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Richard Hicks
(5) was born WFT Est. 1774-1803. He died
WFT Est. 1828-1888.He was married WFT Est. 1798-1845. Children were:
Martha Hicks.
Richard
Hicks(57) was born WFT Est. 1774-1803.
He died WFT Est. 1828-1888.He was married WFT Est. 1798-1845. Children were:
Martha Hicks.
Robert
Hicks(52) was born in 1580 in England.
He died on 24 Mar 1646/47 in Plymouth MA. Parents:
James Hicks and Phoebe.He was married to
Elizabeth Morgan WFT Est. 1597-1628 in England.
Children were: Phoebe Hicks. He was married
to Margaret Winslow WFT Est. 1597-1628. Children
were: Phoebe Hicks.
Robert
Hicks(58) was born WFT Est. 1564-1591.
He died WFT Est. 1615-1678.He was married to
Margaret Winslow in 1610 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA.
Robyn
Hicks(426) was born Private. She
Fact 1 (2) Private. Parents: Arthur Hicks and
Norma Wilner.
Susan
Hicks(56)
(57) was born WFT Est. 1801-1824. She died WFT Est. 1844-1913.
She was married to John Willyard on 23 Dec 1839.
Thomas
Hicks(52) died in 1565 in Tortworth
ENG. He was born WFT Est. 1478-1493. Parents: John
Hicks.He was married to Margaret Attwood
WFT Est. 1502-1563. Children were: Baptist Hicks
.
William
Hicks(83) was born WFT Est. 1705-1731.
He died WFT Est. 1756-1818.He was married to Margaret
Evans in 1751.
William
Chancy Hicks(59) was born WFT Est.
1804-1831.(60) He died WFT Est. 1856-1917.
(60)He was married to
Jane Bunker on 18 Jun 1851.(60) Children
were: Ernest Hicks,
Ernestine Hicks, Manly Hicks.
Mary
Hicock(1) was born WFT Est. 1719-1743.
She died WFT Est. 1762-1831.She was married to
Gideon Curtis on 28 Sep 1756.
Susannah Hiddlekauf(9) was born on
15 Mar 1798.(11844) She died WFT Est.
1824-1892.(11845)She was married
to David Wolf about 1818.
(11846)
Bodild
Hierresen Or Ger(58) was born on 27
Dec 1765 in Roerslev, Odense, Denmark. She died in 1846. Parents:
Niels Hierresen Or Ger and Johanne Mortensen
.She was married to Hans Clausen on 6 Feb 1796
in Roerslev, Odense, Denmark. Children were: Anne
Cathrine Hansen, Claus Hansen,
Niels Hansen, Anne Marie Hansen,
Niels Hansen, Mads Hansen.
Niels
Hierresen Or Ger(58) was born on 14
Oct 1736 in Uggersley, Odense, Denmark. He died on 8 Jan 1812. Parents:
Hierre Nielsen and Karen Mickelsen.He was
married to Johanne Mortensen on 16 Sep 1763.
Children were: Hierre Gere Nielsen,
Bodild Hierresen Or Ger, Karen Nielsen,
Morten Nielsen, Maren Nielsen,
Jens Nielsen, Cathrine Nielsen,
Cathrine Nielsen, Hans Nielsen.
Karen
Hierresen(58) was born on 31 Oct 1734
in Uggerslev, Odense, Denmark. She died on 4 May 1758. Parents:
Hierre Nielsen and Karen Mickelsen.
Mickel
Hierresen(58) was born on 21 Oct 1745
in Uggerslev, Odense, Denmark. He died WFT Est. 1762-1835. Parents:
Hierre Nielsen and Karen Mickelsen.He was
married to Karen Nielsen WFT Est. 1762-1795.
Niels
Hierresen(58) was born WFT Est. 1638-1658.
He died WFT Est. 1672-1744.He was married to Naren
Hansen WFT Est. 1669-1683.
Ursula
Hierresen(58) was born on 5 Jul 1739
in Uggerslev, Odense, Denmark. She died WFT Est. 1753-1833. Parents:
Hierre Nielsen and Karen Mickelsen.She
was married to Hans Clausen WFT Est. 1753-1786.
Sarah
Higbee(1) was born WFT Est. 1727-1747.
She died WFT Est. 1748-1831.She was married to
Daniel Rathbun WFT Est. 1748-1781.
Celina
Higdon(65) was born Private.
(66) She Event 1 Private.
(66)She Private-Begin Private.(66)
Children were: Lauren Marie Cummins.
Custance
Higgenson(58) was born in 1559 in
Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. She died in 1583 in Styall, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
England. She was buried on 24 Aug 1583 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. She
was blessed in Styall, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England.She was married to
John Alred (Alrodd) on 8 Feb 1579/80 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. Children
were: Blanche Alred, Robert
Alred, Anne Alred,
Ellen Alrodd.
*Abigail
Higgins(61) was born about 1765.
She died on 23 Mar 1845 in Milton, Vermont. Parents:
*Thomas Higgins and *Esther (Higgins).She
was married to *Ephraim Fuller in 1785 in Newfane,
Vermont. Information from Abigail Fuller's application for widow's pension,
U.S. Archives:
Ephraim Fuller, Wid. File 24259
Date of Length Rank: Officers Under Whom Served
State
Enlistment: of Svc: Captain: Colonel:
Feb/Mar 1777 Jan'y 1, 1778 Pvt. King Tupper
Mass
June 7,1778 9 mos " "
"
July 10,1779 9 mos " "
"
Feb/Mar 1780 Oct 28, 1783 Taylor "
Lunt
Vose "
On June 7, 1778, Ephraim was listed as:
Age, 16
Stature, 5-6
Complection: light.
Was wounded in battle at White Plains at Valentines Hill.
Battles engaged in: Saratoga, Oct. 7, 1777, Stony Point, White Plains at
Youngsn Farm
Residence of soldier at enlistment: Enlisted in Lancaster, Mass.
Date of application for pension: July 12, 1819. His cl. was al.
Residence at date of application: Grand Isle Co. Vt.
Age at date of application, Born at Concord, Mass 1756 or 1758, Died July
31, 1842
Remarks:
Soldier married at Newfane, Windham Co. Vt. Nov 1785, Abigail Higgins. She was
allowed pension on an application executed Oct. 4, 1844, while a resident of
Georgia, Franklin Co, Vt. aged 79 years. Son James was living at Georgia Vt.
in 1844. The Rev. War Pension records fail to afford any information of Ephraim
Fuller who served from Vermont.
Declaration:
In order to obtain the benefits of the Act of Congress of the 17th of June, 1844,
granting pensions to certain widows.
State of Vermont, Georgia District, St. Albans October 4th, AD1844, on this day
personally appeared before me Wm Bridges Judge of the Court of Probate in and
for the District of Georgia aforesaid Abigail Fuller a resident of Georgia in
the county of Franklin and state of Vermont, aged seventynine years, who being
first duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following declaration
in order to obtain the benefits of the provision made by the act of Congress
passed on the 17th day of June, 1844, granting pensions to widows of persons
who served during the Revolutionary War.
That she is the widow of Ephraim Fuller who was a soldier in the army of the
Revolution, and served (as she believes) as a private in the Massachusetts line.
She has no knowledge of his Revolutionary services, only from her said husband,
and does not now recollect the names of any of the officers under whom he served,
taht her said husband was a pensioner of the United States, under the act of
1832, and received annually eighty dollars.
