Watertown Massachusetts Genealogy

Knowles Family of New Bedford, MA

The family bearing this name in New Bedford, where it is one of nearly one hundred years’ standing one, too, of prominence and wealth, is a branch of the ancient Knowles family of the town of Eastham, Barnstable county, this Commonwealth. Reference is made to some of the descendants of the brothers Thomas and James H. Knowles of Eastham, several of whose sons – at least two of the former and one of the latter – in their earlier manhood cast their lot with the people of New Bedford. The firm of Thomas Knowles & Co. for many years was one of the greatest engaged in the whale fishery business in New Bedford; and its members in turn have been succeeded in business by younger generations who have most worthily worn the family name and sustained its reputation; and today the name continues of record in and about the city of their birth connected prominently with many of the most extensive commercial establishments and banking institutions of the locality.

Abbot Family of New England

A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England vol 1

Arthur Abbot, Marblehead Perhaps removed to Ipswich, joined Winthrop 1634, in the settlement of that town, was living in 1671, and probably died before 1679. We know of issue, only Philip, whose descendants have tradition that he came from Totness in County Devon, where he left good estate of which for several years after migration the income was enjoyed by him. Arthur Abbot, Ipswich Perhaps son of the preceding in 1671 made freeman then called Jr. and, in 1674, 35 years old; by wife Elizabeth who died 17 Feb. 1738, aged 90, had Elizabeth born 6 June 1686, and probably … Read more

Seth Hastings Family of Clinton New York

Family Record of Dr Seth Hastings of Clinton, Oneida County, New York

The “Family Record of Dr. Seth Hastings, Senior” by Francis H. Hastings is a genealogical account that documents the ancestry and descendants of Dr. Seth Hastings, Sr., born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in 1745. This work briefly traces his lineage back to Deacon Thomas Hastings, who emigrated from Ipswich, England, to New England on the ship Elizabeth in 1634. Deacon Thomas Hastings became a freeman in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. The book then advances to a brief overview of the family of Dr. Seth Hastings, Sr., before delving into detailed records of his descendants. The genealogy extends to various families allied to the Hastings through marriage, incorporating a wide array of surnames.

Rev. George Phillips Genealogy

Rev. George1 Phillips, the first settled minister at Watertown, came to New England in ship Arbella, with his friends Gov. Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall. He was grad. of Gaius Coll., Cambridge, A.B. 1613, A.M. 1617; landed at Salem, Mass., June 12, 1630; wife Elizabeth [Sergent] Phillips d. soon after arrival, and was buried in Salem by the side of Lady Arbella Johnson. Mr. Phillips was minister at Watertown fourteen years; d. at Watertown, July 1, 1644. “A godly man, specially gifted and very peaceful in his place.” (Winthrop.) Samuel Phillips Samuel2 Phillips, b. at Boxstead, England, 1625; grad. Harv. … Read more

Early Records and Notes of the Brown Family

This is not a compiled genealogy, but rather, a compilation of notes, facts, and genealogies concerning the various early Brown families of the towns of Andover, Ipswich, Hamilton, Reading, Boston-Tewksbury, Cambridge, Charlestown, Chelmsford, Gloucester, Hampton NH, Haverhill, Salem, Watertown, Rowley, Sudbury, and Salisbury. Charlotte Helen Abbott compiled a series of volumes on early families of New England called the “Abbott Genealogies.” This is volume 7 of the series.

Hubbard Genealogy

George Hubbard George1 Hubbard was first in Watertown, Mass., about 1633; m. Mary Bishop, who d. at Guilford, Conn., Sept. 14, 1675. She was dau. of John and Ann Bishop, who moved to Guilford in 1639, where he, Bishop, was one of the seven prop. of the town, and d. there, February, 1661. On May 6, 1635, permission from the General Court of Massachusetts was granted to the inhabitants of Watertown “to remove themselves to any place they shall think meet to make choice of, provided they still continue under the government.” Among these immigrators was George Hubbard and family … Read more

Descendants of William Eddy in New Bedford, Massachusetts

p. 102 of the 1877-8 Greenough's Directory of the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts

Descendants of William Eddy. William Eddye, A. M., vicar of the Church of St. Dunstan in the town of Cranbrook, County of Kent, England, is the English ancestor of the Eddy family here treated. He was a native of Bristol, educated in Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and was vicar of Cranbrook from 1589 to 1616. He married (first) Nov. 20, 1587, Mary Fosten, who died in July, 1611, and he married (second), in 1614, Elizabeth Taylor, a widow. He died Nov. 23, 1616.

