The Legacy of Nathaniel & Sybil Guild Family of South Dedham

Nathaniel L. Guild (1795-1873)

Sybil Hewins Guild (1794-1862)

Benjamin D. Guild (1827-1889)

Sybil Julia Guild Ide (1830-1861)

Charles J. Guild (1824-1874)

Nathaniel L. Guild was born on August 26, 1795. His parents were Abner Guild (1757-1819) and Sarah Dean Guild (1768-1839). Abner Guild founded a tannery in today’s Endicott Street area.

Nathaniel Guild married Sybil Hewins in Wrentham. She was born in Sharon, on October 2, 1820. The couple had seven children: Nathaniel H., Charles J., Benjamin D., Sybil J., Ezra Phinias, Ferdinand E., and Almira J. Guild.

A farmer, Nathaniel lived most of his life in South Dedham. Sybil Hewins Guild died on January 26, 1862 of consumption (tuberculosis). Nathaniel died on January 12, 1873, shortly after South Dedham became Norwood. The cause of  his death was listed as “old age.” The couple are buried in Old Parish Cemetery along with their children and Nathaniel’s parents.

On this side of the family gravestone, the names of Nathaniel and Sybil are engraved as well as three of their children: Benjamin, Sybil, and Charles. Benjamin D. Guild (1827-1889), who became Norwood’s “tramp keeper,” died of tuberculosis, like his mother. Charles J. Guild was a cabinet maker who enlisted as a Private in Company D of the 43rdMassachusetts Regiment in the Civil War. He later moved to Worcester where he died in 1874.

Daughter Sybil Julia married Francis P. Ide on December 2, 1855 in Dedham. She had one child, Charles Francis Ide, born on December 18, 1857. Sybil Guild Ide died on December 13, 1861 of typhoid fever at the age of 31. Her husband remarried and moved from town.

Gravestone of the family of Nathaniel and Sybil Hewins Guild, repaired and cleaned by OPPV.