Worcester Massachusetts

Biography of Josiah Edwards Dwight

Josiah Edwards Dwight, a member of the noted old New England family to which President Timothy Dwight of Yale College belonged, is one of the leading Concord, N.H. Born in Belchertown, Mass., May 17, 1839, son of Harrison D. and Sophia (Cook) Dwight, he traces his lineage through his mother, also, back to the early days of the New England colonies. On the paternal side his first ancestor to settle in this country was John Dwight, who came from Dedham, England, in 1634, and located in the part of Massachusetts afterward named Dedham. He was the second man of wealth … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Allen, Frank Dewey

Allen, Frank Dewey, son of Charles Francis and Olive Ely (Dewey) Allen, was born in Worcester, August 16, 1850. He was educated in the Worcester high school; was graduated from Yale in the class of 1873, and from the Boston University law school in 1875; was managing clerk in the offices of Hillard, Hyde & Dickinson, Boston, remaining with them until 1878, when he was admitted to the Suffolk county bar. Upon severing his connection with Hillard, Hyde & Dickinson, he opened an office for himself in Boston, where he has ever since been located as attorney and counselor-at-law. Mr. … Read more

Timothy Fuller

TIMOTHY FULLER, the fourth child and eldest son of Timothy Fuller Sr., attained distinction. The chief steps in his career may be thus summarily stated: He was born in Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard, 11th of July, 1778; grad. at Harvard College with the second honors in his class, 1801. He was obliged to work his way through college, and be absent much in teaching; but such were his talent, industry, and scholarship, that it is believed he would have borne off the first honors bad he not countenanced a rebellion of the students, caused by certain college rules regarded as oppressive. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dwight Goddard

Goddard, Dwight; mechanical engineer; born, Worcester, Mass., Dec. 27, 1861; son of Dorrance S. and Mary H. Williams Goddard; graduate Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1881, Harvard Theological Seminary, 1894; married, Nov. 27, 1895, Frances E. Nicberg, M. D.; issue, Dorrance, Theodore; treas. Goddard Machine Co.; asst. master mechanic American Steel & Wire Co.; missionary to China under the A. B. C. F. M.; mngr. Weyman & Gordon Co.; treas. The Park Drop Forge Co.; also director the same company; member American Society Mechanical Engineers; member Housing committee, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.

Biographical Sketch of Ezra Durand

Ezra Durand was born in Seneca Falls, New York, on March 8, 1833, and is the youngest of a family of thirteen sons and daughters of David and Betsey (Crowell), Durand. His father was a farmer and his early boyhood was passed on a farm. His opportunities for gaining an education were limited to a few winters at the district school. At an early age he left home and went to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he obtained employment in a musical instrument factory. This was followed by similar work in a factory at Norwich, Connecticut. He seemed to have a natural … Read more

Allen Genealogy – Leicester MA

ALLEN, AARON, m. Catherine Cummings, July 10, 1739; and had Elizabeth, b. Oct. 4, 1739. ALLEN, JOSEPH, Hon., removed here from Boston, Nov. 17, 1771; m. Anne, dau. of Judge Steele, and had Thomas, b. Nov. 16, 1774; d. March 30, 1775. Mrs. Allen d. May 10, 1775, aged twenty-four. In 1776, Mr. Allen was appointed Clerk of the Courts of the County, and removed to Worcester. He is noticed in this work. He held many offices of honor and trust, — Councillor, Member of Congress, Presidential Elector, &c.; and d. Sept. 2, 1827, aged seventy-eight. ALLEN, LEWIS, m. Mary … Read more

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.

Ancestors of William Mason of Taunton, Massachusetts

Mason Machine Works - Mason Machine Works, Taunton, Massachusetts, 1899 Catalog

It is to the life and paternal lineage of the late William Mason of Taunton that this article is directed, he being a direct descendant from one of the old pioneers and Indian fighters of this section in its early settlement – Major John Mason, of Pequot fame, from whom William Mason’s descent is through Daniel, Peter, Japhet, Japhet Mason (2) and Amos Mason.

Osborn Family of Fall River Massachusetts

Covel & Osborn Company Letterhead Invoice, 1904

During the latter half of the century but recently closed and on into the present one, during the period of the great growth and development as an industrial center of Fall River, the name Osborn has stood out conspicuously in the business life of the city. Reference is made notably to the Osborn brothers — the late Hon. Weaver and James Munroe Osborn — for many years among the most prominent mill promoters and bankers of Fall River; and they have been followed by a generation now representative of the name and family, Mr. James E. Osborn, the son of … Read more

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.

Biography of John Brown, Sr.

