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DATE  DUE 

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1  9  ?0C 

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UNIVERSITY    LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

AT 

AMHERST 


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72 

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BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW 


VOLUME    XXV 


CONTAINING  LIFE  SKETCHES  OF  LEADING  CITIZENS  OF 


NORFOLK   COUNTY 


MASSACHUSETTS 


"Biography  is  the  home  aspect  of  history' 


BOSTON 

Biographical  Review  Publishing  Company 

189s 


ATLANTIC  STATES  SERIES   OF  BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEWS. 


The  volumes  issued  in  this  series  up  to  date  are  the  following:  — 


I.  Otsego  County,  New  York. 

[I.  Madison  County,  New  York. 

III.  Broome  County,  New  York. 

IV.  Columbia  County,   New  York. 
V.  Cayuga  County,   New  York. 

VI.  Delaware  County,  New  York. 

VII.  Livingston     and    Wyoming     Counties, 
New  York. 

VIII.  Clinton  and  Essex  Counties,  New  York. 

IX.  Hampden  County,  Massachusetts. 

X.  Franklin  County,  Massachusetts. 

XI.  Hampshire   County,  Massachusetts. 

XII.  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 

XIII.  York  County,  Maine. 

XIV.  Cumberland  County,  Maine. 

XV.  Oxford      and      Franklin      Counties, 
Maine. 


XVI.     Cumberland  County,  New  Jersey. 
XVII.     Rockingham  County,  New  Hampshire. 
XVIII.     Plymouth   County,  Massachusetts. 
XIX.     Camden    and    Burlington    Counties, 
New  Jersey. 
XX.     Sagadahoc,      Lincoln,      Knox,      and 
Waldo  Counties,  Maine. 
XXI.     Strafford    and     Belknap    Counties, 

New  Hampshire. 
XXII.     Sullivan   and  Merrimack    Counties, 
New  Hampshire. 

XXIII.  Hillsboro    and    Cheshire    Counties, 

New  Hampshire. 

XXIV.  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

XXV.     Norfolk  County,  Massachusetts. 


Note. —  All  the  biographical  sketches  published  in  this  volume  were  submitted  to  their  respective  subjects  or  to  the  sub- 
scribers, from  whom  the  facts  were  primarily  obtained,  for  their  approval  or  correction  before  going  to  press  ;  and  a  reasonable 
time  was  allowed  in  each  case  for  the  return  of  the  typewritten  copies.  Most  of  them  were  returned  to  us  within  the  time  allotted, 
or  before  the  work  was  printed,  after  being  corrected  or  revised;   and  these  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  reasonably  accurate. 

A  few,  however,  were  not  returned  to  us;  and,  as  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether  they  contain  errors  or  not,  we 
cannot  vouch  for  their  accuracy.  In  justice  to  our  readers,  and  to  render  this  work  more  valuable  for  reference  purposes,  we  have 
indicated  all  uncorrected  sketches  by  a  small  asterisk  (*),  placed  immediately  after  the  name  of  the  subject.  They  will  be  found 
printed  on  the  last  pages  of  the  book. 

B.  R.  PUB.  CO. 
February,  189S.  ,    ,|~.r-\  n  r\\t  '5  Court  Square,  Boston. 


_UBRARY_ 

Unm    rv  OF 

amhersTmass. 


PREFACE. 


UR  proposition  to  devote  a  volume  of  the  Biographical  Review  to  the  County 
of  Norfolk,  Massachusetts,  having  met  with  favor,  being  cordially  seconded  by 
a  goodly  array  of  Norfolk  worthies,  we  have  pushed  forward  the  work  to  its 
completion,  with  what  success  will  appear  on  examination  of  these  printed  pages. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  century  now  drawing  to  its  close  has  been  notably,  from 
the  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1S76  to  the  recent  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  Bulfinch  State  House,  an  "age  of  retrospection,"  a  period  of  com- 
memoration of  the  founders  and  the  preservers  of  nation  and  Commonwealth.  This 
fact,  together  with  the  concurrent  rise  of  the  historic-patriotic  orders  and  the  growing- 
interest  in  the  study  of  family  history  and  genealogy,  marks  a  taste  and  need  of  the 
times  which  the  writer  of  up-to-date  biographies  cannot  afford  to  ignore.  Moreover, 
in  view  of  the  transmission  of  personal  qualities  from  one  generation  to  another  in 
unending  succession,  the  setting  forth  of  long  lines  of  ancestry,  besides  "extending  the 
perspective  of  individual  lives  and  by  its  revelation  of  kinship  widening  the  realm 
of  sympathy,"  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  having  a  scientific  bearing  of  no  little 
interest  and  value.  We  have,  therefore,  in  the  present  number  of  the  Review,  as  in 
previous  issues,  devoted  considerable  space  to  copious  extracts  from  family  registers 
and  records,  the  importance  of  whose  preservation  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW  PUBLISHING  CO. 
February,   1898. 


GEORGE    L.    GILL. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


vr      P 

f&pEORGE  LEWIS  GILL,  for 
55  more  than  half  a  century  one 
of  the  most  esteemed  and 
trusted  citizens  of  Quincy, 
Norfolk  County,  Mass., 
noted  for  his  strict  integ- 
rity, benevolence  of  spirit, 
and  unobtrusive  deeds  of 
human  helpfulness,  was  a 
native  of  Hingham,  Plym- 
outh County,  this  State.  Born  December  20, 
1823,  son  of  Caleb  Gill  and  the  descendant  of 
early  settlers  of  that  place,  he  died  on  Decem- 
ber 16,  1895,  when  he  had  nearly  completed 
his  seventy-second  year. 

Thomas  Gill,  the  emigrant  ancestor  of  the 
Gill  family  of  Hingham,  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Devonshire,  England,  probably  in 
the  town  of  Barnstable,  about  1616.  He 
must  have  been  young  when  he  crossed  the 
ocean,  as  the  early  records  show  that  Thomas 
Gill  received  a  grant  of  five  acres  of  land  in 
Hingham  in  1635.  For  several  years  he 
served  as  one  of  the  Selectmen  chosen  "to 
order  the  prudential  affairs  of  the  new  town." 
He  met  his  death  by  drowning,  February 
24,  1704-5,  while  sailing  toward  Boston. 
His  wife,  Hannah  Otis,  was  a  daughter  of 
John  Otis,  who  was  born  in  Barnstable, 
Devonshire,  England,  in  1581,  and  was  the 
founder  of  the  family  to  which  the  noted  pa- 
triot and  orator,  James  Otis,  belonged.  John 
Otis  died  in  Weymouth,  May  31,  1657,  leav- 
ing to  his  daughter,  Hannah  Otis  Gill,  "two 
feather  bolsters,  one  rugg,  a  cotton  blanket, 
and  his  biggest  brass  kettle";  and  to  his 
grandson,  Thomas  Gill,  Jr.,  one  of  the  eleven 
children  of  Thomas  and  Hannah,  a  musket. 

Thomas  Gill,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Hingham, 
March  8,  1648-9,  and  died  in  that  town,  Sep- 
tember 3,  1725.      He  was  Selectman  for  sev- 


eral years.  His  wife,  Susanna  Wilson,  was 
born  in  Hingham,  where  on  December  31, 
1673,  they  were  married;  and  she  died  there 
December  29,  1725.  They  had  six  children. 
Nathaniel,  their  first-born,  the  next  in  line  of 
descent,  spent  his  entire  life  in  Hingham,  the 
date  of  his  birth  being  December  31,  1674, 
and  that  of  his  death,  April  4,  1734.  He 
served  in  various  official  capacities.  On  Au- 
gust 15,  1705,  he  married  Abigail,  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  (Russell)  Jacobs.  She  was 
born  in  Hingham,  November  13,  1683,  and 
died  April  30,  1749,  having  borne  her  hus- 
band five  children. 

Nathaniel  Gill,  second  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Abigail,  born  November  1,  17 10,  died 
February  12,  1762.  He  married  December 
23,  1 73 1,  Hannah,  daughter  of  Caleb  and 
Ruth  (Hersey)  Beal,  and  reared  nine  children, 
Nathaniel,  third,  being  the  fifth  in  this  line. 
He  was  born  January  3,  1742-3,  and  lived  in 
Hingham  until  his  demise,  August  22,  1  S  1  S, 
a  few  weeks  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  which 
occurred  July  13,  18  iS.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Beal.  She  was  born  April  14, 
1743,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Deliverance 
(Porter)  Beal,  and  was  married  November  26, 
1767.  They  had  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, Caleb,  their  second  son,  being  the 
grandfather  of  George  Lewis  Gill. 

Caleb  Gill  was  born  in  Hingham,  August 
14,  1774,  and  married  October  21,  1798,  Caty 
Beal,  who  was  born  in  Hingham,  October  17, 
1779,  and  died  there  May  12,  1859.  Her  par- 
ents were  Elijah  and  Caty  (Lewis)  Beal,  both 
of  English  origin,  her  father  having  been  a 
great-great-grandson  of  John  Beal,  who  tame 
from  the  parish  of  Hingham,  England,  to 
Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1638,  and  died  there  in 
1688,  aged  one  hundred  years;  while  her 
mother,  Caty  Lewis,  was  a  descendant   in   the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


fourth  generation  of  George  Lewis,  who  emi- 
grated from  East  Greenwich,  county  of  Kent, 
England,  to  Plymouth,  about  1633.  Caleb 
Gill  was  ,i  silversmith  by  trade,  and  was  quite 
influential  in  public  affairs,  serving  as  Se- 
lectman and  in  other  offices.  He  died  July  1, 
1855,  leaving  three  sons,  the  eldest  being 
Caleb,  Jr.,  the  father  of  George  Lewis. 

Caleb  Gill,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Hingham,  Au- 
gust 23,  1799,  and  on  December  8,  1822,  mar- 
ried Charlotte  Howard,  who  was  born  in  West 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  January  1,  1802,  daughter 
of  Peter  and  Betsey  (Davis)  Howard.  He 
held  many  positions  of  trust  in  his  native 
town  during  the  earlier  years  of  his  life,  living 
in  Hingham  until  1838,  when  he  removed  to 
Ouincy,  where  he  made  his  home  eight  years. 
In  1846  he  settled  in  Boston;  but  he  subse- 
quently returned  to  Hingham,  and  lived  there 
until  his  death,  July  22,  1869.  His  wife  and 
two  sons  —  George  Lewis  and  Edwin  Howard 
— -survived  him.  Mrs.  Gill,  whose  last  years 
were  spent  with  her  elder  son,  died  in  Ouincy, 
February  10,  1888.  Edwin  Howard  Gill,  the 
younger  son,  who  was  born  in  Hingham,  July 
26,  1825,  resides  in  Boston.  He  married  on 
October  1,  1848,  Miss  Sarah  J.  Roulston. 
They  have  one  son,  Arthur  E.,  of  West  New- 
ton. 

George  Lewis  Gill  completed  his  education 
at  the  Derby  Academy,  where  he  was  a  class- 
mate of  Horace  B.  Spear,  with  whom  he  was 
afterward  closely  associated  both  in  business 
and  social  life.  In  1838  he  came  with  his 
parents  to  Quincy,  and,  entering  into  business 
with  his  father,  assisted  him  in  the  book- 
bindery  and  also  in  the  book  and  stationery 
store,  and  the  circulating  library,  which  the 
father  had  established.  When  the  father  re- 
moved  to  Boston,  the  bindery,  being  no  longer 
profitable,  was  abandoned;  but  the  store  was 
continued  by  Mr.  Gill,  who  added  quite  a 
stock  of  merchandise,  continuing  the  business 
until  [868,  He  then  entered  the  National 
Granite  Bank  and  the  Ouincy  Savings  Bank  as 
an  assistant  to  Mr.  Horace  B.  Spear,  who  was 
then  conducting  both  institutions  in  the  build- 
ing at  the  corner  of  Saville  and  Hancock 
Streets.  In  1871  the  banks  were  separated, 
and  Mr.  Gill  was  elected  treasurer  of  the 
Ouincy    Savings    Bank,    a  position   which    he 


filled  most  creditably  to  himself  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  until  his  death, 
a  period  of  nearly  twenty-five  years.  During 
his  connection  with  the  bank  it  was  ever  in  a 
prosperous  condition;  and  its  deposits  were 
increased  from  half  a  million  dollars  to  up- 
ward of  two  millions,  a  notable  record. 

Mr.  Gill  was  elected  Town  Clerk,  March  4, 
1850,  and  with  the  exception  of  four  years, 
from  1856  until  i860,  served  in  the  same  po- 
sition until  the  inauguration  of  the  city  gov- 
ernment in  1889,  when  he  was  urgently  re- 
quested by  the  new  Mayor  to  continue  as  City 
Clerk,  but  felt  obliged  to  decline.  Although 
he  was  a  stanch  Republican  in  his  political 
affiliations,  the  confidence  of  all  parties  in  his 
integrity  and  ability  was  such  that  he  received 
the  majority  of  votes  of  each  organization  in 
the  annual  elections  for  clerk  of  the  town. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  School  Committee  in 
1855;  but,  finding  that  he  had  not  time  to  at- 
tend to  the  duties  of  that  office  as  he  would 
like  to  do,  he  refused  a  re-election  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  was  one  of  the  managers  of  the 
Woodward  Fund  from  1869  to  1894  and  of 
the  public  burial-places  from  1S74  till  1895. 
He  took  great  interest  in  Mount  Wollaston 
Cemetery,  contributing  much  time  and  thought 
to  the  improvement  of  that  beautiful  resting- 
place  of  the  dead:  but  his  body  was  not  in- 
terred there,  he  having  made  arrangements 
earlier  in  life  to  be  buried  beside  his  ances- 
tors in  Hingham. 

Mr.  Gill  was  a  Representative  to  the  State 
legislature  in  1856  and  again  in  1867.  He 
was  appointed  Postmaster  of  Ouincy  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  in  1861,  and  served  until  re- 
moved by  the  succeeding  President,  Andrew 
Johnson,  in  1866.  Appointed  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  1S59  by  Governor  Banks,  and  in 
1885  made  Notary  Public  by  Governor  Robin- 
son, he  held  both  offices  until  his  demise. 
He  was  likewise  at  the  time  of  his  death  a  di- 
rector of  the  Quincy  Mutual  Fire  Insurance 
Company.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Rural 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  1850,  and  was  for  a 
number  of  years  treasurer  of  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  which  he  joined  many 
years  ago,  and  was  one  of  its  trustees  until  his 
decease. 

On    October    11,    1846,    Mr.    Gill    married 


isi()(;rai'Hical  review 


Lucretia  Ann  Burrell,  who  was  born  in 
Quincy,  Mass.,  December  11,  1819,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Lucretia  (Marsh)  Burrell. 
Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Wilson  and 
Susanna  (Savil)  Marsh,  and  a  direct  descend- 
ant of  Alexander  Marsh,  who  emigrated  from 
England  to  this  country,  settled  in  Quincy  in 
1650,  and  died  here  March  7,  1697  or  1698. 
He  became  an  extensive  land-owner,  his 
large  farm  including  what  is  now  Hall  Cem- 
etery and  much  of  the  adjoining  land. 
Alexander  Marsh  married  Mary  Belcher, 
daughter  of  Gregory  Belcher,  who  on  Septem- 
ber 17,  1639,  was  one  of  six  persons  to  sign 
the  covenant  for  a  church  at  Mount  Wollaston, 
the  first  church  of  Quincy,  an  organization 
with  which  the  family  of  Mrs.  Gill  has  been 
ever  since  connected.  Mr.  Gill  was  a  con- 
stant attendant  of  this  church  and  an  active 
worker  in  the  Sunday-school.  The  house 
now  occupied  by  Airs.  Gill  was  erected  by  Mr. 
Gill  soon  after  their  marriage;  and  here  were 
born  their  three  children,  two  of  whom  died 
"while  life  and  love  were  new.'*  Walter 
George,  their  third  child,  born  December  25, 
1852,  died  February  28,   1879. 


T^NATHANIEL  SMITH,  a  civil  engineer, 
\\=3  living  on  Maple  Place  in  Dedham,  is 
\(s  I  probably  the  oldest  man  in  his  pro- 

fession in  Norfolk  County,  and  one 
of  the  best  known  in  the  Commonwealth.  He 
was  born  in  Dedham,  February  27,  1827, 
being  the  third  native  of  the  town  in  continu- 
ous descent  to  bear  this  name.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  the  first  of  the  three  Nathaniels, 
although  not  the  earliest  Nathaniel  Smith  in 
Dedham,  succeeded  to  the  occupation  in  which 
he  was  reared,  becoming  one  of  the  well-to-do 
farmers  of  the  town. 

Nathaniel  Smith,  second  son  of  the  above 
named,  was  one  of  a  large  family  of  children, 
and  with  his  brothers  and  sisters  grew  to  ma- 
ture years  on  the  old  homestead.  He  acquired 
a  good  education,  and  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
mature  life  he  taught  school  several  years. 
He  subsequently  settled  on  the  old  family 
homestead  near  the  village  of  Dedham,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  until  his 
death  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years.      He 


married,  May  6,  1821,  Betsey  Foord,  a  daugh- 
ter of  James  Foord,  and  one  of  a  family  of 
fourteen  children.  Mr.  Foord  was  born  in 
Milton,  Mass.,  but  spent  a  large  part  of  his 
life  in  Dedham,  where  about  1800  he  was 
appointed  Registrar  of  Deeds  for  Norfolk 
County,  being  the  second  to  hold  that  office. 
He  held  the  position  until  his  death,  and  was 
then  succeeded  by  his  son,  Enos  Foord,  an 
uncle  of  Mr.  Smith,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Enos  Foord  was,  in  turn,  succeeded  at  his 
death  by  his  son,  James  Foord,  a  cousin  of 
Mr.  Smith  ;  and,  on  the  resignation  of  James 
Foord  in  1870,  John  H.  Burdakin,  Mr. 
Smith's  son-in-law,  was  appointed  to  the 
office,  which  he  still  retains.  Three  children 
were  bom  to  Nathaniel  and  Betsey  (Foord) 
Smith,  and  two  of  them  are  still  living, 
namely:  Nathaniel,  third;  and  Emily  S. — 
both  residents  of  Dedham.  The  father  and 
mother  were  of  the  liberal  type  of  Christians, 
affiliating  with  the  Unitarian  church. 

Nathaniel  Smith,  third,  was  reared  on  the 
home  farm,  obtaining  a  practical  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  town.  He 
began  his  life  work  as  an  assistant  to  other 
civil  engineers,  being  occupied  in  this  manner 
for  some  years;  and,  when  he  found  himself 
familiar  with  the  profession,  in  1849  he  started 
in  business  for  himself.  From  that  time  until 
the  present  he  has-been  actively  engaged,  a 
period  covering  nearly  a  half-century,  and  has 
done  much  of  the  surveying  in  the  neighboring 
towns,  becoming  probably  better  acquainted 
with  the  face  of  Norfolk  County  and  of  this 
part  of  the  State  than  any  other  person.  He 
was  engaged  with  the  late  Henry  F.  Walling 
in  State  and  county  surveys;  and  he  has  also 
done  much  other  work,  such  as  the  surveying 
of  farms  and  laying  out  highways  in  this 
region.  From  surveys  that  he  made  in  1850, 
he  published  the  first  map  of  Dedham,  issuing 
a  large  number  of  copies;  and  he  has  since 
assisted  in  the  making  of  a  large  number  of 
county  and  town  maps. 

Mr.  Smith  was  married  in  August,  1849, 
to  Miss  Mary  E.  Phillips,  who  was  born  in 
Dedham,  a  daughter  of  Nathan  Phillips,  a 
well-known  carpenter  and  builder.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smith  have  four  children;  namely,  Ella 
Louise,    Mary    L,,    Carrie    M.,    Frederick    V, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Ella  Louise,  now  the  wife  of  John  H.  Burda- 
kin,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume,  has  two  children  —  Leslie  and 
Lillian.  Mary  L. ,  wife  of  Francis  L.  Wil- 
lard,  who  is  engaged  in  the  pipe  and  plumber 
supply  business  in  Boston,  has  also  two  chil- 
dren—  Grace  and  Muriel.  Carrie  M.,  for- 
merly cashier  in  the  Register  of  Deeds  office, 
married  Edward  S.  Adams,  and  lives  in  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  where  he  is  well  known.  Fred- 
erick Phillips,  who  lives  with  his  parents,  is 
in  the  lumber  business- in  Boston. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  public-spirited  man,  devoted 
to  the  best  interests  of  his  town,  and  has  done 
his  part  toward  assisting  in  its  advancement 
and  prosperity  by  serving  with  fidelity  as  Se- 
lectman, Overseer  of  the  Poor,  Assessor,  Road 
Commissioner,  and  Superintendent  of  the 
Streets  for  many  years.  In  politics  he  is  an 
active  and  stanch  Republican.  He  is  a  valu- 
able member  of  the  Unitarian  church,  in  which 
he  has  been  a  Deacon  for  twenty-nine  years 
and  a  trustee  for  a  number  of  years,  besides 
serving  for  a  long  time  as  a  teacher  in  the 
Sunday-school. 


IDWARD  RUTLEDGE  EAGER,  who 
has  been  a  prominent  resident  of  Can- 
ton for  many  years,  is  a  descendant 
of  one  of  the  old  New  England  families,  as 
noted  by  Savage  in  his  "Early  New  England 
Names."  His  first  ancestor  in  this  country 
was  William  Eager,  who  came  to  Plymouth, 
Mass.,  in  the  thirties  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. In  1654  William  married  Ruth  Hill,  of 
Maiden,  Mass.;  and  in  1684  he  removed  with 
his  family  to  Marlboro,  Middlesex  County, 
Mass.,  where  he  bcame  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  Ockoocangansett  plantation,  purchased 
from  King  Philip,  and  which  was  afterward 
the  homestead  of  the  family.  Zerubbabel,  son 
of  William  and  Ruth  (Hill)  Eager,  born  June 
8,  1672,  married  on  March  23,  1698,  Hannah 
Kerley.  Their  son  Uriah,  born  April  4, 
1700,  married  Sarah  Bingham,  March  14, 
1727.  Their  son  Uriah,  born  February  5, 
1740,  married  March  29,  1764,  Tryphosa 
Bush.  Their  son  Moses,  born  October  30, 
1772,  married  Sarah  Stratton,  December  29, 
1793,      Their    son    Moses    Edward,    born    No- 


vember 16,  1797,  married  March  25,  1827, 
Harriet  Durant,  and  by  her  became  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Edward  Rutledge  Eager  was  born  Novem- 
ber 9,  1830,  in  Cambridgeport,  Mass.,  where 
the  earlier  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  In 
1850  he  came  to  Canton,  accepting  a  subordi- 
nate position  with  the  Kinsley  Iron  and  Ma- 
chine Company.  Having  won  the  confidence 
of  his  employers  by  his  trustworthiness,  in 
the  short  space  of  five  years  he  was  made 
treasurer  of  the  company,  and  afterward 
served  the  firm  as  manager  and  treasurer  for 
forty  consecutive  years,  resigning  in  the  fall 
of  1895.  He  has  since  removed  to  Boston, 
where  he  is  a  director  of  the  Everett  Na- 
tional Bank  and  of  the  Hollingsworth  & 
Whitney  Paper  Company,  and  a  trustee  of  the 
Whitney  estate.  While  in  Canton  Mr.  Eager 
took  an  active  part  in  local  affairs,  serving  as 
Selectman  for  a  number  of  years,  and  for  two 
years  representing  the  town  in  the  State  legis- 
lature. He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  having  taken  the  thirty-sec- 
ond degree,  and  being  the  oldest  Past  Master 
of  the  Blue  Hill  Lodge  of  Canton,  of  which 
he  was  the  second  Master.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Canton,  in 
which  he  was  formerly  a  zealous  worker  and 
for  many  years  the  superintendent  of  its  Sun- 
day-school. 

Mr.  Eager  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  in  maidenhood  Miss  Sophia  L. 
Jenkins,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  1S56,  died 
in  1857,  leaving  one  child,  Charles  H.  Eager, 
now  of  Canton,  born  December  28,  1856.  By 
his  second  marriage,  which  was  contracted  Oc- 
tober 16,  1862,  with  Miss  Mary  H.  Talbot,  of 
East  Machias,  Me.,  there  are  two  children, 
namely:  Jones  Talbot  Eager,  born  November 
16,  1863,  who  is  the  cashier  of  the  Everett 
National  Bank  of  Boston;  and  Caroline  D. , 
now  the  wife  of  William  M.  Chase,  of  Brook- 
line,  Mass.  Charles  H.  Eager  applied  him- 
self to  his  studies  in  the  public  schools  of 
Brookline  until  sixteen  years  old,  when  he  en- 
tered the  crockery  store  of  Abram  French  & 
Co.,  of  Boston,  with  whom  he  remained  until 
1876.  He.  then  entered  the  office  of  the 
Kinsley  Iron  and  Machine  Company,  of 
which   his  father  was  the  manager  and  treas- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1  i 


urer  at  that  time,  and  has  since  remained  in 
their  employment.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  for  some  years  has  been  Town 
Auditor.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Blue  Hill 
Lodge  of  Canton,  in  which  he  is  Worshipful 
Master.  He  is  now  a  member  of  Mount  Zion 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is  Excellent 
King;  the  Master  of  Ceremonies  of  Hyde 
Park  Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  for 
some  time;  a  member  of  Cyprus  Commandery, 
K.  T.  ;  of  Aleppo  Temple,  Mystic  Shrine,  of 
Boston;  and  of  the  Society  of  Sons  of  the 
American   Revolution. 


ENJAMIN  BOYDEN,  for  many  years 
one  of  the  leading  grocers  of  Ded- 
ham,  his  place  of  business  being  lo- 
cated at  Boyden  Square,  was  born  in 
West  Dedham,  February  2,  1807,  son  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Roxa  Boyden,  and  died  June  20, 
1888,  at  the  home  now  occupied  by  his  widow 
and  son. 

The  immigrant  progenitor  of  the  New  Eng- 
land family  of  Boydens  was  Thomas  Boyden, 
who  came  over  from  England  in  the  "Francis  " 
in  1634,  lived  for  a  while  in  Scituate,  Mass., 
and  finally  settled  in  Medfield,  Norfolk 
County. 

Benjamin  Boyden,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  probably  seventh  in  lineal  descent  from 
the  first  American  ancestor.  He  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  obtain- 
ing his  education  at  the  winter  terms  of  the 
district  school.  He  then  entered  the  store  of 
Dr.  Wheaton,  with  whom  he  remained  five 
years,  serving  a  long  apprenticeship,  and 
having  no  holidays  with  the  exception  of  the 
annual  Fourth  of  July  and  Thanksgiving  Day. 
The  first  four  years  he  received  fifty  cents  a 
week,  and  during  the  last  year  of  his  service 
this  sum  was  doubled.  On  attaining  bis  ma- 
jority he  started  in  business  for  himself,  being 
obliged  to  borrow  the  capital,  and  beginning 
in  a  small  way.  A  man  of  thrift  and  enter- 
prise, industrious  and  methodical,  possessing 
great  business  ability,  he  met  with  success, 
and  found  his  trade  constantly  increasing.  In 
1836,  being  in  need  of  more  commodious  quar- 
ters, he  erected  the  building  which  he  after- 
ward   occupied,    allowing    five     large     living 


rooms,  and  three  commodious  rooms  for  busi- 
ness purposes,  subsequently  adding  to  these 
as  occasion  demanded.  Commencing  with  a 
small  assortment  of  groceries,  he  gradually 
enlarged  his  stock,  occasionally  putting  in  an 
entirely  new  line,  and  long  before  his  death 
carried  the  fullest  and  most  complete  stock  of 
staple  and  fancy  groceries  of  any  merchant  in 
the  town.  He  took  advantage  of  every  new 
means  and  opportunity  to  improve  his  business, 
and  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  delivery 
wagon  system  in  this  section.  He  was  identi- 
fied with  the  grocery  trade  for  sixty-four  con- 
secutive years,  fifty-nine  years  of  the  time 
being  in  business  for  himself,  and  at  his 
demise  was  the  oldest  grocer  in  Dedham  and 
without  doubt   the   oldest    in    Norfolk   County. 

Mr.  Boyden  was  a  typical  representative  of 
the  self-made  men  of  the  country,  the  record  of 
his  useful  life  furnishing  a  forcible  illustration 
of  the  success  that  may  be  attained  by  honest 
industry,  push,  and  steadfastness  of  purpose. 
He  was  identified  with  the  Whigs  in  his 
earlier  years,  but  was  later  a  sound  Republi- 
can, taking  an  active  interest  in  local  affairs, 
although  he  never  held  any  public  office. 

Mr.  Boyden  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife,  Elizabeth  Boyden,  died  leaving  no  chil- 
dren. On.January  10,  1S71,  Mr.  Boyden  mar- 
ried Mrs.  Lucy  B.  Strong  Bailey.  She  was 
born  in  Orford,  N.H.,  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
N.  Strong.  Mr.  Strong  was  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  farmers  of  that  town,  where  he  was 
a  lifelong  resident.  His  wife,  Myra  Bailey, 
was  born  in  Newbury,  Vt.  She  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  General  Jacob  Bailey,  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame.  Mr.  Strong  died  at  the  age  oi 
eighty-six  years;  ami  Mrs.  Strong,  when 
seventy-three  years  old.  Of  their  six  chil- 
dren Mrs.  Boyden  is  the  only  survivor.  She 
lived  with  her  parents  until  her  first  marriage 
in  1853,  uniting  her  with  Jerome  B.  Bailey. 
Mr.  Bailey  was  born  in  Canada  in  1810.  He 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Faiiiee,  Vt.,  and 
was  there  engaged  as  a  merchant  during  his 
years  of  active  life,  his  death  occurring  in 
1868.  By  this  marriage  there  was  one  son, 
George  W.  Bailey.  In  1871  Mrs.  Bailey  be- 
came Mrs.  Boyden,  as  before  mentioned.  She 
is  an  active  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,   to   which    Mr.    Boyden   also    belonged, 


14 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  toward  the  support  of  which  he  generously 
contributed.  He  was  well  known  throughout 
the  whole  town,  and  the  little  village  of  Boy- 
den  Square  was  named  in  his  honor. 


|LARENCE  BURGIN,  a  prominent  and 
able  young  business  man  of  Quincy, 
Mass.,  and  the  treasurer  of  the 
Quincy  Savings  Bank,  was  born 
October  27,  1S65,  in  Rutland,  Vt.  He  is 
the  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Burgin  and  Mrs.  Jane 
Scudder  Burgin,  both  of  London,  England. 
In  1870  the  family  moved  from  Rutland  to 
Springfield,  Mass. 

Clarence  Burgin  received  an  excellent  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,  and  at  his  graduation  at  the  high  school 
of  that  city  in  the  class  of  1882  had  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  youngest  member 
awarded  a  diploma.  He  had  fitted  himself  for 
a  business  life  by  taking  a  special  course  in 
engineering;  and  soon  after  his  graduation  he 
began  work  in  the  office  of  Charles  Sidney,  an 
architect  and  engineer.  In  October,  1883,  he 
obtained  a  situation  with  John  Lyman  Faxon, 
a  noted  architect  of  Boston;  but  three  months 
later,  January  1,  1884,  he  was  offered  the  posi- 
tion of  draughtsman  and  book-keeper  for  Fred- 
erick &  Field,  of  Quincy,  and  at  once  availed 
himself  of  the  larger  opportunity  given  him 
to  make  use  of  his  talents.  He  remained  with 
that  firm  until  March  1,  1889,  when,  in  com- 
pany with  R.  D.  Gordon,  he  established  him- 
self in  the  jewelry  business  in  Boston,  becom- 
ing junior  member  of  the  firm  thus  formed. 
On  September  1,  1894,  he  gave  up  that  busi- 
ness to  accept  the  office  of  City  Treasurer  of 
Quincy  under  Mayor  Hodges,  a  position  which 
he  resigned  the  first  of  February,  1896,  to 
become  treasurer  of  the  Quincy  Savings  Bank, 
to  which  he  had  been  elected  the  previous 
month  and  which  he  has  since  ably  and  faith- 
fully filled. 

Mr.  Burgin  has  also  been  elected  to  numer- 
ous other  offices  requiring  good  financial 
knowledge  and  administrative  ability,  and  is 
now  serving  as  a  director  of  the  National 
Granite  Bank,  of  the  Quincy  Quarry  Company, 
as  director  and  treasurer  of  the  Lyons  Granite 
Company,  as  one  of  the  directorate  of  the  Brain- 


tree  Street  Railway  Company,  as  a  director  of 
the  Quincy  Shoe  Company,  and  also  as  one  of 
the  managers  of  the  Woodward  Fund  and  Prop- 
erty. Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of  Rural 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.  ;  and  of  the  South  Shore  Command- 
er)' of  Knight  Templars.  He  is  an  Indepen- 
dent in  politics,  but  not  an  office-seeker.  He 
attends  and  supports  the  Episcopal  church. 


§OSEPH  S.  BIGELOW,  of  Cohasset, 
president  of  the  Atlas  National  Bank  of 
Huston,  was  born  in  Boston,  October 
28,1848.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late  Ho- 
ratio and  Annie  (Smith)  Bigelow.  His  great- 
grandfather, Abraham  Biglow,  Esq.  (Har- 
vard College,  1782),  was  for  many  years  clerk 
at  Cambridge  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court 
and  Common  Pleas  for  Middlesex  County,  and 
also  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
He  served  a  number  of  years  as  Warden  of 
Christ  Church,  Cambridge.  His  son,  Hora- 
tio, Sr. ,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  the  first  editor  of  the  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser,  which  dates  from  March,   181 3. 

Horatio  Bigelow,  the  younger,  was  born  in 
Boston,  Mass.  He  was  a  pioneer  stockholder 
in  the  copper  mines  of  Lake  Superior,  and 
held  interests  there  for  a  great  many  years. 
His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of.  the  State  of 
Maine,  was  a  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Albert 
Smith,  Congressman  in  Van  Buren's  adminis- 
tration. Mis.  Bigelow  died  August  27,  1897, 
having  survived  her  husband  a  number  of  years. 
Joseph  S.  Bigelow  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  Boston  public  schools,  proceeding 
from  the  Phillips  Grammar  School  to  the 
Latin  School.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
in  1869,  and  then  spent  abour  a  year  and  a 
half  travelling  in  Europe.  On  his  return  he 
entered  his  father's  office  in  Boston,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  he  was  identified  with  impor- 
tant trusts  of  different  kinds.  On  February 
12,  1896,  he  was  made  a  director  of  the  Atlas 
National  Bank,  and  on  January  12,  1897,  he 
was  elected  president.  Mr.  Bigelow  is  a 
shrewd  and  conservative  business  man,  and  has 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  who  know 
him. 

