Author: Sally Watters

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William Washington – The First Free Black in Southborough

Since February is Black History Month, it seems appropriate to look at the life of William Washington who lived in Southborough over a century ago with his family.

In the midst of all the angst created by the “St. Mark’s Triangle” debacle, concern arose about how best to honor some of the marginalized people in early Southborough who might not have been buried within the walls of the Old Burial Ground. Of greatest concern was that all the tree removal and heavy construction work might have desecrated burials of the original inhabitants of the area, the Nipmucs. After much prodding. St. Mark’s School, the owners of the land, agreed to an archeological dig to discover whether there were any burials in the disturbed area. Around Labor Day, a limited dig was conducted. To the surprise of many, most of the dig took place on town owned land near the library rather than in the area owned by St. Mark’s that had been most disturbed, the site of possible native burials, and therefore of most concern. An important result of the dig is that some artifacts were uncovered as well as remnants of foundations of two buildings. After examining old maps and descriptions of the area, it seems probable that one of the foundations was a house owned by Joseph Burnett, located on what is now town library property. Further investigation revealed that house was once occupied by William E.J. Washington, the first free black man to live in Southborough.

The sections about the Washington family in Nick Noble’s Fences of Stone, A History of Southborough Massachusetts, paint a picture of a very industrious family that was integrated into the life of the community. Several of the Washington men were welcomed as members of St. Mark’s Church choir. The athletic talents of the oldest son, Edwin, were admired. We also learn that William, and then two of his sons, Edwin and Frederick, served as sextons at St. Mark’s Church. William worked at Deerfoot Farm before becoming steward at St. Mark’s School. After serving as William’s assistant for several years, Edwin replaced his father as steward when William moved back to Marlborough around 1904.

William became a bit of a legend at St Mark’s School when, in 1899, while on his rounds as night watchman, he noticed something strange about the lighting in the basement of the school room building. Investigating further, he discovered that there was a gas leak Unfortunately, when he opened the door to the basement, the lantern he was carrying set off an explosion and fire. Despite suffering serious burns, he alerted others to the fire and then tried to put it out with a hose he dragged to the cellar.  He had to be pulled out of the burning building by several St Mark’s students who then fought the fire until the fire department arrived. A grateful headmaster presented William with a check from the school to thank him for his heroic efforts.

It seems as if life in Southborough was quite good for the Washington family. St. Mark’s Church, St. Mark’s School and the Burnett family all played a role in making their lives in town pleasant. Their acceptance was certainly aided by the contributions the Washington family made to town life

Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1783, so who was this man, William Washington, who after at least 110 years with no known blacks living in Southborough, moved with his family into a house in the heart of town? Where was he from and what happened to him and his family after they left Southborough?

William Everland Jacob Washington was born in 1859 in Newark, New Jersey to Thomas Washington and his wife, Martha King Washington. He had four younger sisters. Both of his parents were also born in New Jersey, in 1830. According to the 1860 federal census, Thomas was a steam engineer with a personal worth of $1000. The census also indicates that both of William’s parents could read and write. Records, with the notation “black” next to their names, indicate that Martha’s parents, Jacob King, a cooper, and his wife Mary Thompson, were married at the First Presbyterian Church of Newark in 1829.  Martha had six sisters. Both her parents were literate according to the census. Neither William nor his parents had ever been slaves. William was undoubtedly descended from slaves, but several generations back.

In 1879, William married Ella Mae Vanderzee in Kingston, New York. Ella was born in 1857 in Saugerties, New York to Thomas Vanderzee and his wife, Sarah Tuson. In the federal census, Thomas is listed as black and Sarah as mulatto. In another census, all the members of the family are listed as mulatto. Thomas was born in Green County, NY and Sarah was born in Dutchess County, NY. Ella was one of the younger of the 13 children in the Vanderzee family. Her father was a boatman on the Hudson River. In the 1870 federal census, she and her sisters are all listed as house servants while one of her brothers is a boatman.

After Ella’s marriage to William Washington, she worked for a short time as a servant for two white sisters, Eliza and Louisa Speer, in Newark, NJ. William and Ella’s first child, Edwin was born in Kingston, New York. They lived briefly in Brooklyn, NY before moving to Wellesley, Massachusetts where their second son, Frederick, was born in 1882.  Three daughters, Alma, Edith and Adaline followed in quick succession in 1884, 1885 and 1886 while they were still living in Wellesley. By February 1889 they had moved to Boston where their son Everland Beverly Washington was born. Their four-year old daughter Edith died in Boston in April of 1889 and five-year old Alma died a few months later.  Both girls died as the result of “weak hearts.”  By 1891, the Washington family had relocated to Marlborough where they welcomed another son, Leo, to the family. He died, of meningitis two years later. That same year, 1893, Ella gave birth to another daughter. Vera Louise in Marlborough.  In 1894, William and Ella, with their five surviving children, Edwin, Frederick, Adaline, Everland and Vera, moved into a house owned by Joseph Burnett, located on the grounds of the present-day library in Southborough.  At the end of 1894, twins, Amy Claire and Allan Gannett were born. In 1897, Esther Lucilla was born and the following year Victor Bexhill joined the family.

In 1900, Ella died delivering stillborn twins. She was 43 years old and was survived by 9 of the 14 children she had borne. She was buried in Marlborough alongside her son Leo and the stillborn twins. Within a few years of Ella’s death, William moved to a house on Hildreth Street in Marlborough with his five youngest children. His move was precipitated by the fact that the house in which they had been living in Southborough was being torn down to make way for the public library. In various documents William is listed as a stationery engraver or a watchman at a shoe factory while living in Marlborough.

The life of the Washington family in Marlborough took a tragic turn as the family was ravaged by tuberculosis. The first of the children to succumb to TB was nine-year old Amy Claire who died in December 1913. Seven months later, in June 1914, her twin brother Allan Gannett died at Lakeville Sanitorium. Seven-year old Esther Lucilla died in November 1914 at Boston City Hospital. Their father, William, who had gone to live in Everett with his married daughter Vera, died less than 3 months later, in February 1915, probably from TB, Victor Bexhill Washington was nine when he died in October 1915 at Lakeville Sanatorium.

