USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Shirley > History of the town of Shirley, Massachusetts, from its early settlement to A.D. 1882 > Part 34
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 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
3. COMFORT, removed in early life to some town in Maine, where he m., had a family, and d.
4. WILLIAM, was a soldier of the American army in the war of 1812, from which service he never returned to his home, and never was heard from by his friends.
5. ALVY, left his home in Shirley at early manhood, r. Baltimore, Md. (1875.)
6. ELIZA, m. Herbert Proctor of Charlestown, Nov. 26, 1820, had one child :
(1.) Abigail G., passed a portion of her girlhood with the Shakers, afterward seceded from that faith, and m. Benjamin Britton, May 2, 1855.
7. AUGUSTUS, b. at Charlestown, Oct. 6, 1821, m. Mrs. Amanda Heald of Shirley, July 4, 1848, r. Leominster (1880), had one child :
(1.) Sarah A., b. at Fitchburg, Jan. 26, 1849.
VI. NABBY, b. at Shirley, April 26, 1769, left home during her years of girlhood, and lived at Belfast, Me., where she m. and reared a family.
VII. THOMAS, b. at Shirley, April 11, 1772, d. Aug. 20, 1773.
VIII. ELIZABETH, b. at Shirley, April 5, 1773, d. Oct. 11, 1775.
IX. ASA, b. at Shirley, Oct. 9, 1775, left the town of his nativity at an early period of his active life, and secured a residence in some town in Maine. There by industry and frugality he secured that worldly prosperity which enabled him to open a retreat for his des- titute parents, when age and infirmity had deprived them of the ability of self-support.
X. THOMAS, b. at Shirley, April 28, 1778, d. Nov. 9, 1778.
423
GENEALOGY .- GOING.
XI. JOSEPH, b. at Shirley, April 28, 1778.
XII. MOLLY, b. at Shirley, Oct. 8, 1780, left her native town a maiden, and became an inmate of her sister's family in Belfast, Me., where she married.
Going, Jonathan, a brother of Ebenezer, Sen., b. Sept. 12, 1738. He lived in a north-west section of the town, on the farm that is the present home of Abram Fairbanks. He was twice m., (first) to Anna Bennett, April 15, 1762, m. (second) Hannah Kendall ; had nine children :
I. JONATHAN, b. at Shirley, Sept. 25, 1762.
II. THOMAS, b. at Shirley, April 19, 1 764.
III. ANNA, b. at Shirley, June 14, 1766, m. Abram Pierce.
IV. ELIAB, b. Sept. 6, 1770, was twice m., (first) to Abigail Warren of Townsend, Feb. 4, 1793 ; she d. Feb. 7, 1833 ; he m. (second) Dorcas Humphrey, Dec. 10, 1835 ; he d. Feb. 19, 1849 ; had seven children :
1. SALLY, b. May, 1795, m. William Turner, June 25, 1818, d. April, 1861.
2. ROXEY, b. May 6, 1796, m. Eri Lewis, Nov. 20, 1820. She had four children :
(1.) Roxanna, b. Jan. 24, 1822, m. Thomas Farrar, June 13, 1844, had one child : 1. "Flora," b. Sept. 3, 1856.
(2.) Sally Marshall, b. July 20, 1824, m. George W. Bracket, Nov. 3, 1842, d. July 3, 1844.
(3.) Nancy, b. July 20, 1827, m. Henry Williams, Oct. 27, 1848, had five children : I. "Sarah Ann," b. Dec. 17, 1849 ; 2. "Eliza B.," b. Dec. 30, 1851 ; 3. "James H.," b. Oct. 21, 1853, d. Sept. 3, 1854 ; 4. "John F.," b. July 25, 1856, d. May 29, 1857 ; 5. " Alice Maria," b. Aug. 21, 1859.
(4.) Eli Brazer, b. June 6, 182-, d. April 16, 1849.
3. CHARLES, b. Jan. 28, 1800, d. Nov. 1, 1819.
4. IVORY, b. Sept. 22, 1802, m. Abigail Phillips, d. Dec. 12, 1861.
5. ABIGAIL, b. Sept. 5, 1804.
6. ANNA, b. Nov. 3, 1807, m. Artemas Roswell, Feb. 16, 1842, r. Acton (1862).
7. ELIAB, b. May 27, 1813, m. Hannah Warren, Dec. 12, 1834; has had twelve children, all b. at Townsend :
(I.) Mary E., b. Dec. 16, 1836, d. April 4, 1838.