He  was   married    April  27,    1S77,    to   Mary 


fOSEPH    S.    BIGELOW. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


C,  daughter  of  Dr.  Henry  Bryant  of  Boston 
(deceased).  Air.  and  Mrs.  Bigelow  have  six 
children. 

In  politics  Mr.  Bigelow  is  independent, 
favoring  the  Republican  side.  He  has  served 
for  a  number  of  years  on  the  School  Committee 
of  Cohasset,  is  now  in  his  third  year  as  Select- 
man, Assessor,  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health.  He  is 
a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
Cohasset.  Mr.  Bigelow  is  a  man  of  the  world, 
with  a  broad  knowledge  of  men  and  things. 
He  has  made  several  trips  abroad,  and  also  has 
travelled  extensively  in  this  country.  A  part 
of  the  year  1870  he  spent  in  California. 


LONZO  GOULD  DURGIN,  a  phar- 
macist of  Ouincy,  was  born  August  24, 
1854,  in  Natick,  Mass.,  son  of 
Hiram  P.  and  Laura  B.  (Gould) 
Durgin.  The  father,  who  was  born  August 
28,  1818,  in  New  Durham,  N.H.,  obtained 
his  elementary  education  in  the  pioneer  schools 
of  the  district,  and  learned  the  shoemaker's 
trade  when  but  a  youth.  Coming  then  to 
Massachusetts,  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  in 
Natick  for  a  few  years.  Subsequently,  in 
company  with  his  brother-in-law,  Lyman  How- 
ard, he  established  the  first  express  line  be- 
tween Natick  and  Boston,  and  had  carried  it 
on  prosperously  for  several  years  when  they 
sold  out  to  the  present  owners,  Howe  &  Co. 
He  next  formed  a  partnership  with  a  Mr. 
Playes,  becoming  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Durgin  &  Hayes,  shoe  manufacturers  and 
dealers,  and  prior  to  the  war  did  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  business  in  that  line.  After 
giving  that  up  he  was  engaged  in  various 
enterprises  of  a  mercantile  nature,  continuing 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  March  25, 
1894.  A  steadfast  Republican  in  politics,  he 
took  much  interest  in  local  affairs,  but  was 
never  an  aspirant  for  official  honors.  He  was 
a  member  and  P.  G.  of  the  lodge  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows  in  Natick.  His  wife,  Laura,  a  daughter 
of  Nathaniel  Gould,  of  Natick,  who  was  a 
native  of  Mont  Vernon,  Me.,  had  seven  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  grew  to  maturity.  These 
were:  Viola  A.,  the  wife  of  Ellery  C.  Cool- 
itlge,    of    New    Haven,    Conn.;    Ada    E.,    who 


married  William  H.  Jones,  of  Natick;  Alonzo 
Gould,  the  subject  of  this  sketch ;  Hiram 
Herbert,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.  ;  Charles  Eugene, 
who  died  in  1873;  and  Frederick  R.,  of 
Brattleboro,  Vt.  The  mother  was  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Orthodox  Church  of 
Natick. 

Alonzo  G.  Durgin  completed  his  education 
in  the  Natick  High  School.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  years  he  began  learning  the  drug- 
gist's business  in  the  store  of  Frank  E.  Cum- 
mings,  with  whom  he  remained  eight  years. 
On  February  7,  1876,  he  started  in  business 
on  his  own  account,  locating  in  Ouincy,  on 
what  is  now  Chestnut  Street,  opposite  the 
Congregational  church.  When  the  Robertson 
House  was  finished,  he  became  its  first  tenant, 
moving  his  stock  and  fixtures  there  October  26, 
1876.  He  remained  in  that  locality  until  the 
completion  of  the  Durgin  &  Merrill  Block, 
when  he  removed  to  his  present  commodious 
and  convenient  quarters,  taking  possession 
April  2,  1S87.  He  has  a  very  large  patron- 
age, being  the  leading  druggist  of  the  city, 
and  the  oldest  established.  Also  he  has  large 
real  estate  interests,  owning  considerable  land, 
most  of  it  being  in  Ouincy;  and  he  is  the 
treasurer  and  manager  of  the  Ouincy  Real 
Estate  Trust.  In  politics  he  is  independent, 
voting  irrespective  of  party  prejudice.  He  is 
a  Mason  of  Rural  Lodge,  St.  Stephen's  Chap- 
ter, and  South  Shore  Commandery;  and  he 
belongs  to  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artil- 
lery Company,  which  he  accompanied  to 
London  in  1896. 

On  May  16,  1883,  Mr.  Durgin  married 
Alice  Dell,  a  daughter  of  Caldwell  De  Wint 
Churchill,  of  Fishkill,  N.  V.  Caldwell  De 
Wint  Churchill  was  bom  in  December,  1S36, 
in  Matteawan,  N.Y.,  and  was  early  fitted  for 
college,  it  having  been  his  intention  to  enter 
one  of  the  learned  professions.  His  plans, 
however,  were  changed,  owing  to  his  early 
marriage;  and  he  has  since  been  engaged  in 
book-keeping.  For  many  years  he  was  em- 
ployed thereat  in  the  carpet  works  of  A.  T. 
Stewart.  He  has  always  taken  an  active  part 
in  politics,  but  has  never  sought  office.  He  is 
a  Mason  of  high  rank,  having  taken  the  thirty- 
second  degree,  and  is  also  a  prominent  member 
of  the  organization  of  Odd  Fellows.      In  1856, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ere  attaining  his  majority,  he  married  Mary 
B.  Ferguson,  a  daughter  of  Lewis  B.  Fergu- 
son, born  in  Matteawan,  N.Y.,  in  1840. 
They  became  the  parents  of  six  children,  of 
whom  four  are  now  living,  namely:  Henry  L. , 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  ;  Alice  Dell,  now  'Mrs. 
Durgin;  Louise  ( ). ,  the  widow  of  Charles 
Conlts,  late  of  New  York  City;  and  Frank  '!'., 
ot  Fishkill.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Churchill  are 
members  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church. 
Mrs.  Din-gin's  grandfather,  Henry  Churchill, 
was  bom  in  Matteawan,  N.Y.,  in  1796,  where 
for  many  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  prosper- 
ous agriculturist  and  a  wealthy  land-owner. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Helen 
Mott,  was  born  in  1799.  She  was  a  cousin  of 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Valentine  Mott;  and  her 
father  was  the  founder  of  Albany,  N.  Y., 
which  was  then  called  Fort  Orange.  The 
Mott  family  are  of  French  descent,  and  many 
of  its  members  have  attained  distinction  since 
the  settlement  of  its  first  ancestor  on  Ameri- 
can soil.  Of  Mr.  Durgin's  children,  Ellen 
Churchill,  Charles  Eugene,  and  Mary  Gould 
are  living. 


ILLIAM  P.  BARKER,  a  native  of 
Quincy,  carries  on  an  extensive 
business  in  Lanesville,  Mass. 
Born  June  3,  1843,  son  of  Henry  Barker,  he 
comes  of  ancestors  who  have  been  loyal  and 
useful  citizens  of  Massachusetts  for  many  gen- 
erations. Asa  Barker,  Sr.,  his  great-grand- 
father, who  was  born  in  Methuen,  Mass.,  in 
1745,  married  Lydia  Pierce,  who  was  born  in 
1751.  She  was  a  sister  of  Governor  Ben- 
jamin Pierce,  the  father  of  Franklin  Pierce, 
who  was  President  of  the  United  States.  Asa 
Barker,  Jr.,  also  a  native  of  Methuen,  born 
August  27,  1 77-,  vvas  an  expert  blacksmith 
and  stone-cutter.  His  second  wife,  Nancy 
Jones  Barker,  was  the  mother  of  Henry 
Parker. 

Henry  Barker  was  born  September  16,  1811, 
in  Chelmsford,  Middlesex  County,  Mass.,  and 
there  received  a  common-school  education. 
He  learned  the  trades  of  blacksmith  and 
stone-cutter  under  the  instruction  of  his 
father.  In  early  manhood  he  worked  in  Bos- 
ton as  a  journeyman   stone-cutter,   and  after- 


ward pursued  the  same  occupation  in  Quincy, 
whither  he  came  about  the  year  1837.  Later 
he  became  a  contractor,  commencing  in  a 
small  way.  One  of  his  first  contracts  of  any 
importance  was  for  the  columns  in  front  of  the 
old  court-house  in  Boston.  Shortly  after 
forming  a  partnership  with  Abel  Wright,  his 
brothers,  Charles  and  George,  were  taken  into 
the  firm,  the  style  of  which  then  became 
Barker,  Wright  &  Co.  In  1861  Mr.  Wright 
withdrew,  after  which  the  business  was  suc- 
cessfully conducted  for  several  years  under  the 
name  of  H.  Barker  &  Brothers.  Subsequently 
this  firm  dissolved,  and  two  new  ones  were 
formed,  that  of  H.  Barker  &  Brothers,  of 
Quincy  and  Philadelphia,  and  Barker  Brothers, 
of  Quincy  and  Lanesville,  Mass.,  H.  Barker 
being  at  the  head  of  both.  Charles  Barker  as- 
sumed the  management  of  the  Philadelphia 
yard,  while  George  Barker  had  charge  of  the 
quarry  and  business  at  Lanesville,  which  they 
had  purchased  in  1851.  F'or  some  years  the 
work  consisted  mainly  in  the  quarrying  and 
sale  of  rough  granite.  Later,  having  begun 
to  build,  they  furnished  and  set  the  granite 
for  the  new  Masonic  Temple  in  Philadelphia, 
a  large  contract:  took  one  equally  as  large  for 
the  R.idgeway  Library  Building;  and  were 
awarded  the  contracts  for  several  large  busi- 
ness buildings  in  Philadelphia,  including  the 
Pennsylvania  Railway  offices  and  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Bank.  In  1867  Henry  Barker,  together 
with  his  sons — Henry  F.,  George  A.,  and 
William  P. — formed  the  firm  of  Henry  Barker 
&  Sons.  The  eldest  son  died  March  2,  1878; 
Henry  Barker,  the  head  of  the  firm,  passed 
away  July  1  1,  1889;  and  on  October  16,  [889, 
George  A.  Barker  died.  When  the  estate  was 
settled,  William  P.  Barker,  the  sole  survivor 
of  the  original  firm,  took  the  business  in  his 
own  name,  and  has  since  carried  it  on  with 
eminent  success.  The  quarry  in  Lanesville 
yields  a  very  fine  granite;  and,  when  business 
is  good,  from  fifty  to  sixty  men  are  there  em- 
ployed in  cutting  pavement  blocks. 

Henry  Barker  was  a  Mason  of  Rural  Lodge. 
In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
for  several  terms  represented  Quincy  in  the 
State  legislature.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  School  Committee  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Thomas   Crane 


WILLIAM    CARTER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Public  Library  from  the  time  of  its  organiza- 
tion until  the  formation  of  the  city  govern- 
ment. While  broad  in  his  religious  opinions, 
he  and  his  entire  family  attended  and  sup- 
ported the  Adams  Temple  Unitarian  Church. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Amos 
Smith,  of  Waterford,  Me.,  and  became  the 
father  of  the  three  sons  already  named. 

After  completing  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Quincy,  William  P.  Barker  be- 
came a  clerk  in  the  Mount  Wollaston  Bank. 
Two  years  later  he  accepted  a  position  in  the 
National  Exchange  Bank  of  Boston,  where  he 
was  employed  from  1863  till  1867.  Then,  as 
above  stated,  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Henry  Barker  &  Sons.  Mr.  Barker  takes 
great  interest  in  yachting,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Quincy  Yacht  Club.  In  politics  he  is  a 
consistent  Republican. 


BR  AH  AM  H.  TOWER,  president  of 
the  Cohasset  Savings  Bank,  was  born 
in  this  town,  April  I,  1829,  son  of 
Abraham  H.  and  Charlotte  (Bates) 
Tower.  The  founder  of  the  family  in  Amer- 
ica was  John  Tower,  an  Englishman,  who  be- 
came a  resident  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1637, 
what  is  now  Cohasset  then  being  included  in 
that  settlement.  Abraham  Tower,  grandfather 
ot  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  an  active 
member  of  the  famous  Boston  Tea  Party,  De- 
cember 16,  1773,  and  lived  to  take  part  in 
the  War  of  1S12. 

Abraham  H.  Tower,  first,  father  of  Abra- 
ham H.,  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  lifelong 
resident  of  Cohasset,  and  for  many  years  was 
engaged  in  the  mackerel  fishing  industry.  He 
died  in  June,  1881.  Charlotte  Bates,  his 
wife,  was  also  a  native  of  this  town.  Five  of 
her  children  survive,  namely:  Abraham  H., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Henry  C. ;  Char- 
lotte M.  B.,  widow  of  the  late  Edward  E. 
Tower;  Newcomb  B.,  a  member  of  the  present 
Board  of  Selectmen;  and  Daniel  N.,  superin- 
tendent of  the  water-works,  all  of  whom  reside 
in  Cohasset. 

Abraham  H.  Tower  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools;  and,  entering  the  counting- 
room  of  the  Revere  Copper  Company,  Boston, 
he    remained    with    that    concern     for    twelve 


years.  In  1858  he  established  himself  in  gen- 
eral .mercantile  business  at  Cohasset  Harbor; 
and  in  1866  he  admitted  his  brother,  New- 
comb  B.,  to  partnership,  and  added  to  his 
stock  in  trade  coal,  lumber,  and  all  kinds  of 
building  materials.  He  has  since  continued 
at  the  head  of  the  firm,  which  is  now  known 
as  Tower  Brothers  &  Co.,  and  carries  on  a 
large  business.  Mr.  Tower  has  been  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Hingham  National  Bank  for  the 
past  twenty-five  years,  was  formerly  vice- 
president  and  is  now  president  of  the  Cohasset 
Savings  Bank.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the 
Cohasset  Lire  Insurance  Company  and  local 
agent  for  the  Hingham  Fire  Insurance 
Company. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  has 
served  as  Town  Treasurer  and  Collector  for 
the  past  thirty  years.  He  is  always  ready  to 
aid  in  the  promotion  of  improvements;  and,  as 
an  enterprising  business  man  and  public- 
spirited  citizen,  he  fully  merits  the  high  esti- 
mation accorded  him  by  his  fellow-townsmen. 
In  his  religious  views  he  is  a  Unitarian,  and 
for  several  years  has  performed  the  duties  of 
clerk  of  that  church.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

Mr.  Tower  married  for  his  first  wife  Mary 
L.  Browne,  who  bore  him  two  children, 
namely:  Mary  H.,  wife  of  the  Rev.  E.  0.  S. 
Osgood,  of  Brattleboro,  Vt. ;  and  Abraham 
H.,  Jr.,  of  Stoughton,  Mass.  Mr.  Tower's 
present  wife  was  before  marriage  Frances 
Hincks.      She  is  a  native  of  York,  England. 


ILLIAM  CARTER,  a  prominent 
resident  of  Needham,  Mass.,  head 
of  the  manufacturing  firm  of  Will- 
iam Carter  &  Co.,  was  horn  in  Alfreton, 
Derbyshire,  England,  in  1830,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  his  native  town. 
Crossing  the  Atlantic  in  1857,  he  landed  in 
New  York  City;  and  coming  immediately  to 
Norfolk  County,  Massachusetts,  he  entered  the 
employ  of  Samuel  Sutton,  of  Brookline,  who 
was  engaged  in  knitting  infants'  clothing. 
He  remained  with  him  three  years,  and  then 
came  to  Needham  to  work  for  John  and  Mark 
Lee  in  the  same  line  of  industry.  After  stay- 
ing with  them  six  years,  he  started  in  business 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


for  himself,  forming  a  partnership  with  the 
Lee  brothers,  under  the  firm  name  of  Lee, 
Carter  &  Co.  Ten  years  later,  when  the  firm 
failed,  Mr.  Carter  took  the  business  in  his  own 
hands.  He  is  now  carrying  it  on  under  the 
name  of  William  Carter  &  Co.,  manufacturing 
knit  underwear  for  ladies  and  children, 
hosiery  and  fancy  knit  goods  of  all  kinds,  and 
selling  his  product  to  jobbers  of  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  other  large  cities. 
About  one  hundred  employees  are  actively  en- 
gaged most  of  the  time,  and  the  annual  value 
(it  the  output  is  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Besides  the  knit  goods  he  manufactures  a  pat- 
ent self-computing  scale,  of  which  he  owns  a 
half  interest.  Mr.  Carter's  fine  factory,  thor- 
oughly equipped  with  modern  machinery  for 
successfully  carrying  on  the  business,  is  val- 
ued at  forty  thousand  dollars;  and  it  is  the 
fruit  of  his  own  labor  and  economy. 

Since  taking  up  his  residence  in  Needham, 
Mr.  Carter  has  been  much  interested  in  local 
public  affairs.  Me  was  Selectman  of  the  town 
for  four  years,  and  served  upon  the  School 
Committee  for  twelve  years.  In  1895  he 
served  as  Representative  to  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  and  was  on  the  Committee 
upon  Drainage.  Mr.  Carter  has  done  a  great 
deal  to  promote  the  growth  of  Highlandville, 
planting  shade  trees,  laying  out  and  improving 
new  streets.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Norfolk  Lodge,  F. 
&  A.  M.;  of  the  Newton  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  : 
of  the  Nehoiden  Lodge,  Sons  of  Temperance; 
and  of  the  Home  Market  Club  of  Boston.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Highlandville,  was  on  the  Build- 
ing Committee,  and  has  been  one  of  the  trus- 
tees since  the  church  was  built.  lie  is  very 
much  interested  in  all  church  work,  and  has 
been  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  for 
a  number  of  years.  Mr.  Carter  joined  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of 
Boston  in  1893,  and  went  with  the  company  to 
England  on  their  famous  trip  in  the  summer 
of  1896,  when  he  revisited  the  place  of  his 
birth. 

He  has  been  married  three  times.  His 
first  wife,  Hannah  Truman,  to  whom  he  was 
married  in  England  in  1854,  died  in  1862, 
She  left  (me   son,   Frank  C  who    is   now  mar- 


ried and  at  work  in  his  father's  factor}'.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  at 
Comer's  Commercial  College.  Mr.  Carter's 
second  wife  was  Martha,  a  daughter  of  Mark 
Lee,  and  a  sister  of  Mr.  Carter's  former  part- 
ner. She  died  leaving  four  children  —  Will- 
iam II. ,  Elizabeth,  John  J.,  and  Horace  .\. 
of  whom  the  oldest  and  youngest  were  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools,  high  school, 
and  commercial  schools,  one  at  Comer's  and 
one  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's,  and  are  now  mar- 
ried and  at  work  in  their  father's  factory;  ami 
the  other  son,  John  J.,  is  also  married,  and  a 
carpenter  by  trade.  The  daughter  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Needham.  She 
married  C.  W.  Jones,  and  is  living  in  High- 
landville. Mr.  Carter  and  his  third  wife, 
Jennie  G.,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Avery,  of 
Needham,  have  two  children:  Lucie  Avery, 
now  in  Wellesley  College  in  the  class  of 
1900;  and  Roscoe  Arnold,  now  in  the  Need- 
ham High  School.  The  present  Mrs.  Carter, 
who  was  educated  in  Newton,  is  a  woman  of 
literary  taste  and  accomplishments,  and  an 
author  of  some  reputation.  Among  her  books 
maybe  named  "Bound  Brook,"  "Amy  Rush- 
ton's  Mission,"  and  "The  Old  Distillery," 
which  has  had  an  extensive  sale  for  over 
twenty-five  years. 


§AMES  TIRRELL,  of  South  Weymouth, 
for  many  years  a  successful  hide  and 
leather  merchant  of  Boston,  and  now 
largely  interested  in  real  estate,  having 
an  office  at  1 5 1  Pearl  Street,  in  that  city,  was 
born  December  6,  1829,  upon  the  estate  in 
Weymouth  first  settled  by  Gideon  Tirrell,  his 
direct  ancestor,  who  came  here  some  two  cen- 
turies ago.  From  the  Report  of  the  Record 
Commissioners  of  the  city  of  Boston,  No.  9, 
we  learn  that  William  Thcrrell  (Tirrell)  and 
Rebecca  Simpkins,  daughter  of  Captain  Nich- 
olas Simpkins,  were  married  January  20, 
1655,  by  Governor  Bellingham,  and  that  their 
son  Gideon  was  born  in  Boston,  July  16,  1664. 
William  Tirrell  and  his  family  later  removed 
to  Weymouth. 

James  Tirrell,  Si.,  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Weymouth, 
where    be    resided    all   his    life;    and    his   son, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


23 


fames,  Jr.,  was  long  a  boot  and  shoe  manu- 
facturer of  this  place.  Afterward,  until  a 
short  time  previous  to  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1865,  the  second  James  Tirrell  en- 
gaged in  the  hide  and  leather  business.  He 
married  Betsey  Whitemarsh,  of  East  Wey- 
mouth, and  had  several  children.  The  sur- 
vivors are:  the  son  James,  third  of  the  name; 
and  two  daughters,  as  follows:  Mary  J., 
widow  of  the  late  Colonel  James  L.  Bates, 
who  succeeded  Colonel  Fletcher  Webster  in 
the  command  of  the  Twelfth  Regiment,  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry;  and  Tirzah,  wife 
of  Moses  T.  Durrell,  of  Boston.  The  father  was 
a  Whig  and  afterward  A  Democrat  in  politics. 
He  was  for  many  years  Overseer  of  the  Poor 
in  the  town.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Union 
Congregational  Church  of  South  Weymouth. 

James  Tirrell,  third,  after  taking  his  ele- 
mentary course  in  the  public  schools  of  South 
Weymouth,  attended  the  Pinkerton  Academy 
at  Deny,  N.H.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
in  company  with  E.  S.  Wright,  he  opened  a 
country  store  in  Independence  Square  at  South 
Weymouth.  The  firm  existed  six  years,  Mr. 
Tirrell  resigning  to  join  his  father  in  the  hide 
and  leather  business  in  Boston.  He  spent 
three  years  as  clerk,  and  then  bought  a  finan- 
cial interest  in  the  business.  After  the  death 
of  his  father  he  carried  on  the  business  for 
seven  years  in  partnership  with  an  uncle,  Al- 
bert Tirrell,  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  and  A. 
Tirrell  &  Co.  In  1872  Mr.  Albert  Tirrell  re- 
tired from  the  firm,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Tirrell 
took  his  place.  Some  years  later  Mr.  James 
Tirrell  sold  his  interest  in  the  concern,  and 
became  engaged  in  real  estate  transactions. 

Mr.  Tirrell  married  Helen  Sprague,  daugh- 
ter of  the  -late  Jesse  H.  Sprague,  of  South 
Weymouth.  Three  children  were  born  to 
them.  The  two  now  surviving  are:  James,  of 
South  Weymouth :  and  Helen  F.,  wife  of 
!•  kerning  Brook,  of  the  same  place. 


/T^HARLES  H.  PRATT,  formerly  a 
I  V'      well-known     manufacturer     of     shoe- 

\U  maker's  stock    in    East   Weymouth, 

was  born   here,    December  26,   1830, 

son  of  Bela  L.  and  Nabby  (Tirrell)  Pratt,  who 

were  also  natives  of  Weymouth.      His   father, 


who  was  a  local  oreacher  of  repute  in  this 
neighborhood,  died  when  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  in  his  boyhood.  At  an  early  age 
young  Charles  began  to  learn  the  shoemaker's 
trade,  working  mornings  and  evenings  while 
attending  school.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  be- 
came foreman  of  a  force  of  workmen  engaged 
in  manufacturing  shoes.  Afterward  he  had 
charge  of  Canterbury  &  Haskell's  factory  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time.  Early  in  the 
eighties  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cut 
calf  stock  for  fine  foot-wear,  and  carried  it  on 
successfully  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  In  this 
locality  he  was  the  pioneer  in  that  particular 
branch  of  the  leather  trade,  and  he  was  the 
first  to  apply  steam-power  to  shoe  manufactur- 
ing in  East  Weymouth.  Highly  esteemed  by 
the  shoe  and  leather  dealers  of  Boston  and  vi- 
cinity, he  was  frequently  called  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Board  of  Arbitration  to  suggest 
means  and  otherwise  assist  in  the  settlement 
of  labor  troubles:  and  his  constant  desire  to 
deal  justly  with  the  contending  parties  was 
highly  appreciated  by  all  concerned.  He  was 
an  upright,  conscientious  man  and  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  who  was  in  sympathy  with  all 
measures  relative  to  town  improvements.  His 
death,  which  occurred  in  East  Weymouth,  No- 
vember 9,  1896,  when  he  was  nearly  sixty-six 
years  old,  was  sincerely  regretted  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

On  October  16,  1850,  Mr.  Pratt  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Elzira  N.  Rice.  She  was 
born  in  Weymouth,  daughter  of  Captain  Will- 
iam and  Margaret  N.  (Pratt)  Rice,  the  former 
of  whom  served  in  the  War  of  181  2.  and  was 
for  many  years  a  ship-master.  Mr.  Pratt  left 
one  son,  William  II.,  who  is  a  resident  of 
East  Weymouth.  In  Masonry  Mr.  Pratt  had 
reached  the  thirty-second  degree,  and  was 
serving  as  Prelate  of  the  Commandcry  in  East 
Weymouth  at  the  time  of  his  decease.  For 
fifty  years  he  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  serving  it  in 
various  official  positions,  including  that  of 
choir  leader.  His  services  as  director,  trus- 
tee, and  member  of  the  Investment  Commit- 
tee of  the  East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank 
covered  a  period  of  several  years,  and  were  ex- 
ceedingly beneficial  to  the  interests  of  that  in- 
stitution.     In  politics  lie  was  a  Republican. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ILLIAM  H.  TUCKER  was  a  prom- 
inent business  man  of  Avon  and  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature. He  was  born  January  11,  1823,  in 
Milton,  Mass.,  son  of  Nathan  and  Catherine 
Tucker,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Milton, 
the  father  having  been  a  prosperous  farmer. 
He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of 
Milton,  and  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
eighteen  years  old.  He  then  went  to  East 
Stoughton,  Mass.,  where  he  was  for  a  time 
employed  in  the  shoe  factory  of  his  brother 
Ebenezer,  who  subsequently  received  him  into 
partnership.  The  firm  of  Tucker  Brothers 
continued  in  business  for  a  number  of  years. 
Then  William  H.  became  associated  with 
another  brother,  Nathan  Tucker;  and  still 
later  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  with  George  and  Ephraim  Littlefield. 
After  his  retirement  from  the  shoe  business, 
he  became  a  broker.  He  was  also  a  director 
of  the  Home  National  Bank  of  Brockton  from 
the  time  of  its  incorporation  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  August  19,  1S96,  in  his 
seventy-fourth  year.  Mr.  Tucker  acquired 
success  through  his  own  personal  efforts,  and 
by  his  honorable  methods  gained  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  his  fellow-townsmen.  He 
served  as  a  Selectman  in  Stoughton,  was  espe- 
cially active  upon  the  School  Board,  and  he 
represented  his  district  in  the  legislature  dur- 
ing the  session  of  1859.  For  some  years  he 
acted  as  a  trustee  of  the  Avon  cemetery,  and 
was  particularly  interested  in  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  which  he  aided  financially 
when  needed. 

Mr.  Tucker  married  for  his  first  wife  Eliza- 
beth Davenport,  of  Dorchester.  By  this 
union  there  is  one  daughter,  Ellen  E.,  now 
the  wile  of  George  W.  Porter,  of  Avon.  For 
his  second  wife  he  wedded  Achsa  B.  Bur- 
gess, a  daughter  of  Covill  and  Lurana  (Swift) 
Burgess,  of  Sandwich,  Mass.,  the  former  of 
whom  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
The  late  Mr.  Tucker  was  an  energetic  ami 
public-spirited  citizen,  did  much  toward  de- 
veloping the  town,  and  took  a  deep  interest 
in  all  public  institutions.  It  was  frequently 
said  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order.  Mrs. 
Tucker,  who  still  occupies  the  homestead,  is  a 


lady  of  much    intelligence  and   worth,  and    is 
highly  esteemed. 


OLONEL  HENRY  ANDREW 
THOMAS,  Postmaster  of  Boston,  and 
one  of  the  leading  public  men  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  is  a  na- 
tive and  resident  of  South  Weymouth,  Norfolk 
County,  the  home  of  his  ancestors  for  several 
generations.  He  was  born  July  29,  1856,  son 
of  Henry  and  Betsy  (Chaffin)  Thomas,  and  is 
a  lineal  descendant  of  Captain  John  Thomas, 
a  native  of  Wales,  who  commanded  the  vessel 
that  conveyed  William  of  Orange  to  England 
in  1688,  and  who  subsequently  immigrated  to 
America,  settling  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  where 
he  died  "ye  4th  October,   1714." 

John  Thomas,  second,  son  of  Captain 
Thomas,  born  in  Braintree  in  17 10,  was  the 
father  of  John,  third,  the  first  of  the  family  to 
settle  in  South  Weymouth.  The  latter  was 
the  father  of  Andrew,  better  known  as  Captain 
Andrew  Thomas,  who  was  an  extensive  land- 
owner and  a  lifelong  resident  of  South  Wey- 
mouth. Captain  Andrew  Thomas  was  three 
times  married,  and  reared  eleven  sons  and  one- 
daughter,  among  whom  was  Henry,  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Henry  Thomas  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  town,  and,  when  a  young  man,  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  shoes,  which  busi- 
ness he  successfully  conducted  for  many  years. 
He  is  still  a  resident  of  South  Weymouth. 
He  and  his  wife,  Betsy,  reared  four  children. 

Henry  A.  Thomas  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  South  Weymouth,  being- 
graduated  from  the  high  school  in  the  class  of 
1873.  A  few  months  after  his  graduation  he- 
entered  the  civil  service  as  a  messenger  boy  in 
the  Boston  post  office,  where  he  remained 
until  1893,  rising  through  the  different  grades 
to  the  position  of  superintendent  of  mails. 
In  the  year  mentioned  he  retired  from  the 
postal  service,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
State  political  campaign  of  that  summer  and 
autumn,  which  resulted  in  the  election  to  the 
chief  magistracy  of  Mr.  Frederic  T.  Green- 
halge,  who  forthwith  appointed  him  as  his 
private  secretary.  He  retained  this  position 
until  the  Governor's  death  in  February,   1895; 


HENRY    A.    THOMAS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


27 


and  subsequent  to  that  event  and  until  the 
following  January  he  served  Governor  Wolcott 
in  a  similar  capacity,  being  appointed  during 
this  period  a  member  of  the  Governor's  staff, 
with  the  title  ol  Colonel.  Colonel  Thomas 
received  the-  appointment  of  Postmaster  of 
Boston  in  May,  1897;  and  he  assumed  charge 
of  the  office  on  the  1st  of  the  following  June. 

He  married  in  1880  Miss  Addie  C.  Tir- 
rell,  daughter  of  Cyrus  Tirrell.  They  have 
one  (laughter,  Mildred. 

Colonel  Thomas  takes  an  active  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  his  native  town,  and  is  ever 
ready  to  aid  in  promoting  any  practical  meas- 
ure having  for  its  object  the  moral  or  material 
advancement  of  the  community.  He  is  par- 
ticularly interested  in  educational  matters,  and 
served  the  town  for  some  years  as  a  member  of 
the  School  Board.  He  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  Weymouth  Improvement  Society 
and  also  of  the  Wednesday  Night  Club,  a  de- 
bating society  which  flourished  for  a  number 
of  years,  with  practical  benefit  to  its  mem- 
bers. He  also  helped  to  organize  the  Norfolk 
Club,  of  which  he  is  now  president.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. The  Colonel  is  a  pleasant  and  effective 
public  speaker,  and,  while  secretary  to  Gov- 
ernor Greenhalge,  capably  represented  him  on 
many  occasions  at  public  gatherings.  He  has 
participated  in  the  various  campaigns  in  this 
State  since  he  became  of  age,  and  has  rendered 
valuable  party  service.  The  high  social  posi- 
tion he  holds  is  due  not  only  to  his  public 
record,  but  also  to  his  character  as  a  man. 


HADDEUS  H.  NEWCOMB,  a  retired 
business  man  of  Ouincy  and  its  pres- 
ent Representative  in  the  State  legis- 
lature, was  born  in  this  town,  March  15,  1826, 
son  of  the  late  James  Newcomb.  He  comes  of 
Revolutionary  stock,  his  grandfather,  Bryant 
Newcomb,  having  been  a  patriot  of  the  Revo- 
lution. The  latter  was  captured  by  the  Brit- 
ish and  confined  for  some  time  in  Dartmoor 
Prison,  England.  He  was  an  extensive  farmer 
of  Ouincy,  and  likewise  carried  on  a  large 
granite  business. 

James    Newcomb,     born     and     educated    in 
Ouincy,    during   his   early  manhood    was    en- 


gaged in  freighting  granite  on  sloops  to  Bos- 
ton for  some  years.  He  was  afterward  en- 
gaged in  quarrying  granite  on  his  own  ac- 
count, being  one  of  the  leaders  in  that 
industry,  and  continuing  at  it  until  his  death. 
Well  informed  and  highly  respected,  and  hav- 
ing the  town's  welfare  at  heart,  he  was  chosen 
to  fill  many  of  the  town  offices,  including  that 
of  Selectman,  in  which  he  served  for  several 
terms.  He  also  represented  the  town  in  the 
General  Court  for  a  time.  In  politics  he  was 
a  Whig;  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  First 
Unitarian  Church,  which  he  served  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  Deacon  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
married  Lucy  Baxter,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Baxter,  of  Ouincy.  Of  their  ten  children, 
eight  grew  to  maturity;  namely,  Lucy,  James, 
Bryant  B. ,  George,  Oliver  T. ,  Susanna,  Thad- 
deus  H.,  and  Peter  W.  The  two  last  named 
are  the  only  survivors  now.  Susanna  was  the 
wife  of  the  late  John  W.  Shaw. 

