Book J SUPPOSED DECAY OF FAMILIES IN NEW ENGLAND 1^ DISPROVED BY THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF CONCORD, MASS. By EDWARD JARVIS, M.D. M OF DORCHESTER, MASS. Reprinted from the N. £. Historical and Oembalogical Registbr for October, 1884. PRESS OF D PP & SON. THE SUPPOSED DECAY OF FAMILIES. THERE is much said about the decay of families in New England, and this opinion finds some apparent corroboration in the social history of Concord, and probably of other towns. 1 do not know that we have any full and correct account of the early settlers of Concord and when they arrived. Mr. Shattuck searched all the records which were attainable, and seems to have recorded in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th chapters of his History of Concord, and pages 360 to 388, the names of all the people who were in the town before 1700. I have analyzed all these chapters and made the following list, giving the year in which they first appeared, or in which any record of their appear- ance in the town was found. In the following list the figures before the name show the number who bore it ; the figures after the name show the years when they appeared, or when they were first recorded ; the letter m shows that the person moved away. The mark -}- is affixed to the names which are found in the list of voters of Concord in 1881. 2 Adams, 1646 -f-- Andrews, 1640. Atkinson, 1638 m. Baker, 1650 +. Ball, 1655. Barker, 1646 +. Barnes, 1661. Barrett, 1640 -f-. Barron, early m. 2 Bateman, 1654. Bellows, 1645 m. Bennet, 1647 m. 3 Billings, 1640. 2 Blood, 1654. 2 Brabrook, 1669. 2 Brooks, 1638 +' 2 Brown, 1640 -f-. Bulkley, 1635 -f-. Buss, 1639. Buttrick, 1635 -}-* Chandler, 1640 -f. Clark, 1686 -f . Cooksey, 1666. Coslin, 1642 m* Dakin, 1650 -j-. Darby, 1684 -f. Davis, 1650 -f. 2 Dean, 1645 -[-• Dill, 1670. Dowdy, 1645. Draper, 1639. Dudley, 1663. 3 Edmonds, 1640 m. Edwards, 1642. Evarts, early m. 4 Farrar, 1697 -{-• Far- well, 1638 m. 2 Fletcher, 1635 -f. Flint, 1638 -{-. Fowie, early m. Fox, 1G40 m. Frissel, 1667 m. French, 1674 m. +. Fuller, 1642 m. -{-. Gamblin, 1643. Gobble, 1640. Graves, early m. Griffin, 163- -f. Had- lock, 1679. Hall, 1658 m. Halstead, 1645. Hatnilton, 1670 m. Har- dy, 1639. Harris, 1669. 2 Hartwell, 1636 j-. Harwood, 1667. Hay- ward, 1635. 2 Heald, 1635. Heywood, 1635 -\-. Hoar, 1660 -[-• Uos- mer, 1635 -f. How, 1667 -f. Hubbard, 1680 -f. 2 Hunt, 1646+. Hutchinson, 1661 -j-. Jones, 1650 -|-. Judson, 1640 m. Lettin, 1639 m. Lee, 1635. Marble, 1666 +. Martin, 1685 m. Mason, 1662 -f. Melvin, 1700 +. 3 Merriam, 1654. Miles, 1640 -f-. Middlebrook, 1644 m. Minot, 1680. Mitchell, 1635, m. Oakes, 1682. Odell, 1635 m. Parkes, 1690. Passmore, 1646. Pellet, 1666. Potter, 1635 -j-. Prescott, 1635. Proctor, 1645. Prout, 1675. Purchis, 1680. Reed, 1670. Rice, 1676 -j-. Robbins, 1670 -j-. Robinson, 1676 -f. Ross, 1649. Rugg, 1679. Russ, 1679. Scotchford, 1635. Shepherd, 1648. 2 Smedley, 1635. Smith, 1663 4-. Squire, 1640. Standiforth, 1644. Stow, 1640 4. Stratten, 1674. Sy- monds, 1635 -f. 2 Taylor, 1656. Temple, 1650 -f-. Thwing, 1642 m. Tompkins, 1642. Turney, 1638 m. Underwood, 1638 m. Wheat, 1639. 6 Wheeler, 1654 +• Whitaker, 1690. Whittemore, 1692. Wil- lard, 1635. Wilson, 1635. Wood, 1638 -|-. Woodis, 1656. Woolley, lG46-f-. Wright, 1650. Names repeated, 18. Number of Names, 120 " of Repetitions, 27 *' of Persons, 147 Here are one hundred and twenty different names of persons or families. Of these eighteen names are repeated once and more. The whole number of the repetitious amount to twenty-seven. Adding these to the 120 names, we have 147 persons and families who were in Concord as early as 1700. Mr. Shattuck says that twenty-four of these removed elsewhere, leaving only one hundred and twenty-three remaining in the town. Names on the List of Voters, 1881. — Forty-five of these names reappear on the list of voters in 1881. These forty-five names were in the early period, 1635 to 1700, borne by sixty-five persons or families. The follow- ing is a list of the names of settlers in Concord before 1700, which are found in the list of voters in the town in 1881. The figures attached to each name indicate the number of voters who bore it. Adams 1 Flint 4 Melvin 5 Baker 2 French 1 Miles 5 Barker 1 Fuller 3 Potter 2 Barrett 12 Griffin 2 Rice 5 Brooks 4 Hall 2 Robbins Brown 11 Hartwell 1 Robinson Bulkley 1 Heywood 3 Smith Buttrick 5 Hoar 3 Stow Chandler 1 Hosmer 11 Symonds Clark 8 How 1 Temple Dakin 4 Hubbard 3 Wheeler 18 Davis 4 Hunt 7 Wood 5 Dean 1 Hutchinson 1 Wright 5 Derby 8 Jones 1 Farrar 1 Marble 1 Total, 167 Fletcher 1 Mason 1 Thus we see these forty-five names of the immigrants who appeared in the town from 1635 to 1700, were borne on the list of voters by one hun- dred