USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Antrim > History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families > Part 77
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WIER.
JEREMIAH WIER came here from Chelmsford, Mass., at what time it is impossible to tell, but not far from 1778. He built a small house on the north side of the road between Benjamin Kidder's and the Dustin Barrett place, - which house has been gone more than half a century; and the cellar, if there ever was any, is nearly filled up. Wier was, no doubt, of Scotch descent. A "Robert Weir," probably same name, was chairman of the selectmen of Londonderry, 1737-38. With different spellings the name appears often in the old Scotch records of that town. Adam and William " Wiar " signed the Association Test there. Jeremiah Wier married Esther Kidder of Chelmsford. They had five children, two or three of whom were brought with them here. Jeremiah was a soldier from Antrim in the Revolution for several years. He was at home on a furlough when peace was declared. He remained here the following winter and then returned to New York for his arrears of pay. The money could not be obtained till fall (1784), and, therefore, Wier let himself to work in the vicinity for the summer. In the autumn he re- ceived pay in full for his military service, making, together with the earnings of the summer, a handsome sum of money for those days. With this, he started for home. But he was never again heard from. It has always been supposed that he was robbed, and murdered to put him out of the way. There can't be much doubt of this. The widow subse-
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quently married Thomas Miller, moved to Hillsborough, and died on the Scott Moore place there about 1824, quite aged. It must not be inferred from Dr. Whiton's narrative that Wier was only here during the winter of 1783-84, though probably this was the only entire winter that he ever spent here. The children, soon after the loss of their father, seem to have returned to Chelmsford for a time. On coming back to Antrim, they were all save the youngest warned out of town, Nov. 29, 1788. The names are now given : -
1. LYDIA, [d. on town farm, unm., about 1858, aged 83.]
2. JEREMIAH, JR., [used to live with Dr. Cleaves. When the town farm was bought, he went at once there, and stayed through life. Was a cripple and had fits, but was a clever, kind-hearted man ; was a great worker, and when the county took the older paupers, the town would not let him go, but supported him till death, which occurred about 1864, at the age of 80 years. He never m.]
3. STEPHEN, [m. Susan Hathaway of Hillsborough. Soon after went to Greenwich, Mass., thence to the adjoining town of Enfield, where he d.]
4. ESTHER, [ m. 1st, James Tolbert ; 2d, Joseph Moore. Lived chiefly in Hillsborough.' They lived in old age a year or two in this town, thence went to the county farm, where she d. in 1872, aged about 90.]
5. MOSES PARKER, [was out in the war of 1812; afterwards served five years in the regular army. On return he m. Maria Cowdry of Hillsborough. Subsequently he went to Louisiana, and again entered the army. He d. in that place in the regular service in the year 1833.]
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WILCOX.
GEORGE WILCOX, son of Thomas and Mary (McDougal) Wilcox, was born in Sherbrooke, Canada, in 1806; married Mary A. Morrison of Peterborough, and came to Antrim from Peterborough, on to the Thomas Flint place, in 1873. They have two children: -
1. CHARLES F., [b. in Hancock in 1849 ; m. Thirsa Blake of that. town, and now lives in Ipswich, Mass. ]
2. NELLIE M., [b. in Peterborough in 1854.]
WILDER.
JAMES W. WILDER, son of Abel and Hannah (Green) Wilder, was born in Dublin in 1799; married, first, Mary R. Crombie of New Boston, and settled in that town, but after her death in 1832 he came to Antrim,
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and the next year, March 19, 1833, he married, second, Betsey Boyd. After some years he moved to Providence, Penn., where he died Dec. 14, 1876. By the first marriage there were three children, and by the second, seven.
1. JOHN C., [b. in New Boston in 1825; m. Annie V. Pearson of Boston, and d. in New York in 1869.]
2. JAMES W., [is now living unm. in California. ]
3. CHARLES S., [m. Lydia Wilson of Nashua, and lives in Law- rence, Kan.]
4. MARY E., [d. in childhood.]
5. SAMUEL N., [d. in 1868, aged 33.]
6. HARRIET N., [d. in 1853, aged 16.]
7. EVELINE M., [m. Henry Heermans in 1853, and lives in Prov- idence, Penn.]
8. CAROLINE F., [d. in infancy.]
9. GEORGE W., [b. in 1843 ; now lives in Providence, Penn.]
10. FRANCES C., [d. in 1875, aged 20.]
WILKINS.
