USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Royalston > The history of the town of Royalston, Massachusetts > Part 19
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VI. Asa Walker, son of Obadiah and Agnes (Mccullough) Walker, born at Royalston in 1778, married April 4, 1821, Anstis, daughter of Captain Joseph and Elizabeth Jacobs, born Aug. 15, 1797. Children: Marias, died July 21, 1842 of consumption; William, Nathaniel, Obadiah and Joseph. Asa was in the war of 1812, serving 35 days with the Royal- ston Company in 1814. He died Dec. 10, 1860. His wife died in Otter River, Dec. 17, 1872.
VII. William N. Walker, oldest son of Asa and Anstis (Jacobs) Walker was born in Royalston, Nov. 14, 1823. He died in Otter River, Nov. 30, 1906. He went to Otter River when a young man, and lived there until his death. For several years he was engaged in the manufacture of stoves. He married Minerva Horton, April 19, 1849; she died Aug. 6, 1893, and he married, second, Sarah D. Bowman, Dec. 16, 1897, with whom he lived at the time of his death, and who survived him only a few months. He had two sons by his
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THE WALKER FAMILY
first wife, George E., born May 8, 1852 and Aleck M., born Nov. 2, 1856.
George E. Walker married Susie J. Stewart Oct. 20, 1875. He lived in Gardner for several years, was a machinist, and was quite prominent in the Masonic order. He died at his home in Gardner, April 8, 1909. His wife, Susie J., died April 7, 1899. They had two children, Alice M. Walker, who has been a bank clerk in Gardner and Arthur W. Walker who is proprietor of a jewelry store in Somerville. He married Octavia M. Perkins, Oct. 7, 1907.
Aleck Walker, married Hattie B. Parkhurst, July 2, 1876. He died April 14, 1834, and was survived by his widow who is now living in Springfield.
Deacon Joseph Walker, son of Asa and Anstis (Jacobs) Walker, was born in Royalston, June 30, 1825; he married Nancy S. Thomas of Winchendon, Jan. 9, 1849; she was born June 27, 1826. From 1849 to 1858 they lived in Worcester, where he carried on the business of carpenter and builder. In 1858 he removed to Royalston, where he worked at his trade until the war of the Rebellion, when he enlisted Aug. 27, 1832 in Co. D., 36th Regiment Mass. Volunteers, of which he was made first sergeant. Was in the hospital at Washington, and discharged for disability Oct. 29, 1863. After partially recovering from his illness, he went back into the service as clerk in the Commissary Department, where he remained until the close of the war. He was elected as Representative to the Legislature in 1877. Soon after that time he opened a store in a building just off the Common on the South Royalston road, where he kept a general store until his death, June 16, 1888. He served the town at different times as Town Clerk, Selectman, Overseer-of-the-Poor, and was Town Treasurer twelve years. For many years he was deacon in the First Congregational Church. Nancy (Thomas) Walker died in Athol, Oct. 21, 1893.
Children of Deacon Joseph and Anstis (Jacobs) Walker: Joseph Nelson, an infant, died in Worcester; Clarence J., Herbert Thomas and Florence A.
Clarence J. Walker, oldest son of Joseph and Nancy (Thomas) Walker, was born in Worcester, June 6, 1855. His parents removed to Royalston when he was a child and he received his education in the schools of Royalston. He
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carried the United States mail, driving the stage from South Royalston to the Centre for four years. He married Miss Edith C. Longley, daughter of Timothy M. Longley of Royalston Centre, and removed to Webster, Mass., where he now resides. He has been station agent at East Webster for the past thirty-two years. He has sung in the quartette of the First Baptist Church of Webster for twenty-eight years, and was Town Auditor for more than twelve years. They have had four sons, three of whom died in infancy. One son is living and resides in West Springfield, Clifford Maurice Walker. He is a clerk in the trainmaster's office of the B. & A. R. R.
