The Bronsdon and Box Family Histories, Entitle Him to the Gratitude of All Our Kinsfolk
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BRONSDON A.ND BOX FAMILIES. J n rt I. ROI~f:RT IlRONSDON, MERCHANT, AND Hrs DESCENDANTS. J n rt II. JOTIN BOX, ROPEMAKER, AND Hrs DESCENDANTS. Cornpiled by CoL. LUCIUS B. MARSH~ AND NI Rs. HARR IE T F. PAR I{ ER. (P1..1.,blishe(l by l\IRs. PARKER.) LYNN, :MASS. THE NICHOLS PRESS - THOS. P. NICHOLS. 19 0 2. Copyright, 1902, by MRS. HARRIET F. PARKER, LYNN, l\'IASS. ~yunpsis auh 111.ehirattnu . .1lfr. ROBERT BR01VSDON, h. in England, 1638-9. A "Merchant of Boston;" d. 1701. C!!~ilhrtn : i. ELIZA B ET/7, m. Afr. Samuel Greenwood. iii. SARAH, rn. Hon. William Clark. ii . .MAR r, m. Capt. Jonathan E'1:ans. iv. BENJAMIN, m . .,,",fary, dau. Capt. Gilbert !Jan!. Jlfr. JOH.fl BO..,Y, b. ·in Englancl, 169,; m. Lydia Story. Ile was a "Merchant-ropemaker" of B(lston, d. 1774, and for many years }Varden of King's Chapel, Boston. C!t~ilhren: ELIZABETH, m. Capt. Bant B1•onsdon;;, ( Benj.2 , Robt.1 J LYDIA, m. William Hoskins, Esq. ( 1'he History of the descendants of Lyd-ia (J.lfrs Hoskins) is confributecl by Mrs. Eleanor (Hoskins, Wa:itt.) ©qi.a llnlumr is Ajfectionately and Respectfully tu All the Descendant.~ of the above Famil-ies by the CompUe1's. JI tt :tlrmnriant. ROBEBT BBOllSDON, " JIerchant of Boston," County of /:f1.(0'olk, Province of Jfassachusetts Bay . .. wtm bhlni'i. mu fritttll, au11 partly mine." - Te11nvson. Vl PREFACE. A noted college professor has said that there is one thing within our grasp, and that is the "spiritual possession of the family kinship." Just a mere name and a few dates stand for the lifetime of one who has, like our selves, lived and loved, joyed and suffered, gloried in achievement or bowed in disappointment. Who does not sometimes ponder the hidden springs of his own being ? " Those days are vanished, tone and tint, And yet perhaps the hoarding sense Gives out at times, we know not whence, A little :flash, a mystic hint.'' Some delay has resulted from the difficulty of providing for the expenses of publication. These were underestimated at the start, consequently the customary fate of genealogists is ours. No person who embarks in an enter prise of this sort need expect to make receipts and expenses balance. Lack of funds obliged us to omit some interesting pictures which it was originally intended to insert in the book. It was expected that three hundred pages, including the Index, would be the maximum number, but this limit is exceeded. For these reasons we are obliged to advance the price of this book, which in future will be somewhat above the original sum paid by subscribers. Our work has been performed in a conscientious spirit, but errors will doubtless have crept in, although we hope they are few, and we bespeak your leniency for all such. We have for the most part refrained from com ment and allowed facts to speak for themselves. When doubt exists on any point we have so stated, leaving the matter open for future information or correction, which we will gladly receive; also we desire to perfect all incom plete records. We might entertain our readers with an account of the weeks and months spent in poring over old books and papers in dusty, dimly-lighted libraries, or in public buildings where knowledge was oftentimes to be gained only from weighty volumes of bound documents to which we scaled our way by ladders; of interviews with public and private officials, obliging or other wise; of journeying to interview "oldest inhabitants;" of searches in old graveyards, or underground tombs, or wherever '' original records" were thought to lurk; also of the almost interminable task of compilation when names, dates, places and events were studied and assigned to their appro priate niches, and manuscripts copied and re-copied during the "wee sma' hours ayant the twal." Hundreds of letters have been written and almost as many received. In the wide acquaintance thus gained, nothing has impressed us more than the changed conditions of succeeding generations and the differing fortunes of the posterity of those who were formerly on an even plane of worldly prosperity. .. PREFACE. vu However, all that has been wearisome or uncongenial in our task will fade into the background of Memory if ours be the happjness of knowing that we have presented you with an acceptable volume. We gratefully appreciate the services of those who have facilitated the accomplishment of our purpose. It is not possible, within the limits of this prefaee, to name all, but aside from the descendants of Robert Bronsdon, we are indebted for assistance to Miss Harriet Laughton Matthews of the Lynn, Mass., Public