Duxbury Massachusetts

Ancestors of Horace Alden Keith of Brockton, MA

Leave a Comment / Genealogy, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania / 13 minutes of reading

Horace Alden Keith, founder of the Brockton Webbing Company, one of the successful and thriving industries of Brockton, and one of that city’s enterprising and progressive business men, is a descendant on both his paternal and maternal sides of historic old New England ancestry. Mr. Keith was born in West Bridgewater May 25, 1862, eldest son of the late Henry Snell and Thalia (Alden) Keith. The ancestral line of the branch of the Keith family in this country to which Horace Alden Keith belongs, and which follows, is given in chronological order from the first American ancestor. Rev. James Keith, born in 1644, was educated in Aberdeen, Scotland (as tradition says at the expense of a maiden aunt), where he was graduated likely from Marischal College, his name appearing on the roll of 1657, said college having been founded by George, the fifth Earl of Keith Marischal, in 1593. At the age of eighteen years he emigrated to this country, arriving at Boston in 1662. He was introduced to the church at Bridgewater by Dr. Increase Mather, and became settled as the minister of the Bridgewater Church Feb. 18, 1664. Rev. James Keith passed away in West Bridgewater July 23, 1719, aged seventy-six years, having labored in the ministry of the town for fifty-six years.

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Genealogy of the Fox Family of Taunton, Massachusetts

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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.

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Descendants of William Brett of Bridgewater, MA

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Ellis Brett, president of the Plymouth County Trust Company, of Brockton, and one of that city’s honored and respected citizens, is a worthy representative of historic New England ancestry, the Brett family having resided in this community since the first settlement of the mother town of Bridgewater, from which the town of North Bridgewater (now Brockton) was set off. Mr. Brett was born in the latter town Oct. 23, 1840, only son of Ephraim and Ruth (Copeland) Brett. The early history of the Brett family in America begins with William Brett, who came to Duxbury, Mass., in 1645, from Kent, England, and later became one of the fifty-four original proprietors and first settlers of the town of ancient Bridgewater, settling in the West parish of the town. He was an elder in the church, and often when the Rev. James Keith, the first ordained pastor of the church there, was ill, Mr. Brett preached to the people. He was a leading man in both church and town affairs, and was deputy to the General Court from the date of the in-corporation of ancient Bridgewater in 1656 to 1661. That he was well educated and intelligent is manifest from a letter to Governor Winslow, still extant, and he was much esteemed by his brethren and often employed in their secular affairs. He died Dec. 17, 1681, aged sixty-three years

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Ancestors of Mereitt G. Perkins of Bridgewater, MA

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The Perkins family is one of long and honorable standing in America, being one of the oldest in New England, where it is first found of record in Hampton – then in Massachusetts, now in New Hampshire. This family has numbered among its members men who have been prominent in the learned professions as well as in the business and financial circles of this country. This article is to particularly treat of that branch of the family through which descended the late John Perkins, of Bridgewater, of which town his ancestors were early settlers, and where he was actively identified with the iron manufacturing industry for a number of years. The ancestral line of this branch of the family is here given in chronological order from the first American settler, Abraham Perkins. Through his grandmother, Huldah Ames Hayward, who became the wife of Asa Perkins, Mr. Perkins is also descended from another of the oldest and best known families of Massachusetts. The progenitor of this family, Thomas Hayward, came from England to New England, becoming one of the early settlers of Duxbury before 1638. In the early part of the eighteenth century many of the Haywards changed their name to Howard, the two names in all probability having been the same originally, as both have the same Norse origin. Among the distinguished descendants of this Hayward or Howard family may be mentioned William Howard Taft, president of the United States. The branch of the family through which Mr. Perkins descends is herewith given, in chronological order.

