Fall River Massachusetts Genealogy

Ancestry of the Mortons of East Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts

The Mortons of East Freetown, Bristol Co., Mass., formerly quite numerous in that vicinity, but not now represented by many of the name, are the posterity of Maj. Nathaniel Morton and descendants of the eminent George Morton.

George Morton, born about 1585, at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, came to New England in the ship “Ann” in 1623. He had married in Leyden, in 1612, Juliana Carpenter, daughter of Alexander Carpenter, of Wrentham, England. He is said to have served the Pilgrims in important relations before coming to this country, and published in England in 1621 the first history of the Colony, which was entitled “A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England.” It is commonly known as “Mourt’s Relation.” He died in 1624.

Jackson Family of Fall River, MA

Here in this article it is the purpose to treat of but one branch or family of the Massachusetts Jacksons – the family of John Jackson, who was a descendant of the Middleboro settler of the name, one John Jackson, and who in time removed to the State of Maine, the home State for several generations of the Fall River Jacksons in question. The first John Jackson came from England to New England and settled in Middleboro, where in May, 1714, he was married to Mary Smith. They had two children (if not more), John and Cornelius, the latter of whom was born in Middleboro Sept. 11, 1716. The father died in 1731.

Ancestry of the Jennings Family from Fall River, Massachusetts

Several persons bearing the name Jennings (variously spelled) located in Massachusetts in its early settlement. Richard Jennings put himself as apprentice to Robert Bartlett, of Plymouth, in 1635, for a period of years. He is said to have lived at Sandwich, whence he moved to Bridgewater, and had a family of children. The Jennings family was long prominent and highly respected in the town of Sandwich, but in time became practically extinct there. Thomas Jennings was an early settler in Portsmouth, R. I. It is, however, the purpose to refer here to the special Fall River family of the name the head of which was the late William H. Jennings. The latter was a descendant in the seventh generation from John Jennings of Sandwich, Mass., from whom his descent is through Isaac, John, Isaac, Isaac and Andrew M. Jennings. These generations follow in the order named.

Hawes Family of Wrentham, MA

For generations, since the early Colonial period, the Hawes family has been resident in Wrentham, Mass. The line is traced back to Edward Hawes, of Dedham, Mass., born probably about 1620, who died in 1686. He married April 15, 1648, Eliony Lombard. This genealogy discusses the line from Edward through Oliver Snow Hawes who removed to Fall River Mass. It then discusses the family and descendants of Olvier Snow Hawes who resided in the vicinity of Fall River.

Slade Family of Somerset-Fall River, Massachusetts

For the past hundred years – during almost the lifetime, as it were, of Fall River and its entire industrial life – the name Slade has been continually identified with that industrial life and also prominent in other lines of effort in that great city of spindles. In 1812-13, when the real substantial pioneer establishments in the cloth making industry of Fall River were projected and completed – the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufactory and the Fall River Manufactory – began the Slade name in this connection, Eber Slade of Somerset being one of the most prominent promoters of one of the corporations; he became its first treasurer and filled the position until in the middle twenties. William Slade of Somerset was one of the owners of the site of these first establishments, and was himself an original proprietor of the Pocasset and Watuppa Manufacturing Companies. The brothers Jonathan and William Lawton Slade were among the founders of the celebrated cotton mills of Fall River, both becoming presidents of the corporation. John Palmer Slade, another of Somerset’s sons, figured largely not only in the industrial life of the city but in other lines, becoming president of both the Shove and Laurel Lake Mills. George W. Slade, one of the “forty-niners” of the Pacific coast, was for full fifty years one of the extensive and wholesale merchants of Fall River and his name, too, is coupled with the city’s industrial life. And of younger generations one or more of the sons of some of these are at this time officially and otherwise connected with this industrial life and in other lines, notably Leonard N. and Everett N. Slade, of the firm of John P. Slade & Son, insurance and real estate; David F. Slade, member of the law firm of Slade & Borden; and Abbott E. Slade, now treasurer of the Laurel Lake Mills.

Biographical Sketch of Aldrich, James Mott

Aldrich, James Mott, son of Arnold and Dollee Lang Aldrich, was born in Smithfield, Providence County, R. I., October 30, 1817. He attended the common schools and the academy at Union Village. He studied medicine in the office of Dr. J. A. Brown, Providence, R. I., Harvard medical school, and in the Botanic Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio; and commenced regular practice in Fall River in 1843, in which city he has ever since lived. Dr. Aldrich was married in Dedham, May 24, 1844, to Mary A. Allen, who died in 1857. He was again married, September 23, 1862, to Louisa … Read more

Lindsey Family of Fall River, MA

The Fall River family of Lindseys here considered is a branch of the earlier Bristol, R. I., family. Beyond the marriage at that point of John Lindsey, the first of the name of record there, 1694, nothing definite seems known. It is a tradition in the Bristol family, however, that their ancestor came from Scotland long prior to the American Revolution. Reference is made here to the genealogy and family history of the Fall River branch of the Bristol family, the head of which was the late William Lindsey, who was through a long life a prominent business man and substantial citizen, followed by his son, the late Hon. Crawford Easterbrooks Lindsey, for many years prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Fall River and of Pawtucket, R. I., a member of both branches of the city government of Fall River and twice its chief executive officer.

Joshua Remington Family of Newbury Massachusetts

Joshua Remington, father of Mrs. Mary Anna (Remington) Holmes (See Ancestors of Charles Jarvis Holmes of Marshfield and Rochester MA), was born May 29, 1798, in that part of Providence, R. I., now called Olneyville. He was a son of Stephen and Sarah (Walton) Remington, and of the eighth generation in descent from John Remington, who came to this country in 1637 and settled in Newbury, Mass.