Thaddeus  H.  Newcomb  obtained  a  good 
education  in  the  public  and  private  schools  of 
Ouincy.  As  soon  as  he  was  capable,  he 
began  quarrying  under  his  father's  instruction, 
acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  that  indus- 
try. On  the  death  of  his  father  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  brother,  the  late  Oliver 
T.  Newcomb,  and  carried  on  a  very  successful 
business  under  the  firm  name  of  Oliver  T. 
Newcomb  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebell- 
ion. Mr.  Newcomb  then  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G,  Forty-second  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  as  a  private.  Later  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant. 
With  his  regiment  he  was  sent  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South-west,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Galveston  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  subse- 
quently held  by  the  Confederates  for  nineteen 
months,  suffering  untold  privations.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1864,  he  was  released;  and,  his  term 
of  enlistment  having  expired,  he  was  at  once 
discharged  from  the  Union  service.  Return- 
ing home  after  this,  he  accepted  a  position  as 
quarry  superintendent,  in  which  capacity  he 
had  the  sole  charge  of  the  quarries  of  Messrs. 
Churchill  and  Hitchcock  from  1875  until  1895. 

A  zealous  Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  New- 
comb takes  an  active  part  in  local  affairs.  (  >n 
the  incorporation  of  Ouincy  as  a  city,  lie  was 
elected  to  the  Common   Council,  in  which  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


served  four  consecutive  years,  being  on  the 
Committee  on  Streets,  Drainage,  and  Sewer- 
age. In  1805  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
legislature,  and  served  on  the  Committee  on 
the  Liquor  Law.  Re-elected  to  the  legislat- 
ure in  1896,  he  was  made  chairman  of  the 
same  committee.  Fraternally,  Mr.  Newcomb 
is  a  member  of  Paul  Revere  Post,  No.  88, 
G.  A.  R. ;  is  connected  with  the  Society  of 
the  Union  Prisoners  of  War;  and  is  a  member 
of  Delphi  Lodge,  No.  15,  K.  of  P.,  of  which 
he  is  Past  Commander.  On  December  12, 
1847,  he  married  Eliza  A.,  daughter  of  Al- 
bert Hersey,  of  Quincy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  New- 
comb  are  members  of  the  Washington  Street 
Congregational  Church,  of  which  he  has  been 
Deacon  the  past  twenty  years. 


ACOB  S.  DYER,  a  venerable  resident 
of  Braintree,  was  born  here,  February 
!<JI  5,  18  1  8,  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Beals) 
Dyer.  His  grandfather,  Peter  Dyer, 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  drove  a 
baggage  team  during  that  war.  Peter  died  in 
the  ninety-fifth  year  of  his  age.  Jacob,  a  son 
of  Peter,  spent  his  life  in  Braintree,  where  he 
dealt  in  meats  and  poultry,  and  owned  and 
carried  on  a  farm.  lie  married  Mary  Beals, 
of  Randolph,  Mass.,  and  had  thirteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Jacob  S.  is  the  only  survivor. 

Jacob  S.  Dyer  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  place,  and  assisted  his 
father  in  his  business  until  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Then  he  engaged  in  farming, 
and  began  dealing  in  meats  and  poultry, 
which  he  sold  at  the  Quincy  Market  in  Boston. 
Subsequently  he  manufactured  boots  and  shoes 
in  South  Braintree  for  a  number  of  years,  after 
which  he  again  took  up  fanning,  which  lie  has 
since  followed  in  South  Braintree. 

On  October  10,  1841,  Mr.  Dyer  married 
Ann  M.  T.  Holbrook,  a  native  of  Randolph, 
and  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Eliza  (Sawing) 
Holbrook.  The  Holbrooks  belong  to  an  old 
family  of  Randolph.  Mrs.  Dyer's  great- 
grandfather was  a  Major  in  the  Revolutionary 
army.  Of  her  ten  children,  Adoniram  J., 
Jacob  A.,  Simeon  D.,  Jabez  S. ,  Nathan  T., 
George  S.,  and  Brainard  T.  are  living.  Mr. 
and    Mrs.    Dyer   are   members   of   the    South 


Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Dyer  has  been 
a  Deacon  of  the  society  for  many  years.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  has  been 
Road  Surveyor  in  the  district  where  he  lives. 
In  the  ante-bellum  days  he  was  a  strong  anti- 
slavery  man.  One  of  the  two  sons  of  his 
who  fought  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  died 
from  the  effects  of  the  hardship  and  exposure 
of  army  life.  Mr.  Dyer  is  a  public-spirited 
man,  and  has  always  aided  movements  for  the 
benefit  of  the  town. 


AVIS  D.  RANDALL,  a  prominent 
resident  of  East  Weymouth,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Braintree.  He  was  born 
February  20,  1831,  son  of  Dean  and 
Abigail  B.  W.  (Walker)  Randall,  natives  re- 
spectively of  Easton  and  Marshfield,  Mass. 
Dean  Randall,  who  came  of  English  origin, 
and  was  reared  in  Easton,  was  afterward  until 
his  death  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
tacks,  brads,  and  nails  in  Braintree  ami  sub- 
sequently in  P2ast  Weymouth,  to  which  he  re- 
moved some  time  in  the  thirties.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  and  a  director  of  the  Wey- 
mouth Iron  Works.  Four  of  his  children  sur- 
vive him,  namely:  Davis  D.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Otis  H.,  a  resident  of  Brockton; 
Andrew  J.,  of  East  Weymouth;  and  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Welch,  of  Hingham.  He  was  a  self- 
made  man,  and  at  the  time  of  his  deatli  was 
considered  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the 
town.  He  was  an  old-time  Whig.  Public- 
spirited  to  a  high  degree,  lie  favored  any 
movement  to  improve  the  town.  He  was  a 
prime  mover  in  securing  the  South  Shore  Road 
extension  through  Weymouth,  and  contributed 
(it   his  own  means  to  this  result. 

Davis  D.  Randall,  who  came  to  Weymouth 
with  his  parents  when  a  child,  grew  up  in  the 
town.  His  general  education  was  received  in 
the  common  schools  and  in  the  academies  at 
South  Braintree  and  Bridgewater.  Subse- 
quently he  graduated  from  Comer's  Commer- 
cial College  at  Boston.  Upon  the  death  of 
his  father  he  began  business  life  for  himself, 
taking  charge  of  the  tack  factory,  and  running 
that  for  a  time  in  order  to  close  out  the  busi- 
ness. He  has  been  twice  married,  and  is  the 
father    of    three    children  —  Davjs    D.,    Jr., 


THOMAS    J.    NASH. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Lottie  E.,  and  Bessie  S.  The  son  is  a  clerk 
in  an  insurance  business  in  Boston.  For  a 
number  of  years  Mr.  Randall,  Sr.,  has  been  a 
trustee  of  East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank.  In 
political  principles  he  is  a  Republican.  An 
esteemed  Mason,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arch  Chapter  and  of  South  Shore  Com- 
mandery. 


(5 1  HOMAS  J.  NASH,  an  esteemed  resi- 
4  I  dent  of  Nash's  Corner,  Weymouth,  was 
born  there,  November  22,  1820,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Phoebe  (Binney)  Nash.  The 
father,  a  sou  of  Joshua  Nash,  served  as  Select- 
man and  Town  Treasurer  of  Weymouth  for 
twenty  years,  and  died  February  6,  1882. 
His  uncle,  Captain  Thomas  Nash,  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Jacob  Nash,  who 
was  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and 
Solomon  Nash,  who  also  fought  in  that 
struggle,  were  family  connections.  Of  the 
children  of  Thomas,  Thomas  J.,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth V.  White,  and  Clinton  are  living. 
Nash's  Corner  was  so  named  in  honor  of  the 
Nash  family,  its  earliest  settlers;  and  the 
post-office  is  now  known  as  Nash. 

Thomas  J.  Nash  resides  on  the  old  Wish 
homestead,  which  has  been  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  ancestors  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  On  this  estate  stands  the  original 
"Vinson"  pear-tree,  more  than  two  hundred 
years  old,  under  the  branches  of  which  nine 
generations  have  gathered  and  eaten  of  its 
fruit.  On  October  9,  1804,  the  main  part  of 
the  top  of  the  tree  was  blown  off  during  a 
hurricane.  The  tree  still  stands  and  bears 
fruit,  and  is  one  of  the  landmarks  of  Wey- 
mouth. Near  it  is  a  spring  of  clear  water 
which  for  many  years  supplied  the  families  in 
the  vicinity,  and  to  this  day  is  used  by  the 
Nash  descendants  for  drinking  purposes. 
Close  by,  for  many  years,  stood  the  wigwam 
of  an  Indian.  Here  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
passed  his  boyhood,  attending  the  district 
schools,  and  occupying  his  leisure  time  by 
working  on  the  farm.  He  married  August  21, 
1877,  Alice  A.  Ager,  the  widow  of  Wilbur  F. 
Ager,  of  Weymouth,  Mass.,  and  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Helen  (McKay)  Ilollis.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  Randolph.     Born  of  the 


union  were  nine  children;  namely,  Joshua  L., 
Thomas  V.,  Harold  B.  (deceased),  Helen  E. 
(deceased),  A.  Mildred,  H.  Reginald,  Ken- 
neth L.,  Arthur  B.,  and  Clayton  W.  Mr. 
Nash  is  a  member  of  the  Pinion  Con 
tional  Church  at  South  Weymouth.  He  and 
Joseph  Dyer  are  the  only  surviving  incorpora- 
tors of  the  South  Weymouth  Savings  Bank, 
and  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  institution  until 
recently.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  has 
been  much  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
town,  and  has  filled  many  of  its  responsible 
public  offices.  Throughout  his  life  he  has 
kept  well  informed  on  the  topics  of  the  day. 


IDWARD  B.  SOUTHER,  of  Ouincy,  a 
dealer  in  newspapers,  periodicals,  fancy 
articles  and  cutlery,  was  born  in  this 
town,  January  29,  1827.  A  son  of  John 
Souther,  he  is  a  lineal  descendant  in  the 
seventh  generation  of  Joseph  Souther  (first), 
a  cooper  by  occupation,  who  was  married  in 
Boston,  October  22,  1657,  by  Governor  Endi- 
cott,  to  Elizabeth  Fairfielde.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Daniel  Fairfielde,  who  was  a 
member  of  Pastor  John  Robinson's  church 
in  Leyden.  Born  in  Boston  in  1640,  she  died 
in  that  city,  October  14,  1730.  Joseph 
Souther  (second),  born  in  Hingham,  Mass., 
August  20,  1658,  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Christopher  and  Ann  Holland,  and,  as  appears 
from  his  father's  will,  died  before  December 
14,  1696.  Joseph  Souther  (third),  who  was 
born  February  27,  1685,  spent  his  active  years 
occupied  in  the  calling  of  a  shipwright.  On 
April  22,  1708,  he  married  Content  Tower, 
who  died  December  17,  1730.  Joseph 
Souther  (fourth),  a  native  of  Cohasset,  bom 
November  20,  1721,  married  Abigail  Kent, 
October  10,  1744;  and  both  died  in  1808. 
Their  son,  John  Souther,  the  grandfather  of 
Edward  B.,  born  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  Febru- 
ary 15,  1755,  married  on  December  21,  1780, 
Deborah  Leavitt. 

John  Souther  (second),  the  father  of  Ed- 
ward B.,  was  born  September  13,  17S1,  in  the 
part  of  Cohasset  that  was  then  known  as 
Beechwood  Swamp.  When  he  was  a  lad  he 
removed  with  his  parents  to  Hingham,  where 
he  attended  the  district  school  and  then  the 


32 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Derby  Academy.  Afterward  he  worked  at 
ship-building  with  his  father,  whom  he  suc- 
ceeded in  business,  carrying  it  on  alone  from 
the  time  of  his  father's  death  until  1815. 
Coming  then  to  Norfolk  County,  he  bought  a 
large  tract  of  land  situated  about  half-way  be- 
tween Quincy  ami  Quincy  Point,  and  which 
was  afterward  known  as  Souther's  Hill.  Here 
he  had  carried  on  ship-building  for  some  years 
when,  in  1835,  he  retired  in  favor  of  his  eldest 
son,  John  I,.  Souther.  For  some  years  he  was 
a  stockholder  of  the  Mount  Wollaston  Bank. 
He  was  a  Whig  in  politics;  and,  besides  serv- 
ing as  Selectman  for  a  long  period,  he  repre- 
sented the  town  in  the  State  legislature  several 
terms.  He  was  quite  prominent  in  local 
matters,  taking  great  interest  in  all  beneficial 
enterprises,  and  was  one  of  the  building  com- 
mittee of  the  town  hall  and  of  Adams 
Temple,  the  Unitarian  church.  On  January 
20,  1805,  he  married  Lydia  Lincoln,  a  daugh- 
ter (if  Jonathan  and  Lydia  (Nichols)  Lincoln, 
of  Hingham,  and  by  her  became  the  father  of 
ten  children.  These  were:  John,  born  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1S06,  who  died  October  18,  1891; 
William,  born  March  7,  1808,  who  died  July  8, 
1867;  Henry,  born  May  G,  1810,  who  died 
May  g,  1892;  George,  born  March  21,  1813, 
who  died  October  19,  1837;  Frederick,  born 
April  11,  1815,  who  resides  in  Quincy ;  Lydia 
L. ,  bom  March  6,  1N17,  who  on  August  30, 
1838,  married  the  late  T.  W.  Averill,  and 
died  .March  1,  1891  ;  Charles  Nichols,  born 
May  11,  1  8  1 9,  who  is  a  resident  of  Napa  City, 
Cal.  ;  Hannah  Lincoln,  born  July  27,  1821, 
who  is  the  wife  of  Emery  Souther;  Catherine 
C. ,  born  January  20,  1824,  who  married 
William  Appleton,  now  of  Westboro,  Mass.  ; 
ami  Edward  B.,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 
Both  parents  were  active  members  of  the  Uni- 
tarian church.  The  father's  death  occurred  in 
March,   1S78. 

Edward  B.  Souther  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Quincy  and  a  private  school  in 
Northboro.  He  afterward  became  a  clerk  in 
the  grain  store  of  his  brother  Henry.  Later 
he  bought  out  his  brother,  and  carried  on 
the  business  alone  for  the  ensuing  two  years. 
In  1850  he  went  across  the  Isthmus  to  Feather 
River,  California,  where  he  met  a  family  party, 
consisting   of   his   brothers,    Henry   and    Fred- 


erick, Henry's  son  Henry,  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  William  Appleton,  who  had  made  the 
journey  by  way  of  the  Cape.  They  all  went 
directly  to  the  mines;  but  Mr.  Souther  stayed 
but  a  year,  preferring  life  in  Massachusetts. 
On  October  21,  1851,  shortly  after  his  return 
home,  he  went  on  a  gunning  excursion,  and 
was  so  unfortunate  as  to  shoot  off  his  right 
hand  while  loading  his  gun.  In  the  following 
January  he  took  charge  of  the  grist-mill  on  the 
property  his  father  had  purchased  when  he  first 
came  to  this  town,  and  operated  it  until  1858. 
On  March  29,  1869,  he  bought  his  present 
business,  which  was  then  very  small,  handling 
but  one  edition  of  one  paper  each  day.  He 
has  since  greatly  enlarged  his  operations,  re 
ceiving  four  editions  of  the  Boston  Globe  and 
three  of  the  other  daily  papers.  He  has  also 
a  large  trade  in  the  leading  magazines,  and  in 
fancy  articles,  tobacco,  and  cutlery,  carrying 
the  best  line  of  the  latter  to  be  found  outside 
of  Boston. 

Mr.  Souther  is  a  Past  Grand  of  Mount  Wol- 
laston Lodge,  and  treasurer  of  Manet  Encamp- 
ment, I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  a  member  of  Shawmut 
Canton,  Patriarchs  Militant.  On  February 
26,  1846,  he  was  first  married  to  Sarah  H., 
daughter  of  Josiah  Adams,  of  Quincy.  Of 
his  six  children,  four  are  now  living,  namely: 
Sarah  Adelaide,  the  wife  of  Tilson  A.  Mead, 
who  is  the  principal  of  the  Chapman  School, 
East  Boston,  .Mass.  ;  Edward  W.  and  Henry 
Lincoln,  both  of  Boston;  and  Elizabeth 
Adams,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Frederick  Illsley,  of 
Chelsea,  Mass.  The  mother,  who  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Unitarian  church,  to 
which  Mr.  Souther  also  belongs,  died  October 
29,  1868.  Since  then  he  married  Mary  E., 
daughter  of  Perez  Chubbuck,  of  Quincy.  Of 
the  two  children  of  this  marriage,  Mary  Adams 
is  living. 


fOHN  HENRY  DINEGAN,  a  real  es- 
tate dealer  and  note  broker,  is  a  well- 
known  business  man  of  Quincy  and 
one  of  its  most  active  citizens,  and 
was  born  in  Quincy,  September  3,  1856,  son 
of  the  late  Daniel  and  Mary  Ann  (Ward) 
Dinegan.  The  father,  who  was  a  native  of 
County    Longford,    Ireland,  went    to   England 


J.    VARNUM    ABBOTT. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


35 


when  a  small  boy,  and  resided  there  until  a 
short  time  after  his  marriage.  Coming  then 
to  the  United  States,  he  settled  in  Ouincy, 
where  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  boot-maker, 
which  he  had  learned  in  the  old  country, 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion.  He 
then  enlisted  for  service  in  the  war  with  a 
company  of  nine  months'  men.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  G,  Forty- 
second  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, in  which  he  served  until  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Confederates.  After  spending  several 
months  in  the  rebel  prison  at  Galveston,  he 
was  released;  and,  his  term  of  enlistment  hav- 
ing expired,  he  was  honorably  discharged  from 
the  Union  army.  Returning  to  Ouincy  then, 
he  was  engaged  in  the  work  of  a  tanner  and 
currier  until  he  received  a  stroke  of  apoplexy, 
from  which  he  never  fully  recovered.  Two 
years  later  he  suffered  a  third  stroke,  causing 
his  death  in  1881.  His  wife,  Mary  Ann,  a 
daughter  of  John  Ward,  of  Staffordshire,  Eng- 
land, had  nine  children  born,  of  whom  six  are 
now  living.  Her  daughter  Alice  married 
Maurice  Keohan,  of  Weymouth,  Mass.  :  Mar- 
garet is  the  wife  of  Andrew  McPherson,  of 
Ouincy;  and  Emily  married  John  Q.  McDon- 
nell. The  others  are:  Mary  Ellen,  Daniel 
Ward,    and  John   Henry. 

John  Henry  Dinegan  received  his  education 
in  Quincy,  being  graduated  from  the  Ouincy 
High  School  with  the  class  of  1872.  At  once 
he  began  life  for  himself,  entering  a  grocery 
store  as  a  clerk,  a  capacity  in  which  he  con- 
tinued five  years.  Then  he  purchased  his  em- 
ployer's interest  in  the  store,  and  afterward 
profitably  conducted  it  until  1891.  In  that 
year  he  made  a  change  in  his  occupation,  be- 
coming an  operator  in  realty  and  notes.  His 
executive  and  financial  ability  is  acknowl- 
edged, and  he  often  fills  offices  requiring  expe- 
rience and  shrewdness.  He  is  also  one  of  the 
directors  of  the  Ouincy  Co-operative  Bank. 

On  October  5,  1882,  Mr.  Dinegan  married 
Hannah  M.,  daughter  of  William  and  Hannah 
Webb,  of  Ouincy.  They  have  had  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Mary  Webb,  Alice,  and  Emily 
are  living.  Mr.  Dinegan  is  a  member  and 
the  sexton  of  St.  John's  Catholic  Church.  In 
politics  he  takes  an  independent  course,  vot- 
ing for  the  best  men  and  measures  regardless 


of  party.      For  a  time  he  was  the  chairman   of 
the   Board   of   Health,    and   he   has   servi 
three  years  on  the  Board  of  Assessors.      He  is 

the  Treasurer  of  the   Royal    Society  of   G 1 

Fellows;  has  membership  in  Monticello 
Lodge,  No.  13,  A.  O.  U.  W.,  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass.:  and  is  Chief  Ranger  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 


§VARNUM    ABBOTT,  president  of  the 
J.  V.   Abbott  Manufacturing  Company 
,     of  East  Dedham,  Mass.,  manufacturers 
of   loom  pickers,  strappings,  and  other 
leather  goods,  was  born   June  7,   1836,  in  An- 
dover,  Mass.,  a  son  of  Moody  B.  Abbott. 

The  Abbot,  or  Abbott,  family  is  one  of  the 
oldest  in  Andover.  The  founder  of  the 
branch  to  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  be- 
longs was  "George  Abbot,  of  Rowley,"  so 
called  to  distinguish  him  from  others  of  the 
name  who  came  from  England  to  Massachu- 
setts more  than  two  hundred  ami  fifty  years 
ago,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Rowley  in  1647. 
His  son,  George,"  who  came  with  him,  settled 
in  Andover  in  1655,  and  there  married,  in 
1658,  Sarah  Farnum.  The  line  is  thus  con- 
tinued: Nehemiah,3  born  in  1667,  who  was 
Deacon  of  the  South  Church  in  Andover 
thirty  years;  his  son,  Nehemiah,'  who  settled 
in  Lexington,  and  was  Town  Treasurer;  Will- 
iam,5 a  farmer  who  lived  in  Andover;  and 
Jeduthan,'1  of  Andover,  who  was  the  father  of 
Jeduthan,7  grandfather  of  Mr.  Abbott,  of  Ded- 
ham. (An  interesting  account  of  descendants 
of  George  Abbot,  of  Rowley,  is  contained  in 
the  Essex  Antiquarian  for  July,  1897  (edited 
by  Sidney  Perley,  and  published  in  Salem),  to 
which  we  are  indebted  for  some  of  the  facts 
here  given.) 

Jeduthan  Abbott,  second  of  the  name,  was 
a  prosperous  farmer  in  Andover.  He  was 
exceedingly  fond  of  horses,  always  keeping 
fine  stock,  and  was  prominent  in  military  cir- 
cles, in  the  War  of  1812  serving  as  Captain 
of  a  company  of  State  militia.  He  married 
Betsy  Bridges,  of  Andover,  also  the  descend- 
ant of  an  old  Colonial  family;  and  they 
reared  two  children,  Moody  B.  being  the 
younger.  Both  he  and  his  wife  lived  to  be 
seventy-four  years  old. 


36 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Moody  B.  Abbott  was  born  and  reared  on 
the  homestead  in  Andover,  and  in  that  beauti- 
ful hill  town  spent  his  sixty-nine  years  of 
life,  engaged  the  larger  part  of  the  time  in 
agricultural  pursuits.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Hannah  V.  Noyes,  was  also 
born  in  Andover,  a  daughter  of  Frederick 
Noyes,  a  well-to-do  farmer,  who  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  ten  children.  She  was  a  bright  and 
active  woman  of  eighty-five  years,  when  she 
died  April  9,  1897.  Of  her  seven  children 
four  survive,  namely:  Charles  M. ,  of  Califor- 
nia; J.  Varnum;  Sarah  M.  ;  and  M.  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Richard  A.  Ward.  Both  parents  united 
with  the  West  Congregational  Church  in  their 
younger  days.  The  father  was  a  man  of  some 
prominence,  and  took  an  active  part  in  local 
affairs,  serving  in  many  of  the  town  offices. 

J.  Varnum  Abbott  completed  his  education 
at  Phillips  Academy  in  Andover,  pursuing  his 
studies  there  three  years.  He  began  his  busi- 
ness life  as  clerk  in  a  country  store,  where  he 
had  an  experience  in  selling  various  kinds  of 
merchandise,  including  grain,  groceries,  light 
and  heavy  hardware,  and  dry  goods.  After 
three  years  in  that  position  he  went  to  Boston, 
and  was  employed  eighteen  months  as  clerk  in 
a  large  wholesale  and  retail  dry-goods  house. 
In  1857  he  began  learning  the  trade  of  a  ma- 
chinist at  North  Andover,  entering  the  ma- 
chine shops  of  Davis  &  Furber,  manufacturers 
of  woollen  machinery,  staying  there  until  after 
the  breaking  out  of  the  late  Civil  War. 

In  May,  1861,  Mr.  Abbott  was  made  First 
Sergeant  of  a  company  of  Volunteer  Infantry 
that  was  formed  in  North  Andover  to  aid  in 
putting  down  the  Rebellion;  but,  before  the 
company  could  be  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service,  word  came  from  the  office  of 
the  Adjutant-general  that  no  more  troops  were 
then  needed  by  the  government.  The  com- 
pany was  accordingly  disbanded,  and  Mr.  Ab- 
bott resumed  his  former  occupation.  In  1862 
Mr.  Abbott  again  offered  his  services  to  his 
country,  enlisting  in  Company  A,  Thirty-third 
Massachusetts  Regiment,  as  a  private.  A 
short  time  after  his  enlistment  he  was  seri- 
ously injured,  and,  not  being  able  to  do  active 
duty,  was  placed  in  the  office  of  the  military 
governor,  General  Slough,  of  Ohio,  at  Alex- 
andria, Va.,  as  a  clerk,    a  position   which   he 


filled  until  receiving  his  honorable  discharge 
in  December,   1862. 

Returning  at  once  to  North  Andover,  he  re- 
sumed his  former  work  in  the  machine  shop, 
continuing  there  until  1864.  From  that  time 
until  1874  he  was  employed  in  the  shops  of 
the  Grover  &  Baker  Sewing  Machine  Com- 
pany. Coming  then  to  Dedham  to  establish 
himself  in  business  on  his  own  account,  he 
began  the  manufacture  of  his  present  line  of 
goods  on  a  modest  scale,  being  the  pioneer  of 
this  industry.  His  trade  rapidly  increased; 
and  he  was  making  fine  progress  when,  in 
1883,  his  buildings  and  tools  were  completely 
destroyed  by  fire.  At  this  time  he  had  a  large 
force  of  men  at  work,  Charles  E.  Luce,  his 
son-in-law,  being  a  partner.  The  plant  was 
rebuilt  and  newly  equipped,  and  in  1885  the 
company  was  formed  and  incorporated  under 
its  present  name.  The  business  has  steadily 
increased,  new  orders  constantly  coming  in 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  so  that  even  in 
the  recent  time  of  financial  depression  new 
hands  had  to  be  hired  to  complete  the  work, 
and  the  buildings  have  had  to  be  enlarged 
from  twenty-two  feet  by  thirty  feet,  to  twenty 
two  feet  by  seventy-five  feet.  One  secret  of  the 
great  success  of  this  enterprising  firm  is  that 
none  but  the  best  material  and  tools  are  used. 

Previous  to  Mr.  Abbott's  engaging  in  the 
manufacture  of  loom  pickers,  the  work  was 
done  wholly  by  hand.  Machines  invented  by 
Mr.  Abbott  and  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Luce, 
when  introduced  completely  revolutionized 
the  business,  their  labor-saving  qualities 
enabling  the  company  to  produce  better  goods 
at  less  cost  than  the  hand-made.  All  the 
goods  placed  on  the  market  by  this  company 
are  now  made  by  machinery  of  Mr.  Abbott's 
and  Mr.  Luce's  invention.  Some  of  these 
machines  have  been  patented,  and  rights  to  use 
them  have  been  sold  to  other  manufacturers  at 
remunerative  prices. 

Mr.  Abbott  has  been  thrice  married.  In 
1857  he  married  Mary  F.  Frye,  a  daughter  of 
Stephen  Frye,  of  Andover.  She  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty  years  of  consumption,  a  disease 
which  carried  off  many  of  her  family.  Mr. 
Abbott's  second  wife  was  Mary  J.  Sutcliffe. 
She  was  the  mother  of  one  child,  a  daughter, 
Jennie  E.     The  maiden   name   of  the  present 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


37 


Mrs.  Abbott  was  Lucy  J.  Rogers.  She  was 
born  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  a  daughter  of  L.  C. 
Rogers.  The  two  children  born  of  the  third 
marriage  are:  Helen  F.  and  Florence  R. 
Jennie  E.,  the  eldest  daughter,  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  E.  Luce,  D.M.D. ,  who  was  engaged 
in  business  with  Mr.  Abbott  until  1890.  In 
that  year  he  was  graduated  from  the  Harvard 
Dental  College,  and  then  went  to  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  Germany,  and  later  to  Stuttgart, 
where  he  is  successfully  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  being  the  only  Ameri- 
can dentist  in  the  place.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luce 
have  two  children  —  Elmer  V.  and  Marguerite. 
Helen  F.  Abbott,  Mr.  Abbott's  second  daugh- 
ter, is  an  accomplished  musician,  having  stud- 
ied two  years  in  Germany,  completing  her  ed- 
ucation at  the  Boston  Conservatory  of  Music. 
She  is  now  supervisor  of  music  in  the  schools 
of  Bristol,  R.I.  Her  sister,  Florence  R.  Ab- 
bott, a  graduate  of  the  Bridgewater  Normal 
School  and  of  the  Cambridge  Kindergarten, 
is  a  teacher  in  the  Endicott  School. 

Mr.  Abbott  is  an  unswerving  Republican  in 
politics,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Re- 
publican Town  Committee.  He  has  been  re- 
peatedly urged  to  accept  public  office,  but  has 
persistently  declined.  He  is  prominent  in 
the  order  of  Odd  Fellows,  being  a  charter 
member  of  Samuel  Dexter  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
and  a  member  of  Monterey  Encampment,  No. 
60,  Hyde  Park;  he  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum  and  R.  S.  G.  F.,  in  which  he 
has  filled  all  the  chairs;  he  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Home  Circle,  of  which  he  has 
been  Grand  Vice-Leader  two  years  and  Grand 
Leader  the  same  length  of  time;  and  is  now 
an  instructor  in  the  Supreme  Council.  He  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Charles  W.  Carroll 
Post,  No.  144,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  has 
been  Commander;  and  he  belongs  to  the 
Fisher  Ames  Club  of  Dedham.  He  is  a  regu- 
lar attendant  of  the  Episcopal  church,  of 
which  his  wife  and  children  are  members. 


ENRY   A.    BELCHER,  of    Randolph, 
the    present     Representative    of    the 
Seventh    Norfolk    District    in     the 
General    Court,    was    born    in    Ran- 
dolph on   August  6,   1844.      A   son  of   Henry 


and  Harriet  Belcher,  both  natives  of  this 
town,  he  comes  of  English  origin,  and  traces 
his  ancestry  back  to  a  Belcher  who  settled  in 
Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1639.  He  grew  to  man- 
hood in  his  native  town,  attending  the  public 
schools  and  later  the  Stetson  High  School. 
When  thirteen  years  old  he  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  Francis  Townsend,  who  kept  a  general 
merchandise  store  in  Randolph,  and  remained 
with  him  for  several  years.  In  his  twentieth 
year  he  went  to  Boston,  where  he  became  a 
salesman  in  the  great  dry-goods  establishment 
of  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.  In  1873  he  became  a 
buyer,  and  the  manager  of  their  dress-goods 
department.  Three  years  later  he  entered  the 
firm  of  R.  H.  White  &  Co,  a  connection  that 
lasted  until  January  I,  1896,  when  he  with- 
drew. In  that  period  of  twenty  years  he 
shared  and,  in  a  large  degree,  was  instrumen- 
tal in  securing  the  business  success  which  the 
firm  of  R.  H.  White  &  Co.  is  known  to  have 
achieved.  Mr.  Belcher  is  a  financier  of  un- 
usual ability,  and  his  judgment  and  advice 
have  been  earnestly  sought  by  numerous  so- 
cieties and  corporations  having  large  financial 
interests.  He  is  now  a  director  of  the  Boyls- 
ton  National  Bank  of  Boston,  and  is  a  trustee 
in  the  Turner  Library  at  Randolph.  He  is  a 
member  and  Past  Master  of  Norfolk  Union 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.;  and  he  is  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Belcher  married  Hannah  B.  Nye,  a 
daughter  of  Stephen  and  Mary  A.  Nye,  of 
Sandwich,  Mass.  He  is  a  Republican  in  pol- 
itics, and  he  was  elected  to  his  present  office 
as  Representative  on  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  is  identified  with  the  Unitarian  church, 
and  is  a  liberal  supporter  of  its  various  enter- 
prises. Mr.  Belcher  is  the  owner  of  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  attractive  homes  to  be 
found  in  Norfolk  County.  The  spacious  and 
elegant  mansion  is  surrounded  by  lawns  and 
shrubbery  in  harmony  with  its  architecture. 
Mr.  Belcher's  career  as  a  business  man  needs 
no  eulogy.  To  his  ma'rked  natural  abilities 
as  a  business  manager,  his  good  judgment 
and  sound  sense,  he  united  push,  honesty,  and 
a  determination  to  succeed;  and  as  a  result  he 
rose  from  the  position  of  clerk  to  that  of 
partner  in  one  of  the  foremost  mercantile  con- 


38 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


cerns  in  the  United  States,  the  possessor  of  a 
handsome  fortune.  His  life  stands  forth  as  a 
brilliant  example  for  younger  men,  and  will 
undoubtedly  be  an  inspiration  for  many  years 
to  the  youth  of  his  native  town. 


f  ^TeORGE  F.  HUSSEY,  the  well-known 
\  '*)  I  superintendent  of  the  Jenkins  Manu- 
facturing Company's  works  at  East 
Braintree,  is  a  native  of  Albion,  Me.  Born 
in  June,  1846,  he  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Elizabeth  E.  Ilussey,  both  also  natives  of  the 
State  of  Maine.  He  remained  at  home  until 
sixteen  years  of  age,  attending  the  public 
schools.  When  President  Lincoln  issued  the 
first  call  for  nine-months  troops,  Mr.  Hussey, 
then  a  mere  lad,  responded  by  enlisting  in 
Company  G  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Maine  Regi- 
ment. He  served  for  nearly  a  year,  doing  duty 
around  Fort  Hudson,  La.,  sharing  in  General 
Banks's  Red  River  campaign,  and  fighting  in 
the  siege  of  Fort  Hudson,  at  Irish  Bend,  and 
in  other  minor  engagements.  He  subsequently 
enlisted  in  Company  H  of  the  Second  Maine 
Cavalry,  which  was  attached  to  the  Ninteenth 
Army  Corps,  and  took  part  in  sundry  cavalry 
raids,  principally  made  in  Louisiana  and 
Florida.  Having  spent  more  than  two  years 
in  the  cavalry  service,  he  was  discharged. 
Then  he  returned  to  Maine,  and  for  a  short 
time  attended  the  academy  at  Freedom. 
Afterward  he  learned  the  trade  of  machinist, 
and  worked  for  several  years  as  journeyman. 
In  1880  he  came  to  East  Braintree  for  the  pur- 
pose of  building  some  special  machinery  for 
the  plant  of  which  he  is  now  the  superintend- 
ent. He  had  worked  here  as  machinist  for 
about  a  year  when  he  was  made  foreman,  or  as- 
sistant superintendent.  This  position  he  held 
until  May  1,  1889,  when  he  was  appointed  to 
the  post  of  superintendent  left  vacant  by  the 
death  of  S.  F.  Jenkins,  the  former  superin- 
tendent. The  Jenkins  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, of  which  he  is  the  official  representa- 
tive, manufactures  boot  and  shoe  laces,  wetting 
cords,  and  braids.  The  plant  is  located  on 
the  Monatiquot  River  at  East  Braintree,  and 
is  run  by  water-power  and  by  steam.  It  em- 
ploys on  an  average  forty  operatives,  and  is 
carrying  on  a  highly  successful  business 


Mr.  Hussey  is  a  self-made  man,  and  enjoys 
universal  confidence  and  esteem.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  favors  every  move- 
ment for  the  public  good.  He  is  a  member  of 
General  Sylvanus  Thayer  Post,  No.  87, 
G.  A.  R.,  at  South  Braintree;  and  of  Nepon- 
set  Lodge,  No.  84,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  at  Neponset. 
Mr.  Hussey's  wife  was  formerly  Mary  M. 
Dike,  of  Sebago,  Me. 


