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Biographical Materials Written After 1938
Abigail Gardner Drew (1777-1868) was the daughter of George Gardner (1731-1785) and Rebekah Coffin Gardner (1741-1826) of Nantucket, Massachusetts. George Gardner was a Justice of the Inferior Court. On April 16, 1795, Abigail Gardner married Gershom Drew, Jr. (1774-1826), of Nantucket, and they had two so...
Abigail Gardner Drew (1777-1868) was the daughter of George Gardner (1731-1785) and Rebekah Coffin Gardner (1741-1826) of Nantucket, Massachusetts. George Gardner was a Justice of the Inferior Court. On April 16, 1795, Abigail Gardner married Gershom Drew, Jr. (1774-1826), of Nantucket, and they had two sons, Edwin Drew (1800-1812) and George Gardner Drew (1803-1808). Abigail's descendent, Norma Gardner of Oakdale, Massachusetts, has...
Abigail Gardner Drew (1777-1868) was the daughter of George Gardner (1731-1785) and Rebekah Coffin Gardner (1741-1826) of Nantucket, Massachusetts. George Gardner was a Justice of the Inferior Court. On April 16, 1795, Abigail Gardner married Gershom Drew, Jr. (1774-1826), of Nantucket, and they had two sons, Edwin Drew (1800-1812) and George Gardner Drew (1803-1808). Abigail's descendent, Norma Gardner of Oakdale, Massachusetts, has told the Society that, according to family legend, Abigail Drew ran from her husband around 1800 in the company of another man and is buried in Blandford, Massachusetts.
The diary first contains reminiscences about earlier events in Abigail Drew’s life, primarily the courtship with Gershom Drew and her early feelings of love for him. Their marriage, however, seems not to have been a happy one. Mrs. Drew frequently wrote that her home life was difficult, seemingly intolerable at times. She often questioned why her life was filled with such misery. Her only comfort was the minimal relief that she received by confiding in a few female friends. She later came to think this not wise and decided to keep her troubles to herself. Brief passages recount her daily social activities through this difficult period, e.g., weddings, funerals, church attendance, singing and card parties, etc. Later entries reveal a change toward a more religious life. Poetry and financial records are scattered throughout the diary.
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Undated Newspaper Column Entitled Home Letters
Joseph Allen (1790-1873), the son of Phineas and Ruth Smith Allen, of Medfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard in 1811. He then studied for the ministry and in l8l6 was called by the town of Northborough to be its third minister. It was a post he held for forty years, until he voluntarily relinquished hi...
Joseph Allen (1790-1873), the son of Phineas and Ruth Smith Allen, of Medfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard in 1811. He then studied for the ministry and in l8l6 was called by the town of Northborough to be its third minister. It was a post he held for forty years, until he voluntarily relinquished his pulpit duties and his salary. He remained, however, engaged in church affairs as senior pastor.
Until the disestablishment of...
Joseph Allen (1790-1873), the son of Phineas and Ruth Smith Allen, of Medfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard in 1811. He then studied for the ministry and in l8l6 was called by the town of Northborough to be its third minister. It was a post he held for forty years, until he voluntarily relinquished his pulpit duties and his salary. He remained, however, engaged in church affairs as senior pastor.
Until the disestablishment of the church in Massachusetts in 1833 Allen, as the Congregationalist minister, was minister of the entire town of Northborough and chairman of the district school committee. It was a role he relished: the school children were invited to play in his extensive gardens; he arranged for young women to earn, through their handiwork, money to purchase books for a library; and he instituted a series of public lyceums.
Soon after arriving in Northborough, Joseph and his wife opened a school to earn extra income and eventually to be able to educate their own family of seven children at home. The Allen School was a Northborough institution for decades.
Joseph Allen was a beloved figure in his community. He was more widely honored by being chosen as a delegate to the Paris Peace Convention in l849 and as a representative to the Massachusetts General Court, for a four-month term in 1864. His influence in Unitarian circles was far-reaching. Within a month of his death, memorial services to him were preached from pulpits in Quincy, Illinois, and San Francisco, California.
Lucy Clark Ware Allen (1791-1866) was the daughter of Henry and Mary Clark Ware. She was their eldest surviving child and the eldest of his nineteen children. Her childhood was spent in Hingham, Massachusetts, but in l805 the family moved to Cambridge on the occasion of Henry Ware, a Unitarian luminary, being named Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard.
Proximity must have played a role in Lucy and Joseph's romance as Joseph studied with Henry Ware. In February of 1818 the couple was married and the young minister brought his bride to Northborough to a newly built house across the common from the church. They arrived from Cambridge, after dark, in a rainstorm. In later years Lucy remembered "…how pretty the village looked, when arriving at the top of the hill by Capt. Hunt's. Mr. Allen said, 'There is Northborough!' and peeping out from behind my umbrella I saw the lights in the village a short distance below and beyond."
