USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Norton > History of the town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669 to 1859 > Part 42
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of the British regiments in the Revolution); and died childless, Jan. 3, 1828.
Rev. JOHN BRIGGS (grad. B.U. 1788) is supposed to have been the son of Simeon and Mary (Cheney) Briggs; grandson of Deacon John Briggs, " the eldest," one of the first settlers here ; and was born May 17, 1765. He was ordained a Congregational minister at Tiverton, R.I., Dec. 7, 1791 ; and was dismissed from his pastoral relations there, Oct. 21, 1801. Dec. 2, 1801, he was settled at. Plympton, and continued there six years and a half. Subsequently he removed to Vermont (another account says New Hampshire), and settled upon a farm; where he died, Sept. 18, 1811.1
Rev. STEPHEN PALMER (grad. H.U. 1789) was the son of Rev. Joseph and Sarah (Eames) Palmer; and was born Oct. 8, 1766. During his early years, he suffered much from sickness. Two or three times, his life was despaired of; and once the family were in- formed that he was dead. In 1782, he broke his arm badly, which left him with a stiff elbow. This circum- stance, and his previous feeble health, caused his father to consent to his seeking for a liberal education. He commenced fitting for college, May 15, 1784, at Wren- tham, under the tuition of H. Townsend ; and finished his preparatory studies with Rev. Mr. Haven, of Ded- ham. In his autobiography, - from which I have taken most of the materials for this notice, - he says, "I passed the four years at college without receiving any public censure; and, through the restraints of Divine Goodness, without any stain upon my moral character." Until the death of his father, he studied theology with him, and thenceforth alone. His first sermon was preached July 24, 1791, in the pulpit of his uncle, Rev. Mr. Ellis, of Rehoboth. He preached as a candidate at Attleborough (where he was invited to settle), Norton, and Needham; and received an invitation to settle in the latter place, June 11, 1792 ;
1 American Quarterly Register, vol. xii. p. 268, and vol. viii. p. 157.
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which he accepted, after about eight weeks' delibera- tion. Oct. 17 was set apart as the day of ordination ; but, on account of the prevalency of the small-pox in the town, the ordination did not take place till Nov. 7, 1792. He continued his pastoral relations with the society till he died, Oct. 31, 1821, - just thirty years and one day after preaching his first sermon to the people of Needham. About two years previous to his death, he had a stroke of paralysis, which prevented the discharge of his pastoral duties, and finally ter- minated his life. He was a most excellent Christian minister, much beloved by his parish in life, and deeply lamented in death. He married, May 22, 1794, Miss Catharine, only daughter of Rev. Mr. Haven, of Dedham; and had four children.
DANIEL WHEATON, Esq. (grad. H.U. 1791), was the son of Dr. George Wheaton; and was born in the North Precinct, Sept. 10, 1767. He studied law, and located in the south-easterly part of Easton, on what is called the "Bay Road." He was appointed Post- master for the towns of Easton, Norton, and Mansfield, about 1798 ; and his was the first post-office established within the ancient limits of Norton. He married Hannah Le Baron Goodwin, Feb. 3, 1794; and had six children. She died July 31, 1831. His second wife was Mary R. Goodwin (sister of first wife), mar- ried Sept. 20, 1832. She died Nov. 14, 1834; and he subsequently, for third wife, married Hannah Le Baron, of Bristol, R.I. He died Sept. 11, 1841.
