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 […]
Descendants of Francis Brayton of Fall River, MA Read More »
The ancient town of Bridgewater, the first interior settlement of the Old Colony, has been the birthplace and the home of many who have made the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts rich in stories of good lives devoted to the development and uplift of the community, and not the least among these may be mentioned the late Capt. Benjamin Beal Howard, philanthropist, whose name is perpetuated in Howard Seminary, which he founded, and his son, the late Francis Edward Howard, philanthropist, statesman and upright, patriotic and useful citizen.
Howard Genealogy of Bridgewater and New Bedford Mass. Read More »
KELLEY (New Bedford family Haverhill branch). At New Bedford for several generations have lived what for designation may be termed the Haverhill-New Bedford Kelleys. Reference is made to some of the descendants of William Kelley and his wife Abigail (Cannon) Kelley, both natives of the town of Haverhill, one of whose sons, the late Henry C. Kelley, was in the earlier half of the nineteenth century a merchant in New Bedford, and his son, the present Charles Sampson Kelley, since young manhood has been one of the most active and useful citizens of the city, having coupled his name with most if not all of the projects which have tended to the developing and modernizing of the city, one whose efforts in this direction have been especially conspicuous; and who, as a business man, banker and broker, is the architect of his own successful career.
The name Kelley, which was originally spelled Kelleigh, can be traced back to a period prior to the Norman conquest, and its barons are undoubtedly descended from the ancient Britons. The principal manorial seat of the family in England has been for many centuries located in the small parish of Kelly (or Kelley) in Devonshire. Burke and Shirley both agree as to its great antiquity, and the latter asserts that the Kellys have been lords of the manor from the reign of Henry II. (1154-1189). All the Kelleys in New England prior to 1690, with the exception of David Kelley of Yarmouth, Mass., freeman, 1657, and possibly one other family, appear to have been of English origin, and in all probability were of the Devonshire stock.
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…
Family and Ancestry of Williams Watkins of New Bedford, MA Read More »
Descendants of William Eddy. William Eddye, A. M., vicar of the Church of St. Dunstan in the town of Cranbrook, County of Kent, England, is the English ancestor of the Eddy family here treated. He was a native of Bristol, educated in Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and was vicar of Cranbrook from 1589 to 1616. He married (first) Nov. 20, 1587, Mary Fosten, who died in July, 1611, and he married (second), in 1614, Elizabeth Taylor, a widow. He died Nov. 23, 1616.
Descendants of William Eddy in New Bedford, Massachusetts Read More »
IVERS (New Bedford family). The name Ivers seems one uncommon in New England annals and the family by no means numerous. At Dedham are fragmentary records of the Ivers family name, but nothing of an early date.
William and Gregory Ivers, brothers, appear in Boston in the early part of the eighteenth century. They are said to have come about 1720 with the pioneer Scotch settlers from the North of Ireland. William Ivers married in Boston April 28, 1724, Jane Barber, the ceremony being performed by a Presbyterian minister. Jane Ivers died at Boston in 1789; her will, made April 29, 1776, proved April 13, 1789, Capt. Job Prince, executor, mentions sons James and Thomas, probably the only ones living at the date of making the will.
The Vital Records of Dartmouth Massachusetts to 1850 are alphabetical indexes to the manuscript records of the town of Dartmouth, supplemented by information from family bible records, church registers, cemetery inscriptions, and other sources, showing the vital records of the town inhabitants from its earliest dates to 1850. This free book is 3 volumes in one, volume I, containing birth records, vol II, containing marriage records, and vol III, containing death records.
Vital Records of Dartmouth Massachusetts to 1850 Read More »
The Middleboro family bearing this name is a branch of the Bridgewater family and it of the earlier Weymouth Kingman family, the American ancestor of which is credited with coming from Wales. This article pertains to some of the descendants of the late Maj. Bela Kingman, whose father, Abner Kingman, and family came from Bridgewater to Middleboro during the closing years of the Revolution, and here for generations the family has played well its part in the affairs of Middleboro, notably the Major’s son, Calvin D. Kingman, Esq., and the latter’s sons, Charles W. and Philip E. Kingman, who for years together and in turn developed and carried on a large shoe industry, giving employment to hundreds of hands.
This article briefly deals ith one branch only of the New England Wilcox family – with some of the descendants of Daniel Wilcox, who had a grant of fifteen acres of land at Portsmouth, R. I., Dec. 10, 1656, and who later, in 1664, bought a house in Dartmouth, and was constable there in the year following. Mr. Wilcox later became a resident of the town of Tiverton, being an inhabitant there on the organization of the town, March 2, 1692.
Descendants of Daniel Wilcox of Dartmouth MA and Tiverton RI Read More »
The Hazard family of Rhode Island 1635-1894 – Being a genealogy and history of the descendants of Thomas Hazard, with sketches of the worthies of this family, and anecdotes illustrative of their traits and also of the times in which they lived.
Capt. Jacob Taber, late of New Bedford, and long successfully engaged as a master mariner in the whaling industry, was a descendant of an early settled New England family. He was a direct descendant of Philip Taber, who was at Watertown in 1634, and contributed toward building the galley for the security of the harbor, was made freeman in that same year, and was later at Yarmouth among the first settlers and deputy to Plymouth, 1639-40. Still later he was at the Vineyard, and afterward at New London, Portsmouth, and at Providence and Tiverton, respectively, being a representative from Providence.
