NUTT, Col. William

Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

Both his grandfather William and his great grandfather Samuel Nutt, of Francetown, NH, served in the Revolution and his father was in the War of 1812. The father of Samuel and the first of the family in this country, was William Nutt, who was among the Scotch-Irish settlers in Londonderry, NH, in 1719. In 1852 Col. William Nutt came to Natick and learned the trade of shoemaker, and was associated intimately in business and politics with Henry Wilson, vice-president of the United States. In 1857 he took part in the struggle to keep Kansas a free state and was a squatter at Lawrence, Kansas. He cast his first vote for the Free Soil ticket and was one of the organizers of the Republican party. When the Civil War broke out, he was a member of Company C, Mechanics Rifles, Ninth Regiment, Natick, but left that organization to enlist in Company I, Second Regiment, May 15, 1861. He was made a corporal and, Aug. 11, 1861 sergeant. He was a very capable drill-master, and was detailed early in the service to instruct officers and men of the 27th Indiana Regiment. His first skirmish was Oct. 22, 1861, at Conrad's Ferry, VA. After the Battle of Ball's Bluff, in which he was engaged, he was in the hospital sick for several weeks, and when convalescent was detailed in December, 1861, to recruiting service at Springfield, Mass. He returned to his regiment in June at Martinsburg, Va., after being assigned to the 12th Mass. Regt. from April to June. His regiment lost nearly half its men and more than half its officers in a battle, Aug. 9, 1862, and from that time until March, 1863, he was acting first sergeant. At the Battle of Antietam a third of the regiment was killed or wounded. He was commissioned March 5, 1863, second lieutenant, and in May, first lieutenant, in the 54th regiment under Col. Robert G. Shaw, to whom the memorial opposite the state house was erected in later years. He was transferred to the 55th Regt. and commissioned captain. He was provost marshal of Jacksonville, Fla., in Feb. 1864; commissioned major, Nov., 1864; lieutenant colonel, June, 1865, and brevet colonel at the close of the war. He served with his regiment at the siege of Charleston. He was mustered out in September, 1865. He became a partner in the firm of Davis & Plummer, shoe manufacturers of Natick, after the war, but finding that business uncongenial, began to study law in the office of Walter N. Mason of Natick, in 1866. In February, 1868, he was appointed agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, Halifax and Lunenburg counties, Va. Here he continued to study law. He was admitted to the bar in Middlesex County August 9, 1868, and opened an office in Natick. He entered actively into public affairs and was during the rest of his life a leader in the Republican party, serving as chairman of the town committee and frequently as delegate to the state and other nominating conventions. He was elected moderator of the town in 1870 and from that time to 1896 often served in that office, for which he was well fitted. He was collector of taxes in 1869, 1870 and 1871; representative to the general court in 1871 and 1872, serving on the committee on labor in 1871 and on probate and insolvency and on woman suffrage in 1872. He was chairman of the board of selectmen in 1874, 1876 and 1881; member of the board of health in 1874; overseer of the poor three y ears; member of the school committee in 1873; on many important town committees; deputy sheriff from 1877 to 1886 inclusive; trial justice of t he Natick court 1886 to 1892. He was elected state senator by a vote of 7,328 to 4,204, in a district that had elected a Democrat to year previous. He served on the committee on constitutional amendments, military affairs and was chairman of the committee on taxation. He was also on the recess committee which revised the public statutes. He was just of the peace from 1867 and notary public from 1874 until the end of his life. Colonel Nutt made a specialty of probate practice and settled many large estates. He did much of the pension business in this section. In later years most of his practice was as attorney of the Natick Five Cents Savings Bank. He was on its investing board from May 1, 1909, when he resigned on account of ill health. He was a live member of Meridian Lodge, Free Masons; member of the Grand Army and Union Veterans Union; former president of the Officer's Association of the Fifty-fifth Regiment and also of the Second Regt.; member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and of the Vermont Association of Boston. he was active in all kinds of temperance work and on t he day Fort Sumter was bombarded was elected R.S. of Neal Dow division, Sons of Temperance. He was an able public speaker and frequently heard in Natick. He was on the legislative committee that attended the dedication of the monument to Union soldiers who died in the rebel prison at Andersonville. He commanded the survivors of the 54th and 55th regiments at the dedications of the Shaw memorial, Boston.

FindaGrave:
GRID=117534270

William married PUFFER, Abigail Prentice on 25 Apr 1863 in Framingham, MA. Abigail (daughter of PUFFER, Josiah and RUSSELL, Patience) was born on 30 Dec 1839 in Sudbury, MA; died on 27 Jan 1906 in Natick, MA; was buried in Natick, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. NUTT, William Harrison was born on 17 Jul 1866 in Natick, MA; died on 9 May 1952 in MA; was buried in Natick, MA.
2. NUTT, Charles Robinson was born on 26 Sep 1868 in Natick, MA; died on 26 Sep 1918 in Wareham, MA; was buried in Natick, MA.
3. NUTT, Mary Abbie was born on 25 May 1871 in Natick, MA; died on 2 Aug 1875; was buried in Natick, MA.
4. NUTT, George was born on 5 Nov 1872 in Natick, MA; died in 1924 in MA; was buried in Natick, MA.
5. NUTT, Henry was born on 12 Feb 1875 in Natick, MA; died in 1948 in MA; was buried in Natick, MA.
6. NUTT, Bessie May was born on 18 Oct 1876 in Natick, MA; died on 23 Sep 1882; was buried in Natick, MA.
7. NUTT, Nellie Ann was born on 17 Mar 1880 in Natick, MA; died in 1962 in MA; was buried in Natick, MA.
8. NUTT, Julia Maria was born on 30 Jul 1881 in Natick, MA; died in 1983 in MA; was buried in Athol, MA.
9. NUTT, Matilda Ellen was born on 11 Jan 1884 in Natick, MA; died in Jan 1981 in Athol, MA; was buried in Athol, MA.

Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

Served in the War of 1812.

FindaGrave:
GRID=103476119

Isaac married MONROE, Sally Ann on 6 Feb 1825 in Richford, VT. Sally was born on 15 Jan 1804 in Natick, MA; died on 7 Mar 1852 in Topham, VT; was buried in Natick, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 11
• Birth: 15 Jan 1804, Richford, VT
• Death: 7 Mar 1858, Natick, MA

Notes:

FindaGrave:
GRID=103476521

Notes:

Served in the Revolution

William married BREWSTER, Mary on 15 Nov 1785 in Francestown, NH. Mary was born on 10 Dec 1760; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Served in the Revolution.

Samuel married DICKEY, Elizabeth about 1759. Elizabeth was born in 1740 in Chester, NH; died on 13 Sep 1801 in Newport, NH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]