Three brothers, William, James, and Enoch Wilkins, were sons of · Abial and Amy (Howard) Wilkins, which Abial Wilkins was son of Wil- liam Wilkins of English descent, whose mother, an excellent woman, lived in Salem, Mass. She was accused, when a girl, of being a witch; went home from church, and, when they followed her, her father fought them off with pitch fire-brands and saved his child. They came here from Mont Vernon, near the close of the last century.
WILLIAM WILKINS came to Antrim in 1798; settled at the foot of the sand-hill, living some years in a log house, and put up the present build- ings a few rods north of it. He married, first, Sarah Whipple of Hamil- ton, Mass., who died May 13, 1826, aged forty-six. He married, second, Elizabeth Hopkins, July 20, 1826. Mr. Wilkins died May 15, 1837, aged sixty-three. His second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkins, died in 1856, aged sixty-nine. His children were as follows, all but the last two being the children of his first wife : -
1. BETSEY, [b. July 8, 1798 ; d. in 1800.]
2. BETSEY, [b. July 28, 1801 ; m. Dea. Joel Wilkins, Dec. 21, 1820 ; d. Sept. 9, 1855.]
3. WILLIAM, [b. March 29, 1804 ; m. Zilpha Whittemore of Woodstock, Vt., and is now living in Alden, N. Y.]
4. LYDIA, [b. March 21, 1807; d. July 13, 1812.]
5. MELINDA F., [b. Feb. 2, 1819 ; m. William B. Curtis of An- · trim, Nov. 17, 1842.]
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6. MORRIS B., [b. in 1828 ; was a cripple, and d. April 21, 1858.] 7. MARIA E., [m. Mr. John Kidder, Sept. 8, 1857, and lives in Nashua.]
ENOCH WILKINS, brother of William, before mentioned, settled above the school-house in the extreme west of this town, some thirty rods north of the road now leading to Stoddard Box. Buildings are now gone. He married Sally Case. They had no children, but brought up the following : Hiram Fairfield, who married Fanny Peabody of Lynde- borough, moved from here to Stoddard in 1850, and then went West; and Jane P. Town, who came here from Lyndeborough in 1830, married Caleb Greene of Woonsocket, R. I., in 1847, and now lives in Lewiston, Me. Enoch Wilkins died very suddenly, June 13, 1851. His wife died Oct. 2, 1852. Each died at the age of seventy-five.
JAMES WILKINS, brother of William and Enoch, came here in 1799. He married Lydia Whipple, and on coming here they moved into a little hovel, built by Michael George, then standing a little toward the west of the subsequent site, while he put up the present house (Luther Wilkins's), which he completed in 1801. He died in 1803, in early life, just after his buildings were completed and part of his land cleared, leav- ing three children. His widow died Oct. 2, 1852, aged seventy. Chil- dren were three : -
1. JAMES, [b. in 1792, probably ; m. Mariam Harper, Sept. 8, 1818 ; moved to Reading, Vt., in November, 1820 ; was some time a school-teacher ; afterwards settled in Weston, Vt. He d. in September, 1832. Left children : George, James, Joel, William, Manly, Clark, Margaret, Sarah, and Walter.]
2. POLLY, [b. Aug. 27, 1796; m. Peter C. Atwood, Feb. 13, 1816, and moved, 1820, to Londonderry, Vt., where she d. Oct. 8, 1847.]
3. DEA. JOEL, [b. March 18, 1800 ; m. 1st, Betsey Wilkins, his cousin, Dec. 21, 1820, and lived on the homestead. She d. in 1855. Mr. Wilkins was appointed deacon in the Presby- terian Church in 1831, and was an excellent and popular man. In 1856, he m. 2d, Mrs. Hannah B. Crombie of New Boston, and d. Nov. 28, 1865, leaving children as follows, the youngest by the second wife : -
· Prynthia, (d. July 29, 1834, aged 9.)
