This name, spelled Mussey, Muzzey and Muzzy, is first of record in New England in 1635. The name is common in Maine, New Hampshire and New York, branches of the parent stock having settled in these states. The family is of English descent.
(I) Abraham Mussey and John Mussey, brothers, were passengers on the ship "John and Mary," that arrived at Boston in 1634. John Mussey was of Ipswich in 1635; removed to Salisbury; died April 12, 1690.
(II) Benjamin Mussey, of Malden, son of John Mussey, of Ipswich, married Alice Dexter. Children: Benjamin and Joseph.
(III) Benjamin (2) Mussey, of Lexington, son of Benjamin (1) and Alice (Dexter) Mussey, married Sarah ————, and among their children were Mary and John.
(IV) John Mussey, believed to be son of Benjamin (2) and Sarah Mussey, was born in January, 1689, died October 26, 1723. He married Hannah, born September, 1693, died November 29, 1748. Children:
- John, born 1714;
- Elizabeth, 1716;
- Reuben, see forward;
- Benjamin.
John Mussey removed from Lexington to Kingston, Massachusetts, prior to 1720.
(V) Reuben Mussey, of Amherst and Dublin, New Hampshire, son of John and Hannah Mussey, was born in Kingston, Massachusetts, November 28, 1720, died November 20, 1788. He removed to Souhegan West, about 1750. He married, in 1743, Sarah Phelps, of Andover, Massachusetts. Children: Jonathan, Dr. John, Sarah, Stewart, Reuben Dimond.
(VI) Reuben Dimond, son of Reuben and Sarah (Phelps) Mussey, was born in Kingston, Massachusetts, November 16, 1749; was baptized three days later; died in Pomfret, Vermont, September 25, 1819. He removed to Pomfret about 1810. His remains are said to have been stolen from his grave and never recovered. He married Sarah Straw, of Epping. Children: Jonathan, John, Daniel, see forward; Reuben, a lawyer of New York; Sarah and Hannah Dimond.
(VII) Daniel, son of Reuben Dimond and Sarah (Straw) Mussey, was born July 7, 1778. He married Naomi Gage, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, and had children: Elbridge Gerry, see forward; Aaron, Benjamin and Sarah.
(VIII) Elbridge Gerry, son of Daniel and Naomi (Gage) Mussey, was born in Merrimack, New Hampshire, October 10, 1812, died at Cohoes, New York, September 1, 1889. He was reared on the farm, and given the usual early common school education. He was quite youthful when he began business life as clerk in a general store at Nashua, New Hampshire. In the latter city he learned the trade of tailoring and later had his own place of business there. Subsequently he removed to Cohoes, New York, and for several years conducted a tailoring establishment in that city. He later engaged in the retail drug business and was in that line until his death. He was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, and then became an active supporter of that organization. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married (first) ———— Boutwell. Children:
- Mary.
- Sarah, survives her husband, ———— Coffin; resides at Cameron Mills, New York, with daughter Sabra.
- Harriet Augusta, married Harvey Reinhart; two children: Addie and Effie.
He married (second) April 24, 1840, Isabella Maria Mudge, born September 5, 1818, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Fenno) Mudge, granddaughter of "Cornet" Joseph Mudge, a revolutionary soldier, and great-granddaughter of Deacon John Mudge, of Maiden, Massachusetts, great-great-granddaughter of George Mudge, who was a son of James Mudge, killed at Bloody Brook by the Indians during King Philip's war, and a grandson of Thomas Mudge, the emigrant, who was of Boston, October 8, 1634. Joseph Mudge, father of Isabella M. and Caroline A. Mudge, came to Cohoes, New York, in 1835. He was an expert machinist and operated a plant for the manufacture of needles used in knitting machines. He made the first needles ever used for that purpose. His daughter Cornelia was the first woman who learned to knit on machines operated by water power. Isabella Maria (Mudge) Mussey died in Cohoes, March 31, 1844. Child, Josephine Isabella, born March 18, 1841. Mr. Mussey married (third) June 8, 1845, Caroline Augusta Mudge, sister of his second wife, born in Westminster, Massachusetts, February 21, 1823, died September 21, 1846. Child, Caroline Arabella, married John N. Thayer, of North Hampton, Massachusetts. Mr. Mussey married (fourth) Sarah Welch; one child, Isadora, married William Eaton. He married (fifth) Catherine Efnor, born in Saratoga county, New York, near Saratoga Springs, April 11, 1830; died in Cohoes, New York, April 4, 1901, daughter of James and ———— (Bradt) Efnor. James Efnor was born at Schenectady, New York, 1799, and died at Cohoes. He was a farmer and a carpenter. Most of his life was passed in Saratoga county. His wife was a descendant of Aaron Bradt, an early settler in the Hudson Valley on land granted him by the Dutch government. Children of Elbridge Gerry by his fifth wife:
- George Elbridge, born in Cohoes, February 29, 1864; graduated from Egbert high school in 1880; spent two years at the Boston Conservatory of Music; now resident of St. Paul, Minnesota; married Louise ————;
- James Edwards, see forward.
(IX) James Edwards, youngest son of Elbridge Gerry and Catherine (Efnor) Mussey, was born in Cohoes, New York, September 6, 1865. He was educated in the Cohoes common schools; entered Egbert high school, graduating in the class of 1883. He entered the employ of the Manufacturers' Bank of Cohoes as messenger boy, and after five years' service was promoted bookkeeper, continuing nineteen years; December 1906, was advanced to the responsible position of teller, and so continues (1910). He is a supporter of the Republican party, and in November, 1907, was appointed civil service commissioner for Cohoes, serving two years. Beyond attending party conventions as delegate, he has not been active in politics. He is an active member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Cohoes; was assistant superintendent of the Sunday school three years, and since April, 1910, superintendent; was a member of the board of stewards three years, and since 1909 a trustee of that church. He married, April 15, 1903, at Cohoes, Jenny Lind, born December 23, 1881, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, daughter of William Lind, of Scotland, and his wife, Alice Ashworth. This is the family of Jennie Lind, the world-famed "Swedish Nightingale." Thomas Lind, her father, was a Scotchman and married a Swedish girl. He was detected in smuggling and in illicit distilling, which compelled his flight to Sweden. For this reason the great singer never acknowledged her Scotch ancestry. John Lind, a brother of Thomas, remained in Scotland; married Elizabeth Meek and both died there, leaving issue. James, son of John and Elizabeth Lind, was born in Scotland about 1800, died in Cohoes, New York, about 1868. He came to Upper Canada in 1847, and to Cohoes six months prior to his death. He married in Scotland, Agnes Gray and had issue. William, son of James and Agnes Lind, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1842, died at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, January, 1882. He married Alice Ashworth in 1872 and had issue. Jenny Lind, daughter of William and Alice (Ashworth) Lind, married James Edwards Mussey. Children:
- Ranald Edwards, born April 29, 1904;
- Ruth Eleanor, August 23, 1906;
- Gaylord Efnor, February 26, 1909.