USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, including Grafton until 1735, Millbury until 1813 and parts of Northbridge, Upton and Auburn > Part 23
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Rice's brother was at one time the partner of Deacon N. Goddard, shoe manufacturer at Millbury ; firm name God- dard and Rice.
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Dr. N. F. Morse was much respected as a man and a physician, and had considerable practice, although there were three or four other doctors in this school district. He used the by-word " by guy " so frequently, that he was often called " Dr. Guy Morse."
Deacon Sylvester Morse was a very fine man; he married a sister of Deacon Jonathan Leland and had two sons, and one daughter, who is the wife of George Hastings.
He was born here and probably died in the house where George King now lives. His sons were Sylvester, now living in Whitinsville, and Edward, a physician somewhere in the west. Dr. Morse's son Nathaniel has already been referred to as drowned at Wilkinsonville.
The old tannery since used as a shoe shop was also burned on this place. The date of these fires cannot be given. The old bark mill is now used as a barn by Mr. King.
This is the last house on the great road in district number four.
The first house north of the brick store was built by E. A. Dudley, son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son of Samuel. He went to Minnesota, where he lived a few years. He now resides in Norwich, Ct. He married Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Jonathan. The place has since been owned by Elijah Sibley, son of Daniel, son of Daniel, son of Elijah, son of William, son of Joseph, son of John. Mr. Sibley worked at cutting sole leather several years for Mr. Woodbury ; he now lives on Green street in Worcester. He was associated with W. F. Pond in war time, and kept an eating house at Camp Nelson, Ky., where they fed sometimes as many as three thousand soldiers, employes, etc., in one day.
The next owner was Franklin Sibley, son of Almon, son of Elijah, son of Elijah, son of William. He now lives at West Sutton and carries the mail. He traded it to John Rich, son of George, son of John, son of Samuel; he now lives in Millbury. He sold the place to M. M. Hovey. Several tenants lived in it before he sold to the present owner, Rev. H. A. Tracy, who has so enlarged and improved the house that it is one of the most attractive in the place.
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Mr. Tracy married for his second wife Miss Harriet March, daughter of Jacob, jr., a native of this district. Miss March was the first person received into the church by profession after the commencement of Mr. Tracy's ministry in 1835.
The next house was built by John C. Woodbury, son of John, son of John, son of Joseph, son of Deacon Benjamin, about 1854. He soon after left and went to Minnesota, where he lived several years. He was finally gored by an enraged bull so that he died soon after. He married Maria Sibley, daughter of Simeon, son of Abner. She died at Anoka, Minnesota. Mr. Gardner Hall occupied the house in 1856. In 1857 it was sold to Mrs. Pomeroy Peck, who sold to Mrs. Rich, the present owner. She was the wife of George Rich and daughter of Capt. Chandler Stockwell, the son of Eli. She now occupies it with her daughter, Mrs. Marsh.
The house now owned by Capt. Luther Little was built by Deacon S. B. King in 1835 ; he is son of Tarrant, son of John, son of Jonathan, son of John, son of William. He has held the office of deacon of the first Congregational church for thirty years. He sold the place to Capt. Luther Little, son of Capt. Little already mentioned in connection with the place where Frank Batcheller now lives ; they were both sea-captains commanding whalers. Capt. Little and his wife are members of the Congregational church. They have one daughter. It was in this house that old lady Whit- ing was burned. The land belonging to the place was taken from the Whiting farm, and the valuable orchard was planted, grafted, trimmed and cared for by the good deacon.
The next house opposite was built by L. C. Howard since 1842 and sold to I. A. Dodge in 1876. Mr. Howard had a large shop and store in connection with this place, where he manufactured boots and shoes for several years, and kept a country store. The building has since been moved and fitted up as a dwelling, where he now lives. His barn at the new place was once occupied by Elder W. Fuller, or in other words, was the Fuller meeting-house. He married Miss E. Anthony, daughter of Dr. John Anthony, late of Providence,
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R. I. She is a fine singer, and has been the leading soprano of the choir in the Congregational church several years.
The nice cottage opposite to Mr. Dodge's was built by Mr. Joseph H. Nason, who sold it to George Miller, who occu- pied it two or three years, and sold it back to Mr. Nason. the present owner and occupant, who married Miss Mary T. Fuller, adopted daughter of Deacon S. B. King; they have one son, Edward Summer.
The next house is the parsonage built by M. M. Hovey and J. C. Woodbury for the society. It was first occupied by Rev. George Lyman, then by Rev. F. E. Fellows, next Rev. H. A. Tracy. The barn was built for him. It is now occupied by Rev. W. A. Benedict.
