List of people from Uxbridge, Massachusetts

This is a list of people from the American town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. This early American town, settled in 1662, has a record of people significant to both regional and U.S. history. The listing of people is by century, starting in the 17th century.

17th century

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  • The Taft family in America One of the first known European settlers in Uxbridge, was Robert Taft Sr., in 1680, in the western part of Mendon, Massachusetts, which later became known as Uxbridge.[1] He established the famous Taft family, a later political dynasty in the United States. He established his first permanent homestead here in 1680.[1] President William Howard Taft is a descendant. See the article, The Tafts of Mendon and Uxbridge. One reference in Alphonso Taft's biography may indicate that Robert settled near "Colonel Crown's" land which may be near East Hartford Avenue. Taft was best known for building a bridge with his sons over the Blackstone River in 1709. This is adjacent to, or could be, the famous "stone arch bridge" at the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. This road became known as the Middle Post Road.

18th century

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  • Captain James Buxton, 1745–1817, Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island Colony,[2] was an American Revolutionary War Captain from the border of the towns of Smithfield in Rhode Island, and Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Buxton was a commissioned military officer who attained the rank of captain in the American War for Independence. He served in Benjamin Tupper's 11th Massachusetts Regiment, 1777–1779 at Valley Forge and the Battles of Saratoga. He also served in the 10th Massachusetts Regiment and the 15th Massachusetts Regiment. Buxton commanded a company of men at West Point, and the Hudson River Chain. He was promoted to the rank of captain on March 16, 1781, in the Continental Army, and the order was signed by John Hancock;[3] He was discharged in 1782[4] and held the ranks of Ensign, Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant,[5] and Captain during this period. He is listed as having signed an oath of allegiance at Valley Forge in 1778 in Colonel Tupper's regiment. John Hancock granted Buxton 300 acres in South Uxbridge for service in the American Revolution. Modern Uxbridge named a well-known Fife and Drum Corps in his honor.
  • Robert Taft II was on the founding Board of Selectmen in 1727.[6] It appears he was among the first of the Taft family dynasty to be elected to political office. His descendants included a Governor of Rhode Island, A U.S. Senator from Ohio, and a U.S. Secretary of Agriculture among others. The first Uxbridge town meeting was at Coronet John Farnum Jr. House in the center of town.[7]
  • Benjamin Taft established one of the first iron forges in Uxbridge in 1734, in the Ironstone section of town.[7] The first Uxbridge forge was recorded even earlier, the year the town was founded in 1727, at the south Northbridge section. The Ironstone forge started by Taft had "good quality bog iron ore", and a triphammer was later added by Caleb Handy for making scythes and guns.[7] This was believed to be the beginnings of industrialization in Uxbridge. The Blackstone Valley was a major contributor to America's Industrial Revolution with Slater Mill at Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1793.[7] Uxbridge had evidence of large-scale industrialization by 1775 which included forges, sawmills, water works, distilleries and other industries.
  • Nicholas Baylies was a native of England who settled in Uxbridge. He represented this town in the Colonial Massachusetts General Court as early as 1758. He and his sons were active in working in Uxbridge's iron industry. His son William became a physician and is mentioned below. His grandsons served as U.S. Congressman from Dighton, Massachusetts, and Taunton, Massachusetts, where the family later relocated.[8]
  • Captain Josiah Taft son of Daniel Taft, grandson of Robert Taft Sr., served in the French and Indian Wars and in the Colonial Legislature, the Massachusetts General Court, was town moderator, and died in 1756 at the age of 47.[9] Lydia and Josiah were among the wealthiest families in Uxbridge.[9] Josiah's untimely death opened the door for his widow to become America's first legal, colonial woman voter in 1756.
  • Lydia Chapin Taft Josiah's widow, became America's first woman voter,[10] in 1756. She voted to support funding and resources for the French and Indian Wars, and voted in at least three Uxbridge town meetings until at least 1765. She died at Uxbridge, as an American citizen, after Colonial America had become the United States in 1778.
  • Baxter Hall was a drummer in the Fife and Drum Corps in 1775.[11] He served at Lexington and Concord, and Bunker Hill, under Captain Wyman, and in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.[11] The majority of the company of 51 men were from Uxbridge.[11] Many officers and soldiers from Uxbridge fought in the war. Later, Captain Baxter Hall served in the Continental Army under General Benedict Arnold.[11]
  • Seth Reed was born in Uxbridge in 1746. He became a physician, soldier, legislator and an early American pioneer to the Great Lakes. According to the United States Treasury, Colonel Reed, also spelled "Read", of Uxbridge (who commanded a regiment at Bunker Hill and was a friend of President George Washington), was reported to have been instrumental in placing E Pluribus Unum on U.S. coins.[12][13] Colonel Reed and his brother Joseph had been major holders of Uxbridge and Northbridge, Massachusetts real estate. Colonel Reed ran a tavern, served in various town offices, and was appointed to serve Uxbridge in 1777, by being in charge of dealing with "traitors" treason and sedition. He went on to serve in the Constitutional Convention, the Massachusetts state legislature and applied for a franchise to mint coins ("Massachusetts coppers"). He later moved, became a pioneer in Geneva, New York, and then he and his family were the first European settlers of Erie, Pennsylvania. The phrase "E Pluribus Unum", "From Many, One" is considered "the traditional motto" of the United States. "In God We Trust" was then added in 1956.