ENRY  F.  BICKNELL,  one  of  the 
prominent  merchants  of  East  Wey- 
mouth, was  born  in  this  town, 
March  26,  1S24,  son  of  James  and 
Nancy  (Wilder)  Bicknell.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Weymouth;  and  his  mother  was  bom 
in  Hingham,  Mass.  The  Bicknell  family  is 
one  of  the  best  known  in  this  locality.  (A 
more  extended  account  of  its  ancestry  will  be 
found  in  the  biography  of  Zachariah  L.  Bick- 
nell.) James  Bicknell,  who  was  a  shoemaker, 
and  followed  that  trade  in  Weymouth  and 
Hingham,  died  in  1851.  He  was  an  industri- 
ous man  and  an  esteemed  member  of  the  com- 
munity. Of  the  several  children  reared  by 
him,  Henry  F.  is  the  only  survivor. 

Henry  F.  Bicknell  was  reared  and  educated 
in  East  Weymouth.  At  the  age  of  ten  years 
he  began  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and 
he  followed  it  afterward  as  a  journeyman  for 
about  twenty-seven  years.  Then  he  engaged 
in  manufacturing,  in  company  with  Q.  L. 
Bicknell  and  E.  G.  Gardner,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Bicknell,  Gardner  &  Co.  A  year 
later  he  became  the  sole  proprietor  of  the 
business,  and  thereafter  carried  it  on  alone 
until  1S85,  when  he  relinquished  it  to  enter 
the  grocery  business,  which  he  has  since  fol- 
lowed. His  prosperity  began  at  the  start; 
and  his  ability  and  regularity  have  gained  the 
confidence  of  his  business  associates  and  the 
public  generally,  who  give  him  a  liberal  share 
of  their  patronage.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  is  in  favor  of  all  movements 
relative  to  increasing  the  prosperity  of  the 
town.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  which  he 
serves  in  the  capacities  of  trustee  and  a  mem- 
ber of  its  Investment  Committee.  He  is  a 
Master    Mason,    a    member    of    South    Shore 


BIOGRAPHICAL   RKVIEW 


39 


Commandery,    Knights   Templar,  and   an   Odd 
Fellow. 

Mr.  Bicknell  married  Betsey  C.  Our,  of 
Hingham,  and  has  had  three  children.  Of 
these  the  only  one  living  is  Clara  E.p  the 
wife  of  Peter  W.  French,  of  this  town.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bicknell  attend  the  Congregational 
church. 


KRANK  WALLACE  BRETT,  M.D.,  a 
representative  physician  of  South 
Braintree,  was  born  in  Hingham, 
Mass.,  May  14,  1861,  eldest  son  of  Mersena 
and  Ann  S.  (Loring)  Brett.  His  father,  a  na- 
tive of  Duxbury,  a  mason  by  trade,  is  now  re- 
tired from  active  business,  and  resides  in  Bos- 
ton. The  Doctor's  mother  was  a  descendant 
of  Thomas  Loring,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
of  Hingham,  where  he  drew  a  house  lot  in 
September,   1635. 

Frank  W.  Brett  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Hingham,  graduating  from  the  high 
school ;  and  from  his  thirteenth  to  his  eigh- 
teenth year  he  worked  more  or  less  at  his 
father's  trade.  Entering  the  Bridgewater 
State  Normal  School  at  the  age  of  eighteen  to 
prepare  for  teaching,  he  was  graduated  in 
1880,  and  first  taught  school  in  Norwell, 
Mass.  Two  years  later  he  became  preceptor 
of  the  Hanover  Academy  at  Hanover,  Mass., 
where  he  remained  six  years,  resigning  to 
become  the  principal  of  a  grammar  school  in 
Needham,  Mass.  In  1891  he  came  to  Brain- 
tree  as  principal  of  the  Monatiquot  School, 
and  he  remained  in  that  capacity  here  for 
four  years.  He  had  developed  a  strong  taste 
for  chemistry  and  kindred  branches  of  sci- 
ence, and  he  frequently  lectured  upon  these 
subjects.  During  his  years  of  teaching  in 
Braintree  he  attended  lectures  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  Boston ; 
and  in  1894,  immediately  after  receiving  his 
degree,  he  was  appointed  professor  of  bacte- 
riology there.  In  the  fall  of  1895  Dr.  Brett 
began  the  active  practice  of  his  profession  in 
South  Braintree.  He  now  command;;  the  pa- 
tronage of  a  steadily  increasing  number  of  the 
residents  of  the  town,  and  enjoys  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  the  public  at  large. 

Dr.  Brett  married  August  2,  18S5,  Annie  J. 


Cuming,  of  Hingham.  They  have  two  sons 
—  Afley  L.  and  Roy  C.  The  Doctor  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society  and  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation. He  is  also  well  known  in  the  best 
fraternities  of  the  vicinity,  being  identified 
with  Rural  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at 
Quincy,  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  at  South 
Braintree,  and  the  LTnited  Order  of  the 
Golden  Cross  at  Hanover,  Mass.,  being  one  of 
the  charter  members  of  Fraternal  Command- 
ery, No.  260.  He  holds  a  prominent  position 
in  the  town,  and  is  serving  at  the  present  time 
on  the  School  Board  of  Braintree. 


REDERICK  BARNICOAT,  a  skilful 
;ranite  sculptor  of  Quincy,  was  born 
in  Penryn,  Cornwall,  England,  April 
7,  1857,  son  of  Thomas  P.  and  Emma  (Cur- 
dew)  Barnicoat.  The  father,  also  a  native  of 
Penryn,  was  there  for  many  years  a  contracting 
mason,  having  a  large  business  and  employ- 
ing man)'  men.  His  wife,  Emma,  likewise  a 
native  of  Penryn,  bore  him  nine  children. 
These  are:  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  James 
Coles,  of  Leeds,  Yorkshire,  England;  Emma, 
the  wife  of  James  Hogg,  also  of  Leeds;  Mary 
Hannah,  the  wife  of  Henry  VVorsdell,  of 
Quincy,  Mass.  ;  Charlotte,  a  school  teacher  in 
Birmingham,  England;  John,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.;  Edwin,  of  Mylorr  Cornwall,  England; 
Frederick,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  S. 
Henry,  of  Quincy,  Mass. ;  and  Charles,  of 
Providence,  R.I. 

Frederick  Barnicoat  was  educated,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  a  granite  cutter  in 
Penryn,  England,  living  there  until  twenty- 
four  years  old.  Emigrating  then  to  America, 
he  settled  in  Westerly,  R.I.  Here  he  fol- 
lowed his  trade  for  five  years,  and  subse- 
quently in  Boston  for  six  months.  After  com- 
ing to  Quincy  in  1886,  he  had  been  employed 
as  a  carver  and  statue  cutter  for  two  years, 
when  he  started  in  business  for  himself, 
being  the  only  person  in  the  city  making  a 
specialty  of  statue  cutting.  Since  then,  by  re- 
markably artistic  work,  he  has  achieved  a 
wide  reputation,  and  now  receives  orders  from 
all  parts  of  the  Union.  He  has  done  much 
work    for    soldiers'   monuments.       In   the    last 


Biographical  review 


year  he  cut  and  shipped  thirty-three  figures, 
employing  as  assistants  about  twenty-two  men. 
He  takes  great  interest  in  anything  connected 
with  the  development  of  the  granite  industry, 
and  is  one  of  the  directors  of  the  T.  W. 
Smith  &  Co.  Granite  Turning  Company. 

Mr.  Barnicoat  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of 
St.  George.  He  married  Mary  M.  I. awry, 
who  was  born  in  l'enryn,  England,  daughter  of 
Alexander  Lawry.  They  have  seven  children 
living;  namely,  Charles,  Gertrude,  Stanley, 
Nelson,   Minnie,  Emma,  and  Frederick,  Jr. 


LISHA  HAWKS,  a  retired  contractor 
and  builder  of  North  Stoughton,  was 
born  in  this  town,  April  19,  1 8 14, 
son  of  John  and  Eunice  (Worthington)  Hawes. 
His  father  was  born  in  Stoughton  in  1785, 
and  his  mother  in  Canton,  Mass.,  in  1790. 
His  paternal  grandparents,  Elisha  and  Sarah 
(Went worth)  Hawes,  of  Canton,  had  a  family 
of  six  children;  namely,  Samuel,  Elijah, 
Enos,  John,  Ruth,  and  Rebecca.  Grand- 
father Hawes  followed  agricultural  pursuits 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1796,  and 
was  caused  by  an  accident. 

John  Hawes,  son  of  the  elder  Elisha,  was 
engaged  in  farming  and  teaming  during  his  ac- 
tive period,  and  was  an  able  and  industrious 
man.  He  died  December  10,  1877,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety-two  years;  and  his  wife, 
who  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety  years,  died 
December  14,  1880.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  church.  They  reared  seven  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Alpheus,  William,  Elisha, 
Mather  E.,  Abigail,  Elijah,  and  Emery. 
Alpheus  Hawes,  who  is  no  longer  living,  mar- 
ried for  his  first  wife  Lucy  J.  Stephenson,  of 
Ohio,  and  for  his  second,  Jane  Tucker,  of 
Canton,  Mass.  William,  who  was  a  shoe  man- 
ufacturer, married  Charlotte  Hawes,  of  Stough- 
ton, the  two  being  now  deceased.  Mather  E., 
who  married  Laura  Bond,  of  Vermont,  was 
originally  a  shoe  manufacturer,  was  afterward  a 
schoolmaster,  still  later  a  Universalist  min- 
ister, and  for  a  time  was  engaged  in  the  real 
estate  business  in  Boston.  For  several  years 
he  was  connected  with  the  Boston  post-office, 
and  he  is  now  residing  in  that  city.  Abigail 
is  the  widow  of  Charles   Upham,  late  of  Can- 


ton, and  is  now  residing  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Elijah,  who  married  Jane  Wadsworth,  of  Ver- 
mont, was  formerly  a  shoe  manufacturer, 
and  went  to  California.  Emery,  who  was  in 
early  life  engaged  in  shoe  manufacturing,  is 
now  a  merchant  and  Postmaster  at  North 
Stoughton.  His  first  wife  was  Lucy  A. 
Wentwortb,  of  Canton;  and  his  present  wife 
was  formerly  Mrs.  Emeline  Packard  Snell,  of 
Brockton. 

Elisha  Hawes  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Stoughton;  and  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  went  to  Roxbury,  where  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade.  Four  years  later  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  town,  and,  starting  upon 
his  own  account  as  a  contractor  and  builder, 
was  actively  engaged  in  that  business  for  sixty 
years,  during  which  time  he  erected  many 
dwelling-houses  and  other  buildings  in  this 
village.  He  retired  in  1896,  but  is  still  a 
strong  and  active  man,  possessing  the  agility 
of  a  much  younger  person. 

Mr.  Hawes  has  been  three  times  married. 
His  first  wife,  with  whom  he  was  united  on 
January  24,  1837,  was  Hannah  A.  Tucker,  of 
Roxbury,  who  died  December  25,  1853.  His 
second  wife,  Mrs.  Eunice  P.  Glover,  widow  of 
Elijah  Glover,  of  Stoughton,  died  March  26, 
1 891  ;  and  on  November  12  of  the  same  year 
he  married  Mrs.  Susan  H.  Bailey,  a  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Susan  (Fowler)  Herring.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Dedham  ;  and  her  mother 
was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass.  Daniel  Her- 
ring resided  in  Dedham,  and  followed  the 
trade  of  mason  in  connection  with  farming. 
His  wife  died  in  1851,  and  he  died  in  1S53. 
Mrs.  Hawes's  first  husband,  Calvin  C.  Bailey, 
a  native  of  Vermont,  who  was  engaged  in  the 
express  business,  died  February  15,   1876. 

By  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Hawes  became 
the  father  of  seven  children;  namely,  Lucy 
Ann,  Marsena  B.,  Ellen  Mary,  Alvah  T., 
Hannah  A.,  Allah,  and  Elisha  S.  Lucy  Ann 
Hawes  married  John  T.  Farrington,  of  Mil- 
ton, and  is  now  residing  in  Iowa,  where  her 
husband  is  a  prosperous  farmer.  She  has  six 
children  —  John  M.,  Lucy  Ella,  Lizzie  Lee, 
Marsena,  Elisha,  and  Charles  H.  Marsena  B. 
Hawes  died  July  7,  1864,  while  serving  in 
the  Civil  War.  Ellen  Mary  is  the  wife  of 
Charles   W.    Cook,    formerly   of    Milton,    and 


ELISHA    HAWES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


« 


now  a  farmer  in  Berkley,  Mass.  Her  chil- 
dren are:  Arthur  B.,  Charles,  Beulah,  Lizzie 
A.,  and  Samuel  H.  Alvah  T.  is  a  carpenter 
in  Boston.  He  married  Alice  Davenport,  and 
she  died  leaving  two  children  —  Silas  G.  and 
Jennie.  Hannah  A.  married  J.  Henry  Far- 
rington,  a  farmer  of  Milton,  and  her  children 
are:  Emily,  Fred  M.,  Mary  A.,  Frank  H., 
Lucy  A.,  Ellen  R.,  Dora,  and  Evelyn.  Allah 
Hawes  died  November  i,  1852.  Elisha  S., 
who  is  following  the  carpenter's  trade  in 
North  Stoughton,  married  Hattie  Lothrop,  of 
Avon,  Mass.,  and  has  four  children  —  George 
M.,  Mildred,  Bertha,  and  an  infant  deceased. 
By  his  second  union  Mr.  Hawes  had  one  child, 
Alia,  who  married  H.  Addison,  of  Nova 
Scotia,  and  died  November  20,   1884. 

Politically,  Mr.  Hawes  is  a  Republican, 
but  has  never  sought  for  or  held  office.  He  is 
connected  with  Rising  Star  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  and  the  Sons  of  Temperance.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Universalist  church,  and 
served  upon  the  Parish  Committee  for  several 
years. 


fHOMAS  LADNER  WILLIAMS,  a 
jeweller,  optician,  and  engraver,  of 
Quincy,  was  born  at  Penzance,  County 
Cornwall,  England,  December  8,  1850,  son  of 
William  James  Williams.  The  great-grand- 
father, James  Williams,  Sr. ,  was  a  lifelong 
resident  of  England  and  for  many  years  a 
blacksmith  at  one  of  the  mines  in  Devonshire. 
The  following  incident  related  of  him  shows 
the  high  regard  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
workmen.  During  the  progress  of  some  war, 
probably  that  of  the  American  Revolution, 
when  there  was  a  great  demand  for  men,  he 
was  forcibly  seized  by  the  press  gang,  and 
taken  to  Plymouth.  The  miners  became  so 
incensed  at  this  outrage  that  they  marched  in 
a  body  to  that  town,  and,  arriving  at  the  phy- 
sician's office  just  as  James  Williams  was 
undergoing  an  examination,  walked  in  unan- 
nounced, their  leader  saying,  "There  is  a 
little  man  here  we  want."  Without  further 
formalities,  they  picked  up  the  said  James 
Williams,  and,  placing  him  upon  their  shoul- 
ders, carried  him  home,  a  distance  of  fifteen 
miles. 


William  James  Williams,  a  son  of  James 
Williams,  Jr.,  who  was  also  a  well-known 
blacksmith  of  Devonshire,  was  born  in  Tavi- 
stock, Devonshire,  England,  April  1,  1825, 
and  was  there  educated.  He  learned  the 
stone-cutter's  trade,  which  he  followed 
throughout  a  large  part  of  his  life.  In  1872 
he  came  to  America,  and;  after  working  as  a 
stone-cutter  in  Maine  for  two  years,  returned 
to  his  native  land.  Subsequently,  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  contractor  under  the  English  govern- 
ment, he  was  engaged  in  building  bridges  and 
a  railroad  in  Central  Africa  for  about  two  and 
one-half  years.  He  married  Mary  Hosking, 
who  had  four  children.  These  are:  Sarah 
Ann,  the  widow  of  William  Berryman,  late  of 
Penzance,  England;  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of 
Professor  James  Hicks,  a  teacher  of  swim- 
ming in  Penzance;  William  James,  a  resident 
of  Wales;  and  Thomas  L.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  The  father  died  in  1884.  Both  par- 
ents were  attendants  of  the  Protestant  Meth- 
odist church. 

Thomas  L.  Williams  left  school  when 
eleven  years  old.  Three  years  later  he  began 
working  at  the  stone-cutter's  trade,  which  he 
followed  for  about  twelve  years.  On  reaching 
man's  estate  he  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  and  settled  first  at  Dix  Island,  Me., 
where  he  assisted  in  cutting  the  granite  for 
the  New  York  post-office.  In  1873  he  went 
to  Hurricane  Island  in  Knox  County,  .Maine, 
and  there  worked  on  the  granite  destined  for 
use  in  the  erection  of  the  St.  Louis  post- 
office.  During  the  four  years  he  spent  here, 
his  evenings  and  the  rest  of  his  leisure  time 
were  employed  in  watch  repairing.  That  he 
had  a  propensity  for  this  occupation  from  his 
early  years  is  easily  recalled  to  him  by  his 
vivid  recollection  of  a  thrashing  he  received  in 
that  period  for  fooling  with  an  American  clock 
that  his  father  had  just  brought  home.  In 
1877  he  removed  to  Tenant's  Harbor,  in  the 
same  county,  and  established  himself  as  a 
jeweller  and  country  merchant,  later  deal- 
ing in  gentlemen's  furnishing  goods.  With 
characteristic  enterprise,  in  order  to  advertise 
the  business,  he  started  a  small  sheet  called 
Town  Talk,  the  only  paper  in  the  town,  and 
soon  had  a  list  of  five  hundred  subscribed  in 
the  place,  the  population  of  which  was  three 


4  I 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


thousand  souls.  In  1887  Mr.  Williams  dis- 
posed of  this  store,  and  came  to  West  Ouincy. 
Here  he  embarked  in  the  jewelry  business, 
and  also  started  a  paper  known  as  the  West 
Ouincy  Enterprise,  which  he  had  conducted 
tor  about  six  months,  when  he  sold  out.  His 
present  jewelry  store,  which  he  opened  in 
1896  in  the  city  proper,  is  one  of  the  largest 
establishments  of  the  kind  in  Norfolk  County. 
Persistent  study  during  the  last  few  years, 
supplemented  by  practical  lessons  obtained  in 
Boston,  has  made  him  a  skilful  optician. 

While  in  politics  he  is  a  sound  Republican, 
he  is  popular  with  both  parties.  In  West 
Ouincy,  which  usually  goes  Democratic  by 
three  to  one,  he  came  within  twenty  votes  of 
election  to  the  Council,  without  any  effort  on 
his  part.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  St. 
George.  The  first  of  his  three  marriages  was 
contracted  with  Annie  Cook,  of  St.  George, 
Me.,  who  died  leaving  one  child,  Annie.  His 
second  marriage  was  made  with  Mary  J.  Rich- 
ards, a  native  of  England,  who  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Hurricane  Island.  Of  his  children  by 
her,  Lauretta  E.  is  living.  His  present  wife, 
born  in  Burlington,  Vt.,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Eva  B.  Sullivan,  has  borne  him  one 
child,  Thomas  Lindall. 


"CjOISIIA  THAYER,  a  prominent  business 
man  of  Braintree,  was  born  November 
^""""  "  5,  1S25,  in  East  Randolph  (now 
Holbrook).  A  son  of  Elisha  and  Annie 
(Reed)  Thayer,  he  is  descended  from  John 
Thayer,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Braintree.  His 
father,  who  was  an  agriculturist  by  occupa- 
tion, in  early  life  kept  the  toll-gate  at  East 
Braintree  for  a  time.  Of  his  parents'  other 
children,  two  survive,  namely:  Charles,  who 
lives  in  South  Braintree:  and  Eliza  A.  Capen, 
of  Stuughton,  Mass. 

Mr.  Thayer  spent  his  early  youth  in  Hol- 
brook, Mass.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he 
was  apprenticed  to  I..  G.  Morton,  of  Quincy, 
t<>  learn  the  baker's  trade.  Subsequently,  for 
a  time,  he  followed  this  calling  in  Milton  and 
South  Weymouth,  ami  then  engaged  in  the  ex- 
press and  grocery  business  at  South  Braintree, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Cook  &  Thayer.  Sub- 
sequently  the   partial    loss   of    health    induced 


him  to  remove  to  Wentworth,  N.H.,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  farming  and  the  lumber  busi- 
ness for  two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
his  health  being  improved,  he  resumed  the 
grocery  business  at  the  old  stand.  His  next 
venture  was  in  the  manufacture  of  carpet 
slippers;  and  for  several  years,  in  partnership 
with  Edward  Potter,  he  carried  on  the  Boston 
Carpet  Slipper  Company,  afterward  establish- 
ing the  same  business  alone  in  Boston.  He 
was  for  three  years  the  president  of  the  Hing- 
ham  Steamboat  Company.  When  the  inter- 
ests of  this  company  were  sold  to  another  con- 
cern, Mr.  Thayer  engaged  more  or  less  in 
real  estate.  During  the  administration  of 
President  Buchanan  he  was  Postmaster  of 
South  Braintree,  and  for  the  past  fourteen 
years  he  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
He  married  Celia  A.  M.  Bates,  of  Hanover, 
Mass.,  whose  children  by  him  are:  Mrs.  S.  A. 
Willis,  of  Worcester,  Mass;  and  Mrs.  Charles 
H.  Sprague,  of  Braintree.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
S.  A.  Willis  have  four  children  —  Mabel, 
Nettie,  Lila,  and  Samuel  T.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sprague  have  one  daughter,  Ethel  B. 

Mr.  Thayer  is  identified  with  the  Knights 
of  Honor  at  South  Braintree,  Mass.  He  has 
spent  two  winters  in  Elorida.  Several  years 
ago,  with  one  of  the  well-known  Raymond 
parties,  he  spent  four  weeks  in  Mexico,  going 
as  far  South  as  the  tropics,  and  making  a  two 
weeks'  stay  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  he 
was  an  interested  spectator  of  a  genuine  bull 
fight.  On  the  same  excursion  he  visited  San 
Francisco  and  other  parts  of  California,  be- 
sides spending  some  time  at  Salt  Lake  City. 


,ATHAN  TUCKER,  one  of  the  promi- 
nent business  men  of  Avon,  was  born 
in  Milton,  Mass.,  April  2,  1820, 
son  of  Nathan  and  Kate  (Tucker) 
Tucker.  The  Tuckers,  who  come  of  English 
origin,  are  one  of  the  old  families  of  Milton. 
Amariah  Tucker.  Mr.  Tucker's  grandfather, 
resided  here  for  a  number  of  years.  Nathan 
Tucker,  Si.,  who  was  a  farmer,  and  his  wife 
were  born  in  M  ilton. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood 
on  his  father's  farm,  receiving  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  and  at  the  Milton  Acad- 


ELISHA    THAYEK 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


47 


emy.  He  remained  under  the  parental  roof- 
tree  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  After 
attaining  his  majority,  he  was  engaged  for  six 
years  in  the  retail  shoe  business  in  Cincin- 
nati. Returning  to  the  East,  he  then  came  to 
Avon,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes.  Two  of  his  brothers  were  at 
first  associated  with  him,  under  the  firm  name 
of  E.  Tucker  &  Co.  He  was  afterward  in 
business  with  one  brother,  the  firm  name 
being  Tucker  &  Brother.  Later  he  retired 
from  the  shoe  business,  and  was  afterward  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  retail  coal  trade  in 
East  Stoughton.  He  is  now  the  sole  proprie- 
tor of  a  large  retail  ice  business  in  Brockton. 

On  December  27,  1853,  Mr.  Tucker  was 
married  to  Miss  Almira  Brett,  a  native  of 
Rochester,  Mass.,  who  died  in  1891.  She 
left  one  daughter,  Hattie  L. ,  who  is  now  the 
wife  of  Elmer  C.  Packard,  of  Brockton,  Mass., 
and  has  two  children,  Nathan  E.  and  Emerson 
H.  In  politics  Mr.  Tucker  is  a  Republican. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  first  committee 
called  to  promote  the  project  of  building  the 
Avon  Water  Works,  and  of  the  first  Board  of 
Commissioners.  He  is  still  a  member  of  the 
latter  body,  and  he  has  served  as  its  treasurer 
and  superintendent  since  its  organization. 
Mr.  Tucker  represented  this  district  in  the 
legislature  in  1865,  when  Avon  was  still  a 
part  of  the  town  of  Stoughton.  For  two  years 
he  served  as  Selectman  of  the  original  town 
of  Stoughton.  Mr.  Tucker  is  a  member  of 
the  Boston  branch  of  the  American  Legion  of 
Honor. 


ANIEL  N.  TOWER,  a  civil  en- 
gineer and  superintendent  of  the 
Cohasset  Water  Works,  was  born  in 
Cohasset,  Mass.,  February  28, 
1846,  son  of  Abraham  H.  and  Charlotte 
(Bates)  Tower.  His  parents  were  natives  of 
this  town;  and  a  more  complete  account  of  his 
ancestry  may  be  found  in  a  sketch  of  his 
brother,  Abraham  H.  Tower,  which  appears 
upon  another  page  of  the  Review.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools,  and  also  made  a  special  study  of  civil 
engineering.  He  remained  at  home  for  some 
time,  assisting  his    father,    who    carried    on    a 


large  dairy  farm.  After  the  death  of  the  elder 
Tower  he  went  to  National  City,  Southern 
California,  where  for  two  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business  with  Martin 
Sanders,  under  the  firm  name  of  Sanders  & 
Tower.  Subsequently,  selling  out  his  inter- 
est in  the  concern,  he  returned  to  Cohasset, 
and  in  1886  was  appointed  superintendent  of 
the  water-works.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republi- 
can. He  is  connected  by  membership  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

Mr.  Tower  married  Miss  Almatia  Josephine 
Smith,  daughter  of  Captain  Joseph  Smith,  late 
of  this  town,  and  has  two  children  —  Bessie 
L.  and  Gilbert  S. 


,APOLEON  B.  FURNALD,  a  Con- 
stable and  Justice  of  the  Peace  of 
( Juincy,  was  born  in  this  town, 
August  24,  1828,  son  of  Lemuel 
Furnald.  The  grandfather,  Thomas  Furnald, 
was  a  farmer  in  Nottingham,  N.H.,  his  native 
town. 

Lemuel  Furnald,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  Nottingham,  assisted  in  the  management  of 
the  parental  homestead  until  after  his  mar- 
riage. Then,  coming  to  Massachusetts,  he 
was  engaged  in  farming  during  the  period  of 
the  War  of  1812  on  Thompson's  Island  in 
Boston  Harbor.  Subsequently  he  removed  to 
Hough's  Neck,  and  there  continued  his  chosen 
occupation  for  some  years.  In  1837  he  gave 
up  farming,  and  was  thereafter  engaged  in  the 
trade  of  stone-mason,  making  his  home  in 
Ouincy.  He  attended  the  Unitarian  church, 
and,  considering  his  means,  was  a  liberal  con- 
tributor toward  its  support.  His  wife,  in 
maidenhood  Mary  Wiggin  Evans,  a  native  of 
Lee,  N.  H.,  and  a  daughter  of  Edmund  Evans, 
had  ten  children,  of  whom  two  died  young. 
The  others  were:  Mary  W. ,  born  October  10, 
1806,  who  is  the  widow  of  Benjamin  Freeman, 
late  of  Sumner,  Me.;  Caroline  W.,  born  Oc- 
tober 18,  1808,  who  is  the  widow  of  Jonathan 
Merritt,  late  of  Ouincy,  Mass.  ;  Eliza  W., 
born  December  6,  18 10,  who  was  the  wife  of 
Joshua  Fisher,  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  and  died 
March  8,  1896;  Harriet  W.,  who  married 
Aaron  Ouimby,  of  Lyndon,  Vt.  ;  Dolly  E., 
born  June  29,   18 15,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fif- 


48 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


teen  years;  Ann  M.,  living  in  Quincy,  who 
successively  married  William  T.  Meade  and 
the  late  William  Everson ;  Bryant  N.,  born 
May  27,  1823,  who  died  in  1894;  and  Napo- 
leon B.,  the  subject  of  this  biography.  The 
father  died  June  4,   1850. 

Withdrawn  from  school  at  the  age  of  twelve, 
Napoleon  B.  Furnald  worked  at  various  em- 
ployments until  1854.  Beginning  in  that 
year,  he  dealt  in  and  repaired  furniture  for 
nearly  a  score  of  years.  On  July  5,  1872,  he 
was  appointed  by  the  Governor  to  the  State 
constabulary  force,  on  which  he  served  until 
1875,  when  that  branch  of  service  was  abol- 
ished. For  many  years  thereafter  he  was  en- 
gaged in  detective  work,  also  serving  as  Con- 
stable of  Quincy.  In  the  capacity  of  detec- 
tive he  had  charge  of  many  notable  cases. 
One  of  the  more  important  was  the  Langmaid 
case,  in  which  he  discovered  and  arrested  the 
murderer,  and  subsequently,  by  finding  the 
knife  with  which  the  miscreant  had  severed 
his  victim's  head  from  her  body,  and  procur- 
ing other  evidence,  had  him  convicted.  He 
was  the  leader  in  the  capture  and  conviction  of 
James  Henry  Costley  for  the  murder  of  Julia 
Hawk,  a  case  which  Judge  Devens  pronounced 
one  of  the  most  interesting  murder  cases  in 
the  history  of  the  country.  It  was  also  en- 
tirely through  his  efforts  that  James  MacKen- 
ney  was  convicted  and  sentenced  for  life,  for 
the  murder  of  William  McCormick  at  Brain- 
tree.  The  State  officers  had  given  up  this 
case,  the  medical  examiner  had  given  alcohol- 
ism as  the  cause  of  death,  and  the  body  had 
been  buried  a  week  when  Mr.  Furnald  began 
his  labors,  with  the  result  stated  above.  He 
has  been  in  the  detective  business  more  or  less 
for  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  and  for  more 
than  a  score  of  years  he  has  held  the  commis- 
sion of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  addition,  he 
does  an  extensive  collecting  business,  giving 
a  good  deal  of  attention  to  delinquent  tax- 
payers. 

Mr.  Furnald  belongs  to  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge  and  Manet  Encampment  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  to  Amana  Lodge,  Daughters  of 
Rebecca;  to  Mahantom  Tribe,  I.  O.  R.  M. ; 
to  the  Knights  of  Honor;  and  to  the  Knights 
and  Ladies  of  Honor.  In  1S50  he  married 
Elizabeth    Fowles   Dodge,  a  daughter  of   Ben- 


jamin Dodge,  of  Beverly,  Mass.  They  have 
three  children  —  Thomas  E.,  Mary  Lizzie, 
and  Henry  Plumer.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fur- 
nald are  members  of  the  First  Unitarian 
Church  of  Quincy. 


/i^Tfo 


EORGE  E.  REED,  treasurer  of  the 
\\$  I  South  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  was 
born  in  this  town,  August  2,  1852, 
son  of  George  and  Maria  H.  (Vinal)  Reed. 
The  Reed  family  has  long  been  identified 
with  the  town  of  Weymouth,  which  was  the 
birthplace  of  George  E.  Reed's  father,  his 
mother  being  a  native  of  Scituate.  Several 
members  of  the  family  have  been  able  and  suc- 
cessful businessmen  here;  and  Josiah  Reed, 
an  uncle  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  for 
several  years  president  of  the  Savings  Bank. 

George  E.  Reed  was  educated  in  his  native 
town,  and  in  his  youth  learned  the  art  of 
telegraphy.  For  some  time  he  was  employed 
by  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Rail- 
road Company  as  a  station  operator  in  Michi- 
gan, Ohio,  and  Indiana,  successively;  and  he 
was  later  employed  by  the  Eastern  Railway 
Company  in  the  same  capacity  at  Amesbury, 
Mass.,  and  at  Saco,  Me.  Returning  to  South 
Weymouth  in  1887,  he  became  book-keeper 
for  H.  B.  Reed  &  Co.,  shoe  manufacturers, 
with  whom  he  remained  until  July  1,  1895, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  his  present  position 
of  treasurer  of  the  Savings  Bank.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  now  serving  as 
Town  Auditor. 

