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Ellery Bicknell Crane, ''Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity'' (The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907).  Volume II.

From [http://books.google.com/books?id=86rbSq2FhdYC Google Books].

[[Archive:Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 2|Part 2]]
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(IV) [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1688-?)|Jonathan Ball]], son of John and [Sarah (Bullard)] Ball (3), born March 29, 1680, died about 1727.  He married [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1688-?)|Sarah Whitney]], January 5, 1709-10.  They settled at Watertown but he may have lived for a time at Lancaster.  The birth of their youngest child is recorded at Waltham, although born in Watertown.

The children of this [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1688-?)|Jonathan and Sarah (Whitney) Ball]] were:  Sarah, born in Watertown, 1710; [[Family:Ball, Jonathan (c1715-1809)|Jonathan]], born in Watertown, married Martha -----, and lived for a time at Lancaster, where he had a son born September 16, 1751; [[Family:Ball, Phinehas (c1716-?)|Phinehas]], born 1716; [[Family:Ball, Thankful (c1719-?)|Thankful]], born in Watertown, baptized January 7, 1728, aged nine; [[Family:Ball, Daniel (c1721-1813)|Daniel]], baptized January 7 1728, aged seven; [[Family:Ball, Jane (c1724-?)|Jane]], baptized January 7, 1728, aged four; Susannah, born April 6, 1726, in Watertown.

(V) [[Family:Ball, Phinehas (c1716-?)|Phinehas Ball]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1688-?)|Jonathan Ball]] (4), was born 1716, in Watertown, Massachusetts.  June 6, 1741, he married, Martha Bixby, of Andover, Massachusetts.  Their intention of marriage dated May 27, 1741, Lancaster Records.  Phinehas was living with relatives at Shrewsbury after his father's death, and when he became eighteen years old Daniel Hastings, husband of Sarah Ball, daughter of James, brother of Jonathan, was appointed his guardian.  (See Worcester Probate Records, Vol. 217, page 292.)  The date of guardianship, August 24, 1734, fixes his birth at 1716 and establishes the fact that he was the son of Jonathan, who died when he was ten years old.  The sureties of Hastings' bond were Benjamin Flagg, Jr., son of a brother of his uncle, and Daniel Johnson, a neighbor, at Shrewsbury.  December 10, 1740, Phinehas Ball bought thirty acres of land of Jonas Clarke, in the north part of Worcester adjoining the Shrewsbury line.  In this deed his residence is given as Lancaster.  This farm must have been near Bolyston line, as Boylston was then known as the north precinct of Shrewsbury.  Phinehas Ball sold this land or part of it to Silas Bennett, January 23, 1748-9, when it is described as in Holden (the north precinct of Worcester) near the Shrewsbury line.  The birth of his children are all recorded as given below in Holden.

The children of [[Family:Ball, Phinehas (c1716-?)|Phinehas and Martha (Bixby) Ball]] were:  Daniel, born January 9, 1742, baptized at Shrewsbury with his father, June 6, 1742; Jemima, born February 6, 1744; Abner, born April 8, 1746; Elijah, born March 2, 1748; Benjamin, born March 31, 1750.

(VI) Lieutenant Elijah Ball, son of [[Family:Ball, Phinehas (c1716-?)|Phinehas Ball]] (5), was born in Holden, March 2, 1748.  He married Rebecca Moore (intentions dated September 21,) 1770; both were then of Lancaster, perhaps not far from the farm in Holden, however.  The date of the marriage was October 18, 1770.  She died at Boylston, October 13, 1829, aged seventy-five years.  He died at Boylston, Massachusetts, November 10, 1834, aged eighty-six.

At the breaking out of the revolution he was living in Lancaster, perhaps on or near the farm in Holden or Boylston.  He went with Captain Benjamin Houghton's company in Colonel John Whitcomb's regiment in response to the Lexington call April 19, 1775.  He was corporal in Captain Samuel Savage's company in 1776.  He was sergeant in Captain William Greenleaf's company, Colonel Job Cushing's regiment, enlisting September 3, 1777, and he was first lieutenant in the Fifth Company, Colonel Josiah Whitney's regiment (second Worcester), commissioned June 17, 1779.  He was with General Putnam in the campaign on Long Island.

He owned land in the second precinct of Shrewsbury, probably by inheritance before 1781, when he sold land there to John Barnard.  This land was situated in what is now Boylston.  He made his home in Boylston after the revolution and became a prosperous farmer and prominent citizen there.  His grandson, ex-Mayor Ball, of Worcester, presided at the centennial exercises in 1886.  The town of Boylston was incorporated March 1, 1786.  The farm of Lieutenant Ball was inherited by Manasseh Sawyer Ball, his son, and the father of Phinehas Ball, of Worcester.

The children of Lieutenant Elijah and Rebecca

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(Moore) Ball were: Elijah, born in Lancaster, August 29, 1771, married four times; Abigail, born in Boylston, July 25, 1773; Amaziah, born in Boylston, January 30, 1776; Levi, born in Boylston, January 6, 1778; Reuben, born in Boylston, May 9, 1780: Rebecca, born in Boylston; June 1, 1782; Micah Ross, born July 29, 1784; Patty, born in Boylston, March 20, 1789; Jonah, born May 13, 1791: Phinehas, born August 20, 1794; Cinda, born in Boylston, February 12, 1797; Manasseh Sawyer, born December 28, 1800.

(VII) Micah Ross Ball, son of Lieutenant Elijah Ball (6), was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, July 29, 1784.  He married Rachel Lincoln.  They settled at Leominster, Massachusetts, and were the parents of Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton.

(VIII) Rev. George S. Ball, son of Micah Ross Ball (7), was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, May 22, 1822.  He received a meagre education in the district schools until the age of sixteen, when, obtaining a release of his time from his father, he devoted himself to study in the higher schools within his reach.  He found it hard to earn enough to pay for his education, but he persevered working it is said with his books in one hand and his work in the other.  He was in the first class to graduate from the Unitarian Theological School at Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1847.  In the fall of the same year he was called to the Unitarian church in Ware, Massachusetts, and was ordained there October 13, 1847.  He remained there two years, when he asked for his dismission on account of ill health.  After a few months he began to preach at Upton, Massachusetts, and after a few months accepted a call there and was installed as minister in February, 1850.  This pastorate continued until April 11, 1892.  He became a leading citizen of the town as well as a prominent clergyman.  He was a delegate to the constitutional convention held in 1853.  In 1861 he was elected representative to the general court for the district composed of Northbridge and Upton, but at about the same time he was chosen chaplain of one of the Worcester county regiments already in the field, the famous Twenty-first Regiment of Volunteers.  His patriotism and the pressing needs of the soldiers in the field made him decide to go to the front instead of accepting the legislative honors and remaining in his church work.  He accepted the post of chaplain and went at once to Annapolis, Maryland, where the regiment was then stationed.