William and Ella’s oldest son Edwin, who had married Frances Chestnut in 1905, also died at the Lakeville Sanitorium in 1916 at the age of 37, leaving his widow with three young daughters. His brother Everland died in October 1916, ten months after his marriage to Viola Jones.  He was 27.  Between December 1913 and October 1916, six of William’s children died from tuberculosis. Although William’s death certificate could not be located, it is probable that he also died of TB. During the same time frame that the Washington family lost six, possibly seven, members to TB, only five residents in the entire town of Southborough died of TB, one of them being Edwin Washington.

What became of William’s three surviving children and his three granddaughters, the children of his son Edwin?

William’s daughter Adaline moved to Boston where she became a nurse. She lived for many years in Boston and Malden. She never married. She died in 1970 and is buried in Everett alongside her father and her sister Vera.

Of the five youngest children who moved to Marlborough with their father after the death of their mother, Vera Louise is the only one who did not die from TB.  In 1914, she married Albert Lee Randolph at St. Mark’s Church in Southborough. She and Albert lived in Everett and Malden after their marriage. She had two sons and a daughter.  One of her sons died at age 11 when hit by a car. In the 1950 federal census, they had three wards of the state living with them. Vera died in 1985.

Frederick Tudor Washington. the one Washington son to survive the TB scourge, lived most of his adult life in Boston. He married Daisy Mainjoy in 1906. They had a son and a daughter. According to various federal censuses, he was a painter. Fences of Stone notes that for a while he had a band that played at some dance clubs.  The Echo of Their Voices, 150 Years of St. Mark’s School, says that he achieved his dream of becoming an Episcopal priest. He died in 1965.

William’s eldest son Edwin Washington, who had succeeded his father as steward at St. Mark’s School, died at age 37 leaving his widow Frances, and three young daughters. A fourth daughter had died in 1913 of whooping cough. Frances moved with her daughters to Westborough where she worked as a hairdresser. In 1929, she married Harry Elliot, a barber. He died three years later. Her oldest daughter Frances was married in 1928 to Raymond Neizer and moved to Salem. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of her mother’s life, Frances became a widow in 1932, left to raise three young children. Her sister, Ella V. Washington was married to Marceo Griffin in 1936. They moved to Florida where, in 1940, they divorced. She returned to Westborough, making it her home base as she traveled extensively throughout the world while working as an educator for organizations such as UNESCO. She died in 2003 at the age of 93. She is acknowledged by Nick Noble as a valuable source of information for his book, Fences of Stone. Edwin’s third daughter, Edith Marion never married. She died in 1978. Edwin, his wife Frances, and their daughters are all buried at Rural Cemetery in Southborough.

William and his family passed through Southborough’s history briefly, living here for just over a decade, more than a century ago. Their lives were beset by the deaths of children from childhood diseases, death in childbirth, and devastating losses from tuberculosis. Although these were not uncommon problems at that time, it seems as if the Washington family had more than their share of family misfortunes. We remember them as pioneers, the first free black family to live in town, but we also recognize them as survivors who continued to persevere and contribute to society even when the odds were against them.

 Some Sources:

 Fences of Stone by Nick Noble

The Echo of Their Voices, 150 Years of St. Mark’s School

United States Censuses\

Massachusetts State Censuses

Vital Records of Boston, Wellesley, Marlborough, and Southborough

 

 

 

 

 

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Robert L. Renaud (1925-1945) – He Lived & Died by the Words of His Graduation Speech

Robert L. Renaud  (1925-1945)

When you have an interest in history, sometimes a phone call can send you down a rabbit hole trying to find any information available about someone’s life. That is what happened when I got a call from Martha Boiardi asking if the Historical Society had a photo of Robert L, Renaud, a young man from Southborough who died in World War II.  A person in Amsterdam is trying to keep alive the memory of Americans who died fighting to free Europe, and had Robert Renaud’s name, a bit of information, but no photo. He had contacted Martha because she had posted the photo of Robert Renaud’s grave on Find-a-Grave. The internet does provide interesting ways of connecting. Martha’s request set off a search for a photo for the memorial in Amsterdam, but it also made me think that perhaps we here in Southborough should learn a little about this young man.

Robert L. Renaud was born in Hudson on June 30th 1925, the only child of Anna Salo, a Finnish immigrant, and her husband, Charles L. Renaud. The Renaud’s lived on Lincoln Street in Hudson.  Robert’s father worked at a shoe factory in Marlborough. His mother worked in Hudson for the Apsley Rubber Company which made gossamer, or rubber, clothing. According to the 1930 Federal Census she made tennis shoes.

The Renaud family moved to Southborough sometime after 1935. Charles, as did so many others in town, worked for Deerfoot Farm. They lived on Newton Street, so it is probable that he worked at the sausage factory. Robert excelled while attending the Southborough schools. At Peters High School he was president of the freshman class, managed the baseball and basketball teams during his sophomore year, was in the senior class play, and wrote for several school publications. Robert was salutatorian of the Peters High School Class of 1943. At graduation in June of 1943, he addressed his 19 fellow graduates, saying “Other years graduates have pondered over what careers they would follow, but this year we have only one choice, for all of us will have the same career – defending our own America against the aggressors who would rob us of the freedom guaranteed by the United States of America.” After summarizing the accomplishments of the “Builders of America” Robert concluded with the words “All of these men and many others, too numerous to mention, have been the builders of America. We wish now to preserve their work by defending America now and by giving to all future Americans the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

These were not empty words to Robert and many of his classmates. Robert enlisted in the Army Air Corps. By the fall of 1943, Robert was in South Carolina at Erskine College as part of one of the special training programs at colleges around the nation that produced “ninety-day wonders,”   officers trained quickly to fill the ranks of the rapidly expanding armed forces. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant upon completion of the training. After additional training in Nashville, Tennessee, he was stationed in England as a Navigator attached to 452nd Bomber Group, Heavy, 728th Bomber Squadron.

