One Thousand New England Ancestors of FRANK CHESTER HARRINGTON and LEORA (LEIGHTON) HARRINGTON By FREDERICK LEWIS WEIS, Th.D. Fellow of the America,i Society of Genealogists WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS 1958 PREFACE This book gathers together alphabetically the New England ancestors of Frank Chester Harrington, and his wife, Ledra (Leighton) Harring­ ton, to the number of more than one thousand, yet the number of para­ graphs is only 794, and some of these describe earlier English forebears. Hmvever, it will be noted that numerous individuals are ancestors sev­ eral times, often from one to four ways, due to intermarriage. More­ over, about 125 wives cannot now be identified beyond their Christian names, and in the case of fi £teen of the wives neither Christian name nor surname has survived. This occurs among many pioneer New Eng­ land families in the first two or three generations. 'When John Smith married Hannah, in 1635, probably everyone present knew her parent­ age, and it may not have occurred to the official who performed the marriage that some day a descendant might wish to know her maiden name. Even GO\·ernors and magistrates erred in this regard. Records of births, marriages, and deaths were also lost or burnt. Neglect was by no means always a cause. Frequently such volumes were so often used that they were worn out. Parents forgot to record the births of their children, or an official neglected to enter them. Bibles in which such records were kept disappeared when a homestead burned to the ground. Floods damaged the paper, and ink faded. In 1675, the Indians utterly destroyed by fire every house in Lancaster including the meeting-house. Sometimes records were borrowed and were never returned. Even with such misadventures, :Massachusetts still has the richest store of documentary records anywhere in the western hemi­ sphere. Each ancestor of a given name is numbered in sequence and the mate of that individual is also numbered when possible. Thus Robert Harrington (No. 1), married Susan George (No. 2). To find her lineage turn to George, No. 2. HARRINGTON 1. ROBERT HERRI:-.GTON was for many years the Bailiff of South­ wold, county Suffolk, England. 2. ROBERT HERRIXGTOX, his son; married at Southwold, 7 March 1613, Joan J e11til111an, baptized at Southwold, 5 July 1603 (probably several years old at that time), the daughter of William and Agnes Jentilman, of Southwold. He died before 1622, for his widow, Joan, married, second, at Southwold, 25 July 1622, the Reverend John Y ounges, son of the Reverend Mr.. Christopher Y ounges and Margaret his wife. The Reverend Christopher Youriges was minister at South­ wold, co. Suffolk, England. Joan (Jentilman) (Herrington) Younges, died in 1630, and the Reverend John Younges married, second, Joan Harris, who died soon, and he then married, third, 1639, Mary Warren, the daughter of Thomas ·Warren, merchant,- of Southwold, co. Suffolk, England. · 3. ROBERT HERRINGTON, son of Robert and Joan (Jentilman) Her­ rington, was baptized at Southwold, co. Suffolk, England, 1 October 1616. · It seems highli probable that this is the Robert Harrington who died at Watertown, Massachusetts, 11 May 1707, aged 91 years. \Vhile we have not seen positive proof that Robert Harrington of ·watertown, Massachusetts, is identical with the Robert Herrington who was baptized at Southwold, co. Suffolk, England, we believe that they were one and the same; At this period Harrington and Herrington were interchangeable. Southwold is about thirty miles from Ipswich in the same county from which Robert Harrington of Watertown embarked for New England. The name, J entilman would undoubtedly be spelled Gentleman, if it still occurs today. 1634 HARRINGTON (Two Lines) 1. ROBERT HARRINGTOX, born probably at Southwold, co. Suffolk, England, 1616, died at Watertown, :Massachusetts, 11 1\Iay 1707, came to New England in the ship "Elizabeth," 10 April 1634. He married at Watertown, 1 October 1647, Sitsan Georg.e (No. 2), born about 1632, died at Watertown, 6 July 1694, the daughter of John George of that town. 5 6 ANCESTORS OF FRAN' K AXD LEORA HARRINGTON He took the oath of fidelity, 1652, and was admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 27 :\lay 1663, at which time he was a member of the First Church in. \Vatertown. He was a proprietor at vYatertown as early as 1642, and owned a homestall, "given him by Deacon Thomas Hastings, a kinsman or a generous patron." He was a member of Captain Hugh ::\Iason's Train Band, 1652, the captain having been commissioned 5 ::\fay 1652. He served as select­ man of Watertown, 1679, 1681, 1682, 1683, 1685, 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1695, 1696, 1697, 1698, 1699, and 1700, a total of fifteen years, 1679-1700. (Society