and sixty-seven men in 1881— two hundred and forty-six to one hun- dred and eighty-one years afterward. Hutchinson, one of these voters in 1881, is a colored man and cannot be a descendant of the early settler of the same name. Doubtless some oth- ers of these voters in 1881, who bore the names of the early inhabitants of the town, cannot trace their ancestry to them ; but it is safe to presume that nearly the whole of these one hundred and sixty-six males, twenty-one years old in 1881, were descendants of those forty-four men of the "early period. All the other men and their names disappeared from Concord in that period of one hundred and eighty-one years. Very many of the early set- tlers removed to other towns. Concord was, in"l635, the most remote settlement from the sea-coast, ''■■it this was merely a resting-place for many, who, as soon as they could see their way clearly and safely, went fartlier into the wilderness — to Groton,' Sudbury, Lancaster and the Con- necticut River valley. In every generation some of the families have found insufficient room for their children in Concord, or insufficient opportunity for occupation or en- terprise according to their education, their hopes or their ambition, and not unfrequently this only male heir of the family who was induced to settle abroad was the last one of the name in Concord, and when he left, the fam- ily was extinct in Concord ; it was run out as to that place. But the ex- tinction was limited to Concord. Tliese emigrants settled in other towns and states. They married, had their children elsewhere, and their genera- tions following thereafter kept up the fjimily and the name in many other places. The descendants in the male line of families that once lived in Concord, keeping up their respective names now in many, probably in most, of the states of the union, in probably every county of the state and a verj^ large por- tion of the towns in Massachusetts, are a host far greater than all the pre- sent residents of Concord. Thus, though so many families have run out as to that town and seem to be completely extinguished, they are as full and as strong as ever, with a fair prospect of being followed by a line of posterity in perpetual succession of generations. Especially is this decay apparent in the f;irraers' families. Almost al- ways the farm descends to one heir (son), and the others must find occupa- tion and residence elsewhere. In the course of generations it not unfre- quently happens that a farmer dying leaves no sou, or none that wish to be farmers. The farm may pass to the daughters who, if they marry, hold it in another name, and the farm is known no longer by the name of the old proprietor. But the brothers of the last heir and her male cousins or sec- ond cousins, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the proprietor of two or three generations before, they have their families in other places and other occupations, and keep up the name and the character as they had been on the ancestral farm. Some Farmer Families of Concord. — The history of several of the oldest, most prominent and prosperous families of Concord gives some in- stances of a[)parent exhaustion. In the early part of this century the most numerous families of farmers in Concord bore the following names. The figures show the years when they first appeared in town : Buttrick, 1635; Hosmer, 1635; Potter, 1635; Prescott, 1635; Flint, 1638; Barrett, 1640; Brown, 1640; Hunt, 1646; Dakin, 1650; Wheel- er, 1654; Minot, 1680; Derby, 1684; Farrar, 1697; Melvin, 1700. These were the principal farmers of Concord in the first quarter of this century. They held their farms from their fathers and their grandfathers, and all of them have their ancesters in the seventeenth century. As they had been for ages the possessors of their farms, it seemed probable that their lands and homes would remain permanently in the line of their de- scendants and names. Barrett Family. — Within my remembrance the Barretts were the most substantial and prosperous of the farmers in Concord. Major James Bar- rett inherited his farm from his father, and he from his father before him. He died in 1850, aged 89. He (James) had two sons, James and George. James went to Rntland, Vt., was a prosperous merchant, and died at the af^e of 80. He had several sons, but I know nothing more of the family. ° George inherited tiie farm, and was successful on it, but sold it to a stranger before lie died in 1873, aged 78. His sons went to New York and the West, and engaged in other business. I do not know whether they married or had any male children. Joseph Barrett, the brother of Major James, was bred a tanner, but he bouo-ht the Lee farm, which he cultivated until his death in 1849, at the ao-e of 