Mr.  Reed  married  Clara  A.  Lowell,  of  Ken- 
nebunk,  Me.;  and  he  and  his  wife  are  the  par- 
ents of  two  daughters —  Mary  G.  and  Clara  L. 
Mr.  Reed  is  a  Deacon  of  the  L'nion  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  treasurer  of  that  society. 
He  joined  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows in  Saco,  Me.,  and  is  still  a  member  of 
the  lodge  in  that  city. 


§OHN    PRESCOTT     BIGELOW,    of 
Quincy,   the   secretary   of   Park  County 
Gold   Mining   Company,  with  an  office 
in  Boston,  was   born  June   17,    1848,  in 
the  house  he  now  occupies.     A  son  of  Captain 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


49 


Jabez  Bigelow,  the  fifth  in  the  line  of  succes- 
sion bearing  the  name  of  Jabez,  he  is  a  de- 
scendant of  an  old  Colonial  family.  His 
grandfather,  Jabez  Bigelow  (fourth),  was  a 
farmer  and  shoemaker  by  occupation,  and  at 
one  time  was  the  proprietor  of  a  hotel  in 
Westminster,  Mass.,  where  he  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  town  affairs,  and  served  in  the 
more  important  public  offices. ■ 

Captain  Bigelow  was  born  in  Charlestown, 
Sullivan  County,  N.H.,  in  1801.  He  learned 
the  boot-maker's  trade,  which  he  followed  in 
Charlestown  until  1830.  In  that  year  he 
came  to  Quincy,  where  he  established  himself 
as  a  manufacturer  of  shoes,  and  for  many  years 
after  carried  on  a  flourishing  business,  being 
one  of  the  foremost  manufacturers  of  his  time. 
He  was  a  strong  Whig  in  his  political  affilia- 
tions, and  he  served  on  the  Quincy  School 
Board  for  a  number  of  terms.  For  years  he 
was  Captain  of  the  Quincy  Light  Infantry;  and 
he  was  a  member  of  Mount  Wollaston  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  By  his  wife,  Eliza,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  Green,  of  Quincy,  he  be- 
came the  father  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom 
attained  maturity.  The  latter  were:  Amanda, 
who  married  Dr.  William  G.  Dawes,  of  Mai- 
den, Mass.  ;  Adelaide,  who  married  Augustus 
Peabody,  of  Danvers,  Mass.  ;  Josephine,  the 
wife  of  Ira  P.  Goodale,  also  of  Danvers;  Lor- 
ing,  who  served  in  the  Civil  War,  and  was 
killed  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run;  John 
Prescott,  the  subject  of  this  biography;  and 
Annie  Maria,  the  wife  of  William  Mason,  of 
Binghamton,  N.Y.  The  Captain  and  his  wife 
were  both  members  of  the  Adams  Temple 
Unitarian  Church. 

John  P.  Bigelow  obtained  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  Quincy  schools.  Afterward  he 
became  the  private  secretary  of  Stephen  Morse, 
a  broker,  who  in  former  years  had  been  his 
teacher.  In  1868  he  accepted  the  position  of 
head  book-keeper  in  the  establishment  of  John 
H.  Pray,  Sons  &  Co.,  remaining  with  that 
firm  ten  years.  From  1878  until  1884  he  was 
employed  as  an  expert  accountant,  and  in  the 
ensuing  ten  years  he  was  an  accountant  in  the 
Internal  Revenue  Department.  In  1894  he 
started  in  business  as  an  accountant  and  broker 
at  13  Exchange  Street,  Boston.  Also,  since 
then,   he  has  been  the  secretary  of  the   Park 


County  Gold  Mining  Company,  and  he  has  be- 
come a  director  and  the  vice-president  of  the 
Alpha  Tunnel  Gold  Mining  Company. 

Mr.  Bigelow  is  a  member  of  Merry  Mount 
Lodge,  Knights  of  Honor.  An  ardent  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  he  is  the  vice-chairman  of  the 
Republican  City  Committee.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  City  Council  two  years,  but  he  re- 
fused a  nomination  for  Representative  to  the 
State  legislature.  In  July,  1867,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Sarah  Gill  Osborne,  a  daughter  of 
Henry  Osborne,  of  Hingham,  Mass.  Three 
of  the  children  born  to  him  have  since  died. 
The  others  are:  Grace  Green,  the  wife  of 
Otis  A.  Edgarton,  of  Boston,  Mass.  ;  John  P. 
Bigelow,  Jr.;  Martin  S.  ;  Loring;  Jabez;  and 
Celia  Elizabeth.  Both  parents  are  members 
of  the  Adams  Temple  Unitarian  Church. 


HARLES  SIMMONS,  the  well-known 
contractor  and  builder  of  East  Wey- 
mouth, was  born  September  3, 
1832,  in  the  part  of  Scituate  now 
called  Norwell,  son  of  Peleg  and  Lucy 
(Damon)  Simmons,  both  also  natives  of  Scit- 
uate. The  Simmonses,  like  so  many  of  the 
old  families  in  this  section,  can  trace  their  an- 
cestry back  to  good  old  Pilgrim  stock  and  to 
the  earliest  settlers.  The  founder,  Moses 
Simmons,  came  to  America  on  the  ship  "Fort- 
une," and  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  in  1621. 
One  of  the  family's  ancestors  was  a  soldier  of 
the  Revolution.  Mr.  Simmons's  father  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation  and  a  lifelong  resident 
of  Norwell,  where  he  was  much  respected. 

Beginning  when  he  was  eight  years  of  age, 
Charles  Simmons  worked  out  on  farms  for 
eight  years  during  the  summer,  and  attended 
the  three  months'  term  of  school  in  the 
winter.  Living  about  a  mile  away  from  the 
school-house,  he  was  obliged  to  walk  the  dis- 
tance even  in  the  severe  winter  weather.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  to  Boston,  and 
began  to  learn  the  trade  of  carpenter  and 
joiner.  After  two  years  spent  there,  he  came 
in  1850  to  East  Weymouth,  where  he  served 
another  year  as  an  apprentice.  Then  he 
worked  as  a  journeyman  until  1856,  since 
which  time  he  has  followed  the  business  of 
contractor    and    builder.      He    has     built     the 


5° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Masonic  Hal]  in  East  Weymouth,  the  Odd 
Fellows  Hall  in  South  Weymouth,  and  a 
"umber  ot  public  buildings,  as  well  as  many 
residences,  in  Weymouth  town.  He  has  also 
remodelled  the  Masonic  Hall  at  Abington 
built  a  school-house  in  Hingham,  and  a  num- 
ber of  summer  cottages  at  Nantasket  Beach 

All-.  Simmons  married  Esther  M.  Stoddard 
ot  Hingham,  and  has  one  daughter  Edith' 
now  the  wife  of  Wallace  Bicknell,  of  Wey- 
mouth. He  takes  an  earnest  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  the  town,  and  is  a  loyal  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  attends  the  Con- 
gregational church,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Masons'  and  Odd  Fellows'  Lodges  of  East 
Weymouth,  both  of  which  organizations  he 
has  served  in  various  capacities. 


MOS    CHURCHILL,    a   venerable  and 
honored    citizen     of     Ouincy,     Mass., 
who,    by   persistent    toil,    frugality,' 
and  judicious  investments,  acquired 
a  handsome  property,  is  now  spending  the  de- 
clining years  of  his  long  and  useful  life  in  re- 
tirement        He    was    born     at     West    Bolton, 
Canada  West,  December  31,   18.6.     A  son  of 
Amos  Churchill,  St.,  he  comes  of  the  English 
Church. lis,  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  Eng- 
land   who  stood  high  in  royal   favor,  and  many 
of   whom    were    knighted    for   deeds     of    valor 
and  other   meritorious   conduct.      The   Ameri 
can  family  began  with   Josiah   Churchill,  born 
in    England,    probably  about    the    year    1612 
who  settled    in    Wethersfield,   Conn:,   i„    l6,6 
In    1638   he  married     Elizabeth,    daughter  of 
Nathaniel    Foot.      The  children    of    this   mar- 
riage were:    Elizabeth,   bom  January  M,  1640 
who   married    Richard    Buck;     Hannah,    born 
July    1,    r644;   Anne,     born    in    1647;    Joseph, 
the    next   m   hue  of  descent;     Benjamin,  born 
February    16,    ,652;  and  Sarah,    born   Decem- 
ber 11,    1657. 

Joseph  Churchill,  born  February  a  1640 
married  Mary  (surname  unknown)  on  May  ,3 
1674.  Their  children  were:  Mary,  bora 
April  6,  1675,  who  married  David  Edwards; 
Natharne  born  July  c,  1677,  who  married 
Mary  Hulbert;  Elizabeth,  born  in  ,679,  who 
married  Thomas  Butler;  Dinah,  born  in 
1682,  who  became  the  wife  of   Thomas    Wick- 


ham       Samuel,    born    in     ,688,    who    married 
Martha  Boardman;   Joseph,  born  in   1690,  who 
marned   Lydia    Dickerman ;    David   and    Jona- 
than   twins    born   in    ,692;   and  Hannah,' born 
"     1696.      The    line    was    continued    through 
Jonathan,  who  was   married,  and    reared   three 
children,      namely:      Jonathan      and     Dorcas 
wins,    born    in    ,724;    and    William,    born    in 
17-7.      I  he  second   Jonathan    married     Lydia 
Smith,    and    they    had    ten    children,    namely: 
Oliver    who   died    in    infancy;  Jonathan,   born 
November  25,    i749;    Hezekiah,    born    Febru- 
ary 5.   1752;  Josiah,  bom    February  ->r     r7C4- 
Lydia,    born   July    5,    ,756;    Moses,  "born    De- 
cember   1,    1759,    who   married    Mary   Crosby: 
Oliver     born    April     ,5,     1?62>    who    marrieycj 
Fun, ce  Barnes;   Rebecca,   born    July  20,   1764 
who  married  Solomon    Ranney;  Abigail,  born 
December  2,   i766,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years;  and  Amos,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

Amos  Churchill,  Sr.,  was  born  October  19 
I770,  in  Connecticut,  where  he  learned  the 
trade  ot  a  tanner.  He  subsequently  went  to 
Fa.rfax,  Vt.,  and  thence  to  Canada,  where  he 
was  for  several  years  engaged  as  a  shoe  manu- 
facturer and  farmer  in  the  town  of  West  Bol 
ton.  Eventually  he  returned  to  his  former 
home  in  Fairfax,  Vt.,  where  he  spent  the  re- 
ma.nder  of  his  life,  and  died  at  the  advanced 
age  ot  eighty-six  years,  a  worthy  and  respected 
citizen.      On    October    ->c      ,-~>r     1  •    , 

n  .  ,  ~,  KJLlon^  ~5i  D95,  he  marned 
Deborah  Thornton,  who  was  born  in  Rhode 
Island,  December  26,  i776.  They  became 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  born  as  follows- 
Electa  December  i4,  ,796;  Leman,  May  6 
1798;  Hiram,  December  5,  1S00;  Constant 
November  2,  1802;  Oliver,  January  28,  1804' 
Harriet  March  6,  ,808;  Otis,  May  28,  1810' 
Deborah,  May  6,  1812;  Harlow,  August  12' 
1 8 14;  and  Amos,  the  subject  of  this  biog- 
raphy. s 

The  early  years  of  Amos  Churchill  were 
chiefly  employed  in  working  on  the  home  farm 
and  attending  the  district  school  durin-  the 
winter  terms.  After  attaining  his  majority 
he  came  to  Massachusetts,  and  learned  stone- 
cutting.  ,n  Medford.  Here  he  afterward 
worked  as  a  journeyman  for  three  years  He 
settled  in  Westford,  Vt.,  after  his  mama" 
and  was  there  engaged  in  general    farming   for 


FREDERICK    TOWER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


53 


two  or  more  years.  In  1845,  desirous  of  re- 
suming his  trade,  he  came  to  Quincy,  Mass., 
where  for  twenty  years  he  was  employed  in 
stone-cutting  for  other  people.  During  the 
latter  part  of  this  period  he  had  charge  of  the 
granite  works  of  Williams  &  Spellman.  In 
1865,  having  by  this  time  saved  some  money, 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Charles  R. 
Mitchell,  and  under  the  name  of  the  Mitchell 
Granite  Works  began  to  quarry  and  cut  and 
polish  granite.  Four  years  later  Mr.  Church- 
ill purchased  his  partner's  interest,  and  there- 
after conducted  a  very  lucrative  business  until 
his  retirement  from  active  work  in  April, 
[892.  The  product  of  his  establishment  was 
widely  reputed  for  superior  quality  and  finish, 
am!  met  with  a  ready  sale  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union. 

Mr.  Churchill  is  a  stanch  Republican  in 
politics.  Public-spirited  and  liberal,  he  takes 
a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  city.  An 
esteemed  Mason,  he  belongs  to  Rural  Lodge 
of  Quincy  and  to  the  South  Shore  Command- 
ery  of  East  Weymouth.  On  September  27, 
1842,  he  married  Lucretia,  the  seventh  child 
and  youngest-daughter  of  Alexander  Rowe,  of 
Campton,  N,H.  Mr.  Rowe,  who  was  born 
in  Moultonboro,  N.H.,  February  17,  1780, 
lived  to  the  age  of  fourscore  years.  In  1805 
he  married  Sally  Bean,  who  was  born  at 
Sandwich,  N.H.,  April  9,  1787,  and  died  at 
Campton,  July  28,  1840.  Their  daughter  Lu- 
cretia was  born  in  Campton,  N.H.,  January  4, 
1824.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Churchill  have  one 
child,  Ellen  15.,  who  married  J.  H.  Emery,  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  and  has  two  children  —  Alice 
J.  and  Florence  B. 


DONIRAM  J.  WHITE,  the  well-known 
wholesale  and  retail  milk  dealer  of 
Braintree,  was  born  here,  October 
23,  1834,  son  of  Livingston  and 
Maria  (Capen)  White.  He  is  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Captain  Thomas  White,  who  was 
a  Selectman  and  a  prominent  resident  of  Wey- 
mouth in  1640.  Michael  White,  his  grand- 
father, was  First  Lieutenant  of  a  company  in 
the  Revolutionary  War;  and  an  uncle,  Captain 
Calvin  White,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812. 


Livingston  White,  who  was  a  native  of 
Randolph,  early  in  life  came  to  Braintree, 
where  he  carried  on  the  manufacture  of  boots 
and  shoes,  and  was  also  engaged  in  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
his  entire  attention  was  given  to  the  milk  busi- 
ness. During  the  forties  he  served  as  Se- 
lectman of  Braintree.  While  an  enterprising 
business  man,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  and  a  consistent  Christian.  Two  of 
his  children  survive —  Adaline  and  Adoniram, 
both  residing  in  this  town. 

Adoniram  J.  White  received  a  common- 
school  education  in  his  native  place.  From 
his  youth  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  milk 
business,  in  which  line  he  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful. In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and 
he  takes  much  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
town.  Though  often  solicited  to  run  tor  office, 
he  has  never  permitted  the  use  of  his  name, 
preferring  the  quietude  of  his  home  life.  He 
married  Emma  P.  Childs,  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Rev.  Mr.  Childs,  of  Gilmanton,  N.H. 
Mr.  White  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church, 
and  is  familiarly  known  as  Deacon  White, 
from  his  office  in  that  church. 


/TAAPTAIN  FREDERICK  TOWER,  of 
I  S/  Cohasset,  superintendent  in  the 
\%>  United    States    light-house    service, 

was  born  in  Cohasset,  October  31, 
1820.  His  parents  were  Captain  Nichols  and 
Anna  (Bates)  Tower. 

Captain  Nichols  Tower  was  a  seafaring  man 
and  a  vessel-owner,  engaged  for  years  in  mack- 
erel fishing.  He  was  also  for  a  long  period 
in  the  insurance  business,  acting  as  agent  for 
several  companies.  Active,  capable,  and  ju- 
dicious, he  was  highly  respected,  and  was 
elected  to  various  public  offices.  He  served 
as  Selectman  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  in  Co- 
hasset, and  for  a  number  of  terms  represented 
the  town  in  the  General  Court.  He  had  com- 
mand of  a  company  of  militia,  and  served  in 
the  War  of  181  2. 

Frederick  Tower  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Cohasset.  He  naturally  took  to  the  sea.  and 
in  1 84 1 ,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  old, 
began  to  assi>t  in  putting  down  buoys.  Id- 
was  occupied  in  this  way  also  during  a  part  of 


54 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  following  year.  A  few  years  later,  char- 
tering his  vessel,  he  assisted  in  building  the 
first  light-house  on  Minot's  Ledge.  This 
work  kept  him  employed  during  a  part  of 
1847,  1848,  and  1849.  In  1 8 50  he  signed  a 
contract  with  the  government,  agreeing  to  take 
care  of  buoys  and  beacons  for  two  years  in 
Ipswich,  Boston,  and  Cape  Cod  Bays,  the 
north-eastern  part  of  what  is  now  the  Second 
Light-house  District;  and  he  gave  bonds  to 
paint  the  buoys  in  accordance  with  the  act  of 
Congress  requiring  red  on  the  starboard  and 
black  on  the  port  side.  His  work  was  so  sat- 
isfactory to  the  collector  of  the  port  of  Boston 
that  when  his  contract  expired  in  1852,  just 
after  the  Light-house  Board  had  been  estab- 
lished, that  gentleman  gave  him  a  letter 
to  Commodore  Downs,  United  States  Navy, 
the  first  Light -house  Inspector.  Commodore 
Downs  hired  Captain  Tower  to  put  down 
buoys  by  the  piece,  the  Captain  furnishing 
everything  required.  In  March,  1853,  the  In- 
spector bought  the  buoys,  sinkers,  etc.,  which 
Captain  Tower  then  had  on  hand,  chartered 
his  vessel  for  a  buoy  tender,  and  engaged  the 
Captain  to  command  her.  Commodore  Downs 
was  an  old  man,  and  shortly  resigned  his  posi- 
tion as  Inspector;  and  Lieutenant  Knox  of  the 
United  States  Navy  was  appointed  in  his 
place.  In  June,  1S53,  the  new  Inspector 
bought  at  New  Bedford  a  vessel  of  forty -seven 
tons,  which  was  taken  to  the  navy-yard  at 
Charlestown,  and  fitted  for  a  light-house 
tender.  She  was  the  first  government  light- 
house tender  in  the  district.  The  name  first 
given  her  was  "The  Elizabeth,"  but  on  ac- 
count of  her  speed  she  was  afterward  called 
the  "Active."  In  July,  1853,  Captain  Tower 
was  placed  in  charge  of  this  vessel,  and  dur- 
ing the  war  he  was  instructed  to  keep  on  the 
lookout  for  strange  vessels,  and  when  he 
sighted  one  to  run  for  the  nearest  port,  and 
telegraph  to  Boston.  In  1870  Inspector  Com- 
modore Blake,  United  States  Navy,  transferred 
him  to  the  district  then  in  charge  of  General 
James  C.  Duane,  United  States  Army;  and 
the  Captain  went  to  Portland  with  his  vessel 
in  July.  In  December  of  the  same  year  he 
was  given  a  position  in  the  light-house  en- 
gineer's office  in  Boston.  He  has  now  been 
identified    with     the     light-house    service    for 


over  half  a  century,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
valued  and  trusted  employees  of  the  govern- 
ment. From  the  establishment  of  the  Light- 
house Board  in  1852  until  the  present  time 
(the  fall  of  1897),  forty-five  years,  he  has 
had  but  one  week's  vacation.  His  services 
are  confined  to  the  First  and  Second  Light- 
house Districts.  With  the  exception  of  his 
failing  sight,  Captain  Tower  is  still  active 
and  in  good  health,  though  seventy  -  seven 
years  old. 

In  February,  1844,  he  was  married  to  Eliz- 
abeth P.  Bates,  who  bore  him  four  children, 
of  whom  two  are  now  living  —  Anna  B.  and 
David  B.  Captain  Tower  was  originally  a 
Whig,  and  has  been  affiliated  with  the  Repub- 
lican party  since  its  birth.  He  belongs  to 
Mount  Lebanon  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Bos- 
ton; the  Consistory  in  the  same  city;  and  has 
taken  all  but  the  last  degree  of  the  Scottish 
Rites.  He  has  a  large  circle  of  acquaint- 
ances, and  is  highly  esteemed  wherever  he  is 
known. 


OHN  H.  STETSON,  cashier  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  South  Wey- 
mouth and  Treasurer  of  the  town,  was 
born  in  East  Sumner,  Me.,  October  28, 
son  of  Solomon  M.  Stetson.  He  re- 
sided in  his  native  town  until  fourteen  years 
old,  when  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Hart- 
ford, Me.,  and  his  education  was  acquired  in 
the  public  schools,  both  common  and  high. 
After  teaching  several  terms  of  school  in  his 
native  State,  in  1872  he  came  to  Massachu- 
setts, and  settled  in  South  Weymouth.  He 
was  appointed  assistant  cashier  of  the  First 
National  Bank  in  1S74,  and  since  1880  has 
ably  filled  the  position  of  cashier.  He  is 
also  a  director  and  a  member  of  the  Invest- 
ment Committee.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  served  as  Town  Treasurer  since 
1885.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Water  Commissioners  and  a  trustee  of  the 
John  S.  Fogg  Fund.  He  is  connected  with 
Orphans'  Hope  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  South 
Shore  Commandery,  K.  T. ;  and  is  a  charter 
member  of  Wildey  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Mr. 
Stetson  married  Emily  T.  White,  by  whom  he 
has  one  daughter,  Anna  M.      He  is  deeply  in- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


SS 


terested  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  town 
and  the  development  of  its  business  resources, 
and  is  much  esteemed  for  his  personal  worth 
and  public  spirit. 


T^HARLES  MONROE  JENNESS,  of 
I  K-s  Quincy,  a  dealer  in  hardware  and 
^Hs  artists'    materials,    was    born    March 

29,  1867,  at  North  Hampton,  Rock- 
ingham County,  N.H.,  a  son  of  Richard  Jen- 
ness. Of  English  origin,  this  family  for  sev- 
eral generations  gave  leading  citizens  to  the 
maritime  part  of  New  Hampshire,  and  at  one 
time  owned  a  large  portion  of  the  town  of 
Rye.  John  Bean  Jenness,  the  great-grand- 
father of  Charles  M.,  died  August  21,  1840, 
aged  seventy-seven  years.  His  son,  Richard 
Jenness,  Sr.,  the  next  in  line  of  descent,  who 
was  a  farmer  in  New  Hampshire,  died  at  Rye 
Beach,  February  28,  1868,  aged  eighty-three 
years. 

Richard  Jenness,  Jr.,  born  at  Rye  Beach  in 
1825,  died  in  that  place  December  6,  18S5. 
He  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  early  man- 
hood, and,  coming  to  Boston,  worked  as  car- 
penter and  builder  for  some  years,  being  known 
as  a  superior  workman.  When  his  parents  be- 
came advanced  in  years,  he  returned  to  the 
old  homestead  in  Rye,  and  was  thereafter  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  on  the  ances- 
tral farm  until  his  demise.  A  sound  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  he  was  very  active  in  local 
affairs,  took  a  deep  interest  in  educational 
matters,  and  filled  various  town  offices.  He 
married  Sarah  B.,  daughter  of  Stacy  Page,  of 
North  Hampton,  N.H.,  and  reared  with  her 
two  children  —  Charles  Monroe  and  Ivan 
Douglas.  In  religious  belief  he  was  a  Uni- 
versalis!, and  his  wife  was  an  Adventist. 

Having  received  his  elementary  education 
in  the  common  schools,  Charles  Monroe  Jen- 
ness completed  his  studies  at  Comer's  Com- 
mercial College  in  Boston.  Subsequently  he 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade  from  his  father, 
and  followed  it  for  about  three  years,  being 
at  Fort  Meade,  Fla.,  for  one  year.  In  1889 
he  located  in  Quincy,  and  for  nearly  a  year 
worked  at  carpentering  in  this  town.  Then 
he  purchased  his  present  hardware  store  of 
Samuel   Spear.     By  systematic    and    progres- 


sive methods  he  has  since  acquired  a  large 
business,  and  made  his  establishment  the 
headquarters  of  the  surrounding  district  for 
the  line  of  goods  that  he  carries. 

Mr.  Jenness  is  one  of  the  leading  Republi- 
cans of  this  section  of  the  county,  and  has 
been  a  delegate  to  both  county  and  State  con- 
ventions of  his  party.  He  is  a  member  of 
Mount  Wollaston  Lodge  and  Manet  Encamp- 
ment, I.  O.  O.  F. ;  of  Carrie  E.  Ruggles 
Lodge,  Rebecca  Degree;  of  Grand  Canton 
Shawmut,  of  Boston ;  of  Maple  Lodge, 
Knights  and  Ladies  of  Honor;  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta,  Boston  Commandery;  of  the  Phile- 
dian  Senate,  K.  A.  E.  O.,  of  which  he  is  Ex- 
cellent Senator;  and  of  the  Princes  of  Kem, 
of  which  he  is  Illustrious  Khedive. 


§OHN    A.    RAYMOND,  clerk  and  treas- 
urer  of    the    East    Weymouth    Savings 
Bank  and  Town   Clerk  of   Weymouth, 
was  born  here,  January  9,   1848,  son  of 
Robert    B.    and    Lavina   P.    (Nash)    Raymond, 
both  parents  natives  of  this  town. 

The  Raymond  family  came  from  Middle- 
boro,  the  first  in  Weymouth  being  Alvah,  a 
shoe  manufacturer,  grandfather  of  Mr.  John 
A.  He  fought  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  was  very  influential  as  a  citizen, 
taking  an  active  part  in  all  public  affairs, 
holding  the  offices  of  Selectman  and  Overseer 
of  the  Poor,  and  serving  also  as  Representa- 
tive to  the  legislature.  A  great-grandfather 
of  Mr.  John  A.  Raymond,  Robert  Bates,  was 
a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Robert  B.  Ray- 
mond, above  named,  was  a  shoe  cutter  by  trade 
and  a  man  of  decided  musical  ability.  He  was 
a  prominent  citizen,  and  universally  esteemed. 
Mr.  John  A.  Raymond  passed  his  boyhood 
in  his  native  town,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
began  his  working  life  as  clerk  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  of  Henry  Loud,  of  East  Wey- 
mouth; and  he  remained  in  this  business  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  His  trustworthiness 
was  fully  demonstrated  here,  his  painstaking 
and  exact  business  methods  were  recognized, 
and  in  1888  he  was  chosen  clerk  and  treasurer 
of  the  East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank.  This 
responsible  position  he  has  filled  to  the  present 


56 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REYIKYV 


time,  commanding  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
public,  and  looked  up  to  as  a  man  of  unques- 
tioned honor.  Mr.  Raymond  is  likewise  treas- 
urer of  the  Congregational  Society  of  East 
Weymouth.  In  1879  he  was  elected  Town 
Clerk  of  Weymouth ;  and  he  has  been  re- 
elected every  year  since,  his  long  term  of 
office  bearing  testimony  to  the  efficiency  of 
his  service. 

Mr.  Raymond  married  Alberta  Waldron,  of 
Augusta,  Me.,  and  is  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren—Fred W.,  Emma  W.,  Alberta  W., 
Robert  B. ,  Walter  L. .  and  Marion.  He  is  a 
member  of  Orphans'  Hope  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
of  East  Weymouth ;  of  Crescent  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  East  Weymouth;  and  trustee 
of  Pilgrim  Lodge,  K.  of  H.  He  is  a  qualified 
Notary  Public  and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  progressive  and  energetic 
citizens  of  the  town. 


rm< 


EORGE  H.  HITCHCOCK,  a  well- 
\  '*)  I  known  dealer  in  granite,  carrying  on 
an  extensive  business  in  Ouincy,  was 
born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  April  7,  1846,  a  son  of 
Jesse  Hitchcock.  He  is  a  representative  of 
one  of  the  earliest  families  of  New  England 
and  a  direct  descendant  of  one  of  the  founders 
of  New  Haven,  Conn.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
Hitchcock  family  originated  in  Wiltshire,  Eng- 
land, where  land  was  held  in  their  name  from 
the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror.  Its 
founder  in  this  country,  Matthias  Hitchcock, 
who  was  born  in  16 10,  came  from  London, 
England,  t<>  Boston  on  the  bark  "Sarah  and 
Ellen,"'  in  the  spring  of  1635.  He  was  a  res- 
ident of  Watertown,  Mass.,  in  1636,  receiving 
in  that  year  twenty-three  acres  of  land  in  the 
"Great  Dividends."  His  name  appears  in 
the  records  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  as  one  of 
the  original  signers  of  the  "foundamental 
agreement  made  on  the  4th  of  the  fowereth 
moneth,  called  June,  1639."  He  was  also  one 
of  the  five  purchasers  of  the  "South  End 
Neck,"  now  Last  Haven,  Conn.,  where  he, 
with  the  other  four  owners,  resided  after  165  1. 
Nathaniel  Hitchcock,  son  of  Matthias,  and 
a  native  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  was  there 
married  January  18,  1670,  to  Elizabeth  Moss, 
who  was  born   in  the  town,  October  3,  1652, 


daughter  of  John  Moss.  The  next  in  line  of 
descent  was  their  son,  John  Hitchcock,  first, 
who  was  born  in  East  Haven,  January  28, 
1685,  and  died  there,  October  14,  1753.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  legislature  during  seven- 
teen sessions,  from  1739  until  1747,  and  was 
a  Deacon  of  the  First  Church  of  New  Haven 
from  1742  until  his  death.  His  first  wife, 
Mary,  was  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Thompson. 
She  was  married  to  him  March  4  of  either 
1707  or  1708,  and  died  in  the  following  year,* 
on  February  27.  His  second  wife  was  Abiah 
Bassett  Hitchcock.  His  only  child  by  the 
first  wife,  John  Hitchcock  (second),  who  was 
born  on  January  1  of  either  1708  or  1709, 
married  on  March  1,  1732  or  1733,  Esther 
Ford,  a  daughter  of  Matthew  F<ird.  She  died 
in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  July  11,  1749.  The 
second  wife  of  John  Hitchcock  (second)  was 
the  mother  of  John  Hitchcock  (third),  and, 
surviving  her  husband,  who  died  in  July, 
1764,  was  married  again.  The  third  John 
Hitchcock,  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  mar- 
ried on  May  2,  1774,  Phebe  Tyler,  who  was 
born  May  21,  1756,  in  Wallingford,  Conn., 
daughter  of  Colonel  Ben  Tyler.  On  May  16, 
1768,  he  became  one  of  the  original  settlers  of 
Claremont,  N.H.,  where  both  he  and  his  wife 
spent  their  last  years.  Her  death  occurred 
January  30,  1S20,  and  his,  July  19,  1835. 
Their  son,  Jesse  Hitchcock,  the  grandfather 
of  George  H.,  was  born  in  Claremont,  January 
7,  1794.  He  had  worked  at  the  trade  of  mill- 
wright in  Claremont  for  some  time  when,  in 
1842,  he  became  a  resident  of  Drewsville,  in 
the  town  of  Walpole,  N.H.,  where  he  re- 
mained until  his  demise,  March  26,  1865. 
On  July  9,  1 81 7,  he  married  Chloe  Grandy, 
who  was  born  September  7,  1796,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Benjamin  Grandy,  and  who  died 
April  6,  i860. 

Jesse  Hitchcock,  Jr.,  who  was  born  in 
Claremont,  N.H.,  February  13,  18 1 8,  re- 
ceived his  education  in  the  common  schools 
and  at  an  academy  of  his  native  town.  On 
attaining  his  majority,  he  located  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  where  he  lived  for  some  years.  Then 
he  established  himself  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  Vermont.  Afterward  he  returned  to 
Boston,  and  kept  a  hotel  and  had  a  restaurant 
business  for  some  time.      He  retired  from  ac- 


GEORGE    H.    HITCHCOCK. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


59 


tive  pursuits  several  years  prior  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  October  4,  1896.  In  1843  he 
married  Susan  K.,  daughter  of  Joseph  Storey 
Foster,  of  Essex,  Mass.  She  died  January 
15,  1858,  leaving  these  children,  namely: 
Charles  E.,  born  June  27,  1844,  who  lives  in 
Washington,  D.C.  ;  George  H.,  the  special 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Fanny  V.,  born  No- 
vember 15,  1847,  who  died  October  16,  1870; 
Susan  F.,  born  December  2,  1849,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Albion  C.  Colby,  now  of  Brockton, 
Mass.;  Lucy  F. ,  born  October  2,  1852,  who 
married  Samuel  Williams,  of  Boston;  and 
Hiram  A.,  born  May  13,  1857,  who  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  January  2j,  1895,  was  Pro~ 
fessor  of  civil  engineering  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege. Both  parents  were  liberal  in  their  re- 
ligious beliefs,  and  attended  the  Universalist 
church. 

Having  completed  his  education  in  the  Bos- 
ton public  schools,  George  H.  Hitchcock  went 
to  work  in  a  wholesale  leather  store  of  that 
city,  and  was  there  employed  until  after  the 
Boston  fire  in  November,  1872.  Coming  then 
to  Ouincy,  he  established  his  present  busi- 
ness. He  does  monumental  work  as  well  as 
building,  and  has  been  quite  successful.  He 
has  one  of  the  finest  quarries  in  the  State,  the 
product  of  which  is  favorably  known  in  New 
York  and  New  England.  Among  many  large 
and  costly  buildings  for  which  he  has  fur- 
nished the  material  may  be  mentioned  the 
Tribune  Building  and  the  Central  Park  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History  in  New  York.  He 
is  now  serving  as  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
National  Granite  Bank  of  Ouincy. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  was  married  April  18,  1872, 
to  Ellen  E.,  daughter  of  Thomas  Baker,  of 
Marshfield,  Mass.  They  have  three  children, 
namely:  Fanny  V.,  the  wife  of  J.  Percival 
Sears,  of  this  city;  Fay  M.  ;  and  Foster. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hitchcock  attend  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  In  politics  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  a 
consistent  Republican. 