In the first battle of the regiment he won the hearts of the soldiers by his brave and efficient aid to the wounded, and in the report of the colonel commanding, a copy of which was transmitted by the general in command to Governor Andrew, he was generously commended.  He was with the regiment thirteen months.  General Charles F. Walcot, historian of the regiment, writes of his service thus:  "In the thirteen months that he had been with us he had shared with the regiment every peril and hardship which it had been called to face and endure, and had won the lasting respect and love of every man in it of whatever creed.  Never losing sight of his duty as a Christian clergyman, he had been far more than a mere chaplain to us.  Ardently patriotic, always hopeful, manly and courageous, he exerted a strong and lasting influence in keeping up the tone of the regiment in its soldierly as well as its moral duties.  As our postmaster, no matter at what inconvenience to himself, the mail was never left to take care of itself, when by his energy it could be forced to come or go.  To our sick and wounded he had been with unfailing devotion, a brave, tender and skilful nurse.  An honor and grace to his calling and the service, it was a sad day in the regiment when he left us."

His pastorate was interrupted once more when for two years he served as colleague of the Rev. Dr. Kendall, at Plymouth, Massachusetts.  He was chaplain of the Massachusetts house of representatives in 1863 after his return from the field, and was a member of the house the following year.  He was promoted to the state senate, where he served his district in 1866-67.  He again served his district as member of house of representatives in 1891-92.  He affiliated with the Republican party when it was organized and always remained a Republican.  He was very active in the anti-slavery movement and in other reform movements.  He was a man of influence and a power for good all his life.  One who knew him well has written:  "Mr. Ball has been far more in Upton than a mere clergyman, a good man, a good citizen, never a strong partisan, but friend and minister to all who needed or would receive his help."

He married, June 18, 1848, while settled at Ware, Hannah B. Nourse, daughter of Caleb and Orissa (Holman) Nourse, of Bolton, Massachusetts; they had eight children, seven of whom lived to maturity.  The children of Rev. George S. and Hannah B. (Nourse) Ball were:  Clinton Dale, born in Bolton, October 2, 1849, married Jennie L. Stowe, of Grafton, October 2, 1884; Susan Austin, born Upton, July 26, 1852, married George A. Wood, Upton, February 3, 1876, died August 27, 1901; Lydia Walker, born Upton, November 6, 1854; George William, born in Plymouth, May 25, 1857, died in Upton, September 23, 1891; Lizzie Holman, born in Upton, October 26, 1863; Walter Seaver, born in Upton, March 17, 1867; Elsie Lincoln, born in Upton, August 15, 1878.

(VII) Jonah Ball, son of Lieutenant Elijah Ball (6), was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, May 13, 1791.  He was brought up on the farm and educated in the Boylston district schools.  In early manhood he worked in Providence, Rhode Island, but returned to Boylston to live and died there at the age of seventy-two in 1863.  He married (second) Mary Caldwell.  She had four children, all of whom grew to maturity, but died early, except James E. Ball, who was only six years old when his mother died.

(VIII) James E. Ball, son of Jonah Ball (7), was born in Providence, Rhode Island.  He passed his boyhood in Dedham, Massachusetts, and attended the schools there.  At the age of fourteen he went to Boylston, Massachusetts, and resided there until his marriage.  He was in the tripe business.  After his marriage he removed to Holden and worked as butcher and marketman.  He went to Vermont, but stayed only a short time, returning to Massachusetts and settling at Clinton, where he was employed in the tripe business for five years.  He resided on a farm in Sterling for nine years, and in 1865 returned to his father's town, where he has since lived.  He was assessor in Boylston three years and for a number of years road commissioner.  He is a member of the Unitarian church.  In politics he is a Democrat.

He married Abigail Howe, daughter of Silas Howe, Jr., of Sterling, a well known farmer and carpenter.  The children of James E. and Abigail (Howe) Ball were:  J. Nelson, born August 18, 1847; Hattie; Abbie, married John N. Flagg; Mary, married John Keogh.

(IX) J. Nelson Ball, son of James E. Ball (8), was born in Holden, Massachusetts, August 18, 1847.  He is the well known superintendent of the Lancaster mills in Boylston, Massachusetts.  He at-

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tended the district schools in Clinton and Sterling and later took a course at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, New Hampshire.  He remained at home until twenty-one years old, when he went into the meat business in Worcester.  He went to work as a laborer to help in the rebuilding of the Lancaster mills at what was then Boylston, now the thriving town of Clinton, after the famous washout in 1876.  He worked up to the position of machinist and after a time took a position in the mill of Eli Holbrook at West Boylston.  Three years later he returned to the Lancaster mills as machinist, and after two years was made an overseer there.  After six years he accepted the post of superintendent of J. Edwin Smith's cotton mill at Smithville in the town of Barre.  He was called back to the Lancaster mills in 1893 as superintendent, a position that he has since filled creditably and satisfactorily to all concerned.  He had charge of the yarn department.

Mr. Ball is a Republican and has served the town in various positions of trust and honor.  He was a constable nine years and selectman in Boylston for eight years.  In 1894-95-96-97-98 he was chairman of the board of selectmen, board of health, and overseers of the poor.  He has been a member of the school committee for a number of years.  He has been road commissioner and fire warden.  He is a member of Centennial Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of West Boylston and has been vice grand; he is a member of the Boylston Grange, Patrons of Husbandry.  He attends the Congregational church at Boylston.

He married, 1870, Julia Wilson, who was born in Torrington, Connecticut, the daughter of James Wilson, formerly a shoemaker of that town.  Mr. Wilson came to Boylston and settled on a farm when his daughter was a child.  He had fourteen children.  The only child of J. Nelson and Julia (Wilson) Ball is Grace, married Harry Parker, a merchant of Colbrook Springs, Massachusetts.

(VII) Manasseh Sawyer Ball, son of Lieutenant Elijah Ball (6), was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, December 28, 1800.  The farm passed to him when his father was too old to continue with it, and he had to struggle with the rundown farm which was burdened with a mortgage.  Manasseh Ball hunted game and burned charcoal at night besides working the farm.

Mr. Ball married Clarissa Andrews, who was descended from Simon Bradstreet and other well known settlers of the Massachusetts colony.  Their children were:  L. Phinehas, born January 18, 1824; Caroline Maria, born September 28, 1826, married Charles D. Howe, April 22, 1845; married (second) Charles H. Chace: Mary Adaline, born November 5, 1828, married Moses A. Coolidge, of Lancaster, July 4, 1849; Sawyer, born March 3, 1833; Albert, born May 7, 1835.

(VIII) Phinehas Ball, son of Manasseh S. Ball (7), was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, January 18, 1824.  Like many other successful men Mr. Ball began life with a frail constitution and his youth was a continual struggle with ill health.  The seasons of close application to study and teaching were followed by periods of severe illness that absorbed his savings.  Until he was sixteen he attended the district schools in winter.  In 1840 he went to Woonsocket and spent the winter there with an uncle, Gardner Smith, who taught him the principles of surveying.  About the same time he came into possession of an ancient compass, once the property of his great-great-grandfather, Robert Andrews, of Boylston.  Thus equipped Mr. Ball began to practice surveying in his native town, but up to the time of his employment by the Nashua & Worcester Railroad in 1847 he had seen no surveying done by men of experience.

In the fall of 1841 he went for a term of six weeks to Josiah Bride's English Boarding School in Berlin, Massachusetts, and he had another term the following year.  The bill for this part of his education has been preserved and reveals one of the customs of former times.  The payment was made with one hundred and fourteen bushels of oak charcoal, ten bushels of potatoes, two barrels of apples and forty pounds of dried apples.  In the winter of 1841-2 Mr. Ball taught school in Southboro, Massachusetts, the following winter in Lancaster and the next in Marlboro.

