Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts Collections – Page 7 of 10

Descendants of Benjamin S. Atwood of Whitman, MA

Benjamin S. Atwood, the well-known box manufacturer of Whitman, Mass., was one of the best known men in Plymouth county, and as a business man and as a soldier stood high in the estimation of all who know him. He was born in the town of Carver, Plymouth county, June 25, 1840. The Atwood family of which Benjamin S. Atwood is a descendant is an old and prominent family of Plymouth Colony. The founder was John Wood, who came to Plymouth in 1643, and was later known as John Atwood – a spelling of the name that has been retained to the present time.

Descendants of Abraham Tappan of Newbury, MA

The Tappan family of Attleboro, while not an old one in this section of the State, has, nevertheless, been resident for half a century in Attleboro, where Ephraim H. Tappan makes his home, and where his sons, Charles H. and William C, the latter now deceased, have been identified with the manufacturing interests of that section, by their great energy, enterprise and progressive spirit making for themselves a name ranking them among the foremost jewelry manufacturers of the State. The Tappan family was planted in America by:

Abraham Toppan (or Tappan), son of William Topham, of Calbridge, in the parish of Coverham, and fourth in descent from Robert Topham, of Linton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England; he was baptized April 10, 1606. He lived for some time in Yarmouth, County of Norfolk. His wife, whose maiden name was Taylor, was born in 1607, daughter of Elizabeth, who married (second) John Goodale, whom she outlived and from whom she inherited considerable property. Mr. Toppan with his wife, two children and maidservant, in 1637, took passage in the “Mary and Ann” to New England, and there came in the same vessel with them Mrs. Goodale, his mother-in-law. He settled in Newbury, being admitted Oct. 16, 1637, and at different times in the year following several lots were granted to him. He made a number of voyages to Barbadoes, one or more of which were profitable. He died Nov. 5, 1672, aged sixty-six, in the house on “Toppan’s Lane” which he had built about 1670 for his son Jacob. His widow died March 20, 1689, aged eighty-two years. The children of Abraham and Susanna (Taylor) Toppan were:

Descendancts of John Remington of Haverhill, MA

As early as 1661 John Remington and his wife Abigail were at Haverhill, where their children, Daniel and Hannah, were born. John Remington is credited by one writer as being the emigrant ancestor from Wales of the Rhode Island Remingtons. He appears of record as early as 1669 at Jamestown, R. I., where Aug. 28th of that year he and two others were ordered to assemble inhabitants of Conanicut Island to consider what might be most suitable for defense and preservation against any invasion or insurrection of the Indians. He had been earlier at Haverhill, Mass. (1661), and Andover. He was one of the grantees in 1677 of what became East Greenwich, R. I. He and his sons were taxed in 1680. In 1695 he gave his son Thomas Remington, of Warwick, a deed for his Haverhill interests, and redeeded to him the same in 1709, he then being apparently of Warwick, R. I., the former deed having become “damnified through disaster.”

Cushman Family of Acushnet, MA

For perhaps fifty years there has lived in what is now Acushnet and figured largely in the industrial life of the locality a branch of the ancient and historic Cushman family of the Old Colony, in the immediate family of the late Emery Cushman, whose early life was passed in Duxbury; himself the founder of an enterprise here in which he was succeeded by his son and the latter by his sons, all of whom contributed through the manufacturing plant to the material progress and welfare of their locality.

It will be remembered that Robert Cushman was one of the most active and influential men in all of the preliminary movements of the Pilgrims in going to Leyden and thence to New England, he the ancestor of the Cushman family here in question, the marriage of whose son into the Howland family further identifies it with the “Mayflower” party.

There follows the history and genealogy of this Acushnet Cushman family in chronological order from this first American ancestor.

Corthell Genealogy of Hingham to South Abington, Massachusetts

Of the first generation of the Corthell family in America there are records somewhat contradictory. Robert Corthell appears at Hingham, Mass., at the commencement of the eighteenth century. Nothing earlier of him seems to be known. He married Oct. 13, 1708, Deborah, daughter of Benjamin and Deborah Tower, his wife being born in Hingham in February, 1685. Robert Corthell died March 5, 1737-38, aged fifty-two years.