The people back in Southborough and at Peters High School followed his military career and that of many others. The high school publication had a section entitled Alumni News, most of which was filled with news from the young men in the service. Among the names which appeared were names still known in town: Bartolini, Noborini, Salmon, Maley, Finn, Staples, Bagley, Woodward, and Renaud. Robert sent home several articles to the high school publication he had headed while a student. The articles reflected his interest in the aircraft that played such an important role in the war. In an article that he authored, entitled “The P-40 Defends Itself,” he assumed the identity of the oft maligned P-40 fighter plane, and pointed out the P-40 was used in all theaters of the war. Another article that Robert shared was authored by Keith Ayling, and told the story of Reginald Mitchell, “The Man Who Saved Britain, the Creator of the Spitfire.” Robert seemed determined to make the people back home aware of the important role that air power was playing as the war unfolded.

2nd Lieutenant Robert Renaud was the navigator on board a B-17, part of the 728th Bomber Squadron, 452nd Bomber Group. On April 7th, 1945, his plane took off from Deopham Green, Norfolk, England on a mission to Kaltenkirchen, Germany, site of a Luftwaffe airbase. Before reaching its target, the plane came under attack by Messerschmitt 109 fighter planes that succeeded in disabling it and ultimately, according to other pilots, caused it to split in two and explode. Only two parachutes were seen. Seven of the ten crewmen, including Robert L. Renaud were listed as killed in action. Robert was two months shy of his twentieth birthday when he died.  On May 8th, 1945, just a month after Robert’s death, Germany surrendered. The 452nd Bomber Group played a key role in bringing about that surrender.

By the time of his death, his parents, Charles and Anna, had moved back to Hudson. It was there that they first received word that their only son was missing in action and later, confirmation that he had been killed. Robert’s grave is in Rural Cemetery here in Southborough, the town where he had spent much of his childhood. His father, Charles, died in 1992. His mother, Anna, died in 1995. They are buried alongside their son at Rural Cemetery.

We remember Robert L. Renaud on this, the 77th anniversary of his death.

Many thanks to Martha Boiardi whose phone call initiated the search for a photo of Robert Renaud and set me off on a path to learn more about him.  Martha also shared the information she had been able to uncover. A huge thanks to Patti Fiore who helped me find and dig through the many Peters High School publications where we found the photo, information, and some of Robert’s writings. She also worked her magic to make the photo as clear as possible.

 

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What the Burial Book Reveals about the Irish by Sally Watters

As our nation engages is a tug of war about what our history is and what should be taught in schools, perhaps we can learn a lesson by looking at a small portion of the history of our own town. Some Americans today are trying to ban teaching lessons that reflect badly on their ancestors and I am sure that we would like to think that the bucolic town of Southborough’s history does not include any of the uglier chapters of the country’s past. What began as a quest for the identity of a girl named Martha buried in the Old Burial Ground ended up as a hunt for more information about Irish immigrants in Southborough, and unearthed the prejudice that manifested itself in Southborough in the nineteenth century.

There is a marker in the Old Burial Ground for grave 74 that merely says Martha. Members of the Historical Society have long wondered who Martha was. Our only clues were the people buried near her, but we could establish no definitive connection to any of them. Knowing there was a Burial Book that meticulously recorded deaths and burials in Southborough from 1794-1862, I began the pursuit of the death of any Martha during that time span. I realized that the time period 1727-1793 was not included in that source, and that since the Rural Cemetery opened in 1842, most burials after that date would not have been in the Old Burial Ground. After cross checking all the recorded deaths with tombstones in the Old Burial Ground and burials in the Rural Cemetery. I was left with three possible women named Martha in the Old Burial Ground who are unaccounted for. Uncertainty remains as to Martha’s last name. The Old Burial Ground is the resting place of all three of these Marthas, but does the stone belong to one of them, or to a Martha who died before 1794 or after 1862?  There are over six hundred unmarked graves in the Old Burial Ground. To further add to the mystery, Martha’s stone was carved by James O’Connor who was active carving stones between 1870 and 1902. Was the stone a late addition or was Martha one of the few people interred at the Old Burial Ground after 1862, the last year for the Burial Book I was using?

As often happens when doing historical research, it is easy to go off track. The Burial Book frequently has additional information beyond just the name of the deceased and the dates of death and burial. Sometimes the cause of death is included. If the deceased did not die in Southborough, but is buried here, the place of death is included and conversely, if the person died in Southborough but is buried elsewhere, that information is also included.

Starting in 1845, the effects of the industrial revolution and immigration began to be reflected in the Burial Book. The railroad had reached town by then. On November 11th, 1845, the railroad claimed its first known victim in Southborough when David Melison was “killed instantly by cars running over him in Southborough.” He was buried in Hopkinton. The Burial Book notes that his family was in Cambridge, Vermont. He would not be the only victim of the early railroad. On October 2, 1851 an “Irishman, name and residence unknown, was killed by the cars at Cordaville.” He was buried in Roxbury. Three weeks later, Mary Jane Mulligan, age 3, daughter of Thomas Mulligan, Irish, was killed by the cars at Cordaville. She was buried in Hopkinton. On November 14, 1851, Pamela Morse, age 59, was killed by the cars at the Depot. Lois Wallace, 66 was killed by the cars in Southborough on June 20, 1862. We know that fatalities on the railroad tracks have continued to occur into current times, but fortunately at a lower rate than in the early years of the railroads.

