HON. JONATHAN WHITE, for sixty years a member of the Plymouth county bar and a citizen of note in what is now Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass., was born Aug. 22, 1819, in that part of Randolph called East Randolph (now Holbrook), Norfolk Co., Mass., son of Jonathan and Abigail (Holbrook) White. The Whites have lived …
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 …
Descendants of Rev. George Shove of Fall River, MA Read More »
Jonathan Lord, Jr., and David Lord, the first of the name to locate in Norwich, came from Colchester, Connecticut, (in what year is not definitely known, probably about 1773). They were two of several children born to Jonathan and Ruth Lord of that place. Jonathan, Jr., was born February 17, 1752; was a voter in …
The Arnold family of Abington, one of the oldest in southeastern Massachusetts, is ably and worthily represented at the present time by Capt. Moses N. Arnold and his brother, William B. Arnold, both veterans of the Civil war and well-known shoe manufacturers of North Abington. The first of the family in America was Joseph Arnold, …
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Edward Hunt’s “Weymouth ways and Weymouth people: Reminiscences” takes the reader back in Weymouth Massachusetts past to the 1830s through the 1880s as he provides glimpses into the people of the community. These reminiscences were mostly printed in the Weymouth Gazette and provide a fair example of early New England village life as it occurred in the mid 1800s. Of specific interest to the genealogist will be the Hunt material scattered throughout, but most specifically 286-295, and of course, those lucky enough to have had somebody “remembered” by Edward.
WILLIAM P. WHITMAN, president and treasurer of the well-known shoe manufacturing concern of the Whitman & Keith Company, of Brockton, and one of that city’s successful and progressive business men, as was his father before him, is a descendant of distinguished and historic New England ancestry. Mr. Whitman is a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, of the “Mayflower,” 1620; of Rev. James Keith, the first ordained minister of Bridgewater; and of John Whitman, who settled in Weymouth, Mass., as early as 1638, from whom descended many persons eminent in professional life and otherwise, among them Dr. Marcus Whitman, who saved the vast territory of Oregon to the United States; Hon. Ezekiel Whitman, for many years chief justice of the Superior and Supreme courts of the State of Maine; and Hon. William E. Russell, twice governor of Massachusetts.
Lysander Franklin Gurney, late of Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass., was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of this section. Going back to the mother country, we find the following general information in “The Gurneys of Earlham” (two volumes, Hart, Mich., March 16, 1906).
Walter Ballou, one of the representative citizens and well-known jewelry manufacturers of North Attleboro, where for upward of a half century he has been a member of the jewelry manufacturing firm of R. Blackinton & Co., is a native of the State of Rhode Island, born in the town of Cumberland Feb. 20, 1835, son of Preston and Harriet M. (Brown) Ballou. The Ballou family is among the oldest and most distinguished of Rhode Island. Of Norman-French origin, it is descended from Gunebored Ballou, who was probably a marshal in the army of William the Conqueror and took part in the memorable battle of Hastings, 1066.
The town of Taunton, which included within its original boundaries the neighboring village of Berkley, has been the home of a branch of the Sanford family for about two hundred years. This Berkley-Taunton branch of the family, in the line of Capt. Joseph Sanford, an active patriot of the Revolution, has been more or less eminent in professional life. Four of the sons of Capt. Joseph Sanford were college graduates and ministers of the gospel; and several of their posterity have followed the learned professions. One of the grandsons of Capt. Joseph was the late Hon. John Elliott Sanford, of Taunton, lawyer, legislator, railroad commissioner, etc., who at the time of his death was characterized by the local paper as Taunton’s “first citizen.”
George R. Thayer, the senior member of the firm of Thayer & Peters, proprietors of the Riverside Carriage Company, came to Riverside in 1879. He first located at No. 386 Magnolia avenue, about five miles south of Riverside, and devoted himself to horticultural pursuits and also purchased a twenty-acre tract about one mile south of …
LYSANDER FRANKLIN GURNEY, late of Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass., was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of this section. Going back to the mother country, we find the following general information in “The Gurneys of Earlham” (two volumes, Hart, Mich., March 16, 1906).
