USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Goshen > History of the town of Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1761 to 1881, with family sketches > Part 18
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He died Dec. 18, 1826, from an attack of angina pectoris. His last words were : "The ways of the Lord are equal."
Mr. Whitman was the eldest son of David and Olive (Webb) Whit- man, of Weymouth. David was son of Ebenezer, son of John, Jr., son of John of Dorchester, who came from England. A brief gene- alogy of the Whitman family, published in Portland many years since, gives the date of Mr. Whitman's birth as 1744, seven years earlier than the date recognized by his family.
Mr. Emmons Putney says that Mr. Whitman, during the winter season- was accustomed to preach, wearing his overcoat and striped mittens, with a red bandana handkerchief as a covering for his head.
There were three distinct families of early settlers of the name of White ; Ezekiel, of Weymouth ; Farnum, of -; and William of Charlton.
Ezekiel was grandson of Samuel, of Weymouth, who married Anna Pratt. Her father and mother were deaf and dumb.
Children of Samuel and Anna : Ebenezer, Jeremiah, Elisha, Sam- uel, Nehemiah, Micah, Matthew, Anna, Hannah, Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, married Abigail Blanchard, and had Abigail, married Da- vid Turner ; Ezekiel, Jr., married Sarah Vinton ; Chloe, married Job Trufant ; Mary, married Samuel Peck ; Silence, married John Shaw; David, married Martha Cottle ; Nehemiah, married Mary Ripley ; Noah, married Tamar Bates, 1783 ; Sarah, married Asa French ;
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Ebenezer, married Calista Partridge ; Olive, married Jacob French ; Josiah, died unmarried.
Sarah White, sister of Lieut. Ebenezer, married Asa French, Feb. 14, 1784. Their children were : Elihu, Samuel, Irena, William, So- phia, Jabez, (who was father of M. M. French of Northampton,) Ambrose, Sally, Nathan.
Lieut. Ebenezer White, married first, Calista, daughter of Asa Partridge, Sen., 1786. She died Feb. 29, 1808, aged 45 years. He married second, Hannah Ripley, who died June, 1836.
Children of Lieut. Ebenezer and Calista : Asa, born Dec. 16, 1787, died Dec. 25, 1859 ; Frebun, born Oct. 31, 1789, married Betsey, daughter of Ezekiel White, Jr. ; Sarah, born Oct. 6, 1794, married Capt. Horace Packard, Jan. 17, 1818, died April 4, 1876 ; Polly, born May 18, 1797, died unmarried, May 12, 1862 ; John, born Oct. 26, 1799, married Salome Curtis, died Feb. 20, 1871 ; Calista, born Aug. 3, 1801, married Hiram Thayer, died Feb. 2, 1838 ; Ebenezer, born Dec. 5, 1807, married Mary Tilden, June, 1837, died Nov. 27, 1870.
Asa White, born 1787, married first, Livia Ely, Nov. 26, 1811 ; second, Harriet Ely-sister, 1844.
Children of Asa and Livia White ; Orrel, born Sept. 23, 1815, married Joseph T. Thayer, Oct. 28, 1835, died Sept. 24, 1868; Homer; Peregrine, married Catharine Willcutt ; Heman, married Ellen Brackett.
Farnum White, probably not connected with the other White fam- ilies of this town, was one of the early settlers, and with his wife Lois, united with the church here, within three or four years of its organization. He died Dec. 6, 1795, aged 45. His wife removed to Williamstown to reside, probably with her daughter, and died in 1813.
Children : Chloe, born Aug. 23, 1775, married Cheney Taft, 1793 ; Seth, born Dec. 8, 1778, married Relief Stone, June 4, ISoo, removed to Williamstown about 1812 ; Nelson, born April 13, 1781 ; Abigail, born Aug. 7, 1783, married Elijah Streeter, April 23, 1801 ; Elias, born Dec. 16, 1787, married first, Rhoda Cowles of Williamsburgh, 1814. She died Jan. 21, 1817, and he married second, Hannah, daughter of Maj. Ambrose Stone, Dec. 25, 1817 ; Clarissa, born March 18, 1790, married Lucius Cowles of Williamsburgh, April 23, 1812.