Just back of this house stands what is known as the " Ocean House," brought there from district number one by Simon J. Woodbury, as already explained. It is now the residence of William E. Cole, who has recently moved there from the Cummings place.
The next house beyond the parsonage was built by F. F. Sibley, son of Samuel, son of Peter, and by him left to his wife, who sold to Mr. Reuben Leland, the present owner. Dr. James M. Newell, a very successful physician, lived here; he married Miss Fannie Bates, who taught school several terms in town, and is now Mrs. Pound, living in the west.
The place has also been occupied by Dr. Alonzo L. Stick- ney, who married Lizzie A. Hill, daughter of James D. Hill, Nov. 6, 1867 ; and is now practising with good suc- cess at Ashburnham, Mass.
The next house was built by Major Daniel Tenney for his son Simon, about 1827. It was made of eastern lumber, and Esq. Tenney ordered the carpenter who finished up the inside not to put a board into it that had a knot in it. It was, when first built, considered a very fine house. Mr. Simon Tenney occupied it until 1842, when he moved into the brick house. Both of his children, Daniel and George. were born here. It was next occupied by Mr. Linus Tenney, one of the best mechanics of his age. He died here June 4, 1854, aged forty-nine. Mr. G. Hall lived in a part of this
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house with him in 1842, and here his son, John G. Hall, who now lives in Miamiville, Ohio, was born. He served his country three years to help put down the rebellion. He is quite a musician, teaches music and is styled Professor Hall.
The place has since been owned by D. A. Tenney, whose father came to live with him, and died here April 19, 1860, aged eighty-six. It was next owned by Rev. Fred. Knapp, who taught a select school and was engaged in the cranberry culture with President Hill, Fred. L. Olmstead and the Stockwells ; he now resides in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
It was next owned by D. T. Thurston, Esq., who was town clerk. He died suddenly in his barn, Aug. 9, 1875, while unharnessing his horse. He had been a merchant for several years in various places. He lived for a time in Bal- timore, also in Southbridge, Massachusetts. He served as paymaster in the United States service during the rebellion. He was born in Oxford and was buried there. He had two wives but no children. His loss was much lamented by the people of Sutton. The place is now owned and occupied by Lieutenant Obed P. Johnson, a native of Sharon, Mass. He served in the union army during the rebellion, and is an intelligent and worthy man. He has three children, two sons and a daughter, Mary, who graduated at the Sutton high school, and is now the wife of B. F. King.
This house was built on the site where once stood a house erected by Samuel Dagget, whose daughters Rebeckah and Hannah were born here. All the houses between this and the brick block have been built since 1802.
The next house, once a store and bar-room, was moved from the Whiting place and made into a tenement by Patrick Marlow. It now belongs to James Malhoit.
The next house was known as the Gould house : old Mr. Gould lived there. It was owned many years by D. Tenney, Esq., and was enlarged by S. Tenney & Co., about 1840, for D. A. Tenney, who lived there several years; some of his children were born here. He married a Marcy.
George Fairbanks bought it and lived there awhile. It now belongs to Loren Hoyle, who married a Mascroft, and
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has several daughters and one son. He enlisted in the noted fifteenth Massachusetts regiment, and served his country faithfully in the war of the rebellion.
The place opposite was owned by Ebenezer Dagget, after- ward by Daniel and Simon Tenney, Major Daniel Tenney, then by Luther Wheelock, who sold the house and a part of the land to Asahel Newton, and the barn and the rest of the land to William Perry, who are the present owners of the Tenney farm. Daniel Tenney, sen., did not live here ; but owned the place with his only son, Simon, who occupied it until his death. He died here Aug. 14, 1838, aged ninety- two. Sarah, his wife, died here Aug. 22, 1830, aged seventy- seven. Daniel Tenney, Esq., their only child, born on the Henry Sibley Stockwell place in 1774, succeeded his father and died in the Simon Tenney house April 19, 1860, aged eighty-six. He married Betsey Waters, who died here Aug. 16, 1851, aged seventy-five. All of Esq. Tenney's children were born here ; five sons and two daughters. John Tenney graduated at Brown University and was a skilled physician. He practised here, and afterward at Webster, where he was greatly respected and did much to improve their schools. He married a Miss Fisher, an educated lady of fine personal appearance and christian deportment. They had one son, Edward, who now resides in Iowa. Simon Tenney was a carriage-maker. He carried on the business here with his father for several years, then went into trade, built the brick store, and died in the house where his wife, now Mrs. Dr. Hall, lives, June 11, 1856, aged fifty-six. He married Nancy Putnam, daughter of Archelaus, son of Archelaus, son of Edward, son of Deacon Edward, son of Thomas. They had two sons. Linus has already been spoken of at the place of his last residence. He married Sally Elwell, daughter of Mark Elwell, late of Dudley. She died Sept. 19, 1865, aged fifty-nine, and left two sons, Charles L. and James. Sarah married Edmund J. Mills and will be noticed in connection with him.