Mark, (b. Jan. 2, 1822 ; m. 1st, Esther Robb of Stoddard. In 1861 he m. 2d, Marietta Tyler of Westford, Vt., a deaf-mute. He was also a deaf-mute, made so by scarlet fever in child- hood. He lived on the Stephen Butterfield place, which he
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and his brother, J. G. Wilkins, owned together. He d. Aug. 29, 1875, aged 53, leaving one child by the second wife, Betsey M., b. Jan. 12, 1866.)
Sarah E., (d. Feb. 18, 1844, at the age of 17.)
Joel N., (b. June 9, 1828 ; m. Mary E. Wright of Antrim ; is a mechanic, and lives in Clinton, having one child, George H., b. June 7, 1861.)
Mary E., (d. May 28, 1849, aged 18.)
James Grosvenor, (b. June 25, 1832. He is a deaf-mute and was educated at Hartford, Conn. ; m. Mary E. Pratt of Cam- bridge, Vt., who is also a deaf-mute, educated at Hartford. They live on the Stephen Butterfield place, having children : Gilmore G., b. March 15, 1864, drowned June 17, 1878 ; Mary Augusta, b. Oct. 16, 1868; Maria Belle, b. Sept. 21, 1874. He is a cabinet-maker by trade. Is a smart, intelli- gent, and good man.)
Lydia Sophia, (d. June 19, 1847, at the age of 13.)
Dr. George A., (b. March 9, 1836 ; studied at New Hampton, graduated at Albany Medical College, and settled in Hills- borough, where he d. very suddenly Nov. 1, 1856, during the first year of his practice. Was a young man of much promise.)
Luther M., (b. Oct. 4, 1838; m. Cathie C. Barney, April 4, 1870 ; is a shoemaker and lives on the old homestead, having one child, Eda M., b. Feb. 3, 1871.)
Henry E., (b. April 1, 1840 ; m. Henrietta Eaton of Wakefield, Mass., and is a druggist in Stoughton, Mass.)
Ida F., (b. Jan. 8, 1859.)]
MOSES WILKINS, son of Darius and Sarah (Dodge) Wilkins, came here and worked as an apprentice in building the Center Church. He married Sarah Miller of Peterborough, and put up the Capt. Smith build- ings, where he lived till 1834; then moved to the Cram place and lived there till 1846, when he went to Peterborough, where he died in 1868, aged sixty-two. She died Feb. 15, 1852, aged forty-six. Their children were :
1. SARAH, [b. in 1831 ; d. in childhood.]
2. SARAH JANE, [b. in 1834 ; m. George Howe of Peterborough, Oct. 9, 1851, and lived in Lynn, Mass., where she d. May 4, 1860.]
3. RUTH E., [b. in 1835 ; d. in 1852.]
4. CATHERINE M., [b. in 1837; d. at Peterborough in 1850.]
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5. CHARLOTTE M., [b. in 1843. She became second wife of Col. Charles Scott of Peterborough, Sept. 7, 1863. Col. Scott's first wife was drowned in the Potomac River, by the collision of the steamer " West Point " with the " George Peabody," Aug 13, 1862, being on her return from a visit to her hus- band then in the army.]
DR. LEVI W. WILKINS, son of Levi and Ann (McColley) Wilkins, was born in Merrimack in 1823; studied with Dr. Graves of Nashua, and took the degree of M. D. at Berkshire Medical College. He mar- ried Elissie Wakefield of Reading, Mass., in 1851, and came to North Branch in 1852, where he practiced eight years, living where David Sta- cey now lives. He afterwards went to Milford, where he had a large practice, but died of quick consumption in 1864. Two children survive, as follows : -
1. FRANK P., [b. June 12, 1854 ; now lives in Boston. ]
2. EVELYN E., [b. in 1857 ; now lives in Reading, Mass. ]
WILLEY.
ROBERT WILLEY, an emigrant from Ireland, came here as early as 1784, and was the first settler on the John Robinson farm west of the pond. He and his wife were among the original members of the Presby- terian Church. He left town in 1801. Nothing further can be learned about him ; but it is believed that his descendants are now living in Rochester, Vt. I find by records of New Boston that Robert Willey married Nabby Campbell in that town, Jan. 15, 1795. This was proba- bly a second wife.
WILSON.
