172 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



INSTANCES OF LARGE FAMILIES IN GROTON. 



THE following are some instances of large families in Groton 

 between the years 1700 and 1800. The maiden names of the 

 mothers, so far as known, are given within parentheses. 



Robert and Deborah Parker had sixteen children, and Jona- 

 than and Ruth (Shattuck) Farnsworth had fifteen. Ebenezer 

 and Abigail Blood, Joseph and Abigail (Sawtell) Parker, and 

 Oliver and Sarah (Tarbell) Farnsworth were blessed, each 

 couple, with families of fourteen children. 



Mrs. Joseph Parker, named above, " left two Hundred or 

 upwards of Children & Grandchildren," according to the in- 

 scription on her gravestone. She died on February 19, 1787, 

 in the 90th year of her age. 



Jonas and Jemima (Holden) Green were the happy parents 

 of ten children, all born within a period of less than eleven 

 years, and among them were twins and triplets. By a second 

 marriage, Jonas became the father of nine more children. 



Elisha and Elizabeth (Adams) Rockwood were favored with 

 thirteen children. Isaac and Priscilla (Dodge) Bowers, John 

 and Ruth Frost, Jonathan and Esther (Shedd) Lawrence, 

 Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Page) Nutting, John and Elizabeth 

 (Nutting) Nutting, Joseph and Mary (Prescott) Stone, Cap- 

 tain John and Molly (Everett) Williams, and Nathaniel and 

 Alice Woods were each the parents of twelve children. 



CELEBRATION AT GROTON, JULY 4, 1807. 



THE following account of a celebration at Groton by the 

 Federalists, on July 4, 1808, is taken from the "Columbian 

 Centinel" (Boston), July 8, 1807. 



I do not understand the statement therein made, that John 

 Stuart delivered the oration, as it was subsequently printed 

 and bears the name of Samuel Dana as the author; and the 

 two letters that passed between Mr. Dana and the Committee 