Lucy was well qualified by temperament and experience to preside over a large family-her own plus the student boarders. Her intelligence, patience and humor enabled her to survive the occasional "…talking and racketting and thumping…" of the boys as well as the muck "…tracked through the house by our 20 pairs of feet." In addition to her regular duties, she acted as the manager and taskmaster necessary to the production of two early student newspapers-"The Meteor" and "The Nosegay", printed in 1835-1836.
During the last eight years of her life Lucy was an invalid. The effects of a stroke kept her confined to the parsonage where she was lovingly cared for by her family. Her death was lamented but also welcomed as a release from her long suffering.
Joseph and Lucy married on 3 February 1818. They had seven children: Mary Ware; Joseph Henry (1820-1898), who married Anna Minot Weld (1820-1907); Thomas Prentiss (1822-1868), who married Sarah Alexander Lord (1825-1904); Elizabeth Waterhouse (1824-1893); Lucy Clark; Edward Augustus Holyoke; and William Francis (1830-1889), who married [1] Mary Tileston Lambert (1842-1865) and [2] Margaret Loring Andrews (1839- ).
Mary Ware Allen Johnson (1819-1897), the eldest child of Joseph and Lucy Clark Ware Allen, was born in Northborough. She was educated at home and i
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An American Edition
Brief Memo of the Literary Career, &c., of the late E.R. Mitford, Esq.
Biographical Notes on Maria Allen
Anthony Chase (1791-1879), son of Israel Chase (1760-1797) and Matilda Butterworth Chase (1765-1843), was a man of varied interests—a Worcester merchant, part-owner of the Massachusetts Spy, official in a Worcester insurance company and in various banks, and an active member of the Quaker church. He marrie...
Anthony Chase (1791-1879), son of Israel Chase (1760-1797) and Matilda Butterworth Chase (1765-1843), was a man of varied interests—a Worcester merchant, part-owner of the Massachusetts Spy, official in a Worcester insurance company and in various banks, and an active member of the Quaker church. He married, on 2 June 1819, Lydia Earle (1798-1852), the daughter of Pliny Earle (1762-1832), who developed the manufacture of machine-card cl...
Anthony Chase (1791-1879), son of Israel Chase (1760-1797) and Matilda Butterworth Chase (1765-1843), was a man of varied interests—a Worcester merchant, part-owner of the Massachusetts Spy, official in a Worcester insurance company and in various banks, and an active member of the Quaker church. He married, on 2 June 1819, Lydia Earle (1798-1852), the daughter of Pliny Earle (1762-1832), who developed the manufacture of machine-card cloth in the United States, and of Patience Buffum Earle (1770-1849), sister of Arnold Buffum (1782-1859), the anti-slavery lecturer. Anthony and Lydia had six children: Pliny Earle Chase (1820-1886), scientist and professor at Haverford College; Lucy Chase (1822-1909); Thomas Chase (1827-1892); Eliza Earle Chase (1829-1896); Charles Augustus Chase (1833-1911); and Sarah Earle Chase (1836-1915), teacher with her sister Lucy. All three sons graduated from Harvard College.
Anthony married second, on 19 April 1854, Hannah Greene (1824-1918), daughter of Daniel Greene ( - ) and Phebe Greene ( - ), of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. They had two children: Emily Greene Chase (1855-1930), who married Joseph Russel Marble (1852-1920); and Frederick Anthony Chase (1858-1862).
Lucy Chase, second child and oldest daughter of Anthony and Lydia, was an intelligent and well-educated woman, as well as an accomplished artist and sculptor. She attended the Friends' Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1837 to 1841. For the period from 1863 to 1869, Lucy taught in contraband camps and freedmen schools in the South. She and her sister, Sarah, traveled in Europe during the years 1870 to 1875. They returned to Worcester and Lucy remained there until her death in 1909.
Thomas Chase, third child and second son of Anthony and Lydia, was a classical scholar and college president. After graduating Harvard with high honors in 1848, Thomas became master of the Cambridge High School. He held the position until 1850 when he returned to Harvard, as interim professor of Latin for one year. He remained at Harvard, until 1853, as an instructor in history and chemistry, then as a tutor in Latin. During the years 1853 to 1855, he traveled and studied throughout Europe. Upon his return to the United States he accepted the chair of philology and classic literature at Haverford College. He was elected president of the College in 1875, resigning in 1886. Thomas eventually settled in Providence, Rhode Island, where he died of Bright's disease in 1892.