The ancestor of the Antrim Wilsons was Rev. John, who came over with Gov. Winthrop in 1630. He had a grandson, Joseph Wilson, whose son James was born in 1703. James had a son, Capt. Jesse, a Revolu- tionary soldier, born Jan. 20, 1729. Capt. Jesse married Abigail Gage, settled in Pelham, and was father of Jesse of Antrim. This latter was born Feb. 24, 1768 ; came here in 1798, and bought the place then occu- pied by James Hall, a blacksmith, whose stand was a few rods north of where the East meeting-house was afterwards built. He married Patty Hall, who first came from Pelham to Antrim on horseback and waded across the Contoocook River, there being no bridge at that time. Mr. Wilson died of spotted fever, March 21, 1812, aged forty-two. His wife died Dec. 13, 1833, aged sixty-two. Their children are as follows : -
1. PATTY, [b. June 28, 1797 ; is still living unm. on the home- stead. ]
2. SOPHIA, [b. June 22, 1799; d. in infancy.]
3. SOPHIA, [b. April 5, 1801 ; m. Samuel Hosley of Hancock,
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April 13, 1824, and d. in 1871. She was mother of Hon. John Hosley of Manchester. ]
4. JESSE, [b. March 12, 1803 ; d. of spotted fever in 1812.]
5. LYDIA R., [b. June 20, 1805 ; m. Hon. Henry Parkinson of New Boston, Nov. 2, 1843, and afterwards moved to Nashua. He was recently killed by the cars. A trusted and good man.]
6. ABIGAIL G., [b. June 13, 1807 ; d. Oct. 13, 1863.]
7. JAMES MERRILL, [b. June 16, 1809 ; m. 1st, Achsah Bout- well, Dec. 25, 1834, who d. July 25, 1863, aged 49, and he m. 2d, Mrs. Eliza (Bullard) Burtt of Bennington, Nov. 28, 1865. He inherited the homestead, originally bought, to- gether with the Ladd place on which his father lived many years, situated some twenty rods west of the first. The buildings are now all gone, but Mr. Wilson, while living recent years on what was then the Dea. Barachias Holt place, adjoining, still retains the whole, which he has greatly improved. His children, all by his first wife, are thus : - Jesse W., (b. June 30, 1837 ; d. June 23, 1859.)
Martha A., (b. July 11, 1839 ; d. July 8, 1840.)
Charlotte A., (b. July 26, 1841 ; m. Allen L. Skinner, Dec. 31, 1868, and lives in Springfield, Mass., having children, Arthur J. and Henry J.)
James H., (b. July 18, 1844 ; is now living in Buffalo, N. Y. Is railroad engineer.)
Abby S., (b. July 28, 1847 ; m. James M. Gove of this town, Oct. 11, 1877.)
Frank J., (b. March 13, 1850 ; m. Junia E. Barker, Sept. 14, 1880 ; occupies the farm with his father.)
George C., (b. Nov. 1, 1854; now of Springfield, Mass. ; is engaged in mercantile pursuits.)]
ZADOK P. WILSON, son of James and Lucinda (Paige) Wilson, grandson of Capt. Jesse and Abigail (Gage) Wilson, and nephew of Jesse Wilson mentioned above, was born in Pelham, June 17, 1800 ; married Anna Richardson of Hudson, April 13, 1826, who died in that town in 1840. He married, second, Mrs. Abigail (Smith) Martin of Bed- ford, daughter of John Smith of Hudson, and came here, on to the Charles Wood place (now Levi Curtis's), in 1850; moved to Lempster in 1862, and thence to Sanbornton in 1871. Mr. Wilson died in 1879. He had children as follows, the youngest by the second marriage : -
1. FOSTER, [b. July 5, 1827 ; m. 1st, Maria Lovejoy ; 2d, Martha Trow.' Is superintendent of mills, Holyoke, Mass.]
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2. KIMBALL J., [b. Jan. 12, 1829; m. 1st, Marion Piper of Weston, Vt. ; 2d, Laura Fales of New York, 1868. Is super- intendent of asylum for poor, Tewksbury, Mass. ]
3. GEORGE L., [b. Nov. 5, 1831; m. a Miss Foster of Bristol ; lives in Rosemont, Minn.]
4. HENRY P., [b. Nov. 25, 1833; m. 1st, Mary F. Bailey of Manchester, Dec. 12, 1858; 2d, Augusta A. Philbrook of Concord, 1871 ; lives in Sanbornton.]
