USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III > Part 124
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raise twenty pounds per annum, and put it with certain segregated lands in the hands of trustees to be improved for the school. This was the first free school in Massachusetts supported by a tax. In 1630 Thomas Wight with others was deputed by the town to attend to the erection of a village for the Indians at Natick. As early as 1649 he be- came interested in the movement for dividing Ded- ham, which resulted in the formation of Medfield. In 1649 he was chosen one of the committee to fur- ther this project. In May, 1650, he was chosen one of the committee of five to assist and direct the measurer in laying out house lots in Medfield and collect the fees for said work; also to be present with two others at the laying out of the line betwixt Dedham and Medfield; also one of a committee of six to lay out highways. In 1650 Medfield became a town, and later Thomas Wight removed his family thither. The valuation of property in the town of Medfield in 1652 shows that Thomas Wight was the wealthiest citizen there, his valuation be- ing three hundred and twenty-two pounds. In 1050, 1653, and at subsequent times, he had grants of land allowed him by the town. He served as selectman in 1654-55-59, and every year following to 1674 (nineteen years) the last being the year of his death. He was a leading member in the Medfield church, and in 1661 it became his duty to assist in seating people in the meeting house; in 1667 he is mentioned as a deacon in the church. He seems to have taken much interest in the future of Medway. In 1639 he received a grant of fifteen acres on the west side of Charles river, and in 1660 one hundred and sixty-six acres, the largest except two of forty-seven proprietors. Thomas Wight and all his surviving sons in Medfield, and his son-in-law subscribed for building the new brick college at Cambridge, now known as Harvard Uni- versity. From what the records show, Thomas Wight was an active man whose heart was right, and whose works were good and long enduring. His service of twenty-five years as selectman is a testimonial to his ability and fidelity and the confi- dence reposed in him by his fellow eitizens. Of his first wife little is known. The Dedham records show that she was received into the church 6th day, 7th mo. 1640. The Medfield record give the date of her death July 15, 1665. Thomas Wight married (second) Lydia, widow of James Penni- man, of Boston, and sister of John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, and daughter of Bennett Eliot. The children of Thomas and his first wife Alice were: Henry, John, Thomas, Mary, Samuel and Ephraim.
(II) Sergeant Henry, eldest child of Thomas and Alice Wight, settled with his parents in Ded- ham, in 1637. He became a member of the church August 14, 1646, and was admitted freeman May 26, 1647. He remained in Dedham when the re- mainder of his father's family removed to Med- field. He is first mentioned in Dedham records in connection with town affairs in 1653, having been appointed to the discharge of a town office. In 1658 he was made constable by the general court. He was selectman for ten years, his first service being in 1661, and he held that office at his death. In 1665 the record shows he received a grant of one hundred and twenty acres of land from the town, a grant of unusually large size for which no reason is assigned. On February 24, 1673, he was one of three citizens of Dedham appointed to lay out a house lot for Rev. Samuel Mann, at W'ren- tham, and to take care about the church lot there.
He is mentioned in his father's will as "my eldest son," "my well beloved son," and is appointed one of his executors. He received by this will all his father's "houses and lands lying and being in Ded- ham." This device included the original grant of twelve acres from the town to Thomas Wight. He died intestate, February 27, 16So, leaving an estate valued at five hundred and twenty-four pounds and one shilling. He married, about 1652, Jane Goode- now, of Sudbury, who- joined the church June 12, 1653, and died in Dedham, May 16, 1684. Her estate inventoried sixty-two pounds, eight shilling and three pence. The children of this union were: John, Joseph, Daniel, Benjamin, and Jonathan, whose sketch follows.
(III) Jonathan (1), youngest child of Henry and Jane (Goodenow) Wight, was born July 2, 1662, and removed from Dedham to Wrentham, where he died intestate, March 20, 1719. He mar- ried, August 19, 1687, Elizabeth Hawes, of Wren- tham. She married (second). February 20, 1722, Samuel Bullard, of Dedham. She must have lived to extreme old age, as a deed of release of dower interest in her first husband's property was dated April 2, 1764, seventy-seven years after her first marriage. The children of Jonathan and Elizabeth, all born in Wrentham, were: Jeane Elizabeth, Me- hitable, Marah, Jonathan and Saralı.