She further declares that she was married to the said Fuller in the month of
(as she believes) October fifty six or seven years since, that her husband the
aforesaid Ephraim fuller died on the thirty first day of July, 1842, that she
was not married to him prior to his leaving the service, but the marriage took
place previous to the first day of January seventeen hundred and ninety-four
vis at the time above stated.
her
Sworn to & subscribed the Abigail X Fuller
day & year above written, mark
Before me William Bridges Judge
State of Vermont, Franklin County: On the 9th day of July AD 1834 personally
appeared in open court before the Probate Court for the District of Georgia was
sitting Ephraim Fuller now a resident of Chatham, Province of Lower Canaca aged
seventy six years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath
make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefits of the act of
Congress passed June 7th AD 1832, that he entered the service under the following
_______ officers and served as ______ States. He was born in the Town of Concord,
State of Massachusetts in the year AD 1756 and was an inhabitant of that state
till after the close of the war of the Revolution. In AD 1775 or 6 at Lancaster
in the state afd [aforesaid?] _ he entered the service of the United States by
enlisting into the Continental army in the company commanded by Capt King _____
Massachusetts Regiment commanded by Col Tupper during which Term he served in
said Regiment at West Point in the State of New York and afterward he again enlisted
into the same company & regt. under the same officers for the term of nine
months and served in sd. company & Regt. at West Point. During the term
cast afd & soon after but at what particular time he ddy not now recollect
he again enlisted under the same officers for the Term of three years, and under
which enlistment he served till the close of the War of the Revolution had ___
until he was honorably discharged by General Knox at West Point. In AD 1781
or AD 1782 under his enlistment for three years he served more than two years
and eight months and during that time was Transferred from sd Regiment to the
Regiment of light infantry commanded by Col. or Major Scammel in which he served
till he was discharged as before mentioned after the war. Fuller was in the
battle of the White Plains so called and at the taking of Stoney Point by General
McDeynes[?]. A Fuller placed on the pension list roll of the ______ Agency under
the pension law of the 18th March AD 1818 and afterwards hie name was struck
from said pension roll by reason (as he supposes ________ of his being at that
time a resident of a foreign government to wit Lower Canada or because he had
more property than the Law would allow a person receiving a pension. He had his
original discharge signed by General Know at West Point for his last term of
service as before mentioned which was sent to the Secretary of War when he applied
for a pension under the act of the 18th March AD 1818 and which he supposes is
now among the files of the War Office as he has never since seen the same. He
hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to a pension or annuity except the
present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of this agency
of any State.
Ephrm Fuller
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year afd.
Stephen L Brown Judge
And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of
the matter and after putting the introrogitoness[?] prescribed by the War Department
that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he stated.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set the seal of said Court and subscribed
my name at St. Albans in the District of Georgia the day and year aforesaid
Stephen L. Brown Judge
...Following I was in one other Battle at White Plains at Voturn-tines[?] Hill
when I was wounded by a ball passing through my thigh, and that he is in reduced
circumstances & stands in need of the assistance of His Country for support
and that he has no other evidence now in his power bet[?]. This affidavit &
the enclosed Discharge of his services.
Ephraim Fuller
Sworn to & declared before me the day & year afd.
Lewis Fowles apt. judge of
Grand Isle County Court .. ..
I Lewis Fowles Judge ___ as aforesd Do Certify that it appears to my satttisfaction
that the sd. Ephraim Fuller did serve in the Revolutionary war, as stated in
the preceding declaration against the common enemy, and I now transmit the proceedings
& testimony taken & had before me to the secretary for the Department
of War, pursuant to the directions of the aforementioned act of Congress of 1818.
Albingh 14th November 1819 I am sattisfied from correct information, that the
afd. E. Fuller is in Reduced circumstances & completely comes within the
provisions[?] of the act granting pensions to Revolutionary Soldiers as construed
by the War Department.
Lewis Fowles apt. Judge of
Grand Isle County Court
War Department.
Revolutionary Claim.
I certify that, in conformity with the Law of the United States, of the 18th
March, 1818, Ephraim Fuller late a private in the Army of the Revolution, is
inscribed on the Pension List, Roll of the Vermont Agency, at the rate of eight
dollars per month, to commence on the twelfth day of June one thousand eight
hundred and nineteen.
Given at the War Office of the United States, this thirtieth day of November
one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.
C Vandeventer, acting Secretary of War.
************************************************************************** *********
From "Genealogy of Thomas Fuller of Woburn", by William Hyslop Fuller,
1919, pages130-131:
"She [Abigail Higgins Fuller] was a U.S. pensioner on account of his service
in the Revolutionary War, and applied for the pension Oct. 4, 1844, ae 79 years,
from Georgia, Vt. where he son James, 55 years of ae, was living and who made
affidavit in the case. Ephraim Fuller enlisted in 1775 or 76, into the Continental
army at Lancaster, and was discharged at West Point in 1781 or 82. Was in battles
of White Plains, Stony Point, and others. His last deed of land in Newfane,
Vt., was dated May 30, 1803, about the time he removed to Chatham, P.Q."
************************************************************************** ********
From "Centennial Proceedings...Relating to Newfane, Vermont", 1877,
pages 198-199:
Newfane, August ye 14, 1787
This may certify all persons whom it may concern that the following persons,
whose names are herein inserted, are professors of the doctrine of Universal
Salvation by Jesus Christ, and are constant attenders to hear the preaching of
the same, and also do contribute to support the preaching of that doctrine, viz.:
Tilley Wilder, Ebenezer Robinson,
Ebenezer Ober, John Pike,
Benjamin Fuller, Asa Houghton,
Ephraim Fuller, Joseph Wilder,
Abel Fuller, Edward Smith,
Thomas Higgins, Jr., Stephen Fuller
All belonging to Newfane.
Witness our hands,
Thomas Barns, Teacher in said Society
Edward Smith, Society Clerk."
And on page 205:
"The first framed house in Fane was built in the summer of 1768 by Jonathan
Park, in the yard in front of what we term the old Parks house, just north of
the Fayetteville hotel. The ground was so thickly wooded at the time that when
the sills were laid there were several stumps within the space they enclosed.
The frame is still in existence in the house of Mrs. Orison Johnson. Its original
cover was hemlock bark.
We have not been able to learn the date when Nathaniel Stedman left Fane hill
and took up his farm near Fayetteville, but it was not until after Park had taken
the land on which the village stands. His first log house stood a little northeast
of the barns occupied by his grandson, Mr. Wm. A. Stedman, who has pointed out
the spot to us. A few traces of the old foundations being still discernible.
Thomas Higgins, Artemas Bruce, Ephraim Fuller, and Thomas Green were among their
early neighbors. Fuller settled on the first farm north of the village, now
owned and occupied by M. O. Howe. Green came from Worcester and built his cabin
on the hill about half a mile west of Park, upon land now owned by W. A. Stedman,
and known as the Judge Allen farm."
From "History of Argenteuil", page 280:
"Chatham. (Erected into a township by Proclamation, 13th July, 1799.) This
township is bounded on the north by Wentworth, east by the parishes of St. Andrews
and St. Jerusalem d'Argenteuil, south by the Ottawa [River] and west by Grenville."
"At just what time the first settler located in Chatham, or who he was,
are questions we are unable to answer, but from information obtained from different
sources we are led to the conclusion that the advent of the first pioneer* must
have been about the beginning of the present [19th] century."
"We cannot find a more appropriate introduction to the history of this township
than the following letter of our esteemed friend, Mr. Dewar of Ottawa."
'The front of Chatham was largely settled by Americans, in the latter part
of the last century; some of them being refugees, who had left their country
for their country's good, and who were remarkable for nothing but their hatred
of British institutions and love of Brother Jonathan. This was well exemplified
a few years later on the breaking out of the war of 1812, when all the loyal
inhabitants of the County volunteered as one man, leaving their families and
homes, and amid much suffering and privation, marched to headquarters, which
was then at Pointe Claire, when they prepared themselves, as best they could,
to repel the priatical invaders of the Province. Many of the above mentioned
men refused to join the ranks with the others, openly declaring that they were
not going to fight against their own friends. Of their principal employment
and means of subsistence was the clearing of land and making potash, as the timber
began to get scarce, they found it convenient to leave for other parts; and,
for years, their names have been almost forgotten, and I will mention only a
few, viz., the Bennetts, Bates, Parchers, and Smiths. Their vacant places were
soon filled up by a better class of men, many of whose descendants still occupy
the old homesteads, and are a credit and an honor to any country; among these
may be reckoned the Schagels, Fullers, Noyeses, Bradfords, Ostroms, Casses and
many others."
"The early settlers were often put to great straits for breadstuffs; whenever
the crops failed from any cause, there were no means of supply, except by the
natural highway--the Grand River,--and nothing but canoes for transport to and
from Lachine. The trip was often very much protracted, especially by the boats
getting windbound."
"Any scarcity in the matter of cereals was made up by the plenteousness
of fish and game. In each year about the first of June, the shad (or, as they
came to be called, 'Carillon Beef') made their appearance, when each family,
in a short time, could lay in their yearly supply. For many years, the North
River furnished fine specimens of salmon, when they regularly ascended that river
to spawn; that, of course, was before the river was obstructed by dams."
"The system of agriculture was, for many years, of a very primitive character.
While the country was being clearred, all their dependence was on the new land
crop. After a time, when the land required breaking up, the 'hog plough' was
introduced; but that implement did little more than cut and cover, and it was
not until the 'Scotch' plough was introduced, about the year 1825, that anything
approaching good farming was done. And from that time, the improvement was very
rapid, so that in a few years there were as good ploughmen in the County of Argenteuil
as in any part of Canada."