71. He left two sons, but neither cared to take and carry on the farm, which was sold, and now is owned and cultivated by Charles Henry Hurd. One of his sons, J. F. Barrett, is a lawyer of Boston, but resident in Concord. He is married but has no son. The second son, Richard, is the secretary of the Middlesex Fire Insurance Company, living in Concord. He is married and has sons and grandsons. Peter Barrett was a farmer and a tanner, living about a quarter of a mile north east of Maj. James. He died in 1808, leaving sons — Prescott, Sher- man and Benjamin. Prescott took the farm and carried it on until his death in 1861, at the age of 7G. He left sons, one of whom has the farm and is married. Benjamin was a physician in Northampton, married and had one son who died urunarried. Sherman bought the farm of Capt. Bates, on the Bedford road near the town line, and cultivated it till his death in 18(j;5, at the age of 70. He left several sons, but none that took the farm, which was sold to another family. Two or more of his sons live in the town. Dr. Henry A. Barrett is married and has no son. Other sons are, I think, married, but I have no knowledge of their issue. Samuel Barrett had a farm and a mill on the same road next the corner of the back road to Acton. He died in 1825, aged 51, leaving two sons, Samuel and Rufus. Some years ago they sold the farm and mill to Mr. Angier, who now cariies them on. Samuel did not marry. He died in 1872, aged 60. Rufus married but had no children. His wife died eai'ly and he remained a widower. Thomas Barrett lived at the south-east angle of the Hildreth corner. He died in 1816, aged 79. I know nothing about his children. Stephen Barrett was a farmer and tanner, living on the Westford road a (piarter of a mile or more N. N. W. from the school-house, at the angle of the Westford and Carlisle road. He died on his farm in 1824, aged 74. His son Emerson took the farm and occupied it until his death. His son Abel took the farm, but before many years sold it and moved to Vermont and engaged in the lumber business. I do not know whether he had any brothers, nor whether he was married and had children. Nathan Barrett lived on Punkatasset Hill. I think he inherited the farm from his father. He was successful through his life, and died in 1829, aged 65. He left one son, Nathan, who occupied the farm, and was a very successful farmer until his death in 1868, aged 71. He left four sons. Nathan H. died unmarried. Edwin is a merchant in Boston. He is mar- ried, lives near the Col. Buttrick farm and has one or more sons. Arthur and Sidney (sons of Nathan) are, I think, not married. On their father's death the farm was sold to Mr. Hornblower, and by him to Mr. John B. Tileston, who now occupies it. lie sold it to Mr. Meigs. Humphrey Barrett was direct descendant from Humphrey, who came to Concord from England in 1640. He took the farm which now Mr. Lang owns and occupies, and his the fourth generation held it. The last Humphrey was marriec, children. He died in 1827, at the age of 75, and left his estate to Abel B. Heywood, nephew of bis wife. lie sold it to Mr. Lang. Humphrey had one brother Abel who became a merchant and died in Liverpool, leaving one son who died at the age of 1 8. Joel Barrett owned and lived on a ftirm on the north-east Carlisle road, Monument Street, half a mile or more from the Carlisle line. He was son of John. He died in 1863, aged 7G, and his son now owns and cultivates the farm. I think he is married, but I know nothing of his family. Thus of the nine farms, those of Maj. James, Joseph, Samuel, Thomas, Stephen, Nathan and Humphrey have passed from the possession of their families, and only two, Peter's and Joel's, are now occupied by the Barretts. In 1881 there were twelve Barretts on the voting list, residents at least twenty-one years old. Broxon Family. — Col. Roger Broioyi was born in Framingham. He early came to Concord and set up the clothier business, dyeing and dressing cloth. He built a small cotton factory and had a farm which he occupied until bis death in 1840, at the age of 91. He had two sons — William, who died in 1825, aged 45, leaving, I think, no son; and John, died with- in a few years, aged 80 or more, leaving two sons, John and William. John became a merchant in Concord, was married and had three or more sons. Some of these are married. William took the farm, married and had daughters, and one son now in college. Samuel Brown lived on the Westford and Carlisle road, near the part- ing of the roads to these respective towns. He had several sons. John became a physician in western New York, but I know nothing of his fam- ily. Joshua inherited the farm. He died in 1855. (He was married and had three or perhaps more sons.) Amasa took a farm