Herbert Thomas Walker, son of Joseph and Nancy, was born in Royalston, May 24, 1867; attended the public schools of Royalston Centre and the Bryant & Stratton Commercial School in Boston in 1887 and 1883. He married, April 2, 1893, Elsie J. Sears of Charlemont, Mass. They have no children. He is a member of Star Lodge of Masons of Athol, and Charlemont Grange. Since 1894 he has been engaged in the mercantile and fire insurance business.
Florence A. Walker, daughter of Joseph and Nancy (Thomas) Walker, was born in Royalston. She was a teacher in the Royalston and Athol schools for several years, and afterwards graduated from the Gordon Missionary Training School in Boston. After working as a missionary in South Boston for about three years, she married Dr. Chiron W. Smith of Boston, in Webster, May 20, 1897. They have lived in Marlboro, Mass., for a number of years.
Obadiah Walker, youngest son of Asa and Anstis Walker, was born in Royalston, Oct. 28, 1826. He married Harriet W. Wilder of Winchendon, June 29, 1854. She was born July 15, 1832 in Hingham, Mass., her father being one of fifteen children. When a young man he went to work in a Gardner chair shop, where he lost one hand, after which he went to New Salem Academy and studied bookkeeping. He then became a pedlar of Yankee notions, going about the country with tin trunks strapped over his back and shoulders. After a while he got a horse and wagon and put out palm leaf and sold dry goods. He then had charge of the Union store that formerly stood on Royalston Common where the church parsonage now is, and later carried on business
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THE WALKER FAMILY
there for himself, it being a general country store. He sold out to Franklin Richardson, and after living in Winchendon a few months returned to Royalston about 1866 and bought the house near the Estabrook place, and also bought the store business of Chas. H. Newton. Was appointed postmaster in 1870, which position he held until he sold his store to John L. King in 1382. He was Town Treasurer from 1867 to 1873.
The TownHall was built during the time that he was treasurer. The town voted that it should cost $10,000, and when the bills were all figured up it was found to be one cent under the appropriation. In 1882 he moved to Littleton, where he remained some over two years, and in 1884 went to North Reading, Mass., and bought a store, which he sold to Carpen- ter and French, Aug. 7, 1886. He died the same month.
The children of Obadiah and Harriet (Wilder) Walker were: Harriet Eva, Charles Sumner, Lizzie Lincoln and Edward Everett.
Harriet Eva Walker was born Oct. 23, 1855. She married Jerome I. Wetherbee of Royalston, May 28, 1882. They reside in Fitchburg.
Charles Sumner Walker, was born Aug. 7, 1857, in Royal- ston. He attended the schools of his native town, and when about twenty-one years of age went to Fitchburg, where he married Georgetta M. Tucker, April 2, 1884, and soon after went to North Reading, where he was in company with his father in a general store business. After his father's death in 1886 and the sale of the store he removed to Chelsea, Mass., where he was in a market with C. B. Fox for about seventeen years. He was then in another market until the Chelsea fire of April, 1908, when both his residence and place of business were burned. He remained in Chelsea about a year and a half, when he removed to Dorchester and later to Winter Hill, Somerville, where he now resides, and is em- ployed in a Boston market. His wife died in Chelsea, Feb. 26, 1903, and he married, second, Maud Brown of Chelsea, Oct. 10, 1904. He has a son by his first wife, Charles Tucker Walker, born at North Reading, Feb. 17, 1885, who resides in Chelsea.
Lizzie Lincoln Walker, born April 29, 1862, died Jan. 15, 1898. She was one of the librarians of the public library, removed with her parents to North Reading, and on the
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HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
death of her father returned with her mother to Royalston, which was her home until her death.
Edward Everett Walker, born Jan. 4, 1865 and died Feb. 16, 1865.
Mrs. Harriet Wilder Walker died-
THE MOSES WALKER FAMILY
Moses Walker, whose relationship to Asa Walker we have not been able to ascertain, is said to have come from Athol to Royalston about 1800 and settled in the southwest part of the town. He was born in 1765 and died Feb. 23, 1841. He married May 2, 1791, Lydia Bigelow.