On page 296, we read: "About a mile on the road leading from Mr. George
Bradford's, on the Ottawa, to St. Phillippe, the traveller comes to a good farmhouse
and commodious barns. Descending a small hill, he crosses a bridge over a creek
and, at his right, lies a small picturesque pond, in a tract of level ground,
encircled by gentle hills, and at a point where these hills so nearly meet as
to leave only a narrow outlet for the stream is a mill for sawing wood. Farther
off, at some little distance beyond the hills, the upper part of a wind mill
frame looms in sight. The whole surroundings, the creek, the pond, the well-tilled
fields, good fences and sleer herds, afford a picture and suggest a phase of
happy farm life on which the traveller delights to linger."
"This was the home of EPHRAIM FULLER, a pensioner of the United States Government
for service in the Revolution, and here he subsequently settled, the earliest
pioneer, it is believed, in this immediate section. On the spot where now his
grandson has mis mill for sawing wood, he also had a saw mill for transforming
the pines, spruce, hemlock, etc., into lumber--a single instance of the enterprise
of which he was possessed. He had thirteen children--eight sons and five daughters;
three of the former, Rinaldo, Ivory, and Calvin, were the only ones who remained
in this section. Rinaldo lived on the homestead, and had two sons and one daughter.
The latter, Marion, married to Daniel, a son of their neighbor, John Cass."
Children were: Samuel Fuller,
Dean Fuller, James Fuller,
Thomas Higgins Fuller, Calvin Fuller,
Anna Fuller, Laura Fuller,
*Arathusa Fuller, Rinaldo Fuller,
Clara Fuller, Ivory Fuller,
Nancy Fuller, Stephen Fuller.
*Benjamin
Higgins(61) was born in Jun 1640 in
Eastham, Massachusetts. He died on 14 Mar 1690/91 in Eastham, Massachusetts.
Parents: *Richard Higgins and
*Lydia Chandler.He was married to *Lydia Bangs
on 14 Dec 1661 in Eastham, Massachusetts. From "Richard Higgins and His
Descendants", by Mrs. Katharine Chapin Higgins, 1918:
"Benjamin Higgins resided at Eastham, probably on lands which had belonged
to his father at Pochet, now in East Orleans. On March 2, 1668-9, he was sued
at Law by Peregrine White for damages of L16 for not paying a debt due him, the
said White. The parties came to an agreement, and the suit was withdrawn. On
June 1, 1675, he was one of the jury in a trial which had momentous consequences,
and an account of it may be interesting. In 1662, Massasoit, Sachem of the Wampanoags,
the faithful friend of the Pilgrims, with whom he had kept peace and friendship
for forty-one years, was gathered to his fathers. Two sons survived him, Wamsutta
and Metacom, to whom the names Alexander and Phillip had been given at their
own request. Alexander succeeded his father as sachem, and his sudden death
in 1662 gave the Indians suspicion that he had been poisoned by the English.
His brother Phillip, then about twenty-three years of age and by nature less
inclined than his brother to accept a position of dependence, succeeded him.
A policy of conciliation might have won his good will, but the constant nagging
to which he was subjected increased his resentment and nurtured in him a sullen
distrust. The attitude and measures of Plymouth Colony were arbitrary and high-handed
and were admirably adapted to bring about the very state of affairs they were
intended to forestall. For a dozen years Phillip was intriguing and preparing
for war. The least suspicion of intrigue could not long escape the notice of
those Indian converts who kept the authorities well informed of all that went
on. there had been living among the Wampanoags at Nemasket (near Middleborough)
the daughter of whose chief he had married, an Indian convert of the Rev. John
Eliot's, named Sassamon, a Natick, 'a cunning and plausible man', Hubbard calls
him. This man had accompanied Phillip to Boston as interpreter after the death
of Alexander and served him for some time after, but having, it is said, been
found guilty of some offence, had again professed Christianity. Associated with
Phillip on familiar terms, he claimed to have received the sachem's confidences,
and betrayed them to the English under pledge of secrecy. His information was
not at first much regarded, but Phillip, learning in advance of a summons, made
hast to Plymouth to free himself from suspicion, and was allowed to return.
In the spring of the following year (1675) the dead body of Sassamon was discovered
in Assowomset Pond. An investigation led to the belief that Sassamon had been
killed while fishing during the winter and his body thrown under the ice. Three
Indians were arrested on the evidence of an Indian who claimed to have been an
eyewitness of the affair. The three Wampanoags were convicted by a white jury
to which had been added several friendly Indians, and executed, utterly denying
their guilt, yet the last of them did confess that the other Indians did really
murder John Sassamon, and that he himself, though no actor in it, was yet a looker-on.
The trial and execution of the three Indians aroused the Wampanoag warriors
to madness, and they at once began hostilities. Thus indirectly Benjamin Higgins
was one of the immediate causes of the outbreak known in history as King Phillip's
War. That he was a soldier in the contest is probably in general, and is proved
by his inventory, which shows that he possessed the equipment of a trooper, and
by the grant to his grandson, Jedidiah Higgins, of a share in Narragansett Township
No. 7, now the town of Gorham, Me. These grants were made only to the direct
heirs or descendants of men who had served in King Phillip's War....
An inventory of the estate of Benjamin Higgins, amounting to L85 in real estate
and L206.06.00 in personal estate, was rendered June 19, 1691, and sworn to by
Mrs. Lydia Higgins, administratrix, five days later. 'Memorandum: that Ichabod
Higgins hath already had L10 and a piece of land on which his house stood, appraised
at L9.' An agreement was made that Ichabod should have in cattle, bedding, boards,
shingles and cash L20.05.00; Richard the loom and gears, 7 acres of land, a cutlass,
cartridge box, cattle and cash L20.18.00; Joshua a gun, rapier cartridge box,
bedding, wearing clothes, powder and bullets, saddle and cloth, cattle, sheep
and cash L20.05.00; Lydia should have cattle, sheep, an iron pot, books, cloth
and cash L20; Isaac a gun, ammunition, a cutlass, cartridgebox, bedding, clothing,
cattle, sheep and cash L20.05.00; Samuel was to have a gun, sword, cartridgebox,
a book, bedding, clothes, ammunition, cattle, sheep and cash L20.05.00; Benjamin
was to have two-thirds of the housing and one-third of the lands and meadows;
the widow to have her legal third part. She was living Feb. 13, 1760-7, when
her brother, Joshua Bangs, willed to her one-eighth part of such personal estate
of his as might remain after the death of his wife. Aug. 20, 1711, town of Eastham
'Laid out to widdow Lidia Higgins for her natural life and returns to the town,
a parcel of land near the head of Namskaket on the Eastern side of the first
lot which is the lot of Daniel Cole Sr.' The date of her death is unknown.
She married (2) Nicholas Snow. Children were: *Ichabod
Higgins, Richard Higgins,
John Higgins, Joshua Higgins,
Lydia Higgins, Isaac Higgins,
Rebecca Higgins, Samuel Higgins,
Benjamin Higgins.
*Edward
Higgins(61) was born on 7 Sep 1545.
He died WFT Est. 1604-1638. Parents: *Rev. John Higgins
and *Elizabeth Clynton.He was married to
*Julian Meals WFT Est. 1596-1602. From "The Doane, Emmons, Lindner,
Roney, and Stout Families", by Robert Harold Lindner:
"Edward Higgins, b. 7 Sept. 1545; m. 1598 Julian Meals, b. prob. Bridstone,
County Hertford, England, 1582; d. Langley Parish, Stoke-hundred, Hertfordshire,
England, 1 Aug. 1603.
It appears that Edward Higgins was fifty-three and Julian was sixteen when they
were married.
In the church yard at Langley Parish, Stoke-hundred, a brass plate bears the
following inscription:
'Here lies the body of Julian Higgins, wife to Edward Higgins, and dau.
to Chris. and Elizabeth Meals, who lived in the Feare of God and died the Fayth
of Christ, 1 Aug. Anno Dei 1603.'
'A most kind child,
A wife most mild,
A spouse and daughter deare;
Though young of age,
Modest and sage,
Behold interred here.'
Higgins Children:
Jonathon, b. 1599
Thomas, b. 1600
Julian, b. 1601
Richard, b. 1 Aug. 1603, on the day of his mother's death" Children were:
Jonathon Higgins, Thomas
Higgins, Julian Higgins,
*Richard Higgins.
