USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Massachusetts with genealogies and notes on persons and estates > Part 85
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2. LARNED, son of Larned (1), ingenious mechanic, comb-maker by trade, bought 5 Dec., 1820, land near Nipmuck Pond, in South Gore, adjoining Ox. Sold 7 April, 1838, removed to Brockport, N. Y., thence 1855 to Wells- boro', Pa., became insane on perpetual motion, d. 1864, at the asylum at Dans- ville, N. Y. He m. 18 March, 1821, Hannah F., dau. of Joseph Rockwood, she d. 14 March, 1880, at Wellsboro'. . . . Children, except last two, b. near Ox. : GEORGE W., b. 2 Dec., 1821, m. Aug., 1857, Mariette Butler, had one son, two daughters, residence, Wellsboro'. Descended on the mother's side from one of the original settlers of the town, Oxford may claim him as her son although born in South Gore, a few rods outside her limits. He has been de- signated as " picturesque," and was one of the most notable men the region has produced. He early formed the habits of a recluse, and spent at least one- fourth of his adult life in solitude in the woods. He was of a consumptive tendency which, as he expressed it, drove him to the wilderness. A remnant of the Nipmuck tribe of Indians lived in the vicinity of his birthplace, and between " Injun Levi," or Nessmuk, and himself there grew in his childhood a warm attachment the influence of which never left him. Of his early experiences he thus wrote :-
" He was wont to steal me away from home before I was five years old, and carry me around Nipmuck Pond and Junkamaug [Chaubunagungamaug] Lake [both near his residence ] day after day until I imbibed much of his woodcraft, all his love for forest life, and, alas, much of his good-natured shiftlessness. I ran away from school and books of a dry sort to study the great book of nature. Did I lose by it? I cannot tell even now. As the world goes, per- haps yes. No man can transcend his possibilities ; . . . I sometimes ask my- self did the strong, healthy, magnetic nature of that Indian pass into my boyish life as I rode on his powerful shoulders or slept in his strong arms beneath the soft whispering pines of Douglas woods? . . . This will partly explain how it came about that, ignoring the weary, devious roads by which men attain wealth and position I became a devotee of nature . . . a hunter, trapper, angler and canoeist, an uneducated man withal, save the education
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SEARS.
that comes of long communion with nature, and a perusal of the best English authors."
His educational advantages were very few and he early learned the trade of a shoemaker, and with his father and brother was employed by the Oxford manufacturers. But his restless temperament did not allow him long to con- tinue and he sought the seaboard whence came his ancestors, some of whom were mariners, and shipped on a whaling voyage. But he could not endure the hardships of a sea life and within a few weeks he was landed at the Azore Islands, whence after a long and severe illness he returned home. 1
In 1838 he removed with the family to western New York, later drifted to Addison where he worked at his trade, and in 1848 removed to Wellsboro', then surrounded by a wilderness, the haunt of the wild game he so loved to pursue. There he married and made a home, working at his trade, but spending the warmer portion of each year in the forests. In the fifties he wrote accounts of his adventures for Porter's Spirit of the Times, and later for Forest and Stream, and his productions appeared in Harper's and the Atlantic Monthly. When the war broke out he joined the " Bucktail" Regi- ment, but being disabled by an accident was discharged after a few months. In 1867 and again three years later he went to Brazil, spending several months at each visit. There he invented valuable helps to the manufacture of rubber from the forests. In the summer of 1880 he cruised hundreds of miles in the inland waters of the Adirondack region in his canoe " Nessmuk," and in 1884 again attempted a similar trip which was materially shortened by failing health. He spent the winter of 1886 in Florida and returned thither in 1887 when he contracted malaria, which in addition to his lung difficulty brought him down so that he was not able afterward to leave home for his wonted outings, and slowly declined until his decease 1 May, 1890. His home was in the suburbs of Wellsboro', and in accordance with his request he was buried on a knoll in front of his house, beneath a clump of his favorite hem- locks. Forest and Stream and the local newspapers published extended obituary notices from which we have gathered many facts of his history.