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The children of Chloe and Cheney Taft, born in this town, were : Newell, born April 4, 1794; Lyman, born Nov. 17, 1795 ; Willard, born Feb. 13, 1798; Harriet, born March 15, 1800. The father joined the church here in May, 1801, and afterwards the family removed to Williamstown, where Mr. Taft was held in high esteem. He was a deacon of the church there.
The Tafts are descended from Robert, of Braintree, and in 1874, had a re-union in Uxbridge, where many of the name were present. Judge Taft of Ohio delivered the address. The following extract of a poeni read on the occasion gives a brief exhibit of the principles of the pioneer families :-
On mountain tops of thought they trod, And heard the thunders roar Beneath them, while they talked with God And worshiped Him the more ; They came into the wilderness Where tempted day by day.
They met the Devil face to face And drove the fiend away. 'Il y smo e the Quakers hip and thigh. . They bade the Baptists go,
Episcopacy, high or low, They didn't care to know ; They'd seen enough of other creeds To make them prize their own ; They felt it met their soul's best needs, To go it all alone.
Caroline, the only child of Elias and Rhoda White, removed West and married there. Elias White, married second, Hannah Stone, and had Catharine, who married Francis M. Pierce, died Aug. 16, 1880, at Kenosha, Wis. ; Lois Emily, who married Medad Hill of Williamsburgh ; Alfred A., learned the printer's trade, in the office of the Northampton Courier; removed to Wisconsin and thence to Dubuque, lowa, where he died after a brief illness, Jan. 30, 1852. aged 24 years. He was an excellent scholar, gifted as a writer, and had become the editor of a newspaper. He was brought up in the family of his grandfather Stone.
William White, Es !, from Charlton, in 1762, was one of the very earliest settlers. He purchased of Gad Lyman, receiving a deed
Albertype-Forbes Co .. Boston.
JOSEPH WHITE.
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thereof, dated May 1, 1702, the Westerly half of Lots No. 6 and No. 13, First Division Sla Bost Sempresed by Mercy Hawley and Joseph Hiwier . Sor bono Mont Mv, mn consideration of twenty pounds. law al mam & refor feelings. Dec. 29, 1762. "the whole twentieth origin il for. th it 1) we we spruch lot in the first Divis- ion, in and of that tract of fant in the said Chesterfield, which is part of the late Propriety called the Narragansett number four. The said lot in quantity is about one hundred acres, be the same more or less." This deed was also witnessed by Major Hawley. White built his house near the east side of lot No. 20, nearly on the spot where the present house stands, which was built about 1829, perhaps later. Lot No. 20 was bounded on the east by lot No. 13.
The ancestors of William White, Esq., have not been definitely ascertained. They were probably of the early settlers of Woodstock from Roxbury. John of Roxbury had John, and probably Joseph and Benjamin. John, Jr., and Joseph had each a Joseph. Benjamin White, son of one of the Josephs, was admitted to the church in Rox- bury in 1703. The heirs of Lient. John White received certain lands in Woodstock. There is little doubt that Joseph and Benjamin were family names in this branch of the White family, and the frequent recurrence of the names in these early years suggests the reason of their repetition in the family born in this town.
William, the pioneer in 1762, was son of a Benjamin, who may have been the Benjamin above named, son of Joseph, but it is not proved. William was probably an only son. He had one sister who married - Gates. It is very probable that Benjamin, the father. died while these two children were quite young.
The town records of Goshen, in the hand-writing of William White, have the following statement, which is probably the earliest record of the family that is reliable :
William, son of Benjamin White and Abigail, his wife, born at Dudley, March 26, 1737, married, April 7, 1763, Marcy, daughter of Richard and Dorothy (Marcy) Dresser, born Sept 18, 1742.