(2.) Charles W., b. Feb. 21, 1838.
(3.) Henry, b. May 1, 1839, d. Aug., 1839.
(4. Francis M., b. Jan. 18, 1841.
(5. John N., b. April 20, 1843.
(6.) Henry K., b. March 27, 1845.
(7.) Edward B., b. Oct. 4, 1847.
(8.) Nancy Elizabeth, b. Jan. 27, 1849.
424
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
(9.) Abby Ann, b. May 9, 1851.
10.) Mary Emma, b. Nov. 12, 1852.
II.) Eliab Hamilton, b. Oct. 19, 1854.
(12.) Hannah A., b. Sept. 22, 1857.
V. ASAHEL, b. June 30, 1772.
VI. BENJAMIN, b. June 14, 1774.
VII. JOHN KENDALL, b. 'Dec. 14, 1777, m. Mary Flagg of Lunenburg, June 27, 1803. He had two children, and d. at Shirley, Oct. 10, 1847.
1. JOHN KENDALL, b. Dec. 14, 1810, m. Harriet Barrett of Shirley, May 29, 1837, had one child, and d. at Shirley, Dec. 20, 1866.
John K. Going, Jr., held a commanding position in Shirley during the most of his manhood life. From small pecuniary beginnings he came up to the possession of a large estate. This work, in which so many fail, he accomplished by an unwearied activity and indefatigable industry. He was early and late en- gaged in his purposes, with unrelaxed zeal and untiring devotion. Indeed, his severe application to business was the procuring cause of the sickness which terminated his earthly existence.
But though his efforts were successful in the procurement of earthly wealth, (the basis of American aristocracy,) he ever maintained that urbane, familiar bearing which characterizes the true, well-bred gentleman, regarding himself not above the grade of any other true-minded citizen.
From time to time he received the honors of official stations with dignity, and discharged their various duties with correctness and decision. For four years he held the office of selectman, and represented the town in one state legislature. He was also for several years a county commissioner. He died at a com- paratively early age, leaving a widow and son heirs of his large estate. During his life Mr. Going gave a new glazing to the entire church of the first parish in Shirley, with which he was connected, and left a fund of five hundred dollars for the future ministerial support of said parish. His son did still more ; was at the expense of a thorough renovation of the interior of the church building, changing, in a measure, its form, and adding largely to its appendages, thus rendering it one of the most appropriate and inviting temples of worship to be found in any of the rural towns of this vicinity.
(I.) Henry B., b. at Shirley, March 7, 1839, m. Nelly L. Chambers of Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 28, 1867, she was b. Oct. 10, 1846 ; has had three children, r. Boston (1882). I. "Ma- bel," b. Dec. 21, 1868; 2. "Gertrude," b. Jan. 2, 1870 ; 3. "John K.," b. Oct. 29, 1871.
2. MARY FLAGG, b. Oct. 3, 1814, m. William Linsted of Boston, May 19, 1846. She had two children, and d. at Lunenburg, Nov. 15, 1867.
(1.) Mary Emma, b. at Shirley, Oct. 16, 1848.
(2.) John Going, b. July 23, 1852.
425
GENEALOGY .- GOING.
VIII. HANNAH, b. June 11, 1779, m. Jonathan Spaulding of Townsend, Jan. 1, 1797, had seven children, and d. Sept. 11, 1857.
1. JAMES, b. Oct. 26, 1797, m. Betsey Smith, June, 1831, r. New York, N. Y. (1862.)
2. EPHRAIM, b. Feb., 1799, m. Orilla Frank of Middlebury, Vt.
3. JONATHAN, b. June 14, 1803, m. Mary Warner of Townsend, April 10, 1828, had three children, and d. Dec. 2, 1871.
(1.) Alfred, b. June 21, 1829, r. New York, N. Y. (1862.)
(2.) Sarah H., b. Oct. 27, 1832.
(3.) Gilman W., b. March 13, 1841.