Not only did the railroad begin to make an appearance in the Burial Book, but starting in 1847 the word Irish begins to be used beside the names of some of the deceased when James Murrer, Irishman, drowned. He was buried in Worcester. On June 29, 1851, Luke Brady, Irishman, drowned in Cordaville. He was buried in Westborough. In 1852, three people named in the burial book were identified as “Irish.” Two of them were buried in Worcester and one in Hopkinton. On March 3, 1853 the two-year-old son of James Delling, Irishman, died. He was buried in Hopkinton.  Three more people were identified as Irish in 1854 and were all buried in Hopkinton. In 1855 Marie Carter, age 14, died in a fire at Cordaville factory, one of three people identified as Irish to die that year. She and one of the other Irish were buried in Hopkinton. The third was buried in Boston.  The following year, on June 29, 1856, Mrs. Ellen Brock, Irish, was killed at Cordaville along with her two-year-old daughter and the following day, Mrs. Lynch, Irish, was also killed at Cordaville. The Burial Book does not specify how they were killed. All three were buried in Hopkinton. What is very evident from the Burial Book is that the deceased who were Irish were being singled out with a label of national origin that was not deemed necessary for the other people who had died. It also is obvious that those who are identified as Irish are not buried in the Rural Cemetery in Southborough. Most of them are buried in Worcester, Westborough, and Hopkinton. The late 1840s and the 1850s was the time of a large influx of Irish immigrants into the United States as they sought to escape the ravages of the Potato Famine. As is so often the case with the entry of people who are somehow different from those already here, there was fear of the unknown, in this case people whose Catholicism set them apart. The Federal Census of 1860 for the Cordaville section of Southborough shows many people who were born in Ireland with names such as Mulligan, Cleary, Dowd, Kelly, Murphy, Burns, Sullivan, and Fitzgerald. In the state census of 1855, most were listed as shoemakers, but by 1860, a lot were designated as mill operators. The people of Southborough may have welcomed the Irish to town to work in the new mills and factories, but they did not welcome them to share the Rural Cemetery as their final resting place in death.

As I examined the recorded deaths for 1862, I noticed that Patrick Cleary, Irish, was not listed as having been buried in another town. What had happened? The footnote provided a clue, noting that he had died in Manassas, Virginia. Another mystery opened up for me to explore.  Who was Patrick Cleary?  As I suspected, Patrick was in the Union Army during the Civil War. He enlisted in May of 1861, just a month after the outbreak of the war and mustered into Company K of the Massachusetts 13th Infantry on July 16, 1861. He saw action at Harper’s Ferry, Bolivar Heights, and Falling Water before becoming ill on the march from Winchester to Centreville, VA.  He died of pneumonia at a field hospital in Manassas Junction, Virginia. His body was returned to Southborough where he was interred at the Rural Cemetery.

What was Patrick Cleary’s connection to Southborough and why, with the Irish designation after his name, was he not buried in another town?  Patrick was born in Drohega, Ireland in 1841, the son of Edward and Catherine Carney Cleary, His name first appears in Southborough in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, where he is living in Cordaville with his parents and four younger siblings. All the members of the family are listed as being born in Ireland except for three-year-old Edward who was born in New York. The next youngest child, six-year-old Monaca was born in Ireland. The family was in Southborough by November of 1851 when Edward Sr. was listed as a member of the Southborough militia. That same year, Edward Sr. ran a missing person’s ad in the Boston Pilot seeking information about his brother, “Patrick Cleary, a native of Killahara near Tipperary,” who had emigrated from Ireland circa 1838, first to NY and thence to Boston and had last been heard from in Worcester County. Any information about Patrick was to be sent to his brother Edward Cleary in Cordaville.  I could not find any evidence that Edward Sr. was ever reunited with his brother.

In the 1855 Massachusetts state census, Edward is listed as a shoemaker, but in the 1860 federal census, he is listed as a “pedler.”  The oldest daughter Mary, who would have been 18 in 1860, is no longer living with the family. His son Patrick, now 19, is listed as a bootmaker, and daughter Ellen, age 15, is a mill operator. Evidence points to Edward Sr. having died sometime in 1860. He was listed in the Federal Census of 1860 in Southborough, but in an application for a mother’s military pension filed in 1866, Catherine says she has been a widow for about six years and that her husband had died in New York. The death of his father, Edward Cleary, could help explain Patrick’s decision to enlist in the military the following year. As the eldest child, he had to help support his widowed mother and younger siblings.  According to Catherine’s testimony for the pension, Patrick had been helping support the family since 1857, when at age sixteen he went to work as a bootmaker. In 1866, Catherine was awarded a mother’s pension of $8.00 a month retroactive to 1862. In her testimony she stated that she owned no property and had no other income. Catherine had first applied for a pension in 1863, but the application was not approved at that time. Three acquaintances testified that Patrick had supported his mother since 1857, helping pay her rent, and that after Patrick enlisted, the town of Southborough paid her $3 a week until his death.  Both the 1863 and the 1866 applications stated that she was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her 1863 application was witnessed by Mary Cleary and Nellie (Ellen) Cleary, Catherine’s two older daughters who were also living in Philadelphia.  By 1866, Ellen was married to John Swope. Both Ellen and John swear in a statement that Patrick’s father had died six years earlier in New York, and that his widow Catherine had not remarried. I could find no further information about any of Patrick’s siblings. No other member of Patrick Cleary’s family is buried in Southborough. His mother Catherine died around 1890

The town fathers reluctantly recognized the sacrifice that this young Irishman had made and allowed his burial in the town cemetery. He was the first Catholic to be buried in Rural Cemetery. The story has been passed down that at first he was interred in the paupers’ section of the cemetery, but some of his fellow soldiers were incensed by this slight and demanded that his body be moved to a different section of the cemetery. His body was moved, but remained without a marker until 1879 when a military marker was placed at his grave site. Life had not been easy for Patrick who came to the United States at about age 10, worked as a bootmaker, enlisted in the army early in the Civil War, and like so many soldiers in that war, died of disease, not on the battlefield. His death did begin to break down the unwritten rule that had kept Irish Catholics out of the Rural Cemetery, although it would be several decades before the gates were opened wide.

