USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Reminiscences of Worcester from the earliest period, historical and genealogical with notices of early settlers and prominent citizens, and descriptions of old landmarks and ancient dwellings, accompanied by a map and numerous illustrations > Part 4
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John Curtis, jr., had three sons and two daughters, the old- est, John the third, being named after the father and grand- father. The next, David, who married in 1791, Susanna Stone, resided on the north east corner of Main and School streets, and was the principal blacksmith of his time, here, his shop, afterwards owned and occupied by Levi Howe, being on the southwest corner of Old Market and Union streets. His daughter, Dolly, was wife of the late Dr. John Green, and his son George was father of the distinguished orator and scholar, George William Curtis. The latter's father removed from Worcester to Providence, where George William was born in 1824, and removed thence to New York in 1839. The pedigree from the first white settler in Worcester to the far-famed author of the " Potiphar Papers" and other distinguished works, runs thus,-Ephraim, Capt. John, John, jr., David, George, and George William, the latter being of the sixth generation in de- scent from the original Ephraim Curtis.
David Curtis' brother Nathaniel died in 1818, aged 52, and one of the sisters, Elizabeth, married Samuel Jennison, who from 1785 to 1815 kept the old Jennison tavern, which formerly stood on the northwest corner of Lincoln and Boylston streets. His daughter Rebecca married the late Thornton A. Merrick, brother of Judge Pliny Merrick.
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
The seven children of Capt. John Curtis' son James, were -Azubah, Sophia, Elizabeth Prentice, James, Tyler, Eager and Sarah. The latter married Ebenezer Mower, who died in 1861 aged over 100. The children and grandchildren of Capt. Curtis numbered twenty-five, (all living at his death but two sons,) for each of whom he made provision in his will, reserving his homestead for his oldest surviving son, Tyler, subject to the widow's dower. Capt. Curtis closed his will, made the year before his death, in these characteristic words, expressive of his tender solicitude for the comfort of his surviving venerable consort, then an octogenarian : " Over and above all, I give to my beloved wife Elizabeth two good cows and four sheep, and the use of my chaise to ride in during her natural life, to be furnished with a gentle horse to go in said chaise whenever she may have occasion," &c. A chaise was considered a great lux- ury in those early times.
Tyler Curtis, grandfather of the present Tyler Prentice Cur- tis in possession of the homestead estate, died April 16, 1807, aged 55, and had six children, of whom Rebecca, born in 1778, married Rev. David Long of Milford ; John, born in 1783, (father of Tyler P. Curtis,) married Nancy, daughter of Thomas Stowell, clothier, and grand daughter of Cornelius Stowell ; Elizabeth Prentice, born in 1791, married Jonathan, son of Edward Knight ; Nathaniel, born in 1793, died in 1818 ; and there was a Samuel, and a Tyler, jr., who died young. Their mother, Lydia (Chamberlain) Curtis, died in 1841, aged 88.
The original house, built by Capt. John Curtis, used as a tay- ern, &c., was burned in 1848, with many valuable relics, papers, &c., relating to the family, and the present dwelling was then erected on its site. One of the two huge elm trees which for so long a period shaded the old mansion, was blown down by a violent gale in 1816, and the other, into which it had grown, still stands, bearing the marks of extreme old age.
Ephraim Curtis, jr., who lived on the farm of 250 acres deeded to him by his father in 1734, on the line of Auburn, Millbury and Worcester, had two sons, Samuel and Oliver, the former of whom resided on that portion of the original estate
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
now owned by his grandson, Albert Curtis, and occupied by his great grandson, Charles F. Curtis, the house being about fifty rods northeast of that of the original Gershom Rice. Oliver, to whom fell the other portion of this farm, lived on the old William Goss and John Elder place, now owned and occupi- ed by C. P. Stockwell.