While dwelling much in solitude there was nothing of the spirit of the re- cluse in him. He was in touch with his fellow-man and a student of human nature. He was gifted with a superior intellect which did not stagnate in the woods. Uneducated in schools he was yet self-taught and well taught, knew the best authors and commanded the respect of intellectual men. A distin- guished clergyman after spending a fortnight in his company once said, " Of all the men I have ever met, Sears is the best worth knowing." He wrote much of woods life for the press and took his rightful place among the most popular contributors.
" His abundant experience, rich store of information, familiarity with the ways of wild creatures and sympathy with wood-folk, a never-failing fund of anecdote and compactness and quaintness of style combined to win for him an interested and devoted following. Whether in the hackneyed Adiron- dacks, the wilds of Michigan, the forests of Pennsylvania or the swamps of Florida, each was invested with a new interest and made fascinating by the charm wrought of his personality. His little volume, 'Woodcraft,' published in 1884, is as refreshing as to inhale the perfumed air of the old woods after a June shower.
1 It is related of him that in boyhood he ran away from home with another lad and coming to a bridge where there was one cent toll to pay, they found they had but one penny between
them. Here was a dilemma. But George soon plucked up courage and asked if there was any charge for luggage. On the keeper replying no, he took his chum upon his back and passed on.
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SEARS.
"The woods-dweller in his solitude, amid the pines and the hemlocks, found time to ponder and study the great questions of human life, and in his verse he speaks to many a responsive soul, especially to those in humble walks who know the joy, love, toil and bereavements of human life. His poem 'John O'the Smithy,' published in the Atlantic, gave him a world-wide reputation. This volume of verse ["Forest Runes", 1887] savors of hemlock browse, of sparkling spring water, of the camp and woods, and shows ability of no mean order."
The name of his childhood friend, "Nessmuk," which he adopted as his nom de plume, is attached to all his works. His "Forest Runes" he dedicated to his brother Charles. The opening stanza follows :-
"Not that the gift of poesy is mine, Nor that I claim the poet's meed of praise, But in remembrance of the golden days Of youth, have I inscribed these simple lays To thee, my brother, and to Auld Lang Syne."
" A SUMMER CAMP.
"I leave the town with its hundred noises, Its clatter and whir of wheel and steam, For woodland quiet and silvery voices, With a camp of bark by a crystal stream.
" The feathery arms of firs and spruces Bend over the water that sleeps beneath, Where marish flowers by the quiet sluices Infold their sweets in a golden sheath.
1
" And a small canoe of airy lightness Floats silently on the limpid stream, Where the norland birch in snowy whiteness O'erhangs the ripples that glance and gleam.
" Oh, peaceful and sweet are forest slumbers On a fragrant couch with the stars above, As the free soul marches to dulcet numbers Through dreamland valleys of light and love."
His name is pleasantly linked with that of an honored townsman, John Mayo, in one of his pieces, which closes thus :-
" Eighty summers their blossoms had shed, Eighty winters had whitened his head. He waited his summons day by day ; 'Life is a feverish dream,' he said, ' It does not pay.'"
"A FRAGMENT.
" Ah! Isabel Nye, the winds go by ; The beard of the thistle sails out to sea, And the loves of old that were tried like gold Have gone like the thistle-down, far a-lee."
CHARLES, twice m., d. 1887, at Wellsboro', had ch .; DELIA A., m. John Burnett, resided at Olmsville, Pa., 4 ch .; EDWIN, m. Ellen Butler, 1 dau., resided at Wellsboro', soldier in the 161st Regt. N. Y. Vols., in Banks' Red River Expedition, d. 5 June, 1864, at New Orleans; FRANKLIN, unm., d. at Brockport; LORING A., m. Fanny Lockhave, resided at Wellsboro', 5 sons, one is training master in the U. S. Navy; HANNAH A., m. Charles Merrick,
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SEARS .- SHEARMAN.
resided at Laketon, Pa., 3 ch .; ELLEN J., m. Hezekiah Stowell, resided at Niles' Valley, Pa., had ch. ; FREDERICK, d. young ; HENRY A., in 161st Regt. N. Y. Vols. with Edwin, served his time, unm., now resides in Oregon.
