Salisbury family.

Nicholas Salisbury (1694-1748), the son of John Salisbury ( - ), who came from England and settled in Boston, Mass., was born on 20 August 1694. Nicholas was a merchant in Boston. He married, on 1 October 1724, Martha Saunders (1704-1792). They had two children: Samuel I and Stephen I.

Samuel Salisbury I (1739-1818), the son of Nicholas and Martha Saunders Salisbury, was an importer and merchant in Boston and was deacon of Boston's Old South Church for twenty-four years. He married Elizabeth Sewall (1750-1789) and after her death, he married Abigail Snow ( - ).

Stephen Salisbury I (1746-1829), the son of Nicholas and Martha Saunders Salisbury, was born in Boston on 25 September 1746. He was in partnership with his brother, Samuel, importing hardware and merchandise from England and the West Indies. In 1767, Stephen came to Worcester, Mass. to establish a branch store which thrived due to his ability to cater to individuals as well as to other merchants. Stephen made Worcester his permanent home when in 1771 he purchased the farm adjacent to his store and built a large house there. He married, on 31 January 1797, Elizabeth Tuckerman (1768-1851), the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Tuckerman of Boston. They had one son, Stephen II. In politics Stephen I was a Whig and served on several committees during the American Revolution.

Stephen Salisbury II (1798-1884), the son of Stephen and Elizabeth Tuckerman Salisbury, was born in Worcester on 8 March 1798. After attending local grammar schools and the Leicester Academy in Leicester, Mass., Stephen was graduated from Harvard College with honors in 1817. He studied law in the office of Samuel M'Gregore Burnside (1783-1850) and was admitted to the Wrocester bar but chose instead a career in business and became one of the most influential local businessmen of his time. He was the treasurer of the Blackstone Canal Company and became president of the Worcester Bank in 1845, as well as a director and president of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. Stephen built the factory know as Court Mills with buildings on Prescott Street, Union Street, and Grove Street, as well as numerous shops and houses in the Lincoln Square area of Worcester. He was a selectman and an alderman for Worcester and served as a state representative and senator. He was a member and served as a councillor and president of the American Antiquarian Society. He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and served as a founder, benefactor, and the first president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In 1875, he was awarded the doctor of laws degree from Harvard and was named an overseer of that college. He married, on 7 November 1833, Rebekah Scott Dean (1812-1843), of Charlestown, N.H. They had one son, Stephen III. Stephen II married, in 1850, Nancy Hoard Lincoln (1820-1852), the widow of Captain George Lincoln. He married, in 1855, Mary Grosvenor Bangs (1800-1864), the widow of Edward Dillingham Bangs (1790-1838). Stephen Salisbury II died, on 24 August 1884, in Worcester.

Stephen Salisbury III (1835-1905), the son of Stephen and Rebekah Scott Dean Salisbury, was born in Worcester on 31 March 1835. He attended various public and private schools. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1856 and continued his studies abroad in Berlin and Paris. Returning home in 1858, he entered Harvard Law School and received his degree in 1861. In 1862, he made the first of two visits to Central America to study the ruins of the Mayan Indians. Stephen had a wide range of business interests, serving as a trustee of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, as a director and president of the Worcester National Bank, as a trustee and president of Worcester County Institution for Savings, and as a director of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad Company as well as of the Boston, Barre, and Gardner Railroad. He was active in local politics and served as a state senator, 1893-1895, becoming chairman of several committees. Stephen supported numerous charitable and educational institutions and donated large sums of money to, among others, the Worcester Lyceum, Natural History Society, Worcester County Agricultural Society, the Music Hall Association, the Memorial Hospital, St. Vincent Hospital, the Peabody Museum at Harvard, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Worcester City Hospital, Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the Worcester Art Museum. The organization to which he was most attached was the American Antiquarian Society of which he became a member in 1863 and for which he served as a councillor and president from 1887 until his death. He wrote several articles on Central American archaeology and other subjects which were published in the _Proceedings_ of the American Antiquarian Society. He never married and died, in Worcester, on 16 November 1905.