Rev. ISAAC BRAMAN (grad. H.U. 1794) was the son of Sylvanus and Experience (Blanchard) Braman; the grandson of Daniel and Rachel (Cambell) Braman ; great-grandson of Thomas Braman, sen., one of the first settlers of Norton; and was born July 5, 1770. His father died when he was about twelve years old ; and he was placed under the care of a guardian, who, for some years, opposed his plan of seeking a collegiate education. But the determined spirit of young Isaac finally triumphed, and he commenced preparation for college when in his eighteenth year. He studied theo-
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logy with Rev. Samuel West, D.D., of New Bedford ; and with Rev. Jason Haven, of Dedham. Near the close of the year 1795, he commenced preaching, and soon received a call to settle at Medway; which he declined. After the parish had heard sixty-three candi- dates, he went to New Rowley (now Georgetown), and, by great prudence and shrewdness, succeeded in harmonizing the conflicting elements of the society : so that he was called to the pastoral office, and was ordained June 7, 1797; which relation he continued to hold till his death, Dec. 26, 1858 ; though, for sixteen years, he had a colleague. He married, Aug. - , 1797, Hannah, daughter of Rev. Mr. Palmer, of this town; and had by her five children. His second wife (married March 22, 1837) was Miss Sarah Balch, of Mr. Braman " was a Calvinist of the Newburyport. old school." He always read his sermons, and was much confined to his " notes : " but his mind was logi- cal and clear ; his style chaste, concise, and somewhat racy. He was naturally rather reserved in his man- ners, and hence shone not in the social circle. He was quite conservative in his notions, and took little interest in what are called the " reform movements of the day." In 1852, a fine steel engraving of him was made ; but it is too large for our pages, or we would have inserted it.
TIMOTHY BRIGGS (grad. B.U. 1794) was the son of Deacon Timothy and Abigail (Patten) Briggs; and was born Aug. 3, 1771. After graduating, he was offered a tutorship in his alma mater ; but declined it, having previously made arrangements to enter into mercantile pursuits. In the prosecution of his busi- ness, he went south, and there took the yellow-fever ; of which disease he died, unmarried, soon after reach- ing the harbor of Boston, on one of its islands, Sept. 1, 1797. In the "Columbian Centinel " of Nov. 22, 1797, is an obituary notice of him; but, by some almost unaccountable blunder of the writer or printer, he is there called John Briggs. The writer says, " His understanding was penetrating; his taste truly refined
,
.
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and elegant ; and his heart, to a remark able degree, social and sympathetic." -" While literature mourns in him the loss of a shining son, and our country one of her most promising citizens, his memory will live in the heart of his acquaintance, and point them to the true dignity of man."
DAVID GILBERT, Esq. (grad. H.U. 1798), was the son of James and Elizabeth (Williams, 3d) Gilbert ; and was born June 11, 1771. Some years after his birth, his father removed to Mansfield, and resided there at the time David entered college ; who, after graduating, studied law with Judge Wheaton, and located at Mansfield, where he remained till he died, Sept. 12, 1842. He married, Feb. 17, 1800, Deborah, daughter of Rev. Roland Green, of Mansfield; and had seven children.
Rev. GARDNER BRAMAN PERRY, D.D. (grad. Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., 1804), was the son of Nathan and Phebe (Braman) Perry; and was born Aug. 9, 1783. He fitted for college at the academy in this town, and entered Brown University; but, in 1802, left for Union College. After graduating, he was about one year Principal of the Ballston Academy, N.Y. Thenceforth, till 1807, he was tutor in Union College. He then assumed the charge of the academy at Kingston, N.Y .; where he remained till 1812. On the 28th of September, 1814, he was settled as pastor of the Congregational Church at East Bradford (now Groveland); where he continued as sole pastor till 1851, when a colleague was called. His amiable dis- position and affable manners have won for him general respect ; and his advice and counsel have been often sought in both civil and ecclesiastical difficulties. While earnestly engaged in his ministerial duties, he has not forgotten other collateral means of elevat- ing and blessing the world. With unfailing assiduity, he has done what he could to elevate the character of the common schools in his town and vicinity ; and his opinions upon educational matters have been highly valued. But probably in the temperance reform his
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labors have been more conspicuous than in any of the moral movements of the age; and, so long as his physical strength would permit, he was a most efficient worker and officer in various temperance societies. Even now, in the winter of life, his interest in the good cause is unabated ; for he feels that it is of God. He married, May 22, 1816, Maria P. Chamberlain, of Exeter, N.H. ; by whom he had one child. His second wife (married July 20, 1819) was Eunice Tuttle, of Acton ; by whom he had four children. He married, for third wife, Sarah Brown, of Grafton, May 22, 1827; and they have had four children.