Thomas married, on 8 February 1860, Alice Underhill Cromwell (1836-1882), of New York. They had five children: Caroline Chase (1861- ), William Cromwell Chase (1862- ), Thomas Herbert Chase (1864- ), Alfred Chase (1868- ) and Ralph Stanley Chase (1879- ).
Charles Augustus Chase, fifth child and youngest son of Anthony and Lydia, was a banker, scholar, historian, antiquarian, and office holder. After graduating Harvard in 1855, Charles was a reporter, then office editor, for the Boston Daily Advertiser until 1862. Charles returned to Worcester where he was elected treasurer of Worcester County, serving from 1864 to 1875. He served as Register of Deeds for the year 1876, and served as secretary of the Worcester Board of Trade. In 1879, he was elected treasurer of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, serving in that position until 1904, when he was elected its president. He resigned that office in 1908, due to bad health, and died in Worcester in 1911.
Charles married, on 29 April 1863, Mary Teresa Clark ( -1884), of Boston, Massachusetts. They had two children: Mary Alice Chase (1865-1940), who married Thomas Hovey Gage (1865-1938); and Maud Eliza Chase (1867-1950
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Draft of an article or speech by unknown author
Gage Family Papers, 1810-1942
Anne Sargent Gage (1794-1876), nee Nancy Brown, was born out of wedlock, scandalizing late-eighteenth-century Boston society. Her parents, both from prominent Boston families, were Daniel Sargent (1764-1842), a wealthy merchant and insurance executive, and Hepzibah Atkins Brown Durfee ( -1800). Hepziba...
Anne Sargent Gage (1794-1876), nee Nancy Brown, was born out of wedlock, scandalizing late-eighteenth-century Boston society. Her parents, both from prominent Boston families, were Daniel Sargent (1764-1842), a wealthy merchant and insurance executive, and Hepzibah Atkins Brown Durfee ( -1800). Hepzibah was the daughter of Elizabeth Hayward Atkins (1728- ) and Henry Atkins (1723-1768), also a distinguished Boston merchant, and...
Anne Sargent Gage (1794-1876), nee Nancy Brown, was born out of wedlock, scandalizing late-eighteenth-century Boston society. Her parents, both from prominent Boston families, were Daniel Sargent (1764-1842), a wealthy merchant and insurance executive, and Hepzibah Atkins Brown Durfee ( -1800). Hepzibah was the daughter of Elizabeth Hayward Atkins (1728- ) and Henry Atkins (1723-1768), also a distinguished Boston merchant, and the widow of James Brown ( - ), whom she married in 1788, but who died shortly thereafter. She married, in 1796, James Durfee ( - ), with whom she had a daughter, Mary Durfee Walker (1799-1835).
For the first two years of her life, "Nancy" was raised by her mother. In 1796, her father placed her in the care of the family of a Mr. John Hall of Dorchester, Massachusetts. There she remained until 1808 when it was decided that she disappear from Boston society. She was sent to Waterford, Maine, to live with Rev. Lincoln Ripley (1761-1858) and Phebe Emerson Ripley (1772- ), sister of Rev. William Emerson (1769-1811) and aunt of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). At that time, her name was changed to Anne Brewer. She had no further contact with her father, though he provided for her financially. Around the time of her marriage, Anne wrote to her father that she wished to be married as Anne Sargent. Her father never responded, either to agree or to disagree with her request.
On 7 October 1820, Anne went ahead and—using the name Anne Sargent—married Dr. Leander Gage (1792-1842), the son of Amos Gage (1758-1833) and Lois Hovey Gage (1759-1842) of Bethel, Maine. Dr. Gage was a physician and active community leader in Waterford, Maine. He and Anne had eight children: Phebe Hovey Gage (1821-1890); Frances Gage (1823-1904), who married Humphrey Cousens (1817- ); Irene Bliss Gage (1823-1873); Thomas Hovey Gage (1826-1909); Anne Louisa Gage (1828-1878), who married Calvin Foster ( -1898); Mary Sargent Gage (1830-1909); Lois Maria Gage (1832-1888); and George Manlius Gage (1834-1910), who married Elizabeth S. Webber ( - ). Anne Sargent Gage lived most of her life in Waterford, except for the sixteen years towards the end of her life, when she lived in Worcester, Massachusetts, with her son Thomas. She died on 21 July 1876 and was buried in Waterford next to her husband.
In addition to Leander, Amos and Lois Hovey Gage had three other children: Thomas Hovey Gage (1789-1823), who married Frances Angier Stockbridge ( -1882) and lived in Bath, Maine; William Gage (1795-1820); and Amos Gage (1797-1869). Thomas Hovey Gage's daughter, Lois Gage (1817-1876), married Joel Holkins (1812-1853).