Daniel Austin was a natural mechanic, and a wit whose sayings would make a book to entertain a dyspeptic and drive away the blues ; but, alas ! they were not recorded,
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" so," says Mr. Hall, "I will only say to those who knew him, revive your recollections, and laugh anew at the fun you enjoyed while listening to his entertaining sallies."
B. F. Tenney was for several years a merchant in Boston. His store was at the corner of Hanover and Blackstone streets. He had for a partner there Amos Tenney, one of the best salesmen in the city. The firm name was B. F. & A. Tenney. They sold dry goods at wholesale and retail. He is now a broker.
Their youngest daughter, Nancy, was one of the four young ladies who were drowned in Singletary pond, May 29, 1826 ; their names and ages were as follows : Mary H. Marble, aged twenty-three ; Hannah G. Marble, twenty-two; Ade- line M. Lombard, aged seventeen ; Nancy Tenney, aged four- teen. Their untimely end caused great sorrow in town, for they were young ladies well connected, and much beloved by all who knew them.
Major Daniel Tenney was a large, fine looking man, and did a large amount of business. Almost everything desired was made in their two spacious, shops - carriages, from a hack to a baby-cart or wheel-barrow ; cider-mill screws, all kinds of household furniture, side-boards, sofas, lounges and chairs of every variety.
They employed many journeymen and apprentices ; among the latter were Jonathan Sibley, Zadock Woodbury, Sylves- ter Morse, John Humphrey, Aaron Burdon, Jonathan Howard, Adams Morse and others. Charles DeCoster, a fine cabinet-maker, worked here; he came from Charles- town. A sculptor by the name of Peck, made gravestones here for a while. S. Putney painted carriages. Major Tenney was for many years a justice of the peace, and did much business as such. He was trial justice, a conveyancer, and probably wrote more deeds than any other man in town. He was also a civil engineer, and did much business as a surveyor both in and out of town. He was the possessor of much real estate, and, with his son B. F. at one time owned the Singletary factory, now Wheeler's in Millbury. He was a freemason of the highest order in the state; was town clerk several years, and quite improved the method of keep-
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ing the records. He was very methodical, and kept all his papers filed, so that he could find any document called for directly. He even left a file of the Massachusetts Spy for some seventy-five years, which his son, D. A. Tenney, after- ward sold to an institution in Worcester.
Mr. Newton, the present owner, is a blacksmith and one of our most industrious and worthy men. He married Charlotte H., daughter of Reuben Wheelock, whose mother was daughter of Elijah Sibley, son of William, son of Joseph, son of John. Mr. Newton has one son, George. born in Baltimore, now living in Grafton.
The next old house, now down, was known as the Gibbs house. Old Mr. Gibbs lived there. It was next owned by Thomas Harris, a tailor. He had one son and three daugh- ters, one of whom married Caleb Chase, and one a Buxton. The son, Ithran, married Arethusa Morse, daughter of Dr. N. F. Morse. She was born in Sutton, Aug. 30, 1797; died June 6, 1839. He was born in Northfield, Massachu- setts, Oct. 8, 1790 ; died at Millbury, Feb. 14, 1870; their daughter, Martha Ann, married Hon. H. L. Bancroft. Mr. Harris was in the war of 1812, and was a pensioner. The house was owned for many years by Major Tenney. Lowell Sibley bought it, and Washington Hill owned it a while. It was occupied by several different families while owned by Esq. Tenney. It was finally taken down and used in build- ing the new house opposite by Mr. William Perry, who is one of our successful farmers. He married Ennice A., daughter of Reuben Wheelock.
The small house, as you pass up the old road, is owned by James Deviny, who came from the Emerald Isle. He is the father of twelve children, and an industrious and peaceable citizen.
Passing up the old road to the next house, the first owner known to us was Nathaniel Stockwell, the next John Stock- well, the next Simeon, the next Horace, and it is now owned by Simon W. Stockwell. It is not known by whom the first house was built. The present one was built by Nathaniel Stockwell, who carried on the farm, cabinet making, sash making, etc. His son, Simeon, succeeded him and carried
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on the chair making business. He was quite a trader, and a great joker. His son Horace lived there with his mother, but died single. Simon married a Burnap and has one son.