  • Colonel Joseph Read Colonel Read's brother, Colonel Joseph Read, was also a Colonel in the Continental Army, and commanded the 20th Massachusetts Regiment.
  • "Robert Shurtlieff" a Continental Army soldier, claimed to be from Uxbridge, but was really Deborah Sampson, "America's first woman soldier".[14]
  • Samuel Spring born 1746, was a Revolutionary War Chaplain sho served in the Siege of Boston, and the Invasion of Canada (1775), who later founded the Massachusetts Missionary Society and the Andover Theological Seminary.[15] Spring has many published sermons and works. He was considered a Congregationalist fundamentalist. He had trained under the Reverend Nathan Webb, also mentioned below as the first pastor at Uxbridge's Congregational church, the colony's first Congregational church, which was started during the Great Awakening period of Jonathan Edwards.
  • Samuel Taft was a revolutionary war soldier. There were at least 12 Tafts from Uxbridge who served in the Revolutionary War. In 1789, Samuel Taft would entertain his commander in chief, President George Washington, during his inaugural trip through Uxbridge, and his overnight stay at the Samuel Taft tavern.[7]
  • Dr. Samuel Willard was one of the town's first physicians. Uxbridge Center was home to the "lunatic asylum" run by Willard, who fought in Shays' Rebellion.[6] Shays' Rebellion may have had its "opening salvos" in an Uxbridge riot in 1783. Governor John Hancock had to suppress rioters in Uxbridge.[16] Willard had his own eccentricities.[17] Willard, a Harvard University graduate, was "particularly distinguished" for his treatment of mental health disorders, according to the archives of Worcester County's university graduates. Local history indicates that his treatments consisted of "Dunking in the mineral spring pond behind the old inn" which was deemed to be an 'effective treatment for insanity',[6] as was working on the good doctor's farm. This pond (Shuttle Shop Pond) was a favorite ice skating spot for children for years until it was filled in by the town after the shop burned down in 1963. The Hotel Wilson (now known as the Uxbridge Inn) welcomed travelers to the town who came to enjoy the same healing waters that "treated" Willard's patients. Willard represented Uxbridge in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention which ratified the U.S. Constitution. He reportedly held slavers, prior to 1783. Massachusetts was the first state to abolish slavery, also in 1783.
  • Lieutenant Simeon Wheelock fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was an officer in Shays' Rebellion.[7] He was killed in the line of duty in Springfield during Shays' Rebellion.[7] His son Jerry was famous in the early textile industry of Uxbridge.[7] The Stanley Woolen Mill and Berroco Yarns are related to this same family.[7]
  • Peter Rawson Taft I President William Howard Taft's grandfather, was born in Uxbridge in 1785, and lived here until the beginning of the 19th century.[18] He became a Vermont State legislator and died in Hamilton County, Ohio.[18][19] A Taft family story is told how Peter walked a cow all the way from Uxbridge to Townshend, Vermont. His son, Alphonso Taft, founded Skull and Bones at Yale University, and was the father of President William Howard Taft. Alphonso and his son William Howard came to Uxbridge for family reunions at Elmshade.
  • Richard Mowry was an Uxbridge farmer who successfully built and marketed the equipment needed to manufacture woolen, linen or cotton cloth at the time of the American Revolution.[20] Mowry built wagons and apple presses in addition to the textile equipment. He was particularly proficient with large wooden screws.
  • Nathan Webb an early American Congregational Church minister, was born on April 9, 1705, at Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; he died on March 17, 1772, at Uxbridge.[21] Webb was the first called minister of the new Congregational Church in the newly incorporated (1727) Town of Uxbridge. He was called on January 6, 1731.[22] This church was the first new Congregational Church in Massachusetts in the Great Awakening period, and first to be mentioned in a list of 45 new Congregational churches in New England which were started in the decade beginning in 1731.[22] The churches of this period were attributed to the Great Awakening, an early American historical religious movement led by ministers such as Jonathan Edwards, another Congregational minister.[22] Reverend Webb spent his entire career in the ministry at Uxbridge, spanning over 41 years. His congregation included America's first woman voter, Lydia Taft, and Lt. Col. Seth Read, who fought at Bunker Hill, was instrumental in adding E Pluribus Unum to US coins, and founded Erie, Pennsylvania. Many members of the early American Taft family were members of Webb's congregation. Peter Rawson Taft's son, Alfonso, started the Ohio family branch which rose to prominence in American politics. Nehemiah Hall and his wife, Sarah (Hayward) had nine children. Their son Baxter Hall drummed the first musters in the American Revolution. Another son, Nehemiah Hall Jr., married Hannah White, a Taft family descendant. The entire Hall family were members of Webb's congregation. Webb mentored young Samuel Spring who became a Revolutionary War Chaplain, founded the Andover Theological Seminary, and the Massachusetts Missionary Society. A sermon delivered at Uxbridge, April 19, 1772, occasioned by the death of the late Reverend Nathan Webb, Pastor of said church and people: containing a summary of his character. : And now published, at the desire of many of the hearers, to revive and perpetuate the memory of their said pastor.[23] exactly three years before the battle of Lexington and Concord. Reverend Webb's wife was Ruth (Adams), President John Adams' aunt, born March 21, 1700, Braintree, Massachusetts, and died August 26, 1761, Uxbridge. They were married on November 23, 1731, in Uxbridge.

