USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume IV > Part 64
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Children of Thomas Furber of Portsmouth and Sarah Frost Blunt: I. Wallis, born Sep- tember, 1776, died October 27, 2. Will- iam, born November 17, 1767, died March 18, 3. Abigail, born September 22, 1769, died September 15, 1771. 4. John D., born May 17, 1772. 5. Thomas Blunt, born May I, 1774, died in Philadelphia, January 12, 1856; he was admitted to communion in Old Pine Street Church, Philadelphia, under pas- torate of Rev. Dr. Thomas Brainard, December 13, 1855.
(VI) Thomas Blunt Furber for many years was called the "Merchant Prince of Boston." He married (first) Elizabeth Green Foster, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1800. She died in Boston in 1832. She had eight chil- dren, all dying in youth, excepting Frederick, born 18II, in Boston, graduate of Harvard College, 1831, who died in Boston, in 1836. Sarah, born 1818 in Boston, died in Philadel- phia, May 7, 1886, aged 68 years. Thomas Blunt Furber married (second) Harriet Mar- tin of Morristown, New Jersey, in 1835. She died in 1840, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Their children were: I. Edward Martin Furber, born in Boston, January 1, 1837, died in Mer- chantville, New Jersey, August 15, 1881. 2. Caroline Elizabeth Furber, born in Boston, 1839 ; is living in Philadelphia.
(VII) Edward Martin Furber, only son of Harriet (Martin) Furber and Thomas Blunt, was born in Boston, January 1, 1837, died at
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his residence in Merchantville, August 15, 1881. He married, in Philadelphia, October 15, 1862, Mary Copeland, born January 31, 1843, who is still living at her residence in Merchantville, New Jersey. (Copeland VI.) She was third daughter of William Copeland and his wife Martha (McCracken) Copeland. Children of Edward Martin Furber and Mary (Copeland) Furber: I. Thomas Blunt Fur- ber, born May 30, 1863, in Philadelphia ; mar- ried America Smith, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, 1888. 2. William Copeland Furber, born in Philadelphia, June 24, 1866. 3. Sarah Yard Furber, born in Merchantville, January 15, 1872. 4. Edward Lewis Furber, born in Merchantville, October 24, 1873, drowned in Pensauken creek, August 25, 1881.
(VIII) William Copeland Furber, son of Edward Martin Furber and Mary (Copeland) Furber, was born in Philadelphia, June 24, 1866, and was educated in the public schools of Merchantville, New Jersey, and in the Spring Garden Institute of Philadelphia. He served on the engineer corps of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co., the Northern Pacific R. R. Co., and in the engineering departments of the Indianap- olis Decatur and Western R. R. Co., and the Lake Erie and Western R. R. Co. He was afterwards a member of the engineering staff of Elmer L. Corthell and John F. Wallace, consulting engineers, of Chicago. Returning east he took up the study of architecture. In 1890 he was appointed architect and engineer for the Kenova Association, of Kenova, West Virginia, where under his direction, extensive improvements were carried out in the develop- ing of the town site of Kenova, and in the erec- tion of hotels, stores, dwellings, etc. In 1893 he joined the staff of Cope & Stewardson, architects, Philadelphia, and had charge of the construction of several large commercial build- ings, and the University of Pennsylvania dor- mitories. In 1895 Mr. Furber engaged in the practice of architecture in Philadelphia, and since then has devoted himself to the above work exclusively, giving particular attention to the architectural work in which the problems of engineering are involved. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, charter member of the American Institute of Architects, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolu- tion, Philobiblon Club, Engineers' Club, the Business and Professional Club of Philadel- phia, and the New Jersey Society of Pennsyl- vania.
(The Pepperrell Line).
The suggestion of old histories and by- gone traditions which linger around the Pep- perrell House give to it a romantic inter- est scarcely approached by any other New England homestead. The founder of the Pep- perell House, though born in England, was of Welsh descent. The time of his coming to the coast of Maine is a matter of uncertainty, but at the age of twenty-two he settled on the Isle of Shoals, near Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, where he formed a partnership with Mr. Gibbons, of Topsham, England. Buying out his partner, he removed to Kittery Point, Maine. While at the Isle of Shoals he fre- quently transacted business with John Bray, a fellow countryman who had settled at Kit- tery Point, near the mouth of the Piscataqua river, where in about the year 1660 he built the Bray House, a fine, substantial mansion which is still standing, and in which William Pepper- rell wooed, won, and married John Bray's daughter Margery, then but nineteen years of age. (See "Pepperrell House," by Charles Dunn, Jr., also Pine Tree Magazine, October, 1906.) John Bray being the pioneer in ship- building at Kittery Point, William Pepperrell became associated with him, and Pepperrell's success with his first ship, which he sent on a voyage to Spain, was such that John Bray's disapproval and opposition to the marriage was removed and he gave the young couple, in 1678, the tract of land on which the Pepperrell Mansion stands to-day.