In the fall of 1846 he began to study draughting and mechanical drawing in Worcester, but was prostrated with typhoid fever and unable to work until the following March, when he again went to Worcester.  Work came to him slowly at first.  In June he was employed to survey the old Worcester acqueduct, and thus enabled to free himself from debt he felt fairly started in his profession.  Though he tells us that his cashbook showed that he earned but twenty-five cents in the month of November of that year, yet he was able to make both ends meet by using the strictest economy for several years.  Mr. Ball did not decide easily upon his life work.  He hesitated between farming and surveying, and at one time had thoughts of studying for the ministry.  But once begun he continued in civil engineering despite great discouragements, and declined every opportunity that was offered to him either to take up a different line of work or to leave his native town.

In April, 1849, he went into partnership with Elbridge Boyden under the firm name of Boyden & Ball, architects and engineers, and the partnership continued until 1860.  His field books covering a period of twenty-five years work as surveyor in Worcester show how closely he was identified with the growth and development of the city from its incorporation.  With his transit and rod he laid out Governor Lincoln's pasture into streets and building lots.  Many other of the old farms he laid out into blocks that are now entirely built up.  One foundation after another he staked out for buildings public and private houses until the number reached nearly five hundred.  When he first came to Worcester the problem of sewerage was first solved by cesspools that he laid out in many instances, and later when they became obnoxious, he planned the first sewer which took their place in Main street.  He took whatever work came to him, no matter how simple or how complex.  Into the survey for Mechanics Hall and the building of the water works he put no more painstaking effort and skill than into the measurement of a wood lot.  He regretted his lack of scientific training despite his skill and accuracy, and lacked the confidence that others had in him.  While engaged in general work of the character mentioned he was employed as engineer for the Taunton Hospital for the Insane and the Fitchburg Jail.

He became a member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association in 1853, and was clerk from 1859 to 1865 inclusive and treasurer for seven years of that period.  He was afterward director, vice-president and president for short terms.  He was best known perhaps as a hydraulic engineer of the city and as an inventor.  Mr. Ball patented a number of devices for use in water-works, with the building of which he became an expert.  He worked for several years on a water meter.  Finding that Benajah Fitts had developed a similar de-

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vice he joined hands with him, patented the meter and in November, 1869, formed the Union Water Meter Company to manufacture the patent.  Mr. Ball was president of this company until his death.  His connection with this company, which had relations with the city water department, prevented his holding office in the city government after 1872.  In that year he was called as consulting engineer in the abatement of the Miller's river nuisance.  He became engineer for many water works constructed at this period.  In 1873-1875 he constructed the Springfield Water Works as engineer, and at the same time made plans for or reported upon proposed water works at Nashua, New Hampshire; Amherst, Leomister, Marlboro, Lawrence and Westboro, Massachusetts; New Haven and New Britain, Connecticut, and Portland, Maine, and upon sewers for Keene, New Hampshire; Fall River, Massachusetts; New Britain, Connecticut, and some others.

In 1876 he sustained a grievous blow in the breaking of the dam of the Lynde Brook reservoir.  It was his first important work of the kind and he had taken no little pride in it.  He made no apologies, but learned the lessons that the disaster taught engineers who were then experimenting in work of this kind and put into effect the knowledge he gained in repairing the break that year in the dam at Clinton, Massachusetts.  The Lynde Brook reservoir was constructed while D. Waldo Lincoln was mayor and notwithstanding this one break, Mr. Ball gained a deserved and lasting reputation as an engineer for planning and building the water works, the first built to supply the needs of the city of Worcester.

In 1879 he began the Brockton, Massachusetts, water works and was employed for a number of years as consulting engineer by that city, planning the sewerage system.  He also planned the sewerage of the towns of Amherst and Westboro, Massachusetts, and of the state prisons at Concord and Sherborn.  He planned the water works for Claremont, New Hampshire, Gloucester, Massachusetts, and important additions to the water works of Lynn, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut.  Though in the years 1883 to 1885 inclusive he suffered severely from asthma, he recovered sufficiently in 1887 to undertake the drainage of the Mystic Valley at the request of the state board of health.  He was unable to complete the work, which he began with enthusiasm, and had to resign his office.  He continued as consulting engineer of the Brockton, Taunton and Framingham sewer systems, but was not able to undertake any new work.

Mr. Ball was early interested in the temperance and anti-slavery movements.  He was a Free Soiler and joined the Republican party when it was formed.  He was interested in public affairs and always performed his duty as a citizen at the caucus and at the polls.  He was a member of the common council in 1862 and 1863.  His success with the new water works made him a rather unwilling candidate for mayor.  He was the chief executive of the city in 1865.  He was water commissioner from 1863 to 1867 inclusive, and city engineer from 1867 until 1872.

He was a member of the Worcester County Society of Engineers, the Boston Society of Engineers and the American Water Works Association.  He was greatly interested in the subject of technical education.  Of all the duties that came to him as mayor none was more pleasing to him than his connection with the planning the first buildings for the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, now called the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  In company with members of the board of trustees he visited Williamstown, the Rensselear Polytechnic and the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University.  In February, 1866, he himself surveyed the lot of land now occupied by the technical buildings, and at the Commencement in 1873 he served On the board of examiners.  For many years he regularly visited the old laboratory in Boynton Hall and never lost his interest in the school.  He was interested in the sciences and in theology.  He studied chemistry when ill health kept him confined to the house.  He knew the plants and flowers as well as the soils and rocks.  He was a student rather than a reader.  He had no great love of literature.  He possessed unusual reasoning powers and a logical mind.  He was a member of the Worcester Society of Antiquity and gave it his first compass, mentioned above.  For thirty-one years he was deacon of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, for seven years was president of the Worcester County Conference of Unitarian churches, and was deeply interested in religious work as well as abstract theology.  He died December 19, 1894.

He married (first), December 21, 1848, Sarah Augusta Holyoke, daughter of William Holyoke, at her home in Marlboro, Massachusetts.  Their children were:  Allard Holyoke, born in Worcester, September 9, 1851, died in Worcester, October 7, 1857; Helen Augusta, born in Worcester, April 25, 1858.  Mrs. Ball died January 14, 1864.  He married (second) Mary Jane Otis, daughter of Benjamin B. and Mary (Carter) Otis.  She was born in Worcester, September 3, 1833.