19th century

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20th century

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  • Charles Arthur Root bought Scott's Mill, and later Capron Mill, and Rivulet mills. He and Edward Bachman of New York City, developed the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company into an enterprise with 13 plants, in 4 states with over 6,000 workers.[47] The successor company, Bachmann Uxbridge (1953 sales, $52,609,000; profit, $272,000) would be by far the biggest woolen manufacturer in the country. (Time Magazine, 1953).
  • Alice Bridges born in 1916, was a 20-year-old Uxbridge woman who won a Bronze medal for the backstroke in the 1936 Summer Olympics. She and her sister learned to swim at "Pout Pound" and the Whitin's Gym which had an Olympic pool since the 1920s. She apparently placed first, but Nazi politics ruled the day at the Berlin Olympics and she clinched the Bronze. The bridge across the Mumford River in the center of town was named for her in 2008.[48] She died recently in Carlisle, Pennsylvania but continued swimming in her mid nineties.
  • Harold Walter originally from Colorado, became the President of the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company. At its peak it was one of the most successful textile companies in America. The company had seven, and ultimately thirteen plants, nationwide, and was written up in Time magazine in August 1953 in an article entitled "the Pride of Uxbridge".[49] The company led the women's fashion industry in America in 1953 with one of its products. Under his leadership, the company also led the industry in blended fabrics, and wool-nylon serge. Walter planned a merger of Bachman Uxbridge as a buy out of debt laden American Woolen which would have created America's largest woolen conglomerate(Time Magazine, 1954). Textron of Providence eventually won the competition.
  • Richard T. Moore was in the 1990s, a local state senator, who served as Massachusetts chairman of President Bill Clinton's campaign, as the Associate Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President Clinton. Moore focused his efforts on local emergency preparedness efforts and capacity for FEMA, 5 years before 9/11. He is now President Pro Tempore, of the Massachusetts State Senate, and recently served as a President of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
  • Tim Fortugno graduated from Uxbridge High School in 1980, and played Professional baseball as a relief pitcher. Teams he played for included the California Angels, The Chicago White Sox, and the Cincinnati Reds.
  • Jeannine Oppewall is a film art director and producer who has worked on more than 30 films and has 4 Academy Awards nominations. Jeanine was born in 1946 and raised in Uxbridge.