(IV) Jonathan (2), fifth child and only son of Jonathan (1) and Elizabeth ( Hawes) Wight, was born in Wrentham, January 6, 1700, and resided in Wrentham, where all his children were born. He married there (first), February 13, 1721, Jemima Whiting. She died June 24, 1754, the mother of ten children. Jonathan married (second), December 5, 1754, Mrs. Jerusha George. His will was made March II, 1773. He died March 26, 1773, and his will was probated April 9, 1773. Jerusha's will was made May 22, 1792; its probate February 5, 1793. approximates the date of her death. Jonathan's chil- dren were: Jonathan, Jemima, Benjamin, Joseph, Eliphalet, Elizabeth, Susannah, Timothy, Zubial, Olive, Jerusha and Matilda.
(V) Joseph (1), fourth child and third son of Jonathan (2) and Jemima (Whiting) Wight, was born in Wrentham, December 29, 1729. He, like his father, is mentioned as a yeoman. In 1781 he with some of his sons, perhaps, prospected at New Marblehead (Windham), Maine. From 1781 till the fall of 1783 his movements are variously reported. It is certain however that in November, 1783, he removed with all his family except his son James to Otisfield, Cumberland county, Maine, where he settled upon "a beautiful ridge of land near the centre of the town." a portion of which is still owned by his posterity. His account book shows that he was ready to turn his hand to many things required in new settlements, such as making surtouts, waistcoats, bearskin muffs, boots and shoes. lle was also a farmer, and part proprietor of a saw mill upon Saturday pond. The dates in his account book extend from 1785 to 1794. He married first, in Wrentham, September 22, 1755. Abigail Farring- ton. of the same place, who died there August 25, 1758, aged twenty-two. He married second, in Wrentham. June 9. 1763, Abigail Ware, who was born December 15, 1740. The family of Joseph was uncommonly hardy and athletic. Although school privileges were scant in those days they contrived to acquire a fair education and to accumu- late good estates. They were influential in the com- munity where they resided. and were always re- spected and trusted. The children of Joseph, all
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but the first two by the second wife, were: Child ( stillborn ), Joseph, Benjamin, Abigail, James, Thomas, Nathan, Warren and Jonathan.
(VI) Dr. Joseph (2), second child of Josephi (1) and Abigail ( Farrington) Wight, was born August 10, 1758, and volunteered at Wrentham about May 1, 1775, with Captain Oliver Pond in Colonel Joseph Read's regiment for eight months in the revolutionary war. He was continued in the service by successive re-enlistments until No- vember, 1779, when he was taken prisoner and kept in confinement at New York until November, 1780. Being then exchanged he re-enlisted, and was dis- charged as a corporal after four years' service. He is said to have been present at the battle of Bunker Hill and at the surrender of Burgoyne. It is also stated that he was an assistant surgeon on ship- board at some period during the war, and there learned to perform simple surgical operations. Dur- ing his later life he was a practicing physician of the botanic school, and is distinguished by his de- scendants as Dr. Joseph. In 1784 he with his wife settled in Otisfield and lived near his father. In 1799 he resided in Raymond, and died in Casco, November 27, 1846, aged eighty-eight. He married. in Wrentham, August 4. 1783, Olive Mann, of that place, who was born in Worcester, January 17, 1704. She died in Casco ( formerly Raymond ), April 28, 1867, aged one hundred and three years. Their chil- dren were: Virgil, Abigail Farrington, Horatio, Roxy, Calista, Barclay, Nelson, Patience, Marcus, Joseph and Kaphira. The latter was living in 1907.
