The Derby Family

…and Townsend family

The Derby family has a vast and rich history evoking tales of shipmasters, adventurers, writers, lawyers and wealth beginning with the Salem, Massachusetts Derby family. Members of the Derby family resided in the House from 1797 to 1945, their ownership spanning four generations. Here we name just a few of the prominent figures who resided in the Medfield home.

Horatio Townsend (1763–1826)

Horatio Townsend was the son of the Reverend Jonathan Townsend (Medfield clergy 1745 -1769) and Sarah Allen.
In 1797 he purchased the Dwight-Derby House, including a 16-acre lot and all buildings, for the sum of $1640.
He added a carriage barn that exists today.
He was Harvard-educated, graduating in 1783.
He spent his life as a lawyer and judge in Dedham, Massachusetts.
He married Anstis Green, daughter of Nathaniel of Boston, and they had four children: Mary, Lucretia, Horatio and Sarah.

John Barton Derby (1792–1867)

John Barton Derby is the grandson of Elias Haskell Derby, one of the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem, Massachusetts, and owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade directly with China.
John Barton Derby, of the Salem Derbys, married Mary Townsend (daughter of Horatio and Anstis Townsend) July 23, 1820.
The couple had two children, Sarah and George (Horatio Derby).
John was educated at Bowdoin College.
He practiced law in Dedham, Massachusetts.
He worked on Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign.
He was both a political writer and poet.
He served as Deputy Surveyor of the Custom-House in Boston.

George Horatio Derby (1823–1861)

George Horatio Derby is the son of John Barton Derby and Mary Townsend Derby.
He married Mary Ann Coons of St. Louis, with whom he had three children: Daisy, Mary and George.
His West Point class had several noteworthy members including George McClellan, Stonewall Jackson, George Pickett and A.P. Hill.
He graduated from West Point in 1846, ranking seventh in his class.
He served in the 1847 Mexican War and was severely wounded at the Battle of Cerro Gordo.
He was promoted to Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers after serving as a Lieutenant for 12 years.
He oversaw the first engineering project west of the Mississippi.
Working for the San Diego Herald, he utilized his ability as a writer and penned many satirical articles for this newspaper.
He gained national literary fame under the pen names of John Phoenix and Squibob.
He became known as America’s first satirical writer.
He died at the young age of 38 and is buried at West Point Cemetery.

Roger Derby Black (1883–1936)

Roger, grandson of George Horatio Derby, married Margaret Eveleth Smith.
Col. Roger Derby Black was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1904.
He served 17 years in the Army Corps of Engineers.
Roger inherited the House through his mother Daisy. Upon his death in 1936, Roger’s wife Margaret Eveleth Black inherited the title to the property.
Margaret moved into Frairy Street in 1942. She sold Lot A to an abutter in 1943. In 1945, Margaret sold the property to Louisa H. Hackett.
Black was the last of the Derby descendants to live in the Dwight-Derby House.