Archive:Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 2
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Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity (The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907). Volume II.
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(VIII) George W. Cogswell, son of Seth Cogswell (7), was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, March 29, 1844. He was educated in the public schools and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for several years. In 1873 he settled in
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Shrewsbury, where he devoted himself to farming and the wheelwright's business, purchasing the property and business of Mrs. Whitney, after death of Mr. Whitney. . . . .
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William Hager or Hagar (1), one of the pioneers at Watertown, Massachusetts, . . . married in Watertown, March 20, 1644-45, Mary Bemis, . . . . Their children were: Mary, born December 25, 1645, died young; Ruhamah (twin), November 20, 1647, married Joseph Wait; Samuel (twin), born November 20, 1647, see forward; Hannah, November 21, 1649, married ----- Priest; Sarah, September 3, 1651, died March 7, 1746; married Nathaniel Whitney; Susanna Grout, William, February 12, 1658-59, died May 8, 1731; Rebecca, October 28, 1661, married Nathaniel Healy; Abigail, about 1665, married, March 30, 1687, Benjamin Whitney; Mehitable, married, June 20, 1687, Nathaniel Norcross.
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(VI) Joel Brown, son of Lieutenant Samuel [and Elizabeth (Brown)] Brown (5), born at Concord, Massachusetts, February 20, 1793: died at Concord, September 22, 1851; married, December 28, 1818, Lucy Whitney, of Bolton, born in 1800; died in 1863; daughter of David and Betsey Whitney. All their children were born at Concord, where they settled. They removed to Boylston, Massachusetts, where he conducted a farm at Boylston Centre. They were at Bolton for a short time. Their children were: 1. David Whitney (see forward). 2. Alzirus (see forward). 3. Lucy Alzura, born April 14, 1824; died April 10, 1831. 4. Sarah Ann Eliza (see forward). 5. Eunice Andrews, born April 25, 1828; died May 2, 1831. 6. Ezra Ripley, born February 5, 1830; died April 29, 1845. 7. Mary Ann Celista (see forward). 8. Elizabeth E., born March 10, 1842; married, May 10, 1866, Paul Tibbetts; resides at 18 Charlton street, Worcester (1905). 9. Lucy (see forward).
(VII) David Whitney Brown, son of Joel Brown (6), born at Concord, Massachusetts, December 29, 1819; married May 30, 1844, Mary M. Stiles. (See sketch of Stiles Family herewith). He died December, 1893; she died March 11, 1903. He came to Boylston, from Concord, with his parents where young and attended the Boylston schools. He learned the trade of stationary engineer. He removed to Worcester and was the first janitor of the Classical high school, a position he held for twelve years. His home was at top Mulberry street, where his daughter now lives. His wife was sister of John C. Stiles, of Worcester, who was one of the first three conductors on the Worcester & Nashua Railroad when it began business. Children were: 1. Lucy Maria, died young. 2. Emerson Whitney, died in infancy. 3. John Emerson, born June 22, 1853; married April 9, 1881, Nellie Whitcomb, stationary engineer in Worcester. 4. Josiah (see forward). 5. Charles Jerome, born December 16, 1858; graduated from Harvard College 1882; studied in divinity school, but broke down in health; died in 1890. 6. Mary Eugenia, born July 9, 1861; teacher of music; unmarried (1905); resides at 100 Mulberry street, Worcester. (Most of the above dates are a year of two different from those in the Stiles genealogy.)
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(VII) Alzirus Brown, son of Joel Brown (6), born October 16, 1821; married, at Worcester, November 16, 1843, Harriet D. Proctor. They resided in Worcester. He was a manufacturer of mowing machines, and later established a large trucking business in Worcester. They had no children. His widow resides (1905) in their homestead at the corner of Main and Madison streets.
(VII) Sarah Ann Eliza Brown, daughter of Joel Brown (6), born at Concord, Massachusetts, April 18, 1826; married November 15, 1847, Asa J. Hersey, at Boylston, Massachusetts, and settled in Maine. Their sons are: 1. Wilfred; resides on the homestead of his father at Waterford, Maine, has five or more children and grandchildren. 2. Ezra, resides at North Waterford, Maine, has one son, Charles A. 3. Francis, city missionary at New Bedford, Massachusetts, has two daughters.
(VII) Mary Ann Celista Brown, daughter of Joel Brown (6), born at Concord, Massachusetts; married (first) Edward H. Parker by whom she had four children. Edward Hanford Parker was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, December 28, 1825. He was the son of Ebenezer, Jr., and Hannah B. Parker. (See Parker Genealogy by Theodore Parker, of Worcester, son of Edward H. and Mary A. C. Parker). Edward H. Parker was a carpenter and builder in Worcester. The children of Edward H. and Mary A. C. Parker were: 1. Arthur, resides at Dunellen, New Jersey; married; has three children. 2. Clarence E.; married; resides at Yonkers, New York; is a contractor and fence manufacturer in New York city; married; has one child. 3. Edward, was overseer in the American Steel and Wire Mill, Worcester; married; has two children. 4. Theodore, clerk in Worcester post office, author of the Parker Genealogy; married; no children. Mary Ann Celista (Brown) Parker married (second) John C. Landers, of Worcester, a carpenter and contractor, who has died since. The widow resides on Pleasant street, Worcester.
(VII) Lucy, daughter of Joel Brown (6), married George P. Slocum, a carpenter, and they settled at Marietta, Ohio. They have five children, grown to maturity.
(VIII) Josiah Brown, son of David W. Brown (7), born in Worcester, May 28, 1854. He was educated in the Worcester schools. He learned the machinist's and gear-cutting trade of John Williams, one of the first gear-cutters and mechanical tool-makers in the city. After working at his trade for a time he accepted a position on the railroad and worked as fireman and engineer for six years. Then he returned to the machine shop to run the business of John Williams for the widow. He conducted the Williams business for ten years, then started the Worcester Gear works on his own account, and for the past ten years has carried on this business successfully. The shop is located at 13 Cypress street. He manufactures machinery and makes a specialty of cutting gears. Mr. Brown is well known in Masonic circles. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Worcester Royal Arch Chapter, of Hiram Council.