Samuel Curtis, senior, who resided on the original homestead of this branch of the family in what is now Auburn, where he died Oct. 18, 1814, aged 84, was one of the most prominent men of his time in town affairs, particularly during the revolu- tionary era, on committees, &c. An obituary notice of him, which appeared in the papers at the time of his decease, stated that " His patriotism and valuable qualities always ensured him the confidence and esteem of his townsmen. Gifted by nature with a strong mind, he cultivated and improved it by observation and reflection ; and as a reward of his merit he was repeatedly promoted to the highest honors of the town. As selectman, representative to the General Court, &c., his in- tegrity was always conspicuous, and his usefulness always ap- parent."
Samuel Curtis, senior, who married in 1757, Mary, daughter of Major Daniel Ward, had two sons. Samuel, jr., and Ephraim, the latter, who left no children, residing on the old homestead of his father and grandfather. Samuel Curtis, jr., who was Captain of the old Worcester Artillery, and otherwise prominent, was father of the present Albert Curtis. He married Eunice Taft of Uxbridge, and resided on Plantation street, on the es- tate (adjoining Col. Benjamin Flagg's) afterwards owned and occupied by his son, Benj. F. Curtis, now owned and occupied by E. B. and G. Dana. He died Jan. 29, 1811, (before his father.) at the early age of 49. He had six sons and four daughters,-Aaron, Ephraim, John, Benj. F., Albert, William, Sarah, Abigail, Lydia and Eunice, of whom Albert and William are the only surviying sons, the latter residing in New York state. Benj. F. married a Miss Wakefield, and Albert, the en- terprising and successful manufacturer at New Worcester and Trowbridgeville for the last forty-five years, married Mrs. Sarah K. G. Houghton. Sarah married Ebenezer Reed, and Mrs.
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
Sumner Pratt is their daughter. Eunice married Charles P. Bancroft of Worcester, now of Boston. Charles F., now resid- ing on the old homestead of his great grandfather in Auburn, is a son of Aaron Curtis ; and S. G. Curtis of Worcester, and Albert W. Curtis of Spencer are sons of Benjamin F.
Oliver Curtis, the keeper of the old toll gate on the Stafford turnpike, a little south west of New Worcester, who had three sons, (Oliver, Jr, Edward, and Joseph,) was son of Rev. Philip Curtis, minister of the old church in Sharon frem 1743 to 1797. Oliver Curtis, senior, came here from Sharon a short time before the turnpike was opened, some seventy-five years ago, when his sons were very young, and took charge of the old toll gate which stood near his residence, from the opening of the turnpike to its close. His son Joseph for several years kept tavern in the old DeLand house, being the last owner and keeper of it previous to Charles M. DeLand. This house, in which a hotel was kept for many years, was built 65 years ago by Charles Stearns, who first kept a hotel in it, beginning in 1812, at the opening of the war with Great Britain. The public exercises of the opening of this hotel took place May 12, when a liberty pole was raised on the spot where Loring Coes' house now stands, a barrel of punch was served up to the crowd outside, and the day was devoted to quoit pitching, ball playing, and other amusements. This was the first inaugura- tion of New Worcester. The old turnpike toll gate keeper was one of the happiest of the crowd on that occasion.
Oliver Curtis, senior, died in 1835, his old mansion and toll gate long afterwards remaining as memorials of the past. His sons Oliver, jr., and Edward resided upon their father's estate until their decease, Oliver dying in 1866 and Edward in 1872, both at the age of 74. Joseph Curtis, the youngest of these brothers, who died in 1871, aged 70, kept the hotel at New Worcester from 1824 to 1830. He bought it of Dea. Uriah Stone, who kept it a few years after buying it of the original owner, Charles Stearns. Joseph Curtis sold the estate to C. M. DeLand some forty years ago and afterwards resided upon the estate at New Worcester owned before the revolution by attorney General James Putnam, which was purchased of the
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
confiscating authorities by Asa Ward, (grandfather of Artemas Ward, Register of Deeds from 1821 to 1846,) who resided there until his death. A sister of these Curtis brothers, Eliza, born after the father came here, married Lyman A. Whitcomb, and now resides at New Worcester.
