Hussey and Morgan Families of New Bedford MA

HUSSEY-MORGAN (New Bedford families). These families, while not among those early here, are of approximately a hundred years’ standing in this community, and with their allied connections are among the very respectable and wealthy families of the locality, the heads of two of these families here considered being the late George Hussey and Charles Wain Morgan, who were extensively engaged in whaling and shipping interests here in New Bedford through much of the first half of the nineteenth century. Here follows in detail arranged chronologically from the first American ancestor the Hussey genealogy, together with that of some of its allied connections, et cetera.

Christopher Hussey, baptized 18th of 2d month, 1599, at Dorking, County of Surrey, England, son of John and Mary (Wood) of that place, and for a time in Holland, married Theodate, daughter of Stephen Batchelder, and came from London to New England in the same vessel with Mr. Batchelder, arriving at Boston in the “William and Francis,” in 1632. He probably remained at Lynn, where his father-in-law was sometime minister, until 1636, then went to Newbury and there resided a year or two. He was deputy in 1637, was one of the original settlers of Hampton in 1638, at which time his mother was there with him, and was active and prominent in citizenship for many years; was town clerk in 1650; selectman in 1650-58-64-68; was known as both “lieutenant” and “captain”; was one of the first deacons of the church; was deputy in 1658-59-60-72. Mr. Hussey was one of the nine purchasers of Nantucket, Mass., in 1659, but it is not known that he ever went to that island; he certainly never lived there for any considerable time. He was empowered in 1659 to join in marriage persons within the limits of Hampton, if published previously. His wife died in 1649, and he married (second) in 1658 Ann, widow of Judge Jeffrey Gisgay, who died in 1680. He died March 6, 1686. His children were:

1. Stephen, born in 1632;
2. John, born in 1635;
3. Mary, born in 1637;
4. Theodate, born in 1640;
5. Huldah, born in 1643; and
6. Joseph.

Stephen Hussey, born in 1632, in Lynn, Mass. (being the second child born there), married 8th of 10th month, 1676. Martha Bunker, born 1st of 11th month, 1656, daughter of George and Jane (Godfrey) Bunker. Mr. Hussey lived at Hampton, N. H., and Nantucket, Mass. He was for a time at Barbadoes, West Indies, and married late in life for those times. He and his brother John received in 1671 a deed for Nantucket lands, and it was perhaps at this time that he went there to live. In 1694 he bought his brother’s interest in the Nantucket lands which their father had deeded them. He united with the Society of Friends, being one of the seven persons who formed the first monthly meeting of Friends at Nantucket. He died 2d of 4th month, 1718, and was buried in the Friends’ Burial Ground, Nantucket. His widow Martha passed away 21st of 9th month, 1744. Their children were:

1. Puella, born 10th of 10th month, 1677;
2. Abigail, born 22d of 12th month, 1679;
3. Silvanus, born 13th of 5th month, 1682;
4. Bachelor, born 18th of 2d month, 1685;
5. Daniel, born 11th of 10th month, 1687;
6. Mary, born 24th of 3d month, 1690;
7. George, born 21st of 6th month, 1694; and
8. Theodate, born 15th of 9th month, 1700.

Silvanus Hussey, born 13th of 5th month, 1682, married (first) 7th of 2d month, 1702, Abial, daughter of John and Rachel (Gardner) Brown, who died in 1722, and he married (second) in 1723 Hepzibah, born 8th of 11th month, 1700, daughter of Nathaniel, Jr., and Dinah (Coffin) Starbuck. Mr. Hussey was a merchant of Nantucket, and one quite evidently of extensive transactions. There were thirty-six whales captured by boats from Nantucket in the spring of 1726, two of which number Mr. Hussey captured. He died 10th of 2d month, 1767. His wife Hepzibah died 31st of 12th month, 1764. His children were:

1. Obed, born 25th of 6th month, 1708;
2. Daniel;
3. Rachel, born 5th of 2d month, 1715;
4. Jonathan, born 21st of 8th month, 1718;
5. Seth (all born to the first marriage);
6. Christopher, born 3d of 11th month, 1724;
7. William, born 10th of 12th month, 1725;
8. Batchelor, born 20th of 1st month, 1729;
9. Nathaniel, born 2d of 1st month, 1731;
10. Hepzibah, born 14th of 3d month, 1733;
11. Silvanus, born 20th of 1st month, 1735;
12. George, born 12th of 7th month, 1738; and
13. Joseph, born 20th of 7th month, 1740.