4. LAURA, b. Sept., 1805, d. Sept., 1814.
5. ESTHER, b. 1807, d. 1809.
6. JOHN, b. Aug. 2, 1809, m. Elizabeth Kinsman of Thetford, Vt., May, 1834.
7. HARRIET, b. Dec. 2, 1813, m. Brooks Adams, Oct. 6, 1832.
IX. JAMES, b. Dec. 27, 1780, m. Abigail Hill of Dublin, N. H., had eleven children, and d. April 6, 1839.
1. HANNAH, b. Dec. 24, 1800, m. Levi Howard of Amherst, N. H., r. Amherst (1867).
2. ABIGAIL, b. April, 1802, was thrice m., (first) to - Loomes, m. (second) - Whilhelm, m. (third) - Barber, d. Jan. 11, 1875.
3. JAMES, b. March 21, 1805, m. Elvira Wright of Hubbardston, d. July 7, 1835.
4. ALMIRA, b. Jan. 13, 1807, m. Andrew Derby, Dec. 28, 1829. She has had nine children :
(I.) Almira Arianda, b. April 23, 1831, d. Sept. 13, 1843.
2.) Andrew L., b. Jan. 22, 1833, d. Dec. 6, 1835.
(3.) Emily, b. Jan. 31, 1834, d. Dec. 24, 1836.
(4.) Gilman, b. April 22, 1837, d. Feb. 7, 1840.
(5.) George, b. April 1, 1839, d. Feb. 10, 1850.
(6.) Gilbert H., b. Aug. 31, 1842, m. Aug. 23, 1862, Sarah S. Lamb of Phillipston ; children : 1. "Florence," b. Feb. 10, 1864, d. Oct. 19, 1866 ; 2. "James Henry," b. Oct. 17, 1866, d. Aug. 17, 1867 ; 3. "Stella," b. April 14, 1867 ; r. Fitchburg.
(7.) Andrew J., b. Feb. 26, 1845 ; m. Hattie Brown of Bolton, May 17, 1870.
(8.) James Polk, b. Jan. 8, 1847; m. Emma A. Proctor of Fitchburg, Oct. 11, 1872, and has three children : I. "James Harry," b. June 1, 1873; 2. "Otis Proctor ;" 3. "John Andrew ;" r. Jamaica Plain (1882).
(9.) Frank G., b. May 13, 1850, m. Annie Fillmore of Boston, May 17, 1882.
5. MARY F., b. March 2, 1810, m. Abel Derby, Sept. 3, 1833, had one child :
(1.) Harriet Emma, b. Jan. 22, 1842.
6. HENRY, b. Dec. 24, 1811, d. June 2, 1821. 54
426
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
7. BENJAMIN, b. Oct. 2, 1814, m. Emma Bennett, d. Jan. 12, 1864.
8. CHARLES, b. Jan. 16, 1816, m. Hannah Russell of Lowell; six children.
9. NANCY, b. March 13, 1820, m. Nathaniel Cowden.
10. HENRY, b. Dec. 10, 1821.
11. GEORGE, b. July 5, 1824, twice m., (first) to Almina Giles of Lowell, m. (second) Hattie Sprague of Lowell.
GORDON.
Gordon, Nathaniel, b. in Ireland, in the county of Tyrone, 1700, m. Sarah Martin and had four children, John, James-who d. young,-Samuel and Hannah. Samuel emigrated some years before the other members of the family, but the father, mother, and the other two children were landed at Boston about the year 1749. John was a brewer by trade, and went into business in Boston with Samuel Adams, the great American statesmen and patriot. Soon after their immigration, the father (Nathaniel) and Samuel removed with the family to Dunstable, where they resided five years. About the year of the organization of the town, the family purchased a farm in Shirley, and came here, and must have remained until the year 1 770, when Samuel removed to Peterboro', carrying with him his father and mother, and they became residents of that town for life. Nathaniel, the father, d. in 1788, his wife d. in 1781.
I. JOHN, b. in Ireland, in 1729, m. Mary Campbell of Townsend, Oct. 28, 1762, had three children b. at Shirley. He was one of the volunteers to Cambridge the day after the 19th of April, 1775. He d. at Peterboro', time of his d. unknown.
