family of Note II

We are links between the ages containing past and present expectations, sacred memories and future promise ~ Edward Sellner

Oliver Hildreth and the Shaker problem

Our cousin Oliver Hildreth (3C7X) was born in Townsend, MA in 1751. In 1773, he married Mary Wright. Two years later he responded to the First Alarm of the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. In 1777, he was with Washington at the surrender of Burgoyne.

We learn a little bit about Oliver from the Second Publication of the Hildreth Family Association:

Oliver Hildreth was the fourth son of Oliver Hildreth, Jr. (2C8X), of Townsend; he was a farmer and carried on also a smith-shop; he married a Miss Wright, of Westford; he had seven children, three sons and four daughters. After residing in Westford for a good many years sold his farm and removed to Harvard, Mass. He was a jolly good looking man, full of fun and wit and fond of trading horses, and famous as a horseman. His eldest son was named Seth (3C7X), who lived on his father's farm. . .Another son, named Oliver (3C7X), lived in Westford, where he married; he was very good looking, but was rather too fond of fun, dancing and enjoyment. He followed the shoe-making business. Amos (3C7X), another son, joined the Shakers, and, after living with them for twenty years, left them, and is said to have married. The girls were named Sarah, Susan, Polly and Nancy, who were never married, but resided together at Harvard, Mass.

Problems began for Oliver and Mary when two of their children decided to join the Shaker community in the area. The Harvard Shaker Settlement, founded in 1781, was the second Shaker community in the United States and the first in Massachusetts. The two children of Oliver who embraced this community were Amos and Lucy (aka Nancy).

The Shaker religion, like that of the Mormons and Quakers, roused up anger and opposition from much of the general public in the United States. In 1847, Mary Dyer, a former Shaker, published a book called The Rise and Progress of the Serpent from the Garden of Eden to the Present Day. Her book is a scathing criticism of Shakerism and its founder Ann Lee who lived at the Shaker community in Harvard. From the preface of the book:

As the Shakers yet believe that Ann Lee was of pure character, and that she is now a Savior of the world, I feel it a solemn duty to lay before them and the public the following sheets. From my knowledge that the Shaker spirit is Magnetism, mingled with sexual passion, and absolutely opposed to the pure spirit of Christ, I could find no rest in in exposing this delusion, particularly as my dear family were under its influence. . .the reader. . .will see that it has caused falsehood, injustice and cruelty, which is utter opposed to the consoling power of truth. . .The Shakers have an artful publication, which attempts to blend Jesus of Nazareth and Ann Lee together, man and wife, male and female saviours which is an impious and blasphemous fraud, and the very essence of Antichrist.

In her book, Dyer included 75 "affadavits" from families affected by the Shaker religion. Included was one written by our cousin Oliver and his wife in 1825.

We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Harvard, have been acquainted with the Shakers in this place about twelve years. We had a son and daughter who joined them, which was very unexpected by us. These children were both adults, and had been of perfect health. After they had attended a few of their meetings, our son was missing, and we found him at the Shakers. With exertion we got him home. He appeared insane—would stand in one posture, with his eyes fixed, and then he would dance for hours, and have spells like fits. He would not wear clothes sufficient for comfort. We were greatly distressed on his account The Shakers said he would be no better unless he went back, and we consented he should go. Our daughter went with him on promise of returning the next morning. She did not return for several days, and then she came with her hair cut, and a Shaker cap on. We were grieved at this infatuation; but she would have her clothes, and return to the Shakers. This was in March. The next we heard of her was, that she was very sick, and she died very suddenly the 22d of August following. We went to the funeral, and took our minister with us, but there was no liberty for prayer. When we went to the grave, we had to walk behind the Shaker procession. At the grave, the Shakers made a ring around the grave, and thus shut out our family. One of our daughters crowded through, and we followed, and saw her put in the grave. On our return, the doors were shut against us, and we were treated as if we were barbarians. Our daughter had willed to our family several small articles, and it was with great difficulty we got possession of some of them—the Shakers kept the remainder, pretending they did not know where they were.

The same fall our son was token sick, but we had no knowledge of it until the next February. The Shakers were unwilling we should any have care of him, or even see him, and under their treatment he was reduced to a skeleton, and became distracted. At last we went there with a physician, and were determined to fetch him home. We got him away, though there was much opposition to it, and we were ordered out of the house. Our son was the most miserable creature imaginable. After we got him home, he grew better, until he gained his health.