The children of William and Marcy are recorded, as follows :
Marcy, born Oct. 3, 1764, married Alpheus Naramore ; William, born Jan. 1, 1767, died April 8, 1792 ; Mary, born Nov. 11, 1768, married Thomas Adams, May 20, 1794; Prudence, born July 16, 1771, married John Adams, May 20, 1794 ; Eunice, born Nov. 8, 1773, died Jan. 8, 1788 ; John, born Feb. 13, 1776, died Aug. 12,
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1777 ; Abigail, born April 2, 1778, died Jan. 13, 1788 ; Hannah, born Aug. 20, 1780, married Timothy Lyman ; John, born Dec. 29, 1782, died Jan. 13, 1788 ; Ezra, born Dec. 27, 1784, died Jan. 29, 1788; Joseph, born Aug. 17, 1787 ; Benjamin, born Aug. 17, 1787.
William White, Sen., died Nov. 7, 1821 ; his wife, Jan. 1, 1823.
William, Jr., was a physician. He died and was buried in Dorches- ter on his way home from the South, where he had been for his health.
Two sons only, of this large family, lived to enter upon active business, Joseph and Benjamin, twin brothers. Both resided upon the homestead for about thirty years, both men of recognized ability, possessing many traits of character in common, and bearing so strong a resemblance to each other in form, feature and voice, that their neighbors were sometimes in doubt as to which they met.
Joseph White. born Aug. 17, 1787, married Oct. 31, 1820, Sophia Huntington of Hinsdale, Mass. For seven and a half years after his marriage he remained in Goshen, during which time, with the ex- ception of six months when he kept the hotel at the center of the town, he and his brother Benjamin carried on the home farm in com - pany, both living in the same house as one family.
In the spring of 1828, he removed to Hinsdale, Mass., having pur- chased one of the best farms in that town. Sound judgment and integrity, with industry and economy, in which his wife bore her full share, made him a successful farmer. He was a man of scholarly tastes, fond of reading, and was especially familiar with the Bible. In early life he made a public profession of religion, uniting with the Congregational Church, in which he continued to be an earnest and consistent member. He was always prominent in the town and in the church, and was marked for his modesty, intelligence and piety. He took great interest in giving his children "a start in life," and always cheerfully aided them pecuniarily to the extent of his means. He died on his birth-day, Aug. 18, 1860, at the age of 73 years, leav- ing a widow and seven children, all of whom still survive. Mrs. White now resides with her youngest daughter, in Worcester, Mass., in the enjoyment of health and in the full possession of all her facul- ties, at the age of nearly 85 years.
His children are : Sarah Huntington, born in Goshen, Nov. 30, 1821, married March 28, 1848, Charles T. Huntington, and now resides in West Brookfield, Mass. She was educated at the Academy
Albertype : Forbes Co., Boston.
JOSEPH H. WHITE.
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in Worthington and at Mt. Holyoke Seminary, and is justly held in high esteem for her intelligence and christian character.