Dr. TISDALE HODGES (grad. B.U. 1804) was the son of Tisdale and Naomi (Hodges) Hodges (descended from William, who was at Taunton in 1643, through John, John, and Edmund); and was born April 21, 1783. When a boy, the calf of his leg was so badly cut with a scythe in the hands of his brother, who was mowing, that he ever afterwards was lame. He was a physician ; and died, unmarried, on board of a ship, near the coast of Africa, about 1808.
Capt. DAUPHIN KING (grad. Burlington College, Vt., 1810) was the son of Capt. Josiah and Miriam (Cobb) King, grandson of Capt. Josiah and Ruth (Basset) King, great-grandson of John and Margaret (Winslow) King; and was born Oct. 15, 1790. When young, his father removed to Burlington, Vt., where he remained till some years after his graduation. He subsequently returned to Norton ; and, for many years, was a suc- cessful " sea-captain." In the winter of 1852, he sailed for Rio Janeiro ; but, when a few days out from New York, he was struck with paralysis, and was put ashore at Port Praya (one of the Cape de Verd Islands), where he died May 20 of that year. In his manners, he was very blunt, and somewhat eccen- tric ; but a straightforward man, a good neighbor, and a valuable citizen. He married, Oct. 2, 1825, Harriot A. Raymond ; and had three children by her. She died Jan. 11, 1840. His second wife was Hannah C.
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D., daughter of Rev. M. Allen, of Pembroke ; by whom he had one son.
Dr. WILLIAM PERRY (grad. H.U. 1811) is a brother of Rev. G. B. Perry, just noticed; and was born Dec. 20, 1788. He labored on the paternal farm till seventeen years of age, when he commenced preparing for college under the tuition of Samuel M. Pond (a law student with Judge Wheaton), and entered Union College ; but, the next year, left for Harvard. He studied medicine with Dr. James Thatcher, of Ply- mouth ; Dr. John Warren, of Boston ; and at the Medical School of Harvard College. The degree of M.D. was given him in 1814; and he immediately located at Exeter, N.H., where he has continued to the present time, having had a very extensive practice in that vicinity, and been quite distinguished both as a physician and surgeon. By his sound judgment, accurate discrimination, and careful attention to his patients, he is still esteemed one of the best prac- titioners in the county where he resides. From 1830 to 1835, he paid great attention to the subject of insanity ; and mainly to his influence and exertions,. by the delivery of lectures before the Legislature, which did much to concentrate public opinion in favor of an Insane Asylum, are the community indebted for that institution, which was soon afterwards erected at Concord, N.H. In 1836, he was appointed lecturer on the theory and practice of medicine at the Bowdoin- College Medical School, in Brunswick, Me. The next year, he was offered a professorship in the Medical School there, but declined to accept it. He has paid much attention to the practical application of chemistry to medicine and the arts, and first introduced into this country the manufacture of what was called " English gum," which was used in the print-works at Lowell for twenty years, till a substitute was found. Dr. Perry married, April 8, 1818, Abigail, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Gilman, of Exeter, N.H .; and has had five children.
Hon. NATHANIEL GODFREY BABBIT (grad. Middle-
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bury College, Vt., 1811) was born Feb. 12, 1787, and was the son of Dr. Nathan Babbit (see Physicians) ; and went, when quite small, with his father to West- moreland, N.H. He fitted for college at the academy in Newfane, Vt., and Chesterfield, N.H. He studied law with Daniel Dwight, Esq., and Ex-Governor Hub- bard, of New Hampshire; and, in the fall of 1814, opened a law-office in Hinsdale, N.H., and was the first Postmaster of that town. In 1815, he removed to Westmoreland, where he continued in practice till 1842, when he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Cheshire County, N.H .; which office he held till 1855, when the courts were re- modelled, and the old judges dismissed from further duties. During the presidency of J. K. Polk, he was Postmaster of Westmoreland ; and he has been town- clerk, selectman, &c. He married, Dec. 1, 1816, Miss Eunice Brewster; and has had three children. In 1858, he removed to Beloit, Wis., to reside with his son.