(VII) Barclay, sixth child and fourth son of Joseph (2) and Olive ( Mann) Wight, was born in Otisfield. Maine, September 15, 1796. He was a farmer in Casco, where his children were born, and where he died November 2, 1884, aged eighty- eight. He was a citizen of influence, and held town offices. When eighty-eight years of age, in 1884, he returned from a visit to his son Edward MI., to Gorham, New Hampshire, to vote for James G. Blaine for president, who he considered the greatest man in the United States. Near the close of his life he became a member of the Adventist Church. He married, at Casco, October, 1826, Ann May- berry, who was born December 11, 1804, and died June 1. 1877. daughter of Major Daniel and Betsey (Nash) Mayberry. Their children were: Marion, Alfred, Martha Mayberry, Edward Mayberry, Daniel Webster, Joseph Erastus, and Annie May- berry.
(VIII) Edward Mayberry Wight, M. D., fourth child and third son of Barclay and Ann ( May- berry ) Wight, was born in Casco, Maine, October 5, 1834. He possesses a good practical literary edu- cation which he acquired principally through his own efforts, so far as providing means was con- cerned. He was an earnest, diligent student, and after getting through the common and high schools of Ca-co he was qualified to teach. With thorough training for one of his years, and with a voice of unusual power and compass, he taught singing school with success as well as public school, the field of his labors being in the vicinity of his home. In 1856, being then twenty-two years old, he be- gan the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. F. D. Lord, of Casco, Maine, which he con- tinued under .Prof. T. A. Childs, of Pittsburg, Mas- sachusetts. He entered the Maine Medical School at Brunswick, Maine, where he passed three full terms, and thence to Berkshire Medical School at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he studied one term. Ile then had the advantage of a part of a
term at the Harvard Medical School. In order to attain a degree of proficiency in surgery satisfac- tory to himself, he spent a year longer in the schools then was necessary to graduate. In the two first named schools he was made prosector. and acquitted himself with credit. He was as- sistant demonstrator and director of anatomy for Professor Conant, who said it was the best diction he ever saw presented. In 1861 he began practice in Casco. Knowing that battles of the Civil war then raging were rending and tearing in a thousand dif- ferent ways the forms of untold thousands of men, and feeling that he could gain knowledge and at the same time be of use in the alleviation of suffering in the Union hospitals, he went to Virginia, and spent the wnter of 1862-63 in the army hospitals along the Potomac. On his return he continued his practice at Casco until 1865, and then removed to Gorham, New Hampshire, where he has since resided. He is an excellent surgeon and has a large practice including both minor and major cases throughout a large region of country. It has been said of him "He has the hand of a woman and the heart of a lion, two necessary qualifications in a surgeon." As a physician he has a large and successful practice. He has one of the largest private libraries in the state, consisting of medical and other scientific works and standard fiction, often burns the midnight oil, and is always well read in the literature of his profession. Like many other men of his vocation, he is a much better practitioner than debt collector, and has done a great amount of professional work which was really "charity practice," giving away his skill and medicine where a keen collector would have accumulated a small fortune by requiring payment for what his patients got. He is a member of the American Medical Association, and of Tyrone Lodge, No. 73, Free and Accepted Masons, Mechanics Falls, Maine, and Berlin Lodge, Knights of Pythias of Berlin. He married, February II, 1863, Josephine Maria Nut- ting, who was born in Otisfield, July 12, 1840, daughter of Nathan and Dorcas Ann Whitmore ( Chadbourne) Nutting, of Otisfield. She was a well known musician and successful music teacher in her early life. Seven children have been born to them: Edward Archer, Edith Andrew, Ralph How- thorne, Josephine Louise, Leon Delmont, Hattie May, and Lawrence Norman.
Edward A., born November 28, 1864, in Casco, is a physician in Harristown, Maine. Edith A., January 28, 1867, married Adelbert Leavitt and resides at Gorham, New Hampshire. Josephine L., January 29, 1872, died young. Leon D., November 19, 1874, was an oculist in Auburn, Maine, died August 3, 1907. Hattie M., January 21, 1878, married Rev. Charles P. Marshall, and resides in Westfield, Massachusetts. Lawrence N., February 22, 1881, graduated from Bates College in 1907. Now a tutor in Browns University, Rhode Island. Politically the Doctor was formerly an Abolitionist and later a Lincoln Republican.
