What's in a Name?

In the 1700s, naming children after family members (grandparents, parents) was the dominant tradition, but, by the early 1800s naming children after powerful figures, heroes, or even local leaders became more commonplace. In Old Parish Cemetery, there are three who were named for very famous figures: Benjamin Franklin, William Henry Harrison, and Isaac Newton.

Lot 115

Benjamin Franklin Fairbanks (1806-1874)

 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher. Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence; and the first postmaster general.

Benjamin Franklin Fairbanks was born in March of 1806 in Dedham. He was the son of Abijah Fairbanks and Lavina Fairbanks (lot 25).

On October 21, 1827, Benjamin Fairbanks married Priscilla D. Cushman, who was born on November 23, 1808 in Kingston. Her parents were Daniel and Priscilla Bassett Cushman.

Between the years 1832 and 1848, Benjamin and Priscilla had eight children: Elizabeth, Maria, Caroline, Charles, William, Mary, Daniel, and Julia. Benjamin supported his family as a farmer and later, a laborer and teamster. He died on March 13, 1874 of heart disease.

Lot 115

William Henry Harrison Fairbanks (1842-1865)

 William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the last American president to be born a British subject.

William Henry Harrison Fairbanks was born in March of 1842. He was the fifth child and second son born to Benjamin Franklin Fairbanks and Priscilla D. Cushman Fairbanks. Perhaps the fact that his father, Benjamin Franklin Fairbanks, had himself been named for a famous man was the reason the family continued the tradition.

William Henry Harrison Fairbanks became a teamster; he never married. William H. H. Fairbanks died on March 13, 1865 of consumption, the then common term for tuberculosis, a disease which ravaged many families in nineteenth century South Dedham.

Lot 18

Isaac Newton Ellis (1810-1893)

 Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) was an English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, author and inventor. He was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.

Isaac Newton Ellis was born on November 26, 1810. His father and mother, Royal Ellis and Betsy Morse Ellis, who had married on January 12, 1807, had two other children: Roxa, born in 1813 and David, born in 1821.

Isaac Newton Ellis was a farmer and never married. In the 1870 U.S. Census, he and his brother David continued to live on the family farm. In 1890, Ellis was also a cattle dealer.

In 1872, when Norwood was incorporated as an independent town, Isaac Ellis became both a surveyor of highways, a position that entailed the maintenance of roadways, and one of the community’s first Engineers of the Fire Department.

He died on November 25, 1893 of old age. He was 83 years old.