J  RADFORD    HAWES,    clerk  of    the 
Board  of    Selectmen   of    Weymouth 
and  a  well-known  citizen  of  Norfolk 
County,  was  born  in  Weymouth,  De- 
cember 20,   1843,  son   of   Captain  Joseph    and 


Sarah  (Pratt)  Hawes,  both  natives  of  this 
town,  where  his  paternal  grandfather,  Joseph 
Hawes,  Sr.,  was  a  lifelong  resident.  Joseph 
Hawes,  the  younger,  better  known  as  Captain 
Joseph  Hawes,  was  engaged  in  the  fishery 
business,  trading  principally  in  mackerel  for 
about  forty  years.  He  was  master  of  different 
schooners  during  that  time,  and  sailed  from 
the  port  of  Hingham,  Mass.  He  served  as  a 
Highway  Surveyor  of  Weymouth,  and  took  an 
interest  in  building  and  repairing  the  roads  of 
the  town.      He  was  Republican  in  politics. 

Bradford  Hawes  was  educated  in  the  schools 
in  Weymouth.  In  November,  1861,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  he  enlisted  in  Company 
K,  First  Massachusetts  Cavalry,  and  was 
attached  to  the  army  operating  on  the  coast  of 
South  Carolina  and  Florida,  and  at  a  later 
period  to  the  Army  of  the  James.  He  was  in 
the  battle  of  Olustee,  Fla. ,  anil  when  with 
the  cavalry  along  the  James  was  more  or  less 
under  fire  a  great  deal  of  the  time.  Much  of 
the  last  year  of  his  service  he  was  in  the  hos- 
pital department  of  the  Fourth  Massachusetts 
Cavalry  as  nurse  and  steward.  Receiving  his 
honorable  discharge,  November  10,  1864,  he 
returned  to  Weymouth,  and  was  employed  in 
the  shoe  business  until  the  spring  of  1893. 
In  that  year  he  was  elected  a  Selectman  of  the 
town,  and  each  succeeding  year  he  has  been 
unanimously  re-elected.  During  his  first 
year  as  Selectman  he  was  chairman  of  the 
board.  He  is  now  clerk  of  the  board,  and  is 
also  now  serving  his  tenth  year  on  the  School 
Board,  his  entire  time  for  the  past  four  years 
having  been  devoted  to  town  business.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican. 

Mr.  Hawes  married  Jeannette  Fairbanks, 
daughter  of  George  Fairbanks,  of  Weymouth. 
They  have  had  seven  children,  as  follows:  Jo- 
seph H.,  instructor  in  drawing  in  the  New 
Hampshire  College  of  Agriculture  and  Indus- 
trial Arts;  Wilton  L. ;  Susan  H.;  Rachel 
L. ;  Catherine  J.;  Helen  W.  ;  and  Harold  A. 
Mr.  Bradford  Hawes  is  a  man  who  has  risen 
by  his  own  unaided  efforts.  He  is  public- 
spirited,  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
town,  and  has  served  for  many  years  on  the 
Republican  Town  Committee.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church  at  Weymouth.  He 
is  a  Grand  Army  man,  belonging  to  Reynolds 


6o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Post,  No.  58,  and  is  now  officiating  as  Chap- 
lain of  the  post,  having  previously  served  as 
Adjutant. 


tALPH     HOUGr 
and    esteemed 
was    born    in 


iHTON,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Randolph, 
New  York  City,  No- 
vember 14,  1 8 1 9.  His  father 
Ralph  Houghton,  son  of  Jason,  was  a  native 
of  Milton,  Mass. ;  and  his  mother,  Mary 
Marsh  Houghton,  was  a  native  of  Boston. 
Mr.  Houghton  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  an 
English -born  Ralph  Houghton,  who  came  to 
this  country  in  1647,  first  settling  in  Lancas- 
ter, Mass.,  and  later  removing  to  Milton, 
where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  One  of 
Mr.  Houghton's  great-grandfathers  was  Jo- 
seph Wild,  who  was  a  commissioned  officer  in 
the  Continental  army  during  the  Revolution- 
ary War. 

Jason  Houghton,  the  paternal  grandfather 
above  named,  was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Mil- 
ton. Jason's  son  Ralph,  when  a  young  man, 
learned  the  trade  of  a  baker  in  Hingham, 
Mass.  ;  and  during  the  War  of  18  12  he  and  his 
next  older  brother  were  stationed  at  one  of 
the  forts  in  Boston  Harbor.  Some  time  after- 
ward he  engaged  in  business  for  himself  in 
New  York  City.  He  eventually  returned  to 
Milton,  and  died  there  in   1822. 

Ralph  Houghton,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
resided  with  his  grandfather  Houghton  in  Mil- 
ton from  the  time  of  his  father's  death  till  he 
reached  his  fourteenth  year.  He  then  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  attended  school, 
and  was  later  employed  in  driving  a  baker's 
wagon  for  his  uncle,  George  W.  Houghton, 
who  had  succeeded  to  the  business  formerly 
carried  on  by  his  father.  In  1837  he  returned 
to  Milton;  and  in  1843,  after  learning  the 
cabinet-maker's  trade,  he  established  himself 
in  business  in  Randolph.  For  a  long  time 
Mr.  Houghton  made  a  specialty  of  manufactur- 
ing coffins,  but  for  several  years  past  he  has 
given  his  entire  attention  to  the  business  of 
an  undertaker  and  director  of  funerals.  He 
stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  has  served  as  Constable,  and  was  at 
one  time  a  Coroner.  In  politics  he  is  inde- 
pendent.     He  has   occupied   important   chairs 


in   Norfolk   Union    Lodge,  F.    &   A.    M. :   and 
Rising  Star  Lodge,  No.  76,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

In  1842  Mr.  Houghton  was  joined  in  mar- 
riage with  Martha  M.  Bennett,  a  native  of 
Bridgton,  Me.  She  became  the  mother  of 
five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Mary  F.  ;  Martha  R.,  now  Mrs.  Cart- 
wright,  a  widow;  and  Helen  M.  Houghton. 
Mrs.  Houghton  died  in  June,  1887. 


(3>rLBERT  J-  NEWELL,  an  enterprising 
j^\  farmer  of  South  Franklin,  Mass.,  and 
yJ|A  a  son  of  Arnold  J.  and  Eliza  (Frost) 
— '  Newell,  was  born  in  Franklin,  May 
17,  1839.  His  grandfather  was  Dexter  New- 
ell, of  Cumberland,  R.I.,  who  married  Syl- 
vania  Brown,  of  Cumberland.  Their  son  Ar- 
nold moved  to  Franklin  about  the  year  1837, 
and  there  worked  at  his  trade  of  boat-builder 
for  many  years,  besides  carrying  on  his  farm. 
In  his  later  years  he  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  farming.  He  died  in  1887,  and  his  wife  is 
now  living  in  Franklin  with  her  son  Allen. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnold  Newell  had  twelve  chil- 
dren, namely:  Amelia,  who  married  Frank 
Boyden,  of  East  Walpole,  Mass. ;  Allen,  who 
is  a  carpenter;  Miranda,  who  married  Harry 
Bryant,  a  showman  in  Boston;  Sarah  and 
Harriet,  both  deceased;  Albert,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Mary,  the  widow  of  William 
Green,  of  Vermont ;  Evelyn,  deceased,  who 
was  the  wife  of  Alfred  Clarke,  of  Franklin: 
Henry,  also  dead;  Anna,  who  married  Daniel 
Corbin,  of  Franklin;  Shady,  deceased;  and 
Reed,  who  married  Marion  Watson,  of  Frank- 
lin. 

Albert  J.  Newell  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Franklin  and  at  Walpole.  He 
left  home  when  he  was  but  thirteen  years  old, 
and  went  to  work  for  Colonel  P.  B.  Clark,  of 
Franklin,  with  whom  he  remained  for  about 
fifteen  years,  working  on  the  farm.  Then  he 
worked  in  a  straw  shop  for  twenty  years.  In 
1862  he  enlisted  in  Company  K  of  the 
Twenty-third  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, under  Captain  Hart,  and  subsequently  in 
the  Civil  War  took  part  in  the  engagements 
at  Newbury,  White  Hall,  Hilton  Head,  and 
Spottsylvania.  besides  many  skirmishes,  com- 
ing out   of  all    without   a   wound.      When    his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


61 


term  of  enlistment  expired,  he  returned  to 
Franklin,  and  there  worked  on  a  farm  for  the 
ensuing  five  years.  Then  he  was  employed  in 
a  straw  shop  again  for  two  years.  After  that 
he  went  to  Lawrence,  Mass.,  and  engaged  in 
the  shoe  business  for  a  while.  In  1882  he 
settled  on  the  old  Colonel  P.  B.  Clark  place 
in  South  Franklin,  where  he  has  lived  since, 
occupied  in  general  farming,  but  making  a 
specialty  of  the  milk  business.  Besides  the 
one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  his  farm  proper, 
he  owns  several  lots  elsewhere.  The  measure 
of  prosperity  he  now  enjoys  has  been  well 
earned  by  hard  work.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  of  Franklin,  and  he  attends  the  Con- 
gregational church. 

Mr.  Newell  was  married  December  28, 
1864,  to  Betsey  W.  Clark,  of  Franklin.  Her 
father,  Colonel  Paul  B.  Clark,  was  a  school- 
master for  twenty  years,  teaching  in  Frank- 
lin, Medway,  Wrentham,  Canton,  Randolph, 
Bellingham,  Braintree,  Walpole,  and  Frank- 
lin. He  was  on  the  School  Committee  of 
Franklin  for  a  number  of  years:  and  he  was 
Overseer  of  the  Poor,  Tax  Collector,  and  Rep- 
resentative to  the  State  legislature  in  1849. 
Colonel  Clark  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  in  Franklin  and  South  Frank- 
lin for  over  sixty  years,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
most  efficient  church  workers.  His  death  oc- 
curred August  1,  1894,  and  that  of  his  wife, 
in  maidenhood  Abigail  Ann  Wheeler,  of 
Millis,  Mass.,  on  March  13,  1882.  They  had 
four  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Newell  and  Mercy 
are  living.  The  latter  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
Clarke,  of  Franklin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell 
have  had  six  children:  Abbie  Ella  and  Eliza 
Harding,  living  at  home;  Henry  C,  dead; 
Arthur  John,  living  at  home;  and  two  who 
died  in  infancy. 


LIAS  ANDREWS  PERKINS,  who  is 
living  in  retirement  in  Quincy,  this 
county,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his 
early  years  of  industry,  was  born  July  28, 
1S22,  in  Alexandria,  N.H.,  son  of  Elias  Per- 
kins. He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  John 
Perkins,  who  was  born  in  Newent,  Gloucester 
shire,  England,  in  1590.  This  ancestor,  on 
December  1,  1630,  came  to  America  with   his 


wife  and  five  children.  He  left  England  in  the 
ship  "Lion,"  on  which  Roger  Williams  was 
also  a  passenger.  For  two  years  after  his 
arrival  he  lived  in  Boston.  Then  he  removed 
to  Ipswich,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  his  death,  in  1654.  He  was  a  Deputy 
to  the  General  Court  held  in  Boston,  May  25, 
1636,  and  served  on  the  Grand  Jury  in  1648 
and  1652. 

John  Perkins,  Jr.,  born  in  England  in  1614, 
came  to  Massachusetts  with  his  parents  in 
163 1.  He  went  to  Ipswich  in  1633,  and 
there  resided  until  his  death,  December  14, 
1686.  He  opened  the  first  public  house  in 
that  town,  was  Quartermaster  of  the  first  mil- 
itary organization  of  the  territory  and  one  of 
the  largest  landholders  of  that  part  of  Essex 
County.  His  wife,  Elizabeth,  whose  last 
name  is  unknown,  and  whom  he  married  in 
1635,  died  September  27,  1684.  Their  son 
Isaac,  who  was  born  in  Ipswich  in  1650,  mar- 
ried in  1669  Hannah,  daughter  of  Alexander 
Knight.  Isaac  Perkins,  Jr.,  born  in  Ipswich, 
May  23,  1676,  was  master  of  a  ship  for  many 
years,  and  was  well  known  as  Captain  Isaac- 
Perkins  in  Boston,  where  he  resided  for  some 
time.  The  first  of  his  two  marriages  was  con- 
tracted June  3,  1703,  with  Mary  Pike,  or 
Picket,  who  died  in  1720.  The  second,  on 
October  10,  1723,  united  him  to  Mrs.  Lydia 
Vifian,  the  widow  of  John  Vifian.  He  died 
June  14,  1725.  His  children  were  all  born  ot 
his  first  marriage. 

Jacob  Perkins,  son  of  Captain  Perkins  and 
great-grandfather  of  Elias  A.,  was  born  in 
Chebacco  parish,  Ipswich,  in  1717.  In  his 
early  years  he  worked  at  shoemaking.  Later 
in  life  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  On  Au- 
gust 30,  1743,  he  married  Elizabeth  Strong. 
Jacob  Perkins,  Jr.,  born  in  Chebacco  parish, 
Ipswich,  June  27,  1748,  was  there  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  In  1783  he  purchased 
wild  land  in  Hebron,  N.  H.  From  this  he 
cleared  a  farm,  which  he  made  his  home  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  died  May  21, 
1823.  He  was  an  honest,  God-fearing  man, 
eminently  devout  and  strict  in  all  things.  On 
July  28,  1774,  he  married  Hannah  Andrews, 
who  was  born  April  26,  1753,  and  died  De- 
cember 21,    1845. 

Elias  Perkins,  son  of  Jacob  Perkins,  Jr.,  was 


62 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


born  on  the  homestead  in  Hebron,  N.H., 
March  18,  1794.  He  received  such  education 
as  the  limited  opportunities  of  those  days 
afforded.  When  a  young  man  he  spent  a  few 
years  engaged  in  farming  near  Boston,  Mass. 
Subsequently  he  returned  to  New  Hampshire, 
and,  buying  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Alexandria, 
was  afterward  engaged  in  its  management 
until  his  death  in  1S63.  He  was  among  the 
leading  agriculturists  of  the  county  in  which 
he  resided,  making  the  raising  of  cattle  his 
especial  business.  Prominent  in  local  affairs, 
he  represented  the  town  in  the  State  legislat- 
ure, was  Selectman  for  several  years,  and  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  long  period.  In 
connection  with  the  last-named  office  he  had 
the  guardianship  of  a  number  of  children  at 
different  times,  and  transacted  a  good  deal  of 
probate  business.  He  was  known  and  re- 
spected as  a  just  and  honest  man.  He  en- 
listed for  service  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  did 
not  go  beyond  Portsmouth,  as  hostilities  had 
ended  before  he  reached  there.  With  his 
wife,  Rhoda,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Gideon 
Simonds,  of  Burlington,  Mass.,  he  reared 
four  children,  namely:  Louisa  Adams,  who 
married  Luke  Gale,  of  Alexandria;  Elias 
Andrews,  the  subject  of  this  biography;  Han- 
nah A.,  the  wife  of  David  Rollins,  formerly 
of  Alexandria,  but  now  of  Groton,  Mass. ;  and 
Holbrook  S. ,  of  Alexandria.  Both  parents 
attended  the  Baptist  church. 

Elias  A.  Perkins  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  town,  remaining  on  the  home 
farm  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  old. 
Coming  then  to  this  county,  he  worked  at  the 
carpenter's  trade  in  Ouincy.  Having  already 
learned  the  use  of  tools  while  a  boy,  he  was 
paid  journeyman's  wages  at  the  end  of  a  year. 
After  nine  years'  experience  as  a  journeyman, 
he  started  in  business  for  himself,  locating  in 
Dorchester  as  a  carpenter  and  builder,  remain- 
ing there  until  1865,  when  he  settled  perma- 
nently in  Ouincy.  He  carried  on  a  very 
extensive  business,  erecting  many  houses, 
public  buildings,  and  churches  in  towns  near 
Boston,  and  at  times  employing  from  twenty 
to  twenty-five  men.  For  the  past  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the 
Ouincy  Savings  Bank  and  a  member  of  its 
Board  of  Investment.      He  is  also  a  director  of 


the    Dorchester    Mutual    Insurance    Company 
and  of  the  Quincy  Co-operative  Bank. 

Mr.  Perkins  has  been  identified  with  the 
Republican  party  since  its  formation,  and  has 
always  taken  an  active  part  in  politics.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Ouincy  Board  of  Select- 
men for  four  successive  years.  After  the  city 
charter  was  adopted,  he  served  on  the  Board 
of  Assessors  for  some  time,  being  principal 
assessor  for  one  year.  He  is  a  life  member  of 
the  Mechanics'  Charitable  Association,  which 
he  joined  in  1874.  In  1863  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  Frances  Hills,  a  daughter  of 
Alden  Hills,  of  Hudson,  N.  H.  He  attends 
the  Unitarian  church,  and  is  very  broad  and 
liberal  in  his  religious  beliefs. 


ILLIAM  H.  H.  HANCOCK,  a 
well-known  and  reliable  jeweller  of 
Cohasset,  was  born  in  this  town, 
October  16,  1840,  son  of  Horace  and  Susan 
(Stoddard)  Hancock.  The  Hancocks  are  of 
English  extraction.  Horace  Hancock  was 
born  in  Winchendon,  Mass.,  in  1  8co.  He  lo- 
cated in  Cohasset  when  a  young  man,  and  for 
some  time  was  engaged  in  shoemaking.  His 
later  years  were  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of  agri- 
culture. He  died  in  1881.  Mrs.  Hancock, 
who  was  born  in  Cohasset  in  1802,  and  died 
in  1879,  was  °f  Scotch  descent.  Her  father, 
Major  James  Stoddard,  was  a  member  of  the 
famous  Boston  Tea  Party,  and  served  as  an 
artificer  in  the  Continental  army.  He  was 
among  the  sufferers  at  Valley  Forge  during 
the  terrible  winter  of  1777-78. 

William  H.  H.  Hancock  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Cohasset.  He  left 
school  at  the  age  of  thirteen;  but  by  reading 
and  observation  he  has  amply  made  up  the  de- 
ficiencies in  his  early  training,  and  he  is  well 
informed  on  all  matters  of  practical  impor- 
tance. Engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  boots 
and  shoes  in  Cohasset  in  1 871,  he  was  so  oc- 
cupied something  over  two  years.  In  1874 
he  opened  a  shop  for  making  and  repairing 
watches,  and  some  time  later  he  added  miscel- 
laneous jewelry  to  his  stock  in  trade.  He 
now  has  a  prosperous  business.  Mr.  Hancock 
is  a  Republican,  politically.  Actively  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare   of   the  town,  he  has  been 


AMORY    FISHER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


65 


solicited  to  accept  public  office,  but  has  mod- 
estly refused.  He  is  widely  known  and  highly 
respected. 


MORY  FISHER,  for  many  years  a 
prominent  business  man  of  Dedham, 
was  born  November  4,  18 18,  in 
Bolton,  Mass.,  and  died  at  his 
home  on  Church  Street,  Dedham,  March-  20, 
1894.  His  father,  Jacob  Fisher,  was  a  farmer 
in  Bolton,  where  he  was  a  lifelong  resident. 

Amory  Fisher  learned  the  trade  of  a  chair- 
maker  in  his  younger  days;  but,  after  coming 
to  Dedham  in  1837,  he  worked  for  Joel  Rich- 
ards in  the  bobbin  factory  a  number  of  years, 
then  engaged  in  the  barber's  business,  having 
his  office  in  his  dwelling-house,  and  later 
opened  a  market  near  by.  He  finally  em- 
barked in  the  coal  and  ice  trade,  which  he 
carried  on  successfully  for  half  a  century, 
being  at  the  time  of  his  death  one  of  the  old- 
est merchants  in  this  locality.  Energetic,  ca- 
pable, and  strictly  honest  in  his  dealings,  a 
useful  citizen,  he  was  held  in  high  respect, 
and,  departing,  was  greatly  missed  throughout 
the  community.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Orthodox  Congregational  church,  to  which 
Mrs.  Fisher  also  belongs. 

On  April  6,  1841,  Amory  Fisher  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  Dexter  Everett,  who  was  born 
in  Dedham,  near  the  Hyde  Park  line,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1 S 1 8.  Her  father,  Nathan  Everett, 
who  was  one  of  a  family  of  four  children,  was 
a  native  of  Dedham,  where  his  parents  spent 
the  later  years  of  their  lives.  He  was  a  stone- 
cutter by  trade,  and  was  also  a  contractor,  and 
as  such  did  much  general  work  about  the 
neighborhood.  He  moved  to  the  village  of 
Dedham  when  Mrs.  Fisher  was  a  young  child, 
and  there  lived  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-five  years.  The  maiden  name  of  the  wife 
of  Mr.  Everett  was  Hepzibah  Colburn.  She 
was  born  in  West  Dedham  in  1797,  being  the 
descendant  of  a  pioneer  family  of  that  local- 
ity, and  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Colburn,  a  me- 
chanic, who  was  twice  married,  and  who  reared 
fifteen  children.  Of  the  three  children  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Everett,  Elizabeth  D.,  Mrs. 
Fisher,  is  the  only  survivor.  Mrs.  Everett 
lived  a  widow  many  years,  always  making  her 


home  with  Mrs.  Fisher,  dying  here  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  ninety-six.  Her  twin  sister, 
Mrs.  Sally  Cole,  it  may  be  mentioned,  lived 
to  be  ninety-three  years  old. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  became  the  parents  of 
two  sons,  Edward  Everett  and  Frank  Amory, 
both  of  whom  died  in  childhood.  In  1891 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  celebrated  the  golden 
anniversary  of  their  marriage,  the  occasion 
being  a  very  happy  one  to  the  numerous 
friends  who  participated  in  the.  festivities. 
The  comely  and  convenient  dwelling  now  oc- 
cupied by  Mrs.  Fisher  was  built  by  her  hus- 
band in  1846,  and  has  well  withstood  the 
winds  and  weather  for  fifty  years.  Other 
buildings  on  the  place  are  comparatively  new, 
having  been  constructed  shortly  after  the  fire 
of  1891,  by  which  Mr.  Fisher  lost  his  barns, 
grain  store,  carriages,  and  six  horses.  Mrs. 
Fisher  is  a  woman  of  superior  intelligence,  of 
a  kind  and  generous  disposition,  doing  much 
to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  poor,  and  is  held 
in  high  respect  by  all  who  have  the  pleasure 
of  her  acquaintance. 


ZT\HARLES  VV.  LINCOLN,  the  popular 
I  \y  and  efficient  Postmaster  of  Holbrook, 
^^Is)^,  was  born  here,  December  31,  1849, 
son  of  Ephraim  and  Lucy  A. 
(French)  Lincoln.  Both  parents  are  also  na- 
tives of  Holbrook,  and  still  reside  here.  The 
father,  who  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  men 
of  the  town,  was  formerly  the  Postmaster,  and 
filled  the  position  with  credit  to  himself  and 
to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  townspeople. 

Charles  W.  Lincoln  obtained  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools,  finishing  at  the 
high  school  of  Holbrook,  which  was  then 
known  as  East  Randolph.  Upon  reaching  his 
majority,  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes.  After  spending  several 
years  as  the  sole  proprietor  of  a  shop,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  N.  P.  Sprague, 
with  whom,  under  the  firm  name  of  Lincoln  & 
Sprague,  the  business  was  continued  for  a 
number  of  years.  Then  Mr.  Lincoln  retired 
from  the  firm  in  order  to  become  a  salesman 
for  a  produce  concern  doing  business  in  Bos- 
ton. He  had  been  in  this  position  for  two 
years,  when,  in  1885,  he  was  appointed  Post- 


66 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


master  at  Holbrook.  The  satisfaction  he  has 
given  as  Postmaster  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  he  has  held  the  position  under  the  suc- 
ceeding administrations,  and  that  he  is  more 
popular  to-day  than  he  has  ever  been.  In  pol- 
itics Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  Republican,  and  he  has 
served  as  a  Registrar  of  Votes. 

Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order  at  Randolph.  He  married  Marietta  H. 
Wilde,  of  Holbrook,  daughter  of  the  late 
L.  1-'.  Wilde,  who  was  a  shoe  manufacturer  of 
Last  Randolph,  now  Holbrook.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lincoln  have  two  children  —  Walter  W. 
and  Henry  F. 


HOMAS  McDONNELL,  the  senior 
member  of  the  firm  of  McDonnell  & 
Cook,  who  execute  cemetery  and  monu- 
mental work  of  all  kinds  at  South  Quincy,  was 
born  February  8,  1851,  in  Athlone,  County 
Roscommon,  Ireland,  which  was  also  the 
birthplace  of  his  parents,  Patrick  and  Bridget 
(Cunniff)  McDonnell.  The  father  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  his  native  county  until 
1873,  when  he  emigrated  to  America.  He  lo- 
cated in  Quincy,  Mass.,  where  he  has  since 
lived  retired  from  active  pursuits.  With  his 
wife,  Bridget,  who  was  a  daughter  of  John 
Cunniff,  of  the  County  Roscommon,  he  reared 
a  family  of  nine  children,  namely:  Mary,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Hugh  Whoriskey,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.;  John  A.,  of  Quincy;  Timothy,  de- 
ceased; Thomas,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
the  Rev.  Matthew  F.  McDonnell,  of  whom 
there  is  no  special  record;  Rose  A.,  who  mar- 
ried James  F.  Kelley,  of  the  firm  of  McDon- 
nell &  Kelley,  of  Quincy;  Patrick  and  Mar- 
garet, both  deceased;  and  Theresa,  a  school 
teacher  in  West  Quincy. 

Thomas  McDonnell  was  educated  in  the  na- 
tional schools  of  Athlone,  Ireland.  After- 
ward he  assisted  in  the  labors  of  the  home 
farm  until  1871,  when,  with  the  purpose  of 
bettering  his  condition,  he  came  to  the  United 
States.  Taking  up  his  residence  in  '  (uincy, 
he  here  learned  the  stone-cutter's  trade. 
After  following  that  calling  for  four  years,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brothers  John 
and  Timothy,  under  the  firm  name  of  McDon- 
nell   Brothers,    continuing    with    them     until 


1878,  when  he  sold  his  interest  to  the  other 
members  of  the  firm.  Entering  then  into 
company  with  his  present  partner,  Martin  H. 
Cook,  under  the  name  by  which  the  firm  has 
since  been  known,  lie  has  carried  on  a  thriv- 
ing trade  in  monuments  and  general  cemetery 
work,  employing  about  twenty-five  men.  He 
is  also  a  director  of  the  Blue  Hill  Granite 
Company. 

Mr.  McDonnell  was  married  June  11,  1879, 
to  Miss  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Thomas  Dol  in, 
of  this  city.  They  have  had  nine  children, 
of  whom  six  are  living.  These  are:  Mary  E., 
Matthew  1-'.,  Thomas  C,  John  J.,  Lauretta, 
and  Emily.  Mr.  McDonnell  is  a  member  of 
Monticello  Lodge,  A.  O.  U.  W.,  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass.  ;  of  the  Workmen's  Benefit  Asso- 
ciation: of  the  Royal  Arcanum,  John  Adams 
Council,  No.   12 10.  of  Wollaston. 


ENRY  VAN  NESS,  an  industrious 
.^J  fruit  grower  of  Med  way,  was  born  in 
s  I  Caldwell,  N.J.,   February  25,   1833, 

son  of  Peter  and  Sally  Ann  (Van 
Houton)  Van  Ness.  The  grandfather,  Henry 
I.  Van  Ness,  was  a  native  of  Caldwell.  Peter- 
Van  Ness,  also  a  native  of  Caldwell,  was  a 
shoemaker,  and  followed  that  trade  and  farm- 
ing in  his  native  town  throughout  his  active 
period.  His  wife,  who  was  born  in  Orange, 
N.J.,  died  in  1863.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children,  as  follows:  Henry,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch ;  Hettie,  who  resides  in  Caroline 
County,  Virginia,  and  is  the  widow  of  Peter 
Ryerson  ;  Martha  Jane,  who  is  no  longer  living; 
Harriet,  who  married  Fzra  Bush,  of  Caldwell, 
and  died  leaving  two  children  —  Fred  and  Ida; 
Phcebe,  who  married  the  Rev.  Henry  Steel - 
man,  and  resides  at  the  homestead  in  Cald- 
well: Josephine,  the  wife  of  James  Wardell, 
a  machinist  of  Newark,  N.J.  ;  Charlotte,  the 
wife  of  Samuel  Wardwell,  a  cigar-maker  in 
Caldwell:  James  A.,  who  married  Carrie 
Tompkins,  and  resides  in  Newark;  and  Ed- 
ward, who  is  no  longer  living. 

Henry  Van  Ness  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  town.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  engaged  in  the  cigar  busi- 
ness in  Lynnfield,  Mass.  Three  years  later 
he  established    himself    in  a  general    merchan- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


67 


dise  business,  which  he  subsequently  carried 
on  for  seventeen  years.  He  was  also  con- 
nected with  the  wholesale  woodenware  busi- 
ness in  Worcester,  Mass.,  for  a  time;  and  he 
was  the  proprietor  of  a  general  store  in  Ash- 
burnham,  Mass.,  until  1876,  when  he  came  to 
Medway,  and  bought  his  present  farm.  He 
now  owns  about  forty-five  acres,  which  he  has 
brought  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  de- 
votes to  general  farming,  dairying,  garden- 
ing, and  fruit-growing. 

Mr.  Van  Ness  married  for  his  first  wife 
Sarah  E.  Norwood,  of  Lynnfield,  who  died  in 
1874.  She  was  a  daughter  of  the  late  James 
and  Betsey  Norwood.  In  October,  1875,  Mr. 
Van  Ness  was  again  married  to  Sarah  S. 
Brooks,  who  was  born  in  Ashburnham,  May 
30,  1830,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Rebecca 
(Sanderson)  Brooks.  Elijah  Brooks  was  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Ashburnham,  his  native 
town;  and  his  wife  was  born  in  Littleton, 
Mass.  Both  are  now  deceased.  The  children 
of  Mr.  Van  Ness  by  his  first  union  were: 
Nellie,  now  the  wife  of  Frank  W.  Whiting, 
of  Southboro,  Mass.;  Charles  H.,  a  conductor 
by  occupation,  who  married  Gertrude  Morse, 
and  resides  in  Somerville,  Mass. ;  Emma  E., 
the  wife  of  Frank  W.  Reynolds,  a  cream 
dealer  in  Albany,  N.Y.;  Susie  S.  who  mar- 
ried Earl  A.  Adams,  a  machinist,  and  resides 
in  Norwood,  R.I.  ;  and  Ernest,  who  died 
young. 

Politically,  Mr.  Van  Ness  is  a  Republican; 
and,  though  not  an  office-seeker,  he  takes  a 
deep  interest  in  public  affairs.  He  is  widely 
and  favorably  known  as  an  industrious  farmer 
and  a  worthy,  upright  citizen,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  by  the  entire  community  in  which 
he  lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Ness  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  church. 


"ON.  WILLIAM  NEWCOMB  EATON 
was  born  December  29,  1845,  in 
Quincy,  where  he  is  now  a  leading 
ice  dealer.  His  grandparents,  John 
and  Dorothy  (Fox)  Eaton,  were  lifelong  resi- 
dents of  Meredith,  N.H. 

Jacob  F.  Eaton,  father  of  William  N.,  born 
in  Meredith,  N.H.,  in  18 14,  there  attended 
school   until   he   reached   the   age  of   fourteen 


years.  Starting  then  in  life  on  his  own  ac- 
count with  but  a  dollar  and  a  half  in  his 
pockets,  he  went  to  Boston  in  search  of  em- 
ployment. Here  he  met  a  man  who  offered 
him  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  a  year  to 
work  on  his  farm.  This  proposal  he  accepted 
gladly;  and  at  the  end  of  twelve  months  he 
went  home,  taking  to  his  mother  one  hundred 
dollars.  Afterward  for  several  years  he  con- 
tinued as  a  farm  hand,  each  season  prudently 
saving  a  large  proportion  of  his  earnings. 
Subsequently  he  hired  Mount  Wollaston  farm, 
and  conducted  it  for  thirteen  years,  raising 
considerable  produce  for  the  market,  establish- 
ing a  successful  milk  business,  and  employing 
about  ten  men  to  assist  him  in  his  labors. 
He  then  purchased  the  farm  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  son,  William  N.  Having, 
while  in  Boston,  become  somewhat  familiar 
with  the  ice  business  as  the  driver  of  a  team 
for  a  dealer  in  that  commodity,  he  now  deter- 
mined to  establish  a  like  industry  in  this 
town.  For  this  purpose  he  flooded  about 
twelve  acres  of  his  forty-acre  farm,  making  an 
artificial  pond.  In  the  course  of  time  he  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  flourishing  trade  in 
ice,  and  was  for  many  years  the  only  dealer  in 
Quincy  and  in  that  part  of  Milton  through 
which  his  route  extended.  He  was  a  strong 
advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  for  a  number  of  years  served  as 
Selectman.  He  was  a  Mason  of  Rural  Lodge 
in  Quincy,  and  belonged  to  St.  Stephen's 
Chapter  and  to  the  Boston  Consistory.  He 
married  Ann  Jerusha,  daughter  of  William 
Newcomb,  of  this  town;  and  they  had  seven 
children.  Of  these  six  grew  to  maturity, 
namely:  Lucy  Annie,  now  the  widow  of 
Charles  F.  Pierce,  late  of  Quincy;  Edward  J., 
of  Milton;  William  Newcomb,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Emma  Jerusha,  the  wife  of 
Walter  L.  Wellington,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.; 
Henry  Warren,  of  Boston;  and  Carrie  New- 
comb, the  wife  of  Eugene  H.  Sprague,  of 
Wollaston.  Both  parents  were  members  of 
the  Adams  Temple  Unitarian  Church.  The 
father's  death  occurred  in  1871. 

William  N.  Eaton  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Quincy.  For  about  two  years 
after  leaving  school,  he  was  employed  in  a 
wholesale   flour  house   in    Boston.      Returning 


68 


BIOGRAPHICAL  review 


then  to  Quincy,  he  embarked  in  the  milk  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account,  and  in  time  acquired 
a  profitable  patronage.  Since  the  death  of  his 
father,  having  sold  his  milk  route,  he  has  de- 
voted himself  to  the  ice  business,  in  which  he 
is  meeting  with  a  deserved  success,  being  the 
principal  dealer  in  this  city  and  in  a  portion 
of  Milton.  He  handles  eight  thousand  tons 
of  ice  annually,  and  in  the  summer  season  em- 
ploys fifteen  men,  together  with  six  double 
and  two  single  teams;  while  on  his  farm  he 
cuts  from  fifty  to  sixty  tons  of  hay  each  year. 