The Norfolk Gurneys claim descent from the ancient Barons of Gournay in Normandy, where the curious Ports Ibert with many old towers of the walls and the twelfth century church of Saint Hildevert attest the wealth and power of its ancient lords. Several members of the House accompanied William the Conqueror to England, and fought at the battle of Hastings, after which the valor of the aged Hugh de Gurney III. was rewarded by the establishment of the English Barony of Gourney, held by tenure of military service and by large grants of land, so that he has left his name of Baron Gourney in Somerset and several other places in England. The story of the “House of Gourney” is told in a magnificent history by Daniel Gurney of Juncton Hall, near Norwich, County of Norfolk, England, which possesses historic interest and shows much antiquarian research.
Lucius Reed, of Abington, Mass., was a descendant of (I) William Reade, who came to this country in the vessel “Assurance de Lo” in 1635, fifteen years after the arrival of the “Mayflower,” and settled in Weymouth, Mass. The line is through his son William Reed, who married Esther Thompson, of Middleboro, whose mother was Mary Cooke, daughter of Francis Cooke, who landed in 1620, from the “Mayflower.”
George Otis Jenkins, one of Whitman’s best known manufacturers and most progressive citizens, was born in Dorchester, Mass., Nov. 22, 1846, son of James and Susan (Holbrook) Jenkins, and a descendant of Edward Jenkins, of Scituate. Also includes a brief genealogy of the Bates Family of Hingham Massachusetts from which George’s wife, Abby Bates descended.
(X) William (4), son of William (3) Carpenter, was born 1605, in England, and came to America in 1638, in the ship “Bevis” with his family. He settled first at Weymouth, Massachusetts, where he was admitted a freeman, May 13, 1640. He was representative of the town in 1641-43; constable in 1641. March 28, 1645, …
The Reed family of Brockton, Mass., a leading member of which was Judge Warren A. Reed, lawyer and jurist, who for over a third of a century had been one of the foremost citizens of Brockton, and during the greater part of that long period connected with the judicial, civic and financial interests of the city, district and State, is one of long and honorable standing in this Commonwealth, and one the forerunner of which came to these shores over two hundred and fifty years ago. Many members of this historic family have given good account of themselves, and many are there who have been prominent in the history of this country. An account of the branch of the family to which Judge Reed belongs is here given in chronological order, beginning with the earliest American ancestor.
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.
(I) John Read, supposed son of William and Lucy (Henage) Read, was born in 1598, and it is said came to America with the great fleet in 1630. He is of record in 1637 in Weymouth, was in Dorchester the next year, and went from there to that part of Braintree now Quincy. In 1643 …
BRADFORD ELLIOT JONES, of Brockton, one of the best known merchants of southeastern Massachusetts, is also one of that city’s most enterprising and successful business men, and as a citizen has been prominently identified with the growth and development of its business and financial institutions. Mr. Jones was born Sept. 22, 1840, in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, son of Rosseter and Hannah (Marshall) Jones, and a descendant of several of New England’s earliest settled families. A record of that branch of the Jones family to which Mr. Bradford E. Jones belongs follows, the generations being given in chronological order.
For the ancestry of Charles Keith, please see Descendants of Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (VI) Charles Keith, son of Benjamin, was born Aug. 8, 1794, and married Dec. 8, 1817, Mehitable Perkins, born March 23, 1795, daughter of Josiah and Anna (Reynolds) Perkins, of North Bridgewater, both of whom were descendants of historic …
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Alfred Pierce is a native of Bristol county, Mass., born in the old historic town of Rehoboth Jan. 1, 1822, son of Jeremiah and Candice (Wheeler) Pierce. This branch of the Pierce family in America is one of long standing and among the first settlers of New England. The name has been variously spelled, but the change to Pierce has been made in the last three-quarters of a century. In the Old World the members of this family have been quite prominent, and the name can be traced through a loner and distinguished line back to the days of the Norman Conquest.