Copeland Family of Easton, MA

COPELAND (Whitman family). The family bearing this name is one of long and honorable standing in southeastern Massachusetts. Early at Braintree, then at Bridgewater, and for generations in the town of Easton, this Easton-Whitman branch of the earlier Braintree stock has for several generations been one of Easton’s leading families, and more recently – a later generation – in the new town of Whitman, formerly South Abington. Reference is made to the forefathers of the present George Copeland and Horatio Franklin Copeland, M. D., brothers. The latter though of Easton birth has been for nearly half a century active and … Read more

Clifford Family of New Bedford, MA

Among the most prominent law offices in southern Massachusetts is one which by lineal succession has existed for nearly, if not quite, a hundred years, and in which three generations of the Clifford family have been represented. The members of the Clifford family who have been such important factors in this old and prominent law firm came of a distinguished ancestry. The late John H. Clifford was a direct descendant in the eighth generation from George Clifford, who came with his wife Elizabeth and son John from Arnold village and parish, Nottinghamshire, England, to Boston in 1644.

Chase Family of Fall River MA

CHASE (Fall River family). The Chase family here considered is strictly speaking a Massachusetts-Rhode Island one, springing as it does from the early Roxbury Yarmouth family, a later generation of which located in Portsmouth, R. I. In the third generation from the immigrant ancestor through Joseph Chase, who located in Swansea, Mass., and Benjamin, who settled in Portsmouth, R. I., have descended the Chases who have come from those respective localities. And both branches have shared largely in the commercial and industrial life of this section of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. From the Portsmouth branch came the late Borden Chase, … Read more

Chandler Family of Boston and East Bridgewater MA

This Boston – East Bridgewater Chandler family, the head of which was the late Hon. Peleg Whitman Chandler, long one of the leading counselors of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and one of a family of lawyers, comes of a Massachusetts-Maine branch of the ancient Duxbury family whose progenitor was Edmund Chandler. The branch just alluded to for several generations at New Gloucester and Bangor, Maine, and at Boston in this Commonwealth, has been one of liberal education, college-bred men, men who have adorned the legal profession, and it has allied itself through generations with a number of the ancient and first families of the Old Colony. There follows in chronological order from Edmund Chandler, the first American ancestor of this branch of American Chandlers, and in detail the family history and genealogy.

Biography of Robert Thompson Davis, M. D., of Fall River, MA

ROBERT THOMPSON DAVIS, M. D., late of Fall River, physician, promoter, State senator, mayor, congressman, etc., was one of the most prominent figures in the public and industrial life of Fall River, and as well one of its most widely known and wealthiest citizens. Dr. Davis was the son of John and Sarah (Thompson) Davis, and was born Aug. 28, 1823, in County Down, Province of Ulster, North of Ireland.

Biography of Maj. Herbert Allyne Clark

Maj. Herbert Allyne Clark (deceased), of Attleboro, Mass., who in recent years was Regimental Quartermaster of the United States Volunteer Army, and a man widely known, was the only surviving son of Samuel W. and Charity H. (Cushman) Clark, and was born in Middleboro, Mass., Feb. 22, 1859.

Beal Genealogy of Abington Massachusetts

Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts

The Beal family of Abington, the head of which was the late George A. Beal, Esq., who for years was one of the leading men of the town, prominent in business and public affairs and useful and substantial in citizenship, is one of long and honorable standing in this section of the Commonwealth and is a branch of the earlier Weymouth family, where early appeared the immigrant settler. By the marriage of the late Mr. Beal into the Reed family, his posterity is doubly descended from the Puritan stock of the early Colonial period of Massachusetts. There follows in chronological order from the immigrant settler, John Beal, the genealogy of the particular Abington family of Beals alluded to.

Baylies Genealogy of New Bedford Massachusetts

The Baylies family of America is descended from Nicholas Baylies, who appears on June 5, 1706, as a witness to the marriage of his son Thomas, and is described as “of the parish of Aloe-Church, County of Worcester.” He was a Quaker in his religious belief.Thomas Baylies, born in England in 1687, married June 5, 1706, Esther Sargeant, daughter of Thomas Sargeant, of Ffullford-Heath, in the parish of Soby-Hull, County of Warwick. He carried on iron-works in England, first at Colebrookdale, and afterward at some place on the Thames. With his son Nicholas and daughter Esther he came to Boston from London in June, 1737, then returned, and the year after brought over his wife and four daughters, two married daughters remaining in London. After living a short time in Cumberland, R. I., he “leased the industrial establishment on the Mumford river, where Whitinsville is now located, for twenty-one years at £34 a year. They produced or dealt in ‘pigg’ and ‘barr’ iron, nails, ‘ankonys’ and other merchandise; owned cattle and much other property. Their establishment was widely known as Baylies’ Refinery or Finery. The older son, Thomas, Jr., did not appear in this undertaking, but located at Taunton, Mass.” Thomas Baylies died at Uxbridge March 5, 1756. Both he and his wife were Quakers.

