Lincoln Family of Hingham and Taunton, Massachusetts

From the pioneer days at the settlement at Hingham and Taunton the Lincoln family has been a continuous one in that region of Massachusetts; one of prominence in the start, it has maintained itself both here and in the country at large and in both has long since become numerous. It has been claimed by the late Hon. Solomon Lincoln that all the Lincolns in Massachusetts are descendants of the Lincolns who settled in Hingham in 1636 and 1638. He says: “We have evidence of authentic records that the early settlers of Hingham of the name of Lincoln were four, bearing the name of Thomas, distinguished from each other by their occupations, as miller, weaver, cooper and husbandman; Stephen (brother of the husbandman); Daniel, and Samuel (brother of the weaver).” He adds “our claim is that the early settlers of Hingham above enumerated were the progenitors of all the Lincolns of the country. From Hingham the Lincolns trace their early home to Norfolk County, England.”

Of the Hingham Lincolns alluded to, Thomas Lincoln, the miller, came from old England to New England in 1635, and in July of the year following (1636) had a house lot of five acres granted to him in Hingham, where he had settled, and later other lots were granted him for planting purposes. Not far from 1650 he removed with his family to Taunton, where Dec. 10, 1665, he married for his second wife Elizabeth Street, probably widow of Francis Street. Mr. Lincoln was an early miller in Taunton, and became owner of the mill lot in 1649. He continued proprietor of the mill about thirty-three years, when at his death his sons John and Samuel came into possession of it. In 1688-89 Robert Crossman purchased the property and in the same year the dam and mill were rebuilt and a fulling mill added. These mills became well known as Crossman’s mills and continued in use until 1823, when they gave place to others. It was in the old gristmill that in 1675 the pioneers met for peaceful interview King Philip and his chiefs. Thomas Lincoln had a house on the mill lot, west of the mill, and became a large land holder. He died in 1683. He and his son Thomas were in the second list of the thirty-five persons who shared in the division of the original lands of Cohannet (Taunton). They and their families were identified with the early settlement and were prominent in the public affairs of the community. The children of Thomas Lincoln, all born to his first marriage, were:

1. Thomas Lincoln, baptized in Hingham in February, 1637-38, became an early resident of Taunton. He married (first) Mary, daughter of Jonah Austin, and their children, all probably born in Taunton, were:
   1. Samuel Lincoln
   2. Sarah Lincoln
   3. Hannah Lincoln
   4. Constance Lincoln
   5. Jonah Lincoln
   6. Mercy Lincoln
   7. Experience Lincoln
2. John Lincoln, probably born in England, removed to Hingham with his parents and later became a resident of Taunton. The Christian name of his wife was Edith, and their children, all born in Taunton, were:
   1. John Lincoln
   2. Thomas Lincoln
   3. Mary Lincoln
   4. Daniel Lincoln
   5. Josiah Lincoln
3. Samuel Lincoln
4. Sarah Lincoln
5. Mary Lincoln

(II) Samuel Lincoln, son of Thomas, also became a resident of Taunton. The Christian name of his wife was Catharine, and their children, all probably born in Taunton, were:

1. Samuel Lincoln
2. Hannah Lincoln
3. Tamson Lincoln
4. Elizabeth Lincoln
5. Ebenezer Lincoln
6. Rachel Lincoln
7. John Lincoln
8. Thomas Lincoln
9. Daniel Lincoln

(III) Samuel Lincoln (2), son of Samuel and Catharine, married Experience, daughter of Jonathan and Experience Briggs, of Taunton. Their children were:

1. Ambrose Lincoln
2. Samuel Lincoln
3. Ebenezer Lincoln
4. Experience Lincoln
5. Elizabeth Lincoln
6. Nathaniel Lincoln
7. Benjamin Lincoln

(IV) Ambrose Lincoln, son of Samuel, (2), married Hannah Clapp, of Walpole, Massachusetts, and they had children:

1. Hepzibah Lincoln, who married Sept. 19, 1771, Solomon Witherell
2. Rachel Lincoln
3. Ezekiel Lincoln
4. Ambrose Lincoln, Jr., who married Jan. 26, 1783, Lois Smith
5. Thomas Lincoln, born Sept. 4, 1759
6. Hannah Lincoln, perhaps
7. Mary Lincoln, perhaps

(V) Gen. Thomas Lincoln, son of Ambrose Lincoln and Hannah Clapp, born Sept. 4, 1759, married Oct. 24, 1784 (intentions published), Esther Newland, who was born in Norton, Mass., May 23, 1766. Gen. Thomas Lincoln was largely employed in public business, and was a justice of the peace for a long term of years. Most of the years of his long life were spent on the farm where he was born, which was later owned and occupied by his son Theodore L. Lincoln. He was a member of the board of selectmen for ten consecutive years, from 1812 to 1821. He was sent to Boston as a delegate to several conventions, and was a representative to the General Court for the years 1815 and 1816. His military career began early in life, for at about the age of eighteen he was serving as a private in Captain Snow’s company in the war of the Revolution. He was captain of a company in 1791, and was commissioned major Sept. 3, 1795. From 1805 to May 18, 1809, he held the rank of lieutenant colonel and colonel, and June 26, 1807, during the embargo, he was in command of the 3d Regiment of the Bristol County Brigade, as lieutenant colonel. On May 18, 1809, he was commissioned brigadier general of the Bristol County Brigade, and held that office until his resignation in 1814, receiving his discharge May 19th of that year. He passed through every grade from commander of a company to commander of a brigade, and was a capable and efficient officer through all. He died Aug. 10, 1836, and his widow on Dec. 21st of the same year. To Gen. Thomas Lincoln and his wife, Esther Newland, were born:

1. Thomas Lincoln, Jr., born July 10, 1785; died Sept. 16, 1813, at Sacketts Harbor, Maine
2. Esther Lincoln, born April 9, 1787
3. Amos Lincoln, born May 3, 1789
4. Hepzibah Lincoln, born April 5, 1791
5. Rachel Lincoln, born Feb. 20, 1793
6. Betsey Lincoln, born Feb. 10, 1795; married Nathaniel Newcomb
7. Charlotte Lincoln, born March 13, 1797
8. Timothy Lincoln, born March 7, 1799
9. Theodore Leonard Lincoln, born March 13, 1801
10. George Morey Lincoln, born Sept. 8, 1803
11. Hannah Clapp Lincoln, born March 1, 1807
12. Mary Lincoln, born March 14, 1812

The likeness of General Lincoln which appears herewith was copied from a portrait painted in 1828 and later owned by his grand-daughter, Miss Harriot A. Newcomb, of Norton, and was inserted by her.

(VI) Theodore Leonard Lincoln, born March 13, 1801, son of Gen. Thomas and Esther (Newland) Lincoln, married Oct. 16, 1831, Belinda Gary. He died July 14, 1887, and she May 9, 1881. Their children, all born in Taunton, were:

1. Belinda L. Lincoln, born Dec. 14 (town record Dec. 12), 1832, died Jan. 5, 1907. She married Rev. Charles A. Snow, and their children were:
   1. Irving A. Snow, born Sept. 28, 1857; died Aug. 4, 1866
   2. Mary A. Snow, born Nov. 15, 1859
   3. Joseph L. Snow, born Feb. 19, 1862
   4. Frederick A. G. Snow, born Nov. 16, 1864; died Aug. 8, 1866
   5. Bertrand R. Snow, born Sept. 14, 1867
   6. Daniel C. Snow, born May 1, 1870
   7. Grace M. Snow, born April 10, 1875
2. Caroline Lincoln, born June 4, 1834, married Henry P. Crocker, and lives at Raynham. She has two children:
   1. Alice L. Crocker, born Dec. 30, 1863
   2. Theodore L. Crocker, born Sept. 15, 1865
3. Fanny Lincoln, born Sept. 26, 1836, died Jan. 20, 1864
4. Theodore Gary Lincoln, born June 11, 1839
5. Jane Lincoln, born Jan. 3, 1842, married Gustavus L. Wilbur, and had children:
   1. Jennie B. Wilbur, born in July, 1864, who died Nov. 19, 1904
   2. Mary Wilbur
   3. Harry L. Wilbur, born July 17, 1872
6. Henry F. Lincoln, born Aug. 14, 1844, married Edna A. Lothrop, and has two children:
   1. Annie E. Lincoln, born June 2, 1874
   2. Ada F. Lincoln, born Oct. 4, 1883
7. Daniel Lincoln was born Dec. 3, 1848

Theodore Leonard Lincoln passed his early life on his father’s farm and in attendance for a few months each year at the neighboring district school. He was prepared for college at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and at the University Grammar School in Providence. The latter school was then under the care of Jesse Hartwell (B. U, 1819), afterward president of the Mount Lebanon University. In college he was a classmate of the late Barnas Sears, president of Brown University, 1855-1867. After his graduation from college in 1825, he read law in Taunton under the late Theophilus Parsons, and was admitted to the bar in 1828. He continued in the practice of his profession but a few years, when at the death of his father he came into possession of the paternal estate and retired to the old homestead where he spent the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. Here he lived quietly for more than half a century, enjoying the respect and esteem of his neighbors and townsmen, a genial gentleman of the old school, never aspiring to official or political positions. He was a justice of the peace for several years, but could not be persuaded to accept any more public office.

(VII) Theodore Gary Lincoln, son of Theodore Leonard and Belinda, born June 11, 1839, married March 18, 1862, Sarah Ellen, born March 24, 1840, daughter of Cornelius and Eleanor (Smith) Lothrop. To this union were born children as follows:

1. Frederick T. Lincoln, born April 26, 1863, who died May 18, 1889
2. Louis L. Lincoln, born Nov. 1, 1870
3. Alfred N. Lincoln, born Dec. 15, 1871
4. Frank O. Lincoln, born Jan. 21, 1874
5. Helen B. Lincoln, born July 18, 1876

Theodore G. Lincoln was educated in the Lothrop school in North Taunton and fitted for college at Bristol Academy. He entered Brown University, the alma mater of his father, with the intention of taking the full college course, but on account of ill health was obliged to leave college after an attendance of one year. He then entered the Whittenton store, at Whittenton, Mass., conducted by Mr. Farnham. After a period he began farming in North Taunton, and later he entered the shipping department of the Taunton Tack Company, of whose plant he eventually became superintendent, his whole service with this company covering a period of eleven years, and terminating in 1889. During this period he resided in North Taunton until 1884, when he removed to Ingalls Street, remaining there until 1889, when he bought the place of sixty-five acres at No. 215 County street where he spent the balance of his days. In this home he was much interested, and on it he built the present set of excellent buildings. He was one of Taunton’s successful and representative men. While a stanch Republican in politics and much interested in public affairs, he neither held nor aspired to public office. Of him at the time of his death, April 28, 1907, the News Herald of Taunton said:

“Mr. Lincoln was a man of the highest integrity. He was outspoken in his opinions, and they were fair and honest opinions and high principles of justice. His home life was admirable, and he was a kind husband and father who made the family and its well-being the chief concern of his life.”