In  politics  Mr.  Eaton  is  an  unswerving 
Democrat,  and  he  has  rendered  his  native 
town  efficient  service  in  various  official  posi- 
tions. For  seven  years  he  was  Selectman  and 
Paymaster  of  Quincy.  In  1883  and  1884  he 
was  a  Representative  to  the  lower  branch  of 
the  State  legislature,  serving  during  both 
terms  on  the  Insurance  and  Prisons  Commit- 
tees. In  1 89 1  and  1892  he  was  Senator  for 
the  First  Norfolk  District,  and  while  in  that 
body  was  on  the  Public  Works  Committee. 
He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Rural  Lodge, 
Quincy,  of  which  he  is  now  Past  Master. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapter 
of  the  South  Shore  Commandery;  of  the  Jo- 
seph Cerneau  Consistory  of  Boston:  and  of  the 
Granite  City  Club.  On  December  29,  1869, 
he  married  Mary  Francesca,  daughter  of 
Elisha  and  Lucy  (Newcomb)  Packard,  of 
Quincy.  (An  account  of  Mrs.  Eaton's  pater- 
nal ancestors  may  be  found  in  the  biography 
of  her  uncle,  Colonel  A.  B.  Packard.)  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Eaton  have  five  children  —  Minnie 
Francesca,  Lula,  Annie  Jerusha,  Edith  Eliza- 
beth, and  Grace.  Lula  is  now  the  wife  of 
Arthur  Hall  Doble,  of  whose  father,  Enoch 
Hall  Doble,  a  biography  is  given  elsewhere  in 
this  work. 


ENJAMIN  JOHNSON,  of  Quincy, 
who  deals  extensively  in  lumber,  was 
born  April  11,  1823,  in  St.  Albans, 
Me.,  son  of  Charles  Johnson. 
Charles  Johnson,  who  was  born,  bred,  and  ed- 
ucated in  Jackson,  Me.,  was  afterward  engaged 
in  the  lumber  business  in  Orono,  and  built 
some  of  the  first  mills  erected  on  the  Penob- 
scot   River,    being    at    the    time    one    of    the 


most  prominent  lumber  men  in  that  section  of 
the  State.  In  1837,  when  about  to  return 
from  Galveston,  Tex.,  then  Mexican  territory, 
to  which  he  had  gone  with  shipments  of  lum- 
ber, he  was  murdered.  He  was  a  man  of  su- 
perior business  qualifications  and  a  strong 
member  of  the  old  Whig  party.  He  married 
Elizabeth  Wiggins,  a  daughter  of  Asa  Wig- 
gins, of  St.  Albans,  and  with  her  reared  five 
children.  These  were:  Benjamin,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Augusta  Scott,  deceased;  I.e 
Baron  H.,  of  Fort  Wrangel,  Alaska;  Mel- 
ville, of  Macwahoc  plantation,  Aroostook 
County,  Me.  ;  and  Mary  Ann.  Both  parents 
attended  the  Congregational  church. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  Benjamin  Johnson 
ceased  to  attend  the  public  schools,  and  on 
account  of  the  death  of  his  father  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  providing  for  the  family,  In- 
being  the  eldest  child.  He  went  to  work  at 
lumbering,  being  principally  employed  on  the 
river,  and  remaining  in  a  subordinate  position 
until  he  had  become  familiar  with  that  branch 
of  industry.  In  1848  he  embarked  in  enter- 
prises on  his  own  account,  buying  large  tracts 
of  standing  timber,  and  converting  it  into 
lumber  in  mills  hired  for  the  purpose.  He 
formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Palmer,  becom- 
ing junior  member  of  the  firm  thus  estab- 
lished; and  for  many  years  Palmer  &  Johnson 
cut  from  twenty  to  thirty  million  feet  of  lum- 
ber annually,  employing  sometimes  more  than 
three  hundred  men.  On  the  ist  of  May, 
1879,  ne  came  to  Quincy,  and  bought  the 
lumber-yard  of  a  man  who  had  been  one  of  his 
best  customers  in  the  preceding  seven  years. 
Here  he  has  since  carried  on  a  very  prosper- 
ous business,  handling  between  four  and  five 
million  feet  of  lumber  each  year.  On  his 
wharf  is  a  finish-mill,  from  which  all  kinds  of 
dressed  lumber  are  sold  to  both  the  wholesale 
and  retail  trade. 

Mr.  Johnson  married  Maria,  daughter  of 
Samuel  J.  Foster,  of  Weston,  Aroostook 
County,  Me.  The  latter  was  born  in  Tops- 
ham,  Me.,  April  21,  1809,  and  there  grew  to 
manhood.  Following  the  lumber  business  on 
a  large  scale,  he  kept  sixty  oxen  at  work  in 
the  woods  during  the  winter  season,  and  had 
four  or  five  six-horse  teams  constantly  em- 
ployed.    He  was  also  an  extensive  stock-raiser, 


BENJAMIN    JOHNSON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


7« 


having  the  largest  farm  of  the  kind  in  Maine, 
and  keeping  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  horses 
and  colts.  In  politics  he  was  a  prominent 
Whig,  and,  having  served  on  Governor  Kent's 
staff,  was  afterward  known  by  all  as  Colonel 
Foster.  He  married  Julia  A.  Brown,  daugh- 
ter of  Benjamin  Brown,  of  Vassalboro,  Me., 
who  at  one  time  was  the  president  of  a  bank 
in  Hallowell,  and  was  considered  the  richest 
man  in  the  State.  He  was  descended  from 
one  of  two  brothers,  Philip  and  William  Mc- 
Clellan,  who  came  from  Scotland  to  Portland, 
Me.,  at  an  early  day.  The  entire  history  of 
this  family  is  preserved  in  "Good  Old  Times,'' 
written  by  Elijah  Kellogg. 

Of  Mr.  Johnson's  three  children  two  arc  liv- 
ing. These  are:  Lillian  M.,  the  wife  of 
Frank  K.  Damon,  of  Ouincy;  and  Benjamin 
Johnson,  Jr.  The  latter  was  elected  by  the 
Republican  party  to  the  City  Council  in  1896, 
and  is  serving  on  the  Finance  and  Legis- 
lation Committees.  He  is  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business  with  his  father,  with  which 
he  has  been  familiar  from  his  youth.  An  es- 
teemed Odd  Fellow,  he  belongs  to  Mount 
Wollaston  Lodge  of  Ouincy  and  to  Manet 
Encampment.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Hodenesonee  Tribe,  Improved  Order  of  Red 
Men,  of  Wollaston;  of  the  Granite  City  Club; 
of  the  Quincy  Yacht  Club,  to  which  his  father 
likewise  belongs;  and  to  the  Boston  Lodge  of 
the  Concatenated  Order  of  Hoo  Hoo,  a  social 
organization  of  lumber  dealers.  He  married 
Sarah  T.  Burke,  of  this  city,  and  has  four 
children  —  Marian  E.,  Sarah,  Edith,  and  Ben- 
jamin (third).  Mr.  Johnson,  Sr.,  belongs  to 
St.  Andrew's  Lodge,'  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Ban- 
gor, Me. 


UGENE  SNELL,  the  president  of  the 
Holbrook  Co-operative  Bank  of  Hol- 
brook,  Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town, 
February  7,  1847,  son  of  Alvin  and  Annie  B. 
(Holbrook)  Snell.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
who  came  from  Ireland,  and  settled  in  what  is 
now  Brockton,  had  two  sons.  Of  these, 
Alvin,  born  in  Brockton  in  1805,  settled  in 
1832  where  his  son  Eugene  now  resides,  and 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  also  did 
considerable  shoemaking,  which  was  the  prin- 


cipal industry  of  the  vicinity  at  that  time. 
His  wife,  Annie  B.,  was  born  in  East  Ran- 
dolph, now  Holbrook. 

Eugene  Snell  grew  up  in  this  town,  and  his 
early  education  was  received  in  the  common 
schools.  When  only  fourteen  years  of  age  he 
became  a  regular  employee  in  the  shoe  factory 
of  A.  C.  Chandler,  for  whom  he  worked  dur- 
ing the  next  four  years.  He  was  subsequently 
employed  in  different  manufacturing  concerns 
and  finally  in  the  well-known  establishment 
of  Thomas  White  &  Co.  After  working  for 
four  years  in  Mr.  White's  shop,  he  became 
foreman  and  superintendent.  He  had  held 
that  position  for  twenty  years  when  he  re- 
signed in  January,  1894.  For  five  years  Mr. 
Snell  was  vice-president  of  the  Co-operative 
Bank.  In  1894  he  was  elected  president, 
which  office  he  holds  at  the  present  time. 
Mr.  Snell's  position  is  one  of  great  responsi- 
bility; and  his  election  to  it  was  a  tribute,  not 
only  to  his  ability  as  a  financier  and  an  ad- 
ministrative officer,  but  to  the  integrity  of 
his  personal  character.  As  vice-president  he 
showed  in  an  unusual  degree  his  financial  and 
executive  ability,  and  it  was  a  natural  conse- 
quence that  he  should  be  chosen  president. 

Mr.  Snell  married  Olive  A.  Poor,  of  Bos- 
ton, Mass.  She  has  been  the  mother  of  three 
children  —  Hattie  A.,  Elmer  A.,  and  Annie 
L.  Hattie  is  a  teacher  in  one  of  the  public 
schools  of  Arlington.  Mr.  Snell  and  his  fam- 
ily attend  the  Congregational  church  at  Hol- 
brook, and  they  are  active  in  the  social  and 
benevolent  work  of  the  society.  In  politics 
Mr.  Snell  is  a  Republican.  Public-spirited 
to  a  high  degree,  he  is  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  his  native  town.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  bodies  at  Brockton.  A  well- 
informed  man,  Mr.  Snell  has  clear  and  defi- 
nite views  regarding  questions  of  social  and 
political  importance. 


ANFORD  P.  BOWDISH,  a  car- 
penter and  builder  of  Foxboro,  was 
born  July  21,  1S17,  in  Burrillville, 
R.I.,  which  was  likewise  the  birth- 
place of  his  father,  Asa  Bowdish.  The  fam- 
ily in  Rhode  Island  originated  with  an  ances- 
tor   who    located    in     Gloucester,    Providence 


72 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


County.  Here  David  Bowdish,  the  grand- 
father of  Sanford  I'.,  was  born  and  bred. 
David  afterward  removed  to  Burrillville,  set- 
tling in  the  midst  of  a  dense  forest,  from 
which  he  reclaimed  a  farm.  At  first  he  lived 
in  a  log  cabin  erected  by  his  own  hands;  bul 
before  many  years  he  had  a  substantial  frame 
hdiis.-,  in  which  he  spent  his  declining  days, 
passing  away  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  He 
married  Lois  Pierce,  and  of  their  children 
Asa  was  the  only  son. 

Asa  Bowdish  inherited  the  parental  home- 
stead, and  managed  it  for  several  years.  Sub- 
sequently he  sold  the  property,  that  he  might 
give  his  exclusive  attention  to  his  trade  of  a 
cooper.  This  occupation  he  followed  in 
Wrentham,  Norfolk  County,  for  a  time.  Then 
he  removed  to  Uxbridge,  where  he  bought 
land,  and  carried  on  mixed  husbandry  in  con- 
nection with  coopering  until  his  demise,  in 
the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  His  wife, 
Patience,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Timothy 
Perry,  had  seven  children,  as  follows:  San- 
ford P.,  the  subject  of  this  biography;  Lois, 
who  died  some  time  ago;  Crawford,  of  North- 
bridge;  Rachel,  a  resident  of  West  Town- 
send,  Mass.;  Caroline,  of  Foxboro;  Mary, 
who  lives  with  her  eldest  brother;  and  Asa 
W.,  also  of  this  town.  Having  enlisted  in 
1862,  Asa  W.  served  for  nine  months  in  the 
Civil  War,  participating  with  Company  K, 
Forty-fourth  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, in  the  engagements  at  Goldsboro  and 
White  Hall,  N.  C.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
term  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  at 
Readville,  Mass.,  and  is  now  a  comrade  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  post  at  Canton. 

Having  acquired  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Burrillville,  R.I.,  Sanford  P. 
Bowdish  worked  for  the  neighboring  farmers 
by  the  month.  After  the  removal  of  the  fam- 
ily to  Uxbridge  he  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade,  becoming  one  of  the  most  skilful  work- 
men in  the  vicinity.  This  craft  has  been  his 
regular  occupation  since  1844.  At  one  time 
he  was  Surveyor  of  Wood  and  Lumber  in  Ux- 
bridge. In  1886  Mr.  Bowdish  purchased  the 
James  Daniels  estate  in  Foxboro.  Here  he 
has  since  lived  somewhat  retired  from  active 
occupation.  In  i860  he  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  lose  the  sight  of  his  left  eye.      Well 


preserved  in  body  and  mind,  he  looks  young 
in  spite  of  his  years,  and  is  regarded  as  a  man 
of  sterling  integrity. 

Mr.  Bowdish  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Smith,  a  daughter  of  Chauncev  Smith,  of 
Macedon,  N.Y.  She  died  in  1882,  leaving 
no  children.  Mr.  Bowdish  has  been  an  Odd 
Fellow  since  he  joined  the  lodge  of  Uxbridge 
in  1847.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
in  1840  for  Martin  Van  Buren,  and  since  the 
formation  of  the  Republican  party  has  been 
one  of  its  stanchest  supporters.  Both  he  and 
his  brother  Asa  are  living  witnesses  of  the 
strange  outbreak  in  Rhode  Island  known  as 
"Dorr's  Rebellion." 


KEMUEL  W.  STANDISH,  the  editor 
(jf  the  Stoughton  Sentinel,  was  born 
^  in  North  Easton,  Mass.,  December 
13,  1858,  son  of  David  B.  and 
Hannah  G.  (Ellis)  Standish.  His  grand- 
father, Lemuel  Standish,  who  was  a  ship- 
builder of  Bath,  Me.,  was  accidentally  killed 
when  about  sixty  years  old. 

David  B.  Standish,  born  in  Bath,  was  a 
resident  of  Stoughton  during  the  last  fifteen 
years  of  his  life.  He  was  an  engineer  on  the 
Boston  &  Providence  Railroad;  and  in  this 
capacity  he  had  travelled  constantly  between 
the  two  cities  for  thirty-seven  years,  when  he 
retired  on  a  pension  in  1880.  At  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1880,  he  was  the  oldest  en- 
gineer in  point  of  service  on  the  road  or  in 
the  country.  By  his  wife,  Hannah,  who  is  a 
native  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  and  is  now  living 
in  Stoughton  with  a  daughter,  he  became  the 
father  of  seven  children.  These  were:  Al- 
bert E.,  now  an  engineer  on  the  N.Y.,  N.  H. 
&  H.  Railroad;  Henry  A.,  now  a  conductor 
on  the  same  road;  David  H.,  who  is  a  whole- 
sale dry -goods  dealer  in  New  York  City; 
George  E.,  in  the  dry-goods  business  in  Bos- 
ton; Lemuel  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch: 
Ella  L.,  who  resides  with  her  mother  in 
Stoughton;  and  Elmer  W.,  deceased.  Albert 
married  Miss  Rebecca  Capen,  of  Stoughton, 
and  has  four  children  —  Miles,  Ellis,  Lucy, 
and  Ethel;  Henry  married  Miss  Nellie  Kins- 
ley, of  Stoughton,  and  has  one  child,  Edward 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


73 


K.  ;  David  married  Miss  Anna  Ellis,  of 
Stoughton ;  George  married  Miss  Jennie 
Graves,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  has  one  child, 
Jennie. 

Lemuel  W.  Standish  graduated  from  the 
Stoughton  High  School  in  1876.  On  leaving 
school  he  learned  the  printing  business,  serv- 
ing an  apprenticeship  in  Wakefield,  Mas^., 
and  working  for  four  years  in  Boston.  Then, 
returning  to  Stoughton,  he  went  to  work  in 
the  Sentinel  office.  In  1883  he  bought  the 
paper,  which  since  that  time  has  been  under 
his  management.  The  Sentinel,  which  was 
established  in  1861  by  William  A.  and  W.  H. 
Wood,  of  Stoughton,  under  Mr.  Standish's 
management  has  been  a  bright,  progressive, 
and  newsy  weekly.  In  the  well-equipped 
office  all  kinds  of  job  printing  are  also  thine. 

Mr.  Standish  was  married  in  1885  to  Nettie 
A.  Briggs,  of  Stoughton,  and  has  four  chil- 
dren—  Rose,  Karl.  Clement,  and  Walker. 
An  active  Republican,  he  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Republican  Town  Committee  as  secre- 
tary for  the  past  ten  years,  is  now  serving  his 
second  term  on  the  Republican  State  Commit- 
tee, and  is  a  member  of  that  body's  Executive 
Committee.  He  was  the  party  candidate  for 
Representative  in  the  General  Court  in  1891, 
when  he  carried  his  own  town  in  the  face  of 
an  adverse  party  vote,  and  came  within  eighty 
votes  of  being  elected  in  a  district  which 
gave  four  hundred  Democratic  majority.  A 
Mason  in  good  standing,  he  is  Senior  Warden 
of  Rising  Star  Lodge;  and  he  belongs  to  La- 
fayette Commandery,  U.  O.  G.  C.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Stoughton  Musical  Society, 
and  he  has  sung  in  the  Congregational  church 
choir  for  ten  years.  Mr.  Standish  is  one  of 
the  leading  young  men  of  Stoughton,  and  has 
many  friends. 


§OSEPH  WARREN  HAYDEN,  the 
Chief  of  Police  in  Ouincy,  was  born 
here  in  December,  1841,  son  of  George 
W.  Hayden.  The  father,  born  in 
Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1813,  grew  to  man's  es- 
tate in  his  native  town,  and  learned  the  trade 
of  shoemaker.  After  his  marriage  he  re- 
moved to  Ouincy,  where  he  followed  his  trade 
until    his    death    in    1865,    while    yet    in    the 


prime  of  life.  His  wife,  in  maidenhood  Eliza 
M.  Whiting,  who  was  a  native  of  this  town, 
bore  him  four  children.  These  were:  George 
L. ,  who  died  November  29,  1896;  Joseph 
Warren,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Albert 
A-  and  William  A.,  both  of  Braintree,  this 
county.  Both  parents  were  members  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Quincy. 

Joseph  Warren  Hayden  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Ouincy.  When  old 
enough  to  select  an  occupation,  he  chose  that 
of  stone-cutter,  and  thereupon  began  learning 
the  trade.  While  the  late  Civil  War  was  in 
progress,  he  ran  away  from  his  employer  to 
enlist  in  the  service  of  the  Union.  Joining 
Company  M,  Urst  Massachusetts  Heavy  Ar- 
tillery, he  was  sent  to  Washington,  D.C., 
where  he  remained  on  guard  for  two  years. 
He  was  then  sent  with  his  regiment  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  on  June  22,  1864, 
was  taken  prisoner  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
He  was  held  by  the  Confederates  for  more 
than  six  months,  during  which  time  he  was  an 
unwilling  visitor  at  Libby  Prison,  Belle  Isle, 
Salisbury,  Andersonville,  Savannah,  Flor- 
ence, Mellen,  Charleston,  and  St.  John's  Col- 
lege Hospital.  He  was  discharged  from  the 
hospital,  July  2,  1865,  a  mere  anatomy,  hav- 
ing been  reduced  in  weight  while  in  Southern 
prisons  from  one  hundred  and  ninety  nine 
pounds  to  ninety -six  pounds.  After  his  re- 
turn home,  when  his  health  permitted,  Mr. 
Hayden  resumed  his  trade,  and  followed  it  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  was  then  appointed 
Inspector  by  the  Board  of  Health,  a  position 
which  he  held  for  six  or  seven  years.  Then 
he  became  a  permanent  patrolman  on  the  po- 
lice force.  Two  years  later,  in  1893,  he  was 
appointed  Chief  of  Police,  a  capacity  in  which 
he  has  since  served  most  satisfactorily  to  the 
city  and  with  credit  to  himself. 

For  several  years  Chief  Hayden  was  cap- 
tain of  the  old  "Tiger  Fire  Company,"  and  he 
was  engineer  of  the  fire  department  for  five 
years.  He  is  a  member  of  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.;  of  Delphi  Lodge,  K.  of 
P.,  of  Weymouth:  of  Philedian  Senate, 
K.  A.  E.  O.  ;  and  of  Paul  Revere  Post, 
G.  A.  R.  In  November,  1866,  he  married 
Miss  Lavina  H.  Thayer,  a  daughter  of  John 
H.  Thayer,  of  Braintree,  Mass. 


74 


i:i<  (GRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


§OSLl'li  DYER,  a  leading  business  man 
of  South  Weymouth,  president  of  the 
South  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  and 
formerly  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts legislature,  was  born  in  this  town,  No- 
vember g,  1830,  son  of  Joseph  and  Betsey 
(White)  Dyer.  His  parents  were  both  na- 
tives oi  Weymouth;  and  his  grandfather,  John 
Dyer,  was  in  his  day  one  of  its  wealthy  and 
prominent  citizens.  The  family  has  long 
been  a  reputable  one   in  this  locality. 

foseph  Dyer  grew  to  manhood  in  his  native 
town,  and  acquired  a  common-school  educa- 
tion. At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  engaged 
in  stamping  and. gilding  boots,  a  business 
which  he  followed  successfully  for  fifteen 
years.  In  [  866  he  established  himself  in  the 
grocery  business  in  Independence  Square, 
where  he  has  since  continued  to  maintain  a 
large  patronage.  He  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  .Smith  Weymouth  Savings  Bank, 
of  which  he  is  now  president  and  a  trustee; 
and  he  is  a  director  of  the  First  National 
Bank,  of  which  also  he  was  an  incorporator. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Weymouth  Grocers' 
Association,  and  as  a  live  business  man  is  ac- 
tively interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  town. 
In  politics  a  Republican,  he  was  elected  to 
the  legislature  in  1873;  and  for  a  number  of 
years  he  served  the  town  as  Auditor. 

.Mr.  Dyer  has  been  twice  married.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  first  wife  was  Caroline 
Blackinton.  His  present  wife,  who  was  in 
maidenhood  Florence  Deane,  is  a  native  of 
South  Weymouth.  Mr.  Dyer  is  widely  and 
favorably  known  among  the  business  men  of 
this  section,  and  possesses  the  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  his  fellow-townsmen. 


LIVER  CAPEN,  born  in  Dedham, 
October  14,  1804,  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Submit  (Bullard)  Capen,  was 
prominent  in  business  circles,  both  in 
Dedham  and  Boston,  and  is  well  remembered 
by  the  older  residents  of  Dedham.  His  first 
American  ancestor,  who  came  from  England, 
was  an  early  settler  in  Dorchester,  Mass. 
.Nathaniel  Capen,  born  in  Sharon,  Mass., 
spent  his  last  years  in  Dedham.  His  first 
marriage  was  contracted  with   Submit  Bullard, 


the  mother  of  Oliver  Capen.  For  his  second 
wife  he  married  Olive,  a  sister  of  his  first 
wife. 

Oliver  Capen  at  first  engaged  in  farming. 
Shortly  after  he  embarked  in  a  mercantile 
business  here  in  Dedham.  When  the  Read- 
ville  branch  railroad  was  extended  to  Dedham, 
he  took  the  road  on  a  lease,  and  was  for  some 
time  its  sole  manager.  He  subsequently 
went  into  the  wood  and  coal  business  at  Pack- 
ard's Wharf,  Boston,  afterward  adding  the 
sale  of  brick,  lime,  and  cement.  For  several 
years  after  his  marriage  he  occupied  his 
father's  old  homestead  on  Westfield  Street, 
Dedham.  Later  he  removed  to  the  Whiting 
homestead  on  High  Street,  where  he  after- 
ward lived. 

Mr.  Capen  married  Sarah  Ann  Whiting, 
who  was  born  in  Dedham,  daughter  of  Calvin 
and  Elizabeth  (Fuller)  Whiting.  Her 
grandfather,  Isaac  Whiting,  was  a  farmer  and 
large  land-owner  here,  and  influential  in  town 
affairs.  Calvin  Whiting,  who  was  a  man  of 
much  inventive  genius,  was  engaged  in  the 
cotton  manufacturing  business  for  a  time,  but 
was  better  known  as  a  manufacturer  of  tin- 
ware. His  inventive  ability  served  him  well 
in  both  these  lines,  for  use  in  which  he 
invented  and  improved  numerous  pieces  of 
machinery.  Soon  after  his  marriage  he  built 
the  house  now  occupied  by  his  grandchildren, 
the  son  and  daughter  of  Oliver  and  Sarah  Ann 
Capen,  and  where  his  last  days  were  spent. 
Mrs.  Whiting  was  born  in  Dedham,  daughter 
of  Hezekiah  and  Anna  (Draper)  Fuller.  Mr. 
Capen  died  October  23,  1865,  and  his  wife 
on  March  27,  1888.  A  son  and  daughter 
survive  them  — ■  Calvin  Whiting  Capen  and 
Elizabeth  Fuller  Capen.  The  son,  who  was 
in  business  for  some  years,  of  late  has  lived 
retired,  only  looking  after  his  private*  inter- 
ests. The  daughter  received  a  high-school 
education.  Since  the  death  of  her  mother  she 
has  resided  with  her  brother. 


ENRY    WHITE,  turnkey  at  the   Nor- 
folk   County  jail   and    house   of   cor- 
rection, located  in  Dedham,  Mass., 
has   held   this  position   since    1859, 
making  a  service,  with  the  exception  of  a  brief 


JOSEPH    DYER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


77 


term  of  absence  in  war  time,  of  nearly  four 
decades.  He  was  born  April  20,  1824,  in  the 
neighboring  town  of  Weymouth,  where  his 
great-grandfather  White  had  settled  early  in 
life,  and  where  his  father,  George  W.  White, 
and  his  grandfather,  whose  name  was  Jona- 
than, were  both  born  and  reared.  Jonathan 
White  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Weymouth,  and  also  worked  at  the  shoe- 
maker's trade  more  or  less  during  his  long 
life  of  eighty  years. 

George  W.  White  was  a  noted  musician  in 
his  day,  and  for  some  years  in  addition  to  his 
other  labors  he  kept  a  livery  stable  in  Wey- 
mouth. He  was  progressive  in  his  views, 
highly  respected  for  his  intelligence  and  in- 
tegrity. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Betsey  Burrell,  was  a  native  of  Weymouth, 
being  one  of  a  large  family  of  children  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Burrell.  Her 
father,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  fourscore  years, 
was  a  shoemaker  and  farmer  throughout  his 
active  life.  Mrs.  Betsey  B.  White  bore  her 
husband  twelve  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
mature  years,  the  following  being  yet  alive, 
namely:  Elizabeth,  a  teacher  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal. ;  George  W. ,  Deputy  Sheriff  of 
Norfolk  County;  William;  Henry,  the  spe- 
cial subject  of  this  brief  biographical  record; 
Francis  E. ;  and  Melvina,  who  married 
Francis  Bush.  The  mother,  who  was  con- 
nected with  the  Orthodox  church,  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years. 

Henry  White  grew  to  man's  estate  on  the 
home  farm,  attending  the  district  schools  in 
his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  learning  the  shoe- 
maker's trade  from  his  father.  On  attaining 
his  majority,  he  embarked  in  business  for  him- 
self, engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  at 
Weymouth  Landing,  where  he  continued  until 
his  appointment  to  his  present  office  in  1859. 
In  this  position  Mr.  White  has  served  most 
faithfully  and  satisfactorily,  discharging  his 
official  duties  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the 
highest  commendation,  and  has  the  entire  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  those  above  and  below 
him.  The  number  of  prisoners  under  his 
charge  averages  about  ninety,  although  it  has 
at  times  been  as  high  as  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  but  not  often.  In  1862  Mr.  White, 
shortly    after    the  hanging  of   Hersey  at    the 


jail,  left  his  position  in  order  to  serve  in  de- 
fence of  his  country,  enlisting  from  Wey- 
mouth in  Company  A,  Forty-second  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  in  which  he 
served  nine  months,  being  with  General 
Banks's  expedition  at  various  points  along 
the  coast.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
enlistment  he  returned  to  Dedham,  ami  re- 
sumed his  duties  as  turnkey. 

Mr.  White  was  married  in  May,  1849,  :o 
Miss  Mary  Wales,  who  was  born  in  Weymouth, 
a  daughter  of  Asa  B.  Wales,  for  forty  years  a 
well-known  and  popular  tavern-keeper  of  that 
town.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  reared  one  child, 
a  son,  Frank  W.,  who  is  in  the  insurance 
business  in  Boston.  He  married  Delia  Star- 
rett,  and  has  two  children  —  Winnifred  and 
Starrett.  Mrs.  White  passed  to  the  life  be- 
yond in  May,  1893,  aged  sixty-two  years. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  strength  and  purity 
of  character,  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew 
her,  and  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Universal- 
ist  church,  as  is  Mr.  White.  He  is  a  stead- 
fast Republican  in  his  political  affiliations, 
and,  fraternally,  belongs  to  Constellation 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  which  he  joined  soon 
after  its  organization. 


ORING  G.  LITTLEFIELD,  a  shoe 
manufacturer  of  Avon,  is  a  native  of 
Randolph,  born  October  24,  1848. 
lie  is  a  son  of  Aaron  and  Emily 
(Wales)  Littlefield.  The  father  is  a  native  of 
the  Pine  Tree  State;  and  the  mother  was  born 
in  Randolph,  Mass.  They  had  a  family  of 
fourteen  children,  of  whom  Loring  G.  was 
the  seventh  child.  He  acquired  his  primary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  East 
Stoughton,  to  which  place  his  parents  moved 
when  he  was  three  years  old.  Subsequently 
he  attended  school  for  one  term  in  Middle- 
boro,  Mass.  When  about  fourteen  years  of 
age  he  went  to  work  in  the  boot  manufactory 
of  E.  Tucker  &  Co.  in  East  Stoughton  (now 
Avon),  where  for  a  short  time  he  was  em- 
ployed in  the  stitching  department.  After- 
ward for  a  number  of  years  he  worked  in  the 
stitching  department  of  E.  W.  S:  G.  W. 
Littlefield's  factory.  Entering  into  partner- 
ship  with    E.    W.    and    G.    F.    Littlefield    in 


7« 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1872,  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes  at  East  Stoughton,  under  the 
firm  name  of  E.  W.  Littlefield  &  Co.,  for 
four  years.  Then  for  six  years  Mr.  Little- 
field  was  in  the  livery  business  in  East 
Stoughton,  and  bought  and  sold  all  kinds  of 
live  stock.  During  the  ensuing  five  years  he 
was  associated  with  G.  F.  Littlefield  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  in  East 
Stoughton  and  Brockton,  the  firm  being  G.  F. 
&  !..(..  Littlefield.  Since  1888  he  has  man- 
aged an  independent  business,  manufacturing 
a  medium  grade  of  men's,  boys',  and  youth's 
shoes.  He  has  erected  a  large  plant,  and 
when  business  is  good  employs  about  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  hands. 

In  1882  he  was  married  to  Miss  Celia 
Lynch,  of  East  Stoughton,  and  has  a  promis- 
ing family  of  Wvc  children  —  Loring,  George 
H.,  Frank  W.,  Annie  G.,  and  Celia  V.  Mr. 
Littlefield,  who  is  a  Republican,  served  for 
three  years  as  Selectman  of  Avon.  He  is  ac- 
tively interested  in  local  politics. 


'ECHARIAH  L.  BICKNELL,  an  ex- 
Representative  to  the  General  Court 
from  Weymouth,  and  the  president  of 
the  East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank, 
was  born  in  Weymouth,  June  28,  1820,  son  of 
Lovell  and  Rebecca  (Dyer)  Bicknell,  who 
were  also  natives  of  Weymouth.  The  family 
is  an  old  and  honored  one  in  the  town.  Its 
first  representative  came  here  about  the  year 
1635.  Mr.  Bicknell's  maternal  grandfather, 
Asa  Dyer,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  Zechariah. 
Lovell  Bicknell,  the  father,  was  a  stanch 
Democrat,  and  for  a  time  the  Town  Treasurer 
of  Weymouth.  In  his  youth  he  was  a  sea- 
man. Later  he  was  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment in  building  stone  piers  and  walls,  and 
did  considerable  work  of  that  kind  at  New- 
port, R.I.  He  kept  his  residence  in  Wey- 
mouth, and  died  in  1872.  Of  his  children, 
Zechariah  L.  is  the  only  survivor. 

Zechariah  L.  Bicknell  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Weymouth  and 
in  a  private  academy  at  Hingham.  When 
about  seventeen  years  of  age  he  began  to 
learn  the  carpenter's  trade   in   Boston.      Hav- 


ing served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years, 
he  worked  as  a  journeyman  for  some  time.  In 
1850  he  engaged  as  clerk  in  a  store  of  East 
Weymouth;  and  in  1865  he  started  a  general 
merchandise  business  for  himself,  and  con- 
ducted it  afterward  for  fifteen  years.  He  sub- 
sequently became  an  insurance  broker,  which 
business  he  still  carries  on,  representing  the 
Hingham  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  in 
Weymouth.  One  of  the  organizers  of  the 
East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  he  is  now  a 
member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees  and  its  presi- 
dent. He  was  a  Representative  to  General 
Court  for  the  sessions  of  1856,  1857,  and 
1 89 1.  For  fifteen  years  he  served  as  Select- 
man of  Weymouth,  being  for  much  of  the 
time  chairman  of  the  board.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  what  has  since  been  known  as  the  War 
Board.  He  has  also  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Assessors.  In  politics  he  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat. 