It seems hard to believe that prejudice against Irish Catholics was strong enough to keep them from being buried in the local cemetery. Should I, as the descendant of early Anglo settlers of this town, try to keep this history from being taught to spare myself any feelings of guilt? Should we ban the teaching about the inconvenient facts in our history, or is it an opportunity to learn about the damage that prejudice can cause?

On March 17th it is said that everyone is Irish when people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Fortunately for the Irish in Massachusetts, March 17th is also Evacuation Day, a holiday designated to celebrate the evacuation of the British troops from Boston in 1776. Like the early Christians who chose to shield the celebration of the birth of Jesus by observing Christmas during the Saturnalia festivities, the early Irish immigrants were able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day under the cover of Evacuation Day. Today many more people are aware of St. Patrick’s Day than of Evacuation Day.

Happy Evacuation Day and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!

Thanks to Molly Leavitt for her help in the search for Martha and her knowledge about Southborough’s Civil War veterans.

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Remembering a Southborough Revolutionary War Veteran

It seems appropriate that as we salute our veterans, I return to trying to learn the stories of the men from Southborough who served in the American War for Independence. When I originally began, I intended to focus on the men who are buried in Southborough’s Old Burial Ground, but as I started to do research it seemed appropriate to begin with the three men who died during the war. As it happens none of them is buried in the Old Burial Ground, probably because of the impracticality in the 1770’s of transporting bodies long distances. I have already examined the lives of Private Jesse Amsden and Major Josiah Fay, and their families. The third Southborough casualty of the war was Private Joseph Fay. Unfortunately, since he died during the war and he was unmarried, it is much more difficult to piece together his life. One of the great sources for learning about the veterans of the Revolutionary War era are the pension applications of either the veterans themselves or those of their widows. Neither of those sources exists for Joseph Fay because he died during the war and did not leave a widow.  The few records of his military service, give a much more skeletal view of his life than the pension applications often offer.

We know that Joseph Fay was born into a large family, one of Aaron Fay’s 18 children. Joseph was born on August 19, 1756 in Southborough, the oldest son of Aaron Fay and his second wife, Eunice Bradish Farr. Aaron Fay and his first wife Thankful had ten children, three of whom died as infants.  Aaron and his second wife Eunice had eight children, one of whom died as a child. Four of Joseph’s older half-brothers, Aaron Jr., Elijah, Heman, and Nathan, as well as his younger brother Francis also served during the American Revolution. The Aaron Fay family obviously believed in the cause of American independence.

Joseph marched to Concord on April 19, 1775 as a member of the Southborough militia in Captain Josiah Fay’s Company. He also served for three months fifteen days in 1775 during the occupation of Dorchester Heights.  On May 15th 1777, Joseph enlisted in Captain Aaron Haynes Company of the 13th Regiment of the State of Massachusetts, under the command of Colonel Wigglesworth. Joseph received a twenty-dollar bounty for enlisting, some of which may have helped support his younger siblings. He reported for duty on September 19, 1777 and served for a total of eighteen weeks and one day before his death was reported at Valley Forge on May 4, 1778. He was 21 years old. The total pay for his service in 1777/78 was $44.17. As in the case of fellow Southborough soldier Jesse Amsden, who also died at Valley Forge, we do not know where Joseph is buried. We are uncertain as to where in New York City, Joseph’s second cousin Major Josiah Fay, is buried. There is a plaque at the Old Burial Ground commemorating the service of the three men from Southborough who died during the Revolutionary War.

We are grateful for all those who served during the War for Independence and to the military veterans who have served through out our history.

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From Gravedigger to General

by Sally Watters

 

                                                  Nathan Johnson (1779-1852)

 As we move further and further from the time that the Old Burial Ground was an active cemetery, trying to learn about the people buried there becomes increasingly challenging. While doing research about the people in the Old Burial Ground, one resource that has proven to be invaluable is the Burial Book containing the names of the people buried there starting in 1794. There are also church records extant from 1799 on and town records beginning in 1727. By using all these sources, one can piece together most of the deaths that occurred in Southborough from its creation as a separate town forward. The sources complement each other because sometimes a record appears in one source, but not another. The thing that makes the Burial Book fascinating is that it often includes interesting comments about the cause of death. It also notes if someone died elsewhere, but was buried in Southborough, or if someone died here, but is buried elsewhere. The Burial Book was started in 1794 by Nathan Johnson when he was fifteen years old. I became curious as to the identity of this young gravedigger and began to dig into his life. I was amazed at the trajectory that his life took.

Nathan was born in Southborough in 1779, the oldest child of Elisha Johnson and his second wife, Sarah Perry. He was the great-grandson of William Johnson, an original settler of Southborough. His father and at least three uncles fought in the American Revolution. Service to the country and community was part of Nathan’s DNA. He began digging graves for the town in 1794 and began keeping records of deaths in the Burial Book. One of the first deaths he recorded was that of Rachel Johnson. Next to her name was the simple notation, “my grandmother.” There were only twelve deaths that year. Nathan, apparently a very devout young man, wrote “This year has been very healthy, no epidemical diseases has been suffered to come in among us to destroy our happiness. Let all mankind improve their health to the glory of their Maker.” The following year, he recorded the death of Hannah Johnson, age 2, and added “my sister.” The town had enjoyed another healthy year with only nine burials. One of those burials had been challenging he said because “What is here astonishing to be remarked of this gentleman is that he was one of the most corpulent persons, perhaps, in this country, He weighed in March last 430 pounds, and it is altogether likely that when he died, he weighed much more.” The next year, 1796, was far from a healthy year for Southborough. Nathan had to dig 36 graves, including many for children who succumbed to a scarlet fever epidemic that swept through Massachusetts. Eight of Reuben Fay’s children died in a six-week period. The following few years averaged twelve to fourteen burials.

Perhaps dealing with the uncertainties of life on a regular basis motivated Nathan to make the most of his life. He left Southborough to attend Yale, graduating in 1802. After his graduation from Yale, he lived with the family of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, studying law. He began his law practice in Hartford, Connecticut in 1808.