He married July 3, 1876, Alma Richardson. They have six children, born in Worcester. The children are: 1. Frank J., born May 4, 1877. 2. Walter I., born May 18, 1879. 3. Arthur G., born September 5, 1881. 4. Brenda A., born October 18, 1883. 5. Warren E., born October 27, 1887. 6. Evelyn M., born June 12, 1890. 7. Hellen R., born January 26, 1895; died April 8, 1896.
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(IV) David Dudley, son of Rogers [and Mary (Sibley)] Dudley (3), was born at Sutton, Massachusetts, January 14, 1750. He was called for obvious reasons "Fat David." He built his house in Sutton near Dorothy Pond. It is a large old house next the present John Paul place in Sutton. He married, December 16, 1773, at Sutton, Lois Whitney. Their children, all bom at Sutton, were: 1. John, born about 1775, married Huldah Gould and had--Lois W., wife of Caleb Cutting, and their daughter Susan married Francis Strong. 2. David, born June 5, 1781, married Phebe Dudley, 1804, died November 3, 1836, at Sutton; they had-—Caleb, born 1804, died October 22, 1830; Peter, born 1807, died July 31, 1840; Elbridge Gerry, born 1810, died April 12, 1834; Betsey E., born 1815, died April 19, 1834; David, born September 24, 1817, the well known shuttle manufacturer. 3. Luther, whose daughter Mary Ann married Cutting. 4. Sally. 5. Betsey, born February 9, 1787, married, August 18, 1811, John Marsh. 6. Dr. Joseph, born March 14, 1790. 7. Amasa, born October 17, 1792, see forward. 8. Polly, born 1795, married ----- Dwinel, of Brooklyn.
(V) Amasa Dudley, son of David Dudley (4), was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, October 17, 1792. He removed to Albany, New York, and later to Amsterdam, New York, but about 1818 returned to Whitinsville. He resided later at Manchaug in Sutton and at Uxbridge, an adjoining town. His large brick house in Uxbridge is readily found. He was a merchant, proprietor of a general store at Uxbridge and at the various other towns mentioned. He married Ann Fletcher and their children were: Joseph Amasa, see forward; Paul Whitin, see forward; William Neil, born April 20, 1820, died May 1, 1822; William Henry, born November 23, 1823, married, January 1, 1850, Susan Johnson; settled at Charlotte, Michigan; he is a hardware merchant.
(VI) Joseph Amasa Dudley, son of Amasa Dudley (5), was born at Albany, New York, September 5, 1815. He was educated in the public schools of Uxbridge. He had a long and very successful career as a wholesale druggist in New York city. Outside of his business Mr. Dudley was interested chiefly in the work of the Presbyterian church, of which he was an earnest and devoted member and liberal supporter. His place of business was at 69 Beekman street, and his residence at the time of his death was on West One-hundred-and-twenty-fifth street, New York city. In his will he bequeathed very generously to each of the Home and Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian church; the trustees of the church Erection Fund of the Presbyterian church; the Presbyterian hospital and Hamilton College; to the American Female Guardian Society and to the Board of Education of the Presbyterian church; the Trustees or Board of Publication of the Presbyterian church; the Board of City Missions and Tract Society; Harlem Union Mission; the New York Port Society. He gave to complete the tower on the Church of the Puritans, provided the tower was completed in five years and the church held the same denomination.
He married, at Rome, New York, May 10, 1839, Frances M. Blair, who died at Rome, September 2, 1844. Joseph married (second), at Rome, October 1, 1846, Ann Frances Draper, who died at New York
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city, April 15, 1871. Joseph A. Dudley died at New York city, April 22, 1884. Child of Joseph Amasa and Frances M. Dudley was: Anna Lauretta, born January 5, 1844, married Clarence Edgar Oakley, at New York, April 6, 1869; residing 1906 at Buffalo, Minnesota; their children are—-Grace K., born at Hudson City, New York, November 7, 1870, died at New York, October 21, 1871; Egbert Simmons, born at New York, October 13, 1872; Frances Blair, born at Buffalo, Minnesota, November 12, 1875; Walter L., born at Buffalo, September 13, 1878; Clara Lauretta, born at Buffalo, November 12, 1883. Children of Joseph A. and Ann Frances Dudley were: James Whitin, born at Rome, 1847. Eliza Holmes, born June 7, 1850, married William S. Lyon, at New York, October 13, 1874; she died at New York, November 10, 1879. Charles Virgil, born at Rome, September 2, 1852, see forward. William Blair, born at Brooklyn, New York, November 25, 1857, married Ellie Weeks Roberts, at New York, October 7, 1884; she died at New York, December 23, 1890, leaving one child—-Virgil Roberts, born at New York, June 20, 1887.
(VI) Paul Whitin Dudley, son of Amasa Dudley (5), was born in Amesterdam, New York, April 3, 1817. His childhood like that of his elder brother was spent in Whitinsville, Manchaug, and Uxbridge. He attended the common schools and the academy at Uxbridge. He got his early training as a merchant in his father's store at Uxbridge, and he was associated with his father in business until 1846, when he took charge of the store of P. Whitin & Sons at Whitinsville. He held this position until the firm was dissolved in 1864, when he formed a partnership with Charles P. Whitin and the business was continued under the firm name of P. W. Dudley & Company. Mr. Dudley had the active management of this business all the remainder of his life. He died at Whitinsville, July 1, 1872. Mr. Dudley was prominent in church and public affairs as well as in business circles. He was chairman of the board of selectmen of Northbridge, of which Whitinsville is a part, in the years of the civil war, 1862 to 1865 inclusive, declining a re-election the following year. He was for many years a director of the First National Bank.
He joined the Congregational church at Whitinsville when he came to that village in 1846, and was to the hour of his death a sincere, active and generous member of the church. He was chosen deacon January 11, 1866, and continued in that office until his death. He was superintendent of the Sunday school for some time. A friend who knew him well wrote of him: "He was a benevolent man. Hating waste, he used his means most generously and conscientiously for every good cause and for individual need. Not content with giving of his means, he gave personal service freely. Many can witness of these deeds of personal service, especially during and after the war, for soldiers and their families. No good cause or deserving person ever appealed to him in vain. He was especially active in the temperance cause. At the time ot his death he was president of the Worcester South Temperance Union and a member of the State Temperance Alliance. To this cause he gave freely of his time and money. * * * He did the most trying duties in such an honest and gentle way as to command the respect of those whom he might have to rebuke or antagonize. All knew and felt that there was not a trace of malice or harshness in the man."