The early history of the next place is not known. Asa Walker lived there with his mother, a widow. Probably his father lived there before him. His mother married for second husband a Phipps. She believed in witches, and her boys imposed upon her by wonderful feats in the black art. Asa Walker was succeeded by his son-in-law, Reuben F. Chase, who sold to Reuben Wheelock. It is now owned by his sons, Luther and Calvin.
Reuben F. Chase was a miser and considered a man of great wealth, but did not prove to have been so on the set- tlement of his estate. He left two children, John C. and Mary Ann. Reuben Wheelock was born on the place now owned by J. Wales Paine,, March 23, 1782; he married Charlotte H. Baker, daughter of Reuben Baker. She was born in Shrewsbury Dec. 2, 1786, and died here Nov. 21, 1865. Mr. Wheelock died here, January 16, 1876. They had six children. Luther, born April 1, 1810; Calvin. Sept. 4, 1812 ; Charlotte H., June 20, 1815 ; Maria L., Oct. 12, 1817 ; Eunice A., July 27, 1824 ; Luke, Sept. 12, 1828.
The first four were born in Grafton and the other two in Sutton. Mr. Wheelock was once run by the Whigs for representative, but that party being in the minority, he was not elected. His sons built the beautiful new house now standing on the place, also the large and very commodious barn. They have a fine farm.on which are many excellent fruit-trees. They have raised many fine horses and cattle. Luther was once a shuttle-maker ; he and Calvin both remain unmarried.
The first house on the main road north of Deviny's was owned by Peter Sibley, then by his son John, who died about 1822, after which the place was sold to John Stock- well. It has since been owned by Nathan Lombard, and now by his son, Mr. Alanson A. Lombard. The present house was built by John Stockwell just before his death.
His wife was a Severy, and married for second husband Mr. Stephen Blanchard, late of West Millbury. She was a
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very fine woman. Mr. Lombard was spoken of in connection with his former residence in district number two. Mr. A. A. Lombard married A. Ann Hutchinson, daughter of Simon Hutchinson. They have one son, Henry F., who now lives in this house. He has two sons, one, Herbert E., is a member of the graduating class of the Sutton high school, 1878. Mr. Nathan Lombard and his son, besides improving this farm, have carried on the cabinet-making business.
B. L. Batcheller carried on the shoe business here in 1847 ; built a new shop near where Mr. Tracy now lives, in 1849. It is now the house occupied by Miss Tamar Goddard. A part of the old house that stood on this place is now the house of James Deviny, it having been moved.
The next house was originally built as a shop for Edward Brigham and stood near Franklin Freeland's. It was moved here by the widow Lucinda Elliot, daughter of Joseph Hall, son of Deacon Willis. It now belongs to a Mr. Varney.
The place now belonging to Mrs. H. A. Kendrick was owned by a Mr. Todd, and it is presumed that he built the house. A Mr. Cordwell lived there. It has since been owned by Timothy Walker, Capt. Samuel Marble, son of Major Alpheus, son of Enoch, son of Freegrace, son of Samuel, by Simeon Stockwell, John W. Whipple, and now by his daughter Almira.
Mr. Walker was a carpenter by trade. He had three sons born here, John, Appleton and Emory.
Appleton was in the store at the Singletary mills, with Daniel Armsby ; he afterward went to New York.
Emory married a daughter of Paul Whitin, and died at Whitinsville. Mr. Whipple has already been referred to as a remarkably successful man. Mr. H. A. Kendrick, the present occupant, was born in Heath, Mass., March 18, 1825. His son Ford is a physician now practicing in Saundersville, Grafton.
The next house was originally built by Master Hall, moved and fitted up on the present site by Daniel Waters, who was a gardener ; he set out the beautiful fruit trees standing on the place. It now belongs to Mr. Cheatem.
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The next house and barn were built some six years ago by Richard M. Whipple, son of John W., son of John, son of John. Mr. Whipple was a Union soldier in the days of the rebellion. He married Ruth M. Streeter.
The next and last house in town on this road is the cottage of many gables and zigzags. It was built at divers times by Thomas Robbins, and has been occupied by him as a sort of public house. He has been accused of selling liquor, and there is probably more truth than fiction in the accusation. The time is past when rum-selling is considered an honorable business. Mr. Robbins once kept a tavern on Christian Hill, in Providence.
Returning to the common, the house now owned by James W. Stockwell, Esq., son of Simeon, son of Israel, son of Absalom, son of William, the brother of Capt. John, was built by Simon J. Woodbury, about 1832.