Joseph Huntington, born in Goshen, Jan. 28, 1824. In his boyhood, while upon the farm, he showed uncommon energy and enterpris". At the age of 22 he went to Boston and obtained a situation as clerk in a store. About a year later, he commenced the retail dry goods business on his own account in Manchester, N. H., in company with his cousins, William and Benjamin F. White. At the ex- piration of two years, he sold out his interest to his partners, and engaged in the same business on Hanover street, Boston. Jan. 1, 1854, he organized the dry goods importing and jobbing firm of White, Browne, Davis & Co. They at once commanded a large trade, and gained an enviable reputation for taste in the selec- tion of dress goods for ladies' wear. The firm soon began to import largely, and in 1864 changed to a strictly importing and pack- age business in Boston and New York, under the style of White, Browne & Co. This firm did a very large and profitable business for
ten and a half years, and was dissolved July 1, 1874. Since that time Mr. White has been the senior partner in the firm of White, Pay- son & Co., the selling agents for the production of the Manchester Mills, located at Manchester, N. H., a corporation, which in 1874 he was chiefly instrumental in re-organizing, and in which he is a large stockholder. By close attention to his business, in which he has shown extraordinary ability, he has acquired a large fortune. He is a director in the Manchester Mills and in the Eliot National Bank. For more than thirty years he has been a constant attendant at the Central Congregational Church, of which the Rev. Joseph T. Duryea, D. D., is now the pastor. He took a leading part in the erection of its magnificent church edifice, being an active member of the building committee and contributing liberally of his means. By his counsel and aid, he has been of great service to his younger brothers. He married, Jan. 13, 1853, Miss Mary E. Stanyan of Chichester, N. H., who died Dec. 19, 1853. Was again married, Nov. 13, 1855, to Miss Ellen D. Tewksbury of Manchester, N. H.
Sophia Marcy, born in Goshen, March 6, 1826, was educated at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass., married Dec. 29, 1851, Stephen J. Wilcox. She lived for many years in. Boston and now resides in Worcester, Mass. She is an active member of the Pied-
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·mont Congregational Church. Since the death of her father in 1860, she has kindly given her mother a home in her family.
James, bom in Hinsdale, Mass., July 9, 1828, graduated at Williams College in 1851, taught mathematics two years in Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass. Commenced the study of theology at Ando- ver, but was compelled to relinquish it on account of a disease of the eyes. In December, 1854, went to Boston and joined his brother Joseph in business ; was a member of the firm of White, Brown & Co., and retired from business in July, 1874. In 1875 was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, was two years a member of the House of Representatives, and also two years a member of the Senate. He served on the Committees on Claims, Education and the Treasury, and was Chairman of each of them. He was elected by the alunni a Trustee of Williams College, and for this year is President of the " Williams Alumni Association of Boston." He has taken an active interest in benevolent and christian work, is a deacon in the Central Congregational Church, President of "the City Missionary Society," and for this year is President of "the Congregational Club of Boston and vicinity." He was married. Jan. 22, 1856, to Miss Harriet Cor- nelia, daughter of Dr. B. F. Kittredge of Hinsdale, Mass.
The Boston Advertiser, recently, advocating the election of Mr. White to an important office urged "the business men generally to see to it that their ballots bear the name of the HON. JAMES WHITE. He has been a very prominent merchant, and is one of a family of broth- ers who have done much to build up the dry goods trade of Boston. He is also a gentleman of much experience in public affairs, having been a member of the house of representatives in 1876 and 1877, and of the senate in 1878 and 1879. He served with much distinction on the committees on education, claims, and the treasury, and has been chairman of all of them. Especially as a member of the com- mittee on claims were his services of great value to the State, and large amounts were saved to the treasury by his careful scrutiny of demands upon it. He belongs to a class of citizens whom it is ex- ceedingly desirable to encourage to enter public life."
Simon Huntington, born in Hinsdale, Mass., May 22, 1831, mar- ried, Nov. 11, 1857, Miss Sarah A. Starkey of Westmoreland, N. H. He purchased hisfather's farm in Hinsdale, upon which he continues to reside. He has served upon the Board of Selectmen, and has been prominent in agricultural circles, having been President of the
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Highland Agricultural Society at Middlefield, and the Berkshire at Pittsfield. He was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1874, and served upon the Committee on Prisons. He is a member of the Congregational Church.
Jonathan Huntington, born in Hinsdale, July 25, 1836, married. June 28, 1871. Miss Abby C. Herman of Boston. He was educated at the Hinsdale Academ; and at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass. He went to Boston at the age of seventeen, and was clerk and afterwards partner with his brother in-law, Mr. S. J. Wilcox, mn the retail dry goods business. Since March, 1865, he has been a partner in the firm of R. H. White & Co., and now resides in Paris. France, being the foreign buver for his firm.