Descendants of Philip Taber of New Bedford, MA

The Taber family of Dartmouth and New Bedford is descended from (I) Philip Taber, who, according to Savage, was born in 1605, and died in 1672. He was at Watertown in 1634, and he contributed toward building the galley for the security of the harbor. He was made a freeman at Plymouth in that same year. In 1639-40 he was a deputy from Yarmouth, and was afterward at Martha’s Vineyard, and from 1647 to 1655 was at Edgartown, going from there to New London in 1651, but probably returning soon. He was an inhabitant of Portsmouth in February, 1655, and was a representative in Providence in 1661, the commissioners being Roger Williams, William Field, Thomas Olney, Joseph Torrey, Philip Taber and John Anthony. Later he settled in Tiverton, where his death occurred. He married Lydia Masters, of Watertown, Mass., daughter of John and Jane Masters, and his second wife, Jane, born in 1605, died in 1669.

Richard Wait Genealogy

Richard Wait Richard1 Wait, b. at Watertown, Mass., 1637; farmer in Watertown; m. Mary ; d. at Watertown, Jan. 16, 1668-9; wid. Mary d. at Watertown, Jan. 21, 1678. Thomas Wait Thomas2 Wait, b. at Watertown, March 3, 1641-2; m. Sarah, dau. of James Cutler of Lexington, Mass. Thomas Wait was a farmer; d. at Weston, Mass., Jan. 3, 1722-3; wid. Sarah d. at Weston, Jan. 17, 1743-4, aged 91. Joseph Wait Joseph3 Wait, b. at Watertown, Feb. 4, 1682-3; m. Sarah, wid. of Joseph Stone; in Sudbury, Mass., 1715; constable 1735; removed to Worcester, Mass., 1743; d. at Worcester, … Read more

Descendants of Isaac Benjamin of New Bedford, MA

The New Bedford Benjamin family here considered – some of the descendants of Isaac Benjamin, one of whose sons, the late Isaac W. Benjamin, was for years officially identified with the New Bedford Cordage Company and a public servant of the city of New Bedford of rare fidelity and usefulness – is a branch of the Livermore, Maine, family of the name and it of the still earlier family of Watertown, Mass., where arrived John Benjamin Sept. 16, 1632, in the ship “Lion.”

Descendants of Nathaniel Newcomb of Norton, MA

Mr. Newcomb was born April 12, 1797, of the sixth generation in descent from Francis Newcomb, who was born probably in Hertfordshire, England, about 1605, and came to America in the ship “Planter” in 1635, accompanied by his wife Rachel, then aged twenty, his daughter Rachel (aged two and a half years) and son John (aged nine months). After residing in Boston three years Francis Newcomb moved his little family to Braintree (now Quincy, Norfolk Co., Mass.), where he died May 27, 1692, his gravestone says “aged one hundred years.” Tradition says he came from Oxfordshire, England, and was of pure Saxon blood. He owned several tracts of land in Braintree. He had ten children.

Descendants of William Swift of Sandwich, MA

William Swift, the founder of the family on Cape Cod, was a native of Bocking, County of Essex, England, and came to New England in 1634, stopping first at Watertown, of which he was a proprietor in 1636. He sold his property there in 1637 and removed to Sandwich, where he spent the remainder of his life and where he died about 1641. His wife Joan bore him two children, William and Hannah, and after the death of her husband she married Daniel Wing, Nov. 5, 1642. She died Jan. 31, 1664.

William Swift (2), son of William, born in England, came to the New World with his parents and settled at Sandwich, Barnstable county. He represented his town in the General Court, 1673, 1674, 1677 and 1678. He died in the latter part of 1705.

Ancestry of Jared Shaw of East Abington, Massachusetts

The Shaw family with which the Beal and Reed families are allied by marriage, was founded in this country by Abraham Shaw, who came to America before 1636.