The children of Moses and Lydia (Bigelow) Walker were: Nancy, born March 9, 1793, married Isaac Nichols, , May 25, 1813, and died in 1871. She had children, all of whom died before she did; Lydia, born Sept. 13, 1794, married Weston Ball of Warwick, Mass., at Troy, N. H., May 27, 1817; George M. and Addie J. Wheeler of Orange were her grandchildren. John Bigelow Walker, born Feb. 23, 1796, married Mercy S. Metcalf, Jan. 25, 1820; Ruth, born Aug. 5, 1797, married Jason Fisher of Royalston, Feb. 19, 1819. Cynthia, born Dec. 19, 1798, married Ebenezer Wheeler Dexter of Royalston, Sept. 23, 1817; Susanna, born Mar. 19, 1800, died Oct. 12, 1839; Rowena, born Jan 12, 1802, died May 6, 1803.
John Bigelow Walker, only son of Moses and Lydia (Bigelow) Walker, had three children: John Bigelow, Jr., Rebeccah Metcalf and Minerva N.
John Bigelow Walker, Jr., born in Royalston, June 1, 1824, married in 1853, Cornelia M. Moody of Northfield, sister of the Evangelist, Dwight L. Moody; their children were Lillian A., who married Chas. E. Cheney of Brooklyn, N. Y., and resided in that city, Julia R., who resided in Northfield with her mother; George B., who died in infancy; Hope E., who was a bookkeeper in New York City, and Samuel Edwin, who married Maud Phillips and lived in East Northfield.
Rebeccah Metcalf Walker, born June 6, 1827, married David P. Foster of Royalston, March 25, 1847.
Minerva N., born Dec. 21, 1833, was unmarried, and lived in East Northfield. The records of the Moses Walker family
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THE WALKER FAMILY
were furnished by her from the family Bible. Calvin had a son Hiram who resided in Washington, D. C., about 1900; Willard, born May 11, 1802, married Phoebe Thurston of Orange, Nov. 14, 1826; Rhoda, born Nov. 11, 1799. Hannah, born June 7, 1804; Reuben, born Feb. 24, 1742, died in Royalston, Feb. 24, 1826, at the age of eighty-four years; his only child a son died in Uxbridge, Mass. before the death of his parents; Martha, married Ephraim Hill, Oct. 29, 1789.
Elijah Walker, who came from Douglas to Royalston with his father Obadiah, was born May 17, 1756. He lived in the west part of Royalston and married June 4, 1782, Abigail Hill of Royalston. After he was seventy years old he would walk four miles to church. He died April 14, 1836 at the age of eighty. His children were: William, who went to Croydon, N. H .; James, who was born July 13, 1785 and married Sally Brewer, Nov. 26, 1807; she died in 1860 at the age of ninety- five. They had a son Elias, who had a son Errick D., who lived in Athol many years; Jonah, born Aug. 1, 1789, married Mary Swan of Richmond, N. H., July 23, 1813, daughter of Dr. Ebenezer Swan. They had a son Lyman, born March 16, 1814, who married, Oct. 15, 1835, Emeline Ingram of Amherst, Mass. He was a harness-maker, and removed to Fond du Lac, Wis., where he followed his trade. When the war broke out he enlisted in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, serving in the department of equipment. He had one daughter, Emiline Lisle, who was born while her parents resided in the old historic house celebrated as the birthplace of Rev. Hosea Ballou in Richmond, N. H. She was legally renamed Lisle Lester, was educated at Lawrence University, Wis., and became celebrated as a lecturer, elocutionist and journalist, and traveled extensively in this country and Europe. She was correspondent of London, New York and San Francisco papers and resided in New York engaged in literary pursuits. Lyman Walker, her father, died in Fond du Lac in 1883 at the age of sixty-eight years
THE BALLOU FAMILY
The Ballous of Royalston and Richmond, N. H., are descended from Maturin Ballou, a co-proprietor with Roger
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HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
Williams, the Colonial founder of Rhode Island, in the Providence Plantations. It is supposed that he was "the younger son of a younger son of a good family in Devonshire," England, born probably between 1610 and 1620, who like all the unendowed offshoots of feudal nobility had to seek his fortune for himself, and chose to emigrate to America. About the year 1767 a general interest had sprung up in the County of Providence R. I., in favor of emigration to Richmond, N. H., where considerable tracts of new land were offered for sale at temptingly low prices. Many farmers in Smithfield, Glocester, Cumberland and the neighboring towns, who had large families growing up to need homes or who otherwise desired to better their circumstances made haste to purchase those Richmond, N. H. lands, where small outlays would secure ample homesteads. Among these emigrants were several families of Ballous.
