bert, wife of her cousin William Gilljcrt and
her son William (Gilbert Jr. : to cousin William
F.mblin : to brother John I lood's two chiklren :
to Mr. Thomas Thatcher and to the first and
third churches of Boston.
(H) Samuel, nephew of Deacon Richard
Truesdell, was born 1644-45, perhaps in Eng-
land. He, his sister Rebecca, and brothers
Thomas and Richard Truesdell, seem to have
been in the care of their uncle and it is not
known that their father ever came to this
country. He received fifty pounds in his
uncle's will. He settled in Cambridge and was
admitted a freeman in 1685. His home was
on the south side of Charles river in what was
then Cambridge \illage, now Xewton, and he
was one of the active supporters of the move-
ment for scijaration from Cambridge. He
was one of the signers of the secession from
the first church of Boston in 1678 and became
a member of the third church. He married
f first ) Mary Jackson, daughter of John Jack-
.son Sr. ; (second) Elizabeth ( Hammond)
Woodward, daughter of Thomas Hammond
Sr. and widow of George Woodward, of
\\'at(?rtown. His will mentions a third wife
Mary, and children : Samuel, Thomas, Ebe-
nezer, Mary, Mindwell, Rebecca and Experi-
ence. His estate appraised at two hundred
and twenty-six pounds, six shillings, six pence :
the homestead containing one hundred and
twenty acres. Children: i. Richard, born
July 16, 1672, married, 1697, Mary Pairbank.
2. Mary. November 3, 1673, married
Foote. 3. Samuel. OctolxT 13, 1675. married
Elizabeth Hammond, daughter of Nathaniel
Sr. 4. Mindwell, August 31, 1676. 5. Re-
becca, March 25, 1678. 6. Experience. 7.
Thomas, April 27, 1682, married, 1739, Eliza-
beth Segar.
(HI) Ebenezer, son of Samuel Truesdell,
was born in Newton, Massachusetts, abt)ut
1685. He joined the stream of emigration
from Roxbury and his native town to New
Roxbury, Connecticut, then iSIassachusetts,
now a section of Windham county. After a
short residence at Quinebaug Valley, he bought
land and a house of Thomas Goodell in the
southwest part of the "Purchase," later Pom-
fret, Connecticut, now in Abington, about
1710. lie married, according to the Xewton
church records, in January, 1710, but the name
of his wife has been lost or destroyed in the
records, and is not known. He signed a peti-
tion of the Mashmuggett Purchase f Pomfret),
May 14, 17 13. for incorporation, horse brand
and freeflom from rates. The name Pomfret
was selected by the general court, a large
Gothic cajjital "P" for a horse brand. Trues-
dell was on a committee February 16, 1714,
to locate the meeting house, and October 26,
1 71 3, on the committee to provide dinner for
the oniination of the minister at Pomfret,
( )ctober 26. 1715. He was constable December,
1724. He is the ancestor of all the old Con-
necticut families of this name. Among his
children were: i. Ebenezer. 2. Ichabod, men-
tioned below. 3. Joseph, a soldier in the
French and Indian war in 1757. Captain
Eleazer Fitch's company, of Windham county.
Perhaps others. A grandson, Ebenezer Trues-
dell. was an ensign in the Sixth Company at
the siege of Boston : grandsons Darius and
Jedutiian, of Woodstock, responded to the
Lexington alarm in 1775: one or both may
have been sons of Ebenezer instead of grand-
sons, however. Jeduthan Truesdell lived at
Pomfret in 1790 and had three sons uncler
sixteen and one female in his family: Ebe-
nezer lived at Bran ford in 1790 and lia<l no
children in his family. .\ Joel, prcibably a
grandson, was living at Bristol in 1790.
(TV) Ichabod. son of Ebenezer Truesdell,
according to family tradition was father of
.'\sa, Darius, Thomas and John. Asa was
living at Suffield in 1790. Darius was a soldier
in the revolution on the Lexington alarm and
later was wounded in the side, narrowly escap-
ing death from a ball which struck a large,
old-fashioned pocketbook in his- waistcoat
138
MASSACHUSETTS.
pocket; died a few years af^er the war from
the effects of this wound. John settled in
Woodstock.
