History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

Personal Sketches 221
deceased; William, deceased, married Harriet Burbank, of Taunton, and
had three children; Seth married Mary Carver, of Taunton and had four
children; Elizabeth married Nathan Wood, of Swansea, and had two
children; Adeline, deceased, married Benjamin B. Wood, of Swansea, son
of Aaron Wood, and had five children; Walter H. married Amanda
Gardner, and had two children ; Augusta became the second wife of Benjamin
B. Wood, and they have one son; Laura died unmarried; Nathan M. is
mentioned below; Angeline died in infancy.
(VIII) Nathan M. Wood was born in Swansea, Mass., Jan. 16, 1825.
His education was obtained at the common schools of his native town. His
father was a farmer and miller, and Nathan was brought up to the same
business, and, with the exception of about one year passed in Maine, always
resided at the home in Swansea, which has been in the family so many
generations. November 7, 1848, he married Abby M. Kingsley, second
child and eldest daughter of Elisha and Mary G. (Mason) Kingsley, of
Swansea. She was born April 10, 1828^ and died April 8, 1889. Mrs. Wood
descended on the maternal side from Samson Mason, who was an Englishman,
and an officer in the army of Oliver Cromwell, until the latter was
made lord protector of England. About 1650 he came to America, and was
admitted an inhabitant of Rehoboth Dec. 9, 1657. His children were:
Samson, Noah, John, Samuel, Bethiah (who became the wife of John Wood),
Sarah, Mary, James, Joseph, Isaac, Peletiah, Benjamin, and Thankful.
Peletiah had three sons, all of whom were ministers, Job, RusseU, and John,
all residing within a mile of each other. They were blacksmiths by occupation,
and it is said used to "preach with their leather aprons on." They
preached in a church occupying the site of the present Christian Church
near Luther's Corners, Swansea Centre. Job Mason had a son Job, who
occupied the ancestral home, and who had a son named Gardner, who was
a seaman, and was drowned at Providence, R. I., while his vessel lay at
that port. His wife's name was Susanna Vinnicum. He left a daughter,
Mary G., who was the mother of Mrs. Nathan M. Wood.
Nathan M. Wood was a Republican in politics, but liberal in his ideas
in political as in aU other matters. He held various official positions,
including nearly all the principal town offices, and some of them for more
than twenty years. He was Representative to the Legislature in 1875.
He was a member of the Christian Church, also a member of Washington
Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and of Webb Council, Warren, R. I., of Royal
Arch Chapter, Fall River; and of Calvary Commandery, Knights Templars,
Providence, Rhode Island.
Mr. and Mrs. Wood had five children: Nathan Howard, born Feb. 15,
1851, died in infancy; Abby Isabel, born Nov. 16, 1854, married Hiram E.
Thurston, son of Edward M. Thurston, and they had one child, Louise.
Mrs. Thurston died April 27, 1912; Mary R. P., born May 28, 1857,
married Nathan Slade, and resides in Somerset; Angeline H., born June
30, 1859, married Franklin G. Arnold and died Dec. 1, 1916. Their children
are: Edmund, Mary, Preston, and Isabel. (See Arnold family) Eloise K.,
born Aug. 19, 1861, married Arthur E. Arnold, and they have Howard,
Abby, George and Nathan. April 28, 1892, Mr. Wood married (second)
Mrs. Rachael L. (Gardner) Mason.
IVlr. Wood was one of Swansea's most prominent and prosperous men,
in his day and generation, and aside from his farming and milling business
was largely interested in the cotton manufacturing business of Fall River.
He was also one of the foremost promoters of the Providence & Fall River
Street railway and a stockholder in the company. He always maintained
a deep interest in town affairs; and inclined to be conservative in what he
thought to be the welfare of his native town. He was an energetic worker,
and although about eighty years old at the time of his death, was still