Library; Mr. John L. Hassam of Boston, an authority on Colonial history; Mr. G. T. Ridlon of Maine, author of "Saco Valley Settlers;" Mr. S_ereno D. Nickerson, Recording Secretary of the Grand Lodge of. Mass., F. and A. M.; the late and the present Recorders of the city of Boston, viz., Mr~ Whitmore and Mr. McGlenen; Mrs. Alice (Fairfield) Moody of Portland, Me.; nor must we forget to acknowledge the courtesy of the Boston Evening Transcript in allowing us the use of their genealogical column. In the preparation of Box-Story records, we have been helped by the courtesy of the late Judge Isaac Story of Somerville, Mr. Robert Marion Pratt of Boston, and Mrs. Eleanor (Hoskins) Waitt of Dorchester. Mr. I. J.· Greenwood of New York, author of much valuable genealogical literature, kindly verified the Greenwood ske~ch. Mrs. Sarah (Vallette) Day of New York contributed the sum necessary to the production of the Vallette Appendix, and Mr. Milton H. Bronsdon of Providence, R. I., assumed the greater part of the expense of the English researches, for which we engaged Mr. Lothrop Withington, the celebrated genealogist of London, England. These researches were not completed, but may be resumed at some future time. Many who sent family records, etc., did not subscribe, doubtless for sufficient reasons. Our book has not been electrotyped and the present edition is small ; when it is exhausted, no more copies will be obtainable. We wish our subscribers to receive renewed assurance of our gratitude for their loyal and cordial support, which has kept uij from relinquishing the enterprise when sometimes it has seemed impossible to carry it through to a suecessful termination. '' Vento f avente navis in portum venit. '' HARRIET F. PARKER. Address: MRS. CREIGHTON W. PARKER, 28 Lowell Street, Lynn, Mass. Vlll PREFACE. BRONSDON. EARLY ORIGIN OF THE NAME. Bronsdon is derived from the old Saxon, Bronteston. We quote from that quaint old English book, " Shaw's Staffordshire,'' Vol. I, page 22 : "Bronteston is a small place in Staffordshire, a hamlet belonging to Burto~. (Brantestun, Braunteston, Brantiston, Branston, Bronston). It is situated two miles south of Burton and near the River Trent and upon the old Roman road Ryknield-Street, now the Turnpike to Litchfield. "The first mention of this small place is before the Conquest, much earlier than I believe I shall find any other original document or grant else where in the whole county, viz., 956, when King Edwy, by his charter bear ing that date and signed by himself, his son and Odo the Archbishop, other Bishops and Saxon Dukes, &c., grants to his faithful servant, or Thane, Eadwig, eight farms of land in Brantestun for his life, with permission after his death to leave them to whom he pleased, to be inherited forever. " The estate was afterward the property of Godeva, the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who died possessed of it, leaving it, with other estates, to her son Algar, ,vhose heir, Edwyne, having forfeited it by his opposition to the Conqueror, we find it was held of him in the 20th year of his reign by the Abbey of Burton. "For, in Domesday Book, it is thus recorded. "This Abbey held Brantestone, which the Lady Godeva before held. " It then consisted of one hide and a half.* The arable lands of Braun teston were 5 caracates, &c., 24 acres of meadow, a wood, a half a n1ile in length, and the same in breadth. It had been worth 60 shillings, but then only 40 shillings. In the time of Henry I, the wood was held by Robert de Ferrars. "It was granted for services to the church by the Abbots of Burton to various persons, until, in the time of King John (1199-to 1216) a family became settled there who took their surname from the place and divers of the lands there, as fallows, "About the year 1250 A-vice the widow of Robe1·t, son of Ailwyn de Brontiston, grants and confirms to God and the church of Burton a tene ment and one bovat of land in Brantestun, in the wood at Littlehay, with appurtenances, &c. "Next, Richard, the son of Robert de Brontiston, and l\fargaret, his wife, quitclaim, &c. to the said Abbey the above volantum in Littlehay wood for which they paid them, in their greate necessity, half a mark of silver. "About the year 1320 William, son of Richard de Brontiston, for the sake of charity and his own soule and those of his ancestors and successors, grants to Robert, Abbot of Burton, and monks there, two bovats of land in Brontiston. * A "hide'' was 120 acres. In 960 land sold at one shilling an acre, and thus we learn how dear was money and how cheap was land. In 1066 the ancient families were reduced to poverty by seizure of their lands by William the Conqueror.