1. JOSIAH, b. May 17, 1763.
2. ELIZABETH, b. March 16, 1767.
3. DANIEL, b. Feb. 14, 1769.
II. SAMUEL, b. in Ireland, May 17, 1732, m. Eleanor Mitchel, who was also of Irish descent, and who came to this country dur- ing the French and English war, in which her father was killed, and all the rest of the family except her mother, brother, and her- self, were carried off by small pox. He (Samuel) d. at Peterboro', Dec. 2, 1818. His wife, Eleanor, d. there Nov. 2, 1820. They had eleven children :
1. SAMUEL, b. at Shirley, May 27, 1765, m. Lydia Ames of Han- cock, N. H., May 20, 1790. He was a trader in Hancock for a season, and then removed to Charlestown and became pro- prietor of a hotel. At one time public suspicion rested on him as being concerned in the murder , and robbery of David Starrett, on Charlestown bridge, who was a guest at his hotel, and who had mysteriously disappeared, his rifled trunk being
427
GENEALOGY .- GORDON.
found on the bridge ; but who, after some ten or twelve years- his estate in the meanwhile having been settled in probate in New Hampshire-was found to be living, in one of the Western states. Mr. Gordon removed to Hallowell, Me., and d. there, June 23, 1853. His widow d. there also, July 5, 1853. They had eleven children :
(I.), Samuel, b. at Hancock, Aug. 7, 1791, d. in infancy.
(2.) Yorick S., b. at Hancock, Jan. 9, 1793, d. at Pineville, S. C., 1820.
(3.) Oliver H., b. at Hancock, June 27, 1794, d. at Woodside, N. J., 1869.
(4.) Lydia, b. at Hancock, Dec. 25, 1795, m. -- - Kimball.
(5.) Isabella, b. at Hancock, June 14, 1798, m. White.
(6.) Eleanor, b. at Hancock, Jan. 30, 1800, d. Sept. 8, 1808.
(7.) Elizabeth, b. at Hancock, Oct. 13, 1805, m. Thomas H. Brooks, d. at Brooklyn, N. Y., 1871.
(8.) Rebecca C., b. at Hancock, Feb. 29, 1808, d. June 27, 1808.
(9.) Samuel A., b. at Hancock, Oct. 3, 1810, d. at Hallowell, Me., Feb. 26, 1845.
(10.) Sarah M., b. at Charlestown, March 6, 1813, m. Justus Hurd, r. St. Louis.
(II.) John Clark, b. at Charlestown, Oct. 12, 1818, d. Oct. 19, 1818.
-
2. SALLY, b. at Shirley, Feb. 10, 1767, r. Charlestown.
3. ELIZABETH, b. at Shirley, Jan. 23, 1769, m. Joseph Barnes of Sharon, Sept. 17, 1801.
4. HANNAH, b. at Peterboro', N. H., 1772, m. Stephen Pierce.
5. NATHANIEL, lived in New York, and d. 1827, frozen to death.
6. ELEANOR, m. Capt. Andrew Cochran, U. S. A., March 11, 1816.
7. JANE, r. Milford, N. H., unm.
8. POLLY, m. Adam Dickey of Milford, Nov. 7, 1808.
9. NEHEMIAH, went to sea, and d. at Martha's Vineyard, unm.
10. JOHN, b. at Peterboro', Dec. 20, 1790, m. Betsey Smith, Dec. 31, 1819, d. at Montebello, Ill., April 3, 1839. He had two children :
(I.) Jonathan S., b. at Peterboro', Oct. 20, 1822, d. at Monte- bello, March 27, 1839.
(2.) Samuel, b. at Peterboro', May 3, 1825, m. Pamelia A. Alvord, April 3, 1851, r. Hamilton, Ill. He has had six children : 1. "Ella E.," b. Oct. 1, 1852 ; 2. "John A.," b. Aug. 21, 1855 ; 3. "Alice A.," b. Jan. 14, 1858 ; 4. "Agnes C.," b. Dec. 17, 1860 ; 5. "Robert Smith," b. Dec. 10, 1866 ; 6. "Mabel B.," b. Dec. 30, 1870.
11. NANCY, m. Thomas M. Dickey, Jan. 26, 1815, r. Amherst, N. H. See Smith's History of Peterboro'.
428
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
GOULD.