THE RICE FAMILY.
Jonas, Gershom, James, Elisha, Ephraim and Grace Rice, who came here from Marlborough previous to the organization of the town, were children of Thomas, third son of the original Ed- mund Rice, who came from England and settled at Sudbury in 1639, removed to Marlborough, and died there May 3, 1663, having had nine sons and two daughters.
Jonas Rice, the first permanent settler in Worcester, died full of years and honors at the ancient homestead on Sagatab- scot Hill, Sept. 22, 1753, aged 81. Among the positions he had held, were major in the military service, school teacher, deacon of the church. and Judge of the Court of General Ses- sions of the Peace and Inferior Court of Common Pleas, which latter position he held at his decease. His cane and steelyards and other relics are now in possession of his great-great-grand- son. Sewell Rice, who inherited and formerly resided on the old homestead of his distinguished ancestor, whose original dwell- ing had been the residence of five generations in the family, as follows : 1st, the original Jonas, who died in 1753, aged 81; 2d, his son, Absalom. who married Elizabeth, daughter of the second Benjamin Flagg of Worcester, had two sons and six daughters, and died July 7, 1781, aged 72; 3d, the latter's son Jonathan, for many years a deputy sheriff, who married Eunice Whipple of Grafton, and had three sons and six daughters, was one of the law and order volunteers during the Shays Insur- rection, was shot through the hand in a skirmish with the in- surgents at New Braintree in the winter of 1786-7, and died June 16, 1791, aged 55 ; 4th, Jonas, who married Esther Bix- by, and had two sons and six daughters. of whom the oldest is our esteemed fellow-citizen, Mr. Sewell Rice, now in his 79th year, who married Hannah D. Washburn ; one sister of Sewell married the late Henry Goulding, another the late Loring Young, and another sister married Parley Holman of Leicester.
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
The original Jonas Rice's sister, Grace, married Dea. Nathan- iel Moore, who died in 1761, aged 83, and she died in 1768, aged 94. Nathaniel Moore, son of the latter, also a prominent citizen of his time, died July 19, 1811, aged 96, and his wife April 25, 1809, aged 89, they having lived in the married state 69 years, and witnessed the rising of the town, from an unculti- vated wilderness, to the possession of 2500 thriving inhabitants.
Of Jonas Rice's five children, the youngest, Adonijalı, born Nov. 7, 1714, the next year after his father came here, was the first white child born in Worcester. Adonijah Rice was a cooper by trade, was in several campaigns during the French and Indian wars, and in the latter part of his life removed to Bridport, Vt., and lived with his son Abel, whom he survived, and died there Jan. 20, 1802, aged 88. His wife, Persis (Gates,) died at Worcester, June 6, 1760. Of their eight children, the oldest, Persis, married Hezekiah Stowell, and another daughter, Susan, married Thomas Eaton, from Sud- bury, who died here in 1788, and was father of the six brothers Thomas, Uriah, Amherst, Alpheus, Nathaniel, and William Eaton, who have numerous descendants among us. The last one of these, the late Hon. William Eaton, died May 4, 1859, aged 92. He resided in the ancient mansion house, corner of Main and George streets, still occupied by his daugh- ter, which was previous to and during the Revolution owned and occupied by that distinguished advocate of liberty, Nathan Baldwin, Register of Deeds and Town Clerk, from 1775 to his death in 1784.
Gershom Rice, born in Marlborough, in 1696, had two sons and four daughters, Gershom, Jr., being the oldest, all born before their parents came here ; of these, one, Sarah, born in 1709, married John Duncan of Worcester, probably ancestor of the Duncans here. Of the five sons and four daughters of Lieut. Gershom Rice, Jr., one, Nathan, married Mehitable Baldwin of Leicester ; another, Elizabeth, married John Boy- den from Sudbury, and died in 1814, aged 87; and Gershom Rice, 3d, son of Lieut. Gershom, Jr., died unmarried in Au- burn, in 1829, aged 93.