One of this company was Rev. Maturin Ballou of the fourth generation from the immigrant Maturin. He was a Baptist minister and was among the first, if not the very first, to preach the Baptist gospel in New Hampshire. He had eleven children, four of the six sons being distinguished preachers, Hosea Ballou, the youngest son being renowned as a cham- pion of Universalism wherever that creed or doctrine is known, and a grandson Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, was the first among his ministerial brethren to receive the title D.D., and first president of Tufts College.
From another of these Ballou families was descended Eliza Ballou, the mother of President Garfield, whose birth- place was just over the Royalston line in Richmond, and who belongs to the same branch of the family as those who are connected with Royalston history. Some of the most prominent and distinguished Royalston families are connected by marriage with the Ballous; these include the Bullocks, and the Bliss, White and Davis families.
The Ballous, who belong especially to Royalston history are the family of Luther Ballou, of the sixth generation from Maturin the immigrant.
Luther Ballou was born in Richmond, N. H., Sept. 7, 1797. He married Dec. 3, 1818, Clarissa Davis, daughter of Captain Joseph and Sophia (White) Davis, who was born in Royalston,
MRS. LUTHER BALLOU
LUTHER BALLOU
r
SOPHIA (BALLOU) MORANDI
ALMANDO BALLOU
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THE BALLOU FAMILY
March 11, 1797. They had twelve children, all of whom were born in Royalston ..
There are some remarkable circumstances connected with this family. Of the twelve children, all born of the same mother, all grew up to maturity without the occurrence of a single infantile death. The names of the seven daughters all end with the letter "a," and those of the five sons all end with the letter "o." The parents of these children were emi- nently worthy people, both descendants of a robust, intelligent ancestry - not professed church members, but exemplars of solid moral rectitude - Universalists in religious faith, hope and charity - industrious and economical farmers by occupa- tion, much attached to their rural home, and universally respected in the community. Their old homestead was in the extreme northwestern part of Royalston near the celebrated "Royal Cascade" or "Forbes Falls" as it is commonly known.
The children of Luther and Clarissa (Davis) Ballou are: 1. Sophia, born Sept. 22, 1819. She married Francis Morandi, Feb. 6, 1845, a son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Anderson) Morandi, born in Boston, Dec. 3, 1813. Mrs. Sophia and her husband were well matched. He began business as a boy in the office of the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, later learned the trade of a tinsmith, and still later rose to distinction as a hotel and house furnisher on an extensive scale. He was in that line of business for over half a century. The family home was long in Boston, then briefly in Wheeling, W. Va., and later in Malden, Mass., where Mrs. Sophia died Jan. 5, 1867.
2. Emeransa Ballou was born Sept. 10, 1821, and died unmarried in Malden, Jan. 12, 1875.
3. Almando Ballou, the oldest son, was born May 2, 1823. He married Mahalath Harkness, daughter of Elijah and Martha (Bassett) Harkness of Richmond, N. H., born in Richmond, N. H. Jan. 23, 1822. They were married Jan. 1, 1852, and had four children, one born in Boston, the others in Richmond. He was engaged in mercantile business in Boston from 1863 to 1871, when he moved to Philadelphia where he continued in business. His son, De Forest Ballou, Esq., of Philadelphia, said of his father: "My father was one of the old '49 adventurers who went to California in that year, and with his partner was the first to erect a frame building in
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Sacramento City. He also furnished the necessary lumber and erected the first church, as he calls it, in that city, by placing boards and boxes under a large tree, at which divine: services were first held in Sacremento, before any buildings had been erected there." He died Nov. 28, 1910.