Rev. THOMAS SHEPARD, D.D. (grad. B.U. 1813), was born May 7, 1792; and is the son of Jacob and Lydia (Clapp) Shepard. Rev. Mase Shepard, already no- ticed, was his uncle. Dr. Shepard graduated from the Andover Theological Seminary in 1816, and, for a time, acted as agent of the American Bible Society. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Ashfield, June 15, 1819; and, at his request, was dismissed May 8, 1833, for the purpose of accepting the agency for New England of the American Bible Society; which he subsequently relinquished, and was installed pastor of the Congregational Church in Bris- tol, R.I., April 30, 1835, where he still officiates as pastor. He married Sarah Barrett, of Northfield ; and has had nine children.
EARL PERCY WHITE, Esq. (grad. B.U. 1813), was born June 4, 1790 ; and was the son of Major Zebulon and Prudence (Pitts) White. He was a lawyer by profession, and practised for many years in his native town. He was the first Postmaster of Norton. In
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1817, he married Juline Everett, and had seven chil- dren. He was a man of fine talents, but did not apply himself very closely to his professional duties. In June, 1837, he removed to Illinois; and died at Copperas Creek, in that State, January, 1849.
BENJAMIN COPELAND, Esq. (grad. B.U. 1815), was born May 11 or 14, 1791; and is the son of Samuel and Eunice (Danforth) Copeland, and the grandson of Deacon Benjamin Copeland. He studied law, but never practised to any great extent. He now resides at Clarendon, N.Y., and is quite extensively engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits.
Hon. LABAN MOREY WHEATON (grad. B.U. 1817) was born Sept. 14, 1796; and is the son of Hon. Laban Wheaton, already noticed. He studied law, but never has given much attention to the duties of the profession. For many years, he was Postmaster of Norton ; has three times represented his native town in the Legislature ; been twice a member of the Governor's Council ; and also one of the Trustees of the State Industrial School for Girls, at Lancaster. His father bequeathed him a large estate, and he is now much the wealthiest man in town. He married Miss Eliza B. Chapin, of Uxbridge, June 25, 1829 ; but has had no children.
Rev. DANIEL LE BARON GOODWIN (grad. B.U. 1822) is the son of Daniel and Polly (Briggs) Goodwin ; and was born in Easton, July 28, 1802. Within a year of two after his birth, his father removed to Norton, where he spent the remainder of his days. Mr. Goodwin's mother is sister of Timothy Briggs, who graduated in 1794. May 23, 1825, he was ordained in St. Paul's Church, Boston, and, on the 15th of July following, took up his residence in Sutton as an Episcopal clergy- man ; where he remained till April, 1854, when he removed to Providence, R.I., where he is still em- ployed as a "church missionary " for the city. In December, 1825, he married Rebecca, daughter of William Wilkinson, Esq., of Providence, R.I .; and has had ten children.
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years, did a sort of missionary work in this vicinity ; preaching in schoolhouses and elsewhere, as he had opportunity ; being the keeper of a country store during the week. In 1816, he was ordained as a minister at Pawtucket, R.I .; but soon removed to Tiverton, R.I., and took charge of the Baptist Church there. Subsequently, he preached at Coventry and Providence, R.I .; and, in 1834, removed to Chicopee, but did not preach regularly after that time. He died at his daughter's house, in Hartford, Conn., Jan. 3, 1855. The " Christian Secretary," soon after his death, published an obituary notice of him. His body was taken to Chicopee for burial. He married, about 1783, Sarah Tisdale. She died ; and, for second wife, he married, May 24, 1793, Lydia Harding. After her death, he was again married. In all, he had eleven children.
