George Darracott

Notes:

Shared with his son-in-law Joseph Nason, U.S. patent 1,261, 26 Jul 1839, for an "Argand Gas-Burner."

The handwritten registry that records his death in Boston on 13 Jul 1865 calls his occupation "gentleman" and names his parents William and Mary.

"George Darracott, one of our Directors, died on the 13th day of July last, in his 81st year. He was born Oct. 6, 1784, and was of Norman-English descent, his ancestors having resided for many generations in Devonshire, England. Commencing business on a moderate scale, he soon developed a taste for mechanical ingenuity and improvements. In 1826, he projected the Marine Railway for the merchant service of Boston, the construction and management of which during a period of nine years were intrusted to his care. He superintended the affairs of the Boston Gas-Light Company for sixteen years. He was a member of the Board of Health at a time when the visitation of the yellow fever at this port caused a serious alarm, and he assisted in adopting the most efficient measures to stay its ravages. He served at another time of excitement, in the introduction of the Voluntary Fire Department, as an assistant engineer. He was a Director of one of the public institutions of the city, a Representative to the General Court, and President of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. Of the latter, he was one of its early and prominent members; he was long associated in the management of its affairs, displaying great intelligence and persevering industry. He exhibited the same devotion to the interests of the Bunker-Hill-Monument Association, of which he was Director for thirty-four years, and, in 1840-1843, was a member of the Building Committee; in 1835, with Mr. Thorndike and Mr. Hammond,he made a long and laborious calculation of the cost of the work remaining to be done, on two different plans, by calculating the contents of each stone in every course to be laid, and estimating the cost thereof, for which service the Committee received a special vote of thanks on the part of the Corporation." [Proceedings of the Bunker Hill Monument Association at the Annual Meeting on Monday, June 18, 1866, citation details below.]

George married Sarah "Sally" Clark on 18 Jan 1807. Sarah (daughter of James Clark and Mehitable Lambert) was born on 6 Aug 1787; died on 16 Jun 1859 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Sarah Clark Darracott was born on 13 Nov 1815 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died on 11 May 1892 in New York, New York; was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1753

Notes:

Delmar Lowell's 1899 Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America says of William Darracott, second husband of Mary Lowell, that:

* He and Mary were married 25 Dec 1783.

* He was previously married to Sarah Earle, and after the death of his second wife Mary Lowell, he married again a third time.

* He died 16 Oct 1806.

* He "came to this country about 1742. Before this, he commanded a packet, plying between Hull, England and Boston, Massachusetts. His father was Sir _____ Darracott of Biddeford, Devonshire County, England. The same coat, now used by the family, is carved over the door of the Knight Templars in Malta, which indicated nobility."

A John Darracott was in fact mayor of Bideford, Devon in 1687 -- see Alexander G. Duncan, "Bideford under the Restored Monarchy," Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art 47:306, 1915, page 331. So there may be something to gentry origins for the Darracotts.

Also, for what it's worth, the Bunker Hill Monument Association obituary for George Darracott, son of William Darracott and Mary Lowell, says he was "of Norman-English descent, his ancestors having resided for many generations in Devonshire, England."

But the dates here seem out of kilter.

The Boston record of the Wm Darracott who died 16 Oct 1806 says he was 53 years old, thus born about 1753.

The 1894 Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, Containing Boston Births from A.D. 1700 to A.D. 1800 shows a William Darracott born in Boston 24 Apr 1754, son of William and Sarah Darracott. This seems much more likely to be the William Darracott who died in 1806.

If Mary Lowell had married the first William Darracott, and we're to believe that he came to New England around 1742 after a period of commanding a cross-Atlantic packet, then Mary Lowell would have been marrying a man roughly 30 or more years older than her. Possible, but (to our mind) less likely than marrying a man four years younger than her.

It seems to us far more likely that Mary Lowell's husband was the second William Darracott, and that the first wife named Sarah attributed to him by Delmar Lowell was in fact this William Darracott's mother. Whatever the case, it seems crystal-clear that only the older William Darracott could have been born in Devon, as the birth of the younger one is shown by multiple records to have happened in Boston.

William married Mary Lowell on 25 Dec 1783. Mary (daughter of Michael Lowell and Abigail Coney) was born on 14 Jan 1750 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Possibly born in Devon. See the entry on his son William Darracott.

William married Sarah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Possibly Sarah Earle.

Notes:

He was a merchant in Boston. He served as an assistant surgeon in the Louisburg campaign, 1754; in the same year he was appointed by the governor "to be keeper of the powder house in town in place of Captain William Salter, deceased."

Michael married Abigail Coney on 18 Feb 1734 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Abigail (daughter of Nathaniel Coney and Abigail Skinner) was born on 28 Jul 1712 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died after 29 May 1761. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a cordwainer.

Ebenezer married Elizabeth Shailer on 30 Jan 1694 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Elizabeth (daughter of Michael Shailer) was born in of Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts; died in 1761. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Or Shaler.

Nathaniel married Abigail Skinner on 6 Sep 1711 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Abigail (daughter of Thomas Skinner and Elizabeth Maverick) was born about 1685 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died between 28 Sep 1728 and 27 Dec 1736. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 1728 and 1736
• Alternate death: Bef 27 Dec 1736