Mr. Dudley married Sarah A. Tobey, of Worcester, October 19, 1842. Their children were: 1. Henry M., born in Uxbridge, August 12, 1846, died June, 1876; graduate of Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, 1865, and from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College in 1868; he opened a drug store in Whitinsville and was in business there seven years, removing then to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he was in the drug business until his death; he was a member of Woonsocket Commandery, Knights Templar, of the Woonsocket Business Men's Association, of Mt. Hope Lodge, New England Order of Protection, of the Royal Society of Good Fellows, of Ames Lodge, A. O. U. W., and an associate member of the Sons of Brown, the first elected in that organization; he was a skillful chemist and pharmacist. 2. Herbert H., has been on the school committee and board of selectmen and is at present town treasurer. 3. Sarah Jane, graduate of Wheaton Seminary, organizer of the Samaritan Association of Whitinsville. 4. Walter Whitin, educated at Greylock Academy in South Williamstown.
(VII) Charles Virgil Dudley, son of Joseph Amasa Dudley (6), was born in Rome, New York, September 2, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of New York city and in Highland Military Academy. He and his cousin H. H. Dudley, mentioned above, were associated together in the management of a general store. Charles Virgil was engaged in the business twenty-five years when he withdrew. He spent two years in travel in various parts of this country. Since his return to Whitinsville he has been connected with the Whitin Machine Works on repairs and in the shipping department In politics Mr. Dudley is a Republican. He has served the town of Northbridge as overseer of the poor one term. He has been representative to the general court from the district of which Whitinsville is part. He was on the state fish committee in 1900. Mr. Dudley and his family attend the Congregational church.
He married, at Whitinsville, September 19, 1878, Eliza A. Pollock. Their children, all born in Whitinsville, were: 1. Frances Orleana, born July 10, 1880, attended the Northbridge high school two years and the Bradford Academy. 2. Eliza Pollock, born July 17, 1883, attended the Northbridge high school three years and Abbot Academy. 3. Gladys, born August 18, 1886, attended the Northbridge high school three and a half years, now student at Abbot Academy.
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(IV) Benjamin Rice Day, fourth child of Daniel Day (3), was born October 19, 1816, [Winchendon, Massachusetts]. He attended the district school and worked till twelve years of age on his father's farm. He then went to live with Amasa Whitney and served an apprenticeship in his woolen mill where he remained until he came of age.
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(V) Henry Glover, son of Henry Glover (4), was born at West Dedham, August 5, 1760, died at West Dedham, October 17, 1814. He married, May 3, 1784, Rebecca Colburn, of Dedham. She was the daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Deane) Colburn. She was born at Dedham, 1764, died at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, August 1, 1844, and is buried at Dedham. They moved to Needham soon after their marriage and remained there until his father died.
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They returned to West Dedham, August, 1800, and lived on the old homestead. He built a new house in 1812. Their children were: Edward, born October 10, 1785, married Caroline Whitney; . . . .
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(VII) Jesse Springer Norcross, son of Jonathan [and Jane (Atkinson)] Norcross, Jr., was born in Wayne, Maine, in 1806. He was a carpenter and builder, also proprietor of the "Norcross Mills " at Winslow, Maine. He married, in 1826, Margaret Ann Whitney, of Westboro, Massachusetts. They resided in various places in the state of Maine, among them the towns of Clinton and Winslow. In 1843 removed to Salem, Massachusetts, where he continued to ply his occupation as carpenter and builder. In the year 1849 he joined the great concourse of seekers for gold in California. He died the following year and was buried at Benicia in that state. His widow, Margaret Ann (Whitney) Norcross, was the daughter of Jonah and Anna (Rider) Whitney. The father of Jonah was Thomas Whitney, a revolutionary soldier from the town of Shrewsbury, Thomas being in the fifth generation from the emigrant ancestor, John Whitney, who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, and was admitted freeman there in 1635-36. The children of Jesse Springer and Margaret Ann (Whitney) Norcross were: Rosina C., Julia, James A., Elizabeth, Orlando W., and William. As the business career of the two brothers James Atkinson, born March 24, 1831, and Orlando Whitney, born October 25, 1839, appears so closely interwoven, it seems highly proper that they should be reviewed together.
(VIII) James Atkinson Norcross, born March 34, 1831, in Kennebec county, Maine, was a mere lad when the family removed to Salem, Massachusetts. The early death of his father placed upon his shoulders heavy responsibilities, and haying inherited in a large degree the mechanical genius of his father, learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed at Salem a number of years. In 1864, upon the return of his brother Orlando from his three years' service in the rebellion, the two formed a partnership which continued until the year 1897. The style of the firm was Norcross Brothers, and their business career was started in Essex county, Massachusetts, in the city of Salem, but soon removed to the city of Worcester to gain a larger field in which to labor. The Leicester Congregational Church was their first large contract. The excellent manner in which that contract was filled gave the firm an enviable reputation among building contractors, and from that date onward they were awarded a large share of the contracts given out for expensive structures erected within their immediate locality. As their facilities for executing work, and the quality of their workmanship became known to the public, demand for their services came not only from the various cities and towns in the New England states, but far and near throughout the United States, until there was scarcely a city among those most prominent in the Union but what contained a sample of their handiwork.