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Ancestors of Charles Jarvis Holmes of Marshfield and Rochester MA

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The purpose of this article to treat with one branch only of the Marshfield-Rochester family, the head of which was the late Hon. Charles Jarvis Holmes, lawyer and public servant of distinguished official relation, as was his father before him, Hon. Abraham Holmes, and as was also the former’s son excepting that he was a banker and financier instead of a member of the legal profession, and a man of high standing and long service in his calling at Fall River, where he was succeeded by his only son, Charles L. Holmes, now treasurer of the Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank, an institution his father had served in the same official relation for approximately fifty years, and who is worthily wearing the family name and sustaining its reputation.

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Howland Family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts

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Henry Howland, the progenitor of the Ancient Dartmouth Howland family, the branch here specially considered, lived at Duxbury. The first mention of him in New England is that made in the allotment of cattle to the different families in Plymouth in 1624. Perhaps none of the colonists has a better record for intelligence, thrift, uprightness and unmixed faith in the Divine One than Henry Howland, and these virtues have permeated the lives of his posterity. In general they are a family of great respectability, and as a people thrifty, economical and good managers of finance, most of them having a fair share of this world’s goods – some amassing millions. Henry Howland was made a freeman in 1633; was chosen constable for Duxbury in 1635; bought land there in 1640; was for some years surveyor of highways; served repeatedly on the grand jury, etc. He joined the Society of Friends, perhaps in 1657, and was not a little persecuted thereafter on this account. In 1652, associated with others, he bought a large tract of land in Dartmouth; was one of the twenty-seven purchasers of what is now Freetown in 1659, and in the division of 1660 he received for his share the sixth lot, which was afterward inherited by his son Samuel Howland. He was one of the grantees of Bridgewater but never lived there. Mr. Howland married Mary Newland, and both likely died at the old homestead in Duxbury.

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Soule Family of New Bedford Massachusetts

1 Comment / Genealogy, Massachusetts / 18 minutes of reading

SOULE (New Bedford family). The family bearing this name at New Bedford, Mass., is a branch of the Old Plymouth family, descending from George Soule, one of the “Mayflower” Pilgrims and a signer of the compact in 1620. The present head of the family is the Hon. Rufus Albertson Soule, citizen soldier, now collector of the port of New Bedford, who for many years has been a conspicuous figure in the business and political life of that place, a public servant of high and honorable service, one who as man, citizen and neighbor enjoys that popularity that comes to but few.

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Descendants of Veranus Filoon of North Bridgewater, MA

Leave a Comment / Connecticut, Genealogy, Massachusetts, Virginia / 19 minutes of reading

For several generation the family bearing the name of Filoon has live in Abington and North Bridgewater (now Brockton), where evidence of their thrift, solidity and respectability are manifest, and there also have lived the Bretty and Fullerton families, with which the more recent generations of the Filoons have been allied through marriage, the Brett family being one of the ancient families of the Old Colony and its progenitor an original proprietor of Bridgewater. This article is to particularly treat of the branch of the Filoon family to which belonged the late Veranus Filoon, who was long and prominently identified with the business and social circles of North Bridgewater and Brockton, and his son, the present Fred W. Filoon, who as his father’s successor is continuing the business with marked success, as well as the former’s brother, the present Henry H. Filoon, who has long been a leading and successful practicing dentist.

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Ancestry of William Hartley Cary of Brockton, Massachusetts

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William Hartley Cary was a prominent and respected citizen and business man of the city of Brockton, where his death occurred Dec. 9, 1899. As a citizen he enjoyed the esteem of the entire community, in which industrial center he had for nearly a quarter of a century been an influential and successful factor in the development of its business interests. Mr. Cary was born Jan. 10, 1852, in Charleston, Maine, son of William Harrison and Abigail (Ingles) Cary. His parents were both natives of Maine, although his earlier paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of North Bridgewater (now Brockton). A record of that branch of the Cary family through which Mr. Cary descended, which has been traced in direct line back in England to the year 1170, follows.