Ralph Huntington, born Jan. 11, 1841, went to Boston at the age ·of eighteen years, and was clerk in the retail dry goals store of his brother-in-law, Mr. S. J. Wilcox. March 1, 1862, when twenty one years of age, he purchased a half interest in a retail dry goods store on Hanover street, and commenced busmess on his own account under the firm name of Tower & White. At the expiration of ten months of a prosperous business, he sold out his interest to his part- ner, and joined his brother-in-law, under the firm name of Wilcox. White & Co., on Winter street. This firm also did a profitable busi- ness, which they sold out at the end of two years. At this time. March 1, 1865, he formed a cop tiny ship with his brother Jonathan and continued business on the same street, the style of the firm being R. H. White & Co. Hope they did i large and profitable business till Jan. 1877, when they re moved to their present magnificent store on Washington street.
At the age of twenty one years the soling eman left a clerkship in a retail dry goods store, where he wa, getting six dollars per week, and was laying op money at that, and commenced business for him- self with a few bun Ired dollars, a part of which he had earned him- self. At the age of forty we find him at the head of a firm, whose business, built up chiefly by his own ability, is exceeded in amount by not more than three or four similar establishments in this country. It will not be easy to point to a similar instance, at least in Boston. He married, Dec. 24, 1863, Miss Ellen M. Tucker of Andover, Mass.
Benjamin White married first, Sophia Butler of Williamsburgh. 1814, and had Clarissa, born Oct. 11, 1815, music teacher, resided
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in Chicago, died in Kenosha, Wis., Oct. 15, 1876 ; William, born Aug. 7, 1819, merchant in Manchester, N. H., married Emeline R. Allen, 1843 ; Julia M., born Dec. 28, 1820, married C. C. Dresser, died June 26, 1877 ; Henry, born March 15, 1823, married Merilla, daughter of Isaac King, died March 15, 1872 ; Benjamin F., born Oct. 12, 1825, was in business in Manchester, N. H., and afterwards in Ogdensburgh, N. Y., died Sept. 27, 1873, leaving one daughter.
William and Emeline (Allen) White had Lizzie, born in Goshen, April 21, 1846, and Mary, born in Manchester, July 1, 1854.
Mrs. Sophia, wife of Benjamin White, Sen., died April 9, 1833, aged 41 years, and he married, second, Mrs. Aurelia Bardwell, widow of Samuel Naramore. She died Aug. 11, 1869.
Benjamin White, Esq., was so connected with nearly every phase of public business in the town, parish and church, that a history of either reflects more or less of his history. He was equal to the duties of any and every position to which he was called. He was not ambitious for office. Modest and unassuming, his abilities were far in advance of his aspirations. He filled the office of Town Clerk, with rare ability, for a long period ; was the principal Justice of the Peace for many years ; was a member of the Legislature, and also of the Convention for revising the Constitution ; and was for one or more terms one of the Special County Commissioners for Hamp- shire County. He was pre-eminently a man of peace. He depre- cated personal jealousies and neighborhood and town quarrels, and chose to incur the displeasure of the contending parties, rather than to aid either in keeping up strife. Yet he was sensitive to criticism, but no amount of contumely or opposition could turn him from what he believed to be the right course. He was a true gentleman, pure- minded as a woman, thoroughly honest, and a sincere christian. He died Jan. 25, 1873, aged 85 years.
William White, son of Benjamin, was for many years a prominent dry goods merchant in Manchester, N. H., where he is highly esteemed for his integrity and for his generous devotion to the inter- ests of his customers. Goshen has not produced a more obliging friend or genial companion than he.
Rev. Joel Wright was born in Milford, N. H., Jan. 26, 1784 .. Educated at Dartmouth College, he took high rank as a scholar, 1
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE BENJAMIN WHITE, ESQ.