in the country, but 1 know nothing of his domestic condition. Joseph took the farm of his fa- ther and grandfather and converted it into a great milk farm, and then became exclusively a milk merchant, buying up all the milk of the towns as far as he could get it, which he now does, and the farm is in tlie hands of strangers. He has two or more sons ; one and perhaps others are married. Warren, another son of Joshua Brown, bought a neighboring farm of the heirs of Mr. Jacob Melvin. He died some years ago, leaving one or more sons, one of whom takes the farm. James P.. Brown, a fourth sou of Joshua, married and had four or five sons. One is a minister, ano- ther in business in Boston, a third died, and the fourth has the farm near the old Stow road, within half a mile or more of the Derby's bridge across the Assabet river. I do not know whether there are any other male descendants of Samuel Brown. Ephraim Brown lived on Punkatasset Hill on the south slope and north- west of the road, near to Nehemiah Hunt. He died in 1839, aged 81. He lost many children in 1815 of typhus fever. I have the impression he had no sons who grew to maturity. Abel Brown, stone-layer, laborer and fisherman, lived on the spot now owned by George Keyes. He died in 1826, aged 67. He had one son Tlio- mas, who followed the occupation of his father, but disappeared early and left no trace behind. Zachariah Broion was a laborer, living in the east quarter. He died in the poor-house in 1833. He left one or more sons. All the family disap- peared in my boyhood. 8 V^ Reiihen Broivn came from SucJbuiy in the last century, and died in 1852, af^ed 94. lie had sons Reuben, George and Tilley. Reuben did not mar- ry, and died in 1854, aged 74. George and Tilley went to Bangor, Me., but whether they married or had children, or wiien they died, I have no knowledge. I do not know that any of these six families — Col. Roger, Samuel, Eph- raim, Abel, Zachariah and Reuben — originated in Concord or had common origin in any remote ancestor. T/ionias Brown was in Concord in 1640. His son Thomas, born 1650, was town clerk in 1717, had Boaz, Thomas, Mary, Edward ; but it is diffi- cult to trace the five farther (Shattuck, p. 365). Within my remembrance there were families of the name. Jacob, son of Ezekiel, lived where now Abel B. Clark is living. He died, leaving his farm to his grandson Jacob B. Farmer, and he sold it to Abel B. Clark. Abishai, another son of Ezekiel, had a fiirm east of Jona. Hildreth's, was not married, and died in 1839, aged 61. There were eleven of the name on the voting list of 1881. Biittrich Family. — Col. John Buttrich, who was conspicuous in the Con- cord fight, April 19, 1775, was a farmer living near the river on the north side. He had six sons. John and Jonas remained in Concord ; Levi set- tled in Athol ; Stephen in Fraraingham ; Silas and Gates in Clinton, N. Y. Col. John inherited a part, at least, of his father's farm, and cultivated it until his death in 1825, aged 65. He left four sons — John, Grosvenor, David and George — none of whom were farmers. John went to Lowell, became a mechanic, married and had two sous. I do not know whether either of these two sons married, nor anything of their history. Grosve- nor became a machinist, was employed in some of the mills at Dover, N. H., and perhaps elsewhere. He married and had one son. David also became a machinist, settled in a manufacturing town in the western part of the state. He married and died early. He left two sons who followed the same business and are married, but neither has a son. George was in New York state in some mercantile employment. He married, but has no son. Col. Jonas Buttrick, brother of Col. John and sou of Col. John the elder, inherited a part of the farm of his father near his brother. There he lived until his death in 1845, aged 80. He left one son, Stedman Buttrick, who iidierited the farm of his ancestors and cultivated it until his death in 1877, at the age of 78. He left two sons, George and William, who are now liv- ing. William became a machinist. He lives in the village, is married, and has a son. George is unmarried, has spent the last nineteen or twenty years mostly in Louisiana, in the employment of the U. S. government and in some commercial undertakings ; but is now (1882) at home with his sis- ters. The farm is still in the hands of the family. Capt. Samuel Buttrick owned and occupied a farm in the valley north of Punkatasset Hill and a quarter of a mile from the public highwav, the north-east Carlisle road, from which a lane leads to his house. He died in 1820 at the age of 58. He left two sons, Ephraim and Joshua. Ephraim became a lawyer, practised successfully in Cambridge, and died aged over 80 years. He left two sons who