SEGARS, EPHRAIM, bought a farm in the west part of Ox., H. 68, 1784, sold 1791, removed to Spencer, 1799 mortgaged his farm in Spencer to the town for his support, being aged and infirm. He m. Olive, dau. of Caleb Barton, he d. at Plainfield, she m. (2) Joseph Torrey of Plainfield ; 5 ch., all by first m., not on Ox. Records.
JOSHUA, w. Mercy Thompson, had SARAH, b. 13 Feb., 1793.
SEVERANCE, GILES F., son of William, from Abbott, Me., aged 24, d. 3 April, 1876.
SEVERY, WILLARD, son of Moody of Sutton, m. Rhoda, dau. of Timothy Hewett. In 1827 Mary Severy bought the place at North Ox., H. 113, on which Willard settled and d., aged 57, 15 July, 1855; his wid. m. (2) Amos P. Newton. . . . Children : HARRIET M., b. 8 June, 1825, at Sutton, m. Nathaniel Nolen; FREEMAN, b. 25 Nov., 1827, at Ox., m. 24 Dec., 1864, Diana, dau. of Edward H. Shumway, settled on the homestead; ADALINE, b. 17 March, 1829, m. (1) Elbridge, son of Rice Barton, m. (2) Anthony Poucher, resided at Boston ; WILLARD W., b. 2 Jan., 1833, m. Mary Grayson, resided at Upton.
JOSEPH, w. and ch. resided at Ox. 1752.
JOSEPH R., of Sutton, and Eunice Fitts, m. intentions 25 Nov., 1789.
ASA, of Dixfield, Me., and Mehetable Fitts, m. 8 Oct., 1821.
POLLY, dau. of Jacob, aged 97, d. 13 Aug., 1854.
STEPHEN, son of Joseph of Sutton, aged 77, d. 3 July, 1868.
DAPHNE, widow, aged 83, d. 28 July, 1883.
SEWALL, MARY ANN (English), aged 21, d. 29 April, 1860. SHABORN, MARQUETTE, aged 47, d. 2 Feb., 1857.
SHADDON, JOHN, resided at Ox. Aug., 1765.
SHAFTER, JAMES, m. Sept., 1751, Esther, dau. of Simon Mellen. . . . Children : SIMON, b. 29 Jan., 1752; LOIS, b. 13 April, 1753; MARY, b. 16 April, 1755.
SHANNON, JOSEPH (Canadian), aged 81, d. 11 June, 1872.
SHARPLES, MARY (English), aged 76, d. 28 July, 1883.
SHATTUCK, JONATHAN, son of Jonathan, Jr., of Groton, b. 16 March, 1746, m. 30 Nov., 1769, Huldah Curtis of Dudley, bought 1776 60 acres with house, etc., " late part of Richard Williams' 500 acres," H. 87, sold 1781. . . . Children : JONATHAN, b. 22 Sept., 1770(?) ; HULDAH, b. 24 March, -; ARETHUSA, b. 16 Aug., -. [Record defective. ]
SHAW, JAMES, aged 63, d. 10 Aug., 1848.
SHEA, ELLEN, aged 35, d. 31 May, 1860. HANNAH, aged 24, d. 2 May, 1874. PATRICK, aged 21, d. 9 July, 1879. DANIEL, aged 23, d. 3 Sept., 1879.
SHEARMAN, SILAS, in Ox. 1782.
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SHEHY. - SHIRLEY.
SHEHY, DANIEL, and Priscilla Town, m. intentions 3 Jan., 1784.
SHEPARD, KINSLEY, of South Gore, and Lydia Parker of Sutton, m. intentions 4 Dec., 1817.