Baxendale Family of Brockton, Massachusetts

Thomas Albert Baxendale, late of Brockton, was for a number of years successfully and prominently identified with industrial interests as a manufacturer of box toes for men’s boots and shoes. He won distinction in business circles as the founder of that branch of the shoe business in which he made his chief success – the manufacture of box toes – and was a substantial and respected citizen of the city in which his success was achieved. Mr. Baxendale was of English birth and parentage, born Feb. 29, 1840, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, youngest child of the late Robert and Hannah (Dawson) Baxendale.

Barker Genealogy of Tiverton, RI

The Barker family of Tiverton, R. I., and vicinity, represented in that section by many prominent citizens, is one of the earliest settled families of New England. The first of the name of whom there is authentic record was Robert Barker, born in 1616, who came to New England at a very early day with John Thorp. In 1641, with others, he bought from Jonathan Brewster, son of Elder Brewster, a ferry and 100 acres of land at Marshfield. Later he located at Duxbury, where for several years he was a surveyor. His death occurred about 1691. He married Lucy Williams, who died March 7, 1681 or 1682.

Baker Family of Taunton Massachusetts

The Baker family of Taunton, the head of which was the late Charles F. Baker, who for years was one of the successful business men of Taunton, his adopted city, esteemed and respected for his many noble qualities of mind and heart, springs from the old Swansea-Rehoboth family of the name, the progenitor of which was John Baker. Little is known of the latter save that his wife was formerly Susannah Wood, and that he died in 1767. From this (I) John Baker of Swansea and Rehoboth the descent of the late Charles F. Baker, the head of the Taunton family under consideration, is through Nathaniel, Joseph, Levi and Caleb W. Baker.

Ashley Family of New Bedford, MA

ASHLEY (New Bedford family). Among the first settlers of Rochester, Mass., and their families appear the names of Joseph Ashley and his wife Elizabeth and their children. There had settled at Springfield as early as 1639 Robert Ashley; and from the fact that many of the early settlers of Springfield were drawn from Roxbury by Pynchon, perhaps Mr. Ashley had been there previously a short time. One Thomas Ashley resided at Cape Ann (Gloucester) in 1639; he was admitted an inhabitant of Boston in 1658, and was probably the Thomas Ashley of Maine, 1654, who, says Savage, may have removed … Read more

Archer Family of Fall River, MA

ARCHER (Fall River family). Through much of the nineteenth century the name opening this article was a most highly esteemed and respected one at Fall River, made so by the lives of the late Jason H. Archer, M. D., of the medical profession, and his son, the late John Jason Archer, Esq., for years one of the learned members of the Fall River bar. The home at least for a time of this Fall River Archer family was in the nearby town of Wrentham, in Norfolk county, where lived Amos Archer, father of Dr. Jason H. Archer and grandfather of … Read more

Anthony Family of Bristol County Massachusetts

The Anthony family of Bristol County Massachusetts descend from one John Anthony of Hampstead England who travelled in the Hercules to New England and settled in Rhode Island in 1634. This family, under the entrepreneurship of Edmund Anthony, became prominent publishers of many early Massachusetts papers, some of which were prominent in the establishment of the Republican Party and it’s causes.

Ancestry of William Hartley Cary of Brockton, Massachusetts

William Hartley Cary was a prominent and respected citizen and business man of the city of Brockton, where his death occurred Dec. 9, 1899. As a citizen he enjoyed the esteem of the entire community, in which industrial center he had for nearly a quarter of a century been an influential and successful factor in the development of its business interests. Mr. Cary was born Jan. 10, 1852, in Charleston, Maine, son of William Harrison and Abigail (Ingles) Cary. His parents were both natives of Maine, although his earlier paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of North Bridgewater (now Brockton). A record of that branch of the Cary family through which Mr. Cary descended, which has been traced in direct line back in England to the year 1170, follows.