Savage reports several immigrant families of this name, among the New England settlers previous to 1700, in his Genealogical Dic- tionary. One of the earliest and most prominent of these was Zaccheus Gould, who was born about the year 1589, came to America about the year 1638, and settled at Ipswich [Topsfield], where he d. in 1679. He had five children, of whom the youngest only was a son : John, b. June 10, 1635, who m. Sarah Baker, Oct. 12, 1660, and who d. Jan. 26, 1709. He had eight children, among whom was Samuel, b. March 9, 1669, m. Margaret Stone, April 20, 1697, r. at Boxford, and d. 1724, had nine children, among whom was
Gould, Jonathan,4 (Samuel,3 John,2 Zaccheus,1) b. Aug. 25, I 709, m. Lydia Smith, pub. May 3, 1730. He lived in what became the town of Shirley, as early as 1747, as he was one of the petitioners of that year for the establishment of the new town, and he d. in Shirley, Oct. 7, 1758 ; Lydia, his wife, d. Sept. 28, 1758. He had seven children :
I. JONATHAN, b. July 24, 1731, d. 1758.
II. LYDIA, b. Dec. 21, 1732, m. Amos Atherton, May 4, 1758.
III. MARY, b. Jan. 1, 1735, m. Obadiah Sawtell, pub. May 26, 1756, d. at Shirley, Feb. 14, 1773.
IV. MARGARET, b. April 16, 1737.
V. SAMUEL, baptized Dec. 23, 1739, m. Elizabeth Farwell of Shirley, and after a residence of some six years in Shirley, removed to Lunenburg. He had six children :
1. BETTY, b. at Shirley, Jan. 29, 1769.
2. LYDIA, b. at Shirley, Sept. 24, 1770.
3. SARAH, b. at Shirley, Oct. 23, 1772, d. same day.
4. MOLLY, b. at Shirley, Feb. 28, 1776.
5. PHINEHAS, b. at Lunenburg, Oct. 25, 1778.
6. HANNAH, b. at Lunenburg, March 11, 1781.
VI. ZACCHEUS, baptized April 25, 1742.
VII. DANIEL, baptized May 27, 1744.
Gould, Moses, son of Samuel and Margaret Gould, and brother of Jonathan, (Moses,4 Samuel,3 John,2 Zaccheus,1) b. July, 1 732, m. Submit, daughter of Stephen and Hannah [Sawtell] Holden, Sept. 13, 1759, had two children :
I. NEHEMIAH, b. at Shirley, Jan. 27, 1760.
II. MOSES, b. at Shirley, Sept. 1, 1761.
Gould, David,-probably a kinsman of those that have been recorded, and a descendant of Zaccheus, of Topsfield, though the line of descent does not clearly appear,-lived in what became Shirley, in 1747, and signed the petition for a separate town. One
429
GENEALOGY .- GOULD-HALL.
of this name, and probably David Gould of Shirley, lived in Tops- field first, and afterward in Lunenburg, and was a large landholder there ; m. Abigail Dodge of Beverley, Aug. 10, 1726, and had nine children :
I. ABIGAIL, b. at Topsfield, Feb. 8, 1727.
II. REBECCA, b. at Lunenburg, March 25, 1728.
III. SOLOMON, b. at Lunenburg, Dec. 15, 1730.
IV. JOSEPH, b. at Lunenburg, Jan. 18, 1732.
V. EDMUND, b. at Lunenburg, Jan. 18, 1735.
VI. SARAH, b. Sept., 1736, m. Solomon Rood of Amherst, Feb. 20, 1759.
VII. NOAH, baptized Aug. 21, 1737.
VIII. JOHN, baptized Aug. 5, 1739, m. Mary Barrett, d. June 26, 1 768.
IX. DANIEL, b. Dec. 8, 1745.
No descendants of the Gould families are supposed now to be in this town or vicinity.
GRIFFIN.
Griffin, Susanna, came from Gloucester to dwell in Shir- ley, with Mr. Stephen Holden, in April, A. D. 1776. Entered by desire of Stephen Holden. OBADIAH SAWTELL." (See Shirley Town Records, page 151, vol. I.)
HALL. -
This is a very common New England name, and represents families that descended from different immigrant originals, who knew but little of common relationship on this continent. The first that appears on the records of Shirley is
Dall, Dosiah, who; with his wife, Elizabeth, and three child- ren, came to reside in Shirley during the latter part of the last century. They were first settled on the farm now owned by George Farnsworth. At a-subsequent period Mr. Hall and wife lived in the family of their son-who occupied a farm near the school-house in district No. 5-where they both died. Elizabeth Hall d. Feb. 8, 1814, aged sixty-eight years. Josiah Hall d. Dec. 18, 1823, aged seventy-seven years. Their children were
I. BETSEY, b. 1774, m. Abel Hartwell of Shirley, Feb. 6, 1801, d. March 26, 1848.
II. ISAAC, b. at Shrewsbury, Oct. 27, 1779, was twice m., (first) to Persis Sargent of Chelsea, Jan. 7, 1801 ; she d. Dec. 27, 1836; m. (second) Mrs. Sarah A. Barber of Boston ; had twelve children, d. March 24, 1856.