During the thirty-three years of most unprecedented business prosperity, James A. attended to the clerical and financial part, while Orlando gave attention to directing the men in their employ, an arrangement which proved to ensure signal success. They erected factories, equipped with the latest maproved [sic] machinery, where they manufacture doors, sash, and all the necessary finish required by their contracts, and the firm soon became conspicuous for reasonable prices, promptness, and the skillful way in which all of their contracts were met. Scores of magnificent structures erected by this firm may be found noted in the personal sketch of the brother partner Orlando, which follows at the conclusion of the notice of James A., who retired from the firm in 1897 for the purpose of enjoying some of the ease and comforts to which a lifetime of labor and steady brain work entitled him. For years he had resided in an elegant mansion on Claremont street, Worcester, built of Longmeadow sandstone, but he sought better and more roomy surroundings, and after purchasing a tract of land containing several acres, situated on May street, a short distance west from his Claremont street home. There upon a beautiful eminence, furnishing a commanding view of the surrounding country, he reared his "Fairlawn," where he passed the remainder of his days, within this home of beauty and luxury into which he with his family removed in July, 1895. After his retirement from business, he visited various portions of the United States for the purpose of inspecting rare and choice specimens of work produced by his craft, and in February, 1892, in company with his wife, visited the Old World, passing considerable time in England, France, Holland, and Italy, enjoying the scenes and meditating on the contrast between the New and Old World. He died at his home, August 4, 1903, and was survived by his widow, who was Mary Ellen Pinkham, whom he married in Salem, Massachusetts, and also their children, Julia Ellen, Mrs. W. L. Davis, of Hartford, Connecticut; and and [sic] her sons: James Franklin, of Springfield, Massachusetts, Arthur W., of New York city, William E. and Jesse O., of Worcester. Mr. James A. Norcross was not a seeker of public office, although he served the city one term as a member of the common council in 1877. He was a member of
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Worcester Board of Trade, the Commonwealth Club, Sportsman and Continental Clubs, also of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association. In the building of the South Unitarian Church he was one of the most liberal contributors. In this society he took an active interest, and within its circle found his religious home. He was a man of charitable disposition and his kindliness was often evinced by his many acts of charity.
(VIII) Orlando Whitney Norcross, son of Jesse and Margaret (Whitney) Norcross, was born in Clinton, Maine, October 25, 1839, a child in his father's family when they removed to Salem, Massachusetts. As he grew to youth and manhood he acquired his early education in the Salem public schools, and after a few years experience in the leather business, doubtless prompted by a mechanical genius inherited from his father, turned his attention to the carpenter's trade which he mastered, and in which occupation he found employment until the year 1861, when he enlisted in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, afterwards known as the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, and served well his country for three years.
In 1864 the co-partnership with his brother James A. was formed, as before mentioned, under the name of Norcross Brothers, and it is safe to say that no firm engaged in the building industry ever made more rapid strides toward success and popularity than did the Norcross Brothers. The thirty thousand dollar contract for the Congregational Church, at Leicester, in 1866, placed the firm fairly in line for further like engagements, and soon was followed by one at North Adams. The firm at this time having located in Worcester, began here with a contract for the Crompton block. Then the First Universalist Church, Classical and English High Schools were built during the years 1870 and 1871. Later they built the State Mutual Life Assurance building, the Art Museum, the new City Hall. Prior to the climax reached in the erection of their massive buildings, they had erected about eighty others in various parts of the United States all remarkable for their size, beauty and cost of construction, including those designed both for public and private use. A complete list of these great structures cannot here be given, but a few of the more important are mentioned: South Congregational Church; Hampden County Court House, Springfield, Massachusetts; Union League Club House, New York; Boston & Albany Station and granite bridge over Main street, Springfield, Massachusetts; Trinity Church, Boston; South Terminal Station, Boston; Norwich Congregational Church, Norwich, Connecticut; Latin and English High Schools, Boston; buildings for Harvard College, including Perkins Hall, Conant Hall, Fogg Art Museum, Gymnasium building, Sever Hall, and Law School buildings at Cambridge; the group of Medical School buildings on Longwood avenue, Boston; New York Central Railroad Station, Albany, New York; Allegheny Court House and Jail, Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, built of granite from Worcester county, Massachusetts; Exchange building, Boston; Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio; Granite work of Pennsylvania & Long Island Railroad at New York; Bi-centennial and Woolsey Hall buildings at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; New York Life Insurance Company; buildings at Omaha and Kansas City; Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans; Marshall Field building, Chicago; Equitable Building, Baltimore; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.; new Massachusetts State Capitol, Boston; Rhode Island State Capitol, Providence, Rhode Island; Columbia University Buildings including Science Hall, University Hall, Library, Schermeron Hall, Physics building, S. E. Porch; and at Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island; the John Carter Brown Library and the Rockefeller Hall. They also constructed the Soldiers' Monument at West Point, New York, the largest polished Monolith in the United States; and the Ames Memorial Monument at Sherman, Wyoming, on the highest elevation of the Rocky Mountains crossed the Union Pacific Railroad.
After the retirement of his brother from the firm in 1897, the business was continued under the direction of Orlando, who possesses unusual zeal and business capacity, is an untiring worker, with a remarkable knowledge of the science of mechanics, and has thus successfully mastered all obstacles met in the pathway of his various undertakings, many of which have been considered by some contractors to seem almost if not impossible of execution. No man takes deeper interest in his occupation, and his constant aim has been to become a complete master in the building trade. In 1875 he served on a committee of experts appointed to examine the condition of Chicago's great federal building, and the report of that body was found correct. Mr. Norcross is an earnest advocate of temperance.
In May, 1870, he married Miss Ellen Phebe Sibley, of Salem, Massachusetts, a descendant from Richard Sibley, of that place. Of their five children three are living: 1. Alice Whitney, born March 22, 1872, married October 19, 1897, Henry J. Gross, of Worcester. They have two children--Phebe, born April 18, 1900, and Philip Norcross, born July 1, 1901. 2. Mabel Ellen, born July 20, 1874, married, April 10, 1898, William J. Denholm, of Worcester. Their children were-—Margaret, born April 17, 1900, and Alexander Norcross, born February 12, 1902, died October 14, 1902. 3. Edith Janet, born October 8, 1878, married, October 5, 1904, Charles F. Morgan, of Worcester. 4. James O., born March 5, 1882, died July 28, 1882. 5. Walter.
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CHARLES ANDREW WHITNEY. John Whitney (1), of Watertown, was the immigrant ancestor of Charles Andrew Whitney, of Millbury, Massachusetts. He was born in England, 1589, and came to Watertown, June, 1635. He bought a sixteen acre homestall of John Strickland. He became an extensive land proprietor and an influential citizen. He was admitted to freemanship March 3, 1635-36, appointed constable of Watertown by the general court, September 29, 1769 [sic].
He married (first) in England, Elinor ----- and (second) in Watertown, September 29, 1659, Judith Clement. She died before her husband. He died June 1, 1673. Further details of the immigrant will be found elsewhere in this work. Children of John and Elinor Whitney were: Mary, baptized in England, May 23, 1619, died young; John, born in England, 1620, married Ruth Reynolds; Richard, born in England, 1626, married Martha Coldam; Nathaniel, born in England, 1627; Thomas, born in England, 1629, married Mary Kettell; Jonathan, born in England, 1634, married Lydia Jones; Joshua, born in Watertown, July 5, 1635, married three times; Caleb, born in Watertown, July 12, 1640, buried July 12, 1640; Benjamin, born in Watertown, June 6, 1643, married twice.