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
The original Gershom Rice, who married Elizabeth Haynes of Sudbury, died Dec. 19, 1761, aged 102 ; his son, Lient. Ger- shom Rice, Jr., who married Esther Haynes of Sudbury. died Sept. 24, 1781, aged 85 ; the latter's son, Comfort Rice, who married Martha Morris, died Aug. 16, 1816, aged 87, and his wife died in 1812, aged 81 ; and Edward Rice, (son of Com- fort,) who married Miriam, daughter of Dea. David Gleason of Auburn, died Aug. 27, 1863, aged 90 1-2. All the above lived in the old homestead dwelling of the original Gershom Rice on Pakachoag Hill, midway between Worcester and Auburn Cen- tre, on the old road. That old house which was the residence of five generations of the family, including the ten children of the late Edward Rice, was torn down by the latter in 1821, when he built the present one on its site, where he con- tinued to reside until his death. His son, Ezra, resides on a portion of the old homestead estate, in a house built by him in 1832, located a few rods north of the site of the old ances- tral one. Ezra's brother Leonard, and other descendants of Comfort and Edward, reside in the town.
Of Edward Rice's nine brothers and sisters, the oldest, Es- ther, who married Daniel Gale of Petersham, died in 1848, in her 93d year; Mary, who married Timothy Bancroft of Auburn, died in 1844, in her 84th year ; Nancy, who married John Stone, died in 1849, in her 87th year; Betsey, who married Thomas Hart; lived in Auburn, and died there in 1858, aged 90 1-2 ; Peter, who married Mary Hart, resided in Holden, and died in 1848, aged 77.
Israel Rice, grandson of Comfort, is the oldest male resident of Worcester, being now in his 88th year ; his wife is a sis- ter of the venerable James Campbell of this city, also hale and active, in his 87th year. The above are instances of family longevity rarely equalled.
Our fellow citizen, Darius Rice. another grandson of Comfort Rice, for more than a half century one of the most successful and enterprising agriculturists of Worcester, resides on a well- stocked farm near the junction of Grafton street and Millbury avenue, on which the numerous trees, as well as those shading the highways surrounding his farm, were all planted by his own hands some fifty years ago.
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
Ephraim Rice, brother of Jonas, Gershom, &c., who married Hannah Livermore of Watertown in 1689, was one of the orig- inal proprietors here in 1718, but he does not appear to have remained here long, returning back to Sudbury, with his broth- er Elisha, before 1722, where he died in 1732, aged 67. Elisha, who married Elizabeth Wheeler of Concord in 1708, died at Sudbury in 1761, aged 82. IIe had ten children and his broth- er Ephraim thirteen, some of whom came here after the or- ganization of the town, including Ephraim, Jr., Josiah, and Thomas, sons of Ephraim Rice, senior. This Thomas Rice, who died here in 1786 aged 83, had seven children, one of whom, Sarah, married in 1775, Dea. William Trowbridge, who resided in the southwest part of Worcester, since called Trow- bridgeville, and another, Josiah, married Elizabeth Trowbridge, sister of the deacon. This Josiah Rice lived near Jamesville, where he had a saw-mill. Of the nine children of Dea. William and Sarah (Rice) Trowbridge ; one, Judith, born in 1777, mar- ried Walter Bigelow, senior; Mary, born in 1783, married Dea. Alpheus Merrifield ; Beulah, born in 1787, married Dea. Moses Clements ; Acsah, born in 1796, married Dea. Lewis Chapin ; and Huldah, born in 1798, married in 1828, Halsey Riley, after whose death she married Dea. Adolphus Baylies ; all well-known residents of Worcester, now deceased, leaving many descendants.
William Trowbridge, jr., born in 1790, married Dolly Chapin, (cousin of Dea. Lewis Chapin.) and settled in Sheboygan, Wis., where he is still living in his 87th year. His father, Deacon William Trowbridge, was grandfather of our enterprising fel- low citizen, William T. Merrifield, and first started business at Trowbridgeville nearly one hundred years ago, occupying the old mansion house and mill now there.