They certainly are very cruel and severe, and refuse people the privilege of seeing their friends. We believe they intended we should not know of our son's sickness; and the doctor said he would have died under their treatment We have evident reason to believe that many are hastened out of the world by their wickedness and cruelty.

Harvard, August 20, 1825.

Sharker records show that Amos was admitted to the Church on 16 Sep 1813 when he was 19 years old. His sister Lucy was admitted six months later in March of 1814. Lucy died in August after only five months with the Shakers. Amos stayed with the church for 25 years. Church records show that he aposticized in 1838.

Note: To apostacize is to renounce a religious or political belief or principle.

Whatever happened to Amos after he left the church is a mystery. I can find no further record of him.

Below is a colorized photograph of the Shaker barn in Harvard which was built in 1835, three years before Amos apostasized. The photograph was taken in the early 20th century.

Parley Howlett 

Our cousin Parley Howlett (2C7X) was born in Shaftsbury, VT in 1754. In 1797, he moved his family to Onondaga Hollow, near Syracuse, in New York. He purchased land on a hill that still bears his name, Howlett Hill. Parley died in 1803, just six years after his arrival.

Today Howlett Hill Park, located on Parley Howlett's original parcel of land land, is a nine acre park off Howlett Hill Road, featuring athletic fields, a tennis court, basketball court, a covered shelter, and playground

Parley Howlett, Jr. (3C6X) was 19 years old when his father died. He had spent his youth working with his father clearing land and farming. Parley, Jr. worked with his brothers on his father's land until 1807 when he purchased 100 acres of land. Seven years later, he was able to buy an additional 200 acres.

Parley cleared all his land and began the manufacture of salt. His business increased to the point that he was able to start shipping his salt up the Oswego River to the Great Lakes. Parley was able to get his product as far as Cleveland on Lake Erie. After exchanging his salt for cattle and horses, he would drive the animals overland back to Onondaga Hollow where he began a meat packing business. We learn a little more about Parley from a biography in the History of Onandaga County:

. . .and upon the formation of the Republican Party, [he] became a warm supporter of its principles; and so opposed was he to the priciple of slavery that, upon the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1860, that question seemed to occupy his whole attention, and he desired that the war should never be ended until that institution was abolished.

Sadly, Parley died before he saw that desire fulfilled. He died on May 18, 1861 at age 77.

Parley Howlett was no ordinay person. He was a man of quick apprehension and strong convictions, frank and fealess in ther expression, and enegetic in carrying them out. Was sanguine in temperment, and hopeful, ready to meet and strong to overcome the difficulties in the ways of self-made men, and admirably fitted by the possession of those qualities to fight the battles of a pioneer life.

Parley had 11 children with his first wife and three with his second wife who he married in 1833. After his death, Parley's bequests to his children led to a 1868 lawsuit between one of his sons from his from marriage and a daughter from his second. We'll have that story in a future post.

Peter Bent Brigham

Our cousin Peter Bent Brigham (6C8X) was born in 1807 in Bakerfield, Vermont. His father, Uriah (5C9X), died when when he was only 13 leaving the family in "dire financial straits." To help ease the strain on the family, Peter set off for Boston to find his fame and fortune. He worked for a time helping to run boats that traversed the Middlesex Canal, the very canal that was created and engineered by our cousin Loammi Baldwin (3C7X). Peter also worked selling fish and oysters from a wheelbarrow on the Boston waterfront.

Peter was eventually able to open his own restaurant on the corner of Hanover and Court Streets in Boston. He owned that business until 1869. With the proceeds from his restaurant business, he was able to invest the money into other projects which included purchasing several hotels. By the time he died in 1877, Peter was a very wealthy man.

Peter never married and had no children. All of his siblings save two had already died. In his quite extensive will, however, he endeavored to take care of not only his extended family, but those not so fortunate as well.

After his just debts were paid, Peter directed his executors to pay the Mount Auborn Cemetery "such sum of money. . .requisite" to keep his tomb "perpetually in good order and repair." He also designated that no one should be interred there except him and his sister, Sarah (6C8X). Next, he forgave all debts owed him by his brother Joseph (6C8X).

To his three servants and two former servants Peter left each of them $1,000. He left $5,000 each to his nephew Albert (7C7X) and a man named Joshua B. Smith of Cambridge.

Peter didn't forget his hometown of Bakersfield, VT. He left $10,000 to the city for the maintenance of the graves of his parents, brother and sisters buried there. He also left $30,000 to the town of Bakersfield to be invested as a permanent fund, which shall be called the Brigham School Fund and the income thereof shall be expended for educational purposes. . ." With the funds, the town build the Brigham Academy High School which opened in 1878. In 1891, Peter's sister Sarah bequeathed another $100,000 to the Academy.