Ancestors of George Albert Chace of Fall River, MA

CHACE (Fall River family). In and about Fall River for generations the Chace (earlier generations using the orthography Chase) family has been conspicuous in the affairs of that section and especially for a century past in its industrial life. In the particular line of Joseph Chase, who settled in Swansea, the family becoming a Swansea-Somerset one, such names as Oliver, Harvey, James H., Hon. Jonathan and George Albert Chace – the latter of whom planned and built a number of the large cotton mills of Fall River, was long treasurer and manager of the Bourne Mill, in Tiverton, R. I., and as well was a most active and useful citizen of Fall River – will long endure in the annals of this great industrial section. There follows from the first American ancestor of the Chaces named to the present in chronological order the genealogy and family history of the children of the late George Albert Chace of Fall River.

Descendants of Daniel Wilcox of Dartmouth MA and Tiverton RI

This article briefly deals ith one branch only of the New England Wilcox family – with some of the descendants of Daniel Wilcox, who had a grant of fifteen acres of land at Portsmouth, R. I., Dec. 10, 1656, and who later, in 1664, bought a house in Dartmouth, and was constable there in the year following. Mr. Wilcox later became a resident of the town of Tiverton, being an inhabitant there on the organization of the town, March 2, 1692.

Descendants of Nicholas Snow of Eastham, MA

Nicholas Snow, a native of England, came to this country in 1623 in the ship “Ann,” locating in Plymouth, where he had a share in the division of land in 1624. In 1634 he removed to Eastham, where he became a prominent citizen. His home was on the road from Plymouth to Eel river, on the Westerly side. He was admitted a freeman in 1633, and was elected town clerk at the first meeting of the town of Eastham, holding that office sixteen years. He was deputy to the General Court from 1648, three years; selectman from 1663, seven years. He and his son Mark signed the call to Rev. John Mayo to settle as their minister in 1655. He was one of Gov. Thomas Prence’s associates. He married at Plymouth, Constance, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, who came over in the “Mayflower.” Constance herself came in the “Mayflower.” She died in October, 1677. Mr. Snow died Nov. 15, 1676, in Eastham, Mass.

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

Descendants of Rev. George Shove of Fall River, MA

SHOVE. Rev. George Shove, gentleman, son of Margery, who was admitted to the church at Boston as a widow in 1638, and who subsequently was of Rowley and a proprietor and still later of Roxbury, where she married in 1654 Richard Peacock, became the third minister of Taunton, ordained Nov. 17, 1665. Of his ministerial life little is known except that be “preached acceptably,” and taught the Taunton school; and it is said that “no rumor of strife or discord in connection with him comes down to us.” His fame, however, as a land bolder and dealer in real estate … Read more

Descendants of Jonathan Dyer of Fall River, Mass.

Seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infrantry

Through three generations the Dyer family of Fall River, descendants of Jonathan Dyer, have been actively and prominently identified with the city’s commercial and social life; especially prominent has been for some forty years there in the great industrial life the present David Hartwell Dyer, who has been officially connected with a number of the large mills and is of the firm of D. H. Dyer & Son, civil and mechanical engineers, of which the junior member, George F. Dyer, is a thoroughly educated and expert electrical engineer.

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.”

Descendants of Chauncey Sears of Fall River, MA

As will be seen in what follows the Fall River family of Sears here considered – to which belongs Chauncey Howe Sears, an extensive mason contractor and builder and one of Fall River’s well-known citizens and substantial men – is one of some two hundred and sixty and more years’ standing in this Commonwealth. The family history and genealogy of the Fall River family follow in chronological order from the immigrant settler.

Biography of Judge E. F. Howcroft

JUDGE E. F. HOWCROFT. Not without justice, Judge E. F. Howcroft is conceded to hold an enviable position among the prominent and successful men of Christian County, for he has not only rendered it valuable service as a reliable public official, but as an industrious farmer and law-abiding citizen. He is a native of the Old Bay State, born at Fall River, November 18, 1838, to the marriage of David and Ruth (Bindley) Howcroft, and like other British-American citizens, has done good stalwart work in the cultivation and development of this section. His father, David Howcroft, who for many years … Read more

Ancestry of William Bowers Moison Chace of Taunton Massachusetts

Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts

William Bowers Moison Chace, senior member of W. B. M. Chace & Co., real estate, insurance, stocks and bonds, prominently identified with manufacturing and financial concerns, his position won through his own energy, integrity and general worth, is a worthy representative of a family planted in America but a decade later than the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. He was born in Somerset, Mass., Dec. 5, 1854, and is of the ninth generation of the family in the New World.

Pierce Family of North Bridgewater, MA

The Pierce families of this country are and have long been very numerous. Early in the settlement of New England came representatives from England, most of them not related, so far as now known. Among them were Abraham, of Plymouth, 1623, who became one of the original purchasers of Bridgewater in 1645; Daniel, of Newbury, blacksmith, who came from Ipswich, County of Suffolk, in 1634, aged twenty-three years; John, of Dorchester, mariner from Stepney, Middlesex, before 1631; another John, of Dorchester and Boston; John, of Watertown, 1638; Capt. Michael, of Hingham and Scituate; Richard, of Portsmouth, R. I.; Robert, of Dorchester; Thomas, of Charlestown, who was admitted to the church there in 1634; and Capt. William, of Boston, who was a distinguished shipmaster of his time.

Descendants of Richard Borden who resided in Fall River, Massachusetts

There lived at and figured prominently in the affairs of Fall River for many years and was one of the city’s most useful citizens the late Cook Borden, who most worthily wore the Borden name and sustained the family reputation, and has been followed by sons who carried forward the work he began and left, and who have been or are now active and influential in the city’s affairs – substantial men of the community. The generations from the emigrant ancestor follow somewhat in detail.