430
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
1. ELIZA H., b. at Harvard, Oct. 2, 1801, m. Jonathan B. Red- man, Aug. 7, 1836 ; she has had six children (1857).
2. OLIVE, b. at Groton, March 4, 1803, was twice m., (first) to Simon Gilson Page of Shirley, pub. Nov. 25, 1830 ; he d. Feb. 19, 1839 ; m. (second) Adam Howe of Sudbury, d. at Sudbury, Feb. 27, 1868, had one child :
(1.) Matilda, b. at Shirley, March 11, 1835, m. Addison Par- menter of Sudbury, March 11, 1858, r. Sudbury (1882), had two children : I. "Wilbur Addison," b. at Sudbury, May 1, 1860; 2. "George E.," b. at Sudbury, Sept. 14, 1864, d. Dec. 8, 1864.
3. NANCY, b. Feb. 27, 1805, r. Lowell, unm. (1857.)
4. ISAAC, b. Feb. 22, 1807, has been twice m., (first) to Sarah W. Waters, Nov. 29, 1832 ; she d. June 4, 1858; m. (second) Lucinda Torrey of Groton, Oct. 7, 1858, d. at Hudson, Feb. 25, 1878 ; had children.
5. RICHARD, b. March 18, 1809, m. Sarah Ann Clark of Tewks- bury, Oct. 16, 1834, had two children, and d. Oct. 13, 1856.
(I.) Richard Webster, b. 1835, d. June 20, 1856.
(2.) Mary Elizabeth, baptized July 10, 1838.
6. MEHITABLE S., b. Aug. 13, 181I, m. William C. Graham, April 2, 1837, had six children (1857).
7. SARAH H., b. Dec. 4, 1813, m. Josiah W. Carney, Dec. 25, 1843, d. Jan. 17, 1866.
8. PERSIS, b. March 16, 1816, m. Alvin W. Phillips, Oct. 14, 1839.
9. ANDREW, b. July 2, 1818, m. Lucretia Andrews, who d. Dec. 31, 1870 ; had two children :
(I.) James Andrew, b. Aug. 23, 1848.
2.) William P., b. April 18, 1858.
10. MARY B, b. May 19, 1820, m. David F. Lord, Jan. 2, 1842, had eight children (1857).
11. REBECCA, b. March 29, 1824, was twice m., (first) to Stephen Purington of Charlestown, Sept. 6, 1846, had two children :
(I.) Anne, b. June 10, 1847, d. May 28, 1855.
(2.) Andrew, b. Feb. 28, 1850, d. April 9, 1853.
Rebecca, on becoming a widow, joined the Shakers in Shirley ; and, after a trial of four or five years-during which she abounded in zeal for the new sect, declaring its members the only elect of the earth, and all others heretics against reason- she became enamored of one of the brethren-William Smith-whom she m. April 29, 1861, and returned to what she had deemed "the beggarly elements of the world ;" r. Groton (1877).
12. HARRIET ELEANOR, b. at Shirley, June 13, 1839.
III. LUCY, b. July 3, 1789.
431
GENEALOGY .- HARPER-HARRINGTON.
HARPER.
This name does not frequently occur in the colonial records of New England. Farmer speaks of Joseph Harper who lived in Braintree at an early period, and Savage says that Robert Harper lived at Sandwich, a Quaker, who in 1659 was sentenced at Boston to receive fifteen stripes. From this original descended, probably, three persons of the name who lived in Rindge, N. H., previous to the Revolution, Daniel, Samuel and Thomas, one of whom
marper, Daniel, had a home in Shirley at two distinct periods. He was a roving body, his name being found on the records of different towns. He m. Rachel, daughter of James and Rachel Colman of Lunenburg, Nov. 23, 1758, and removed to Ash- burnham, where he must have remained four years ; he then went to Rindge for a short time, and then came to Shirley the first time ; after a few years he removed to Littleton, where he remained until May 25, 1772, when he returned to Shirley, and in 1781 he is reported in Stearns' History of Rindge to be from March to Decem- ber of that year, in the first New Hampshire battalion ; it may there- fore be assumed that he wandered there from Shirley, when his record disappears. His children were
