The Thwing Family
My mother was a Thwing, the name being very uncommon in this country and all who possess it being probably descended from Benjamin Thwing, who came from England in 1635 and settled in Boston, having a house and garden on Sudbury Street. His ancestry is traced with probable correctness to the Knights of Thwing, a village forty miles east of York in England. His descendants occupied reputable positions in life, his son Benjamin being a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1678. Nathaniel Thwing was Captain and Major of the 8th Massachusetts Regiment in the campaign against Louisbourg, and later Lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Gridley's regiment at Crown Point. John Thwing, between 1730 and 1769, owned and used as a farm a large part of the ground occupied by the village of Hopedale, where I reside. Another Nathaniel Thwing was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Thwing, my grandfather, was a school teacher in Uxbridge, noted in his profession. His house now stands in very good preservation.
My mother seems to me to have been the very embodiment of New England common sense. Though her life was largely devoted to household duties and the rearing of her children, she was thoroughly interested in public questions, and never satisfied until she had settled to her own satisfaction the right or wrong of anything that came up for consideration. Though my father was a positive man, she was equally sure in her own views - one evidence of which was that though he became a member of the Hopedale Community, she persistently refused to join, on the ground that she did not believe all questions should be settled by a majority vote or that there should be no rewards for pre-eminent ability and services. William F. Draper, Recollections of a Varied Career
***************************
In addition to their children, there were at least four Thwings in the Hopedale in the 1840s..
Anna Thwing Draper, wife of Ebenezer Draper, was one of the founding members of the Hopedale Community. Her sister, Hannah, wife of George Draper, moved to Hopedale in 1853, but, unlike her husband, never joined the Community. Another sister, Sylvia, was the wife of Joseph Bancroft. You can find out a bit more about her and the Thwings in a story about her life written by her daughter, Lilla Bancroft Bracken Pratt. Their brother, Almon, was also an important member of the Community.
*****************************
Thwing, Almon - Born July 21, 1808 in Uxbridge, married Sarah Ann Darling in Uxbridge, September 13, 1832. she was a daughter of Nathan and Polly (Young) Darling, born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, October 1, 1813. their children were, --
Benjamin, b. in Medway, 1836; d in Grafton, 1840.
Anna, b. in Uxbridge, March 20, 1845; m. Zibeon Field, June 17, 1874.
Helen, b. in Uxbridge, March 1845; died in Uxbridge, December 1845.
Susan Eudora, b. in Hopedale, July 26, 1847; m. James Whitney, Feb. 28, 1867.
Almon Augustus, b. Hopedale, July 1852, d. November 1852.
The parents survive in a green old age. The husband has held many responsible town offices. Both are too well known throughout wide circle to need special characterization. (Geez, Adin, I wish you'd given a little thought to those of us in the distant future.) Adin Ballou, History of Milford, p.1070.
Anna Thwing Spaulding's Christmas Hopedale Community Menu HOME