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(VI) Daniel Howard Piper, seventh child of Pliny Piper (5), was born at Sharon, New Hampshire, January 1, 1836.  He moved with his parents to Peterboro, New Hampshire, when he was only two years old, and was educated there in the common schools.  In 1849 he went to Winchendon, Massachusetts, to work for [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Baxter D. Whitney]].  In 1850 he worked for a short time for the Noon Woolen Company of Peterboro, and in the fall entered the machine shop of Piper & Robinson.  After a short time he entered the Hutchinson & Harris mill at Harrisville, New Hampshire, where he was employed three months.  In the fall of 1852 he entered the employ of Goodspeed & Wyman, and afterward again worked for [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Mr. Whitney]], where he made cylinder stave saws.  After a year he worked for a time at Keene, New Hampshire, for Hodgins & Knowlton, and then with his brother Augustus went to Elmira, New York, to work in a machine shop.  He returned to [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Whitney]]'s in 1857 and then wenf to Orange, Massachusetts, where he worked during the winter, but again returned to [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Whitney]]'s, where he was employed up to 1861; then to Windsor, Vermont, where he was employed in the United States armory for a few months; then for [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Baxter Whitney]] in Winchendon again for five months; then to the armory of Springfield, Massachusetts, for eight months; then back to [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|Baxter Whitney]]'s till 1864; then for a time with William Grout on sewing machines, as his foreman; then for Levi Thompson, of Fitchburg, a short time; then with [[Family:Whitney, Baxter Doddridge (1817-1915)|B. D. Whitney]] up to 1871, when he signed an engagement with Goodspeed & Wyman, and for twenty-seven years was connected with this establishment, making cylinder saws.  In 1898 Mr. Piper went into business for himself, manufacturing cylinder saws used in the manufacture of wooden ware such as tubs and pails.  He makes other machinery to order.  Mr. Piper is a member of the Church of the Unity (Unitarian), and of the Republican party.  He is a skillful musician, and has belonged to a band and orchestra for over forty years.

He married, March 31, 1858, Susan Sophia Morse, born June 3, 1838, in Winchendon, daughter of Elisha and Sally W. (Robbins) Morse.  Elisha Morse was born in Holliston, son of Joseph Morse, who was one of the following children:  James, Lusanna, Debora, Elizabeth, Joseph, Abner.  Joseph Morse died in Brookfield, Vermont.  He was a farmer all his life, a soldier in the revolution.  His children were:  Joseph, married Hannah Miller, and they had:  Joseph, John, died young; Elihue, Jerusha, Elijah, and Levina; Elisha, see forward; Hannah, George, Betsey, Mary, Samuel.

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(II) Matthias Farnsworth . . . married Sarah Nutting . . . .  His children were:  . . . .  2. Ebenezer, born 1684, married, April 17, 1707, [[Family:Whitney, Elizabeth (s1689-?)|Elizabeth Whitney]], daughter of [[Family:Whitney, Joshua (1635-1719)|Joshua and Abigail (Tarball) Whitney]], of Watertown; she was born about 1686; they owned the covenant September 19, 1708, and united with the church April 6, 1718; he died March 30, 1724.  . . . .

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(VII) Lewis, second child of Prince and Selina [(Higgins)] Higgins, was born January 18, 1803, and died in Standish, Maine, March 11, 1888.  He inherited the mechanical tastes and skill of his father, and after his death continued the various occupations of the parent.  He sold the farm at Oak Hill, Standish, Maine, and settled at White Rock, in the town of Gorham.  He married, March 25, 1828, Susan, born January 23, 1804, eldest child of [[Family:Whitney, Edmund (1774-1853)|Edmund and Martha (Meserve) Whitney]].  She was descended from [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]], of Watertown, Massachusetts, born 1592, in England, died June 1, 1673.  The Whitney family traces its lineage to [[Family:Turstin (s1045-a1086)|Turstin, the Fleming]], who was a follower of William the Conqueror into England, from whom he received large estates in Herefordshire and Wales.  [[Family:Turstin (s1045-a1086)|Turstin]] married Agnes, daughter of [[Family:Alfred of Marlborough (s1020-?)|Aimed de Merleberge]], a Norman baron, and from him descended an illustrious line of English nobility.  In the maternal line Susan Whitney, wife of Lewis Higgins, who descended from Captain Clement Meserve, of French origin, who came from the Isle of Jersey and settled at Portsmouth in 1673.  Lewis and Susan Higgins were the parents of eleven children:  Ivory Fessenden, born August 15, 1828; Freeman, born January 11, 1830, a prominent business man of Manchester, New Hampshire, married Mary Dennett; Orlando Melvin, born August 22, 1831, married Amanda Abbott, of Andover, Massachusetts, died May 31, 1894; Elijah Lewis,

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born June 23, 1833, married Clara Bickford, died November 17, 1862; Martha Ellen, born June 7, 1835, died November 13, 1904; Merrill Whitney, born July 11, 1837, married Myra Parker, of Gorham, Maine, died February 16, 1898; Aravesta, born April 10, 1840, married Dr. James G. Sturgis, Gorham, Maine; Aramantha, twin of Aravesta, died November 4, 1901, unmarried; Milton P., see forward; Edmund F., born March 13, 1847, married Martha Safford, of Dunbarton, New Hampshire, and has three children; Hadley Foster, born July 28, 1849, married Myrta Jones.

(VIII) Milton Prince Higgins, ninth child, son of Lewis and Susan (Whitney) Higgins, was born December 7, 1842, in Standish, Maine.  He inherited the mechanical aptitude and strength of character which distinguished his father and grandsire, and for more than a third of a century has been a leading figure in the industrial and educational life of the city of Worcester.  He began his education in the district schools of his native place, fitted for college at Gorham (Maine) Academy, and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1868.  His student life was not continuous, however, for previous to entering college he worked for some years, and was for three years in the employ of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, in Manchester, New Hampshire.  In 1868, the year of his leaving college, he located in Worcester, Massachusetts, and from August until the following January served as draughtsman and engineer for the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company.  He was then appointed superintendent of the Washburn Shops of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which was founded by Ichabod Washburn, who contributed largely to their efficiency.  In these shops Mr. Higgins had ample opportunity to give practical machine work to the Institute students.  In many ways the methods which he pursued marked the early and continued development of industrial education in technical schools, and, indeed, it may be said that his efforts brought him into appreciative recognition as a pioneer in these lines.  Among the most important of his innovations was the designing and manufacture of the hydraulic (or plunger) elevator, and he was successful in such high degree that the products of the shops made them more than self-supporting.  As superintendent of the Washburn shops and member of the Institute faculty, Mr. Higgins favored a continuance of the business of elevator manufacturing.  The trustees, however, determined to sell, and he became the purchaser, and established the works of the Plunger Elevator Company.  This corporation was formed in 1896, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars.  It rapidly extended its operations, and is now one of the most substantial and prosperous industries in the city of Worcester.  Mr. Higgins has been president of the corporation from the time of organization, and with him are associated George I. Alden, treasurer, who was a fellow-member of the Institute faculty; John W. Higgins (son of Mr. Higgins) was former secretary; F. E. Holman, assistant treasurer; and W. F. Cole, general manager.  The expansion of business has made necessary repeated enlargements of the plant, and the elevators of the Plunger Company are noted throughout the country for efficiency and safety, and have been installed in many of the largest and most modern tuildings in the country.

Mr. Higgins also founded the Norton Emery Wheel Company, a corporation which has had a phenomenal growth, and is known as the largest manufacturer in its line in the world.  The business grew out of a department of F. B. Norton's pottery business in Worcester.  In 1880 the emery wheels of Mr. Norton were in growing demand, and in 1885 the, Norton Emery Wheel Company was organized.  In 1893 the business of the Grant Corundum Wheel Manufacturing Company of Chester, Massachusetts, was purchased and merged into that of the Norton Company.  In addition to the large manufacturing plant at Barbers, the company operates a factory at Niagara Falls for the manufacture of emery and alundum for grinding purposes.  Much of the machinery used in the Norton Company factories was devised for them, and is covered by patents of which it is owner.  The products of the factories include emery wheels, alundum wheels, and wheels of emery and alundum combined, of all sizes, and for various purposes.  In addition, the company manufactures the Norton bench and floor grinding machinery, the Universal tool and cutter grinder, India oil-stones, and the Bath machine indicator.  The company received the highest awards at the expositions in Paris, Brussels, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Nashville and St. Louis.  Mr. Higgins is also president of this company, and Mr. Alden is treasurer.