Thomas Hovey Gage, fourth child and eldest son of Dr. Leander and Anne Sargent Gage, was a notable physician, surgeon, and community leader in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1852, and practiced in Sterling, Massachusetts, until 1857, when he removed to Worcester. He married, on 4 June 1860, Anna Maria Lane ( -1908). They had three children: Homer Gage (1861-1938); Thomas Hovey Gage (1865-1938); and Mabel Carleton Gage (1868-1952).
Homer Gage was a surgeon, industrialist, philanthropist, and civic leader in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1882 with the degree of A.B., followed by the degrees of A.M. and M.D. in 1887. For several years, he ran a general practice in Worcester, then dedicated himself entirely to surgery. Upon the unexpected death of his brother-in-law, Lucius J. Knowles ( -1920), then-president of Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Homer was elected president of that company. In 1923, he
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Not A Gold Mine
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS
Biographical Information Regarding Ruth Henshaw Miles Bascom
Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848) was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, the daughter of William Henshaw (1735-1820) and Phebe Swan Henshaw (1753-1808). Her father was an influential Leicester resident, and Ruth Henshaw grew up as a member of a large and very active family. In 1804 she married Dr. Asa Miles...
Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848) was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, the daughter of William Henshaw (1735-1820) and Phebe Swan Henshaw (1753-1808). Her father was an influential Leicester resident, and Ruth Henshaw grew up as a member of a large and very active family. In 1804 she married Dr. Asa Miles (1762-1805), a physician who had graduated from Dartmouth College. They lived in Westminster, Massachusetts, until his death, after wh...
Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848) was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, the daughter of William Henshaw (1735-1820) and Phebe Swan Henshaw (1753-1808). Her father was an influential Leicester resident, and Ruth Henshaw grew up as a member of a large and very active family. In 1804 she married Dr. Asa Miles (1762-1805), a physician who had graduated from Dartmouth College. They lived in Westminster, Massachusetts, until his death, after which she returned to her family in Leicester.
In 1806, she married the Rev. Ezekiel Lysander Bascom (1779?-1841). They had no children, but Ruth Bascom raised his only child by his second marriage, Priscilla Elvira Bascom Philbrick (1803- ), as well as the son of the Reverend Bascom's sister, Eunice Loveland ( -1810), after she committed suicide. The child took the name Lysander Bascom (1803- ), and eventually married Lucretia Tholman ( -1839) of Concord, Massachusetts.
Reverend Bascom served as minister of the Congregational Church in Phillipston, Massachusetts, for twenty-one years. In 1820, he was dismissed by his congregation and the Bascoms moved to Ashby, Massachusetts, where he served a church for fourteen years. In the latter part of his career, he became a Unitarian. After his retirement, he spent winters in Savannah, Georgia, with his daughter, but Ruth Bascom stayed in New England visiting with friends and relatives. Around 1839, they moved to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, where he seems to have served a church on a semi-retired basis. He died there in 1841. Ruth spent her remaining years boarding in Ashby and traveling throughout Massachusetts and Maine.
The last entry in Ruth's diary for 1828 notes that she had kept a journal since 1789. This collection begins with the first diary in 1789 and continues through 1846. The following years are missing: 1795, 1798, 1811, 1815, 1822, 1838, and 1844. Two of the volumes were kept by Ruth's sister, Catherine Henshaw (1784-1806). The only diary for 1804 (from February 13 through December 6) was written by Catherine, but there are two diaries for 1805, one by each woman. Catherine's is incomplete after May. The earliest volumes tend to be the least complete—there are gaps in the coverage and many of the leaves are torn and fragile. For most years, however, there is an entry for each day in which Ruth records the weather and her activities. Her time was occupied, as a young girl, by classes and special programs at Leicester Academy, social activities, housework, and family occasions. After her marriage to the Rev. Bascom, she spent much of her time helping her husband to fulfill his ministerial responsibilities. She carefully recorded his sermon topics, funerals, and marriage ceremonies. Until she began doing pastel portraits and silhouettes the latter part of her life, most of her energy was devoted to visiting, watching the sick, serving on local library and temperance societies, and doing household tasks.
In 1801, she made what appears to be the first entry concerning the profiles for which she is famous. The frequency of these entries increases in the 1820s and 1830s. There are only a few notations of receiving money for her sketches, but there are occasional records of what she spent for art supplies such as the construction of frames for her profiles. Most of the sketches were done for neighbors and relatives, probably as presents for them or their families. Some of the profiles were of deceased children and babies, sketched as remembrances for the parents, and others were done for strangers who had heard of Bascom's ability.
In 1816, she began recording vital statistics for the town in which she lived and, at the same time, she started to keep personal accounts. These records gradually expanded to include births, deaths, marriages, lists of letters received and sent, expenses and visitors. Her lists of visi
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