of Colonial Wars, J11dr.r of A.11cestors, 1922, p. 221.) Evidently he was a man of ability and highly respected by his fellow townsmen to be chosen so often for this important and respon­ sible office. He was a mill owner and miller, and his house and mill were valued at £120, as shown by the original inventory of his estate. On 24 December 1684, he bought of Jeremiah Dummer, goldsmith, of Boston, and Anna, his wife, for .:£90, the west or south west half (250 acres) of the Oldham Farm, where some of his descendants con­ tinued to live for nearly 200 years. It was bounded 011 the west by land of Joseph Garfield, north by Richard Cutting, widow Sarah Fiske, and said Garfield, east by Abraham Gale and John Gale, and south by the Charles River. On 28 September 1685, he gave to his son Joseph, 55 acres of land, which he bought of Simon Coolidge, 29 January 1679 /80. which he (S.C.) had bought of Deacon Simon Stone, and which he (S.S.) had bought of the widow and heirs of the Reverend Henry Green, to whom it had been granted by the town. The will of Robert Harrington was dated 1 January 1704/5, the day before the third marriage of his daughter Susanna. He mentions his sons: John, Daniel, Benjamin, Samuel. Thomas, Edward (his youngest son, to whom he gave his homestead) : and daughters Susanna Beers, :Mary Bemis, and Sarah \Yinship ; Joseph, son of "my son Joseph, deceased," and daughter-in-law, Joanna \Vard, late wife of his son Joseph. The inventory of his estate mentions 16 lots of land amounting to 642¼ acres, and appraised at .:£717. Practically all families named Harrington of the old stock are descended from this Robert Harrington of \Vatertown. HERE LYES BURIED YE BODY OF ROBERT HARRINGTON AGED 91 YEARS DIED MAY Y8 11th 1707 2. EDWARD HARRINGTON, son of Robert and Susanna (George) Harrington, was born at Watertown, 2 March 1668/9, and he died at Waltham, 21 January 1736, in his 68th year (GS). He married, first, ANCESTORS OF FRANK AND LEORA HARRINGTON 7, at Watertown, 30 :.\larch 1692, Mary Ocington (No. 2), born 7 Sep­ tember 1669, died at Waltham, 23 October 1725, in her. 55th year (GS), the daughter of William and Mary Ocington. He married, second, at Watertown, 24 :.\lay 1727, Anna Bullard, the widow of Jo_nathan Bullard of Weston, who had died at Weston, 14 September 1719. :.\Ir. Harrington inherited his father's homestead; was selectman at \Vatertown, 1716, 1730, and 1731; and was an active and respected citizen. He sold to Joseph P~tterson, on 19 March 1701, "one mansion house with 12 acres of orchard and meadow and arable land'' in \Vatertown. ( Middlesex Probate, 20 :305-307.) He had nine children. 3. FRAKCrs HARRINGTOX, son of Edward and Mary (Ocington) Harrington, was born at \Vatertown, 11 June 1709, and he died in Worcester, l\fassachusetts, 18 July 1793, aged 84 years (GS). He married, first, at 'Watertown, 16 November 1736, Prudence Stearns (No. 7), born at Watertown, 27 April 1713, died at Worcester, August 1751, the daughter of Lieutenant Samuel and Mary (Hawkins) Stearns. He married, second, at \\iestborough, 14 November 1752, Deborah Brigham, born in 1715, died at Worcester, 20 April 1799, aged 84 years (GS). • · Mr. Harrington was residing in the Spring of 1741, in Grafton, Massachusetts, when he purchased of Joseph Dana and his wife Mary, of Pomfret, Connecticut, the farm in Worcester which was afterwards his home and on which his descendants have lived to the present time. He was the first of the Harrington family to settle in Worcester, where the descendants of Robert Harrington have since been both numerous and prominent in every generation. Francis Harrington was juryman at Worcester, 19 July 1742; and field driver, 1743, and' 1744. "Town Meeting: 16 May 1743, it was voted that iri consideration of great sickness in Francis Harrington's family, his tax for the last year be repaid him, amounting to one pound, three shillings." His homestead was near what is now the corner of Bloomingdale road and Plantation street. The family gravestones were in the Old Burial Ground on the Com­ mon. Among them were the following : "In Memory of :.\[r. Francis Harrington, who died July 18th 1793. Aged 84 years. "In thee shall Israel trust, Which see their guilt forgiven, God will pronounce the sinners just, And take the Saints to Heavn." * * * "Here lyes the body of Mrs. Prudence Harrington, the wife of Mr. 8 ANCESTORS OF FRANK AND LEORA HARRINGTON Francis Harrington, who departed this life August 1751, in the 38th year of her age." * * "In memory of Mrs. Deborah Harrington wife of Francis Harring­ ton. Died April 20th 1799. Aged 84 years. "This shall be known when we are dead, And left on long record, That ages yet unborn may read, And trust and praise the Lord." * * * "Here lyes the body of ~Ir'.