CHAPTER V.
Earlier Settlers,-the Bigelow, Goulding, Stowell and Jennison families, and their connexions and descendants.
THE BIGELOW FAMILY.
Daniel Bigelow, surveyor of highways, on the first board of town officers, whose wife was Elizabeth Whitney, came from Watertown and settled on Pakachoag Hill in the edge of Au- burn, where he died, at the great age of 92 years. His loca- ation adjoined that of Gershom Rice, his dwelling being on a very high elevation on the site of the present residence of Samuel P. Perry, on the old road to Auburn about fifty rods northeast of that of Gershom Rice. The original house long since disappeared. Daniel Bigelow had five children : 1st, David, a leading man in town affairs during the Revolution, delegate to Provincial Assemblies, &c., father of the late Wal- ter Bigelow, and grandfather of the present Walter Bigelow, residing on Burncoat street ; 2d, Nathaniel ; 3d, Daniel, father of the third Daniel Bigelow who was representative, senator, executive councillor, and county attorney ; 4, Col. Timothy Bigelow, of revolutionary fame; 5, Silence, for many years teacher in the public schools here.
David Bigelow, born in 1731, was Deacon of the First Unita- rian Church from its first organization in 1785, and resided in the north east part of the town, on the late William Coe farm, on Mountain street, near the corner of Nixon street, on one of the old highways from Woncester and Shrewsbury to West Boylston and Holden. Here he began keeping a hotel about 1772, and it was continued in the family for half a century or more by himself and his son Silas Bigelow. Dea. David Bige- low died May 20, 1810, aged 79. His first wife whom he mar- ried in 1752, was Sarah Eaton, and his second wife whom he married in 1764, was Deborah Heywood, sister of Judge
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
Benjamin Heywood. Deborah died in 1822, aged 87. Deacon David Bigelow had six sons and five daughters, of whom the oldest, David, married a Willington, and was father of the late Capt. Lewis Bigelow. The other five sons were,-Levi, who married Nancy Goodhue and removed to Vermont ; Walter, who married a daughter of Dea. William Trowbridge ; Tyler, father of Chief Justice George T. Bigelow ; and Silas, who married Arathusa Moore. The five daughters were wives re- spectively of Zachariah Child of West Boylston, (father of David Lee Child,) Joshua Harrington, John Hair, William Goulding, and William Chamberlain of Worcester, the latter being father of Mrs. Elisha Flagg.
One daughter of Walter Bigelow, senior, Sarah, named after her grandmother, Sarah (Rice) Trowbridge, married the late Capt. John Barnard ; another daughter married the late George C. Davis of Northborough ; a son Andrew, who entered Har- vard College, and was instructor in an Academy, died young.
The second Daniel Bigelow, (brother of Deacon David Big- elow,) was born in 1729, and died Aug. 29, 1776, aged 48. By his first. wife, (Mary Bond,) he had Daniel, born in 1752, a distinguished lawyer, senator, councillor, &c., who died at Pc- tersham in 1806, aged 54. By a second wife he had five other children.
Capt. George Bigelow of the United States army, son of Tyler Bigelow, married the only daughter of Gov. George N. Briggs.