(V) Thomas, son of Ichabod Truesdell,
was born in Windham county, Connecticut, in
or near Pomfret, about 1740. Me moved to
Monson, Massachusetts, before the revokition
and was a soldier from that town on the Lex-
ington call in April, 1775. An Ebenezer Trues-
dell came from Pomfret to Chesterfield and
his son Daniel was a soldier from Hampshire
county, Massachusetts, in the revolution. Cap-
tain Benjamin Bonney's company, Colonel
Elisha Porter's regiment. Children of Thomas
Truesdell: i. Perley, born 1771, mentioned
below. 2. Simeon, married (intention dated
September i, 1805, at Monson) Sally Hitch-
cock, of Weston. 3. Seavius, married, August
II, 1814, Lorinda Edgerton. 4. Ruth, mar-
ried, April 3, 181 5, at Monson, Francis Curtis,
of Thompson, Connecticut. 5. Rhoda, mar-
ried C intention dated August 6, 1819) Nathan
Warriner. Perhaps others.
(\T) Perley, son of Thomas Truesdell, was
born at Monson, Massachusetts, in 1771, died
there October 2, 1843. He was a farmer. He
married (first) Anna ; (second) No-
vember 24. 1805, Polly Stimson, of Monson.
Children of first wife, born at Monson: i.
Laura, August 12, 1798, died February 15,
1805. 2. Cyrus Stimson, July 13, 1800, died
February 9. 1805. 3. Serajjta, June 23, 1802,
married, December 6, 1821, Boystic .\nderson.
4. Marcus, October 28, 1804, died young.
Children of second wife: 5. Perley, October
14. 1806, married (intention dated April 7,
1832) Samantha Stimson, of Palmer. 6.
Joseph, July 21, 1810, died March 3, 1827. 7.
Marcus, May 29, 181 3. married (intention
dated August 14, 1838 ) Isabelle W. Smith, of
Ware. 8. Cyrus, August 3, 181 5, mentioned
below. 9. Lucius E., May 18, 1818, married
(intention dated September 27, 1840) Lucy
B. Perry. 10. William Harrison, April 21,
1820. II. Austin, April 16, 1822. 12. Warren,
.April 16, 1824. 13. Orren, December 26. 1826.
(VH) Cyrus, son of Perley Truesdell, was
born in Monson, August 3, 181 5. He was
educated in the public schools of his native
town, and was one of the most prominent and
propcrous farmers of that section. He was
an upright, earnest, conscientious man, a use-
ful citizen, member of the Congregational
church of Monson. He married (first) (inten-
tions dated .\pril 14, 1841) Phebc W. Hast-
ings, of Palmer, died November 5. 1855.
daughter of Rosal Hastings. lie married
(second) Mary Webber, of Holland, Massa-
chusetts. She died January 12, 1901. He
died December 4, 1885. Children of first
wife: I. Erskine H., born February 21, 1848,
mentioned below. 2. Merrill, born March,
1846, died in 1869. 3. Estella, April, 1850.
Child of second wife: 4. Charles, died in
childhood.
(VHI) Erskine Hastings, son of Cyrus
Truesdell, was born in Monson, February 21,
1848. He attended the public schools of his
native town and Monson Academy. At the
age of twenty-two he was employed in the
meat and provision trade at Springfield, Mass-
achusetts, and continued until the winter of
1873 when he came to Palmer, working in the
same line of business. In 1889 he started in
business on his own account in Palmer and
has taken rank among the leading business
men of the town. He is a member of Palmer
Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 190, and of the
Business Men's Social Club of Palmer. He
is independent in politics. In religion he is a
Unitarian. He married, in 1876, Jennie M.
Angell, born at Ware, died May 12, 1901,
daughter of Benjamin and Maria Angell.
Five hundred years ago, more
STEARNS or less, when the population
of England had become suffi-
ciently dense to make surnames necessary,
some Englishman assumed the name of Sterne.
He may have taken it from the sign of the
Sterne,' or starling, (which is the symbol of
industry), which he displayed in front of his
place of business, or it may have been taken
from some event in which a starling was con-
cerned ; but of this there is no means or record
knowing.
In England the name was, as it seems still
is, spelled Sterne, two notable instances of
which are Richard Sterne, Lord Archbishop
of York, and Lawrence Sterne, the distin-
guished novelist, author of "Tristam Shandy"
and other works ; but in America it is spelled
Stearns, Sternes, Sterns or Starns. and
Starnes, the last two forms being distinctly
southern. The changes probably commenced
in the pronounciation. and extende<l to the
writing of the name, which in Winthrop's
journal and in the early town and county
records of Massachusetts api)ears as Sterne. _
In every instance where the lineage of this
family has been traced back, it has been to
one of the following: Isaac, Charles or
Nathaniel. What relationship existed between
the three is not known. Isaac in his will calls
MASSACHUSETTS.
139
Charles "My kinsman." It is noticeable, how-
ever, that all three named their sons, Isaac,
Samuel and John, while the sons of Isaac
named their sons Xathaniel. The belief is
entertained by many of the Stearns descend-
ants that three Sterne brothers, Isaac, Daniel
and Shubael, came to America together, that
Daniel died unmarried, or without issue ; that
Shubael and wife left two sons, Charles and
Xathaniel, to the care of their uncle, Isaac.
Research in England has thus far failed to
find parents, brothers or sisters of Isaac
Stearns, the emigrant from England.
In the genealogy of the Stearns family, pub-
lished in 1901, over eleven thousand persons
were mentioned. Among these were two hun-
dred and thirty-two graduates of colleges,
universities, etc ; eighty-three clergvmen.
eighty physicians; fifty-nine lawyers, twelve
I)rincipals of academies and high schools;
twelve professors of colleges ; one chancellor
of a state university; one dean of a divinity
school ; three presidents of colleges ; one sup-
erintendent of instruction (Argentine Re-
public) ; eleven authors; five editors; one
bishop of Pennsylvania ; one general manager
of railroads: one jiresident of railroads; one
president of a telegraph company ; twenty
farmers ; two governors ; three lieutenant-gov-
ernors; two secretaries of .state; eleven state
senators ; thirty-six colonial or state repre-
sentatives ; two speakers of the house ; two
supreme court judges; five mayors; two gen-
erals ; twenty-two colonels ; eleven majors ;
fifty-six captains ; and one hundred and eighty-
two private soldiers.
( I ) Charles Stearns, the immigrant, was
admitted freeman May 6, 1646, at Salem.
On March 15, 1648, he bought of Edward
Lamb, of Watcrtown, a house and eight acres
of land, and three other lots. On the same
day he purciiased of John Eiske six acres of
upland. Isaac Stearns, in his will dated June
14. 1661, mentions Charles Stearns as "my
kinsman," and bequeaths him ten pounds.
Samuel Hosier also bec|ueathed to him ten
pounds, but without stating any relationshi]).
January 6, 1681, he was elected constable, or
tax gatherer of Watertown, but refused to
take the oath ; and the same year he sold his
land in Watertown to his son, Samuel. It is
supposed that soon after this, Charles Stearns
with his son, Shubael, moved to that part of
Lynn called Lynn End, now the town of Lynn-
field. Charles Stearns married Hannah, whose
surnames does not appear. She died in Water-
town. June 30, 1651, and was buried July 2,
1651. lie married (second) June 22, 1654,
Rebecca Cibson, daughter of John and Re-
becca Gibson, of Cambridge. The births of
the first two children of Charles and Re-
becca are recorded in Cambridge, but she
was a member of the Watertown church,
Eebruary, 1689. The seven children of this
marriage were : Samuel, Shubael, John, Isaac,
Charles, Rebecca and Martha.
(Ill .Shubael. second son of Charles and
Rebecca (Gibson) Stearns, was born Septem-
ber 20, 1655, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He was a member of the Narragansett expedi-
tion. After marriage he settled in Lynn, prob-
ably near the border of Reading. No record
of his marriage has been discovered, but
"Mary l^pton of Reading, Massachusetts,
married Shubael Stearns of Lynn," whether
this Shubael or a descendant is not known.
Samuel Trail, aged ninety-five and u])wards,
testified that he remembered Shubael Stearns
of Lynn, who came from Watertown, and was
in the army. Shubael's will dated November
19' 1/33' was proved September 2, 1734. He
had nine children: Shubael, .Samuel, Hannah,
Mary, John. Ebenezer. ]\lartha, Eleanor and
Rebecca.
(HI) Samuel, son of Shubael and Mary
(Upton) Stearns, was born September 12,
1685. He removed about 171 5 to Sutton,
where his son Thomas was born, then he re-
turned to Lynn, where he died suddenly De-
cember 20, 1759, aged seventy-four years. He
married (first) (intentions of marriage pub-
lished April 7, 171 1 ) Sarah Burnap, daughter
of a Scotch minister of Marblehead. She died
August 6, 1724, and he married (second)
April 14, 1725, Tabitha Bryant, of Reading,
who died December 13. 1758. Seven children
were born of the first wife : Timothy, Samuel,
Sarah, Thomas, Rebecca, Isaac and Benjamin.
(IV) Thomas, third son of Samuel and
Sarah (Burnap) Stearns, was born in Sutton,
December 22, 171 7. His first and second chil-
dren were born in Lynn, the next seven in
Lunenburg. Leaving the latter place, he re-
sided in iMtcIibin-g a short lime, and then went
to Leominster where he died h'ebruary 5, iSii,
eminent for his christian virtues. He belcjuged
to Captain Samuel Hunt's company from Au-
gust 13 to December 13, 1755. He married,
November 4, 1740, Lydia Mansfield, daughter
of Daniel Mansfield. She died February 26,
1791. They had eleven children: Thomas
Cdied young), Lydia (died young), Sarah,
Thomas, Daniel, Lydia, Charles, Sarah, Re-
becca, Timothy and Anna.
140
MASSACHUSETTS.
(V) Rev. Charles (2), fourth son of
Thomas and Lydia (Mansfield) Stearns, was
born July 19, 1753. in Lunenburg. lie grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1773; received
the degree of D. D. from Harvard in 1810;
was a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences ; was ordained pastor of the
Congregational church in Lincoln, November
7, 1 78 1, and died there July 26, 1826. He
was also preceptor of the noted Liberal School
in Lincoln, "Dr. Charles Stearns was in the
University over forty-five years, preached his
last sermon the first Sunday in July, 1826, and
died on the twenty-si.xth of the same month.
His monument was erected by the town which
was then one parish. He was a man of high
ability, deeply reverenced by his people ; a man
who refused to enter into the controversy be-
tween Trinitarian and Unitarian Congrega-
tionalists, exchanging freely with those of both
ojiinions until his death. The following ex-
tract from 'The Gambrel-roofed 1-Iouse," by
Oliver Wendell Holmes, speaks for itself:
" "The middle-aged and young men have
left comparatively faint imjjressions on my
memory, but how grandly the procession of
the old clergymen who filled our pulpit from
time to time and passed the day under our
roof, marches before my closed eyes! At
their head, the most venerable, David O.sgood,
the majestic minister of Medford, with mas-
sive front and shaggy, overshadowing eye-
brows ; following in the train, mild-eyed John
Foster of Brighton, with the lambent aurora
of a smile above his pleasant mouth which not
even the "Sabbath" could subdue to the true
Levitical aspect ; and bulky Charles Stearns
of Lincoln, author of "The f-adies' Philosophy
of Love." A Poem, 1797. (How I stared at
him, he was the first living person ever pointed
fiut to me as a poet!) ; and Thaddeus Mason
Harris of Dorchester.'" Mr. Stearns was a
scholar of high attainments, and was offered
the presidency of Harvard College, but de-
clined it, regarding it as his duty to remain
with his parish in Lincoln, which was then
paying him a salary of four hundred dollars
a year. Ho married, January 7, 1782, Sus-
anna Cowdry, of Keacling, by whom he had
si.x sons and five daughters: Susannah, Charles,
Thomas. Julia. Sarah. Flizabeth Frances. Will-
iam Lawrence. Daniel .Mansfield. Rebecca.
Samuel and Edwin.
(\'I) Rev. William Lawrence, third son of
Rev. Charles (2) and Susanna (Cowdry)
Stearns, was born October 30, 1793, at Lin-
coln, and was a twin brother of Daniel Mans-
field Stearns. He graduated from Harvard
University in 1820; studied divinity with his
father, and was licensed to preach in 1823;
ordained and installed in Stoughton, Novem-
ber, 1827; dismissed from Stoughton in 1831,
and installed at Rowe, January, 1833. He
was also pastor of the Unitarian church at
Pembroke. After his health failed, he made
his home with his son George M. in Chicopee,
where he died May 28, 1857. George AL
Stearns described his father as a "fine scholar
and metaphysician. He was abstracted and
mild in his nature — a man living much more in
the world of his thouglits and studies than
that of the life close about him." He married,
June 5, 1828, Mary Monroe, born September
12, 1803, daughter of Isaac and Grace (Bige-
low) Monroe, of Lincoln, and sister of his
twin brother's wife. She died March 23, 1900.
She was a very worthy woman and also passed
her declining years an honored and loved mem-
ber of her son George's household, but died
at the residence of her son Albert B. at Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts. Four children were
born of this marriage: William Henry,
George Monroe. Mary Monroe and Albert Bige-
low.
(\'II) Hon. George Monroe, second son of
Rev. William L. and Mary (Monroe) Stearns,
was born April 18, 1831. at Stoughton, and
died in Brookline, December 31, 1894. While
he was yet an infant his father moved to
Rowe. He was a wide-awake, active boy. full
of fun and mischief, the traditional minister's
son, the delight and torment of his parents.
He was always a student in spite of his
abounding S[)irits, for which his splendid
health was largely responsible, and soon ab-
sorbed all that the schools of Rowe could
teach him. He attended the academy at Shel-
burne Falls, Massachusetts, then attended
Harvard Law School and went from there
about 1849, while considerably under his
majority, to study law in the Chicopee office
of John Wells, a young lawyer only fairly
settled in ])ractice. but afterward a justice of
the Massachusetts sui)reme court, and himself
from Rowe. In .\pril. 1852, when past his
twenty-first birthday. Mr. Stearns was ad-
mitted to the bar, and at once formed a part-
nership with Judge Wells which lasted until
ludge Wells mnved his office to Springfield
some years later. Mr. Stearns continued his
office in Chicopee several years, and then also
removed to Springfield, where he formed a
partnership with the late E. D. Beach, and
afterward was associated with Judge M. P.
^^"zy-y^^ey
MASSACHUSETTS.
141
Knowlton for some years, and also with
Charles L. Long. The office in Springfield
was continued until 1878. when it was removed
back to Chicopee. where it remained until Mr.
Stearns transferred his home to Brookline. a
few months before his death. With regard
to Mr. Stearns characteristics as a lawyer, his
standing at the bar. his method of preparing
cases and presenting them to courts and jury,
his professional brethren and intimate asso-
ciates will be quoted farther on. It is agreed
among them all that he was easily at the
head of the local bar, and that his methods
were as thorough as they were original. Xo
one could try a case as (jeorge Stearns could,
especially before a jury, and attem]its to imi-
tate him usually ended in absurd and disastrous
failures. He might have sat upon the bench
of either of our higher courts had he chosen,
for he was offered a judgeship more than once.
Of the man himself, his home life in Chicopee,
and the place he filled in the affection and
regard of his friends and townsmen there is
a great deal that might be said. It is within
the truth to say that since his marriage, May
17, 1855, to Emily C. Goodnow, who was his
schoolmate at Shelburne Falls, in that year,
his home life was almost an idea! one. She
was horn in Princeton, Massachusetts. March
4, 1833. daughter of Erasmus D. and Caroline
R. (ISullard) Goodnow, both natives of Massa-
chusetts. ^Ir. .Stearns' home was the most
attractive place in the world to him, and the
home side was the richest and best side of his
nature, and nothing else brought out the choicest
treasures of his mind and heart as freely as
contact with his family and intimate friends.
He was always kindly, loyaland affectionate,
and a courteous and considerate host. At
once after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs.
Stearns went to live in the house on Spring-
field street in Chicopee, which was their home
for .so man)- years. Two children were born
to them: ^Iary C, born December 9, 1855,
married. C)ctf)ber 4. 1876, Frank E. Tiittle. of
Chicopee, and had one child. Emily Stearns
Tuttle, born July 19, 1878, an infant son de-
ceased. Mary C. died January 20, 1883.
Emily S., the second daughter, died at the age
of twelve.
It was with the lifjpe that a change of scene
and surroundings would restore his health,
or at least ])rolong his life and increase the
comfort of its added years, that Mr. Stearns
gave up his Chicopee house and removed to
Brookline. The event proved that hope to
be vain, for he steadilv lost rather than gained
in strength, until the end came after months
of suffering, borne with ])atiencc and courage,
and enlivened by a hope that was never
dimmed. Mr. Stearns was no lover of society
in the fashionable sense, and as much as he
cared for his friends he preferred to have them
come to his home rather than to go himself to
theirs. His intimates came to respect this
jjrefcrence of his, and as a consequence the
Stearns house became a centre to which they
were drawn by a strong attraction. These
informal gatherings were what Mr. Stearns
delighted in. With guests in his house or at
his table, he was at his best. Then how the
man would blossom out! Xo matter if the
day in court had been a hard one, and the ne-xt
day promised to be still harder, no matter if
there were perplexing law questions unanswer-
ed, or refractory witnesses unsubdued, his
guests never knew it, nor did he seem to
realize it. He gave himself to the enjoyment
of the hour, which meant making his friends
enjoy it. His wit would sparkle, his humor
flow, story would follow story, and once in a
while, when the company was suitable and
tlie mood was on him, he would move it to
tears or laughter by the paraphrase of a story
or novel he had been reading. He was an
omnivorous reader, but what he read was his
to call to mind and use in a case in court, to
point an argument before the supreme bench,
or to amuse and entertain his friends. His
well-known familiarity with the Bible was only
in part an inheritance, or a remembrance of
compulsory study in boyhood ; he never would
have had that marvelous command of bibical
lore had it not been for his delight in it as
literature. W'ithal there was an undercurrent
of reverence and religious sentiment in his
nature, rarely given expression to, and some-
times covered by a cloud of agnosticism, but
never without its influence on his relations to
his fellowmen, and which accounts in i)art at
least, for his love for the Bible. Such a brief
sketcli as there is room for in this book, would
not be com])lete without a word of allusion to
the ability Mr. Stearns always showed as a
business man, and his love for horses. As a
business man he was cautious, far-sighted and
honest. He could grasp the commercial bear-
ings of a case, see at once into the intricacies
of the management of a large manufacturing
concern and deal intelligently with tlie nrdi-
nary problems, and some of the more intri-
cate ones, of financial institutions. With all
his caution, he had a liking for a bit of .specula-
tion now and then, but never risking more than
142
MASSACHUSETTS.
he could well afford to lose. This speculative
tendency made him the owner of all sorts of
things at various times in his life, as his love
of horses made him purchase animals of all
bloods and values. It is proverbial that Mr.
Stearns loved horses; he made pets of them,
and happy was the trotter that met his favor.
It was a rare horse that was so lucky, for his
requirements were high, but now and then
one, like old "Calamity," or like the gray mare
"Maud" that he drove so long won a perma-
nent place in his affections.
Mr. Stearns was always a public man,
although he held but few public offices, refus-
ing over and again nominations to congress
which were almost equivalent to an election,
and several times declining to be his party's