New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: Third Series, Volume III, by William Richard Cutter, 1915

The Bacon Family

Bacon is the name of an ancient seigniory in Normandy, and from this place the Norman ancestors in England took their surname nearly a thousand years ago. According to the genealogy of the great Suffolk county family of Bacon, one Grimaldus, a relative of William de Warrenne, came to England at the time of the conquest and settled near Holt in Suffolk. His great-grandson took the name of Bacon. In the north of France the surname Bacon is still in use. Bacon is found in the Hundred Rolls in England and the Balle Rolls. From Grimaldus the line is traced to the present time in the Virginia and Connecticut families of Bacon. The coat-of-arms is described: Argent on a fesse engrailed between three escutcheons gules three mullets or. The original seat of the family was in Suffolk, near Ipswich.

(I) Michael Bacon, the immigrant ancestor, was probably closely related to the famous Nathaniel Bacon, of Virginia. His father, Michael Bacon, of Winston, county Suffolk, England, made his will October 24, 1614, proved April 20, 1615, bequeathing to wife Grace; sons--Thomas, John, Michael and William; daughters--Sarah, wife of Daniel Yorke, and Elizabeth. To Michael he gave six silver spoons and a
silver pot which the American Michael in turn bequeathed to his eldest son Michael. Michael (1) Bacon's first wife was Elizabeth; he married (second) September 30, 1607, Grace Blomosale, widow. Michael Jr., the immigrant, was baptized at Winston, December 6, 1579. (See N. E. Reg., p. 330, 1903). About 1633 he went from England to Ireland, and seven years later came to New England with Samuel Cooke and John Smyth, also from the province of Ulster, North of Ireland. The wives of Cooke and Smyth preceded them, and were granted land at Dedham. Massachusetts. The records show that it was "agreed upon that the Towne of Dedham shall entertain Mr. Saml. Cooke, together with his estate and also Mr. Smith and Mr. Bacon all from Ireland and afford to them such accommodation of upland and meadow as their estates shall require." From a record made next month it would appear that the wife of Bacon preceded him. He signed the Dedham compact. His wife was admitted to the church September 17, 1641, and died April 2, 1648. He died April 18, 1648. His will was dated four days earlier and mentions all his children, except Alice who died a month previously. It is believed that William Bacon, of Salem, who came from Dublin, Ireland, was a brother. Children: Michael, who settled in Woburn, married at Winston, August 31, 1624, Marie Jobo; Daniel, mentioned below; John, admitted freeman of Dedham, 1647; Alice, married Thomas Bancroft; Sarah, married Anthony Hubbard.

(II) Daniel, son of Michael Bacon, was probably born in England about 1620. He settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and owned land there, also at Newton and Watertown. He was admitted a freeman May 26, 1647. He married, at Bridgewater, Mary Reed, daughter of Thomas. She died at Newton, October 4, 1691, and he died there September 7, 1691. Children: Daniel, removed to Salem; Thomas, mentioned below; John, died young; John, September 8, 1647; Isaac, April 4, 1650; Rachel, June 4, 1652; Jacob, June 2, 1654; Lydia, March 6, 1656; Hannah.

(III) Thomas, son of Daniel Bacon, was born at Bridgewater, April 13, 1645. He settled in Roxbury in 1665. His wife May was admitted to the Roxbury church, March 24, 1671-72. Children: Thomas, settled at Woodstock (New Roxbury); Joseph, settled with Thomas in New Roxbury and had grants there in 1710; George, September 12, 1672, and probably Margaret, who died May 16, 1680; Margaret, baptized October 18, 1682; Hannah, baptized November 10, 1685.

(IV) Lieutenant Henry Bacon, son or nephew of Thomas Bacon, was born about 1680, in Roxbury. The records of Roxbury are partly destroyed, and documentary proof of the birth is lost. He settled in Brooklyn, Windham county, Connecticut. He was a lieutenant when he married (second) September 17, 1740, Elizabeth Chapman, at Brooklyn. (Vol. I., p. 36. Conn. Marriages). Lieutenant Henry Bacon was
a member of the Pomfret church in 1734 and afterward of the Mortlake Society. Sarah Bacon married at Brooklyn, November 13. 1749, Eleazer Brown; Hannah Bacon. February 2, 1740, Jabez Hyde; Benjamin Bacon. April 21, 1748, Mary Eldridge. They were doubtless children of Henry.

(V) Henry (2), son of Henry (1) Bacon, was born about 1710. He married Persis Cleveland, daughter of Joseph (3), (Samuel (2), Moses (1)). Children: Nehemiah; Abner, born 1731; Joseph; and probably others. He lived in Brooklyn, formerly Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut.

(VI) Nehemiah, son of Henry Bacon, was born about 1730. He died in Palmyra, Ohio, November 6, 1832. He was a farmer in Windham county. He enlisted in the revolution from Pomfret, Connecticut, May 1, 1775, and served as private under Israel Putnam for eight months. He was a neighbor of General Putnam, whose home was in Pomfret. He enlisted again in May, 1777, and served to the end of the war, under Captain Abner Bacon, his brother, and Colonel John Durkee. He was pensioned late in life. His application was dated July 8, 1818, from Suffield, Portage county, Ohio, where he had gone to live with some of his children. He married, at Brooklyn, December 29, 1756, Ruth Adams. His wife died June 28, 1825. Children: Mary, died May 25, 1829, married (???) Nowlin; Joseph, died July 3, 1829; Henry, born 1760, died February 22, 1838; Sarah, 1762, died November 4, 1843; William, 1764, died January 22, 1850; Abner, mentioned below; Bertha, 1769, married (???) Cutler, died September 16, 1843; Cozen, 1775, died March 8, 1847.