During the War of 1812, Nathan served as a captain in the Connecticut militia first under Colonel William Belcher and then under Colonel Ezra Brainard. After the war, he served in the Connecticut Light Artillery. He rose to the rank of brigadier general of the artillery of the state of Connecticut and also served as quartermaster general of the state. When Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette visited Hartford in 1824, General Nathan Johnson was responsible for the parade of soldiers that greeted him and he served as Lafayette’s escort.

Nathan Johnson was also involved in many civic affairs. He served as the treasurer of Hartford for sixteen years. He also was clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and later was a member of both the Connecticut House and Senate during the 1820’s. He was a supporter of the Hartford Female Seminary, one of the first educational institutions for women. He was very active at Yale where he served as a Fellow of Yale College helping prepare students for entrance, and served on the board of the corporation of Yale. In 1827 he was recognized with an honorary degree from Harvard. His law practice in Hartford flourished. He also served as a judge in Connecticut.

Did this son of Southborough ever return to the town of his birth? The only mention of Nathan Johnson in the town history, Fences of Stone, is that “…the first temperance lecture ever given in Southborough, delivered by General Nathan Johnson of Hartford at the home of Josiah Johnson…” was delivered in 1826. Nowhere is it noted that Nathan was originally from Southborough and was in fact giving the speech at the home of his brother! It is likely that Nathan Johnson returned to visit his parents and siblings on many other occasions. He is recognized in the will of his father, who did not die until 1832, with the following bequest – “That my son Nathan Johnson, who has received his portion in a liberal education, receive in addition thereto, at the decease of myself and my wife, with all my other children, an equal share in my library.” Education and reading were important to the Johnson family. His mother survived until 1847. His parents and several of his siblings are buried in the Old Burial Ground.

Nathan Johnson died in 1852 at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife and seven children. He was a prominent lawyer in Hartford, and had served as a judge. His will hints that he was also a successful businessman and a serious scholar. The inventory of his possessions includes shares in several business ventures, several parcels of land, as well as hundreds of books and pamphlets with titles ranging from legal topics to works relating to religion and science. The young man who started out as a gravedigger at Southborough’s Old Burial Ground at the age of 15, died a celebrated lawyer, judge, and general. He is not buried in the cemetery in Southborough where he dug so many graves. His grave is in Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford.

Sources
1. Massachusetts, U.S. Towns and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Church Records, with Births, Marriages, and Deaths
2. Massachusetts, U.S. Towns and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Births, Marriages, and Deaths
3. Fences of Stone – the passage about Temperance Speech
4. Commemorative Biographical Sketches of Hartford County
5. Vital Records of Southborough 1727-1849
6. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1796-scarlet-fever-epidemic
7. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999
8. Massachusetts, Worcester County, Wills and Probate Records 1635-1991

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Remembering a Southborough Patriot on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day it seems appropriate to commemorate the life of one of the three men from Southborough died in the Revolutionary War. The last post was devoted to Jesse Amsden who was among the almost 2000 soldiers who died while at Valley Forge. The other two men who died during the Revolution were both members of the extensive Fay family. Major Josiah Fay and Private Joseph Fay. They were among over a dozen men from the Fay family who served from Southborough.

Major Josiah Fay

Josiah Fay was born in Westborough in 1731, the son of John and Hannah (Child) Fay.  John’s father died the year after his birth, leaving his mother with five young children. Two years later, she married Samuel Lyscom of Southborough whose wife had died the previous year leaving him with 7 children. Hannah and her new husband would have 3 additional children leaving the potential for 15 children in the Fay/Lyscom household. However, a 1738 document in the Worcester County Probate Court shows that for at least part of the time, Hannah’s children by John Fay of Westborough, including Josiah, were placed under the guardianship of his father’s cousin, John Fay of Southborough.  Another document shows that Josiah’s father’s estate was finally settled in 1746 with the disposal of his extensive land holdings of almost 200 acres in Westborough and Shrewsbury. Josiah’s share was valued at 196 pounds.

In 1755, during the French and Indian War, Josiah served first as a Sargent and then as a Lieutenant, in Captain John Taplin’s Militia Company. There were at least seven other men from Southborough who marched out with Captain Taplin’s Company in June 1755. In September, on their way to try to capture Crown Point, the colonial militia and British soldiers, were attacked and routed by a large force of French and Indians. Most retreated safely back to Fort William Henry, but Josiah’s 1st cousin once removed, John Fay Jr., the son of his former guardian, was killed in the attack.

Upon returning to Southborough, Josiah married Mary Bent in 1758. They had nine children including two sets of twins. All of their children reached adulthood except for one of the twins who died in 1773 at age 15. Josiah Fay was very active in town and regional politics. He served several terms as a selectman. Having fought alongside the British, he was nonetheless alarmed as the British government began to tighten regulations and introduce new taxes in the colonies. He was chosen to be a member of Southborough’s Committee of Correspondence, part of the network that was set up to keep towns abreast of the actions of the British government and the reactions of the colonial governments. He also led the Southborough militia which was training regularly in preparation for any actions the British might take. The militia was not only training, but was also stockpiling ammunition in the town powder-house that was located in the burial ground. In 1774, in reaction to the Intolerable Acts that the British had imposed as punishment for the Boston Tea Party, the town passed a non-importation resolution agreeing to boycott British goods. In January 1775, Josiah Fay was elected as Southborough’s representative to the Massachusetts Provincial government.

When one of the many riders sent out by the committees of correspondence network to alert towns that the British were marching toward Concord to confiscate weapons and ammunition stored there reached Southborough early in the morning of April 19, 1775, the Southborough militia companies responded quickly.  As Captain of the Southborough militia, Josiah commanded one of the militia companies that answered the alarm.  He served for five days.  In May 1775, he was commissioned by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress as a Captain in the regiment initially commanded by General Artemas Ward and later by Colonel Jonathan Ward.  Officially designated the 21st Massachusetts Regiment, it was generally known as Ward’s Regiment. Captain Elijah Fay’s company of 32 men took part in the siege of Boston that lasted about eleven months. The siege included time on Dorchester Heights, the Roxbury Guard, and Bunker Hill. Shortly after the British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, the Continental Army, including Captain Josiah Fay and Ward’s Regiment, marched south to New York where Josiah Fay’s service was rewarded with a promotion to Major.