SHEPARDSON, MOSES K., son of Moses Kenney of Richmond, N. H., was adopted by his uncle John Shepardson of Royalston, and took his name; b. 23 Oct., 1797, m. 22 March, 1819, Laura Greenwood, b. 28 Dec., 1800, at Stratton, Vt., where they settled, removed to Dummerston, Vt., thence to New England Village, Grafton, where he resided until Jan., 1843, when he purchased and occupied the brick house near the North Ox. railroad station; 1848 he lived at the south part of "Long Hill," H. 169, in 1849 bought H. 165, near Hudson's, and removed thither; was highly esteemed, deacon of the Baptist Church at North Grafton and North Ox. He d. aged 87, 9 July, 1885, she d. aged 87, 21 March, 1889. . . . Children : AMANDA, b. 17 Dec., 1819, at Stratton, Vt., m. 24 Sept., 1840, Otis N. Pond, resided at Auburn; they had Orlando B., O. Sumner, L. Jennie, Emily A., Oscar P., Ella M., Abby L .; LAURINDA, b. 14 April, 1822, at Stratton, m. 25 April, 1841, George W. Hast- ings, resided at Millbury, deacon of the Baptist Church at Grafton; they had Mary E., George H., d .; ELVIRA, b. 28 Aug., 1825, at Dummerston, Vt., m. John M. Viall; PHILENA, b. 11 July, 1827, at Dummerston, m. Jonathan H., son of Peleg Foster; HENRY, b. 6 April, 1830, at Dummerston, d. 7 Aug., 1849; HORACE, b. 9 Sept., 1832, at Dummerston, m. 21 May, 1857, Elizabeth A. Young, resided at Thompson, Conn. ; they had Laura E., b. 6 April, 1858 ; FRANCES E., b. 25 April, 1836, at Grafton, m. 14 July, 1858, Edward E. Balcom, resided at Worcester; they had Marion E., b. 4 July, 1860; MARION E., b. 1837, d. 1839; ASA B., b. 22 March, 1841, at Grafton, m. (1) 1 Jan., 1867, Abby E. Stockwell, who d. 8 Oct., 1877, m. (2) 10 March, 1881, Viola M. Hobbs of Sturbridge; ch. by first m. : Henry, b. 13 April, 1869; Almy, d. aged 3 years; RUTH A., b. 3 May, 1845, at Ox., m. John D. Hudson.
WILLIAM G., son of Jonathan, aged 7, drowned 28 Jan., 1848.
SHERLOCK, JULIA A., aged 28, d. 27 June, 1881.
MRS. MARY, aged 55, d. 26 June, 1885.
SHERMAN, SILAS, trader for a short time in Ox. James Cudworth in Sept., 1780, brought suit against him for cattle sold him.
PETER, of Burrillville, R. I., and Laura Marsh of S. Gore, m. Feb., 1824(?). TARRANT S., and Hannah W. Marsh, m. 6 Feb., 1837.
LUCY, w. of Albert, aged 40, d. 26 Sept., 1857.
ALBERT, aged 44, d. 2 Nov., 1857, at Uxbridge.
MARTHA A., m. n. Edson, aged 22, d. 11 July, 1866.
SHIPPY, SHIPPEE, STEPHEN, from Plainfield, Conn., m. (1) Julia Ann Whittiam, who d. aged 28, 10 Dec., 1842; ch. SARAH, m. N. Aiken Viall; ELIZA, m. James Fenner, residence, Leicester; JULIA, m. William Sprague of Leicester, where she d. 1870; ADALINE, m. John Symonds of North Adams, where they settled ; he m. (2) Sarepta Fitts of Charlton, removed to Plainfield, where he d. ; they had GEORGE W., b. 26 Aug., 1845, and three others.
2. HAZARD, brother of Stephen (1), m. Philena King, and had at Ox., ALONZO, b. 6 Dec., 1836; GEORGE, d. young.
SHIRLEY, MATILDA, m. n. Bradford, aged 29, d. 15 June, 1864.
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SHOLES .- SHUMWAY.
SHOLES, ELISHA W., and Melissa, had HELEN M., b. 16 Dec., 1842. EDWIN L., and Helen M. Carder of Sturbridge, m. int. 2 May, 1845.