Mr. Higgins has for several years been president of the Manchester Supply Company, wholesale plumbing supplies dealers in Manchester, New Hampshire; president of the new Worcester Pressed Steel Company, of Worcester; and a director in the Mechanics' National Bank.  He is deeply interested in scientific, industrial and educational topics, and is a trustee of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Worcester Club.  He has during the past few years delivered a number of important addresses before learned societies and educational gatherings upon the subject of industrial education.  At the New York meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in December, 1899, he spoke on "The Education of Machinists, Foremen and Mechanical Engineers."  The discussion was so animated and the interest aroused so evident, that Mr. Higgins was called upon for another address on the same subject at the next meeting of the society.  These addresses are published in the "Proceedings of the Society."  In January, 1904, he spoke at Providence, Rhode Island, before the Providence Association of Mechanical Engineers on "Half-Time Trade Schools for the Education of Boys."  Considerable newspaper discussion and commendation of his attitude followed.  He spoke in Worcester before the Congregational Club, April 24, 1905, on "The Relation of Trade Schools to Industrial Education."  In 1905 he delivered an address in Boston on "The Promotion of Industrial Drawing," and before the convention of the National Teachers' Association he gave an address on "Industrial Education from the Standpoint of the Manufacturer."  He was the speaker at the commencement exercises of the Newark Technical School, at Newark, New Jersey, May 15, 1905.

Mr. Higgins married, at Manchester, New Hampshire, June 15, 1870, Katherine Elizabeth Chapin, daughter of Aldus M. and Catherine (Sawin) Chapin.  She is descended from Deacon Samuel Chapin, of Springfield, Massachusetts, who is of record as freeman in 1641.  She was educated in the public schools and at Abbot Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, when Miss McKeen was principal.  Mrs. Higgins is a member of the Worcester Woman's Club, and has served as chairman of the educational committee.  She is active in the Woman's Auxiliary of the Young Men's Christian Association, and chairman of the committee on boys' work

[p. 70]

in the "Woman's Auxiliary."  She is a member of the Piedmont Church, and president of the primary and intermediate Sunday School Union; is also superintendent of the intermediate department of the Piedmont Sunday School, and has always taken an active part in the Sunday school work of that church.  A few years ago she had charge of the children's exercises at the state convention of the Congregational Sunday schools at Worcester and later at Haverhill, and in 1905 at Salem.  Mrs. Higgins is a member of Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she is vice regent.  She is intensely interested in American history and genealogy, and has done much genealogical work on the various families related to her own, and has in preparation a genealogy of the Higgins family.  Children of Milton P. and Katherine Elizabeth (Chapin) Higgins are:  Aldus Chapin; John Woodman; Katherine Elizabeth, born August 6, 1878; Olive Chapin, born January 7, 1882, graduate of Smith's College, 1904.

(IX) Aldus Chapin Higgins, eldest child of Milton P. and Katherine Elizabeth (Chapin) Higgins, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, December 7, 1872.  He attended the public schools, graduated from the Worcester high school in 1890, and from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1893.  For three years he served as a clerk in the United States patent office in Washington, D. C., meantime studying law and attending law lectures in the National University Law School, and was admitted to the bar of Worcester county in 1896.  In the autumn of that year he visited Europe with his parents and sisters, spending eight months abroad.  Entering upon practice in Worcester, he shared rooms with John S. Gould, attorney-at-law.  He was counsel for the Norton Emery Company, and was eventually obliged to devote all his time to the legal business of the companies with which his father is connected.  His office is in the factory at Barbers, and he has charge of the alundum department of the Norton Emery Company.  Mr. Higgins is an active Republican.  In 1900 he was chairman of the Republican city committee, and is looked upon as a leader among the young Republicans of the city.  He is a member of the Tatnuck Country Club, and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  He married, June 6, 1898, Miss Edgenie Brosius, and their children are: Elizabeth, born October 11, 1900, and Milton Prince, born October 29, 1903.

(IX) John Woodman Higgins, second child of Milton P. and Katherine Elizabeth (Chapin) Higgins, was born September 1, 1874.  He graduated from the Worcester high school in 1893, and from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1896.  He was for several years superintendent of the machine shop of the Plunger Elevator Company, and the secretary.  September 1, 1904, he became the manager of the new Worcester Pressed Steel Company, of which his father is president.  A large factory is in course of construction for the company, at Greendale, near the Allen-Higgins Wall Paper factory.  He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Tatnuck Country Club, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  He is active in the Piedmont Church, was former superintendent of the intermediate department of its Sunday school, and is secretary of the Worcester Congregational Club, and secretary of the directors of the Young Men's Christian Association.  He married, January 17, 1906, Clara Carter, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Carter, of St. Louis, Missouri.  They reside at 184 Highland street, Worcester, Massachusetts.

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[p. 80]

(VII) Levi Williams Porter . . . married, June 1, 1853, Caroline Philista Gilbert . . . .  They had three children, two of whom died in infancy.  Mary, their only surviving child, married [[Family:Whitney, Frank Judson (1858-a1900)|F. J. Whitney]], of Leominster.

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[p. 80]

[[Family:Whitney, Elijah (1791-1855)|LEVI WHITNEY]].  [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]] (l), the emigrant ancestor of [[Family:Whitney, Elijah (1791-1855)|Levi Whitney]], of Upton, was born in England, 1589.  He was the son of [[Family:Whitney, Thomas (s1550-1637)|Thomas Whitney]], and the grandson of Robert Whitney, of England.  For further particulars of [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]] and his ancestry see Whitney family elsewhere in this work.  He settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, June, 1635.  He married in England, Elinor -----, who was born there in 1599 and died in Watertown, May 11, 1659.  [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]] married (second), in Watertown, September 29, 1659, Judith Clement.  He died June 1, 1673.  Children of [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John and Elinor Whitney]] are given elsewhere in the Whitney family sketch.

(II) [[Family:Whitney, John (1621-1692)|John Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]] (l), was born in England, 1620.  He settled in Watertown.  He married Ruth Reynolds, daughter of Robert Reynolds.  (For further particulars see sketch of Whitney family elsewhere in this work.)

(III) [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1647-1733)|Nathaniel Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, John (1621-1692)|John Whitney]] (2), was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, February 1, 1646.  He married, March 12, 1673, Sarah Hagar.  She was born September 3, 1651, and died May 7, 1746, in Weston.  He settled in Weston, about a mile and a half from the village, on the road to Lexington.  Dr. Bradbury, who now or

[p. 81]

lately owned the place, has built on the original site of the first house an attractive modern house.  Nathaniel died in Weston, January 7, 1732.  Children of [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1647-1733)|Nathaniel and Sarah (Hagar) Whitney]] were:  [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1675-1730)|Nathaniel]], born March 5, 1675; [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1679-?)|Sarah]], February 12, 1678; [[Family:Whitney, William (1683-1720)|William]], May 6, 1683; [[Family:Whitney, Samuel (1687-1753)|Samuel]], baptized July 17, 1687; [[Family:Whitney, Hannah (1689-1768)|Hannah]], born in Weston, baptized March, 1688; Elizabeth, born December 15, 1692; Grace, born 1700; Mercy.