Back home in Southborough, a town meeting held on June 10, 1776 voted to support independence if the Continental Congress decided on such a course of action. Josiah Fay and the army in New York City would learn that the Continental Congress had finally declared the independence of the United States on July 4th, 1776. In Southborough, where the idea of independence had wide support, Josiah’s family heard the Reverend Stone read a copy of the Declaration of Independence from the pulpit on a Sunday in mid-July. That copy of the Declaration of Independence is at the Southborough Historical Society Museum. In New York, many people did not share Southborough’s enthusiastic support for independence. The Continental Army found itself faced with opposition from loyalists who did not agree with the idea of separating from England. On August 8, 1776, Major Josiah Fay died after his food was poisoned by a loyalist.

Josiah’s widow Mary was left with their eight surviving children ranging in age from 19-year-old Josiah to 5-year-old Alpheus. From surviving evidence, we can conclude that Mary was a strong, capable woman. She was made administratix of Josiah’s estate. From 1777 until 1793 she was listed as a voter for Southborough Town Meetings. Mary survived her husband by 57 years, dying in 1833. The final value of her estate was $2000 (about $64,000 today.)  When her son Peter, a lawyer, died just six weeks after his mother, the man who was appointed administrator of Mary’s estate was none other than Larkin Newton, the school teacher turned lawyer who would later be suspected of defrauding Revolutionary War veteran widow Lovisa Amsden. (Blog of April 17th)

Mary Fay is buried in the Old Burial Ground. Her tombstone includes that she is the “Widow of Major Josiah Fay who died in the continental army in the City of New York August 8, 1776.”  Josiah Fay was buried in New York City, possibly in the St. Paul’s churchyard.

We owe much to the three Southborough men who died during the American War for Independence: Jesse Amsden, Joseph Fay, and Josiah Fay as we remember them on Memorial Day.

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Patriotism & Scandal in Southborough! A Post for Patriot’s Day

By Sally Watters

When Michael asked me to take a more active role in writing for this website, I knew I had big shoes to fill. With Patriots Day approaching my plan was to try to learn something about the Revolutionary War veterans who are buried in the Old Burial Ground. In a sense, I wanted to try to put a little flesh on their bones so they would be more than just names. It seemed appropriate to start with the three men from Southborough who had died during the Revolutionary War.

I decided to begin with Jesse Amsden. It is difficult to find a great deal of information about someone who has been dead for almost 250 years. As I began to do research, I discovered that not only had the Amsden family lost the family patriarch, but that four of his sons also joined in the fight for American independence. The family paid a high price for its patriotism. Sadly, I also discovered that preying on the elderly, defrauding the government and government red tape are nothing new. What started as a project to try to learn about Jesse Amsden ended up as the story of five Revolutionary War veterans from the Amsden family. And I have not even gotten to the other two Southborough men who died during the war or the dozens of other Southborough veterans of the Revolutionary War who deserve attention.

Jesse Amsden

Jesse Amsden was born in 1729, the youngest of John and Hannah Howe Amsden’s thirteen children. Jesse was the only one of the thirteen children born in Southborough. His eight brothers and four sisters were all born in Marlborough.  The family had not moved, but town lines had when, in 1727, the Stony Brook region of Marlborough was granted permission by the General Court of Massachusetts to form the new Town of Southborough. Jesse’s father John was among the men who had petitioned the state asking that Stony Brook be allowed to separate from Marlborough. John served as a selectman in the newly established town and was a deacon of the church. In 1748, Jesse married Southborough resident Bette Ball with whom he had seven sons and five daughters. When hostilities broke out with England, it did not take Jesse long to become involved.  He served as a Private in Captain Ezekiel Knowlton’s Company of Colonel Nicholas Dike’s Massachusetts Infantry Regiment at Dorchester Heights from December 15th 1776 until March 1st 1777.

In May of 1777, shortly before his 48th birthday, Jesse was recruited by Captain Aaron Haynes of Sudbury to enlist in the Continental Army. He was paid a bounty of $20 for enlisting. Jesse was assigned to Captain Haynes Company in the 13th Massachusetts Regiment/6th Continental Regiment under the command of Colonel Edward Wigglesworth. Jesse joined the regiment in July of 1777. Although several of his children were adults at the time of his departure for the Continental Army, his wife Bette was left with seven children at home who ranged in age from 16 to 2. The $20 bounty had probably been an enticing incentive to help with family expenses. Six months after joining the regiment, Jesse died on January 9th, 1778 at Valley Forge. The cause of death was listed as sickness. Jesse was most likely buried in one of the towns near Valley Forge where the sick soldiers were sent. He is not buried in Southborough. His widow Bette seems to disappear from the record books after his death, but several of his children can be tracked.

Jonas and Ephraim Amsden

Four of Jesse’s sons also joined the military during the Revolutionary War. His oldest son Jonas answered the Lexington Alarm of April 19th, 1775. He was a Drummer for Captain Elijah Bellow’s militia company which served for sixteen days. Ephraim, Jesse and Bette’s next son, also answered the Lexington Alarm as a Private in Captain Josiah Fay’s Company which served for five days. Shortly after that service, Ephraim, then a Corporal in Captain Fay’s Company in the regiment commanded by Colonel Jonathan Ward, served from August 1st through October 7th, 1775 at Dorchester Heights.  Ephraim, who died in 1819, is buried in an unmarked grave in the Old Burial Ground (OBG). His widow Martha died in 1834 and is also buried in an unmarked grave in the OBG. Jonas Amsden and his wife Hannah moved to Mason, NH after the war and are not buried in the Southborough.