went to the western country, but whether they married and have any children, I do not know. Joshua inherited the farm and occupied it for several years and then sold it. I think, to Mr. Lee. Certainly he owned it afterward. Then Mr. Holden bought it, and subsequently sold it, and now it is the property of William Hunt Joshua was married twice ; had three or four daughters but no sons. "When Gen. Joshua Buttrick sold his father's farm he bouglit the house and farm for- merly the property of Edward Wriglit, on the same road and a quarter of a mile south-east of Punkatasset Plill. There he lived until his death. That farm is now owned and occupied by Richard Barrett. David Buttrick had a farm on the north-east Carlisle road, where he lived until his death in 1840, at the age of 70. His only son, David, took the farm and cultivated it with great success until about 1872, when he moved to a new house near the bridge, where he still lives in good health at the age of 83. He has several sons, none of whom are farmers. All are married and have sons. The farm was sold to his daughter's husband, Mr. Holden. Joseph Buttrick owned and cultivated a farm very near to David's until his death in 1841, at the age of 77. He had no son, but two daughters. Mary married Charles Dakin, who took the farm and held it until his death in 1878, at the age of 70. He left one son who took the farm, but soon sold it to a stranger and went into other business. Sarah, the second daughter of Joseph Buttrick, was never married. She died in 1881. Jonathan Buttrick had a farm on the north-east Carlisle road, about a quar- ter of a mile south-east of Joseph Buttrick. There he lived until his death in 1845, aged 80. He had two sons — one, Jonathan, became a stage-driver. He married and died without children. Abuer inherited the farm and cul- tivated it until his death in 1870, at the age of 71. He left one son who sold the farm to Mr. Whiting and moved away. Thus of the five farmers of the name of Buttrick, four of their farms have passed into other hands and names. There were five voters of the name in Concord in 1881. Hosmer Family. — James Hosmer came with the first immigrants in 1 635, and is supposed to have settled on and occupied the farm east of and bor- dering on the Assabet river, running from the Stow to the Groton road. The southern part was occupied by Elijah Hosmer until his death in 1828, at the age of 78. At his death this farm then descended to his grandson Joseph. He afterwards sold it and went to Illinois, leaving in Concord no descendants of his grandfather bearing the name. But he married and has at least one son in Chicago who is married. The northern part of this farm has been and still is in possession and occupied by a branch of the family. Jesse Hosmer in the last generation owned it until his death in 1829, at the age of 86. His son, now over 80 years of age, owns and lives upon it. He has two sons, one living in Waltham, not a farmer. The oth- er son, Prescott, lives with his father. He has been married, but buried his wife, and he has a second wife. I do not know whether he has any sons. John Hosmer lived on the old Stow road, about half a mile east by north of the Assabet river. He died in 1836, aged 84, leaving two sous, John and Edmund. John took the farm and lived on it till he died in 1843, at the age of 74, leaving one or more sons, one of whom has the farm, and, I think, is married, but whether he has any children I do not know. Pvdmund had a farm on the Lincoln road, and in 1853 bought and re- moved to the Capt. Hunt farm, where he lived until his death in 1881, at the age of 83. He left three sons in the western country, all married. John has two sons. I do not know whether the other sons have any children. 10 3Taj. Joseph Hosmer lived on the Stow road near the Coucord river and the South Bridge. He died in 18-21, aged 85. He had two sons, Cyrus and Rufus. Rufus was a hiwyer in Stow, married and had one son, Rufus. He died in 1839, aged 61. His son Rufus married, but died early, and I think left no son. Cyrus died in 1818, at the age of 53. Pie left two sons, Cy- rus and George Washington. Cyrus left two sons — Henry, now president of the Acton Powder Company, married and has one child ; Cyrus inherits and cultivates the farm of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He is married and has children. George W. Hosmer, the second son of Cyrus, was a minister in Butlalo, N. Y. He married and had three sons, one of whom, James, is professor in Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. He is married and has four sons. The second sou, William, is a merchant in Oswego, N. Y., married and has children. The third, George H., is a minister in Salem, Mass., married and has one son. Nathan