QUILT HISTORY STORIES
ELGIN, ILLINOIS
PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND
Dexter Yarn Company Story
Book 4
Susan Wildemuth, Atkinson, IL
N. G. B. Dexter (Pen and Ink)
Courtesy Amy and Sandra Berger
Dexter Lineage (America)
1. Reverend Gregory Dexter
Born: 1610
Place of Birth: Olney, Northampton County, England
Death: No Information
Place of Death: No Information
Occupation: Printer and Stationer – England
Baptist Minister (About 1669)
Wife: Abigail Fuller
Children: (All born in Providence)
Stephen November 1 1647 (Mary Arnold)
James May 6, 1650 (Isabel Arnold)
John November 6, 1652 (Alice Smith)
Abigail September 24, 1655 (James Angell son of Thomas)
Peleg 1658
Special Note: He spent some time as Town Clerk, Commissioner to the Assembly, was known for this civic duties to the Providence Colony,and was a friend with Roger Williams.
2. John Dexter
Born: November 6, 1652
Place of Birth: Providence, Rhode Island
Death April 23, 1706
Place of Death Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation: Government and Community Servant
Military Man
Businessman/Farmer
Parents: Reverend Gregory and Abigail (Fuller) Dexter
Siblings: (See under Reverend Gregory Dexter)
Wife: Alice Smith - Married February 16, 1688. Alice was born in 1665, daughter of John and Sarah (Whipple) Smith. Alice (Smith) Dexter would later remarry in 1727 – Hon. Joseph Jenckes, Governor of Rhode Island. Alice (Smith) (Dexter) Jenckes died February 19, 1736.
Special Note: He was deputy, member of the town council, Major in the
military, and Speaker of the House of Deputies.
Children: (All born in Providence)
Stephen April 15, 1689 (Susannah Whipple)
James February 22, 1691 (Mary Whipple)
John Jr. October 24, 1692
Mary April 30, 1694 (John Angell)
Abigail April 26, 1696 (Arthur Fenner and Elisha Greene)
Sarah June 27, 1698 (John Comstock)
Phebe August 4, 1700 (Thomas Kelton)
Anna November 6, 1702 (John Brown)
Alice October 14, 1705 (William Olney)
3. James Dexter
Born: February 22, 1691
Place of Birth: Providence, Rhode Island
Death: No Information
Place of Death: No Information
Occupation: Farmer
Parents: John and Alice (Smith) Dexter (Jenckes)
Siblings: (See under John Dexter)
Wife: Mary Whipple – Married. Mary was born in 1692 in
Providence
Children: (All born in Providence)
John 1718
James Jr. 1720 (Alithea Walker)
David 1722
Anna 1723
Mercy 1725
Hopestill 1727
4. John Dexter
Born: 1718
Place of Birth: Providence, Rhode Island
Death: No Information
Place of Death: No Information
Occupation: Farmer (in Cumberland)
Parents: James and Mary (Whipple) Dexter
Siblings: (See under James Dexter)
Wife: No Information, but Married
Children: (All born in Cumberland)
John S.** 1753 (Mary Pearce)
Daniel S.** 1754
Jabez 1756
James 1757
Nathaniel Balch 1758 (Lucy Willard)
** Special note: An English officer of leisure and wealth became acquainted with the family and spent much of his time there for several years. He was a good scholar and an excellent reader, and amused himself teaching the children. This officer’s name was Singer, hence the middle name of Singer with two of the children and for three generations later in this line.
5. Nathaniel Balch Dexter
Born: 1758
Place of Birth: Cumberland
Death: 1832
Place of Death Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation: Tailor Settled in Grafton, Massachusetts until 1797
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 1797 – 1830
Providence, Rhode Island 1830-1832
Parents: John and (Name??) Dexter
Siblings: (See under John Dexter)
Wife Lucy Willard – Married. Lucy was born in 1758 at
Grafton, Massachusetts the daughter of Joseph Willard
Children: (Children Born in Grafton, Massachusetts)
Sally W. 1781 (Davenport and John C. Leveck)
John W. 1783 (Sally Bowen)
Horatio M. 1785
Nathaniel G.B. 1788 (Amey Jenckes)
Waterman T. 1790 (Fanny Orne)
Lucy W. 1792 (John C. Leveck)
Mary C 1794 (Edwin Harris)
Martha 1797 (Staunton Thurber)
(Children Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
Sabra E. 1798 (John Wilson)
Joseph W. 1801
Eliza A. 1804
Special Note: Lucy Willard was the sister or Aunt of the famous clockmaker (Willard Banjo Clock) Samuel Willard of Boston.