(II) John Whitney, son of John Whitney (1), was born in England in 1620. He settled in Watertown. He was admitted freeman May 26, 1647, and was selectman from 1673 to 1680 inclusive. His home was on a three acre lot on the east side of Lexington street, on land first granted to E. How. He was a soldier in King Philip's war. He died October 12, 1692. His will was dated February 27, 1685, but was not probated. He married, 1642, Ruth Reynolds, daughter of Robert Reynolds, of Watertown, Massachusetts, and Wethersfield, Connecticut. Their children were: John, born September 17, 1643, married Elizabeth Harris; Ruth, April 15, 1645, married, June 20, 1664, John Shattuck; Nathaniel, see forward; Samuel, July 26, 1648, married Mary Bemis; Mary, April 29, 1650; Joseph, January 15, 1651, married Martha Beach; Sarah, March 17, 1653, married, October 18, 1681, Daniel Harrington; Elizabeth June 9, 1656, married, December 19, 1678, Daniel Warren; Hannah, about 1658; Benjamin, June 28, 1660, married Abigail Hagar.
(III) Nathaniel Whitney, son of John Whitney (2), was born February 1, 1646, at Watertown. He settled in Weston, formerly a part of Watertown. He married Sarah Hagar, of the Watertown family. He died at Weston, January 7, 1732. Their children were: Nathaniel, Jr., born March 5, 1675, married Mercy Robinson; Sarah, February 12, 1678, married Jonathan Ball; William, May 6, 1683, see forward; Samuel, 1687, married Ann Laboree; Hannah, baptized March, 1688, married ----- Billings; Elizabeth, December 15, 1692; Grace, 1700, died March 23, 1719; Mercy, married ----- Greaves.
(IV) William Whitney, son of Nathaniel Whitney (3), was born in Weston, Massachusetts, May 6, 1683. He settled in Weston. He married, May 17, 1706, Martha Pierce, born December 24, 1681. He died January 24, 1720. Their children were: William, born January 11, 1707, married Hannah Harrington, Mrs. Mary Pierce, Margaret Spring and Mrs. Sarah Davis; he was founder of the family at Winchendon, Massachusetts; Judith, born November 15, 1708; Amity, born October 6, 1712; Martha, born April 4, 1716, married in Sudbury, February 26, 1734, Timothy Mossman; they were living in Princeton at the same time that Silas Whitney was there and later lived at Westminster; Samuel, born May 23, 1719, married Abigail Fletcher; Silas, see forward.
(V) Silas Whitney, presumed to be the son of William Whitney (4), though the birth record is not found,[1] was born about 1714 in Weston, Massachusetts. He removed to Rutland, Massachusetts, where he followed his trade of blacksmith. He bought a farm in Rutland District, now Princeton, May 2, 1758, lot No. 16, comprising one hundred and twenty acres of Joshua Wilder, Jr., of Rutland. He bought land of Samuel Minot, John Jones, Jr., and Nathan Merriam, all of Concord, November 1, 1759. He bought land of Richard Parsons in Ipswich Canada (Winchendon), July 15, 1762. He bought a tax title in Princeton, June 23, 1781, but may have been living in Winchendon, of which he was an early settler. He went there to live about 1764 and became a prominent citizen. There was an auction at his tavern there in 1771 of public lands and he was one of the purchasers. He was closely related to the Westminster family of Whitney, and may be the Silas Whitney, who bought of Sweetser et al. land there March 18, 1777. Another Silas Whitney of the Stow family, relatives of this line, settled in Ashburnham.
He married Jane -----. Their children were: Andrew, born 1754, see forward; Love, born at Princeton, December 18, 1758, baptized at Rutland, June 10, 1759; David, baptized at Rutland, October 12, 1760; Silas, Jr., born at Princeton, August 31, 1760, baptized at Rutland, August 15, 1762.
(VI) Andrew Whitney son of Silas Whitney (5) (no birth record found),[2] was born in Sterling or vicinity, probably in 1754, before Silas Whitney came to Rutland. He married Lucy Miles, of Westminster, of the family to which General Nelson A. Miles belongs, (intentions dated October 1, 1787). She died June 26, 1842, aged seventy-six years. He died October 26, 1818, at Princeton, aged sixty-four years. Andrew Whitney settled in Princeton and brought up nine children of the eleven born to him. All of the sons were over six feet in stature, and robust mentally as well as physically. Children of Andrew and Lucy Whitney were: Reuben Miles, born May 23, 1788, at Princeton; Lucy, born February 8, 1792, died young; John, see forward; Lucy, born January 11, 1795, married September 4, 1819, Merrill Davis, who was guardian to the younger children after the fathers death; Charles, born April 4, 1797, died August 18, 1808; William, born February 10, 1799, never married; Anna Miles, born February 21, 1801, married Captain Nathan Whitney, of Westminster, January 8, 1832, a relative; Elisha Dana, born June 29, 1805; Caroline, bora July 8, 1808, married March 8, 1830; Charles Andrew, born August 20, 1810.
(VII) Colonel John Whitney, son of Andrew Whitney (6), was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, December 31, 1792. He died there May 15, 1846. He was a farmer and stock dealer, buying cattle and driving them to market at Brighton. He held various town offices and was representative to the general court. He was active in the militia and rose from the ranks to the command of a regiment. He married (first) (intentions dated August 23, 1822), Mary Newton, of Royalston, Massachusetts. She died October 6, 1831, aged thirty-one years, leaving three of her six children. He married (second), October 4, 1832, Eliza Ann French Watson, born in
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Princeton, April 22, 1814, died January 2, 1891. She is buried in the Rural cemetery, Worcester. Children of Colonel John and Mary Whitney were: Abigail Perkins, born June 28, 1823, died December 10, 1826; John Newton, born September 21, 1824, died young; William Newton, born December 15, 1835; Abigail Perkins, born November 25, 1827, died 1830; Marion Eugene, born October 26, 1829, died December 19, 1845 (a daughter). Mary Newton, born September 28, 1831, died in Omaha, January 22, 1892; she married Samuel C. Nash and had three children: John W., William F., and Samuel C. The children of Colonel John and Eliza A. F. Whitney were: John Newton, born July 6, 1833, has a cattle ranch in Wyoming with ten thousand head of cattle; is unmarried; Charles Andrew, see forward; Eliza Ann French, born February 26, 1836, died February 18, 1839; Levi Lincoln, born January 20, 1839, is a stock broker in Boston; Eliza Ann French, born July 1, 1840, married H. L. Norton; Lydia, born March 19, 1843, died February 21, 1844.