He built a shoe shop and store between the house and the road about the same time. He took in a partner in the store by the name of Foster; the store firm was "Woodbury and Foster." Then he sold his part of the store to Simon Tenney, who continued the business with Mr. Foster under the name of "Foster and Tenney" for one year; then Mr. Tenney bought out Foster and continued the business alone for two years. Then he took in Jos. A. Veazie as a partner, who remained one year; the firm name was "S. Tenney & Co." Mr. Woodbury was meanwhile carrying on the shoe business in the upper part of the same building, Wm. Harback working for him as click. Soon after Mr. Woodbury was kicked by a horse and made quite lame. During his lameness he became somewhat involved and discouraged, so he sold his house and store to B. F. and A. Tenney of Boston, taking his pay in jewelry from the store of one Kimball, then trading in Boston. The jewelry was consigned to Amos Brown, who took it to Florida. Not receiving suitable returns from that far-off place, he took a case of brogans and left for Boston ; thence by sailing vessel he went to Florida, got what jewelry remained unsold, and returned fully believing, no doubt, that "All is not gold that glitters." He hired the place of the Tenneys for a while and manufactured shoes with better success, so that he bought back his house, after which he re-opened his store, enlarged his business, built a new shop south of the first one, and two other houses now belonging to Mr. Stockwell, one now occupied by Mrs. Chase and Mrs. Slocumb, and the other by Miss Tamar Goddard and John T. Mascroft. His brother Leonard, seeing his success, came and built a large shop just south of Simon's, and started business, but soon sold out to Simon J., who finished Leonard's shop into a house for his help. It was occupied some time by Elijah Sibley and others. Mr. Woodbury, now feeling his strength, extended his business in various directions. He went into the flax business somewhere in the state of New York with E. F. Hovey - was burned out and lost heavily. Then he built a saw-mill at Anoka, Minnesota, and went into the lumber business, built an expensive dam and booms to hold his
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logs. But soon a great freshet carried away his dam, damaged his mill and took off his booms, logs and all. Then he resumed his legitimate business of making shoes, in which he seemed to be doing well, when, for reasons that need not be stated, he concluded to change his place of business. He moved several of his houses to Worcester, where he did business for a while and then went to Chicago, Ill., where he now resides, and where his wife died. Her remains were brought here, and her funeral was largely attended in the Con- gregational church. She was interred at Grafton.
Mr. Woodbury has done a great amount of business, and is one of the most public spirited men of his age. He was born where Mr. Coogan now lives, and is the son of John and Esther, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, son of Benjamin and Ruth. He married Sabrina Dodge and had several children ; only two survive. He sold this place to N. G. King, who carried on business here for a time, and sold to the present owner, Jas. W. Stockwell, Esq., who, with his brother Henry S., has been dealing largely in wood and lumber. They are also partners in the Sutton cranberry enterprise. Mr. Stockwell has been much in town office ; was postmaster and is now justice of the peace, librarian of the Sutton free library, for which institution no one has done more. He married Miss Mary Frances Sibley, daugh- ter of J. L. Sibley, Esq. The store and back shop have been taken down and removed since Mr. Stockwell bought the place.
The house east of Mr. Stockwell's has been occupied by many different families. George W. Putnam and John P. Putnam were the first. Rev. John H. Gaylord lived there, also Rev. F. E. Fellows, S. D. King and several others. The other house has been occupied by John C. Woodbury, Otis Chamberlain, a very worthy man, also his brother, Mr. Salem Chamberlain, once our representative and town clerk, since for several years mail agent on the Worcester and Nashua R. R., who furnished the one vote that first elected Charles Sumner to the United States senate, and S. D. King to the legislature, while he was town clerk. It has been occupied several years by John T. Mascroft, and Miss Tamar Goddard.
John Hall came from Coventry, England, about 1630 and landed at Charles- town. He afterward married Miss Bertha Larnard and moved to Yarmouth, a town on the cape, where he had by his wife twelve sons. John, the eldest
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Copied from old photographs.
Heliotype Printing Co., Boston.
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David Hall
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Elizabeth Prescott Hall. 4
Abigail Moore Mills.
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son married a Bearse from Barnstable, and had three sons and many daugh- ters ; his sons were named Joseph, John and Nathaniel; the latter moved to Levitown, near Philadelphia. Joseph, his eldest, settled upon his father's inheritance in Yarmouth, and married Miss Hannah Miller, daughter of Rev. John Miller, first minister of the gospel in the same town. The said Joseph Hall had four sons by her, Joseph, Daniel, Josiah and David; and three daughters, viz: Hannah, Priscilla and Margery, at which time his wife died in the year 1710. Afterward he married Mary Morton, a widow, of Plymouth, by whom he had four more children, viz: Mary, Peter, John and Bathsheba.
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