Among the children of Capt. Lewis Bigelow, was the late Dr. Henry Bigelow of Newton,
Col. Timothy Bigelow was born Aug. 12, 1739, was a black- smith by trade, and left his forge and iron works, built by him- self on the site of the recent Court Mills, in the rear of his residence, to enter the service of his country, from which he returned in such impaired health that he died March 31, 1790, at the early age of 50. He was a natural soldier, and per- formed extraordinary service as commander of the old Fif- teenth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental line. Hc was one of the most active and efficient of the original lo- cal Committee of Correspondence in Worcester, who, as early
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
as March, 1773, organized the " American Political Society" here, which embraced the leading patriots of the time, and did so much to bring about that revolution of public sentiment which expelled the adherents of the crown and made the war for liberty a success. The secret meetings of the " Sons of Liberty," to concert measures for public action, were often held at his dwelling. He was associated with Warren, Otis, and Adams, and other eminent movers in the revolutionary cause, and a delegate to the first and second Provincial Congresses, and organized and trained the company of " minute men " whom he led to the field with such thorough precision in drill as to extort admiration from General Washington for their per- fection in military discipline. Col. Bigelow was one of the prime movers with Gen. Warren and others in the steps taken to induce Isaiah Thomas to establish an organ of the patriot cause in Worcester, and it was through the aid and influence of Col. Bigelow and Gen. Warren that Isaiah Thomas was en- abled to remove safely from Boston to Worcester, the press and types of the ". Massachusetts Spy," a few days before the battle of Lexington.
Col. Bigelow married Anna, daughter of Samuel Andrews, the wife of the latter being Anna Rankin, daughter of James and Rachel (Irving) Rankin, emigrants from Ireland with the Scotch Presbyterians of 1718. Samuel Andrews was one of the early comers here, consummating his marriage immediately after his graduation at Cambridge, and locating first on Plant- ation street near the western border of Lake Quinsigamond. Here he cultivated a small farm for several years, and then re- moved to the village, where he erected a tannery, on the south side of Lincoln Square, and in 1749, built his residence on Main street, opposite the Court House. This old mansion house, now standing on Prospect street, was occupied by him, and subsequently by his son-in-law, Col. Bigelow, and the latter's son-in-law, Dr. Abraham Lincoln. Hon. Stephen Salisbury purchased the estate after the death of Dr. Lincoln in 1824, and in 1833, erected the present brick block on the site of the old structure.
Of Col. Bigelow's six children, the oldest, Nancy, married Hon. Abraham Lincoln, who was chairman of the board of Se-
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Reminiscences of Worcester.
lectmen and Representative in the Legislature for fifteen years from 1809 to 1824, besides filling other prominent positions, and a member of the Governor's Council at the time of his death, July 2, 1824 ; the second was Hon. Timothy Bigelow, born in 1767, who graduated at Cambridge, studied law here with his uncle, Hon. Levi Lincoln, Sr., and with Hon. Samuel Dexter, removed to Groton, and subsequently to Medford, mar- ried a daughter of Judge Oliver Prescott of Groton, became a distinguished practitioner at the bar in Boston, was for twen- ty years a member of one or the other branch of the State Legislature, for eight years Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, was a delegate from Massachusetts with Harrison Gray Otis of Boston, Daniel Waldo of Worcester, and others, in the famous Hartford Convention of 1814, Executive Coun- cillor in 1802 and 1820, and died at Medford, May 18, 1821, aged 55. The youngest child of Col. Bigelow, Clara, married her cousin, Tyler Bigelow, and Hon. George T. Bigelow, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is their son.
Of the seven children of Hon. Timothy Bigelow, above men- tioned, the oldest, Katherine, married Hon. Abbott Lawrence of Boston ; the second, Rev. Dr. Andrew Bigelow, is still living in Boston ; and the third, Hon. John Prescott Bigelow, was Mayor of Boston, and Secretary of the Commonwealth.
A fitting monument to Col. Bigelow was erected over his grave on the old Worcester Common, in 1861, by his great- grandson, Col. Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, son of Hon. Ab- bott Lawrence of Boston, on the occasion of the dedication of which, April 19, 1861, just 86 years from the day Col. Bige- low led the Minute Men from Worcester to march for Lexing- ton, and 71 years after his death, appropriate memorial exer- cises took place.
Joshua Bigelow, a brother or near relative of the above men- tioned original Daniel Bigelow, married in Watertown in 1776, Elizabeth Flagg, a sister or near relative of the first Benjamin Flagg of Worcester, served as a soldier and was wounded in King Philip's War, and received therefor a grant of land in Worcester. He removed to Westminster in 1742, where he died in 1745, aged 90. His ninth child, Ebenezer, was a car-
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