Rev. EBENEZER BURT - born March 9, 1766 - was the son of Deacon Ebenezer and Abigail (Basset) Burt; grandson of Ebenezer and Naomi (Cambell) (Acres) Burt ; and the great-grandson of Ebenezer and Lydia (Tippen) Burt, who were among the early inhabitants of Norton. When fourteen years old, Mr. Burt joined the old Baptist Church. Aug. 29, 1794, he was licensed to preach by the Baptist Church of Dighton, and preached in this vicinity till Nov. 2, 1796, when he removed to Hardwick, and gathered a society in the south-west part of that town, where he was ordained as an evangelist (standing upon a great rock), June 20, 1797. A church was organized in 1806, and he was installed the pastor ; which posi- tion he held till November, 1846, when he preached his half-century sermon. Since then, he has not preached regularly. From July, 1845, to 1851, he- resided at Ware Village. From thence he removed to Athol (Depot) Village, where, he says, "I am suffered to live yet." He has preached occasionally : since he was ninety years old, and the whole num- ber of sermons he has preached is about four thousand nine hundred and seventy-five. His mind is still
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active, and his memory of events and dates wonderful. Recently, when asked where he studied theology, he answered, "In my Bible." He has been an able and efficient minister ; and now, in the winter of life, en- joys the respect, and almost veneration, of all sects of Christians who know him. He married, Nov. 19, 1789, Lucy Stacy, of Taunton; and has had seven children.
Dr. IRA SMITH was a brother of Jonathan Smith, already noticed ; and was born March 2, 1766. He married Nancy S. Hodges in 1797; and soon after removed to Monkton, Vt., where he died about 1802, leaving three children.
SILAS COBB, Esq., was the son of Gen. Silas and Deliverance (Hodges) Cobb, grandson of Benjamin and Mary Cobb ; and was born Sept. 25, 1768. He studied law, and opened an office in Rehoboth; but soon removed to Swanzey, where he spent most of his subsequent life, and died there July 9, 1818. He married, Sept. 17, 1801, Miss Eunice Smith, of this town; and had two children, one of whom is our townsman, Daniel S. Cobb, Esq.
Dr. NATHAN PERRY was the son of Nathan and Phebe (Braman) Perry, and was born May 27, 1776. For many years, he was a practising physician at North Bridgewater; and died there Aug. 16, 1857. He married Tiley Clapp in 1806 (?), and had several children.
Rev. NATHANIEL STONE - born June 6, 1785 - was the son of Nathaniel and Rebecca (Woodward) Stone, grandson of Nathaniel and Sarah (Woodward) Stone, and great-grandson of William and Mehitable (Lane) Stone. In the spring of 1825, he was ordained at Providence, R.I., as a local preacher of the Methodist Conference. He lived at the eastern part of Mans- field, and preached there and in the neighboring towns as he had opportunity .. He married, in 1815, Chloe Cobb, by whom he had several children; and died of consumption, July 26, 1840.
Dr. JERRY HODGES - born March 22, 1787 - was a
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brother of Drs. Tisdale and Guilford Hodges, already noticed. He studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Nel- son, of Bristol, R.I. In 1805, he removed with his father to Petersham; and, about two years later, commenced practice in Templeton, where he resided about ten years, when he removed to Hinsdale, N.H., and was there about four years. He then removed to Petersham, where he continued till his death, April 3, 1858 ; having held a high rank among the physicians of that vicinity. He was the "seventh son," and, by many, was thought to have been " born a doctor." On the strength of this absurd notion, he was fre- quently called upon to cure the "King's Evil ; " and, by the use of a little tact, succeeded in giving very general satisfaction to his patients. July 21, 1813, he married Mary S. Tucker, of Winchendon ; and had eleven children.