William Pepperrell built his house on gen- erous lines. It was long and broad, and for those days high. In locating the house with respect to travel, there was but one highway to be considered-the sea. All communication was by ships, and the garden front of the house, which looks out upon the ocean, con- tains the principal entrance, opening upon a broad and beautiful hall, with its noble stair- case, and its vaulted ceiling extending to the attic timbers. Behind the house in those early days lay trackless forests stretching far away to unexplored and mysterious wildernesses, but as wealth and power increased, these vast areas became a part of the Pepperrell lands, until the owner could ride from Pepperrell House to the Saco river on his own soil. Sin William Pepperrell, son of William Pepperrell, built the south end of the house, which is two stories high, with a gambrel roof. The lawn reached to the shore, where there was a wharf with steps. All communication with Ports-
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mouth was by boats. There was a walk from the house through the lawn to the wharf, with cut stone steps at the several terraces, which are still to be seen. For fifty-four years, until his death in 1734, William Pepperrell dwelt in this spacious mansion. Here his family of eight children were born; the second son was Sir William Pepperrell, the conqueror of Louisburg and the first American baronet. Had William Pepperrell lived in these days, his wonderful business capacity would un- doubtedly have placed him in the very first rank of modern captains of industry. (See "Pepperrell House," by Charles Dunn, Jr., and Pine Tree Magazine, October, 1906.)
William Pepperrell, the first of the name to come to America, was born at Tavistock, a parish near Plymouth, England, about 1646. In 1678 or 1680 he married Margery, daugh- ter of John Bray. Working as an apprentice for at least part of one season on a fishing schooner off the Newfoundland banks, he became interested and invested his small means in this business. From this small begin- ning he had in a few years attained the owner- ship of so large a fleet that he frequently had a fleet of over a hundred (some authorities say three hundred) ships on the Grand Banks, not including those engaged in foreign trade. He was the acknowledged leader of business enterprises of his time. Under the firm name of the "William Pepperrells," Pepperrell and his son became the greatest merchants of New England. Their forests produced in vast quantities the finest of lumber and ship timber, their fishing fleets filled their warehouses with the products of the Grand Banks. They traded in their own vessels with the West Indies, England, Portugal, and the Mediterranean ports,-frequently selling both vessel and cargo-but ever increasing the number of their fleets by their extensive ship building. Their returning ships brought European goods which gave them a thriving trade with the colonies along the coast. They invested in land at low prices, thus completing a circle of business transactions by which they amassed a princely fortune.
Pepperrell House became a local centre of business, military, social, and political success. William Pepperrell Sr. became justice of the peace in 1690, and held that office for thirty- five years; was appointed judge of the court of common pleas in 1715, and served on the bench many years, his son William (after- wards Sir William) serving as clerk. (See
Acts and Resolves of Mass. Bay, vol. 10, p. 67, vol. II, p. 123).
At the formation of the Congregational church he was one of the original members, and continued one of its firm and able sup- porters throughout his life, and left it in his will a legacy.
He commanded the garrison at Fort Pepper- rell, Kittery Point, when Indian hostilities pre- vailed, and bore the rank of captain. In the militia he held the same rank. Before his death the rank of lieutenant-colonel was con- ferred upon him by the military authorities of Boston; a letter dated at Boston, 1727, ap- prised William Pepperrell of his election to membership in the colonial council of Massa- chusetts, and for thirty-three consecutive years until his death he held that position, during the last eighteen years serving as president of the council. (See Acts and Resolves of Province of Mass. Bay, vol. 10, p. 67, chap. 107, year 1710).
In 1734, leaving to his distinguished son Sir William the bulk of his great fortune Colonel William Pepperrell passed from earth. With imposing obsequies he was laid to rest in the tomb he had built on a hillock overlooking the sea and in sight of the Pepperrell House. An order was sent to England for an appropriate tombstone to mark the spot. It remains to this day, a massive monument of granite, sur- mounted with a marble slab carved with the "Arms of Pepperrell" below which is this inscription :
"Here Lies the Body of The Honorable William Pepperrell, Esq.
Who Departed This Life The 15th of Feb. Anno Domini 1733, In The 87th Year of His Age. With the Remains of Great Part of His Family."