(VIII) Charles Andrew Whitney, son of Colonel John Whitney (7), was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, November 14, 1834. He attended the public schools of Princeton until he was fifteen years old, when he went to Millbury and began to learn the trade of cutter in the boot and shoe factory of Amasa Wood & Son at West Millbury. Nine years later, in 1839, he engaged in manufacturing shoes in Chicago with Thompson and his brother, Levi L. Whitney, under the firm name of Thompson, Whitney & Company. For about ten years this firm carried on a prosperous and growing business, having a factory in North Clark street, and having from three to five salesmen on the road selling their products in the northwest. They also had government contracts. At the time of the great fire in Chicago they lost their plant and suffered heavy losses. In 1875 Mr. Whitney returned to Millbury and has since made his home there. Mr. Whitney is a well known Free Mason, being a member of all the bodies up to that of the thirty-second degree. In politics he is a Republican, and since 1898 has been the collector of taxes of the town of Millbury. He has been two years on the board of selectmen, during one year of which he was the chairman. He has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business since 1888 in Millbury and has won a high standing among the business men of the town.
He married, November 29, 1864, at Millbury, Martha E. Waters, daughter of Jonathan E. and Martha R. (Leland) Waters, of Millbury, descendant of the Waters family, which located among the early settlers of Sutton in what is now Millbury. The farm formerly owned by Mrs. Whitney, sold in 1897, was a part of the three thousand acres owned by Nathaniel Waters, the pioneer. (See sketch of the Waters family.) The two children of Charles Andrew and Martha E. Whitney are: Charles Dana, born in Chicago, March 18, 1866, was educated at Chicago and Millbury, is agent at Millbury of the Adams Express Company; married Nellie L. White, and they nave one son, Raymond Cyrus, born March 19, 1893. Jesse Marion, born in Chicago, March 2, 1869, graduate of Wheaton Seminary; married S. Foster H. Goodwin of Duncan-Goodell Hardware Company, Worcester; they have two children-—Haven Whitney Goodwin, born March 31, 1895; Marjory, born August 6, 1896.
Notes
1.^ Silas Whitney (5) was not son of William Whitney (4), as stated above. Instead, he was Silas6 Whitney (David5, Benjamin4, Thomas3, Thomas2, John1), son of David5 and Mercy (Goodnow) Whitney, born about 1737.
2.^ Andrew Whitney (6) was not son of Silas Whitney (5), as stated above. Instead, he was Andrew6 Whitney (Abraham5, John4, Joseph3, John2, John1), son of Abraham5 and Tabitha (Allen) Whitney, baptized 30 Mar 1754, Weston, MA.
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Some years ago a controversy was had with the late Edward W. Lincoln, of Worcester, concerning the source of the Blackstone river. Mr. Lincoln claimed that Tatnuck brook and a spring feeding it, having its location in Paxton, was the source and Mr. Crane held to the theory that Ramshorn pond lying between Millbury and Sutton was the fountain head. No less an authority than Peter Whitney, the first historian of the county, placed its source in the latter locality.
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(VIII) William Woodbury Carter, son of Rufus [and Sarah (Ward)] Carter (7), was born April 21, 1866, at Millbury, Massachusetts. He attended the public and high schools there, and worked at home on the farm for two years after leaving school. He then went to Worcester as head shipping clerk for J. H. and G. M. Walker, shoe manufacturers, remaining three years. He then became paymaster for the firm of Cutting & Bishop, contractors and builders, Worcester, where he remained seven years. When that firm was dissolved he went with Mr. Cutting in the firm then formed, Cutting, Bardwell & Company, and its successor, G. H. Cutting & Company. He has been a member of the last named firm for thirteen years. The firm is at present composed of George H. Cutting, Burton C. Fiske, W. W. Carter and George B. Cutting. Mr. Carter has charge of the financial end of the business. In recent years the work of this firm has aggregated about a million dollars a year, employing from six hundred to sixteen hundred hands. At present the firm is working on contracts in Massachusetts, Maine, South Carolina and Tennessee. Last year they had large contracts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. Mr. Carter has traveled considerably in looking out for these distant contracts. A list of the contracts of the company and a history of the business will be found in the sketch of George H. Cutting in this work.
Mr. Carter married, October 24, 1895, Laura Grace Whitney, of Millbury. She was educated in the public and high schools of Millbury, at Lasalle Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts. She studied music under Clarence Hay, of Boston. Children of William W. and Laura Grace Carter are: Lorraine Whitney, born October 13, 1898; William Woodbury, Jr., October 22, 1900; Mildred, February 27, 1904.
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(VII) Stephen A. Tisdale . . .
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. . . married Ann E. Whitcomb . . . . Their children were: Albert A., of whom later; . . . ; Leon A., May 12, 1869, married Maude M. Eggleston, December 9, 1903. He is foreman at the Whitney Reed Chair Company.
(VIII) Albert A. Tisdale, son of Stephen A. Tisdale (7), was born at Leominster, Massachusetts, October 7, 1857. . . . . He was president of the Whitney Reed Chair Company, the concern which carried on the chair business that he founded until 1902 when it was merged into the National Novelty Corporation upon which he now serves on the executive board.
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(V) Daniel Hovey . . . married Keziah ----- . . . . His children were: . . . ; William, born at Plainfield, New Hampshire, 1786.