Dr. BUTLER WILMARTH was the illegitimate son of Peggy Coleman ; grandson of James Coleman, a na- tive of Ireland, whose wife's maiden name was Molly Wetherell (a descendant of the first settler) ; and was born Dec. 18, 1798. It is somewhat uncertain who his father was ; but he is believed to have been a man of some note in town. June 28, 1802, Butler was bound out by the selectmen to Amos Wilmarth, of Rowe, till he was twenty-one years old, "to learn the Art of Husbandry." He was subsequently adopted by Mr. Wilmarth, and took his name. When young, he gave such striking predilections for medical studies, that his playmates gave him the sobriquet of " doctor." Though compelled to labor hard during his minority, he managed to gather sufficient education to teach school. When about twenty-three years old, he began the study of medicine with Dr. William F. Selden, of Amherst ; paying for his board by labor on the farm. Two years later, he put himself under the tuition of Dr. Brigham, of Greenfield, who soon after removed from that vicinity. Whereupon Mr. Wilmarth, with- out having completed his studies, and without any diploma or license, with that self-reliance that always
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characterized his actions, entered upon the duties of physician at Montague (where his foster-father had resided for some years), and soon won the confidence and respect of many influential citizens, and became widely known as a skilful practitioner. About 1834, he removed to Leverett, where he was almost venerated for his skill in the treatment of chronic diseases. Ten years later, he joined the Hopedale Community, at Milford. In 1847, ill health sent him to the Water- cure Institution at New Lebanon, N.Y., where he was so much benefited by the treatment, that he became a convert to hydropathy, and 'in 1852, in connection with Dr. J. H. Hero, opened a " Water Cure " at Westborough. In 1851, he was chosen President of the Hydropathic Association of Physicians and Sur- geons then met at New-York City. Two years later, he attended the annual meeting of that association, of which he was still the honored president, and left for home in the ill-fated train which was precipitated into the river at Norwalk, Conn .; and in that awful tragedy (probably by drowning) was terminated his life, May 6, 1853. He was a man of great practical common sense, and of more than ordinary talent. One proof of his nobleness of mind is in the fact, that, although well aware of his illegitimate origin, he never allowed that circumstance to keep him in the shades of obscurity ; but, with that true manliness which shone forth in all his actions, he felt with Burns, that -
" A man's a man for a' that."
He was somewhat eccentric, yet unassuming, in his manners. He had no love for forms or fashion; and hence, by the wealthy and fastidious, he was not ap- preciated. In fine, he was one of the most sincere, practically Christian men that any town can call its son. His leading characteristics were self-reliance, benevolence, good-humor, joined with an unswerving loyalty to conscience, to truth, and to God. He mar- ried, in 1831, Phila Osgood, of Wendell, and had two
a
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children, who are honored more, in descending from such a father, than if they had been the offspring of a titled and soulless nobility.1
Rev. FREDERIC DEAN GOODWIN is the son of Daniel and Polly Goodwin, and was born Feb. 15, 1804. He entered Amherst College ; but did not graduate, on account of ill health. He is an Episcopal clergyman, and, at one time, was settled in Richmond, Va .; and has held the rectorship of several parishes in that State, in which he now resides, at Wytheville, where he officiates as rector. He married, at " Old Point Comfort," in 1837, Mary F. Archer ; and has quite a family of children.
Rev. WILLIAM HENRY KNAPP was born Sept. 19, 1811; and is the son of Abiathar and Nancy (White) Knapp, grandson of Daniel and Mary (Field) Knapp, and great-grandson of Jonathan and Mehitable (Tuck- er) Knapp. He commenced his ministerial duties as a Universalist minister, and preached at several places previous to 1844, when he was settled over the Uni- tarian Society at Nantucket. In 1851, he took charge of the society at West Newton. One year (1854-5), he was Steward of Antioch College, O .; and preached in that neighborhood as opportunity offered. In 1856, he took charge of the Congregational Society at Ster- ling, where he (1858) resides. He is married, and has several children.
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