The word in Scotch means "a messuage,
TAFT or dwelling and ground for household uses." It seems nearly akin to the Eng- lish "toft." which means either a grove of trees, or "a place where a messuage has stood, but is decayed." It has also been claimed that the name is Irish, because there is a well known family in Ireland called Teafe, or Taffe, or Taff, or Taaf. However the name is spelled, the pronunciation is uniform and monosyllabic. The Taft family has had many distinguished representatives in this coun-
E. M. Night U. D.
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try. notably the eminent statesman, William H. Taft. Most of the Tafts in America are deseended from Robert, who came here in 1675.
(1) Robert Taft (or Taaffe, as the name was originally spelled ), was born in Ireland about 1640, and died in Mendon, Massachusetts, February 8, 1725. The Taft families of America are descended from Robert Taft and a relative, Matthew Taft, who settled near Robert some years later. Both were Protestant Irish by birth. The name does not appear in Scotland in any form, and only in Eng- land apparently among descendants of the Irish family. The name has been spelled in Ireland for some centuries, Taaffe. It is true that the Tafts were associated with the Scotch-Irish just as many English were.
Sir William Taaffe (or Taft), a knight of the Protestant faith, was among the grantees at the time of the Scotch emigration and settlement in Ulster Proviner, Ireland, by order of King James. In 1610 he received a grant of one hundred acres of land in the parish of Castle Rahen, in county Cavan. The total grants in this parish amounted to three thousand nine hundred and ninety aeres, of which Sir Thomas Ashe held one thousand five hundred aeres, and in 1619 he also held this grant of Tafts and one thousand five hundred in the adjoining parish of Tullaghgarvy. On Taft's land there was "an old castle new mended, and all the land was inhabited by Irish." It seems reasonable to suppose that Sir William Taft's sons settled on this grant. Perhaps Sir William remained in Louth. At any rate, this is the only family who had any relations with the Scotch-Irish settlers whom Robert and Matthew Taft seem to have connected with in some way. County Louth, the Irish home of the Tafts, is on the northern coast, bounded on the north by Armagh in Ulster, on the east by the British channel, and on the south by the Boyne. It is in the province of Leinster, and was established as a county in 1210.
The earliest record of Robert Taft is in Brain- tree, where he settled for a time before going to Mendon. He had property and acquired large tracts of land. He was of high standing in the town and church. He was elected on the first board of selectmen, January 3, 1680, and appointed by the church April 4, 1680, on the committee to see that the house for the minister was ready for occu- paney by Christmas. Robert and three sons built the first bridge across the river at Mendon to get across to their land on the west bank in 1709, and in 1720 the Tafts built the second bridge across the river. His house was at Fortfield, near Mendon pond, formerly known as Taft's pond, and he owned a very large tract of land in that vicinity, some of which is still in the hands of the lineal descendants. He was one of the syndicate of ten which bought the town of Sutton, March 10, 1713. Children of Robert and Sarah Taft were: Thomas, Robert, Daniel, Joseph and Benjamin. All lived in Mendon. (Robert and descendants receive notice in this article.)
(11) Thomas, son of Robert Taft, was born perhaps in Ireland, in 1671, and died in Mendon, 1755. He married Deborah Genery, daughter of Isaac Genery, of Dedham. Massachusetts, and set- tled on a part of the original Taft farm, where he was associated with his father and brothers. He died intestate, and his estate was administered in the Worcester county probate court. The adminis- trator's bond contains the signatures of his sons, Eleazer and Isaac Taft, dated June 16, 1757. The children of Thomas and Deborah Taft were: Jo-
seph, Sarah, Eleazer, Moses, Hannah, Rebecca, Deb- orah, Rachel, Martha, Isaac, and Susannah and Thomas (twins).