Hosmer, son of Stephen and grandson of the elder Stephen, in- herited and cultivated the farm of his father in Nine Acre Corner near the river and Haven pond. He died in 1778 at the age of 38, and left two sons, Silas and Nathan, and three daughters, Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Jarvis, and Elizabeth, unmarried. Silas sold the farm and went to Montague on the Connecticut River, where he had several sons, who married and left their sons in that valley. These grandsons also married and have sons. Nathan became a cabinet-maker, lived in Concord village, married and had Isaac, George, Abiel, Rufus, Nathan and Silas. Isaac married and had one son, lately living in Lowell. George did not marry. Rufus married, had daugh- ters, but no son. Abiel went to New Hampshire. I think he married and had sons. Nathan is a carpenter in Concord village, married and has three sons. Silas is a mason in Concord village, and has two or more sons. Nathaniel Hosmer had a farm in Nine Acre Corner. He died in 1862, aged 76. I know nothing about his family. Some of the family went early to Acton, and the name has been common there for over a century. The name is to be found in Walpole, N. H., in Watertown, Framinghani, Medford, Boston and elsewhere, and there were on the list of Concord voters eleven of the name in 1881. Hunt Family. — In the first quarter of the present century there were three farms in the possession of the family : Nehemiah on Punkatasset Hill ; Reuben owned and occupied the farm on the Carlisle road next north of the river ; and Thaddcus on the Lincoln road. All inherited, or seemed to in- herit, their estates and homes from several generations of ancestors. Ne- hemiah died in 1818, aged 82, leaving the farm to his sons Nehemiah and Daniel. Nehemiah, the second, died in 1845, aged 53, leaving two daugh- ters but no son. Daniel died in 1873, aged 70, leaving William who now owns and occupies the farm. Thaddeus owned and occupied the fiirm on the Cambridge and Concord turnpike, about three fourths of a mile east of the mill brook. About fifty years ago or more he died, and the estate was sold to Augustus Tuttle. I know of no trace of this branch of the Hunt family in Concord or elsewhere. John Hunt, in 1701, bought the farm of Adam Wiuthrop, situated on the Carlisle, Westford and Lowell road, adjoining the Concord and Assa- bet rivers. The house is about one-eighth of a mile from the bridge. It was built in 1701, and stood one hundred and fifty-seven years until it was taken down in 1858. John was son of Nehemiah. William Hunt was in Concord before 1640. One of his sons was Ne- hemiah, who was the ancestor of several of the branches of the family in 11 Concord. His son John was born in 1G73. John's son Simon, the deacon, was born in 1704 and died in 1790. One of Simon's sons, Jose|)h, was born in 1748, was a physician in Concord, and died in 1812, aged G4. He left three sons. Reuben, another son, born in 1744, died in 1816, aged 72. Reuben married and had four sons and six daughters: 1. Humphrey inherited the farm and cultivated it until his death in 1852, at the age of 81. He left one son Charles who is now fifty years old, un- married. 2. Reuben became a morocco-dresser in Charlestown. He married and had three daughters and one son. He died in 1866 at the age of 83. His son died unmarried. 3. Simon, who became a harness-maker and went to Camden, Maine, where he died at the age of 84. He had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son followed his father's occupation, married and lived in Cam- den, and had two sons. The second son of Simon became a shoemaker and lives in Wisconsin. He is married, and I think has sons. The third son is an undertaker in Bangor, married and has sons. 4. Abel, the fourth son of Reuben of Concord, became a merchant in Chelmsford. He never married. He died at the age of 87 in Concord. Thus we find only one farm iu possession of the Hunts. But there are seven voters of the name on the list, and there are in Acton, Sudbury and other towns descendants of branches of the family who have iu former generations left the town. Derby Family. — The first mention of this family is in 1684. They have lived on the same farm next west of the Assabet river, on the Stow road, for six generations. This farm adjoins the river. In all their generations the farm has descended in a single line, and all, until the present owner, have borne the name of Joseph. Benjamin has the old homestead, is mar- ried and has two sons; Edward, unmarried, and the mother, aged ninety-two (March, 1884), live with him. Joseph has a farm which he manages with great wisdom and success. It is on the north side of the Concord river, on the road from the Lowell Street bridge to the