John Brown, Sr., was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1817, and when but a boy came to St. Louis, Missouri, with his parents, where they died. He began rafting on the Mississippi and then went to New Orleans, and thence by ship to Galveston, suffering a shipwreck on his route. He returned to Fort Leavenworth by the Red River route. Was at the battle of San Jacinto, and first saw Santa Ana when taken prisoner. Remained two years at Fort Leavenworth; and then went to the Rocky Mountains and for fourteen years hunted and trapped from the headwaters of the … Read more

Descendants of Philip Trafford from Dartmouth and Fall River, MA

Now for well on to a century the Trafford name in Dartmouth and Fall River has been closely identified with the industrial life of that section, successive generations of the family having been manufacturers of cotton goods – the late William Bradford Trafford, long actively engaged in manufacturing in Fall River, and the founder of what became the Westport Manufacturing Company, and his sons, the present William C, Andrew E., Charles A., Allison W., Henry Lester, Perry Davis, and Bernard Walton Trafford, and it goes without saying, all have been substantial men and influential citizens of their community. From the settler Thomas Trafford and his wife Mary, the lineage of the present Trafford brothers – William C. and Andrew R. – of the Westport Manufacturing Company is through Philip, Joseph, William Bradford and William Bradford (2). These generations in such detail and family history as is obtainable and in the order given follow.

Biography of Charles Gilkey

Charles Gilkey, a prominent resident of Cornish, who was formerly engaged in the gunsmith business, is a native of Plainfield, N.H., born September 29, 1826. Charles Gilkey, his grandfather, born in Connecticut, was the first of the family to come to Plainfield. He came originally as agent of a wealthy Connecticut family, and remained in their employ for some time. After failing in an attempt to buy a farm with the Continental money in which his salary was paid, owing to the depreciated value of that currency then, he succeeded in leasing one from the State for nine hundred and … Read more

Descendants of Francis Brayton of Fall River, MA

David Anthony Brayton

BRAYTON. The first in America by this name, one Francis Brayton, came from England to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where, in 1643, he was received as an inhabitant, in 1655, became a freeman, and to him nearly if not all the Braytons of New England trace their origin. He early entered into the political life of the country, serving as a member of the General Court of Commissioners for the Colony, for many years as member of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and frequently during the later generations his descendants have held positions of responsibility and trust in the public offices … Read more

The Mason Family 1590-1949

The Mason Family title page

This short manuscript starts with Robert Mason, immigrant ancestor and founder of this branch of the Mason family in America, was born in England about 1590. In 1630 he came to America with Governor John Winthrop’s company, probably, as so many of the early Puritans came, in quest of religious freedom. Here he settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where his wife, her name unknown, later died in 1637. After that, he removed with his sons, Thomas, John and Robert, to Dedham, Massachusetts, where he was one of the original landholders in 1642. He died there October 15, 1667. It then with … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Harlan Fairbanks

Harlan Fairbanks of Tustin, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1840. For twenty two years he was engaged in the drug business, and in 1861 he entered the army in the Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; was acting Sergeant; was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, and discharged for disability at Philadelphia, in 1862. In 1886 he became a citizen of California, where he has since been eminently successful in the real-estate business. In 1889 he built a drug store at the corner of D and Fourth streets in Tustin, having bought out C. W. Smith & Co. of … Read more

Biography of Joseph K. Gill

Joseph K. Gill, one of Portland’s well known business men, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1841, and is the eldest of eleven children of Mark and Amelia Gill. In 1854 he accompanied his parents to America, locating in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he attended the city schools until he had reached the age of eighteen, when he entered Worcester Academy, continuing at this institution but spending most of his time at work to assist in the support of the family, until he had attained his majority. He then entered Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, a preparatory school, with the idea of … Read more

Descendants of John McCullough of New Bedford MA

The McCullough family is of Irish extraction. Patrick McCullough, grandfather of John McCullough, was a native of the parish of Altacamicussey, County Tyrone, Ireland, where he lived and died. He followed farming. He married Mary Conway, who was a native of the same county, and their son, John McCullough, was born on a farm in Altacamicussey, County Tyrone, June 15, 1821. There he grew to manhood, and what little education he received was obtained in the local school. Meantime he worked at farm labor and also obtained some knowledge of the mason’s trade. He there married about 1845 Alice Devlin, who was a native of the parish of Pallough, County Tyrone, and daughter of Michael and Annie Devlin. In the spring of 1847, with his wife and an infant son, he sailed for the New World, making the trip on a sailing vessel bound for New York. After a passage of six weeks they landed at that port, where they remained three months, during which time they lost their first-born, the infant son mentioned.

Biographical Sketch of Hugo Pinkney Frear

Mr. Hugo Pinkney Frear, after about thirty years of residence in various parts of California, finally decided, eleven years ago, to go to Burlingame, then a little village. He was one of the first to build here; and so well pleased that he is still residing in this place. Mr. Frear’s profession is that of Naval Architect at the Union Iron Works where he has been associated with Mr. Geo. Dickie in the building of some of the greatest battleships and cruisers of the American Navy. He is a graduate of Oahu College, Honolulu and Worcester Polytechnic Institute at Worcester, … Read more