(VI) William Hovey, of Worcester, the founder of the Hovey family of Worcester, came there about a hundred years ago. He married Prudence A. Whitney, of that city, February 27, 1812. He died September 4, 1855 at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife died July 2, 1872, also at Worcester, aged seventy-seven years, six months. Both are buried at Rural cemetery, Worcester. William Hovey was a manufacturer of plows, and was a wealthy and prominent man in his day. His home was at the corner of Main and Front streets, opposite the city hll, on what is now perhaps the best and most valuable business location in the city, and was then a centre of social life. It was known later as the Bradley House, after Mr. Hovey sold it. The children of William and Prudence A. Hovey as recorded in Worcester were: William Henry, born April 11, 1813; Charles Hovey, born January 1, 1815, married Ann D. Baker, November 26, 1840, and had Mary Elizabeth and a son; George, born April 19, 1817, married Catherine and had two daughters, Marion and Emma; Francis, born February 17, 1819, married Ellen Packard, December 13, 1847, died January 23, 1885; John Gates, born July 24, 1821, at Boston; James (see forward); Ann, born March 31, 1826, married George Rice, had one daughter, Fanny; died April 12, 1857; Albert E., born May 4, 1828, died February 13, 1853.
(VII) James Hovey, son of William (6) and Prudence Ann (Whitney) Hovey, born January 8. 1824; died October 4, 1860. He was associated with his father in the plow business. He married Mary Johnson, of Worcester. Their only child was Henry A., born February 14, 1850.
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(VIII) Henry A. Hovey, son of James (7), and Mary Hovey, has been a successful business man of Worcester. At present he is associated with his two sons in the Hovey laundry, which has had a very prosperous history, and is rapidly growing. The plant has been moved to a new brick building on Austin street, built especially for the business. Mr. Hovey is a member of the Worcester Continentals. He was formerly an officer of the uniformed rank of the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to Damascus Lodge. He joined the Elks in Providence several years ago. He married Ava Gertrude Parsons, daughter of George and Abigail P. (Russell) Parsons, May 5, 1875. (See sketch of Russell family.) Children are: Henry Prescott, see forward; George Russell (see forward).
(IX) Henry Prescott Hovey, son of Henry A. (8), and Ava G. (Parsons) Hovey, was born February 24, 1881; married, January 20, 1904, Ethel May Howland, daughter of Lucius Howland, of Worcester, lineal descendants from John Howland, who came as Governor Carver's secretary to Plymouth in the Mayflower, and was a prominent man among the Pilgrim colonists. Henry P. Hovey is associated with his father and brother in the Hovey laundry. He is a graduate of the Worcester high school, class of 1900.
(IX) George Russell Hovey, son of Henry A. (8), and Ava G. (Parsons) Hovey, was born at Worcester, September 2, 1883. He was educated in the public schools, graduating from the high school, class of 1901. He is the junior partner in the firm operating the Hovey laundry. He married Julia Blanche Anderson, of Worcester, January 10, 1906.
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(VII) Joshua Norcross, son of Captain Daniel Norcross (6), was born at Rindge, New Hampshire, April 6, 1820. He attended the public schools of his native town and assisted his father on the farm. When he came of age he left the farm and went to work at Winchendon, driving a team of horses for Amasa Whitney. He remained in this position until 1844, when he returned to his native town and resumed farming with his father on the homestead, which was in the possession of the family over a century up to 1890, when it was sold by Otis H. Norcross.
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(VIII) Moses Phelps Greenwood, son of Edmund Rice Greenwood (7), was born at Hubbardston, Massachusetts, December 21, 1845. When six years of age, he removed with his parents to Ashburnham, where he attended the public schools. At the age of thirteen he entered the employ of C. & G. C. Winchester, in their store as a clerk, remained until 1867, when he and Ohio Whitney formed a partnership under the firm name of Whitney & Greenwood and conducted a general store in the block in Ashburnham, now occupied by Walter O. Parker, opposite Central street. Captain Walter O. Parker was admitted to the firm of Whitney & Greenwood and the firm name became Whitney, Greenwood & Co. and continued until 1872, when Whitney & Parker bought out Mr. Greenwood. Then Mr. Greenwood became manager for the general store of George C. Winchester, and remained until Mr. Winchester went out of business. About 1879 he entered the employ of L. Sprague & Co., dealers in carpets and crockery, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and remained two years. He formed a partnership in 1881 with Walter R. Adams under the firm name of Adams & Greenwood, and conducted a general store in Ashburnham in the brick block formerly occupied by the Winchesters. In 1886 Mr. Greenwood bought out his partner and conducted the business alone with uniform success until May, 1905, when, owing to the demands of other and larger interests, he sold his stock and good will to Scales & Cadwell. Altogether as clerk and proprietor he was a dealer in general merchandise more than forty years. He has been treasurer of Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, since 1893, and trustee since 1892, which duties, together with the settlement of estates, have occupied his time and attention. His office is in the brick block where his store was located. Mr. Greenwood is one of the most prominent business men of the town. He is a man of sound judgment and enjoys the respect and confidence of his townsmen.
He is a member of the Congregational Orthodox Church, of which he has been treasurer for many years. In politics he is a Republican and has often served as delegate to the various conventions of his party. He was town treasurer for two years and town auditor since the office was established. In 1893 he was representative to the general court, serving on the finance committee. He was a director and vice-president of the Ashburnham First National Bank during its existence. He is a member of Aurora Lodge of Masons, Thomas Chapter
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of Royal Arch Masons, both of Fitchburg; Hiram Council, Worcester; Jerusalem Commandery, Knights Templar, Fitchburg; Scottish Rite bodies at Worcester, including the eighteenth degree in Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix, and of Massachusetts Consistory, thirty-second degree, Boston. He is also a member of Naukeag Lodge, No. 196, Odd Fellows, at Ashburnham; Ashburnham Grange, No. 202, Patrons of Husbandry.
