Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/65

 \'IRGL\JA BIOGRAPHY

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trix, from whom present Carolina and Vir- ginia families contain many descendants through female lines. Thomas Axtell, born Herkhampstcad, Hertfordshire, England, January 26. 1619, emigrated and settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts liay colony, 1642, and died there in 1646, leaving to his wife an estate by will approved by the governor, deputy governor and secretary of the colony.

The name Axtell appears in English rec- ords in the year 1535, when John Axstyl, to- gether with others of a monastery belonging to the Augustinian Order of Alonks in ( lat- esden, Hertfordshire. England, made over their property to Henry VHI. At St. Peter's Church, Berkhampstead, a town twenty-six miles from London, there is a record of the baptism of John Axtell, son of John, in 1539, (the record of baptisms in PZngland began about that time) and another of William Axtell. son of John, in 1541. The name seems to ha\"e been well and creditably es- tablished there at that time. Other entries follow to 1614, when there is a series which includes the names of the f(^unders of the family in America.

The direct male line is as follows :

(I) Thomas Axtell. one of the three im- migrant brothers born January 26. 1619. as stated above was the son of W^illiam Ax- tell, of Berkhampstead.

(H) Henry Axtell. only son of Thomas and Mary Axtell, was born at Berkhamp- stead, October 15, 1641, and was brought to Sudbury, Massachusetts Bay colony, in his infancy. He became one of the first pro- prietors of Middleboro. Massachusetts; mar- ried Hannah Merriam. June 14. 1665 ; was killed by Indians in their attack on Marl- boro and Sudbury, April 19-21, 1676, during King Philip's war.

(HI) Daniel Axtell. son of Henry and Plannah (Merriam) Axtell. was horn No- A-ember 4. 1673. at Marlboro, Massachusetts l^>ay colony went to South Carolina in 1(595 with Elder William Pratt, where he met his kinswomen, "Lady Axtell," and lived on Ashley river until 1707. when he returned to Massachusetts, having married. May 12. 1702. Thankful Pratt, daughter of Elder Pratt. He was a large land owner and prominent citizen of Berkley, then a part of Taunton, where he died in 1735. William Pratt's father, Thomas Pratt, of Weymouth. iMassachusetts. was killed in the Marlboro- Sudbury fight — King Philip's war.

(I\ j Ebenezer Axtell, son of Daniel and Thankful (Pratt) Axtell, born at Berkley, Massachusetts, March 24, 1724, was a promi- nent citizen, frequently holding office; an ensign in the continental army. Married Hannah Hatheway, of Berkley, probably daughter of Colonel John Hatheway, of Berkley, who raised a regiment in 1778.

( V ) Thomas Axtell, son of Ebenezer and Hannah (Hatheway) Axtell, was born at Berkley, July 15, 1755. He served as a vol- unteer in the revolutionary war ; married Rebecca French, at Berkley, August 9, 1775, and died in Peru, Massachusetts, February 10, 1816.

(VI) Daniel Axtell. son of Thomas and Rebecca (French) Axtell, was born at Sut- ton. Massachusetts, February 2y, 1787. He was a student of political and religious mat- ters : prominent and active as a member of the Baptist church, as a Whig in politics and although consistently refusing to accept public office, he was also a leader in all bene- ficial local movements. He married Jane Wellman at Belgrade, Maine, in 1809, whose grandfather, Jacob Wellman. held a com- mission in the army in 1764. His father, Abraham Wellman. died at the siege of Louisburg in the French war, 1745.

(\HI) Almon Axtell, son of Daniel and Jane (Wellman) Axtell, was born Septem- ber 18, 181 1, at Peru, afterward Windsor, Massachusetts. He moved to Lorain county, Ohio, in 1832, with his parents; he was a Democrat and took an active interest in local politics, was influential in public affairs, but refused to hold any political office. He married Sophronia Boynton, daughter of Daniel and Beza (Delano) Boynton. in South Amherst. Lorain county, Ohio, October 20, 1835. She was born No- vember 21, 1813, at Waterville, Maine; was a lineal descendant of William Boynton, leader of a party of Englishmen who settled in Massachusetts during the Cromwellian period. The name Boynton occurs frequent- ly in English records from the time of the conquest ; she was maternally descended from the "Mayflower" passengers, John Al- den and Priscilla, daughter of William Mul- lins. Philip Delano and other Pilgrim immigrants, signers of the Compact.

(\'III) Decatur Axtell. son of Almon and Sophronia (Boynton) Axtell, was born Feb- ruary 8. 1848, at Elyria. Lorain county Ohio. His ancestry in all ascertained lines