SHUMWAY, PETER, of Topsfield, 1678; Peter of Oxford, b. 1735, is authority for the assertion that the family originated in France; the name was probably Chamois or Charmois. In the records of Essex County the name is often spelled "Shamway."1 Dr. Baird says, " a Protestant family named Chamois is mentioned in a list of fugitives from the neighborhood of St. Maixent in the old Province of Poitou, France, at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." Peter came to America among the " emigrants who landed before the founding of the Oxford Colony, as will be seen by the following, in the handwriting of Rev. John Campbell : --
" TO THE HONORABLE SPENCER PHIPS ESQ LIEUT GOVERNOR AND COM- MANDER IN CHIEF IN AND OVER HIS MAJESTIE'S PROVINCE OF THE MAS- SACHUSETTS BAY IN NEW ENGLAND : THE HONORABLE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT ASSEMBLED :
" The Memorial of Peter Shumway of Oxford most humbly sheweth that whereas your humble memorialist did many years ago prefer a petition to the Honorable General Court of this Province praying that as he is the legal heir and representative of Peter Shumway of Topsfield who was a long time in the service of this Country and particularly in the Narragansett war, and taking the Indian fort there which he in said petition proved by living testi- monies and which he believes the Honorable John Chandler and others worthy members of this Honorable Court do yet remember,
" And whereas your aged, decrepid and poor memorialist hath never yet received any gratuity, or reward in land or otherwise for his father's services and sufferings as many others have done, your most humble memorialist again most humbly prayeth this Honorable Court in their wonted goodness and com- passion would make him a grant of some piece of Country land for said ser- vices, or otherwise as in their great wisdom they [see] fit : which will oblige your most humble memorialist-as in duty bound will ever pray.
"(Signed) PETER SHUMWAY.
"March 23, 1749-50."
-Mass. Arch., XLVI., 212.
We find no record of action on this memorial.
Peter of Topsfield was progenitor of all of the name in the country, so far as known. His son PETER, b. 6 June, 1678, at Topsfield, m. (1) 11 Feb., 1701, Mariah Smith of Boxford; was not an original proprietor at Oxford, but voted in on the rights of Joshua Chandler 13 Sept., 1713. The home lot em- braced the Josiah Russell place, H. 185. Mariah d. 17 Jan., 1739; he m. (2) 28 Feb., 1740, Mary Dana. . . . Children: OLIVER, baptized 10 May, 1702; JEREMIAH, baptized 21 March, 1703; DAVID, baptized 23 Dec., 1705; MARY, baptized 9 May, 1708, m. Caleb Barton; SAMUEL, baptized 22 April, 1711; JOHN, baptized 15 Aug., 1713; all at Topsfield; and at Ox: JACOB, b. 10 March, 1717; HEPHSIBAH, b. 1 April, 1720, m. 12 Nov., 1741, Obadiah Walker of Sutton; AMos, b. 31 Jan., 1722.
2. OLIVER, son of Peter (1), m. 3 Sept., 1724, Sarah Pratt, lived on Long Hill, H. 164. She was probably dau. of Jonathan of Framingham and sister of the first Jonathan of Ox., and b. 18 Oct., 1704, at Framingham. . . . Chil- dren : OLIVER, b. 12 Oct., 1724, m. 15 April, 1747, Elizabeth Holman of Sut- ton, had Abner, b. 9 Jan., 1749, m. 19 April, 1770, Lucy How, and had David,
1 It is well known that in several other in- stances in Ox. names, the French termination ois has been changed to way. A letter of William H. Shumway, Esq., lawyer at Syracuse, N, Y., May, 1871, says: "I understand from an attaché
of Joseph Bonaparte that our name Shumway is a corruption of ' Chamois,' a person bearing it was Compte De Chamois, a member of the court of Louis XIV."
87
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SHEHY .- SHIRLEY.
SHEHY, DANIEL, and Priscilla Town, m. intentions 3 Jan., 1784.
SHEPARD, KINSLEY, of South Gore, and Lydia Parker of Sutton, m. intentions 4 Dec., 1817.