(VII) Abner, son of Nehemiah Bacon, was born at Brooklyn, August 15, 1768, died at Putney, May 16, 1864, aged ninety-six. He came to Vermont prior to his marriage, and afterward returned to Connecticut. He located later at Putney, Vermont, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a tanner by trade and a shoemaker in his younger days. He also followed farming. He worked at his trade as shoemaker after he was ninety years old. He was a deacon of the Baptist church at Putney. He married Katherine Reed, of Dunstable, born March 6, 1773, died September 26, 1861, daughter of Timothy Reed, who was a soldier in the revolution. Children: Asa, born at Salisbury, Connecticut, October 30, 1796; Timothy Reed, born at Putney, October 26, 1798, died November 24, 1895; Abner, March 21, 1801, died August 26, 1801; William C., mentioned below; Clark, born at Putney, October 10. 1809, died February 27, 1891; George, October 2, 1813, died February 24, 1846.

(VIII) William Cummings, son of Abner Bacon, was born at Putney, Vermont, August 11, 1804, died there December 10, 1869. He received a public school education in his native town and learned the trade of carpenter. He located in Haverhill, New Hampshire, for a time, but returned to Putney and followed his trade and farming. He attended the Baptist church and was chorister. He played the bass viol in the church for many years. He served the town as road commissioner and on the school board. He married Maria Mary Blaisdell, who was born in Canaan, New Hampshire, January 25, 1820, died at Bellows Falls, Vermont, October 27, 1899, daughter of Joshua and Polly Blaisdell. Children: Jennie Leslie, born December 9, 1843, in Haverhill, married J. O. Bergh; Henry Cozen, mentioned below; George, born at Putney, January 31, 1847; died there November 5, 1911; Ella, February 25, 1849, married Dr. Everett Clark, of Stillwater, Minnesota; Emma, twin of Ella, died in 1907.

(IX) Henry Cozen, son of William Cummings Bacon, was born at Haverhill, New Hampshire, September 7, 1845, and came to Putney with his parents when he was a year old. He attended the Putney public schools, the Thetford Academy, and Leland Gray Seminary, at Townshend, Vermont. While a student he taught school and also for a few years afterward. After his father died he conducted the farm and cared for his mother and sister. In April, 1881, he came to Bellows Falls and in partnership with his brother George, under the firm name of Bacon Brothers, engaged in business manufacturing lumber and house finish. In 1888 he sold his interests and entered the employ of the Vermont Farm Machinery Company, of Bellows Falls, continuing for a period of twenty years. Since 1908 he has been head clerk of W. H. Bodine & Company, in the heating and plumbing business. For fifteen years he has been justice of the peace. In politics he is a Republican. He is president of the village of Bellows Falls; is a member of Golden Rule Lodge, Free Masons, of Putney, and of the Baptist church, in which for
twenty years he has been chairman of the board of trustees and for twenty-six years clerk of the society. He married (first) January 1, 1870, Adelaide May Baker, born at Thetford, Vermont, April 3, 1845, died at Bellows Falls, November 12, 1883, daughter of Willard W. and Nancy (Pierce) Baker. He married (second) April 7, 1886, Helen Frances Clark, who was born April 5, 1852. Children by first wife: 1. Justin Homer, mentioned below. 2. Willard Henry, mentioned below. 3. Bertha May, born at Putney, October 21, 1880; graduate of Bellows Falls High School; was bookkeeper for the International Paper Company at Bellows Falls, now bookkeeper in the National Bank, Newport, New Hampshire.

(X) Justin Homer, son of Henry Cozen Bacon, was born at Putney, June 17, 1873. He graduated from the Bellows Falls High School, and from Brown University in 1896 with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. He taught in the Bellows Falls. High School, in the Vermont Academy at Saxton's River, and in the Boys' School, Chestnut Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. He has traveled abroad and studied in France and Germany. He is now professor of modern languages in Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is a member of the Baptist church,
serves on the board of trustees and is superintendent of the Sunday school of four hundred members; is also a member of various college fraternities. He married Addie May Le Bourveau. Children: Marjorie Le Bourveau, born March 16, 1906; Charlotte Adelaide, July 21, 1908.

(X) Willard Henry, brother of Justin Homer Bacon, was born at Putney, June 22, 1878. He prepared for college in the Bellows Falls High School, and was graduated from Brown University in 1900. He was principal of the high school at Charlestown, New Hampshire; teacher of Latin and mathematics at Mitchell's Boys' Military School, at Billerica, Massachusetts, for two years, and teacher for one year in the high school at Providence, Rhode Island. For three years he was headmaster of Cedar Croft Boys' School, at Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; was principal of the high school at Rochester, New Hampshire, and is now principal of the high school at Westerly. Rhode Island. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, of Charlestown. New Hampshire, and of the Baptist church. He married Mary Alice Carpenter, born September 21, 1877.