Congregational church Topics – Page 4 of 34

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.

Descendants of David E. Harding of Mansfield, MA

DAVID E. HARDING, deceased, who for more than a half century was a leading business man and manufacturer of Mansfield, Mass., was born there May 6, 1826. He was a descendant of an old Cape Ann family, the founder of the family in America being Edward Haraden, who came from Ipswich, England, to Gloucester. The name is found variously spelled, appearing as Haraden, Hardon and Harding, etc.

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.”

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.

Descendants of John Sanford of Taunton, MA

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.”

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.

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.

Miller Family of Middleboro MA

ABISHAI MILLER, than whom no man connected with the iron industry in New England stood higher in reputation for skill and efficiency in workmanship, and at the time of his death, Jan. 30, 1883, president of the Atlantic Works, which he had helped to organize and in the prosperity of which he had long been a vital factor, was born June 22, 1809, in Fall Brook, Middleboro, Mass., son of John and Susanna (Sparrow) Miller, and a member of a family which located in that town in the seventeenth century. John Miller, a native of England, born in 1624, was … Read more

Copeland Family of Easton, MA

COPELAND (Whitman family). The family bearing this name is one of long and honorable standing in southeastern Massachusetts. Early at Braintree, then at Bridgewater, and for generations in the town of Easton, this Easton-Whitman branch of the earlier Braintree stock has for several generations been one of Easton’s leading families, and more recently – a later generation – in the new town of Whitman, formerly South Abington. Reference is made to the forefathers of the present George Copeland and Horatio Franklin Copeland, M. D., brothers. The latter though of Easton birth has been for nearly half a century active and … Read more

Descendants of Francis Brayton of Fall River, MA

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

Descendants of Frederick Packard of Brockton, MA

FREDERICK PACKARD, late of Brockton, was not only one of the best known men in the line of shoe manufacturing in that city but also one of its most honorable and respected citizens. He ranked among the city’s most successful business men, one whose start in life was obtained by his energy and push, and these traits, combined with excellent business acumen, had long secured for him a position of affluence, and caused the firm of which he had so long been the head to become one of the best known in its line in the country. Mr. Packard was … Read more

Descendants of Jonathan White, Brockton, MA

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 in this section of Massachusetts from the time of the earliest settlements, and the members of the family in every generation have upheld the honorable name. Mr. White’s lineage from the immigrant ancestor follows: Thomas White, probably from England, was in Weymouth as early as … Read more

Read Family of Massachusetts

(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 or 1644 he accompanied Rev. Mr. Newman and his church society to Rehoboth, where his name appears the third on the list of purchasers of the town. He was a man of large property for those times, and held the office of constable, which was … Read more

Descendants of Charles Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts

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 old New England families. To this union were born children as follows: Damaris Williams Keith, born Oct. 8, 1818, married Vinal Lyon, of North Bridgewater, where she died Charles Perkins Keith, born June 20, 1820, is mentioned below Anna Reynolds Keith, born Nov. 11, 1822, … Read more

Lowell Massachusetts Genealogy

Tracing ancestors in Lowell, Massachusetts online and for free has been greatly enhanced by the University of Massachusetts in Lowell which provided digitized version of a large quantity of the Lowell public records. Combined with the cemetery and census records available freely online, you should be able to easily trace your ancestors from the founding of Lowell in 1826 through 1940, the last year of available census records. To add color to the otherwise basic facts of your ancestors existence we provide free access to a wide range of manuscripts on the history of Lowell, it’s manufactures and residents.

Hewins Genealogy of Blue Hill, Maine

Dea. Seth Hewins was born in Dedham, Mass., Feb. 12, 1773; married Katherine Fisher, sister to Rev. Jonathan Fisher, Sept. 2, 1799. She was born March 27, 1771; died Aug. 15, 1854. They came to Blue Hill in 1799, and here resided until their death, he dying May 9, 1844. Dea. Hewins and wife had four children born to them. They were: Katherine, Seth, Cynthia, and Sukey.

Fisher Genealogy of Blue Hill, Maine

Jonathan Fisher was born in New Braintree, Mass., Oct. 7, 1768, settled at Blue Hill July 13, 1798, and died in the town Sept. 22, 1847, aged seventy-nine years. He married Miss Dolly Battell, of Dedham, Mass., April 2, 1796, and brought her to Blue Hill, where she ever after resided. She was born Feb. 24, 1770, and died Oct. 1, 1853, in her eighty-fourth year. Their children were as follows: Jonathan, Sally, Betsey, Josiah, Nancy, Willard, Polly, Dolly, and Samuel

Stevens Genealogy of Blue Hill, Maine

Theodore Stevens, who was born in Andover, Mass., July 12, 1763, and came to Blue Hill in 1791. Theodore Stevens’ wife was Dorcas Osgood, whom he married Oct. 4, 1791. Their children were as follows: Elizabeth, Edward, Benjamin, Lydia, Lucretia, Elvina, and John. This genealogy provides descendants down in some cases 2 generations.

Hinckley Genealogy of Blue Hill, Maine

Bushrod W. Hinckley was a lawyer, and for a number of years the only one in town. He was born in Thetford, Vt. He married Sarah F. Wilcox, by whom he had children as follows: Ellen, Francis, Caroline and Hattie. Mr. Hinckley died Dec. 17, 1869; Mrs. Hinckley July 5, 1889.

Chandler Family of Boston and East Bridgewater MA

This Boston – East Bridgewater Chandler family, the head of which was the late Hon. Peleg Whitman Chandler, long one of the leading counselors of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and one of a family of lawyers, comes of a Massachusetts-Maine branch of the ancient Duxbury family whose progenitor was Edmund Chandler. The branch just alluded to for several generations at New Gloucester and Bangor, Maine, and at Boston in this Commonwealth, has been one of liberal education, college-bred men, men who have adorned the legal profession, and it has allied itself through generations with a number of the ancient and first families of the Old Colony. There follows in chronological order from Edmund Chandler, the first American ancestor of this branch of American Chandlers, and in detail the family history and genealogy.