(I11) Joseph, eldest child of Thomas and Deb- orah (Genery ) Taft, was born May 26, 1693, per- haps in Dedham.
(IV) Alonzo, son of Joseph Taft, was probably a native of Mendon.
(V) Dr. Joseph, second son of Alonzo Taft, died in Weston, Massachusetts. No record of the name of his wife appears, but it is a matter of family knowledge that she survived him and mar- ried a Mr. Jones, and died in West Gouldsboro, Maine. Joseph Taft's children were : Joseph, Harriette, Francis, Ephraim Wales and Louisa.
(V1) Francis, son of Dr. Joseph Taft, was born March 13, 1793, in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and resided in West Gouldsboro, Maine, where he purchased and lived upon a farm until he died, July 22, 1872. He married Elizabeth Johnson.
(VII) Francis (2), second child of Francis (I) and Elizabeth (Johnson) Taft, was born Janu- ary 10, 1830, probably in West Gouldsboro, Maine, where he resided and was a man of prominence. He held the office of selectman 'and sheriff for a number of years, and was a member of the Ma- sonie fraternity. He died in 1875. He married Harriette Sargent, daughter of John West, of Franklin, Maine. She died in 1875. They were the parents of six children, namely : Henry Everett, Julia Elizabeth, Helen Frances, Mary Susan, John West and Edward Harvey. The first died at the age of thirteen years. The second became the wife of F. A. Noyes, of Sullivan, Maine. The third is a physician residing in Harding, Massachusetts, the wife of Ambrose Cleaver, and is house physician at the Medfield Insane Hospital. The third daughter married (first ) Charles A. Sherman, and (second) William Adams, of California, an artist of con- siderable note. John W. resides at Campello, Mas- sachusetts.
(VIII) Edward Harvey, son of Francis and Harriette ( West) Taft, was born at West Goulds- borough, Maine, January 22, 1869. He was edu- cated in the public schools, at the East Maine Con- ference and at Bueksport Academy. lle was gradu- ated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1896. Dr. Taft first practieed in Antrim, New Hampshire, and then for four years in the neighboring town of Bennington. He then moved to Milford, New Hampshire, where he has made his permanent home. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the Grange. He married, No- . vember 26, 1896, Gertrude Watkins, daughter of Frederick and Mary Watkins, of Nashua, New Hampshire. They have two children ; Pauline, born March 4, 1890; and Gwendolen, born August 26. 190.4.
( 11) Robert, second son and child of Robert (1) and Sarah Taft, was born in 1674. He settled on a part of his father's land, in what after- ward became Uxbridge, where he was a very influ- ential citizen, being chosen selectman in 1727 at the first March meeting and re-elected many times. His children, all born in Mendon, were: Elizabeth ( died young), Robert, Israel, Mary, Elizabeth, Alice, Eunice, John, Jemima, Gideon and Rebecca.
(1II) Israel, second son and third child of Robert (2) Taft, was born in Mendon, April 26. 1690, at the homestead, which was in that part of the town set off as Uxbridge. He afterward settled in Upton, the adjoining town. Mr. Taft was a very prominent and valued citizen. His
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will was made in 1752 and proved September 19, 1753. He married Mercy ( surname unknown), who survived him and married (second), October 2 (in- tentions dated 1753), Benjamin Green, of Mendon. She was the mother of nine younger Taft children who were born in Upton and probably of some others who were born in Uxbridge. Their children were : Priscilla, Huldah, Israel, Jacob, Elisha, Robert. Hannah, Stephen, Samuel, Mary, Margery, Silas (died young), Stephen (died young), Silas, Rachel and Amariah.
(IV) Silas, ninth son and fourteenth child of Israel and Mercy Taft, was born in Upton, where he made his home through life. No record appears of his marriage or death.