Lewis Jones Genealogy

Lewis Jones Lewis1 Jones, b. at Watertown, 1651; d. at Watertown, April 11, 1684. Will, dated Jan. 7, 1678-9, mentions wife Anna and son Josiah. Josiah Jones Josiah2 Jones, b. at Roxbury, Mass., 1642; admitted freeman, at Watertown, April 18, 1690; m. at Watertown, Oct. 9, 1667, Lydia Treadway; selectman at Watertown six years; removed to Sudbury, Mass.; selectman; d. at Sudbury, Oct. 9, 1714; wid. Lydia d. Sept. 18, 1743. Lydia Treadway, dau. of Nathaniel Treadway, 9 yrs. selectman at Watertown. Treadway m. Sufferance Haynes, dau. of Walter’ Haynes, settled in Sudbury, Dec. 22, 1639; freeman 1640; selectman 10 … Read more

Taber family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts

The Taber family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, one of the oldest families in southeastern Massachusetts, is descended from Philip Taber, who according to Savage, was born in 1605, and died in 1672. He was at Watertown in 1634, and he contributed toward building the galley for the security of the harbor. He was made a freeman at Plymouth in 1639. In 1639-40 he was a deputy from Yarmouth, and was afterward at Martha’s Vineyard, and from 1647 to 1655 was at Edgartown, going from there to New London in 1651, but probably returning soon. He was an inhabitant of Portsmouth in February, 1655, and was a representative in Providence in 1661, the commissioners being Roger Williams, William Field, Thomas Olney, Joseph Torrey, Philip Taber and John Anthony. Later he settled in Tiverton, where his death occurred. He married Lydia Masters, of Watertown, Mass., daughter of John and Jane Masters, and his second wife, Jane, born in 1605, died in 1669.

Biography of Rev. Arthur Buckminster Fuller

REV. ARTHUR BUCKMINSTER FULLER, the third son of Hon. Timothy Fuller, was born August 10, 1822. He was early instructed by his father and his sister, Margaret Fuller. At the age of twelve, he spent one year at Leicester Academy; and, subsequently, studied with Mrs. Ripley, the wife of Rev. Samuel Ripley, of Waltham. In August, 1839, he entered Harvard College, at the age of seventeen, and graduated in 1843. During his college course he united with the church connected with the University. Immediately on graduation he purchased Belvidere Academy, in Belvidere, Boone Co., Illinois, Which, assisted by a competent … Read more

The ancestry of Joshua Dow of Avon, Maine

The ancestry and posterity of Joshua Dow of Avon, Maine traces from John Dow and Johan Coop of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. The first descendant in America, Henry Dow, came from England to America in 1637 with his wife, four children, and a maid. He first settled at Watertown, Massachusetts before relocating to Hampton, New Hampshire. He wrote his surname variously as Dow, Dow and Doue. One of the first Dow to settle in Avon, was Joshua, son of John and Betsey (Strout) Dow, who moved from Portland to Avon soon after his brother and sister, and settled before 1828 near Mt. Blue and Mt. Blue Pond.

Surnames: Briggs, Bryon, Crockett, Davenport, Dickey, Doue, Dow, Dowe, Dresser, Dunham, Esty, Hall, Harnden, Harradon, Hinkley, Kinney, Kittredge, Ladd, McLaughlin, Mitchell, Orberton, Pettingell, Richardson, Ross, Sampson, Sedgeley, Stinchfield, Vining, Walton, Webber, and Worthley.

Ancestry of William H. Nelson of Plymouth, Massachusetts

Nelson Genealogy William Nelson, an early comer to Plymouth, before 1636, had land granted him Aug. 3, 1640, and was among those able to bear arms in 1643. He was juryman in 1648. He was probably among the first settlers of Middleboro, although it is impossible to state when he went from Plymouth to Middleboro, or how long he lived there. He married Oct. 27, 1640, Martha Ford, daughter of Widow Ford, who came to Plymouth in the ship “Fortune” in 1621. Mr. Nelson was admitted a freeman in Plymouth in 1658 and took the oath of fidelity the next … Read more

Swift Family of New Bedford, MA

SWIFT. For a hundred years and more the Swift family in and about New Bedford has been one of prominence, wealth. and influence, not only in the several local communities in which its members have resided but out through the Commonwealth and into the nation, where their extensive enterprises have extended. These Acushnet-New Bedford Swifts, a branch of the Cape Cod family, brought to their new field of effort that activity, industry, ability and honesty that had for generations characterized their forefathers and also the line of business that had enriched earlier generations in the old home section – the … Read more

Genealogy of the Fox Family of Taunton, Massachusetts

The Connecticut-Massachusetts branch of the earlier family of this name of the old Bay State is one of long and honorable standing in New England, and as well of historic connection. The especial family here considered, and which for designation is styled the Taunton family, is that of pome of the descendants of Capt. Jabez Fox, of Berkley, Mass., one of whose sons was the late Henry Hodges Fox and the latter’s son the present Hon. William Henry Fox, lawyer and judge, who for forty and more years has been judge of the First District court of Bristol county and otherwise prominently identified with the public affairs of the city of Taunton.