(IV) [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1675-1730)|Nathaniel Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1647-1733)|Nathaniel Whitney]] (3), was born in Weston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1675.  He married, November 7, 1695, Mercy Robinson, born September 6, 1676, died December 31, 1740.  They resided in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he died September 23, 1730.  Children of [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1675-1730)|Nathaniel and Mercy (Robinson) Whitney]] were:  [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1696-1776)|Nathaniel]]; [[Family:Whitney, Sarah (1699-a1746)|Sarah]], born March 3, 1698; Amos, April 19, 1701; [[Family:Whitney, Elizabeth (1702-1789)|Elizabeth]], July 23, 1702, married Daniel Bigelow; they were the parents of Colonel Timothy Bigelow, from whom the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named; Jonas, December, 1703; James, born about 1710; [[Family:Whitney, Susanna (1707-?)|Susanna]], baptized June 17, 1711; [[Family:Whitney, Solomon (1709-a1758)|Solomon]], (twin), baptized June 17, 1711; [[Family:Whitney, Samuel (c1710-1788)|Samuel]], (twin), baptized June 17, 1711; [[Family:Whitney, Ebenezer (c1712-a1737)|Ebenezer]], baptized April 25, 1714, was a doctor, resided in Worcester county, died January 23, 1743; [[Family:Whitney, Joshua (1713-1786)|Joshua]], born March 25, 1714; [[Family:Whitney, David (1716-1754)|David]], born in 1716.

(V) [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1696-1776)|Nathaniel Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1675-1730)|Nathaniel Whitney]] (4), was born in Weston, Massachusetts, January 23, 1696.  He married, June 22, 1721, Mary Childs, born 1699 and died December 3, 1776.  They settled in Westboro, Massachusetts, where he and his wife were admitted to the church, January 21, 1728.  He had owned the covenant in Concord, Massachusetts, October 15, 1727.  Children of Nathaniel and Mary (Childs) Whitney were:  [[Family:Whitney, Ephraim (1722-1797)|Ephraim]], born in Groton, July, 1722; [[Family:Whitney, Oliver (1724-1804)|Oliver]], born December 1, 1724; David, baptized November 8, 1726; Mary, born February 15, 1727; [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1728-1776)|Nathaniel]], born July 22, 1728; Anna, born March 8, 1730, married, May 4, 1749, David Forbush, son of one of the earliest and most prominent citizens of Westboro, Massachusetts (ancestor of Judge Forbes of Worcester); Amos, born March 17, 1732; Lucy, born April 26, 1734; Love, born September 13, 1736; Lois, born February 9, 1738; [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1740-1807)|Eli]], baptized May 3, 1740. The inventor of the cotton gin, [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1765-1825)|Eli Whitney]], was of this Westboro family.

(VI) [[Family:Whitney, Ephraim (1722-1797)|Ephraim Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1696-1776)|Nathaniel Whitney]] (5), was born in Groton, Massachusetts, July, 1722.  He married, December 6, 1749, Thankful Harrington, born in 1729, died July 16, 1795.  He moved with his parents from Groton to Weston and thence later to Westboro, Massachusetts.  After his marriage he purchased a large farm in Upton, Massachusetts, on which he resided the remainder of his life.  At his death the farm was divided equally between his two sons.  He died at Upton, July 21, 1797.  Children of Ephraim and Thankful (Harrington) Whitney were:  Thankful, born November 11, 1750, married Jonathan Batchelor, and resided in Upton (See Batchelor sketch); Beulah, born January 23, 1753, married, May 7, 1772, Samuel Forbush, grandson of Daniel Forbes, the emigrant from Scotland; [[Family:Whitney, Ephraim (1756-1827)|Ephraim]], born May 13, 1766, married Jemima Whipple and Joanna Sadler; [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1759-1841)|Amos]], born June 29, 1759.

(VII) [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1759-1841)|Amos Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Ephraim (1722-1797)|Ephraim Whitney]] (6), was born in Upton, Massachusetts, June 29, 1759.  He married Eunice Taft, February 7, 1782.  He always lived in Upton.  At his father's death he inherited part of his farm, on which he lived the remainder of his life.  He died September 22, 1841.  [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1765-1825)|Eli Whitney]], the inventor, was a cousin, [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1765-1825)|Eli]]'s father was [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1740-1807)|Eli]].  [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1759-1841)|Amos]]' father, [[Family:Whitney, Ephraim (1722-1797)|Ephraim]], was a brother of [[Family:Whitney, Eli (1740-1807)|Eli Whitney, Sr.]], father of the inventor, whose pedigree back of his father is the same as that here given.  Children of [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1759-1841)|Amos and Eunice (Taft) Whitney]] were:  Esther, born October 26, 1783, married Deacon Morse; Hannah, born November 26, 1785, died unmarried; Levi, born March 26, 1788; [[Family:Whitney, Elijah (1791-1855)|Elijah]], born March 5, 1791, married Sarah Reed; [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1793-1849)|Amos]], born May 8, 1793, married Nancy Warren; Polly, born November 21, 1796, died unmarried; Daniel, born July 1, 1799; Sally, born August 11, 1801, married, April, 1827, Eron Fiske; [[Family:Whitney, Joel (1804-a1880)|Joel]], born April 19, 1804, married Mary J. Whitney.

(VIII) [[Family:Whitney, Elijah (1791-1855)|Elijah Whitney]], son of [[Family:Whitney, Amos (1759-1841)|Amos Whitney]] (7), was born in Upton, Massachusetts, March 5, 1791.  He married in Stow, Massachusetts, April 12, 1822, Sarah Reed.  They lived in Upton and Harvard, Massachusetts.  Children of Elijah and Sarah (Reed) Whitney were:  Levi, born May 22, 1827; Harriet, born September 7, 1832, married Emory Whitney King, born March 31, 1826, and lived in Upton; he was a farmer and highway surveyor of Upton for many years; he was a son of Samuel and Sabra King, of Upton; their children are:  Arthur Elijah, married Isabel McBride, of Northbridge; Etta Sarah, Myrtice Samantha.

(IX) Levi Whitney, son of [[Family:Whitney, Elijah (1791-1855)|Elijah Whitney]] (8), was born in Upton, Massachusetts, May 23, 1827.  When he was a young boy his parents removed to Harvard, Massachusetts, and he attended the district schools there.  His father returned to Upton to help his grandfather with the farm.  Levi Whitney worked on his father's farm in Upton until he was twenty-seven.  He worked in the straw shop of William Knowlton & Sons in the winter, and after he left the farm worked at the carpenter's trade during the summer months.  Mr. Whitney possesses a modest competence largely through his habits of industry and good management of his property.  In 1894 he built an attractive home on Maple avenue West Upton, where he has since resided.  He is a steadfast Republican in politics.  He is an active member of the Upton Methodist church.

