320–321. Ephraim Judson, (Dea.) was baptized in Connecticut on Saturday, September 29, 1694, and died in Huntington, Connecticut, on November 14, 1782. His will was dated June 23, 1770, and was proved March 17, 1783. Rebecca Beardsley was born about 1696, and died on December 16, 1754. They were married in Stratford, Connecticut, on Thursday, May 30, 1717. She took the name Rebecca Judson. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Chapman) Judson. She is the daughter of Daniel and Ruth (Goodwin) Beardsley. They had eight children:
| i. | John Judson, (Dea.) [#160]: He was born on March 19, 1718, and died in Huntington (Monroe), Connecticut. | |
| ii. | Sarah Judson was born on November 9, 1719. She married David Hawley. | |
| iii. | Ephraim Judson was born in September, 1721, and died on July 8, 1751. (B.A. Yale 1746) | |
| iv. | Ruth Judson was baptized on September 28, 1723. She married Henry Hawley. | |
| v. | Rebecca Judson was born about 1726, and died in Brookfield, Connecticut, on June 13, 1805. She married Thomas Brooks, (Rev.) on September 13, 1799, in Brookfield. | |
| vi. | Jonathan Judson was born about 1728, and died on April 6, 1799. | |
| vii. | Daniel Judson was born about 1730. | |
| viii. | Mary Judson was born about 1732, and died in October, 1821. She married Ebenezer Blakeman. |
His second marriage was to Abigail Law. She was born on Saturday, March 12, 1708/9, and died on February 9, 1774. She was the daughter of Jonathan Law, (Gov.) and widow of George Clark.
From History of Bristol County Massachusetts ..., chapter LXIV, is taken:
By Rev. S. Hopkins Emery.
Rev. Ephraim Judson was the ninth minister of the parish, a Man of marked ability and of wide influence. He was a native of Woodbury, Conn., a graduate of Yale College in 1763. His first settlement was in Norwich, Conn. His ministry in Taunton commenced in 1780, where he continued ten years. His eccentricities are remarkable, many instances of which are remembered, but cannot here be recorded. He was blunt, abrupt, fearless, uncompromising, made many friends and some enemies. The parish was divided at the close of his ministry in 1790. For a time he continued with a portion who removed their meeting to the west part of the town, but subsequently settled in Sheffield, Mass., where he continued in the ministry until his death, Feb. 23, 1813, at the age of seventy-five. Upon the stone which marks the place of his burial may be found the inscription, "A learned Divine, an acute logician, and an evangelical preacher. He was mild, courteous, and hospitable. By his numerous friends he was deem’d a wise counsellor, an active peacemaker, and a sincere Christian. What he was in truth the Great Day will disclose."
The Congregational Church in West Taunton.
The division of sentiment in the First Parish at the close of Rev. Mr. Judson’s ministry in 1790 led to a separation, all the church but three men and one woman leaving the parish, and worshipping apart first in Deacon Isaac Tubb’s barn, and afterwards in a meeting-house built in the west part of the town beyond the Episcopal glebe, and not far from the Oakland burial-place. This place of worship continued till 1824, when the present meeting-house in Westville was built in what was considered a more central location. Rev. Mr. Judson supplied the church for a time, followed by temporary supplies from Messrs. Preston, Wines, Farrington, and Ogdon.