John and Silas Amsden

In March 1781, two of Jesse and Bette’s sons, 18-year-old John and 17-year-old Silas, enlisted in the Continental Army. Silas was described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall with a light complexion. Silas was a Private in Captain John Nutting’s Company in Colonel Job Cushing’s 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. He was discharged in September 1783 after being injured when a load of wood that he was transporting for the garrison at West Point ran over his leg. His knee never healed correctly, leaving him disabled.  In April of 1793, Silas Amsden began receiving a pension of $60 a year because of his disability. Silas married Sarah Hemenway of Framingham. In 1797, Silas died in Framingham at the age of 33. The settlement of his estate shows that he was heavily in debt when he died. His creditors were awarded 4 cents on the dollar. Silas is not buried in the OBG. In 1797, the same year that Silas died, his brother John named his newborn son Silas.

John Amsden, described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and of fair complexion, served in Captain Elnathan Haskell’s Company in the regiment commanded by Colonel William Shepard’s. At least part of his service was spent working for the Quartermaster General obtaining supplies. in January 1784 he was discharged by General Henry Knox in New York with the rank of Sargent. Shortly after returning to Southborough, he married Lovisa Bellows. Like his brother Silas, John did not prosper after the war. John and Lovisa had eight children, only three of whom reached adulthood.

In 1819, John applied for a veteran’s service pension stating in his affidavit that he was disabled. He also stated that his three children were sickly and incapable of doing more than light work. An inventory of his possessions at that time showed he owned only three acres of land and had very few personal possessions. He was granted a pension, but after his death in 1827, his widow Lovisa had no means of support. By 1834, both Lovisa and her oldest son, John, had been admitted to the Southborough poorhouse.

The Struggle for a Widow’s Pension

When Congress passed a law in 1836 making the widows of Revolutionary War veterans eligible for pensions, a local man, Larkin Newton, stepped up to help Lovisa apply for a pension. In 1817, early in his career, Larkin Newton had been the school master for the west school district of Southborough. He angered some parents when he severely whipped two students.  As a result of the whippings, a special town meeting was called and Mr. Newton was warned to limit his use of physical punishment. The following school year he had moved to the center school district in Southborough where he faced continued concern about his harsh disciplinary methods. He gave up teaching the next year.

From 1837 until his death in 1840, Larkin Newton served as an overseer of the poorhouse. In that position, he was very aware of the poverty faced by Lovisa Amsden and her son John, volunteering to help Lovisa with her application for a widow’s pension. Larkin Newton began to assemble the necessary documents but ran into a problem when no record of John and Lovisa’s marriage could be found. Under the Pension Act of 1836, the widow had to have been married to the veteran while he was still in the military. Larkin Newton submitted statements from several people, including Lovisa’s 85-year-old sister Lucretia Wood of Sherborn, that they were aware of John and Lovisa’s marriage and thought it had taken place in 1782. The pension was approved and by March 1840 the government had sent a total of $720 (about $22,000 today) which included back payments. The very trusting, nearly blind and illiterate Lovisa had placed her X on several documents when requested to do so by Larkin Newton.

A second Pension Act was passed in 1838 allowing pensions for widows who had married a veteran by 1794.  Lovisa maintained that she and John had been married in 1784 just after John was discharged from the military, thereby making her eligible for a pension under the 1838 act. Larkin Newton, who had died in September 1840, had told her that under the Pension Act of 1836 she was not eligible to receive a pension. It took several years before people realized that Lovisa had been defrauded by Mr. Newton.  Lydia Bellows of Shrewsbury, John’s sister, asked Elijah Clark, a Justice of the Peace who worked to help obtain pensions, to help her brother’s widow Lovisa get a pension.

When Clark corresponded with the War Department, he was shocked to learn that she had already received a pension under the Pension Act of 1836. Lovisa was also surprised. She maintained that she had never received any money from a pension. As documents were assembled and reviewed, people began to suspect that Larkin Newton had forged a number of the documents including one from the Southborough Town Clerk listing the births of Lovisa’s nine children. Her oldest child was listed as Jonathan, born in 1783. The only problem was that Jonathan was a figment of Larkin Newton’s imagination, created in an attempt to show that John and Lovisa had been married before John left the military. In reality, John and Lovisa had only eight children, the oldest of whom was William, born in 1785. Numerous statements from such leading Southborough citizens as Swain Parker, Sullivan Fay and Joel Burnett were sent to the government attesting to the good character of Lovisa, and opining that she would never have tried to defraud the government. Joel Burnett, the town clerk in 1843, sent a statement to the War Department that several old documents dating between 1779 and 1789, had been found in a hitherto misplaced chest.

Among the documents was a paper showing the intentions of marriage for John and Lovisa dated July 1784. That helped establish their marriage, but at the same time created a problem. The government demanded the money that had already been distributed be returned because it had been granted under the Pension Act of 1836 under which she was ineligible. That act required the widow to have been married to the veteran while he was in the military and John and Lovisa’s marriage had taken place after he was discharged.   Lovisa’s champions pointed out that whereas she had not been eligible under the Pension Act of 1836, she was eligible under the Pension Act of 1838 so would have received the money anyway.

The government had stopped payments in 1840 when Larkin Newton died so was no longer sending in the necessary paperwork. Lovisa’s supporters thought that at the very least, Lovisa should receive payments from 1840 forward.  Lovisa Amsden died in 1846 still a resident in the town poorhouse, without ever receiving any of the widow’s pension to which she was entitled. Her only surviving child, John, attempted to collect the money to which his mother had been entitled. The dispute was still under advisement in 1851, but it appears that the matter was never resolved. John and Lovisa’s son John died in the town poorhouse in 1863. John, the Revolutionary War veteran, and his widow Lovisa are buried in unmarked graves in the Old Burial Ground as are several of their children.

The story of Larkin Newton’s teaching is found in Fences of Stone by Nick Noble.