SHEPARDSON, MOSES K., son of Moses Kenney of Richmond, N. H., was adopted by his uncle John Shepardson of Royalston, and took his name; b. 23 Oct., 1797, m. 22 March, 1819, Laura Greenwood, b. 28 Dec., 1800, at Stratton, Vt., where they settled, removed to Dummerston, Vt., thence to New England Village, Grafton, where he resided until Jan., 1843, when he purchased and occupied the brick house near the North Ox. railroad station; 1848 he lived at the south part of "Long Hill," H. 169, in 1849 bought H. 165, near Hudson's, and removed thither ; was highly esteemed, deacon of the Baptist Church at North Grafton and North Ox. He d. aged 87, 9 July, 1885, she d. aged 87, 21 March, 1889. . . . Children : AMANDA, b. 17 Dec., 1819, at Stratton, Vt., m. 24 Sept., 1840, Otis N. Pond, resided at Auburn; they had Orlando B., O. Sumner, L. Jennie, Emily A., Oscar P., Ella M., Abby L .; LAURINDA, b. 14 April, 1822, at Stratton, m. 25 April, 1841, George W. Hast- ings, resided at Millbury, deacon of the Baptist Church at Grafton; they had Mary E., George H., d .; ELVIRA, b. 28 Aug., 1825, at Dummerston, Vt., m. John M. Viall; PHILENA, b. 11 July, 1827, at Dummerston, m. Jonathan H., son of Peleg Foster; HENRY, b. 6 April, 1830, at Dummerston, d. 7 Aug., 1849; HORACE, b. 9 Sept., 1832, at Dummerston, m. 21 May, 1857, Elizabeth A. Young, resided at Thompson, Conn. ; they had Laura E., b. 6 April, 1858; FRANCES E., b. 25 April, 1836, at Grafton, m. 14 July, 1858, Edward E. Balcom, resided at Worcester; they had Marion E., b. 4 July, 1860; MARION E., b. 1837, d. 1839; ASA B., b. 22 March, 1841, at Grafton, m. (1) 1 Jan., 1867, Abby E. Stockwell, who d. 8 Oct., 1877, m. (2) 10 March, 1881, Viola M. Hobbs of Sturbridge; ch. by first m. : Henry, b. 13 April, 1869; Almy, d. aged 3 years ; RUTH A., b. 3 May, 1845, at Ox., m. John D. Hudson.
WILLIAM G., son of Jonathan, aged 7, drowned 28 Jan., 1848.
SHERLOCK, JULIA A., aged 28, d. 27 June, 1881.
MRS. MARY, aged 55, d. 26 June, 1885.
SHERMAN, SILAS, trader for a short time in Ox. James Cudworth in Sept., 1780, brought suit against him for cattle sold him.
PETER, of Burrillville, R. I., and Laura Marsh of S. Gore, m. Feb., 1824(?). TARRANT S., and Hannah W. Marsh, m. 6 Feb., 1837.
LUCY, w. of Albert, aged 40, d. 26 Sept., 1857.
ALBERT, aged 44, d. 2 Nov., 1857, at Uxbridge.
MARTHA A., m. n. Edson, aged 22, d. 11 July, 1866.
SHIPPY, SHIPPEE, STEPHEN, from Plainfield, Conn., m. (1) Julia Ann Whittiam, who d. aged 28, 10 Dec., 1842; ch. SARAH, m. N. Aiken Viall; ELIZA, m. James Fenner, residence, Leicester; JULIA, m. William Sprague of Leicester, where she d. 1870; ADALINE, m. John Symonds of North Adams, where they settled ; he m. (2) Sarepta Fitts of Charlton, removed to Plainfield, where he d. ; they had GEORGE W., b. 26 Aug., 1845, and three others.
2. HAZARD, brother of Stephen (1), m. Philena King, and had at Ox., ALONZO, b. 6 Dec., 1836; GEORGE, d. young.
SHIRLEY, MATILDA, m. n. Bradford, aged 29, d. 15 June, 1864.