*Ichabod
Higgins(61) was born on 14 Nov 1662
in Eastham, Massachusetts. He died on 1 Jun 1728 in Eastham, Massachusetts.
Parents: *Benjamin Higgins and
*Lydia Bangs.He was married to *Melatiah Hamblen
WFT Est. 1681-1710. From "Richard Higgins and His Descendants",
by Mrs. Katharine Chapin Higgins, 1918:
"Ichabod Higgins resided at Eastham all his life and was a farmer. He was
also a considerable land owner and some of the deeds of land he bought are still
in existence. The site of his first homestead, bought prior to his marriage,
is probably indicated by the following:
'I Daniel Cole of Eastham for L7,14,0 to me paid by Ichabod Higgins have granted
to said Ichabod a parcel of upland in Eastham at a place called pochet on the
westerly side next the Town Cove, adjoining to my land where I the sd Daniel
do now dwell, seven acres more or less to the westward of my now dwelling house.
Dated March 17, 1689-90. Recorded May 22, 1706 in Bk. 5, fol. 17, Barnstable
County Deeds.'
'Zachariah Sias Indian of Eastham conveys to Ichabod Higgins parcel of marsh
ground and upland lying at Machquesset in the constable writ of Eastham, bounded
west by thomas Mayo, on the other sides by land of Indians. Dated Oct. 15, 1695.
Acknowledged Feb. 11, 1695-6. Recorded May 22, 1706 in bk. 5, fol. 77, Barnstable
County Deeds.'....
The last deed shows that Ichabod Higgins was a wheelwright as well as a farmer.
This occupation carried with it blacksmith's work also, and we find that Ichabod's
son Thomas was a blacksmith. Ichabod was a freeman of the Colony and in February,
1707-8 was a townsman of Eastham. On Marcy 17, 1700-1, it is recorded that he
was chosen grand juryman. In May, 1725, Mr. Ichabod Higgins's house was one
of the places appointed by the town for sheep shearing. ...
John Higgins was appointed administrator on the estate of Ichabod Higgins on
July 5, 1728. In the estate there was bond (probably promissory note) payable
to Isaac Hinckley of Barnstable. On March 27, 1736, said Hinckley brought a
suit for this bond and recovers Judgement against John Higgins mariner and Thomas
Higgins blacksmith, both of Eastham. (File No. 44330, Superior Court of Judicature.)
This would indicate that Ichabod Higgins had a son Thomas whose birth is not
on record, probably born about 1703. This is made a certainty by an old deed
which will be given in its place under Thomas Higgins...." Children were:
John Higgins, *Nathaniel
Higgins, Thankful Higgins,
Lydia Higgins, Ebenezer Higgins,
Thomas Higgins.
*Nathaniel
Higgins(61) was born on 1 Jun 1694
in Eastham, Massachusetts. He died WFT Est. 1735-1785. Parents:
*Ichabod Higgins and *Melatiah Hamblen.
He was married to Elizabeth Atwood on 26 Feb 1717/18.
Children were: Nathaniel Higgins,
Daniel Higgins, Enoch Higgins. He was married
to *Sarah Walker on 7 Aug 1729. From "Richard
Higgins and His Descendants", by Mrs. Katharine Chapin Higgins, Worcester,
1918, page 105:
"Nathaniel Higgins, born June 1, 1694, at Eastham; died ____; married (1)
Feb. 26, 1717-8, Elizabeth Atwood, born ____; died ____; daughter of Daniel(?)
Atwood; married (2) Aug. 7, 1729, Sarah Walker, daughter of Jabez and Elizabeth
Walker, of Eastham and a descendant of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower through
his daughter Constance, wife of Nicholas Snow."
"Nathaniel Higgins resided at Eastham and was probably a farmer. March
4, 1729-30, he was elected fence viewer and on March 4, 1733-4, he was elected
hog-reeve. Little more is known of him."
"Nathaniel Higgins and Ebenezer Higgins both of Eastham yeomen agree to
divide equally several parcels of land and tenements in Eastham, being all the
housing, lands and medows that our honoured Father Ichabod Higgins of sd Eastham
bought of John Collens by deed dated Sept 5, 1715, ... in which division the
sd Nathaniel Higgins his half of the houselott or homestead lies on the western
side thereof and the sd Ebenezer his part of the abovesd house lys on the easterly
side sd dividing line, he having given security to pay the sd Nathaniel Higgins
one half part of the value of sd Dwelling house and the sd Ebenezer Higgins forever
hereafter shall allow unto the sd Nathaniel Higgins a way across the head of
his part of sd land from the way to sd Nathaniel Higgins his part of sd land
(two other parcels also divided in the deed). Signed Aug. 10, 1717. Witnesses
Joseph Doane, Rebecca X Allen." --Recorded March 19, 1717-8 in Book 14,
fol. 112, Barnstable County Deeds. Old deed belonging to Mr. Nye of Wellfleet,
copied and communicated by Mr. Stanley W. Smith."
"From this it would appear that Ichabod Higgins before his death must have
deeded the property he bought of John Collins to his sons Nathaniel and Ebenezer
jointly. This may explain why John and Thomas Higgins, the other sons of Ichabod,
thought that they could sell their father's homestead without the consent of
the surviving sister. No estate of Nathaniel Higgins mentioned in Barnstable
Probate Records." Children were: *Thomas Higgins
, Nathan Higgins.
*Rev.
John Higgins(61) was born in 1528
in England. He died WFT Est. 1549-1619.He was married to
*Elizabeth Clynton WFT Est. 1541-1576. From "The Doane, Emmons, Lindner,
Roney, and Stout Families", by Robert Harold Lindner:
"Rev. John Higgins was instituted Rector of Newport Hundred, Co. of Bucks,
England, 20 Aug. 1561 and lived at Bridstone, Co. Hertfordshire in 1570.
Higgins children:
Edward Higgins, b. 7 Sept. 1545
John, b. 1544-45. He was a student at Oxford in 1572, although his name does
not appear on any of the University lists. He was a poet, antiquary, a historian
of great renonw, author of a revised edition of Huloet's Dictionaire, London
1572, dedicated to Sir George Peckham.
This information of the early Higgins ancestors Edward Higgins and Rev. John
Higgins was preserved by Timothy Higgins (1767-1850) in the form of records,
tombstone inscriptions, wills, etc." Children were:
*Edward Higgins, John Higgins.
*Richard
Higgins(61) was born on 1 Aug 1603
in England. He died on 21 Jun 1675 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Parents:
*Edward Higgins and *Julian Meals.He was
married to *Lydia Chandler on 11 Dec 1634 in Duxbury,
Plymouth, Massachusetts. From "Richard Higgins and His Descendants",
by Mrs. Katharine Chapin Higgins, 1918:
"Richard Higgins was born in England. Nothing is known of his childhood
and youth, nor of the causes which led him to migrate to New England. How he
reached Plymouth is unknown. It has been said that he arrived there in the ship
"Anne" in 1623 in company with Nicholas Snow and that he returned to
England, sailing again for New England about 1632, and again reaching Plymouth.
This is most improbably. Nicholas Snow did come in the "Anne" in
1623, and in the autumn of that year lands were assigned to the men who were
her passengers. Snow's name is among them, but not that of Richard Higgins.
Bradford says that some who came in this ship were so bad that he was obliged
to send them back at the first opportunity. If Richard Higgins were of this
class, he would not have been readmitted ten years later. It is to be noticed
that some who came in the "Anne" were Richard Higgins's friends and
associates later at Eastham, but this can be accounted for without assuming that
they were fellow-passengers in the "Anne". The most probably view
is that Richard Higgins was a passenger on one of the several ships which arrived
at Salem, Mass., during the years 1629-32, most of whose passengers afterward
settled at Plymouth. There is no evidence that Richard Higgins was ever at Leyden,
Holland, at any time. He arrived at Plymouth in time to raise or to purchase
some corn of the crop of 1633. He was then apparently a man of full age, possessing
a trade, --that of a tailor, -- but no family. On Oct. 7, 1633, he bought of
'Thomas Little his now dwelling howse and misted, for and in consideration of
twenty-one bushels of merchantable corne, whereof twelve bushels to be pd in
hand, & the remainder at harvest next ensuing.' March 1, 1633 (six or seven
months later), he was taxed 9 shillings, and on March 27, 1634, he was taxed
12 shillings in corn, or two bushels. In 1633 or 1634 he was admitted freeman,
that is, qualified to serve as a deputy and to vote for officials of the Colony
government. (It may be that he took only the oath of fidelity at this time.