4. Angelia Ballou was born Dec. 16, 1824; married Zachariah F. Young Jan. 1, 1850. He was born in Athol, March 10, 1821. They were married in Royalston by Rev. Norman Hazen. They had four children, all born in Fitch- burg, Mass.
5. Devillo Ballou, born Jan. 17, 1827; married Mary Cutler, Nov. 13, 1850. He was a commercial traveler, and died in Grant Park, Ill., May 30, 1877, leaving a widow and two daughters.
6. Lorenzo Ballou, born Nov. 29, 1828, married first, Mary A. Marshall, May 18, 1852. She was born in Boston, Dec. 16, 1833. They had three children. She died Sept. 16, 1861. He married second, Adelia M. Shedd, Feb. 3, 1864. She was born in Mason, N. H., May 5, 1835: they had one child. The family home was in Winchendon. Mr. Ballou died Nov. 6, 1894.
7. Autantia Ballou, born June 24, 1830, married George N. Goodspeed, Nov. 7, 1850; he was the son of Isaac and Lucy Wyman (Nutting) Goodspeed and was born in Hubbard- ston, Mass., Nov. 6, 1826. They had four children, all born in Winchendon. Mr. Goodspeed and partner were extensive manufacturers of tub, pail and chair machinery, etc., in Winchendon, under the firm name of Goodspeed & Wyman. Mrs. Goodspeed died Oct. 18, 1897.
8. Clarinda Ballou, born April 29, 1832, married David E. Whitney, May 6, 1857. They went west, settled in Anoka, Minn., on a farm, where Mr. Whitney died, leaving Mrs. Clarinda a widow with a son and two daughters.
9. Lorina Ballou, born Feb. 28, 1834, married Elisha W. Harkness, July 1, 1856; he was the son of Elijah and Martha (Bassett) Harkness, born in Richmond, Dec. 27, 1826. They settled in Hinesburg, Vt., where they had six children born to them.
10. Alphonso A. Ballou, fourth son of Luther and Sophia (Davis) Ballou, was born in Royalston, March 9, 1836. He married Sara A. Holton, daughter of Elihu and Edee Pres-
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THE BALLOU FAMILY
cott (Wright) Holton of Erving, Sept. 4, 1859. She was born in Erving, Aug. 12, 1840. They had a daughter, Madge Davenport, born May 16, 1870. When a young man he resided in Orange, where he was depot master, and enlisted in the Civil War in Company F, Fifty-second Mass. Regiment of which he was made first lieutenant, his regiment being assigned to the Department of the Gulf. On his departure for the war he was presented with a fine sword by the citizens of Orange. A year or two since he presented the sword to the Historical Society of Orange.
After the war he went to Grafton, Mass., where he was cashier of the First National Bank of Grafton for several years and held important town offices. About 1884 he went to Detroit, Mich., where he was treasurer and assistant manager of the Detroit Emery Wheel Co., and at the same time was director in one of the city banks for several years. After a residence of eighteen years in Detroit, owing to ill- health, he gave up business in 1902 and returned to Massa- chusetts, settling in Newton Centre. He now resides in Brockton, and is the only one of the large family of Luther Ballou now living.
11. Czarina Ballou, born May 15, 1838, married Harrison P. Goodspeed, June 9, 1857. He was a son of Isaac and Lucy Wyman (Nutting) Goodspeed and was born in Hubbard- ston, May 10, 1830. They had no children. Mr. Goodspeed was connected with the machinery business of Goodspeed & Wyman in Winchendon. Czarina Ballou Goodspeed died July 13, 1905.
