Foxborough Families

The area now known as Foxborough was inhabited by native americans before the colonists arrived as early as 1704. Foxborough is near the four corners of land populated by the Massachusett, Narraganset, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag, but contained within the area considered the Massachusett settlement and very close to the trail leading from present day Providence and Narraganset Bay to the present Boston area.

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Foxborough Families Continued


One source shows a William Hudson receiving a grant of land, now in Foxborough, in 1669. He, in turn, conveyed the land called "Wading River Farm" to Thomas Platts in 1692. On July 11, 1704, Thomas Platts' son transfered the land to Jacob Shepard, who is thought to be the first non-indigenous man to build a home in what is now known as Foxborough. In 1778, the town was incorporated and named for the Honourable Charles James Fox.


Native Americans


See here for more information about the Massachusett, Narraganset, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag.


Early Foxborough Families

  • Baker
  • Billings
  • Carpenter
  • Clark
  • Comey / Comee
  • Cook
  • Daniels
  • Everett
  • Forrest
  • Gilmore
  • Guild
  • Hartshorn
  • Hewes
  • Hodges
  • Leonard
  • Morse
  • Paine
  • Partridge
  • Payson
  • Peary
  • Perrigo
  • Pettee
  • Pierce
  • Plimpton / Plympton
  • Pratt
  • Richardson
  • Rhodes
  • Robinson
  • Shepard / Shephard
  • Smith
  • Stevens
  • Stratton
  • Sumner
  • Vane / Vine
  • Willis
  • Wood


Some Historic People & Later Foxborough Families


More Facts


  • Rev. Thomas Kendall was ordained as the first minister in 1779. He remained in the pastorate for 21 years.
  • Noah Hobart was the Postmaster in 1816.
  • Historic Markers honoring Foxborough folks can be found throughout town on black markers; they are often placed at intersections.


Oake Knoll Farm & the Morse Family


Oake Knoll Farm also known as Lawton's Farm on North Street in Foxborough was founded by Jedidiah Morse in 1734. The farm was originally more than 1,000 acres. Jedediah also constructed a dam across the Neponset River and started a forge. He was a bloomer by trade . The Morse family is integral to the history of Foxborough. In fact, a section of North Foxborough was once called Morseville.

Morse family members to have owned and worked this land include founder Jedediah Morse, Jerimiah Morse, Amos Morse, Amos Morse Jr., Newell Morse, Edson Morse, Ruth Morse Lawton and current owners Edward Norm and Nancy Lawton.

The houses of Amos Jr., Nelson, David and Newell Morse still stand. These four houses are still lived in though all have been sold except for Newell Morse's house.

From 1930 to the late 1970s, the farm was internationally known for the Lawton's Buff Sex Link chickens which were developed by selective mating. This business flourished until problems with the feed caused the incubated eggs to die at 19 days resulting in an irrecoverable loss of baby chicks. The chicks had been sold domestically and internationally, so along with tighter export laws, this loss caused the family to return to milking cows again. Today the 26 acre Oake Knoll Farm is a dairy and vegetable farm with a roadside farmstand.

Source: Governor's Proclamation, Massachusetts Century Farms Day, September 17, 2000, by Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci.




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Events Around Foxborough

Y Old Foxborough Meeting House


The first meetinghouse in town also served as its church. In 1766 the first meetinghouse was finished and stood until 1822. In the colonies, in order to form a town a meeting house was required. People from this area tried numerous times between 1756 and 1778 to be incorporated but their attempts failed until 1778.

Original Members of the Orthodox Congregational Church in Foxborough, Mass. (November 25, 1779) were:
  • John Shepard
  • Martha Shepard
  • James Plimpton
  • Huldah Plimpton
  • William Pettee
  • Rebecca Pettee
  • Benjamin Pettee
  • Hannah Pettee
  • Nehemiah Carpenter
  • Sarah Carpenter
  • Nathaniel Clark
  • Mary Clark
  • Swift Payson
  • Esther Payson
  • Samuel Baker
  • Mary Baker
  • Nathan Kingsbury
  • Azubah Kingsbury
  • Mary Plimpton
  • Hannah Morse
  • Hannah Clark
  • Keziah Daniels
  • Hannah Clark
  • Mary Hewes
  • Elisabeth Day
  • Jemima Guild
  • Hannah Sumner
  • Elisabeth Perrigo
  • Phebe Morse
The following people are listed as having pews.


Balcony
  1. Peter Carpenter
  2. John Carpenter
  3. ____ Paine
  4. Stephen Boyden
  5. Roger Morse
  6.  
  7.  
  8.  
  9.  
  10. Beriah Mann
  11. Jairus P Morse
  12. Roger Sumner
  13.  
     
Ground Level
contains a Pulpit with Deacon Seats and Men's and Women's P.'s. One area had been left open, but was filled with Pews later.
  1. Ministers Pew
  2. Dr Joshua Wood
  3. Capt Geo. Stratton / Job Sherman
  4. Dea. Samuel Baker
  5. John Comey
  6. Dea. Issac Pratt
  7. Jacob Leonard
  8. Seth Boyden
  9. Richard Everett
  10. Dea. Spencer Hodges
  11. Ephraim Shepard
  12. John Sumner / Dr Ebenezer Forrist
  13. Amos Morse
  14. William Paine / Otis Paine
  15. Asa and James Paine
  16. Seth Robinson
  17. Francis Daniels
  18. John Sumner
  19. Nathan Clark / Lewis Leonard
  20. Asa & Elijah Plimpton
  21. Asa Shepard / Eliab Nason
  22. Abijah Pratt
  23. John Hewes
  24. Swift Payson Esq
  25. John Carpenter / Melentiah Everett, Esq.
  26. Jesse Hartshorn
  27. Seth Robinson
  28. Preston Shepard / Noah Hobart
  29. Eleazer Robbins
  30. Benjamin Pettee
  31. Zadock Howe and Job Willis
  32. Dea. Aaron Evertt
  33. Seth Robinson (family pew)
  34. Capt Oliver Comey
  35. Dea. Nehemiah Carpenter / Ezra Carpenter
  36. William Clark / Hezekiah Petttee
  37. Hon. Ebenezer Warren
  38. Major ______ Billings / David Morse
  39. Maj. Joseph Shepard/ Metcalf
  40. Evertt and Francis Jones
  41. William Sumner
  42. Dea. Nathanael Clark / Ethridge Clark



Masons in Foxborough

Past Masters at Saint Alban's Lodge A.F. & A.M.

  • Horace Palmer (1856)
  • Harvey E. Clap (1857)
  • Linus E. Carpenter (1858, 1859)
  • John Littlefield (1860)
  • J. E. Carpenter (1861, 1862, & 1865)
  • William R. Thomas (1863, 1864)
  • Elisha White, Jr. (1866, 1867)
  • William H. Thomas (1868, 1869)
  • George C. Forrest (1870, 1871)
  • William H. Torrey (1872, 1873)
  • Allen F. Belcher (1874, 1875)
  • Isaac P. Carpenter (1876, 1877)
  • James B. Mowry (1878-1880)
  • George Samuel Wheeler (1881, 1882)
  • William B. Crocker (1883, 1884)
  • Michael Ryan (1885-1887)
  • Robert W. Carpenter (1888, 1889)
  • Fred S. Lane (1890-1892)
  • Charles E. Martis (1893, 1894)
  • Irving W. Lane (1895, 1896)
  • Fred G. Mears (1897, 1898)
  • William S. White (1899)
  • E(dwin). P. Jewett (1900 1901; SN)
  • Howard E. Newton (1902, 1903)
  • Charles W. Bemis (1904, 1905)
  • William H. Trayes (1906)
  • George R. Ellis (1907, 1908; N)
  • Frank C. Carpenter (1909)
  • Fred H. Richards (1910-1912; Mem)
  • Harry Bridge (1913, 1914)
  • Forrest Bassett (1915, 1916)
  • Harry B. Lewis (1917, 1918)
  • Francis M. Perry (1919, 1920)
  • Percy B. Richmond (1921)
  • William H. Rider, Jr. (1922)
  • Clifford W. Lane (1923)
  • Raymond W. Leonard (1924)
  • Herbert Dodkin (1925)
  • Wallace E. Tiffany (1926)
  • Russell E. MacKenzie (1927)
  • Norman R. Smith (1928)
  • Clarence E. Tucker (1929)
  • Byron G. Ingalls (1930)
  • Charles A. Burrell (1931)
  • Alva E. Poole (1932)
  • Henry A. Turner (1933)
  • Corodon S. Fuller (1934; N)
  • Stanley M. Gilmour (1935)
  • G. Perley Nicholl (1936)
  • Bhertel C. Rost (1937)
  • William C. Law (1938)
  • Samuel J. Johnston (1939)
  • Wilfred E. Booth (1940)
  • Harold E. MacKenzie (1941)
  • John E. Warren (1942)
  • Dexter G. Stripp (1943)
  • Frank O. Law (1944)
  • Robert S. Griffiths (1945)
  • George P. Clark (1946)
  • J. Lloyd Hayden (1947)
  • Archibald L. Hanna (1948)
  • Gale K. Swartwood (1949)
  • Walter H. Hiller (1950; Mem; N)
  • Earl W. Cook (1951)
  • Charles H. Comey, Jr. (1952)
  • Elmer L. Burt (1953)
  • W. Raymond Bearce (1954)
  • Phelps K. Tracy (1955)
  • Alfred Herschel (1956)
  • Donald B. Lightbody (1957)
  • Bennet B. Fuller (1958)
  • Harold E. MacKenzie, Jr. (1959)
  • Charles A. Burrell, Jr. (1960)
  • Robert L. Wroe (1961)
  • Wendell S. Young (1962)
  • Arthur Holmberg (1963)
  • Kenneth R. Ramsay (1964)
  • Robert M. Grahn (1965)
  • John C. Fuller (1966; PDDGM)
  • Richard D. Leggee (1967; N)
  • Robert E. St. John (1968)
  • Albert J. Lengel (1969)
  • Robert L. Gimler (1970)
  • Howard G. Black (1971)
  • H. Eugene Law (1972)
  • Harvey L. Hansen (1973)
  • George A. Chase (1974)
  • George Reid (1975)
  • Russell W. Harnden, Jr. (1976)
  • Richard C. Hobbs, Jr. (1977)
  • Frederick B. Watson (1978)
  • Stanley M. Robinson, Jr. (1979)
  • Donald B. Poole (1980)
  • William H. Andren (1981)
  • George C. Upper, Jr. (1982, 1995; N)
  • William H. Echols, Jr. (1983)
  • John M. Henderson (1984)
  • Paul V. Wolf (1985)
  • John F. Platt (1986; N)
  • William R. Godfrey (1987, 1988)
  • Charles E. Burnett (1989)
  • Barry W. Topping (1990, 1991)
  • Frederick B. Wason (1992)
  • David N. Barberie (1993, 1994)
  • James E. Carroll (1996, 1997; PDDGM)
  • Glen M. Cunningham (1998)
  • Raymond R. Fuller (1999)
  • Peter J. Hall (2000, 2001)
  • John P. Hall (2002)
  • Glenn M. Cunningham (2003)
  • Thomas R. Smith (2004)
  • Gary C. Hobel (2005-2007)
  • James W. Haskell (2008, 2009)
  • Randolph C. Olsson (2010-2012)

J. Philip Berquist Lodge in Foxborough
Past Masters
  • Eugene B. Nichols (2004, 2005)
  • Peter A. Randall (2006, 2007)
  • George N. Neilson, Jr. (2008, 2009)
  • Wayne A. Burkholder (2010, 2011)
  • Steven G. Karlgren (2012, 2013)

More About Worship In Foxborough & Houses Of Worship


Foxborough's History And Historical Sites


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