years, 10 months, and 7 days. Kendall, son of Amaziah Swallow, d. Oct. 25, 1778, aged 4 years, 6 months, and 2 days. Rebecca, dau. of Amaziah Swallow, d. Aug. 17, 1765, aged I year and 8 months. Deborah, dau. of Amaziah Swallow, d. Oct. 28, 1778, aged 4 years and 11 months. Rebecca, dau. of Dr. Ebenezer Starr, d. Nov. 1, 1778, aged 17 months. Jacob, son of James Taylor, d. March 7, 1789, aged 6 years. Abigail, dau. of James Taylor, d. Sept. 30, 1778, aged 2 years. William, son of Dea. Samuel Taylor, d. May 6, 1771, aged 12 years. Ruth, dau. of Dea. Samuel Taylor, d. July 4, 1779, aged 6 weeks. Edee, dau. of Dea. Samuel Taylor, d. Jan. 9, 1789, aged 4 years. William, son of Dea. Samuel Taylor, d. Oct. II, 1798, aged 6 years. Edee, dau. of Dea. Samuel Taylor, d. Sept. 28, 1798, aged 9
weeks. Katharine, wife of Benjamin Woodward, d. Feb. 12, 1769. Eunice, wife of Benjamin Woodward, d. Sept. 25, 1778, aged 39 years. Rachel, dau. of Benjamin Woodward, d. Sept. 9, 1778, aged 2 years and 2 days. Abel, son of Benjamin Woodward, d. Sept. II, 1778, aged 4 years. Benjamin, son of Benjamin Woodward, d. Sept. 14, 1778, aged 7 years, II months, and 22 days. Eunice, dau. of Benjamin Woodward, d. Sept. 18, 1778, aged 5 years and 9 months.
It seems that by some disease, not recorded, five deaths occurred in the family of Mr. Woodward in less than three weeks.
The following interesting inscriptions are copied from tab- lets in the old burial-place, near where the "haunted house" stood, on the river road, about one mile south of Tyngsborough Centre. It is probably the first locality settled in Dunsta- ble : -
" Here lyeth the Body of Mr. EDWARD TING, Esqr., aged 71 years. Died December 27 Day 1681." It is on a horizontal slab of granite, sup- ported by a pile of brick and stone.
232
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1873
" Underneath are Entombed the Remains of Eleazer Tyng, Esq., who died May 21, 1782, aged 92 ; Mrs. Sarah Tyng, who died May 23, 1753, aged 59. John Alford Tyng, Esq., who died Sept. 4, 1775, aged 44; John Winslow, Esq., who died Nov. 3, 1788, aged 88 ; Mrs. Sarah Winslow (the last surviving child of the said Eleazer Tyng and the truly liberal Benefactress of the church of Christ and Grammar School in this place, in honor of whose name and family it is called Tyngsborough), who died Oct. 29, 1791, aged 72.
The above names are all inscribed on the face of a large horizontal slate-stone slab, at the head of which rises an ancient Lombardy poplar.
This cemetery, consisting of an area of about one acre, is neatly enclosed and contains the remains of the Farwell, Col- burn, Drake, and other families.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.