In March, 1636, he certainly was a freeman of the Colony.) He soon took more
important action. April 1, 1634, Samuel Godberson, son of Godbert Godberson
of New Plymouth, deceased, was duly apprenticed to Richard Higgins, aforesaid,
tailor, for the term of seven years from April 1, 1634. Samuel was a ward of
the Colony, and Bradford agreed to deliver to Higgins 'six bushels of corne and
a cowe calfe this present year or the next'; Higgins was to deliver to said Samuel
the calf and half her increase at the expiration of the term of seven years.
Meanwhile Richard Higgins had acquired a better dwelling place. January 13,
1633-4, John Barnes sold to Richard Higgins and his heirs forever 'one dwelling
house and twenty acres of land, being lately in the possession of Edward Hobman,
with all the fence, boards, timber (squared and unsquared) (belonging to the
same) in consideration of ten pownd starling to be paid in currant english money
or beaver at the rate it shall passe at the day of payment which is the 20th
of March in the year of our Lord 1634. And also that the said Richard shall
possesse the said John and his heirs of 20 acres of land in Scituate in some
convenient place.' Having now a good house and twenty aacres of land, and being
a tailor with an apprentice, Richard Higgins bethought himself of a wife and
his eye fell upon Lydia chandler, daughter of Edmund Chandler, of Duxbury and
Scituate. She was favorable to his suit, and on December 11, 1634.*, they were
married and went to housekeeping in the house bought of John Barnes....
*The date of marriage was Nov. 23, 1634, according to Eastham records.
'Last day of August 1639. That richard Higgins for and in consideration that
John Smaley shall teach Samuel Godbertson the trade of a taylor, as far as in
him lyeth, and principally to employ him therein, hath assigned and set over
all the residue of his term, which is until April 1641; Richard to find Samuel
apparel and John Smaley meate drinke and lodging for sd term.'
We can only conjecture the reason why Richard Higgins wished to be rid of his
apprentice. The most probably reason is that his increasing duties as farmer
and citizen made it necessary for him to discontinue his work as a tailor. Possibly
it was the competition introduced by John Smalley, who was evidently also a tailor.
There being insufficient business for two tailors in Plymouth, Higgins may have
decided to retire from the field and leave it to Smalley. They were good friends
and fellow planters at Eastham later, and it was doubtless a friendly arrangement.
'3 December 1639. Richard Higgins of Plymouth, taylor, was bound (gave bond)
for xx li in the case of Samuel Chandler, accused of slanders against the govr
and govt'. The bond was afterward released....
In 1642, 1643, and 1644 Richard Higgins was a juryman in several petty cases.
In 1643 his name was among those of men from sixteen to sixty years old, capable
of bearing arms, and there is no doubt that he engaged in the military training
and exercises then in use, but there is no record of his serving in actual warfare
as a soldier. During the twelve years of more of his residence in Plymouth,
we see him acquiring land, and performing his civil duties, and there is reason
to believe that his standing in the community was good, and indeed increasingly
good, during the whole period. He soon took a step which showed his enterprise
and increased still further his influence in the Colony. He left Plymouth with
six other men, and setttled at Nauset, later the town of Eastham.
In August, 1645, he sold for twelve pounds his dwelling house, outhouse and buildings
with garden and orchard situated near Brownes Rock, provided 'it shall be lawful
for the said Richard to take away the boards that line the inward room and the
bedstead and board overhead, and some fruit trees in the orchard so that he leaves
the said John Churchwell 30 trees.'... This throws light upon the kind of dwelling
Higgins possessed at Plymouth, and some of its furnishings. The house apparently
contained but two rooms, an outer which was the kitchen and living room, and
an inner which was both parlor and bedroom. Neither room was plastered, but
the inner room was lined and ceiled with good boards, and had a bedstead in the
corner, which was built into the structure of the house. There may have been
a loft overhead, and there was certainly a large chimney at the kitchen end of
the house. Such houses were common in the early settlements in New England.
The roof was probably thatched, but may have been boarded or shingled. This
house was at the extreme south-eastern end of the village, where Eleazer Churchill
were living in 1701, and possibly one of them occupied the ancient dwelling then.
Hobbs Hole and Barnes Point and Ouberry are near-by, as shown by the map in
Davis' "Landmarks of Plymouth".
There is no recodr to show whether Lydia Chandler, the first wife of Richard
Higgins, was living in 1645 or not, but probably she was living and accompanied
him to Nauset. She was, however, deceased by 1650. It has been asserted that
she was not a daughter of Edmund Chandler for the reason that she is not mentioned
in the latter's will of 1662. This is not a potent argument, as she was not
living at the making of the will, and therefore not likely to be mentioned by
the testator. That she was a daughter of Roger Chandler, as alleged by another,
has no confirmation in any record thus far discovered.
The records discovered at Leyden, Holland and published by Dexter ("The
Endland and Holland of the Pilgrims", p. 609), mention Edmond Chandler,
say-weaver, draper and then pipe-maker in Leyden from November 11, 1613, to April
17, 1626. He married before March 26, 1619, but no children's name are mentioned.
The Leyden records also mention Roger Chandler, who married at Leyden, July
21, 1615, Isabella Chilton. He was from Colchester, co. Essex, and a say-weaver
while at Leyden. At the census taken at Leyden, October 15, 1622, Roger Chandler
and his wife Isabella, and two children, Samuel and Sarah, are mentioned, but
there is no mention of Edmond or his family, although the record mentions his
being at Leyden in April, 1626. If Lydia Chandler was daughter of Edmond, she
must have been born several years before that child of his who was buried in
St. Peter's Church at Leyden, March 26, 1619, to have been of marriageable age
in 1634. Both Edmond and Roger Chandler migrated to America about 1629 or 1630,
and settled at Duxbury, which is near Plymouth and under its jurisdiction at
that time.
Richard Higgins located in that part of Eastham known as Pochet, the most fertile
tract in the town, on the outer or ocean side of the peninsula, but separated
from the open Atlantic by a quiet bay and the long barrier now called Nauset
Beach. It must have been greatly exposed to wind and deluged with spray when
easterly storms prevailed, and none too productive as tillable land. Daniel
Cole, Lieut. Joseph Rogers and others were his nearest neighbors here. This
part of the town is now called East Orleans, and is a mile or two east from the
village of Orleans, the earliest and oldest village in the town of Eastham, a
town which originally covered much more territory than now....
John Yates and his wife Mary (her maiden name unknown) were of Duxbury, where
their son John was born August 15, 1650. They soon removed to Eastham, where
John, the father, died in 1651, administration on his estate being granted to
hiw widow Mary Yates on June 8, 1651. Richard Higgins and Mrs. Yates found themselves
congenial, and in October, 1651, they were married. There were now three boys
in the Higgins household, Jonathan and Benjamin, sons of Richard Higgins, and
John Yates, a little more than a year old. To these in due course of time several
more were added. Mrs. Mary Higgins was destined to survive her second husband,
and to marry a third, whom she also survived, as will appear."
Many other land transactions follow, which were not copied.
"'April 27, 1659. A house lott which was John Smalley's lying next to Richard
Higgins & Giles Hopkins, land in billingsgate' (now Wellfleet).
The 130th wood lot was Set to and is the one of Richard Higgins of Eastham ...
and lies in sd Eastham on the northerly side of the 129th lot of Benjamin Higgins....
The mark of Richard Higgins (for his cattle) is a piece cut off the hind side
of the left ear, to the top of the ear, and a slit cut in the side of the ear
slanting downwards. Jan. 22, 1660....
Deeds show that Richard Higgins alienated [sold] most of his land in Eastham
during the early part of the summer of 1669.... Eastham offered but a limited
amount of land, and by 1669 a considerable number of men had entered the town,
and their numerous sons were now competing for the tillable land. Richard Higgins's
eldest sons, Jonathan and Benjamin, had arrived at manhood and were rearing families
of their own. They were likely to need all the land Richard had acquired. Richard's
younger children were numerous and must be provided for. Probably he and they
yearned for a less rigorous climate and a more fertile soil than the outer side
of Cape Code afforded. Why New Jersey was selected in preference to Connecticut
can only be guessed. A number of men with their families removed from the Cape
to New Jersey in 1669, headed by Edward Fitz Randolph of Barnstable, and it is
probably that Richard Higgins knew of this project to emigrate, and joined the
company. He settled at New Piscataway, where he acquired a homestead and the
rights of a proprietor. These rights netted in 1677 to his widow and children
a total of two hundred and fifty-four acres of wild land, an amount they never
could have acquired at Eastham. Richard Higgins lived about six years at New
Piscataway. Neither the exact date nor the circumstances of his death are known,
but it occurred between November 20, 1674, and June 1, 1675, probably nearer
to the latter than the former....