681
SHOLES .- SHUMWAY.
SHOLES, ELISHA W., and Melissa, had HELEN M., b. 16 Dec., 1842. EDWIN L., and Helen M. Carder of Sturbridge, m. int. 2 May, 1845.
SHUMWAY, PETER, of Topsfield, 1678; Peter of Oxford, b. 1735, is authority for the assertion that the family originated in France; the name was probably Chamois or Charmois. In the records of Essex County the name is often spelled "Shamway." 1 Dr. Baird says, " a Protestant family named Chamois is mentioned in a list of fugitives from the neighborhood of St. Maixent in the old Province of Poitou, France, at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." Peter came to America among the emigrants who landed before the founding of the Oxford Colony, as will be seen by the following, in the handwriting of Rev. John Campbell : --
" TO THE HONORABLE SPENCER PHIPS ESQ LIEUT GOVERNOR AND COM- MANDER IN CHIEF IN AND OVER HIS MAJESTIE'S PROVINCE OF THE MAS- SACHUSETTS BAY IN NEW ENGLAND: THE HONORABLE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT ASSEMBLED :
" The Memorial of Peter Shumway of Oxford most humbly sheweth that whereas your humble memorialist did many years ago prefer a petition to the Honorable General Court of this Province praying that as he is the legal heir and representative of Peter Shumway of Topsfield who was a long time in the service of this Country and particularly in the Narragansett war, and taking the Indian fort there which he in said petition proved by living testi- monies and which he believes the Honorable John Chandler and others worthy members of this Honorable Court do yet remember,
" And whereas your aged, decrepid and poor memorialist hath never yet received any gratuity, or reward in land or otherwise for his father's services and sufferings as many others have done, your most humble memorialist again most humbly prayeth this Honorable Court in their wonted goodness and com- passion would make him a grant of some piece of Country land for said ser- vices, or otherwise as in their great wisdom they [see] fit: which will oblige your most humble memorialist-as in duty bound will ever pray.
"(Signed) PETER SHUMWAY.
"March 23, 1749-50."
-Mass. Arch., XLVI., 212.
We find no record of action on this memorial.
Peter of Topsfield was progenitor of all of the name in the country, so far as known. His son PETER, b. 6 June, 1678, at Topsfield, m. (1) 11 Feb., 1701, Mariah Smith of Boxford; was not an original proprietor at Oxford, but voted in on the rights of Joshua Chandler 13 Sept., 1713. The home lot em- braced the Josiah Russell place, H. 185. Mariah d. 17 Jan., 1739; he m. (2) 28 Feb., 1740, Mary Dana. . . . Children : OLIVER, baptized 10 May, 1702; JEREMIAH, baptized 21 March, 1703; DAVID, baptized 23 Dec., 1705; MARY, baptized 9 May, 1708, m. Caleb Barton; SAMUEL, baptized 22 April, 1711; JOHN, baptized 15 Aug., 1713; all at Topsfield; and at Ox: JACOB, b. 10 March, 1717; HEPHSIBAH, b. 1 April, 1720, m. 12 Nov., 1741, Obadiah Walker of Sutton; AMos, b. 31 Jan., 1722.
2. OLIVER, son of Peter (1), m. 3 Sept., 1724, Sarah Pratt, lived on Long Hill, H. 164. She was probably dau. of Jonathan of Framingham and sister of the first Jonathan of Ox., and b. 18 Oct., 1704, at Framingham. . . . Chil- dren : OLIVER, b. 12 Oct., 1724, m. 15 April, 1747, Elizabeth Holman of Sut- ton, had Abner, b. 9 Jan., 1749, m. 19 April, 1770, Lucy How, and had David,
1 It is well known that in several other in- stances in Ox. names, the French termination ois has been changed to way. A letter of William H. Shumway, Esq., lawyer at Syracuse, N, Y., May, 1871, says: "I understand from an attaché 87
of Joseph Bonaparte that our name Shumway is a corruption of ' Chamois,' a person bearing it was Compte De Chamois, a member of the court of Louis XIV."
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