Silvanus Hussey (2), born 20th of 1st month, 1735, in Nantucket, Mass., married (first) 10th month, 1756, Alice, daughter of Jeremiah and Theodate Gray, and (second) Lydia, daughter of Samuel and Hepzibah (Hathaway) Wing. He died 26th of 7th month. 1795, and Lydia passed away 1st of 8th month, 1807. Their children were:

1. Silvanus, born in 1784;
2. George, born 2d of 3d month, 1791;
3. William, born in 1793; and
4. Samuel.

George Hussey, born 2d of 3d month, 1791, in Lynn, Mass., married Jan. 11, 1821, Hetty Howland, born 3d of 3d month, 1795, daughter of William and Abigail (Wilbur) Howland, he born in 1756 and died in 1840, being a direct descendant of Henry Howland, one of the three Howlands – John, Arthur and Henry – who came to Plymouth probably before 1625, John being one of the passengers on the “Mayflower,” 1620; Henry and Arthur were brothers, and it is thought by some all three sustained that relationship. Prom Henry Howland, who was a man of thrift, uprightness and one distinguished in civil affairs, often holding public office, the lineage of William Howland was through Zoeth and Abigail;

1. Benjamin (1657-1727) and his wife Judith (Sampson);
2. Barnabas (1699-1773) and his wife Rebecca (Lapham) (1707-1736); and
3. Gideon (1734-1823) and his wife Sarah (Hicks) (1736-1824).

The children born to George and Hetty Hussey were:

1. William H., born Jan. 24, 1824;
2. John B. and Abby H., twins, born April 4, 1826, the former dying in August, 1909, the latter March 30, 1899;
3. George, born Nov. 21, 1828, who died May 23, 1872;
4. Elizabeth B., born Jan. 21, 1831, who was married Sept. 15, 1853, and died Oct. 16, 1906;
5. Sarah H., born Jan. 10, 1834; and
6. Mary B., born Aug. 24, 1837, who died Dec. 25, 1839.

George Hussey belonged to that galaxy of men who in the first half of the nineteenth century made names and places for themselves in the history of New Bedford and made the city famous, who as ship merchants, whalers and in occupations connected with that great’ industry accumulated large fortunes. He came to New Bedford from New York in about 1842, and in New Bedford was largely engaged in the merchant marine service as owner and captain. From 1849 to 1866 Mr. Hussey was one of the directors of the old Bedford Commercial Bank, which was organized in 1816, and reorganized as the National Bank of Commerce in 1864 with a capital of a million dollars. His death occurred Jan. 18, 1868, at his home on County street, when he was aged seventy-seven years.

George Hussey, Jr., son of George and Hetty (Howland) Hussey, born Nov. 21, 1828, in New York City, finished his schooling at Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, and then became associated in business with his father, who, as stated, was largely engaged as a ship merchant and in the whaling industry. He so continued through the remaining years of the father’s lifetime, but not to any great extent after the latter’s death. He was a man of sterling character and engaging manner and in his comparatively short career made and held many friends.