5. ANNA R., [b. July 1, 1836 ; m. James McClintock of Hills- borough. They live in Manchester. ]
6. ALLEN, [d. in 1840 in infancy.]
7. ABI, [b. in Hudson, Oct. 16, 1843; m. Dr. William Donol, and lives in Kansas.] .
SAMUEL WILSON was son of Robert and Nancy (Gregg) Wilson, and grandson of Robert. They were of the old Londonderry stock. Samuel came here from New Boston in 1817, put up a set of build- ings (now gone) on the south part of the Caleb Clark farm, and lived there many years. Afterward moved on to the old John Wallace farm near Reed Carr's, where he died April 4, 1855, aged eighty-eight. He married Sally Reed, daughter of Zadok Reed, who died Nov. 4, 1844, and their children were : -
1. ROBERT, [b. March 17, 1798 ; d. November, 1815.]
2. ALMIRA, [b. March 1, 1801; m. Andrew Silloway, 1840 ; moved to Canaan, where she d. December, 1863.]
3. LUCY REED, [b. July 2, 1809; m. Dea. Erastus Nesmith, April 22, 1830, and lives in Enfield.]
4. SAMUEL, [b. April 29, 1814 ; m. 1st, Rhoda Paige, who d. Aug. 3, 1859 ; 2d, Mrs. Persis Perrington, Feb. 21, 1861. Has no children.] '
5. ALBERT, [b. June 1, 1817 ; first called " Robert," but had his name changed to " Albert ; " m. Elizabeth Bowers; lived in Somerville, Mass .; d. December, 1872.]
6. SABRINA, [b. Aug. 9, 1824 ; m. Lyman Bowers ; lived and d. in Worcester, Mass. Her death was in January, 1859.]
7. ROXANNA, [b. June 26, 1829; m. Horace D. Northrop of Vermont; moved to Iowa, and d. January, 1857.]
JONAS WILSON came here from Carlyle, Mass. He built a house, probably in 1825, about forty rods southeast of school-house No. 6 ; was . a shoemaker ; after several years moved back to Massachusetts. He married Lydia Kidder, Dec. 31, 1818, and their children born here all died young except one : -
1. WILLARD H., [settled in Bedford, Mass., where he d. in 1860.]
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WITHERSPOON.
ALEXANDER WITHERSPOON was born in Chester in 1761 ; mar- ried Jane Starrett of Francestown, March 20, 1788, who died March 28, 1810 ; settled on the Samuel Tuttle place in 1787, but in a few years moved on to the Artemas Brown place, and died in 1848, aged eighty- seven. · His children were : -
1. POLLY, [b. Aug. 2, 1789 ; m. David Paige, Dec. 11, 1812, and had a large family ; d. in 1873.]
2. JOHN, [b. Jan. 11, 1791. He enlisted in the war of 1812. It was said that he deserted; but this is by no means cer- tain. His fate was never known. The report that he " set- tled after the war in Maine, and raised a large and respec- table family," lacks confirmation.]
3. ISABEL, [b. July 3, 1793 ; d. Oct. 6, 1800.]
4. JOSEPH S., [b. March 17, 1796 ;. d. Oct. 8, 1800.]
5. ABIGAIL S., [b. Dec. 26, 1799; d. Oct. 2, 1800.]
6. ACHSAH, [b. Feb. 8, 1801; m. Charles Guild and lives in Concord.]
7. CHARLOTTE P., [b. April 16, 1803 ; m. Robert Todd of New London ; d. Oct. 16, 1875.]
8. LOUVICY R., [b. Feb. 6, 1805 ; d. June 10, 1824.]
9. JANE S., [b. Sept. 12, 1807; lives unm. in Nashua ; name changed to " Atherton."]
10. JOSEPH S., [b. March 8, 1810 ; had his name changed to " Atherton ; " m. Hilenia C. Houston of Hillsborough, March 7, 1837, and lived with his father. He was a pecu- liarly pious and promising man, and d. greatly lamented in 1845, in the prime of life. His widow m. Joshua Chamber- lain and moved to Nashua in 1849, where she still lives. Mr. Atherton's children were : -
Lorenza Anna, (b. in 1837 ; m. Charles B. Wright of Boston.) Hilenia J., (b. in 1839 ; m. Hiram F. Barney of Nashua.)