21st century

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Early Taft Genealogy". Access Genealogy. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  2. ^ National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Volume 15, p. 7.
  3. ^ Maule. family.com. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  4. ^ "James Buxton". ReoCities.com. Retrieved September 2011.
  5. ^ Encyclopedia of Freemansonry, Lt James Buxton, 1779.
  6. ^ a b c Perkins Marvin, Abijah (1879). History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. lI. Boston, Massachusetts: CF Jewitt and Company. pp. 421–436.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Walking tours - Uxbridge". Blackstone Daily. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register". 1866.
  9. ^ a b Schultz, John A. (1997). Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691–1780: A Biographical Dictionary. UPNE. p. 353. ISBN 978-1-55553-304-5.
  10. ^ "Uxbridge Breaks Tradition and Makes History: Lydia Chapin Taft by Carol Masiello". The Blackstone Daily. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ a b c d "Martial Musick in Uxbridge Massachusetts 1727-Present". Angelfire. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  12. ^ "What can you tell me about the words "E Pluribus Unum" on our coins?". U.S. Treasury. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  13. ^ Buford, Mary Hunter (1895). Seth Read, Lieut.-Col.Continental Army; Pioneer at Geneva, New York, 1787, and at Erie, Penn., June, 1795. His Ancestors and Descendants. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 167 pages on CD in PDF format.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ "Deborah Sampson; How She Served as a Soldier in the Revolution – Her Sex Unknown to the Army" (PDF). The New York Times. October 8, 1898. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  15. ^ http://www.blackstonevalleytribune.com/pdf/BLA.2008.12.05.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "Quelling the opening salvos of Shay's rebellion". alexautographs.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  17. ^ "A Guide to Women's Diaries". Manuscript Collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society Library. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  18. ^ a b "History of Hamilton County". heritage pursuit. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
  19. ^ "Descendants of Robert and Sarah Taft". rootsweb.com. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  20. ^ "Blackstone River Valley, New England's Historic National Park area; Navigator/Uxbridge". Blackstonevalley.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
  21. ^ Perkins Marvin, Abijah (1879). History of Worcester County; Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its Earliest Beginnings;. Boston, Massachusetts: CF Jewitt and Company. p. 429.
  22. ^ a b c "Historical Sketch of Congregational Churches of Massachusetts from 1731-1740" by Joseph Sylvester Clark page 148. Congregational Church Board. 1858. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  23. ^ Sermon By Ebenezer Chaplin, A.M. Pastor of a church in Sutton." Rev. Webb's funeral was held on April 19, 1772,
  24. ^ Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont Illustrated. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. p. 181.
  25. ^ pp.650-651 in Nason and Varney's Massachusetts Gazetteer, 1890
  26. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  27. ^ Congressional Biographies of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress.
  28. ^
  29. ^ "Taft descendants". rootsweb. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  30. ^ "Tafts Massachusetts Revolutionary War". Roots Web. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
  31. ^ "Tafts Descendants 5". freepages. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
  32. ^ Leonard, Lewis Alexander (1920). The Life of Alphonso Taft by Google Books. Hawke publishing company(incorporated).Leonard, Lewis Alexander (1920). The Life of Alphonso Taft by Google Books. Hawke publishing company(incorporated).Life of Alphonso Taft. Hawke publishing Company (incorporated). 1920. p. 308. Retrieved November 25, 2007 – via Internet Archive.
  33. ^ "Granpa Bill's G.A. Pages: Ezra T. Benson". Retrieved November 22, 2007.
  34. ^ "Ezra T. Benson Family Web Site". bensonfamily.org. Retrieved November 22, 2007.
  35. ^ "PBS biography of Arthur MacArthur". PBS. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
  36. ^ "William Augustus Mowry". San Francisco Public Library catalog listing (source for death date). sfpl.org. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
  37. ^ "Vital Records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850". Uxbridge, Massachusetts. 1916.
  38. ^ "Area History: Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, Vol II, Chapter 13- Part 1; Occurrences of the War of Independence". Roots web US Gen Web archives. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  39. ^ Baldwin, Thomas Williams (1916). Vital Records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing. p. 356.
  40. ^ "Gravesites by States". Home of Heroes.com. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  41. ^ "Uxbridge, Friends Meetinghouse". NPS. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  42. ^ a b Chapin, Judge Henry (1881). Address Delivered at the Unitarian Church in Uxbridge, 1864. Worcester, Massachusetts: Charles Hamilton Press (Harvard Library; from Internet Archive). p. 172.
  43. ^ White, Leonard (1885). Shrady Sr., George F. (ed.). "Title not available". Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery. 28 (24, December 12, 1885). New York City: William Wood & Company: 651.
  44. ^ a b Best, Curtis R. "A History of Mosquitos in Massachusetts". Northeast Mosquito Control Association. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  45. ^ "A History of Mosquitoes in Massachusetts".
  46. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Bartlett".
  47. ^ Shelton, Don (August 6, 2022). "3 American Miniature Portraits: Hall, Ellery A - portraits of Root Family from Uxbridge". aminports3.blogspot.com. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  48. ^ [1]
  49. ^ "The Pride of Uxbridge (August 24, 1953)". Time. August 24, 1953. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
  50. ^ "Brian Skerry, Underwater photographer". Worcester Magazine. Worcester, Massachusetts. May 3, 2007.
  51. ^ "Curator Biography: Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Curator of Northern Baroque Paintings". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
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