He married, November 13, 1859, Violetta J. Gilman, daughter of Stephen and Jane (Creddiford) Gilman.  She was born in Wells, Maine, January 15, 1834.  Her father was a native of Monmouth, Maine.  They were married at Upton.  Children of Levi and Violetta J. (Gilman) Whitney are:  Clara Belle, born September 10, 1860, died unmarried July 22, 1903; Charles Oscar, born December 13, 1861, married Sarah Ryder, of Middleboro; he was educated in the Upton district and high schools; is employed in the straw shop of William Knowlton & Sons; their son George Gilman, born September 1, 1884, is in the class of 1906, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Dora May, born September 6, 1863, is bookkeeper for William Knowlton & Sons; graduate of Upton high school, 1881; Ella Maria, born September 16, 1865, married Allen W. Risteen, of Hartford, Connecticut, editor of the trade paper Locomotive published by the Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company; she was a graduate of the Upton high school, 1883, and of the State Normal school in Worcester, in 1885; Nellie Frances, born September 18, 1869, graduate of the Upton high school, 1887, and of Becker's Commercial School in 1888; works in the Knowlton shop; lives with her parents in West Upton.

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[p. 82]

(VII) Philip Lothrop, son of Orville [and Lucy (Johnson)] Lothrop (6), was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, October 23, 1825.  He married, January 1, 1850, Susan Elizabeth Whitney, daughter of Joseph and Sally Whitney, of Westminster.  He settled in Leominster, was connected with the Whitney Carriage Company there.  He died December 23, 1902.  The children of Philip and Susan Elizabeth Lothrop were:  1. Frank Orville, born January 1, 1851, was educated in the public and high schools of Leominster, was a partner in the Whitney-Reed Company during his active business life; he retired a few years ago and resides in a handsome home in Leominster; married, October 29, 1873, Susie Emily Damon, of Cohoes, New York.  2. Ella Juliette, born February 4, 1857, married, June 6, 1878, Charles Henry Graves, of Ludlow, Vermont, and they have one child, Louis Whiting Graves, born July 24, 1880.  3. Fred Joseph, born February 19, 1859, of whom later.

(VII) Fred Joseph Lothrop, son of Philip Lothrop (7), was born at Leominster, Massachusetts, February 19, 1859.  He was educated there in the public and high schools and began his business career as clerk in the Leominster National Bank, with which he has been connected in various capacities to the present time.  He has been cashier since 1901.  He is treasurer of the Leominster board of trade and treasurer of the sinking fund of the town of Leominster.  In politics he is a Republican.  He married (first) Nellie Louise Peirce, of Westminster, December 13, 1882.  She was born October 19, 1859, and died at Leominster, July 4, 1884, leaving one son.  Mr. Lothrop married (second) Sarah Lewis Richardson, daughter of Thurston and Harriet (Butterfield) (Adams) Richardson.  She was born March 21, 1864.  The only child of Fred Joseph and Nellie Louise Lothrop was:  Alfred Peirce, born at Leominster, June 25, 1884, graduate of Oberlin College.  The children of Fred Joseph and Sarah Lewis Lothrop were:  Everett Winfred, born December 14, 1890, at Leominster, Massachusetts; Ernest Orville, May 11, 1892, at Leominster; Nellie Louise, born at Leominster, December 9, 1893; Esther, born December 2, 1898, at Leominster.

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[p. 97]

(VII) Captain Walter Osgood Parker, son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Parker) Parker (6), was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, May 1, 1841.  He received his education in the public schools of that town up to the age of nineteen, and while going to school helped his father on the farm.  He soon entered the employ of C. & G. C. Winchester, manufacturers of chairs, where he remained three and one-half years.  He then left for the civil war, enlisting July 23, 1862, in Company H, Thirty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry, under Colonel George D. Wells, and was in the Eighth Army Corps in the Army of West Virginia, serving, in the following battles:  Ripon, New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Martinsburg, Winchester, September 9, 1864; Stickney's Farm, Cedar Creek, Reemes' Station, Fort Gregg, Hatcher's Run, and Appomatox Court House, and was discharged after close of the war, June 20, 1865.  He shortly returned to Ashburnham, where he resumed his old position with the Winchesters and remained three and one-half years again.  In April, 1869, he entered the employ of [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Whitney]] & Greenwood, general store, where he remained until 1870, when he was admitted a partner with [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Mr. Whitney]], the new firm buying out Mr. Greenwood's interest, under firm name of [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Whitney]] & Parker.  This continued until 1876, when Mr. Parker's brother Frank H. purchased [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Mr. Whitney]]'s interest, and Parker Bros. continued until 1891, when Walter O. bought out his brother's interest and conducts a large and prosperous business.

Mr. Parker is a man who has made much of his opportunities in life, and has devoted much time to deep study and extensive reading of all of the best literature, this being one of his greatest pleasures.  He owns a beautiful home at corner of Main and Lawrence streets, and is one of the first men of the town.  He is a member of the Congregational Brethren church.  A Republican in politics, having been chosen a delegate to various conventions, was representative to general court in 1883, was on committee on military affairs, selectman, 1890.  He has been trustee of Public Library for years, also trustee of Public Library building, trustee of Cushing Academy at present.  Chairman of civic committee of the town of Ashburnham.  He was director of the First National Bank of Ashburnham during its existence, also trustee of the Worcester North Savings Institution of Fitchburg.  He is a member of Sergeant Plunkett Post, No. 184, Grand Army of the Republic, and was post commander for two years.  He served thirteen years, 1866 to 1879, in Tenth Regiment, Rice Guards, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, as captain of Company E, seven years, a local company of militia at Ashburnham.

He married, August 23, 1866, Josephine M. Whitney, born August 23, 1843, daughter of [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Hon. Ohio Whitney, Jr.]], born June 9, 1813, died February 6, 1879, and Mary R. (Brooks) Whitney, born October 1, 1818.  They have no children.

(VII) Frank Hannibal Parker, son of Jesse Parker (6), was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, February 6, 1854.  He was educated there in the common schools.  At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of his brother as clerk in his general store at Ashburnham, and remained four years.  The firm was then Parker & [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Whitney]], the junior partner being [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Ohio Whitney]], father-in-law of Captain Walter O. Parker.  [[Family:Whitney, Ohio (1813-1879)|Mr. Whitney]]'s interests were bought by Frank H. Parker and the firm name then became Parker Brothers.  . . . .

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[p. 98]

(V) Stephen Weston, son of Stephen [and Lydia (Billing)] Weston (4), was born in Lincoln, Massachusetts, March 22, 1761.  He removed to Winchendon at the time of his marriage, settling in the western part of the town on what was called Tallow hill.  His homestead is the one now occupied by George Bosworth.  He was one of the first to embrace the Methodist Episcopal faith.  The first meetings in the town were in his house from 1800 until the church was built in 1807.  He was one of the committee in charge of building the church and he himself gave the land.  The committee consisted of William Poland, Stephen Weston, Silas Warner, William Crane, Barzillai Martin.  The deed is dated 1809.  He was a shoemaker as well as farmer and is called a cordwainer in this deed of land to the church.  He bought of Gardner Wilder two hundred and twenty-seven acres in Royalston Leg, later part of Winchendon, in 1704.  He deeded the farm on which he had lived for "a great number of years," to his son just before his-death.  The homestead included ninety-one acres of land at that time and was bounded by land of Captain Joseph Robbing, James Taylor, Levi Brooks and Samuel Brown.