In the account which was rendered .from London, there is an item for searching at the herald office for the scutcheon. It is a curious thought that this almost forgotten badge of valor was soon to be borne anew by a scion of the ancient race to which it belonged; for a few years later, William Pepperrell (his son) led a victorious army against Louisburg and was knighted by his king. As William Pep- perrell had not been knighted at the time of his father's death, the coat-of-arms carved upon the tomb is proof that Lieutenant-Colo- nel William Pepperrell was descended from nobility. The original coat-of-arms of the Pepperrell family is described in heraldic lan-
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guage as follows: The original Pepperrell coat-of-arms consists of argent, a chevron gules between three pineapples or cones verte, with augumentation of a canton of the second charged with a fleur-de-lys of the first. The original coat had no crest, it being an ancient coat before crests were used. Sir William, when he received his baronetcy added, as his book plate shows, a crest consisting of an armed arm, embowed, out of a mural coronet, or grasping a staff ppr. thereon a flag argent. Sir William also added two mottoes, one the punning but ingenious word "Peperi," and the other "Virtute parta Tuemini." The motto for Sir William Pepperrell's flag which he carried to Louisburg was "Nil desperandum, Christo duce," given to him by Rev. George Whitfield, and this sacred word became the rally-cry before which Louisburg fell. ("Pep- perrell House," by Charles Dunn, Jr., Pine Tree Magazine, October, 1906.)
Madam Margery Pepperrell, wife of Lieut. Col. William, died April 24th, 1741, surviving her husband but seven years. She is spoken of through the whole course of her life as "Ex- emplary for unaffected piety and amiable vir- tue, especially her charity, her courteous affa- bility, her prudence, meekness, patience and unweariness in welldoing." (See "Mothers of Maine," by Mrs. Helen Coffin).
Lieut. Col. William Pepperrell had two sons and six daughters. Three of them became related by marriage to the Frost family. Chil- dren : I. Andrew, born July, 1681, died 1713; married, 1707, Jane, daughter of Robert Eliot of Newcastle, New Hampshire. They had two daughters-Sarah, married Charles Frost, grandson of Major Charles Frost, and Mar- gery, married Captain William Wentworth. Andrew Pepperrell's widow, Jane, married Charles Frost, father-in-law of her daughter Sarah. 2. Mary, born September 5, 1685, at Kittery; married Hon. John Frost. (See Frost). 3. Margery, born 1689; married (first) Peleliah Whitmore, (second) Judge Elihu Gunnison. 4. Joanna, married Dr. George Jackson. 5. Miriam, born September 3, 169.4, married Andrew Tyler of Boston, had five children. 6. William, became Sir William the Baronet. 7. Dorothy, born July 23, 1698; married (first) Andrew Watkins, and had two sons ; married (second) Joseph Newmarch. 8. Jane, married (first) Benjamin Clark, of Kingston, had two children ; married (second) William Tyler ; married (third) Ebenezer Ter- rill, of Medford, Massachusetts.
Sir William Pepperrell, son of Lieut.
Col. William and Margery ( Bray) Pepper- rell, was born at Kittery, Maine, June 27, 1696. He was a merchant of great skill, energy and affluence. In 1730 he was ap- pointed chief justice of the court of common pleas, was representative of the council in 1726-1727, and so continued for thirty-two years. He succeeded his father as colonel of the Maine regiment, and commanded the Brit- ish or colonial land forces against Louisburg in 1745, and for his success was created a bar- onet by the King. He married, in 1723, Mary, daughter of Grove Hirst, and granddaughter of Chief Justice Sewall. He died July 6, 1759, aged sixty-three years. His widow, Lady Mary Pepperrell, died November 26, 1789.
Sir William Pepperrell after his return from his successful expedition against Louisburg, went to England and spent a year, and on his return Parson says of his style of living, "His walls were hung with costly mirrors and paint- ings, his sideboards loaded with silver, his cel- lar filled with choice wines, his park stocked with deer, a retinue of servants, a splendid barge with a black crew dressed in uniform, and all maintained in true baronial style." All that remains of this is a part of his house, and his tomb. The sea view is as beautiful as then, but all else is sadly changed. Two rooms of the Pepperrell Mansion and the large hall retain the original finish,-all the rest have been altered. The entry has an arched window at the head of the stairs with figures of cherubs painted in the spandrels of the arch and there are the same long and easy staircases that old houses usually have. At the foot of the stairs lies a French thirty-two pound cannon-shot from Louisburg. Here lived and died the hero of that conquest.
Just before Sir William left his home to take command at Boston, he entertained Rev. George Whitfield, the great English preacher, and requested him to give some sacred motto which should be an omen of victory. Whit- field gave him the following : "Nil desperandum, Christo duce," which became the battle cry before which Louisburg fell into the hands of the English.