Emily Frances, (b. in 1841.)
John Mason, (b. in 1843 ; m. Martina L. Greeley, and d. in 1872.)]
WOOD.
CHARLES WOOD, son of Samuel and Hannah (Webster) Wood of Methuen, was born in that town in 1770 ; came to Antrim in 1789 or earlier ; married Jennette Steele, daughter of James Steele, Sen., and began the Henry Barker farm, which he exchanged for the Levi Curtis farm the next year. This latter farm he cleared, and he lived there until
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his death, Jan. 16, 1848. He was a strong man, but had forty fevers. His wife died May 1, 1846, aged seventy-four. Their children were : -
1. DEA. SAMUEL, [b ¿Aug. 17, 1801; m. Margaret Bell, Dec. 24, 1833, and settled on the Daniel Brown place (house built in 1827), where he lived until his death, Nov. 24, 1876. He was appointed deacon in the Presbyterian Church in 1852. Dea. Wood was a man of the old style, simple in his habits, a great worker, firm in his convictions, having an opinion of his own but modest and manly in the expression of it, a stout Presbyterian, and a straightforward member of the ses- sion for twenty-four years. It would be hard to find a bet- ter man. Was very lame for many years, but was active in business till near the end. His children are : -
Margaret Jane, (b. Oct. 29, 1834 ; m. Daniel J. Parkhurst.) Mary Eliza, (b. Dec. 15, 1837; m. Chester A. Appleton of West Deering. )]
2. ELIZA, [b. March 4, 1805 ; m. Lyman Dow, Feb. 11, 1836, and d. Aug. 16, 1842.]
3. JAMES, [b. Sept. 11, 1811; m. Harriet J. Taft of Weld, Me., June 14, 1836, who d. in 1872, leaving no children. March 13, 1873, Mr. Wood m. Mrs. Margaret (Boyce) Goodwin, and they have one child : -
Harriet J., (b. April 15, 1874.)
Mrs. Margaret (Goodwin) Wood has children by her pre- vious marriage as follows: Millie J. Goodwin, who m. W. A. Barker, and lives in Nashua; Nelson O., now of this town ; Charles A. ; William B. ; and Lilla M., who lives with her mother. James Wood moved on to the Campbell place in 1850, and still occupies the same.]
CHARLES A. WOODS, son of Asa and Polly (Laton) Woods, and grandson of Jonas and Lydia (Hobart) Woods of Hollis, was born in Nashua, Nov. 19, 1831. He married Adeline R. Barker of Antrim, July 3, 1854, and lived awhile in Nashua ; came here in 1859, and lived two or three years in South Village : moved to Windsor in May, 1862 ; thence, in 1869, to Hillsborough, in which last town they still reside. Their chil- dren are as follows : -
1. ADDIE E., [b. in Antrim, April 25, 1859.]
2. CHARLES O., [b. in Windsor, April 7, 1863.]
WOODBRIDGE.
GEORGE B. WOODBRIDGE, son of Osgood and Hannah (Stevens)
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Woodbridge, was born in Andover, Mass., in 1820 ; married his cousin, Elizabeth Woodbridge of that town, and came here from Greenfield on to the Dea. Baldwin place in 1872. Has recently moved to Bennington. They have but one child : -
1. GEORGE, [b. in Francestown in 1861.]
WOODBURY.