Ancestry of Capt. Jacob Taber of New Bedford, Massachusetts Read More »
The branch of the Lawton family so long resident in New Bedford, and in each generation active in public affairs, but recently represented by the late Charles H. and Horace A. Lawton, well known druggists, the former long prominent in the government of the town and an important factor in the financial and commercial life, is descended from George Lawton, a brother of Thomas and possibly of John also, all of Newport as early as 1638 or 1639. George and Thomas were among the twenty-eight signers of the Compact, April 30, 1639, for the formation of a “civil body politicke.” George Lawton was made a freeman in 1655; member of the Court of Trials, 1648; deputy, 1665-72-75-76-79-80; assistant, 1680-81-82-83-84-85-86-89-90. He and five other assistants, with the deputy governor, wrote a letter to their Majesties, William and Mary, congratulating them on their accession to the Crown, and informing them that since the deposition of Governor Andros the former government under the charter had been resumed. He seems to have been prominent in all the Colonial affairs of his time. He died Oct. 5, 1693, and was buried in his orchard at Portsmouth. He married Elizabeth Hazard, daughter of Thomas and Martha Hazard.
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.
Howland Family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts Read More »
Nye (New Bedford family). The family of this name in New Bedford, the head of which was the Hon. Willard Nye (deceased), one of the successful business men and substantial citizens of the city, prominent in public affairs, at one time mayor, is a branch of the ancient Nye family of Sandwich, Mass., where members in the line of the deceased just alluded to were long prominent. A sketch of Mr. Nye, with his Nye lineage, traced back to the immigrant settler, follows.
Ancestry of Hon. Willard Nye of New Bedford, Massachusetts Read More »
The Hooper family, to which belonged the late George Mitchell Hooper, one of Bridgewater’s well-known citizens, is an old and distinguished one in New England. George Mitchell Hooper, son of Mitchell, was born in the town of Bridgewater Sept. 1, 1838. He received his education in the public schools and Bridgewater Academy, later attending Peirce Academy and the State normal school at Bridgewater, graduating from the latter institution in 1857. After leaving school he engaged in teaching, a profession he followed for one year and then began the manufacture of brick with his father, a business in which he engaged for half a century. He was also a surveyor. He was identified with the banking interests of Bridgewater, having been one of the trustees of the Bridgewater Savings Bank, also filling the office of clerk. He was clerk and treasurer of the Bridgewater Cemetery Association; a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Association, of which for years he was treasurer, and was secretary; and trustee of the Memorial Public Library. He died July 2, 1909, in his seventy-first year. On Oct. 16, 1861, Mr. Hooper was married to Mary E. Josselyn, who was born at Hanson, Mass., daughter of Hervey and Elizabeth (Howland) Josselyn. She died Jan. 30, 1884, and was buried in Mount Prospect cemetery. Eight children were born of this marriage.
Ancestors of George Mitchell Hooper of Bridgewater, MA Read More »
Capt. Isaac Barker, came from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the northwestern territory in the autumn of 1788. For several years he lived in the Belpre settlement on the Ohio river, about fifteen miles from Marietta, and his name is preserved as one of the heads of families who, in the year 1792, took refuge in
The Vigneron family to which Mr. Spare belongs in the maternal line is descended from Norbert Felician Vigneron, who was baptized June 6, 1670, in the town of LaVentie, Province of Artois, Diocese of Arras, in the French Netherlands. He was the son of Anthony and Anne Therese (de Beaussart) Vigneron. The date of his coming to this country is uncertain, but his marriage to Susanna Peirce, daughter of Joanna Peirce, of Newport, took place in Newport, R. I.
The Rodman family was early settled in Massachusetts. The first of the name of whom there is authentic record was John Rodman, who died on the island of Barbadoes some time between Sept. 16 and Dec. 4, 1686. Thomas Rodman, son of John, born Dec. 26, 1640, came to Newport, R. I, from the island of Barbadoes in 1675, with William Edmundson, a “Friend,” who was on a religious visit to Barbadoes. He (Thomas) was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and was clerk of the monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings for thirty years. He was also the first clerk of the New England Yearly Meeting, which position he held until 1718, He was an eminent physician and surgeon. His death occurred Jan. 11, 1728.
For an hundred years and more the Swift family in and about New Bedford has been one of prominence, wealthy and influential not only in their several local communities but out through the Commonwealth and into the nation, where their extensive enterprises have extended. These Acushnet-New Bedford Swifts, a branch of the Cape Cod family, brought to their new field of effort that activity, industry, ability and honesty that had for generations characterized their forefathers and also the line of business that had enriched earlier generations in the old home section – the dealing in live oak timber and its manufacture into water craft, in shipbuilding for not only the United States government, but for those across the water. Reference is here made especially to some of the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of William Swift, of the town of Falmouth, this Commonwealth, among whose sons were Hon. Elijah, Thomas, William, John and Reuben E.; and among the sons of the latter Rodolphus Nye and William Cole Nye Swift, who with their sons together and in turn figured most prominently in and about New Bedford and abroad, as intimated; and some of their sons are yet active here and in the Massachusetts metropolis.
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
Descendants of Charles Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts Read More »