Sir William Pepperrell was a liberal pur- chaser of books, and the standard works of English literature found place upon his book- shelves in such numbers that he had quantities of them sent from place to place so that the less fortunate settlers might have the pleasure of reading them. ( For list of references to Pepperrell Family, see Bibliography of Maine. vol. 2, p. 237).
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The Confiscation Act of 1778 declared all lands and property of those who refused to forswear allegiance to the King, to be for- feited to the American government, and this edict was at once put into effect against the Pepperrell estates. The importance which Kittery had so long enjoyed under the patron- age of the Pepperrell family suffered a long eclipse, and the prestige of a distinguished name was gone.
Sir William Pepperrell had only the meagre education that could be obtained in the public schools of the time, but he was taught business methods, to survey land, to sail a ship, to act as clerk, and to manage men. He united with the church in Kittery, Maine, in 1734. He was buried in the vault beneath the Pepperrell tomb, and the pall that covered his bier is still preserved by the church at Kittery Point, and draped the pulpit at the funeral services held in honor of President Mckinley. (Old Kit- tery Homes, Old Kittery and Her Families, Stackpole).
The story of the siege and capture of Louis- burg is a familiar chapter in American colonial history, which is invested with all the fascina- tions of a romance. In this glorious under- taking William Pepperrell bore a leader's part, though the compaign was not without its jeal- ousies and heartburnings on the part of those who envied him his leadership, and who com- passed him about with annoying obstacles, yet his greatness in exercising tact and patience asserted itself in a no less degree than did the qualities of bravery and skill by which he brought the campaign to a successful issue. When the characters of Lieut. Col. William Pepperrell and his son, Sir William, are re- viewed, there can be no doubt that had they been living at the time of the separation of the colonies from the Mother Country, they would have espoused the cause and used their influ- ence in favor of the American colonies and thus saved a noble estate to future generations ; the proof of this is based upon the fact that with all the honors and adulation heaped upon Sir William during his visit to England, he more than gladly returned to the country of his birth and his home. After his return from Louisburg he was made colonel in the royal army and a baronet. (See The Pepperrell House, by Chas. Dunn, Jr .; Pine Tree Maga- zine, October, 1906; Francis Parkman, His- torical Writer ; Brewster Rambles about Ports- mouth; Pepperrell Genealogy, Old Kittery Homes).
Copy of a letter written by Sir William
Pepperrell, at the time his daughter was to be married : (See "Old Homes of Kittery.")
Pascataqua In New England. Sir :-
Francis Wilks, Esq.,
Your favor of ye 16th May and 24th June last, I received by Capt. Prince, for which am much obliged to you.
Inclosed you have a receipt for 46 ps. of gold weighing twenty ozs. which will be delivered you I hope by Capt. Robert Noble of ye ship America, which please to receive and cr. to my account with, and send me by ye first opportunity for this place -or Boston, Silk to make a woman a full suit of Clothes, the ground to be white padusoy and flowered with all sorts of coulers suitable for a young woman. Another of white watered Taby and Gold Lace for trimming it; twelve yards of Green Padusoy; thirteen yards of Lace for a woman's head dress, 2 inches wide, as can be bought for 13 s. per yard, a handsome Fan with a leather mounting as good as can be bought for 20 shillings, two pair of silk Shoes, and cloggs a size larger than ye shoe.
Your servant to command, William Pepperrell.
The descendants of the Pepperrells, in order to prevent the memory of the name from becoming extinct in America have formed "The Pepperrell Family Association of Kittery, Maine," to perpetuate the memories of these great and good men and women who by their lives honored their town, their country and their God.
(The Frost Line).
(I) Jolın Frost was born near Carnbre Hill, Cornwall, England, November 17, 1558; he married Anna Hamden, May 10, 1582, who was born near Caer Bran, Cornwall, October 8, 1565. Children, all born at Tiverton, Eng- land : I. John, July 10, 1583. 2. Nicholas, April 25, 1585, (see Frost). 3. Anna, October II, 1587. 4. Charles, December 15, 1588. 5. Samuel, January, 1591. 6. Elizabeth, Feb- ruary 12, 1595.
(II) Nicholas Frost, son of John and Anna (Hamden) Frost, was born at Tiverton, Eng-
Notes and References :- A portrait of Sir William Pepperrell, painted by Smibert in London, is owned by Mrs. Anna H. C. Howard of Brooklyn, New York. Pepperrell Family, Kittery, Maine, Sketch of 1869; see Cutts.