JOHN WOODBURY was the first of the name who came (1624) to America. In 1627, he brought over his son Humphrey. About 1631 his brother William came over. A deposition of Humphrey, taken fifty years after, states that when his father first came over to Cape Ann, in 1624, he traveled up with him from Somersetshire to Dorchester ; but how long John had lived in Somersetshire is not certain. The earliest notice of the family describes them seated in the parish of Woodbury, hundred of East Budleigh, county of Devon. The exchequer records, " Testa de Nevill," covering A. D. 1216 to 1308, record William de Wodeberie as holding lands in "Wodebere," in " Esse and Brigeford." We also find the name of Roberto de Wodeberie (knight) as the witness to a deed A. D. 1241; and in the reign of Edward, David de Wodeberie as a grand juror. In the following century, the tax-lists disclose the names of John, Nicholas, Alicia, and Walter in the same neighborhood. A later William was lord prior of Worcester in 1515. The name, before this, ceases to be found around Woodbury, and appears in Burlescombe, in the hundred of Bampton, Devon, where, in 1543, we find John and Nicholas Wodbeire taxed on their lands, and Jacob Wodbeire on his goods. This John had a son, John Woodbury, Jr., who, according to the records of that parish, "intermarred with Jane Humffrys June 2, 1596." They had two daughters born in that parish and in that century. The age of this John, Jr., and several other probabilities, concur to iden- tify him with the emigrant to New England, and, unless positive proof shall be found in Somerset of his birthplace elsewhere, it may be conclu- sively assumed. The name Woodbury is derived from the Danish woden, and in the Anglo-Saxon is a compound of wode, meaning " mad or furi- ous," and bury, or byrig, equivalent to German burgh or our borough. Woodbury castle is an old Danish earthwork, extant, on a hill in the parish to which it gave its name long before the Norman conquest. The spelling of the name, whether indicating the parish or the family, has curiously varied with the fashion, in each century,. but has been spelled substantially alike at every epoch.
John Woodbury came to Cape Ann in the year 1624, in the employ- ment of a company for settling, fishing, and trading in New England, called the " Dorchester Company," of which the Rev. John White of Dorchester, England, was an active instrument. Lord Sheffield, within whose limits Cape Ann lay, agreed, under seal, with Messrs. Winslow and Cushman and their associates, known as the "Dorchester Company," to permit them to settle certain lands in Gloucester Harbor, and, when he got his own title, to convey the same to the actual settlers. On this foundation, the " Dorchester Company " sent out vessels with settlers and
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cattle to carry on agriculture and fishing. The site, however, proved un- favorable to each branch of the enterprise, and in 1626 a greater part of the adventurers retired. Rev. John White with a few others resolved to continue the enterprise, and offered to procure for the old planters, Conant, Woodbury, Balch, and Palfrey, grants of land at Naumkeag, now Salem, and to send them such men, provisions, and goods, as they desired, to trade with the Indians. They accordingly removed to Naumkeag with their stock, in 1626, and in the autumn of 1627 sent John Woodbury to England to complete arrangements with the new company for carrying on the plantation. He remained in England about six months, and returned the following June with his son Humphrey, "bringing a com- fortable answer." In 1630 the general court of the company made a general levy of taxes. Not having made any county or town government, it created the office of constable, the duties of which were to assess, col- lect, and disburse taxes, record deeds, bounds of land, etc. John Wood- bury of Salem, and Stoughton of Dorchester, were selected for this office. It is uncertain how long he occupied the office, but when the town record begins, in 1634, he appears, trusted in many local affairs. In May, 1635, he was sent to the general court as deputy for Salem, and again in Sep- tember. He was also one of the overseers to lay out and make grants of land. In November of 1635, Salem granted two hundred acres of land each to the old planters, Woodbury, Conant, Balch, and Palfrey of Naum- keag, to be laid out at " Bass river head," in what is now Beverly. Wood- bury, with Balch, surveyed this land, part of which is still in the posses- sion of his descendants. In 1636 he was one of the selectmen, and was on a committee regarding the site of a college, then meditated by Salem. In 1637, he was again a selectman, and one of the deputies to the general court. In 1638 he was again deputy, was on the committee of valuation and distribution of rates and taxes, and on a committee of contract to build a church in Salem, which church is now in existence. He and his wife Agnes were both members of the first church. From this time until his death his name is prominent in various offices, but Dec. 3, 1641, was his last appearance at the meeting of the board of selectmen. Es- sex Institute's Collections, Vol. I., p. 150, title " The Old Planters," has the following : "Mr. Woodbury, after a life of energy and faithfulness to the interests of the Colony, died in 1641. We do not know his age, but probably not much above sixty years. He was called 'Father Wood- bury,' however, as early as 1635, which may have been a title due him as one on whom many leaned for counsel and advice."
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