On Nov. 5, 1855, Mr. Hussey was married to Elizabeth Rodman Morgan, and the union was blessed with children as follows:

1. Charles Morgan married Clara Almy Wing, daughter of William E. and Rebecca (Howland) Wing, and they have had four children, born, respectively:
   1. Rebecca W., Oct. 27, 1886;
   2. Elizabeth M., Jan. 22, 1888;
   3. George, Sept. 1, 1891;
   4. Charles M., Jr., April 5, 1898, and died Nov. 15, 1908.
2. Emily Morgan.
3. Alice, born Jan. 31, 1863, married Sept. 12, 1888, Henry M. Plummer, of Sharon, Mass., and they have had four children:
   1. Charles W., born May 25, 1890;
   2. Henry M., June 27, 1892;
   3. Morgan Hussey, March 2, 1894; and
   4. Thomas E., Oct. 11, 1900.
4. Rev. Alfred Rodman, born March 22, 1870, is pastor of a Unitarian Church at Baltimore, Md. He married Jan. 16, 1898, Mary L. Warren, of Dedham, and they have had four children:
   1. Margaret W., born Sept. 27, 1900;
   2. A. Rodman, Jr., Feb. 1, 1902;
   3. Mary Elizabeth, Nov. 15, 1905; and
   4. Emily M., Dec. 13, 1908.

George Hussey, Jr., died suddenly at his summer home in Lakeville, Mass., May 23, 1872, in the forty-fourth year of his age.

Charles Waln Morgan, father of Mrs. Elizabeth Rodman (Morgan) Hussey, was a native of Philadelphia, where he was born Sept. 14, 1796, son of Thomas and Anne (Wain) Morgan. Locating in New Bedford in 1819, he soon became an extensive ship merchant in lines connected with the whaling industry and amassed a fortune, being one of the forty-six wealthy men of New Bedford in the fifties, among whom were Allen, Anthony, Arnold, Ashmead, Crocker, Delano, the Hathaways, the Howlands, the Rodmans, Rotch, Robinson and others, some of whom became millionaires during their active lives.

Mr. Morgan was one of the incorporators of the New Bedford Institution for Savings in 1825. He was one of the building committee in 1836-38 of the church edifice of the First Congregational Society at New Bedford; was one of the founders of the New Bedford Lyceum in 1828. He contributed toward the establishment of the Friends’ Academy at New Bedford. He gave the second trust fund to the New Bedford Free Public Library, which was established under the act of 1851, George Howland, Jr., having given the first, and the portraits of both Morgan and Howland, with a number of others, now hang in the library.

On June 3, 1819, Mr. Morgan married Sarah, born Oct. 31, 1793, died Sept. 26, 1888, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Rotch) Rodman and a direct descendant of John Rodman, of Barbadoes, who died there in the fall or winter of 1686 and who may have been the John Rodman who was banished from Ireland in 1655 “for wearing his hat in the Assizes in New Ross,” from whom her descent is through Thomas Rodman (1640-1728) of Barbadoes and Newport, R. I., member of the Society of Friends and clerk of the monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings of Rhode Island, for some thirty years, etc., and his wife Hannah, daughter of Gov. Walter Clarke; Samuel Rodman (1703-1749) and his wife Mary (Willetts), daughter of Col. Thomas Willetts, of Flushing, R. I.; Thomas Rodman (2) (1724-1766) and his wife Mary (Borden), and Samuel Rodman (2) (1753-1835) and his wife Elizabeth (Rotch) (Dec. 9, 1757-Aug. 2, 1856).

The children born to Charles W. and Sarah (Rodman) Morgan were:

1. Emily, born Dec. 31, 1821, was the first wife of William J. Rotch, and died in 1863;
2. Samuel Rodman, born Aug. 18, 1824, married Josephine Wharton Craig, of Philadelphia;
3. Isabel, born Oct. 21, 1829, died May 18, 1847;
4. Elizabeth Rodman was born Feb. 20, 1833;
5. Clara, born Dec. 1, 1836, became the second wife of William J. Rotch.

Mr. Morgan died April 7, 1861, at his home on County street in New Bedford. Mass., and on that occasion the New Bedford Mercury said of him editorially:

“He came from Philadelphia to this city many years ago and at once took a prominent place in our community as an active and intelligent merchant, in which pursuit he has since been successfully engaged. His character was marked with the most exact probity and bountiful liberality, and his loss will be deeply deplored throughout this community.”