The planters of New Piscataway settled there for peace and quiet and relief from
all kinds of contentions. They had endured their share of inconvenience in New
England from the severities of court justice and the intolerance of the established
church order. Piscataway was from the first a plantation of pious people establishing
homes in this new and unsettled township where they might enjoy the liberty of
the gospel and the free exercise of their own convictions. The original pioneers
to take up land in Piscataway came in 1666 from the northeasterly settlements
in New England and New Hampshire, and they are said to have given the name of
the New Hampshire river to their new plantation. They bought a large tract of
land on the Raritan River from the Indians, comprising Piscataway and parts of
other towns. Here in 1669 they were joined by several men from Cape Cod, including
Richard Higgins and Benajah Dunham from Eastham and Edward Fitz Randolph, Samuel
Bacon and Nicholar Bonham from Barnstable....
About four miles east of the center of New Brunswick [New Jersey] and one mile
or a little more north of the river, lies the present tiny hamlet of Piscataway.
A small stream known as the Mill Branch falls into the Raritan a mile southeast
of this place. It was probably here or in the immediate vicinity that Richard
Higgins first settled. Others have placed his home lot about three miles to
the northwest, near the present station called Stelton.... It is more than two
centures since any of the Higgins name lived there, Thomas Higgins, son of Richard,
being the last, his brothers all removing from Piscataway, Jediah to the southwest,
near Kingston, and Eliakim and Zerah to the northeast, at Woodbridge or Elizabethtown."
Children were: Jonathan Higgins,
*Benjamin Higgins. He was married to Mrs. Mary
(Yates) in Oct 1651 in Eastham, Massachusetts. Children were:
Mary Higgins, Eliakim Higgins,
William Higgins, Jediah Higgins,
Zerah Higgins, Thomas Higgins,
Lydia Higgins, Rebecca Higgins,
Lydia Higgins, Ruth Higgins,
Sarah Higgins.
*Thomas
Higgins(61) was born on 13 Apr 1730
in Eastham, Massachusetts. He died on 28 Feb 1818 in Newfane, Vermont. Parents:
*Nathaniel Higgins and
*Sarah Walker.He was married to *Esther (Higgins)
WFT Est. 1745-1777. The parents of Abigail Higgins are not known for sure.
There are at least 3 possibilities, but one seems more probable than the others.
The birth date of Abigail Higgins is also unknown. At her death on March 23,
1845, she was supposedly 83 years old, born in 1762. This information was given
by her son James Fuller. However, when Abigail applied for a widow's pension
from the U.S. government on October 4, 1844 (less than 6 months earlier), she
gave her age as 79, meaning that she was born in 1765.
1. In the vital records of Worcester, Massachusetts, we find an Abigail Higgins,
born Dec. 21, 1765 at Hardwick (Worcester), daughter of Uriah and Esther Cooley
Higgins. Uriah and Esther Higgins later moved to Dummerston, Vermont, which
is the township to the southeast adjoining Newfane. No record has been found
of the marriage or death of this Abigail Higgins.
2. Another Abigail Higgins was born Jan. 3, 1768 at Eastham, Massachusetts, the
daughter of Enoch Higgins and Sarah Doane Higgins. There is no evidence that
Enoch and Sarah ever lived in Vermont.
3. Thomas Higgins, half-brother of Enoch, was one of the earlier settlers of
Newfane, Vermont, apparently being a friend and neighbor of Benjamin and Ephraim
Fuller. A complete list of his children has not been found, but we believe that
he was the father of our Abigail Higgins. The third son of Ephraim Fuller and
Abigail Higgins was named Thomas Higgins Fuller, and was probably named after
his grandfather Thomas Higgins.
From "Richard Higgins and His Descendants", by Mrs. Katharine Chapin
Higgins, 1918, page 156:
"Thomas Higgins lived at Eastham and Hopkinton, Mass., and Newfane Vt. He
was in Hopkinton in 1768, as shown by an old bond in possession of descendants
in Vermont. Probably he was in Hopkinton before 1768, but is not named in Hopkinton
vital records. The census of 1790 shows him in Newfane with a family of five.
Children:
i. Nathaniel, b. Dec 13, 1769; married Mary Smith
ii. Thomas, b. April 13, 1774; d. Aug 13, 1854; member of the Universalist Church,
Newfane, Vt. Probably had two daughters."
From "Centenniel Proceedings...Relating to Newfane, Vermont", 1877,
page 186-187:
"We find the first record of a regularly surveyed and laid out road to be
in June, 1782, when it appears that the selectmen, Moses Kenney, Charles Evans,
and Jonathan Park laid, and Lieut. Ward Eager surveyed, three roads. The most
important and undoubtedly the first of these roads, commenced at the east side
of the common and run eastwardly down the hill in and near the track already
improved, to a point near the house of Thomas Higgins, thence in a northerly
direction to Townshend line.... In closing these notes it is perhaps proper
for us to designate a few points of location, for the benefit of the future reader.
The house of Thomas Higgins, mentioned in the survey of the first road, stood
upon the farm now owned and occupied by Chas. Nichols. This farm is on the road
leading to Brookline, upon the upper or oldest river flats, the second one from
the bridge. From it you have a complete and beautiful view of the broad flats
in Brookline, composing the meadow lands of the farms at this day owned and occupied
by Timothy Albee, Luther Osgood, and A.T. Barnes." Children were:
*Abigail Higgins, Nathaniel Or Nathan Higgins
, Thomas Higgins.
Abial
Or Abigail Higgins(61) was born on
29 Dec 1740 in Eastham, Massachusetts. She died on 15 Jan 1826. Parents:
Elisha Higgins and Hannah Doane Atwood.She
was married to Ebenezer Safford on 24 Nov 1759.
She was married to Israel Johnson on 29 Dec 1761.
Abigail
Higgins(61) was born on 3 Jan 1768
in Eastham, Massachusetts. She died WFT Est. 1769-1862. Parents:
Enoch Higgins and Sarah Doane.
Abigail
Higgins(61) was born on 21 Dec 1765
in Hardwick, Worcester, Massachusetts. She died WFT Est. 1766-1859. Parents:
Uriah Higgins and Esther
Cooley.
Abigail
Higgins(61) was born on 29 Jul 1737
in Eastham, Massachusetts. She died WFT Est. 1766-1831. Parents:
Elisha Higgins and Hannah Doane Atwood.She
was married to Simon Griffin on 24 Mar 1761.
Abigail
Higgins(110) was born on 1 Jun 1799.
She died WFT Est. 1800-1893. Parents: Barney Higgins
and Polly Prentice.
Abigail
Higgins(110) was born on 8 Mar 1837.
She died WFT Est. 1872-1932. Parents: Barney Higgins
and Phoebe Miller.She was married to
Noah Lyman WFT Est. 1851-1881. Children were:
Samuel Edgar Lyman, Nathan Allen Lyman.
Ada
Mae Higgins(110) was born on 12 Jun
1875. She died WFT Est. 1899-1969 in Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA. In note: Ada
Mae Irish has a grandson, Edward M. Dodge, lived in Lewiston
Montana.
Los Angeles, California: Nov 26, 1938:
My Dear Cousin, I was very much surprised at receiving this letter form
you. My father and mother died while I was still a child of nine. We
don't know much of our ancestors, although I knew we had Higgins
relatives in Mass. Ella Higgins visited us in Wisconsin, when I was very
young, about seven or eight years old, maybe older. I don't just
remember. I have so wanted to know about her and I know several others,
but never excpected to hear and getting your letter made me feel so
happy. Maybe you can tell me more about Ella.We always called her Cousin
Ella. She sent us gifts after she went back to Mass. and maybe you can
tell me more who I am, what my ancestors were, etc. I could talk much
better if I had a chance. I understand my father Horatio A. Higgins and
my mother Mary Jane Webster was born in Richmond MA. Is this correct? Do
you know of any of our people living out here? We seem to be scattered
all over the United States. We have quite a family and we have been very
fortunate in having them around close.