Monument Street bridge. it was formerly the home and property of Col. John Buttrick, later the home and property of Dea. Francis Jarvis and his son Captain Francis Jarvis, and on the death of the latter passed to his daughter, the wife of Joseph Derby. He has two sous. Urban Derby has • a farm on the "Westford road, formerly the property of Stephen, and afterward of Em- erson Barrett. He has sons. Henry Derby owns and occupies a farm in Nine Acre Corner, lately the property of Daniel Garfield and form- erly of Moses Binney. He has sons. Nathan Derby is in the provision busi- ness in the village. He has two sons. Thus these six sons of the late Joseph Derby all live in Concord, five of them farmers, five married, and all the last have sons. There are on the list of voters eight of the family. Wheeler Family. — There were six of the name among the early settlers, and their families until this day have been and are the most numerous in the town. They seem to be the most fixed and the least inclined to move abroad. They have mostly confined themselves to Nine Acre Corner and to the cultivation of the earth. They have certainly, within the last two or three generations, been wise, industrious ^'-d successful. Abner Wheeler, one hundred ye , was a carpenter and farmer in the east quarter, on the Virgiui bad several sons, all of whom went away. 12 Ephraim'']Vhpeler^\\\'e({ on his farm on the Sudbury road, opposite Acad- emy hxne. \\-c died in 1809, at the age of 93. He had two sons; Jona- than was a mercUant in Boston. ' He died in the first of this century ia Liverpo6l. He was unmarried. Epliraim inherited the fiirm and cultivat- ed'it until his death in 1840, at the age of 75. He left sons — Henry A., wljo cultivated part of the same lauds, and died in 1881, at the age of 78, leaving sbos ; Jonathan, who was a merchant in Cambridge but now lives in Concord, an eighth of a mile south of his father's house, is married and lias Que or more sons ; and Abiel still cultivates a part of his father's farm very successfully. He is married and has sons. John H. Wheeler, in 1834-5-G, lived on the Acton road, a mile or more from Barrett's mill. He had children, but I do not know whether he had any son, or anything about the family since. Thomas Wheeler. He had no f<^inily. Artemas Wheeler lived near^he fectory, but I know nothing more of him or his family. Some of the name went to Lincoln, to Acton, to other towns and states. There were on the list of voters of 1881, eighteen of the name. They oc- cupy most of the land in the Nine Acre Corner, and their children seem to promise to fill the places of their fathers. But I cannot trace their gen- ealogies. This account shows that the Barretts had in the early years of this cen- tury eight farms, and of these only two remain in their families and name, and six have passed into other hands. But there were in 1881 six fam- ilies and twelve voters of the name .in Concord, beside many in other towns. In the early periods there were six farms owned and occupied by the Buttrichs. Now five of these have passed into other hands, and only one is retained and occupied by one of the name ; but there were five voters of the name in Concord in 1881, and many in other places. In the first quarter of this century there were three farms owned and occupied by the Woods. Now two of these are sold and owned by other families, and only one retained by a Wood. There were five voters of the name in the town in 1881, besides many elsewhere, who or whose fathers were born on these farms. In the former time three farms were in possession and occupation of the Hunts. Now only one remains in the name. There were seven of the name on the list of voters in 1881, besides many of Concord origin in other places. In the former period there were six farms owned and cultivated by the Hosmcrs. Now three of these have passed into other families, and only three are in the hands of the Hosmers, But there were eleven voters of the name in town in 1881, and also many who or whose fathers were born on these farms, now living elsewhere. Two generations ago there were four farms owned and occupied by the Browns. There are four now, and there were eleven voters of the name in 1S81 in town, and very many of the name in other places whose parents once lived on these farms. At that early period three farms were owned and occupied by the Flints. Now all are sold to other families, but there were four voters of the name in Concord in 1881. The Wheelers were always numerous and little disposed to change either residence or occupation. There were eighteen voters of the name in Con- cord in 1881. LbWly'09 i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Si mwiJSswH AvftVfi xS-wu^'^toI {M vl^M^^^^R »»li> 014 079 161 1 ^