He married, June 18, 1868, Georgie Sarah Whitney, born at Ashburnham, August 26, 1845, daughter of Ohio Whitney, Jr. and Mary Rebecca (Brooks) Whitney, of Ashburnham. The children: 1. Josephine Ellen, born May 18, 1870, married, September 20, 1893, Fred W. Woodcock, born in Winchendon, but was residing in Boston, Massachusetts, and they have Edmund Greenwood Woodcock, born December 31, 1899; Mary Woodcock, born January 8, 1904. 2. Edmund Ohio, born August 28, 1874, died August 21, 1875. 3. Arthur Moses, born March 30, 1876, graduate of Brown University, Harvard Medical School and Cushing Academy, now practicing medicine at Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Edmund Greenwood, fourth son of Edmund Rice Greenwood, born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, December 18, 1837, lived in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, until sixteen years of age, was educated there, went west and lived several years, finally going south and settling in Memphis, Tennessee, 1859. He engaged in the stock business, and at the time of his death, October 8, 1902, in Memphis, was engaged in the cotton commission business. He joined the Confederate army, serving in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment. He married, in Memphis, Tennessee, November 17, 1861, Mary Josephine Haning, born at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, December 20, 1837, daughter of Aaron and Nancy (Dickinson) Haning, the former having been a farmer in Ohio in early life, and the latter a native of Arkansas and a descendant of a Welsh ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Haning died in Kentucky, where the family moved after leaving Grand Gulf, Mississippi. Children of Edmund and Mary Josephine (Haning) Greenwood were: Imogene, born in Memphis, died in Nashville. Mary Susan, born in Macon, Georgia, married W. P. Guiberson. Edmund Moses, born and died in Memphis. James Hudson, born in Memphis. Edith Edna, born and died in Memphis. Aline Barrett, born in Memphis.
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(VII) Smyrna Bancroft, second child of Jonathan [and Sarah (Case)] Bancroft (6), was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, May 15, 1776. He became a prominent citizen of his native town, was assessor in 1812, 1813, 1814, and selectman in the last mentioned two years. He married Sarah Whitney, of Winchendon, Massachusetts. He died May 5, 1818. The children of Smyrna and Sarah (Whitney) Bancroft were: Harvey M., born May 1, 1803, died November 21, 1887; married, 1828, Betsey C. Glazier, daughter of Lewis and Lucy (Keyes) Glazier, and removed to Ashhurnham. Smyrna W., born December 13, 1804, died March 9, 1880; married Lucy Jackson, daughter of Elisha and Relief (Beard) Jackson, and resided in Gardner, where they had seven children. Mary Elmira, born November 5, 1807, died November 5, 1855. Sally Whitney, born April 13, 1810, married Ephraim Wright. Amasa, see forward. Viola, born August 26, 1815, died August, 1869; married Charles W. Bush and had one son, Charles W.. married Mary Bancroft, daughter of Smyrna W. Bancroft.
(VIII) Amasa Bancroft, fifth child of Smyrna Bancroft (7), was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, March 16, 1812, on the homestead, s1tuated three-fourths of a mile northwest of the Common, first occupied and improved by his grandfather some years before the incorporation of the town. His boyhood and youth were spent in the manner that was usual with farmers' sons in New England at that time. In the routine of his daily tasks, and under the responsibilities laid upon him, there were developed in him those habits of industry, prudence and general thriftiness, and that self-reliant spirit so essential to a strong and reliable character, which, in after years served him so well in the various positions and relations of life. Arriving at mature age, he did not go to seek his fortune in larger communities where was greater promise of promotion and worldly success, but remained in his native town, content to enter upon whatever career of usefulness might be open to him there. The business of chairmaking had already gained a foothold in Gardner, and promised to become an industry of importance. He entered a chair factory and spent three years in learning the trade. Then, he formed a partnership with Frederick Parker, and they manufactured chairs for a year in a small shop which stands near the residence of Henry Lawrence. They then associated with themselves Messrs. Jared Taylor and Joel Baker, the firm being Taylor, Bancroft & Company. They bought the pail factory of Sawin & Damon, in the south part of the town. Sawin & Damon had begun the manufacture of pails, buckets, and similar wooden ware by machinery a short time before. The new firm continued to make the same line of goods for four years. In 1840 Mr. Bancroft bought out his partners and continued alone, under the name of A. Bancroft & Company. In 1865 he took his son-in-law, John C. Bryant, into partnership, and he continued in the business until his death in 1882. At that time the firm was producing ten thousand nests of tubs of from two to eight each, valued at $25,000. Some 30,000 pails were made annually making the total product worth $25,000. The firm had a saw mill and dealt in lumber also, owning large tracts of timberland. In 1883 his stepson, Alfred Wyman, was admitted to partnership. When Mr. Bancroft died, January 26, 1888, he was the oldest pail and tub manufacturer in the United States. After his death the business was sold to Henry Hadley & Company, and a few years later the firm lost heavily by fire and gave up business. Mr. Bancroft was in every sense a self-made man. He rose by his own efforts from comparative poverty to modest wealth, and became a leader in the town and church. He was called upon to fill many positions of honor and trust, served the town for five years as selectman, was the first president of the First National Bank of Gardner, a position he held for seven years, and was one of the founders of the savings bank, and a trustee from the date of its establishment in 1865 to his death. He was a Republican in politics, always sought to do his whole duty to the state as well as the town, and was interested in public questions and in shaping public sentiment. Mr. Bancroft was endowed with unusual musical gifts. He had an excellent voice and a good ear, together with a great love for music. He was for many years an efficient and successful teacher of singing schools in the vicinity. For forty years he was the leader of the choir in the church to which he belonged. His voice was well trained and exceedingly effective in religious music, to which he devoted his attention chiefly. A friend, writing of him soon after his death, said: "A man of cheerful disposition, humane feelings, tender sympathies and generous impulses, every good work found in Mr. Bancroft a helper, and every philanthropic cause a friend." He was considerate of the men in his employ, of the unfortunate and worthy poor, and his benefactions to
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such were many, but scrupulously kept from the public eye. He shrank from whatever might seem like notoriety or love of display, and many of his donat1ons to objects he held most dear, were not only unknown to the world, but to those nearest to him in life. In his home he was genial, affectionate, kind and helpful, making life there sunny and glad by his presence. Mr. Bancroft was a man of strong religious convictions, and was an active member of the Congregational Church (Trinitarian).
He married, April 5, 1836, Caroline Abiel Shumway, daughter of Nehemiah and Matilda (Bolton) Shumway. She died September 12, 1858. Her parents had six children born in Westminster. Mr. Bancroft married (second) Jane Whitney (Wilder) Wyman, widow, who had two sons: Henry Harrison and Alfred Wyman. The children of Amasa and Caroline A. (Shumway) Bancroft were: Caroline Matilda, born June 2, 1837 (see above in Bryant sketch), married John C. Bryant; Mary Almira, August 1, 1844, died September 12, 1862. Mr. Bancroft's step-sons: Rev. Henry H. Wyman, Paulist Father, is connected with St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church of San Francisco, California. Alfred Wyman, traveling salesman, resides in Gardner.
Copyright © 2009, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