The Pepperrells of Kittery Point, Maine, (with a woodcut of the Pepperrell residence 1847; see Samuel A. Drake.
See Joseph Williamson's History of Maine, vol. 2, Parsons' Life, 2nd ed., p. 324.
See Bibliography of Maine, vol. 2, p. 237.
New England Hist. and Gen. Reg.
Old Kittery and her Families by Stackpole, vol. 2, p. 692.
Official career of Lieut. Col. William Pepperrell, 1654-1734, Kittery, Maine, vol. 7, (1692-1702) p. 148, vol. 8, (1703-4) pp. 302, 331, 599, 707, 736, 758, vol. 10, p. 67, Chap. 78.
"Acts and Resolves of Province of Massachu- setts Bay."
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land, April 25, 1585. He sailed for New Eng- land in April, 1634, in the ship "Wulfrana," Alwin Wellborn, master, bringing his wife Bertha and their two sons John and Charles. They landed at Kittery, Maine, and were the first settlers of that town. He came to Pas- cataqua about 1636, and settled at Sturgeon's Creek (now Eliot, Maine) ; he died July 20, 1663. He married, January, 1629-30, Bertha Cadwalla, from Taviston, Devonshire, Eng- land ; she was born February 14, 1610. Chil- dren : I. Charles, born Tiverton, July 30, 1631, (see Frost). 2. John, born Tiverton, August 7, 1633. 3. Anna, born Little Harbor, Maine, April 7, 1635. 4. Catherine, born Kittery, Maine, December 25, 1637, died August I, 1715, aged 82 years; married (first) William Leighton, 1656; (second) Joseph Hammond, 1671. 5. Elizabeth, born Kittery, Maine, May 10, 1640; married William Gowen, sometimes called Smith, May 14, 1667. 6. Nicholas Jr., born Kittery, September 30, 1645, died Au- gust, 1673, aged 27 years, unmarried.
The wife of Nicholas Frost, Bertha Cad- walla, aged forty, and their daughter Anna, aged fifteen, were killed by the Indians on the night of July 4, 1650.
Nicholas Frost held the office of constable, 1640-41, and was selectman 1652; he was so highly esteemed, "though his signature was a mark," that he was appointed to these respon- sible offices. He served October 6, 1649, on the grand jury that met at Georgiana. He died July 20, 1663, leaving five children. (Memoirs of Charles Frost, by Dr. Usher Parsons.)
(III) Major Charles Frost, son of Nicholas and Bertha (Cadwalla) Frost, was born in Tiverton, England, July 30, 1631, 1632. They came to Pascataqua in 1636 and settled at the head of Sturgeon's Creek, on the south side of Frost's Hill. He succeeded to the home- stead of his father, Nicholas, at the head of Sturgeon's Creek, and was distinguished in civil, military, and religious life. Trained from childhood to agricultural pursuits and the toils of the hunter, removed from the enervat- ing influence of polished life, he acquired that stamina of mind and body which fitted him for the perils of savage warfare. The howling of wolves around his father's cabin and the yell and war whoop of the savage Indian awakened no fear in his heart. He was enrolled as a soldier at sixteen, and rose through successive promotions to be commander-in-chief of the militia in Maine. His commission was dated August 23, 1869, and was signed by President
Thomas Danforth. Maine, being a province of Massachusetts, Major Frost was represen- tative to the general court from 1658 to 1663, 1672-74, and from 1678 to 1693. Major Charles Frost commanded a company in King Philip's war which broke out in 1675, and for two years was actively engaged in fighting the Indians, who had burnt a vast number of houses on the Piscataqua and killed two hun- dred and sixty settlers. (See "Old Eliot," vol. I, p. 25 to IOI, vol. 2, p. 137; Coll. of Maine Hist. Soc., vol. 5, p. 434; also Parsons' Memoirs of Frost) .. King William's war began in 1688 and raged with great fury. On August 29, 1689, in the reign of William and Mary, Charles Frost was appointed major of the military forces of the province. In 1693 the war raged with increased barbarity and so continued until his death, July 4, 1697, within one mile of his dwelling. Because of his activ- ity against the Indians, his house was marked, and was saved only by his forethought and prudence.
Joseph Storer writes from Wells, "It hath pleased God to take away Major Frost. The Indians waylaid him last Sabbath, as he was coming home from meeting, and killed him, and John Heard's wife. Denis Downing and John Heard are wounded; Charles and John Frost were with their father but escaped won- derfully." Two hundred years later a tablet was erected to the memory of Major Frost, and an address delivered by Rev. William Salter, D. D., of Burlington, Iowa.
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