Waldo Russell Ballou, youngest of the twelve children of Luther and Clarissa (Davis) Ballou, was born in Royalston, Feb. 13, 1845. When a young man he went to Winchendon, Mass., where he learned the machinist's trade with Goodspeed & Wyman. Afterwards resided in Malden and Orange, Mass. About 1880 he removed to Stamford, Conn., and entered the employ of the Gale & Towne Manufacturing Co., and was the superintendent of the lock department for several years. Was a member of the city government of Stamford for a number of years. He married, first, Sarah Scott Hathaway, Nov. 25, 1873. She died Dec. 29, 1883. They had two children: Harrison Hathaway, married and resides in Mam-
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aroneck, N. Y .; Jeannette Morandi, married Roy L. Whitney, M.D., resides in Waverley, Mass.
He married, second, Ella Jones. She died April 2, 1910, leaving no children. He died in Stamford, Conn., June 24, 1914.
Royalston people of the middle of the last century were familiar with Nancy Whipple, a descendant of the Ballou family, whose home was not far from Forbes Falls. She was a remarkable woman and was known far and wide as old Nance Whipple, the fortune teller. Rev. Albert Bryant, the poet of Royalston's Centennial, thus describes her:
"Ho, time is a Goblin, and awful the dance Whose mazes return not, but always advance, Through which his gay partners he gleefully whirls,
And to bald, shriveled crones turns the fairest of girls." So laughed the strange teller of fortunes, Old Nance.
She dwelt in a valley far over the hills,
Her two eyes were piercing, her accents were shrill, Through her town and our town wandered her fame,
Till the sage and the simple, and all ages came To learn of the future: five dimes was the bill.
One day in December the schoolmaster sat
By her wide chimney corner spellbound by her chat, As she told how a widow with plenty of gold, With houses, and acres, and beauties untold, Would be his for the asking - with never a brat.
Now fleeter and fleeter the swift moments flew,
The chimney was wide, and fierce the wind blew, The smoke and the ashes drew out and drew in,
And the schoolmaster fancied the dame was so thin, That he saw, for a moment, the firelight shine through.
The master was eager, the dame's tongue was brisk, His fortune grew larger - and lesser the risk,
Till his locks rose upright and he screamed to behold Old Nancy together like burnt paper rolled, And up the vast flue disappear with a whisk.
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THE BALLOU FAMILY
By the chimney still stands an empty arm chair, To attest that my story is truthful and fair;
What became of the master I never have known,
And, for aught I can tell the merry old crone Is completing his fortunes up in the air.
THE SHEPARDSON FAMILY
Among the old Royalston families that of the Shepardsons has a most remarkable record in the educational and minis- terial world, many of the sons and daughters of this family having become noted teachers, ministers and professors; and it is one of the very few of the older Royalston families where the old ancestral homestead is now owned and occupied by one bearing the old family name.
This family traces its American ancestry back to some time in the year 1628-9, when one Daniel Shepardson landed at Salem, Mass., being one of a numerous company who sought homes in America at that period of English history. A tradition indicates that this Daniel was accompanied by his brother John, who was very soon killed in a dispute by a spade thrown at him by an adversary.
The location of "Old Naumkeag" did not suit some of the immigrants, who moved to Charlestown, where Daniel Shepardson is recorded as a citizen in 1632. He was not one of the wealthy members of the Puritan body, but was a craftsman-a blacksmith by trade. He removed to Malden, where he died July 26, 1644, leaving a son Daniel and two daughters.
2. Daniel Shepardson, son of (Daniel) succeeded his father as blacksmith at Malden. He was baptized June 14, 1641. He married April 11, 1668, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Call, Sr., and widow of Mr. Samuel Tingley of Malden. Toward the end of his life he moved to Attleboro, Mass., where he was known as "old goodman Daniel Shepard- son." He had three sons and three daughters.
3. Nathaniel Shepardson, youngest son of (Daniel2) was born Oct. 28, 1680. He may have moved from Attleboro to Rehoboth, Mass., where two of his children were baptized,
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HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
although all are recorded as born in Attleboro. He had three sons and two daughters.
4. Jonathan Shepardson, oldest son of (Nathaniel), was born Sept. 20, 1706. He lived in Attleboro, Mass., and may have spent some time in Cumberland, R. I., before settling in Templeton, Mass. He married Abigail Fuller, May 9, 1730. They had six children. He died in Templeton in 1790.
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