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Ancestors of Charles W. Milliken of Barnstable, MA

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CHARLES WARREN MILLIKEN, M. D., of Barnstable, Barnstable Co., Mass., engaged as a general practitioner of medicine, has high professional and social connections which have brought him a wide acquaintance. The Millikens, though not one of the oldest Colonial families, have become allied with the posterity of the most distinguished early settlers, and the Doctor traces his line back to many whose names are suggestive of the interesting and important events of the ancient history of this region. There follows in chronological order from the first known American ancestor the genealogical and family history of his branch of the Milliken family.

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Ancestors of Alexander Holmes of Kingston, MA

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The family of Alexander Holmes of Kingston, MA is one of long and honorable standing in New England, and there the branch is represented by the family of the late Alexander Holmes, who for years was president of the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad. Across the water in old England the Holmes family history reaches back to the year 1066, when one John Holmes, the founder of the Holmes family, is credited with being a volunteer in the army of William, Duke of Normandy.

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Descendants of Rev. James Keith in Bridgewater, Massachusetts

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The Keith family is one of the oldest of southeastern Massachusetts. Its founder in America was Rev. James Keith, born in 1644, who came to America, landing in Boston in 1662. He became minister of the Bridgewater Church, where he administered to the spiritual needs of the people for half a century. He died July 23, 1719. He was twice married. His first wife was Susannah Edson, daughter of Deacon Samuel Edson.

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Free Massachusetts Vital Records

1 Comment / Massachusetts, Featured, Free Archives, Vital Records / 15 minutes of reading

This is a collection of 197 free vital records books, otherwise known as “Tan Books” for Massachusetts towns. Generally these records go up to 1849/1850 at which, the genealogist can use the census records to assist in identifying the family connections further. Included with this article is an account of why and how these manuscripts were published along with links to all 197 books which can be freely read or downloaded.

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Ancestry of Moses Adams Packard of Brockton, Massachusetts

Leave a Comment / Genealogy, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington / 13 minutes of reading

Moses Adams Packard, of Brockton, where he has been so long and so successfully engaged in the manufacture of shoes, is as well one of that city’s highly honored and respected citizens. Mr. Packard began life with little capital save boundless energy and a resolute purpose, and has pushed his way upward against almost every kind of obstacle until he now holds a foremost position among the leading manufacturers in this Commonwealth, vindicating the old saying, “Labor is king.” He was born Feb. 28, 1843, in New London, N. H., which was the home of his mother, while his father was a native of North Bridgewater, and a descendant of one of the old and historical families of Massachusetts.

Since its coming to this Bridgewater settlement, which was the first interior settlement of the Old Colony, as early as 1664, to the present time, for nearly two hundred and fifty years, the Packard family has been one prominent and influential in this community, and has become a most numerous family, many, too, of its members both at home and abroad having given a good account of themselves.

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Family and Ancestry of Williams Watkins of New Bedford, MA

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Probably no name in the history of New Bedford brings more clearly or forcibly to mind a man of large affairs, of broad charity and generous impulse, of high purpose and of exemplary citizenship, than does that of the late William Watkins, whose long life in commercial and financial circles made him a part of the progress and development of this community. William Watkins, son of Capt. Thomas and Mary (Davis) Watkins, was born in the village of Westport Point, Mass., June 22, 1814. He attended the country schools until he reached the age of fourteen years…

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1867 Duxbury Massachusetts Directory

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Adams John, farmer Alden Benjamin, auctioneer Alden Henry, laborer Alden Ichabod, laborer Alden James, farmer Alden John, trader Alden John, jr. master mariner Alden Samuel, boat-builder Alden Thomas, farmer Alden William J. deputy sheriff Alden William J. jr. shoemaker Ames Thomas K. shoemaker Armstrong John, shoemaker Arnold Abel C. shoemaker Arnold Gamaliel, shoemaker Arnold Orson

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Allen Genealogy of New Bedford Massachusetts

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The Allen family of New Bedford Massachusetts is descended from George Allen who’s children and descendants would eventually settle in Old Dartmouth and New Bedford Massachusetts. This is an extensive genealogy of five sons of the fourteen children of James Allen and Sarah Howland of New Bedford MA, including the ancestry of James Allen back to George Allen.

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