He married, March 31, 1784, Susan Whitney, born at Stow, Massachusetts, October 11, 1766, daughter of [[Family:Whitney, Daniel (1720-1782)|Daniel Whitney]], born in Stow, February 13, 1720, married, 1744, Dorothy Goss, of Lancaster.  His line hack to the pioneer [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John Whitney]] was:  [[Family:Whitney, Daniel (1720-1782)|Daniel]] (IV), [[Family:Whitney, Richard (1661-1723)|Richard]] (III), [[Family:Whitney, Richard (1624-a1691)|Richard]] (II), [[Family:Whitney, John (1592-1673)|John]] (I). (See Whitney Family).  Children of Stephen and Susan (Whitney) Weston were:  Stephen, Jr., born November 30, 1785, died August 6, 1840; Sukey, born November 16, 1788, died May 28, 1867; married Ephraim Fairbanks, died December 4, 1864, aged seventy-eight; Wareham, born December 1, 1790; George.  Wareham, was the father of eleven children; George, died September 15, 1800; Daniel B.. born October 29, 1800, died in Iowa between 1865 and 1869; Elizabeth, born March 6, 1803. died May 24, 1854, unmar-

[p. 99]

ried; Ephraim W., see forward; Eleazer P., born June 24, 1808, died June 12, 1874.

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[p. 125]

(IV) Thomas Merriam, son of Thomas [and Mary (Heywood)] Merriam (3), was born at Lexington, Massachusetts, baptized April 21, 1700.  He married Tabitha Stone.  He was admitted to the church August 2, 1721.  She died June 22, 1760; he died June 4, 1752.  Their children were:  Samuel, born December 21, 1723, married, June 4, 1752, [[Family:Whitney, Anna (1725-a1767)|Anna Whitney]]; Nathan, April 7, 1725, married Mary Hosmer, March 26, 1755; Mary, June 15, 1727, married [[Family:Whitney, David (1723-b1765)|David Whitney]], of Waltham, Massachusetts; Hannah, August 7, 1729, died February 14, 1730; Thomas, August 24, 1731, married Sarah Wilder; Tabitha, May 10, 1733, married [[Family:Whitney, Nathan (1727-1803)|Nathan Whitney]], of Waltham, moved to Westminster, had family; Lydia, October 28, 1734, married, March 27, 1755, Josiah Cutting, of Westminster, Massachusetts; Hepzibah, February 24, 1737, died August 10, 1740: Elizabeth, July 27, 1738, married, November 5, 1755, Moses Sawtell, of Connecticut; Eunice, June 30, 1740, died April 7, 1741.  The foregoing children were born at Lexington, Massachusetts.  Five of them located in Westminster, Massachusetts, and a sixth at Hubbardston, and adjoining town.

(V) Thomas Merriam, son of Thomas Merriam (4), was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, August 27, 1731.  He removed to Westminster and in 1751 was in charge of and at work on lots 83 and 84, now the homesteads of Olive M. Merriam and Otis Flagg, of Westminster, then owned by Thomas Merriam (IV), his father.  The southwest portion of these lots was sold to his brother-in-law, [[Family:Whitney, Nathan (1727-1803)|Nathan Whitney]], who had also lot 90, where the present summer home of [[Family:Whitney, Edward (1834-1897)|Edward A.]] and [[Family:Whitney, George Clarkson (1842-1915)|George C. Whitney]] is located.  He was a cordwainer (shoemaker) as well as farmer, probably the first shoemaker of Westminster.  He married Sarah Wilder, daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Keyes) Wilder, at Lancaster, Massachusetts, November 24, 1762.  She was horn at Princeton, said to be the first female child born in the town.  She died August 13, 1819, aged eighty years; he died December 20, 1821.  Their children were:  Sarah, born October 2, 1763, married Isaac Puffer, resided at Leyden, New York, had children; Jonas, November 21, 1765, married Anna Clark and (second) Nabby Allen, resided in Westminster; Tabitha, November 20, 1767, died September 19, 1769; Tabitha, February 22, 1770, died young; Asa, May 8, 1772.

(VI) Asa Merriam, son of Thomas Merriam (5), was born at Westminster, Massachusetts, May 8, 1772.  He married Lucinda Puffer, daughter of Josiah and Mary Puffer, of Westminster, May 18, 1797, and settled on lot 83, town of Westminster, now known as the Temple place, opposite W. J. Black's house.  He died February 8, 1836; she died September 11, 1851.  Their children were:  Sally, born March 18, 1798, married George Adams, resided at Westminster; died October 12, 1883; Asa, July 7, 1799, married Sally Warren, resided at Westminster and Hubbardston, had ten children, died 1886; Thomas, July 23, 1801, married [[Family:Whitney, John (1769-1802)|Betsey Whitney]], resided at Westminster; Reed, October 1, 1803; Mary, January 13, 1807, married S. H. Stearns, resided at Westminster, had one child, died August 19, 1851; Lucena, March 13, 1809, married B. F. Murdock, resided at Westminster, had one child, died January 2, 1840; Farwell, March 8, 1811, died unmarried January 20, 1836; Betsey, April 24, 1814, married J. Nelson Minott, resided at Westminster, had one child, died February 8, 1887.

(VII) Reed Merriam, son of Asa Merriam (6), was born at Westminster, October 1, 1803.  He succeeded to his father's homestead and built for his own use the house now occupied by Mr. Black.  He married (first) Susan Raymond, daughter of Joseph, March 1, 1832; (second) Rebecca Maria Minott, daughter of Joseph and Sally (Graves) Minott, November 4, 1834.  He was a nervous excitable man, and his health gave way entirely some time before his death, March 13, 1880.  His wife Susan died October 24, 1833, aged 34 years; Rebecca died June 21, 1860, aged fifty-one years.  Their children were:  George Porter, born March 20, 1833, died August 27, 1845; a child died March 25, 1837; Charles Farwell, born February 14, 1840.

(VIII) Charles Farwell Merriam, son of Reed Merriam (7), was born at Westminster, Massachusetts, February 14, 1840.  He was raised on the old farm, attending the Westminster schools.  He completed his education at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, where he studied surveying.  He practiced his profession for a time but preferred farming.  He was interested in town affairs and served on the school committee.  He was a staunch Republican.  He attended the Congregational church and was a teacher in the Sunday school.  He was a kindly Christian gentleman, well beloved by those who knew him.  He married (first) Carrie A. Boutelle, of Leominster, Massachusetts, November 22, 1862.  She died July 10, 1863.  He married (second) Myra L. Wood, dauchter of Timothy Dwight and Emeline (Clark) Wood, October 27, 1868.  Mr. Merriam removed to Leominster, Massachusetts, where he died of consumption, August 10, 1871 at the age of thirty-three.  He had no children.  Mrs. Myra L. Merriam, his widow, has a pretty home at Leominster, where for many years she has been engaged in teaching school.

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Copyright &copy; 2009, [[User:Rlward|Robert L. Ward]] and the [[Whitney Research Group]]