The building is no longer used as a school but was placed on the Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Peter left to his sister Sarah "my horses, carriages, sleights, robes and harnesses" as well as his "right, title and interest" in the club stable.

Peter then directed his executors to take the rest of his estate and invest the money for the "term of twenty five years." The profits from that investment were to be used to pay his sister Sarah $500 every month for the rest of her life. Sarah was able to take advantage of that money for thirteen years until her death in 1891 at age 82.

To four of his nieces, Peter left $32,000 to be paid in bi-annual installments of $1,000.

Lastly, Peter designated that, after twenty-five years of accumulation, the residue of his estate should be used "for the purpose of founding a hospital for the care of sick persons in indigent circumstances. . .to be called the "Brigham Hospital."

By 1902, Peter's original investment had grown to $2,000,000. The money was used to build the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital which opened in 1912. Below is a photo of the original building:

Brigham Hospital became a world renowned research institution and is now associated with Harvard Medical School as a teaching hospital. In 1954, the world’s first successful kidney transplant was performed there.

In a fitting twist, Peter's nephew Robert Breck Brigham (7C7X) also made his fortune in the restaurant and real estate business. Robert, like his uncle, endowed a hospital called the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital which opened in 1914.

In 1980, the two Brigham hospitals merged to create the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 1994, Brigham and Women's Hospital merged with Massachusetts General Hospital to found Partners Health Care. In 2019, Partners Health care "rebranded itself as Mass General Brigham" which today is the the largest health care provider in Massachusetts.

William Proctor and his daughter Mary

Our cousin William Proctor (2C7X) was born in Chelmsford in 1748. In 1769, he married his second cousin one time removed, Mary Proctor (3C6X), daughter of Oliver (2C7X). Six years after his marriage, William moved his family to New Hampshire. We found information on the move in William Lawrence Proctor's (6C3X) Genealogy of Descendants of Robert Proctor:

. . .and removed, with his sister Hannah (2C7X) and his brother Nathan (2C7X), to what was afterward Washington, N. H. This removal is said to have taken place in 1775. If dates are given correctly, the little company which he led out into a distant and almost unbroken wilderness must have comprised, with six adults, at least four young children. Their journey may be described in the language which the historian of Washington uses concerning that of the first settlers who, but seven years earlier, came from New Ipswich, N. H., and built the first log cabin in the township within whose limits "no traces of white men or Indians were to be seen." The roads were untraveled, poorly made, and a part of the way there was no road at all, they being obliged to find their way by means of marked trees. When a stream was bridgeless they felled a tree across it for the use of the women and children, and the men rode the horses through the stream. They came on foot and on horseback, with children and household goods bound on together, and the journey was attended with many hardships.

In 1777, William was one of the signers of petition asking that the town of Washington be incorporated. 1777 was also the year that he left his family for a time to do service in the Revolutionary War. Known ever afterwards as Captain Proctor, William "was greatly respected and honored."

William and Mary lived a long and happy life in their adopted state of New Hampsire. Mary died at age 96 in September of 1845. William followed just four months later at age 97. The couple had been married for 76 years.

William and Mary's daughter, also Mary (3C6X), was born in Chelmsford, MA in 1770. She was about six years old when her family moved to the wilderness of New Hampshire. In 1789, she married Jonathan Brockway and the two of them "proceeded to pass their honeymoon in the woods, making maple sugar." They began their married life on Jonathan's father's property where "[i]n the almost unbroken forest the wife aided with her own hands in erecting their first humble dwelling."

In 1812, Jonathan and Mary ""built the large venerable looking house" that Mary lived in for the rest of her life. From William Proctor's genealogy:

In the almost unbroken forest the wife. . .bore her full share of the hardships that had to be endured in subduing the wilderness and building up the new home. It is related that ''at one time she left the house for a short time, its only occupant being a sleeping infant; returning she was horrified at the sight of a huge bear entering the front door. Her presence of mind caused her to make no outcry and the bear walked slowly through the house and passed out at the back door, leaving the child unharmed.

Mary's husband died in 1847 and she continued for another 25 years living in the house they had built together. She lived to the grand old age of 101, while she still retained "her mental faculties to the close of life, and entertained many visitors by her interesting and intelligent conversation relating to by-gone times.''

Mary's death certificates states that she died of cancer:

Below is a photograph of Mary (seated) with four generations of descendants: