Extracted from Historic Homes & Institutions and Personal Memoirs of Worcester, County, Massachusetts. Prepared under the Editorial Supervision of Ellery Bicknell Crane, and Published by the Lewis Publishing Company, 1907. Vol # 1, pages 435-437
John Witt (1) who came from Holland to Lynn, MA about
1630, settled there & was the ancestor of Alexander De Witt, of Worcester,
MA. The De was added by later generations, and is doubtless properly part
of the surname. He married Sarah____, & is said to have had 2 wives.
He died at Lynn, Dec. 2, 1675. His children were: John, married Elizabeth
Baker; Jonathan, married Mar. 23, 1663, Mary Dimond of Lynn, prob. dau.
of John Diamond; Ann, married ______Barnes; Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Martha,
born at Lynn, Mar. 1659; Thomas, born Lynn, July 25, 1661, married Lynn,
Bethia Potter, dau. of Nicholas Potter; Ebenezer, born Apr. 6, 1665, died
young.
(II) John Witt, son of John Witt (I) was prob. born about 1650 in Lynn,
married Jan. 14, 1676, Elizabeth Baker, resided in Lynn, where all of their
children were born, not all recorded. Children recorded in Lynn were: Elizabeth,
b Aug. 9, 1677; John b. Jun. 3, 1679, married Mary Dane; Mary b. Aug. 14,
1681; Jonathan, married Marlboro, Lydia Mathews; Abigail, b. Feb. 10, 1687;
Samuel, b.Oct. 20, 1691, married 1st Elizabeth Breed, of Lynn, 2nd Susanna
Pierce; Ebenezer, b. Aug. 8, 1693; Thomas, b. Feb. 18, 1696, married Mary
Ivory; Persis, b. May 2, 1698.
(III) John Witt, son of John Witt (II), b. Lynn, Jun. 3, 1679, married Mary
Dane, settled Marlboro, MA, about 1707. He died there 1743, and will was
made Mar. 6, 1741, and proved May 16, 1743, mentions wife Mary, sons William,
Elias, Joseph, John, Ebenzer; daughter, Mary Dike & Elizabeth; granddaughter
Rebecca Goodell. The children of John & Mary Dane Witt were: William,
b. May 13, 1708; Mary, b. Jul. 29, 1710; Elias, b. Jun. 30, 1714, married
Mar. 31, 1742, Elizabeth Marble; Rebecca, b. 1715, married Jan. 17, 733,
Eleazer Goodell, of Sutton; David, b. Apr.11, 1720, married Sarah_____,
& had Thomas, b. Apr. 11, 1745; Ebenezer, b. 1722, bapt. Jun. 22, 1722,
married Lydia Woodbury; Elizabeth, married Benoni Bailey; John, see forward.
John Witt, son of John Witt (3), was born at Marlboro, MA, about 1720, was
nephew of Capt. Ebenezer Witt, of Brookfield, MA, went to No. Brookfield
to settle about 1744. Only 4 of his children are recorded at No. Brookfield,
they are: Benjamin, b. Aug. 15, 1750; Ivory, b. Oct. 20, 1752; Stephen,
b. Aug. 15, 1754; Joseph, b. Jan. 3, 1757.
(V) Benjamin Witt, son of John Witt (4), b. No. Brookfield, MA, Aug. 15,
1750, removed to New Braintree, married Olivia Campbell, dau. of Duncan
Campbell, and settled at Oxford, MA. Again in 1794, he removed to New Braintree,
where he died Apr. 17, 1818. His widow married Daniel Bacon, of Charlton,
MA, & died Feb. 5, 1848, at Oxford,MA. There children were: 1. Sterns,
b. Dec. 22, 1787. 2 Sophia, b. Apr.22, 1789, married William Earle, Aug.
14, 1808, resided New Braintree, Oxford, Franklin & Boston, where he
died Aug. 27, 1867; she died Jan. 3, 1885. There children were: Oliver S.,
b. 1812; William, b. 1814; Samuel H., b. 1816; Benjamin A., b 1818; Paul,
b. 1821; Henry A., b. 1824; Mary M., b. 1829; Nancy S., b. 1831. 3. Polly,
b. Mar. 22, 1791, married Amos Thompson, 1810. 4. Hollis, b. Dec. 22, 1792.
5. Archibald, b. Oct. 27, 1794, married Martha Fisher, dau. of A. F. Fisher,
of Franklin, where they settled; he died May, 1759. His children were: George
Alexander, William, Martha & Horace. 6. Susan, b. Aug. 17, 1796, married
Rufus Haris. 7. Alexander, b. Apr. 2, 1798. 8. Nancy, b. Mar. 29, 1800,
married Horace Smith. 9. Elizabeth, b. Feb. 17, 1803, married Jonas Bacon.
(VI) Nancy DeWitt, dau. of Benjamin Witt, was b. Mar. 29, 1800, New Braintree,
MA, married Horace Smith, of Leicester, MA, as his 2nd wife. She died Sept.
24, 1830, & her 2 children were adopted by her brother, Col. Alexander
DeWitt, who was childless. The children were: Eliza L., b. Leicester, May
2, 1825, married Dr. William Newton; Horace DeWitt, name changed to Horace
Smith DeWitt, b. Leicester, Oct 2, 1828, married Sarah Jane Phelps, dau.
of James Phelps of Sutton.
(VII) Horace Smith DeWitt, son of Horace & Nancy DeWitt Smith, b. Leicester,
Oct 2, 1828, married Mar. 29, 1852, Sarah Jane Phelps, settled at Pepperal,
MA, he died May 4, 1859. Their only son was born at Pepperal; Alexander,
b. Mar. 7, 1854.
(VI) Colonel Alexander DeWitt, son of Benjamin Witt (5), b. Apr. 2, 1798,
New Braintree. In 1818 he went to Franklin and engaged in manufacturing
of cotton thread in partnership with Dr. Miller.. Next year he started a
mill and country store at Oxford, selling the thread he made from his wagon.
After he married he manufactured thread at Franklin with his father in law
until 1824, when he entered a partnership with his three brothers, Sterns,
Archibald and Hollis, and they started a small business at which is now
Buffum Village in Oxford. They continued but a few years. as his wealth
increased he became interested in cotton and wool manufacturing elsewhere.
He resided in Oxford all his life except from 1837 to 1840, where he was
a partner in a commercial house in Boston. He became very wealthy and held
investments in railroads, insurance and many other industrial concerns.
He married Jun. 5, 1820, Mary Makepiece, of Franklin, MA, and died Jan.
13, 1879; she died Apr. 6, 1887. They had no children, but adopted the children
of his sister Nancy (DEWITT) Smith
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