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and also for a deep and ardent devotion to the cause of Christ. His theological studies were under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Payson, of Rindge, N. H. After his ordination, he was first settled in the work of the ministry, at Leverett, Mass. From that place he was called to the pastorate of the church and society in Goshen, where, for about eight years, the work of the Lord prospered in his hands ; many being brought to a love and acknowledgment of the truth, as well by the private, godly walk. and conversation of the man, as by the public ministrations of the pastor.
Subsequently Mr. Wright was called to a parish in Vermont ; but, after a few years of labors there, the climate of the Green Mountains being too severe for his health, never very robust, he removed to New Hampshire. But, after some six years residence in that State, fail- ing health and other circumstances induced him to return to Massa- chusetts, where he continued to reside until the Sth of June, 1859 ; when, with ardent longings for the i st which remaineth for the peo- ple of God, he went home to the Father's house on high.
Mr. Wright was eminently a man of God. Whether in the retire- ment of his study of ministering to and among his people, the chief consideration was, how he could best promote the spiritual welfare of those over whom the Holy Ghost had made him overseer. To the visitation of his people in their homes, or to the sanctuary, where he met them to dispense the words of Life, he always went from his closet, where he had sought for wisdom and grace for the work before him. In his preaching, as well as in the preparation of ser- mons, he sought not so much to please the fancy of his bearers, as to place before them the sublime truths of the Gospel in such plain and simple, yet eloquent forms, as to win their hearts to the love and obedience of Christ.
And his daily life was consistent with his preaching. Always fore- most in every good cause, he not only pointed souls to Heaven, but himself led the way. During a ministry of almost one-third of a cen- tury, that portion of it passed at Goshen was, to Mr. Wright, the most satisfactory in the retrospect, both in his relations with the pro- ple and the fruits of his labors. The ties of friendship and christian fellowship there formed, were kept fresh, either by correspondence or personal intercourse with members of that parish down to the closing up of earthly relations by the hand of death. The families of the Lymans, Billings, Packards, Stones, and others which might be
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named, were among the cherished ones in memory. £ But these con- temporaries of his work have, like him, passed within the veil ; and, as it is humbly hoped, are now reunited in the presence of Him whom they so faithfully served together, in time ; even Jesus, their Re- deemer and Saviour.
Of the children of Rev. Mr. Wright who survived him, the eldest son, Rev. D. Grosvenor Wright, D. D., is a clergyman of the Pro- testant Episcopal church, and resides in the state of New York. An- other son, T. Spencer Wright, M. D., is a prominent physician and surgeon, at Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin. The eldest daughter, who was born in Goshen, is the accomplished wife of Dr. A. L. Hoyt, also residing in Fond du-Lac. One of the grandsons of Rev. Mr. Wright, J. W. Wright, M. D., is Professor of Surgery in the medical depart- ment of the "University of New York City."
Rev. J. E. M. Wright, present pastor of the church, is a lineal de. scendant, in the seventh generation, of Thomas Cushman, the succes- sor of Brewster in the eldership at Plymouth. He was the only son of Robert Cushman, whom Gov. Bradford was wont to call the "Right hand of the Pilgrims," and of Mary Allerton, the daughter of Isaac Allerton, the youngest passenger in the Mayflower. She died at the age of 90 years, the last survivor of the Pilgrim band.
His mother was Wealthy, daughter of Caleb Cushman of Goshen. She married Jonathan Wright of Northampton, in 1799. He is the youngest of their nine children, and was born in Jackson, Maine, June 23, 1822.
From his earliest years he had a great desire for a collegiate edu- cation ; and ever after he became personally interested in religion felt that no other profession or occupation but the ministry would satisfy him. Circumstances prevented the fulfilment of his cherished wish for a liberal education ; the lack of which, he tried to supply as far as possible by spending all the time he could command in study- ing, both alone and with private tutors, such branches as would es- pecially fit him for the work of the ministry. After some ten years' experience in teaching and preparatory study, he entered the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1849, and graduated in 1852.
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