Nellie died when she was eight years old with scarlet fever. Fannie has
always loved to draw. She is quite an artist, in fact there isn't much
she cannot do with her hands, she paits lovely wall hangings on velour
and does lovely emb. work at present she is forelady in a lamp shade
factory-has been there a year. Edward is a trumpet player in the Fergus
Co. H. School band. Vernon has a paint shop-does finishing on furniture,
show cases, cars etc. Dorothy a very nice seamstress and lovely emb. work
and musician (piano). Has two lovely children. Very smart. Graduate from
Jefferson H. School, LA. Josephine never married-is with us yet. has
worked for the Reid-Murdock Co Wholesale Grocers the last eleven years.
Graduated from Jefferson H. School.
Harriet graduated from Freemont H. School; hig honors in 1934, worked in
a bank one year and was married, now she is in one the largest Dept
stores in the city-is secretary to her boss. She is taking music-has all
her life-piano mostly, and she too does lovely emb. work.
Fannies boy Edward graduated from Fergus Co H School this year. He is
quite an athlete, has several medals and is a musician-plays trombone.
Jackie is a very good drummer in the "Sons of Veterans" drum and bugle
corp. Very smart in school. He gets S & Outstandings, and he is expert on
setting up toy air planes that fly. Junior H. School. Gloria gets high
marks too-loves to draw. The younger ones-its hard to tell what they are
going to do. The two youngest Grand Children are exceptinally smart, not
because I'm Grandma, HaHa. How did you come to find Lottie? Did you get
Franks family? He died in 1933, his family lives in Lynwood. CA. I
suppose Lottie told you of them too. I am glad to help you out. Lovingly
your "distant" cousin, Ada M. Irish. Parents:
Horatio Higgins and Mary Jane Webster.
She was married to Caroll Irish on 20 Sep 1893.
Children were: Nellie Ollie Irish,
Fannie May Irish, Edward Irish,
Vernon Irish, Dorathy Irish,
Josephine Irish, Harriett Irish.
Albert
Erastus Higgins(110) was born on
13 Nov 1838. He died WFT Est. 1839-1928. Parents:
William Higgins and Hannah A. Walker.
Albert
Grant Higgins(110) was born on 30
Aug 1869. He died WFT Est. 1915-1961 in Colorado. Parents:
Barney Prentice Higgins and Mary E. Leete.
He was married to Jessie Glenn in Oct 1911.
Albert
Leon Higgins(110) was born on 16
May 1868. He died WFT Est. 1897-1959 in East Bridgewater, Mass.. Called "Leon".
(A. Leon Higgins.) Parents: Nelson Alonzo Higgins
and Mary E. Cole.He was married to
Fannie Jordan on 30 Jun 1891.
Aleck Prentice Higgins(110) was born
WFT Est. 1866-1895. He died WFT Est. 1872-1974. Parents:
Nathan Higgins.
Alice
Higgins(110) was born in 1849. She
died WFT Est. 1879-1943. Parents: Lyman Higgins
and Mary Middlebrook.She was married to
Fred Ludden on 26 Nov 1874.
Alice
Higgins(110) was born WFT Est. 1878-1889.
She died WFT Est. 1893-1979. Parents: Henry Peter
Higgins and Maria Whiting.She was married
to George Hughes WFT Est. 1893-1931.
Alice
Higgins(110) was born WFT Est. 1858-1887.
She died WFT Est. 1863-1969. Parents: William Edward
Higgins and Catherine Cooley.
Alice Elizabeth Higgins(110) was
born Private. Parents: Clarence Eugene Higgins
and Clara Ethel Hilton.She was married to
Walter Hamlin Private. Children were:
Richard Walter Hamlin.
Allen
Leet Higgins(110) was born on 29
Apr 1885. He died WFT Est. 1923-1976. Parents: Barney
Prentice Higgins and Mary E. Leete.He was
married to Katherine about 1918.
Alma M. Higgins(110) was born on
23 Nov 1877 in Westfield, MA. She died on 25 Sep 1968 in CT. Alma Mary Higgins
was the daughter of Norman Higgins and Sarah Bodurtha
Higgins who lived on a farm in the Owen District of Westfield, near the
Pomeroy farm. Alma, like her mother Sarah B. Higgins, graduated from
the Westfield Normal School (1897) and taught in the Owen District School
in Westfield, MA. After the death of her 2nd husband, Ed Cady, she lived
at the Russellville Road farm of her son Ralph Pomeroy, and would spend
weekends visiting her daughters Marion, Irma and Lucille. During the
winter she would live with her daughter Irma Cone in Connecticut. In her
last years she lived in nursing home in Connecticut where her daughters
could visit her daily. From her personal notes: "When I was three years
old we went to live in Owen District, onto a farm owned by my grandfather
Higgins. Papa gave up the harness business at that time. How my mother
and father got a living on the farm I'm sure I can't tell. They had a
yoke of oxen to do the heavy work, and one horse to go to town and buy
supplies. Once in a while my mother taught a term or more - once a whole
year at the Owen District School house, a five minute walk from our
house. We sold strawberries in spring.
"I began going to school when I was not quite five years old, in the Owen
District School house. There were usually about twelve to fourteen pupils
of
all grades, first through ninth. The pupils changed with the years but
therre
were always in my class one who lived a mile north of my home - 3/4 of a
mile from school-that was Lewis Miller Pomeroy, whom we always called
Lewie. The other was Joseph Gulliham, who lived a mile below. Usually the
teacher boarded at our house, paying about two and a half dollars a week
from Monday morning till Friday night. "Of the older students I remember
few, only Lewie's sister Ora. Others came a year or two and left. "I
never enjoyed playing with dolls, although I usually had one-I remember
once my grandmother gave me a little calico bibbed apron for the doll as
a birthday
present, but I usually had a "cubby" house I had built myself by driving
stakes into the ground and putting old boards I picked up around three
sides and for a roof. In those days people never went swimming, but there
was a mill pond at the foot of the hill, built by my grandfather years
before, by damming the stream that came from Hampden Ponds. We had a boat
on it and it was great fun to row the boat and to go fishing. "We used to
drive to church Sundays in summer, hitching the horse behind the Baptist
church. We rarely went much in winter as it was a cold, hard trip, and
cold for a horse to stand out in the yard, even with blankets on him. We
did have a two-seated sleigh, and also a one-seated cutter. A coon skin
robe and blankets.
"I began high school when I was not quite 13 years of age. I drove a
horse every day to Westfield, leaving him in a horse stable and walked to
school. I
had terrible nervous head aches so my parents took me out of school and I
stayed home for a year. That was another year my mother was teaching in
Owne District school. The following year I went back into high school,
class of '95, but I started boarding with Mrs. Ring on Jefferson Street.
It was during the first year back in school that I was at home one
weekend in February, '49,
about ten o'clock in the morning. Our hired man, Ben Felton, came into
the
kitchen and said the house was on fire. Flames were coming out of the
ell, over the back door. Mama grabbed a pail of water and rushed to the
attic, throwing the water on the flames but it did no good. Mama and I
and my two little brothers, about 9 and 7, started taking things out of
the house. We made one trip into kitchen and pantry, then closed the door
as all the fire was then over the kitchen. We made one trip to bedrooms
upstairs, grabbing what clothing we could, then took out the fiurniture
and things from the sitting room, downstairs bedroom and out the north
door. I remember taking an arm full of books-Shakespear, Milton, Byron.
No one came to our help and by the time my father heard of it and come
home everything was in the cellar in ashes.
The 2nd, or Sophamore year of highschool I had a chance to go to Mrs.
C lary's to board. I was to do a little work, and was paid about $1.50. I
slept with Mrs. Clary. She had a number of roomers, but her only other
member of the family was her grandson, Ernest Wilcox, who was in the
Business school. Trip to Chicago: When I was a sophamore in HIgh School
my unmarried uncle, Lonnie Higgins lived in Chicago at the time of the
World's Fair. He wrote us saying he could pay all expenses if either Papa
or I would like to go. Papa though he coudn't leave, and we heard that
Aunt Fanny Higgin's father and mother were going out to stay two or three
days at a relatives house in Chicago, and go to the fair. So it was
arranged that I go out with them. After the first visit to the fair with
them, I stayed through the week going alone to see all I could. I went
down into the city of Chicago on the cable cars to see a big play that
was going on all that season. The theater was immense. I went in and paid
50 cents for a ticket, saying "standing room only" and was sent up
to the
6th floor balcony, where I was to stand, but a young man usher told me I
could sit down on the steps in the aisle. It was a wonderful play,
telling the history oif America. At one time the Mayflower was brought on
the stage, and in that scene the boat seemed to rock in the ocean waves.