I. RACHEL, b. at Ashburnham, April 1, 1761.
II. JAMES COLMAN, b. at Ashburnham, March 10, 1 762.
III. DANIEL, b. at Shirley, March 10, 1766.
IV. MARY, b. at Littleton, Feb. 27, 1770.
V. AARON, b. at Littleton, Jan. 29, 1772, d. at Shirley, March 17, 1776.
VI. ABIGAIL, b. at Shirley, Sept. 11, 1775, d. in Shirley, Feb. 22, 1777.
VII. EZEKIEL, b. at Shirley, Feb. 18, 1778.
HARRINGTON.
This name is of very frequent occurrence in the towns of New England, and it is presumed that those who bear it are chiefly the descendants of Robert Harrington, who was settled at Watertown as early as 1642. Some of his posterity, or kindred, were located in Lexington, and it is believed that those of the name who found homes in Shirley wandered here from that town.
Mr. Hudson, in his History of Lexington, gives the names and birth-dates of three brothers of the name, which correspond with three that lived here a few years past the middle of the last century.
432
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
If these parties were identical, they were the sons of Richard Harring- ton of Lexington, who was of the fourth generation from George, who was supposed to be a son or brother of Robert, the immigrant of 1642. The eldest was
Darrington, Thaddeus, b. Sept. 9, 1736, m. Thankful Dodge of Lunenburg, April 6, 1758, was at the time or earlier a resi- dent of Shirley. He was a blacksmith, and lived in the South Village, where he pursued his calling. He had four children b. at Shirley :
I. AMMI, b. Sept. 10, 1760.
II. ABIGAIL, b. Sept. 10, 1760, m. Levi Farnsworth, pub. Sept. 6, 1782.
III. RUHAMA, b. Sept. 5, 1762.
IV. VASHTI, b. Jan. 28, 1767.
Harrington, Simeon, b. July 8, 1750, m. Hannah Holden of Shirley, pub. June 29, 1776. He lived in the north part of the town, on the farm now owned by William Neat. He was one of the volunteers who marched to Cambridge on the alarm of the nineteenth of April, 1775 ; he also enlisted July 15, in the company of Captain Robert Longley, for a term of eight months ; farther his record can- not be traced.
Darrington, Seth, b. Oct. 30, 1752. It is presumed that he followed his brothers to their homes in Shirley, and there is no evidence that he was married or had here a home of his own. He was not, however, without his uses, being one of the volunteers to Cambridge on the alarm of the 19th of April, 1775. He joined the eight months men from Shirley on the 26th of the same month and year. He afterwards enlisted into the Continental army for three years, in 1777, and was in some of the hardest fought battles of the Revolution ; at the capture of Burgoyne, at Monmouth and York- town. Beyond his connection with the war of the Revolution, his career is unknown.
HARRIS.
The ancestor of the family of this name first known in Shirley was' Robert Harris, who (according to Bond's History of Watertown,) was m. in Roxbury, to Elizabeth Boughey, June 21, 1642, and had four children. Daniel, the third of these children, was b. May 14, 1652, m. Joanna Brown, June 14, 1682, had twelve children, and d. Dec. 15, 1733. Nathaniel, the fifth of his children in the order of age, was b. May 2, 1692, m. Hannah Fullam, daughter of Col. Francis Fullam of Weston, had ten children, and d. May 13, 1761. His second son was
Darris, Francis, b. at Watertown, Oct. 3, 1721. He settled in that part of Groton which became the town of Shirley. In
I
433
GENEALOGY .- HARRIS.
1747 he was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Shirley, and took a very active part in the work of its organization and in its subsequent public duties. He was eleven times elected to the office of selectman, was one year clerk of the town, and one year town treasurer. He was the delegate of the town in the first and second sessions of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, convened at Boston at the commencement of the American Revolution. He held the commission of a justice of the peace at a time when there was a service as well as an honor connected with the trust. He built the first mills on the privilege occupied by the late Jonathan Kilburn ; and was, in all his movements, public and domestic, an orderly and industrious man, much, and deservedly, respected by his fellow-townsmen, whose interests he as faithfully served as he did his own, to the close of his life.
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.