6. Nathaniel Gregory Balch Dexter
Born: June 25, 1788
Place of Birth: Grafton, Massachusetts
Death: April 8, 1866
Place of Death Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Occupation: Counting Room Clerk – Samuel Slater – Cotton
Manufacturer Almy, Brown, & Slater. (Settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island 1797 with his father’s family)
Founder of Dexter Yarn Company in 1820
in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Parents: Nathaniel and Lucy (Willard) Dexter
Siblings: (See under Nathaniel Balch Dexter)
Wife: Amey Jenckes – November 1808
Amey was born in 1788 at Pawtucket, Rhode Island
the daughter of Jerahmeel Jenckes.
Children: (Children Born in Smithfield, Rhode Island)
Jerahmeel J. 1809 (Eliza A. Marchant)
(Children Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
Lucy W. 1811 (William Fletcher)
Nathaniel 1814 (Mary Ann Jenckes)
James Gregory 1817
Simon Willard 1820 (Ann Eliza Bowen)
Daniel Singer 1822 (Ann Smith)
Amey 1825 (Ferdinand S. Eddy of Providence)
Samuel Slater 1827 (Elvira Crowell and Sarah Howland)
Special Note: He was educated by his parents and never attended school. He opened one of the first Sunday Schools in the United States and taught it himself with his students being children that worked at the cotton mill. He was nicknamed Captain Dexter.
7. Simon Willard Dexter
Born: July 25, 1820
Place of Birth: Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Death: October 29, 1893
Place of Death: No Information
Occupation: 1835-1841 - Jeweler – Worked for Joseph Martin
Providence, Rhode Island - Simon was 15 years old. He
worked for different firms in Providence and Boston
1842 – Shoe Business Rhode Island
1843 – Shoe Business with his brother-in-law Ferdinand S. Eddy, in the shoe business under firm name Dexter &
Eddy.
1844 – Dexter Yarn Company (Dexter Brothers - Simon Willard Dexter and Daniel Singer Dexter)
Parents: Nathaniel G. B. and Amey (Jenckes) Dexter
Siblings: (See under Nathaniel G. B. Dexter)
Wife: Ann Eliza Bowen – 1842
First Wife - Ann was the daughter of Samuel B. and Hannah
Bowen of Attleboro, Massachusetts
She died in 1883
Rose Maria Conley – August 17, 1884.
Second Wife - Rose was the daughter of Thomas and
Catharine (Rush) Conley
Children: (Children Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
Born to Simon Willard and Ann Eliza
Amey Eliza July 2, 1844 – Died in 1845
Emma Louise October 31, 1845 (Edward Thayer of Pawtucket)
Samuel Francis September 3, 1847 (Anna Frances Wheaton)
Amelia Jenckes 1849 – died in infancy
8. Samuel Francis Dexter
Born: September 3, 1847
Place of Birth: Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Death: July 11, 1906
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Dexter Yarn Company
Parents: Simon Willard and Ann Eliza (Bowen) Dexter
Siblings: (See under Simon Willard Dexter)
Wife: Anna Frances Wheaton – November 21, 1872. Anna was
born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island February 27, 1853, the
daughter of Dr. James L. and Anna M. (Jenckes)
Wheaton of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Children: (Children Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
Nathaniel Wheaton January 9, 1874
Fannie Wheaton October 21, 1875
Anthony Hamilton May 1, 1881 (Helen Loesch)
Source for Lineage Information
Ancestry.com. Cutter, William. New England Families: Genealogical and Memorial
Volume 4. New York: n.d., 1915. http://www.ancestry.com..
Pawtucket Past and Present. Pawtucket, Rhode Island: Slater Trust Company, 1917.
N. G. B. Dexter (Blue)
Courtesy Amy and Sandra Berger