At another time there were over 100 people on the stage. The young usher
came and sat down by me offering the use of opera glasses, trying to talk
to me, but I was afraid to talk, so merely thanked him and he went away.
It was well worth the 50 cents. I lost nearly two weeks of school and as
a result had to repeat German grammer the next year. I came back on a
sleeping car having a lower berth which Uncle arranged for. He was quite
provoked that going out we had simply sat in our seats and slept very
litt.e He said we should have had a sleeper. The train passed through a
number of miles in Canada and stopped for a time where we could go close
to Niagra Falls on the Canadia side. A wonderful sight. The 3rd year of
school I did much as I did in the second. The last year of High School I
went up to 16 Chestnut Street, to live with Mr. & Mrs. Russell and work
for my board. They were wonderful people and I had a fine year, doing
very little work, and went home on weekends. I graduated in June. Moma
had made me a white dotted muslin dress and I had fine presents, among
which was a pair of slippers and a fan from Kate Gibbs Allen. After
taking examinations and fortunately passing, I entered the Normal School.
That year my parents thought I should
borrow the money I'd need as they couldn't afford to pay anymore for me,
having sent me through High School. My Uncle Lonnie said he could lend me
some. I had $50 first payment sent, and Mama took me to the 1st National
Bank where I deposited it. I boarded myself that year, having a small
upstairs room at Mrs. Clary's. I walked up Main Street, through the park
usuallyh, then up Broad to the school. One day before we graduated from
Normal school a Superintendent of Schools of Buckland, and two other
towns came to the school engaging teachers for the September term. I
agreed to take the Buckland School. My wages were to be $8.00 per week
and I was to board with a Mrs. Porter who lived close to the school. I
was to pay her $2.00 a week. I taught there only till the Xmas vacation
as our Westfield Supt. of Schools came up to visit and asked me to take
the Owen District Home School in Westfield. I was glad to take it for it
paid $10 a week instead of $8, and I could board at home. "I continued to
teach there form the time I was just 20 years old till the January after
Lewie and I married. We just grew into the habit of going together, and
were really engaged about a year and a half. Our "going together"
usually consisted of riding down to Grace Pendleton's to play "High, Low,
Jack" with Mr. Pendelton and Grace, a great chum of mine who was about
our age.
While I was teaching in Owen District and had been engaged over a year,
ewis had been running the home farm, as his father was not well enough to
do it. He had sevral cows and raised a few acres of tobacco. His father
and mother wished to go to Colorado and visit their son Tom, who had
settled there, taking up Givernment land, built his house, and married in
Atwood, Colorado. They were anxious to have us married so they could
leave, and as there was a spring vacation in late March we decided on
March 28, 1901, as the proper date. We were married in the parlor at my
father's home. Reverand Eaton of the Baptist church was the minister and
I presume there were about 25 guests, with the usual refreshments. Irving
and Lilla came from Gloucester. Also his sister Ora and her husband Bruce
Carr and their little son Irving and daughter Mildred. Lewis had a hack
hired to come up from town and take us down to the Springfield trolly
cars to Springfield to stay the first night in the then "Haynes Hotel."
Next morning Irving and Lilla met us and with them we went to Gloucester
to stay until Sunday afternoon, when we ruturned to the old house in
Westfield.
Grandpa and Grandma Pomeroy left in a few weeks for Colorado. We bought
few pieces of furniture and a Wilson sewing maching with a drop down
head, making it like a table when not in use, and it has done good
service all the years. I have needed it every since.
After Grandma came home she and Grandpa took the three south rooms and we
lived separately. The house had 12 rooms and two unfinished ones, so we
had plenty of room. It was a fine, old colonial house, proably about 100
years old when we lived there. It is a pity that it was burned down a few
years later. It was furnished nicely. The parlor having its bright
Brussels carpet, horsehair covered sofa and chair seats, melodian and
tipped back table-a pleasant room when opened up for use, though the door
was usually closed except for big times when all the Pomeroy family
gathered for a week end, or Fourth of July, where there would be as many
as twenty there, and a dozen or so of us to stay over night. Will's
family from Hartford. Irvings from Gloucester. Frank's from Windsor, and
Ora's.
I taught school, and, at vacation and over the 4th of July that year, we
went
to spend a few days with Ora who had a cottage at Pine Orchard for a
month.
Lewie came down over Sunday, so we had one of the pleasantest trips of
those times. It was the first real pleasure trip I took. I taught again
in the fall.
Russell was born in April of that year, 1901, and early in the spring
Grandma
and Grandpa bought a house in Little River, Westfield. Not a good move.
Grandpa overworked and was taken sick with pnemonia and died there. Bruce
and Ora and the children came and lived with Grandma. We continued living
at the farm after Irving bought the place of the heirs after Grandpa
died. He charged $300 a year rent. Ralph was born on Feb 2nd, 1903. When
he was about two years old we found at last that we could not make a
living there, and Lewie throught we could do better at raising tobacco in
a real tobacco country, so he found a farm in Tarrifville, CT, where we
lived. Grandma Pomeroy had sold her place in Little River by that time
and came to live the first winter with us. But alas, we didn't make any
more there than on the old farm, and after one year moved again to West
Suffield where we lived for three years. Norman was born in 1905. The
years in West Suffield were filled with both pleasure and worry.
Much of the Higgins genealogy included in this collection is the result
of the year-long effort of Alma M. (Higgins)(Pomeroy) Cady during 1938.
Like the pieces of fabric carefully cut but never made into a quilt, the
letters received by Alma in response to her inquiries lay in an old truck
in the attic until 1993.
The Higgins family had regular reunions and included in the trunk are
photos of these groups, the ladies in white lawn dresses and hats-the men
in spiffy jackets. Children cluster in the front.
If you are descended from William Higgins, Chesterfield, please send
up-dates to Alma LaFrance, 11 Birchwood Drive, Huntington MA 01050.
Thanks. Parents: Norman Harrison Higgins and
Sarah Lovinia Bodurtha.She was married to
Lewis Miller Pomeroy on 2 Mar 1901 in Westfield, MA. Children were:
Russell Burge Pomeroy, Leon Ralph Pomeroy
, Norman Lewis Pomeroy,
Marian Alma Pomeroy, Irma Elizabeth Pomeroy
, Lucille Mildred Pomeroy.
Almon Webster Higgins(110) was born
on 1 Jun 1813 in Worthington, MA. He died on 14 Jul 1902 in West Springfield,
MA. Almon Higgins lived on a farm in the Owen District of Westfield, and when
it
became too much for him to run, invited his son Norman to take over. He
and his wife then moved to Granville to run a sawmill there. Alma
Higgins, his
grandauther, says "My granfather had a long wite beard and I used to
enjoy
sitting in his lap and making braids with it."
They had always lived in Chesterfield before coming to Westfield, living
first
in the Day District in the old Day house that stood just below the state
sanitorium. Parents: Lewis Higgins and
Mary Todd.He was married to Lucy W. Clapp
on 21 Sep 1842 in Chesterfield, MA. Children were:
Norman Harrison Higgins, Forrester Haseltine Higgins
, Dolonymus "Lonnie" Higgins,
Lewis Elion Higgins, Lucius C. Higgins,
David Quesnell Higgins.
Alpheus
Higgins(61) was born on 14 Sep 1776
in Hardwick, Worcester, Massachusetts. He died on 16 Sep 1842 in Londonderry,
Vermont. Parents: Uriah Higgins and
Esther Cooley.He was married to Phebe Hildreth
on 21 Sep 1797 in Dummerston, Vermont.
Amy
Higgins(61) was born on 20 May 1808.
She died WFT Est. 1809-1902. Parents: Thomas Higgins
and Abigail Marshall.
Amy
Mabel Higgins(110) was born on 6
Feb 1876. She died WFT Est. 1916-1971. Parents:
Barney Prentice Higgins and Mary E. Leete.
She was married to Charles Nibbelin WFT Est.
1890-1923. She was married to John Nibbelin
on 22 Aug 1900. Children were: Louis LeRoy Nibbelin
, Mary Matilda Nibbelin,
Clarence John Nibbelin, Arthur Eugine Nibbelin
, Florence Frieda Nibbelin,
Ruth Elizabeth Nibbelin.
Anna
Higgins(61) was born on 4 Mar 1794.
She died on 19 Nov 1804. Parents: Thomas Higgins
and Abigail Marshall.
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