(\') Otis, son of Silas Taft, was born in 1783 and lived in Upton, Massachusetts, where his eight children were born. Otis Taft married Betsey Beal, daughter of Asa Beal, and they had: Eliza. Jane T., Abner Palmer, Mary A. E., Harrison Gray Otis, Silas S., Asa Beal and Elisha C. After the father's death at the early age of forty-four, the family moved to Uxbridge, then to Slaterville, Rhode Island, and about 1835 to Oxford, Massachusetts, and afterwards to Thread Village, where Elisha B. Crawford, who had married the second daughter, Jane T., was an owner in the mills. Otis Taft died at Northbridge, Massachusetts, November 19. 1827, but his widow survived her husband forty-six years, dying at Auburn, Massachusetts, March 20, 1883, at the advanced age of ninety-one.
(VI) Asa Beal, fourth son and seventh child of Otis and Betsey ( Beal ) Taft, was born January 16, 1826. at U'pton, Massachusetts, and died March 28, 1892. He began his first work in a cotton mill at the age of seven, and continued to work in this way, meanwhile attending the public schools, till the age of twenty. He then went to farming. in which occupation he spent his mature life. On May 26, 1847, Asa Beal Taft married Almira D. Corbin, daughter of Dexter and Cynthia Corbin, of Charl- ton, Massachusetts. She died April 30, 1897. They had two children : Arthur L., whose sketch fol- lows, and Willis Asa, born June 22. 1856.
.
(VID) Arthur L., eldest son of Asa Beal and Almira D. (Corbin) Taft, was born October 4, 1851, at North Oxford, Massachusetts. He attended the public schools, remaining on the homestead till twenty-one, when he entered a hardware store where he stayed four years. He left the store to enter the office of a mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, where he remained eight years or until he had mastered the business of manufacturing dress goods. From there he went to Cherry Valley and then to Dudley, Massachusetts, remaining in the latter place five years. In 1894 he came to Union, New Hampshire, where he leased a mill for five years, and began the manufacture of dress goods. Five years later he bought out the entire plant, which he has successfully conducted since than. In 1896 he built his present beautiful home, which is situated on an elevation overlooking the river and village, and cominanding an extended view of the moun- tains. Mr. Taft is a Republican in politics, attends the Congregational Church, and belongs to the Ma- sonic fraternity. On November 6, 1879, Arthur L. Taft marricd Nellie W., daughter of Harvey and Elmira (Chester) Dunham, who was born in Mans- field, Connecticut, March 1, 1861. She is the grand- daughter of Royal Dunham, who was born in 1785. Mr. and Mrs. Taft have three children: Cora May, born at East Douglass, Massachusetts, December 2, 1881, wh, married Frank L. Brackett and lives in
Conway, New Hampshire. Leroy Chester. August 22, 1890. Isabel, January 5, 1902.
That branch of the family of Taft in New Hampshire which has sprung from James Taft, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, has been established in this state more than a century. The prominent place which he took among the manufacturers and merchants of southwest New Hampshire has been sustained by his descendants who are mentioned in this article.
(I) James (I) Taft, born in Uxbridge, Massa- chusetts, June 13, 1780, died in New Ipswich, March 3, 1856, aged seventy-six. He began as an appren- tice to the tanner's trade at Petersham, Massachu- setts, in 1796, and in 1802 he established himself in the tanning business at New Ipswich. His tan- nery was at the foot of the hill south of the old cemetery, where the business was begun in 1787 by Jeremiah Pritchard. He also built a residence at New Ipswich. He commenced business in com- pany with Roger Chandler and Henry Isaacs in 1812, and removed to Mason village. This company built the first cotton factories in the village, and for several years made the spinning of cotton yarn their principal business, and some years after they introduced machinery for weaving cotton cloths. In the spring of 1837 he commenced business as a merchant, and continued until his death. He served several years as selectman. He married. in 1803, Hannah Proctor, who was born in Hollis, June 18, 1785, and died February 14, 1861. They had four children: Mary, Albert, George and James. The daughter died in June, 1828, aged twenty-two years. The sons resided in the village.
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