Mr.  Bicknell  married  Abbie  L.  Perry,  who 
bore  him  three  children.  These  were:  Mary 
L. ,  now  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  George 
Miles,  of  Weymouth:  Ruth  L.,  the  wife  of 
Charles  Harrington,  of  Weymouth ;  and  Ma- 
rinda,  the  wife  of  Samuel  C.  Denton.  Mr. 
Bicknell's  present  wife  was  previously  Mrs. 
Sarah  C.  Barker,  the  widow  of  the  late  Warren 
W.  Barker,  of  Marshfield.  Mr.  Bicknell  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  society.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  Orphans'  Hope  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  of  East  Weymouth,  and  was  the  first 
Master  after  the  return  of  its  charter.  He  be- 
longs to  Crescent  Lodge  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 
of  East  Weymouth,  is  one  of  its  trustees,  and 
takes  an  active  interest  in  its  welfare.  He 
has  done  considerable  business  in  settling  es- 
tates, having  been  administrator  in  a  number 
of  instances.  He  has  also  been  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  A  self-made  man  of  high  integ- 
rity and  sterling  character,  he  has  the  respect 
of  his  townsmen. 


UGUSTUS    L.    CHASE,    M.D.,    of 
Randolph,  physician  and  surgeon,  was 
born    in    Somerset,    Vt.,    March    9, 
1849.       A    son     ot     Abraham     and 
Catherine  (Reed)  Chase,  he  comes  of  an   old 


** 


ZECHARIAH    L.    BICKXELL. 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


New  England  family.  Three  brothers, 
Thomas,  William,  and  Aquila  Chase,  came 
to  this  country  from  England  some  time  after 
the  arrival  of  the  "Mayflower,"  and  settled  in 
New  England.  Dr.  Chase  is  a  descendant  in 
the  seventh  generation  from  Aquila.  His 
great-great-grandfather  Chase  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier.  Abraham  Chase  was  a  farmer 
and  a  native  and  lifelong  resident  of  Whiting- 
ham,  V't.  His  wife  also  was  of  English  de- 
scent and  a  native  of  Whitingham.  Her 
father,  Calvin  Reed,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 
of  1 812. 

Augustus  L.  Chase  was  reared  on  his 
father's  farm  in  Whitingham,  and  attended 
the  public  schools  of  that  town,  including  the 
high  school.  When  he  was  twenty  years  of 
age  he  began  to  study  medicine  with  Dr.  C. 
Edwin  Miles,  of  Boston,  under  whose  direc- 
tion mainly  he  studied  three  years,  in  the 
meanwhile  taking  the  regular  course  of  lect- 
ures at  the  Eclectic  Medical  Institute  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio.  Having  graduated  from  this 
institution  on  February  7,  1872,  in  the 
month  of  March  following  he  entered  upon 
his  profession  in  Randolph,  which  has  been 
his  field  of  labor  ever  since.  He  worked  hard 
to  qualify  himself  for  his  calling,  and  earned 
money  by  teaching  school  in  Whitingham  dur- 
ing the  winter  season.  Dr.  Chase  has  a  large 
general  practice,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by 
his  fellows.  An  editorial  in  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical Journal  of  August,  1894,  says  he 
"is  painstaking  in  his  methods;  bases  his 
views  and  efforts  only  upon  the  most  careful 
investigations;  and,  his  conclusions  once 
formed,  is  prompt  to  act,  firm  in  his  convic- 
tions, and  fearless  in  the  discharge  of  duty." 
He  was  the  recording  secretary  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Eclectic  Medical  Society  for  years, 
and  was  the  president  in  1885,  doing  much  to 
promote  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the 
organization.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Boston 
District  Eclectic  Medical  Society  and  the  Bos- 
ton Eclectic  Gynaecological  and  Obstetrical 
Society.  In  1894  he  was  appointed  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Registra- 
tion in  Medicine  for  six  years;  and  from  Au- 
gust, 1891,  to  September,  1893,  during  Presi- 
dent Harrison's  administration,  he  was  a 
member  of   the   Pension    Examining   Board   of 


Brockton.  His  practice  includes  his  duties 
as  the  medical  examiner  for  a  number  of  fra- 
ternal organizations  and  insurance  companies. 
In  1873  Dr.  Chase  was  married  to  Mary  L. , 
daughter  of  Ephraim  Mann,  of  Randolph, 
Mass.  His  children  are:  Ella  L. ,  a  graduate 
of  the  department  of  liberal  arts  in  Boston 
University;  Herbert  M.,  a  student  at  Harvard 
College;  and  Gilman  L.,  a  graduate  of  the 
Randolph  High  School.  Dr.  Chase  has 
served  as  chairman  of  the  Randolph  Republi- 
can Committee,  and  he  takes  an  active  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  his  party  and  the  prog- 
ress of  his  town.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
New  England  Order  of  Protection;  of  the 
Knights  of  Honor;  of  Rising  Star  Eodge,  No. 
76,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  of  Randolph;  and  of  Golden 
Star  Lodge,  No.  69,  Daughters  of  Rebecca,  of 
the  same  place. 


HARLES  HENRY  BELCHER,  a 
retired  merchant  of  Holbrook,  is  a 
Is  native  of   East   Randolph  (now  Hol- 

brook), born  June  4,  1830.  His 
parents  were  Jeremiah  and  Hannah  (Brooks) 
Belcher.  The  father  also,  who  was  a  farmer, 
was  a  native  of  East  Randolph.  The  mother 
was  born  in  Hanover,  Mass. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  a 
farm  in  East  Randolph,  and  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  this  town.  When  about  six- 
teen years  of  age  he  began  to  work  at  shoe- 
making,  and  when  he  became  of  age  he  en- 
gaged in  the  shoe  business  on  his  own  account 
in  East  Randolph.  His  business  prospered, 
and  in  course  of  time  he  added  the  manufact- 
ure of  boots.  He  had  a  large  factory,  and 
did  a  prosperous  business,  employing  from 
forty  to  fifty  hands.  In  1883  his  factory  was 
burned,  and  he  did  not  attempt  to  rebuild. 
He  subsequently  opened  a  general  store  in 
Holbrook,  which  he  conducted  until  1894, 
when  he  retired. 

Mr.  Belcher  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  who  was  before  marriage  Miss  Eliz- 
abeth A.  Gurney,  of  Abington,  Mass.,  died 
March  16,  1867,  leaving  one  daughter,  Clara 
F.,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  J.  Elliott  Chand- 
ler, of  Brockton,  Mass.  The  present  Mrs. 
Belcher    was    in    maidenhood     Miss    F.liza    J. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    KF.VIF.W 


Thayer,  daughter  of  Otis  Thayer  (now  de- 
ceased), of  Hoi  brook.  By  her  also  he  has  one 
living  daughter,  Fannie  E.,  wife  of  I. ester 
S.  Holbrook,  of  Holbrook,  Mass.  Mr. 
Belcher  is  a  Republican,  politically.  Me 
was  on  the  Holbrook  Board  of  Selectmen  for 
a  number  of  years.  lie  is  a  public-spirited 
citizen,  in  favor  of  all  projects  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  town,  and  has  aided  materi- 
ally in  improving  it.  Belcher  Street  is 
named  in  his  honor.  Mr.  Belcher  is  Assistant 
Dictator  of  the  Knights  of  Honor  of  Holbrook. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Winthrop  Congrega- 
tional Church.  A  well-known  citizen,  he  has 
the  confidence  of  his  townsmen,  and  is  univer- 
sally respected.  He  has  a  pleasant  home  at 
the  corner  of  Plymouth  and  Weymouth 
Streets. 


|RS.  LOUISA  MARSH,  of  Ded- 
ham,_the  widow  of  the  late  George 
Marsh,  is  a  native  of  this  town 
and  a  daughter  of  Ezra  W.  and 
Lendamine  (Guild)  Taft.  Her  paternal 
grandfather,  Frederick  Taft,  who  was  a  life- 
long resident  of  Uxbridge,  Mass.,  and  was  for 
many  years  prominently  identified  with  the 
public  affairs  of  that  town,  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty.  Ezra  \V.  Taft  was  a  native  of  Ux- 
bridge. He  settled  in  Dedham,  and  became 
one  of  the  best  known  cotton  manufacturers  of 
this  locality  in  his  day.  He  built  a  cotton- 
mill  in  Readville,  and  carried  it  on  for  some 
years.  He  then  constructed  the  dam  at  East 
Dedham;  and,  erecting  a  large  stone  cotton 
factory,  he  continued  to  manufacture  goods  ex- 
tensively until  his  retirement  from  business, 
which  took  place  in  1861.  He  was  prominent 
in  financial  circles  and  the  president  of  the 
Dedham  National  Bank.  In  politics  he  acted 
with  the  Republican  party.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  for  many  years, 
and  a  Representative  in  the  State  legislature 
for  four  terms.  At  his  death  he  was  eighty- 
four  years  old.  His  wife,  Lendamine,  was 
born  in  Dedham.  Her  father,  Calvin  Guild, 
descended  from  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
this  town.  She  died  October  24,  1897,  aged 
ninety-four  years.  Of  the  six  children  reared 
by    her,     live    are    living,    namely:    Josephus, 


who  resides  in  Boston;  Cornelius,  who  resides 
in  Dedham;  Minerva,  of  whom  there  is  no 
special  record;  Louisa,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Ezra  F.,  a  resident  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.  Both  parents  were  united  with  the 
Congregational  church. 

On  June  19,  1869,  Louisa  Taft  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  George  Marsh.  He  was 
born  in  Dedham,  June  24,  1838,  son  of  Daniel 
Marsh.  His  father,  who  was  a  native  of 
Hingham,  Mass.,  learned  the  mason's  trade  in 
Dedham,  and  followed  it  during  the  active 
period  of  his  life.  He  died  here  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  George  Marsh  was  educated  in 
the  graded  and  high  schools  of  this  town. 
After  completing  his  studies,  he  entered 
Tower's  drug  store  as  an  apprentice.  He  re- 
mained with  Mr.  Tower  for  some  time,  and 
then  went  to  Boston,  where  he  was  employed 
as  a  drug  clerk  for  four  years.  When  twenty- 
one  years  old  he  returned  to  Dedham,  and, 
purchasing  his  former  employer's  store,  he  en- 
gaged in  business  upon  his  own  account.  For 
over  thirty  years  he  conducted  one  of  the  best 
pharmaceutical  establishments  in  Dedham, 
and  enjoyed  a  liberal  patronage.  He  took  a 
lively  interest  in  all  matters  relative  to  the 
progress  and  improvement  of  the  town,  was 
highly  esteemed  for  his  many  commendable 
qualities,  and  was  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Congregational  church.  He  died  December 
25,  1890,  aged  fifty-two  years.  Mrs.  Marsh 
and  he  were  the  parents  of  three  children, 
namely:  Theodore  T. ,  who  resides  in  Ded- 
ham, and  is  in  the  insurance  business  in  Bos- 
ton; Alice,  who  is  employed  at  the  Dedham 
Public  Library;  and  Louise,  a  kindergarten 
teacher  in  Dedham. 

Mrs.  Marsh  and  her  children  are  members 
of  the  Congregational  church,  and  take  an 
earnest  interest  in  Sunday-school  work.  The 
family  occupy  a  pleasantly  located  residence, 
which  was  built  by  the  late  Mr.  Marsh  in 
1870. 


T^HARLES      WILSON,     a     prosperous 
I   v-'      granite    dealer  of    Ouincy,    was    born 

VyHs_^,  here,  March   18,    1833,  son    of    Will- 
iam  Wilson.      The  father,    who  was 
born    and    bred    in    Cambridge,    Mass.,    after 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


83 


learning  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  followed 
that  occupation  in  his  native  town  for  a  few 
years.  Then  he  removed  to  Quincy,  thinking 
this  town  a  better  location  for  one  in  his  busi- 
ness, and  thereafter  remained  a  resident  until 
his  death  in  1862,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years.  A  man  of  much  enterprise,  he  not 
only  followed  blacksmithing  after  coming 
here,  but  added  materially  to  his  income  by 
his  dealings  in  granite,  for  some  years  operat- 
ing a  quarry  from  which  he  obtained  a  valu- 
able building  stone.  In  politics  he  was  an  old 
Jacksonian  Democrat.  He  married  Louisa, 
daughter  of  Micaiah  Adams,  of  Quincy,  and 
became  the  father  of  nine  children,  namely: 
George  Frederick,  now  deceased;  Emeline, 
who  married  William  Parker,  of  this  city; 
Ann,  also  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  Al- 
bert Thayer,  of  Quincy;  Francis,  likewise  de- 
ceased; William,  now  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.; 
Charles,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  John,  of 
Ouincy;  Adeline,  the  wife  of  Edward  Nutter, 
of  South  Lancaster,  Mass.;  and  Lydia 
Amanda,  the  wife  of  Wallace  Manuel,  of 
North  Weymouth,  Mass.  In  religion  both 
parents  were  of  the  liberal  type  of  believers, 
and  were  active  members  of  the  Universalist 
church. 

In  his  boyhood  Charles  Wilson  attended  the 
public  schools  of  Ouincy.  He  began  earning 
his  living  by  working  in  a  quarry.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  embarked  in  business  for  him- 
self as  a  manufacturer  of  paving  stone  for  the 
New  Orleans  and  Philadelphia  markets.  Now 
he  has  what  is  claimed  to  be  the  most  extensive 
trade  in  his  line  of  any  dealer  of  the  locality. 
At  the  outset  he  employed  about  twenty  men 
•  in  cutting  the  granite,  and  did  a  good  deal  of 
teaming,  keeping  six  of  the  largest  and  sleek- 
est oxen  in  Ouincy.  Since  then,  on  occasions 
when  business  was  at  its  prime,  he  kept  as 
many  as  one  hundred  men  busy  in  preparing 
the  paving  blocks,  of  which  he  shipped  from 
seventy^five  to  one  hundred  thousand  in  a  day. 
He  is  likewise  somewhat  interested  in  real  es- 
tate, his  sales  in  realty  being  considerable. 
In  politics  he  affiliates  with  the  Republican 
party,  but  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for 
official  honors. 

On  January  1,  1872,  Mr.  Wilson  married 
Mary  B.,  daughter  of  William   H.    Harris,  of 


East  Stoughton,  Mass.  She  passed  away  on 
February  26,  1897,  leaving  one  son,  Charles 
Henry.  Two  other  children  born  of  the  union 
died  at  an  early  age.  Mr.  Wilson  is  liberal 
in  his  religious  beliefs,  and  an  attendant  of 
the  Universalist  church.  He  is  held  in  high 
respect  as  a  man  of  good  business  capacity, 
upright  and  honorable  in  all  his  dealings,  and 
a  most  useful  citizen. 


RANCIS  AMBLER,  of  Weymouth,  an 
ex-member  of  the  State  legislature  for 
Weymouth  and  Ouincy,  and  a  dealer  in 
flour  and  grain  at  East  Braintree,  was  born 
here  in  June,  1833.  He  is  a  son  of  Nelson 
and  Emily  (Nash)  Ambler,  both  natives  of 
Weymouth.  The  family  is  an  old  one  here, 
and  is  well  and  favorably  known.  Mr. 
Ambler's  great-uncle  on  his  mother's  side 
was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  18  12.  His  uncle, 
William  G.  Nash,  though  now  eighty-four 
years  old,  is  still  actively  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business  in  Weymouth. 

When  Francis  was  in  his  fourth  year  his 
father  died;  and  his  mother  subsequently  mar- 
ried Silas  Binney,  who  for  twenty  years  was  a 
Deputy  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  County.  Owing  to 
an  injury  of  a  leg,  received  from  the  stroke  of 
a  hammer  when  in  his  fifth  year,  he  could  not 
go  about  much  until  eleven  years  of  age,  and 
in  the  interval  received  special  instruction  at 
home,  and  later  attended  a  private  school. 
When  able  to  do  so,  he  went  to  the  Weymouth 
public  schools,  working  mornings  and  even- 
ings in  the  drug  store  of  Amos  S.  White  at 
Weymouth.  When  about  thirty  years  of  age, 
having  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
drug  business,  he  bought  out  Mr.  White,  and 
afterward  conducted  the  store  for  about  seven- 
teen years.  Early  in  the  eighties  he  joined 
A.  L.  Hobart  in  the  flour  and  grain  business, 
which,  with  a  mill  located  at  the  head  of  Mo- 
natiquit  River,  was  carried  on  under  the  name 
of  Ambler  &  Hobart.  At  the  end  of  a  year 
Mr.  Ambler  bought  out  his  partner's  interest, 
and  since  then,  while  retaining  the  firm 
name,  has  been  the  sole  proprietor.  In  the 
different  departments  he  employs  eight  men, 
and  he  gives  his  personal  supervision  to  the 
details  of  the  business.      Some  time  after  en- 


84 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


gaging  in  this  business,  he  sold  out  his  drug 
store  to  Dr.  E.  L.  Warren.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  he  has  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  town  affairs.  For  several  years  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  of  Wey- 
mouth, and  for  a  part  of  that  time  the  clerk  of 
the  Board.  In  1885  and  1886  he  represented 
Weymouth  and  Quincy  in  the  legislature,  and 
was  clerk  of  the  Legislative  Committee  on 
Insurance. 

Mr.  Ambler  married  Elvira  C.  Paty,  of 
Plymouth,  and  has  one  daughter,  Emma  F., 
now  the  wife  of  Dr.  John  F.  Welch,  of 
Quincy.  He  attends  the  Union  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Weymouth  and  Braintree,  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  of  Wey- 
mouth, and  a  promoter  and  charter  member  of 
the  Royal  Arcanum  at  Weymouth.  He  has 
been  president  of  the  South  Shore  Co-opera- 
tive Bank  since  its  organization,  a  director  of 
both  the  Union  National  Bank  of  Weymouth 
and  the  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  and  a  trus- 
tee of  the  Tufts  Library  since  its  incorpora- 
tion. A  self-made  man,  Mr.  Ambler  is  a 
good  representative  of  those  who  win  respect 
for  themselves,  a  position  of  influence,  and  a 
comfortable  fortune. 


/^EORGE  W.  FOSTER,  a  leading  cit- 
\  '*>  I  izen  of  Franklin,  Mass.,  was  born  in 
^—  this  town,  February  20,  1841,  son  of 
Benjamin  and  Mary  Ann  (Cook)  Foster. 
The  father,  who  was  a  farmer  and  a  boat- 
builder  by  occupation,  was  also  a  much  re- 
spected citizen  of  Franklin.  He  had  two 
children:  George  Thompson,  who  died  in  boy- 
hood; and  George  W.,  whose  name  appears  at 
the  head  of  this  sketch. 

George  W.  Foster  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Franklin.  He  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, after  his  marriage  settling  on  his  present 
farm,  then  known  as  the  Jabez  Wright  farm, 
and  which  contains  at  this  time  about  fifty 
acres.  Mr.  Foster  is  thoroughly  up-to-date 
in  his  methods,  and  has  greatly  improved  his 
property.  He  carries  on  general  farming, 
and  also  devotes  considerable  attention  to  rais- 
ing poultry  for  the  market.  He  is  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in 
the  welfare  of   the  town,  but    has   hitherto  de- 


clined office.  He  was  married  on  June  29, 
1870,  to  Amelia  Wheldon,  of  Lynn,  Mass. 
Mrs.  Foster's  lather  was  an  awl-maker  by 
trade,  and  her  mother  is  now  living  in  Attle- 
boro.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  have  had  three 
children:  Alice  A.,  now  living  at  home; 
Mabel,  working  in  Boston;  and  Gertrude 
Louise,  a  bright  little  girl,  who  passed  away 
at  the  age  of  four  years.  Although  Mr. 
Foster  has  kept  out  of  politics,  he  fulfils  the 
obligations  of  citizenship  by  using  his  influ- 
ence in  behalf  of  the  best  men  and  measures; 
and  he  and  his  family  are  highly  esteemed  by 
their  fellow-townspeople. 


,OYAL  T.  MANN,  a  prosperous 
dairy  fanner  of  Randolph,  son  of 
Alvan  ami  Emeline  R.  (Mitchell) 
Mann,  was  born  February  10,  1843. 
at  the  homestead  where  he  now  resides.  This 
farm  was  purchased  by  his  great-grandfather, 
Joseph  Man,  a  native  of  Scituate,  in  1734, 
what  is  now  the  town  of  Randolph  then  being 
the  South  Precinct  of  Braintree.  Its  next 
occupant  was  Seth,  son  of  Joseph,  born  in 
Scituate  in  1724;  and  the  third  owner  was 
John  Mann,  a  native  of  Randolph,  son  of  Seth 
and  grandfather  of  Royal  T=  Mann.  Joseph 
Man  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  grandson  of 
Richard  Man,  emigrant,  who  was  made  a  free- 
man at  Scituate  in  January,   1644. 

Alvan  Mann,  son  of  John,  was  a  lifelong 
resident  of  Randolph;  and  for  many  years  he 
cultivated  the  farm  which  his  son,  Royal  T. , 
now  carries  on.  He  married  in  1836  Emeline 
R.  Mitchell,  who  was  born  in  18 14,  daughter 
of  Eliphalet  and  Hannah  (Howard)  Mitchell, 
of  Easton,  Mass.  Her  paternal  grandfather, 
Colonel  Abiel  Mitchell,  commissioned  in 
February,  1776,  rendered  gallant  and  valu- 
able services  to  his  country  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War. 

He  was  a  son  of  Timothy  Mitchell,  of 
Bridgewater,  grandson  of  Thomas,  great- 
grandson  of  Jacob,  and  great-great-grandson  of 
Experience  Mitchell,  one  of  the  forefathers 
who  came  to  Plymouth  in  the  third  ship,  the 
"Ann,"  in  1623.  Colonel  Mitchell  was  a  Se- 
lectman of  Easton  twenty-one  years  and  Rep- 
resentative to  the   Genera]   Court   twenty-two 


ROYAL    T.    MANX. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REYIKW 


years.  He  died  in  1821,  aged  eighty-eight 
years.  "His  grave  in  the  South  Easton  cem- 
etery," says  the  historian,  "is  annually  dec- 
orated with  flowers,  and  with  the  flag  which 
he  so  gallantly  defended." 

Alvan  and  Emeline  R.  M.  (Mitchell)  Mann 
became  the  parents  of  five  children,  four  of 
whom  are  living,  namely:  Dr.  Augustine  A. 
Mann,  who  served  as  surgeon  of  a  Rhode 
Island  Cavalry  Regiment  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  is  now  practising  in  Central  Falls, 
R.I.  ;  Royal  T.  ;  Edwin  M.,  of  Randolph; 
and  Luthera  H.,  who  makes  her  home  with 
her  brother,  Royal  T.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Royal  T.  Mann  received  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  and  the  Stetson  High 
School,  and  his  industrial  training  on  his 
father's  farm.  He  owns  now  the  homestead 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres,  which 
he  has  managed  since  1870,  and  also  has 
some  outlying  wood  lots.  He  devotes  his 
principal  energy  to  dairy  farming,  and  sup- 
plies a  large  number  of  regular  customers 
with  milk.  He  has  served  as  a  Selectman  for 
six  years,  three  years  of  which  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  board  ;  is  now  serving  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Board  and  as  a  trustee  of  the 
Stetson  High  School:  and  has  acted  as  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Mann  is  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  has  been  a  Deacon  since 
1878.  He  is  one  of  the  most  able  farmers 
and  stirring  citizens  of  Randolph,  and  his 
public  services  have  been  of  much  benefit  to 
the  community.  He  has  been  for  many  years 
a  trustee  of  the  Randolph  Savings  Bank. 


LBRIDGE  F.  PORTER,  the  manager 
of  the  Weymouth  Clothing  Company, 
of  the  Braintree  Clothing  Company, 
and  of  the  Granite  Clothing  Company  of 
Quincy,  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and 
progressive  business  men  of  the  county. 
Born  July  31,  1853,  in  South  Braintree, 
Mass.,  he  is  a  son  of  the  late  Joseph  Porter. 
His  grandfather,  Rodolphus  Porter,  a  carpen- 
ter by  trade,  was  born  and   reared   in   Middle- 


boro,  Plymouth  County,  and  there  spent  his 
life. 

Joseph  Porter  was  born  April  28,  1824,  in 
Holbrook,  Mass.,  where  as  a  boy  he  worked  at 
the  shoemaker's  trade.  On  coming  of  age  he 
learned  butchering,  and  subsequently  carried 
on  a  prosperous  business  in  that  line,  running 
two  carts  for  many  years.  He  gave  up  that 
business  when  he  was  made  Postmaster  at  the 
State-house  in  Boston,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death  in  1870.  He  was  a  stanch  Re- 
publican and  an  active  politician,  but  was  not 
an  office-seeker.  A  man  of  broad  and  gener- 
ous sympathies,  he  was  ready  to  share  his  last 
dollar  with  the  needy.  He  was  strictly  tem- 
perate, and  had  the  sincere  respect  of  all  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact.  His  friends 
were  legion,  and  he  had  not  a  known  enemy  in 
the  world.  Although  not  a  member  of  any 
religious  organization,  he  took  an  active  in- 
terest in  church  affairs,  and  for  many  years 
was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church 
choir,  singing  every  Sunday  when  not  de- 
tained at  home  by  reason  of  sickness.  He 
married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  John  Arnold,  of 
South  Braintree,  Mass.  She  was  born  in  that 
town  in  1823,  and  is  still  living,  a  bright  and 
most  lovable  woman.  She  attends  the  Con- 
gregational church.  Of  their  four  children, 
the  survivors  are:  Ann  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Douglas  A.  Brooks,  of  South  Braintree:  Sarah 
P.,  who  married  Azel  R.  French,  a  native  of 
Canton,  Mass.,  now  a  resident  of  South  Brain- 
tree; and  Elbridge  F. ,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Elbridge  F.  Porter  attended  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town  until  after  the 
death  of  his  father.  Going  then  to  Boston, 
he  worked  in  a  boot  and  shoe  store  for  two 
years.  Subsequently  he  was  employed  in  a 
gentlemen's  wholesale  furnishing  house  until 
he  was  of  age.  Familiar  with  the  details  of 
that  business,  he  established  a  store  of  a  sim- 
ilar kind  in  South  Braintree  in  1875  for  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  French,  and  managed  it 
for  some  years.  In  1882  he  opened  a  second 
store  at  Weymouth:  and  a  short  time  later  he 
established  a  like  business  in  Stoughton, 
which  he  conducted  for  five  years.  In  1892 
he  opened  his  present  store  in  Quincy,  under 
the  name  of   the   Granite   Clothing   Company. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Here  he  has  been  as  successful   as  any   mer- 
chant in  the  city. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Porter  belongs  to  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  of  East  Weymouth,  having 
membership  in  the  Wampatuck  Encampment 
of  the  same  place:  also  to  the  Knights  of 
Honor  and  the  Knights  of  I'ythias  of  Brain- 
tree;  to  the  Quincy  Club,  the  Granite  City 
Club,  and  to  the  Braintree  Social  and 
Commercial  Club.  He  first  married  Ella, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Oliver,  of  Avon,  Mass. 
She  died  in  early  womanhood,  leaving  two 
children  —  Joseph  and  Herbert.  His  second 
marriage  was  contracted  with  Miss  Louie 
Howland,  of  Randolph,  Mass.,  who  died  leav- 
ing one  child,  Blanche.  A  third  marriage 
united  Mr.  Porter  with  Miss  Lizzie  Nutter, 
daughter  of  George  Nutter,  of  Quincy;  and 
they  have  one  child  living,  Elberta  Porter. 


"ON.  HENRY  O.  FAIRBANKS,  ex- 
Mayor  of  Quincy,  Mass.,  is  a  native 
of  Boston,  where  he  is  engaged  in 
business  as  a  flour  merchant.  Born 
June  21,  i S 52,  a  son  of  Moses  Fairbanks,  he 
is  a  worthy  representative  of  one  of  the  oldest 
families  of  Norfolk  County,  being  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Jonathan  Fairbanks,  who  emi- 
grated from  Sowerby,  in  Yorkshire,  England, 
arriving  in  Boston  in  1633,  and  in  1636  set- 
tled at  Dedham.  From  timbers  that  he 
brought  with  him  across  the  ocean,  it  is  said, 
he  built  the  main  part  of  the  old  Fairbanks 
house,  a  celebrated  landmark,  still  standing, 
which  has  during  this  time,  a  period  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty  or  more  years,  been  owned 
and  occupied  by  some  of  his  posterity,  who 
have  kept  it  free  from  mortgage  or  other  en- 
cumbrance, it  being  the  oldest  house  in  New 
England  with  such  a  record.  Jonathan  Fair- 
banks became  a  man  of  influence  in  the  little 
hamlet  to  which  he  brought  his  wife  and  fam- 
ily, all  of  whom  were  born  in  England;  and, 
having  been  admitted  as  a  townsman,  he 
signed  the  covenant  in  1642,  and  resided  on 
his  homestead  until  his  death  in   1688. 

Captain  George  Fairbanks,  the  son  of  Jona- 
than, remained  in  Dedham  with  his  parents 
until  1657,  when  he  located  in  that  part  of  the 
county  now  called  Millis.      He  was  one  of  the 


original  settlers  and  founders  of  the  town  of 
Sherborn,  where  he  served  four  years  as  Se- 
lectman, and  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  com- 
mittee to  select  a  minister  for  the  parish 
church.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company.  This 
highly  esteemed  citizen  was  accidentally 
drowned  June  10,  1682.  His  wife.  Mary 
Adams,  of  Dedham,  whom  he  married  October 
26,   1646,  died  August  11,    171  1. 

Their  son,  Eleazer,  Sr. ,  through  whom  the 
line  was  continued,  was  born  June  8,  1655. 
In  1679  he  took  up  a  home  lot  on  Main  Street, 
Sherborn.  Captain  Eleazer  Fairbanks,  son  of 
Eleazer,  Sr. ,  was  born  in  Sherborn,  October 
29,  1690,  and  died  there  September  19,  1741. 
His  wife,  Martha  Bullard,  who  was  born  De- 
cember 25,  1712,  a  daughter  of  Captain  Sam- 
uel Bullard,  survived  him,  and  a  few  years 
after  his  death  married  again. 

Ebenezer  Fairbanks,  son  of  Captain  Eleazer 
and  Martha  Fairbanks,  born  in  Sherborn, 
Mass.,  June  1,  1734,  was  Lieutenant  of  a 
company  of  minute-men  that  promptly  re- 
sponded to  the  alarm  given  on  April  19,  1775, 
and  at  a  later  period  served  for  a  time  as  a 
private  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation;  and  in  1783  he  removed 
to  Brimfield,  Mass.,  settling  in  the  north-east- 
ern part  of  the  town.  He  was  a  man  of  sterl- 
ing qualities,  eminently  pious,  and  served  for 
many  years  as  Deacon  of  the  church.  On 
July  2,  [761,  he  married  Elizabeth  Dearth, 
who  was  born  September  24,  1743,  and  died 
June  15,   1 8 1 S . 

Asa  Fairbanks,  son  of  Deacon  Ebenezer, 
was  born  March  4,  1762,  in  that  part  of  the 
old  town  of  Sherborn  that  is  now  known  as 
Medway.  Although  but  a  boy  when  the  colo- 
nies began  their  struggle  for  independence, 
he  enlisted  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  years  aided  in  guarding 
the  military  stores  around  Sherborn:  and  two 
years  later,  having  again  joined  the  brave  sol- 
dires,  he  was  a  ferryman  during  the  summer 
season  between  Tiverton  and  Greenwich,  R.I., 
transporting  horses,  men,  provisions,  and  am- 
munition. In  1780  he  re-enlisted,  and  was 
sent  to  West  Point,  where  he  was  stationed  on 
that  day  in  September  when  Arnold  attempted 
to  betray  the  fortress   into  the   hands  of  the 


HENRY    O.    FAIRBANKS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


9i 


British.  On  April  28,  17S4,  he  married 
Hepzibah  Adams,  .who  was  born  in  Sherborn, 
December  8,  1761,  a  daughter  of  Captain 
Moses  Adams.  Very  soon  after  their  union 
he  and  his  fair  bride  removed  to  Dublin, 
N.H.,  settling  in  the  midst  of  the  dense 
woods.  For  three  months  or  more  they  lived 
in  a  rude  log  cabin,  having  neither  chimney 
nor  door,  and  did  all  of  their  cooking  by  the 
side  of  a  log  in  the  open  air.  Their  son  Asa 
was  the  grandfather  of  Henry  O.  P'airbanks, 
the  special  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch. 

Asa  Fairbanks,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Dublin, 
N.H.,  March  17,  1787;  and  in  his  early  days 
he  assisted  in  the  pioneer  labor  of  clearing 
the  land  which  his  father  had  purchased.  He 
subsequently  lived  for  a  time  in  Peterboro, 
N.H.,  going  thence  to  the  town  of  Hancock. 
He  met  with  a  premature  death,  being  frozen 
while  out  hunting  near  Centre  Harbor,  N.  H. 
His  first  wife,  the  mother  of  Moses  Fairbanks, 
was  Polly  Whitcomb,  a  daughter  of  John 
Whitcomb.  She  died  September  24,  1838; 
and  he  subsequently  married  Miss  Sarah  Hen- 
iston. 

Moses  Fairbanks,  born  June  19,  18 16,  in 
Peterboro,  N.H.,  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and 
obtained  his  education  in  the  district  school. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  deciding  that  he 
had  no  particular  taste  for  agricultural  pur- 
suits, he  went  to  Concord,  N.H.,  where  he 
worked  in  a  hotel  for  two  years,  and  thence  to 
Boston,  Mass.  He  obtained  a  situation  as 
clerk  with  the  firm  of  Boyd  &  Allen,  being  in 
their  service  while  they  were  building  the 
Howard  Athenaeum.  Subsequently  entering 
into  business  on  his  own  account,  he  was  for  a 
number  of  years  at  the  head  of  the  firm  of 
Fairbanks  &  Beard,  afterward  being  connected 
with  the  firm  of  Moses  Fairbanks  &  Co.  :  and 
he  was  later  in  business  alone  for  five  years. 
He  lived  nearly  fourscore  years,  passing  from 
earth   on    February  4,    1896.      On    April    27, 

1840,  he  married  Frances  Maria  Moulton,  who 
was  born  in  Centre  Harbor,  N.  H.,  May  23, 
1 82  r ,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Smith  and  Deb- 
orah (\Tash)  Moulton.  Their  children  were 
as  follows:    Mary  Frances,  born    December    1, 

1841,  who  married  April  2,  1863,  Daniel  B. 
Spear,  of  Boston  ;  Helen  Maria,  who  was  born 
October    16,    1845,   and  died   April    4,    1846; 


Helen  Louise,  born  April  3,  1847,  died  No- 
vember 2,  1848;  Ella  Abra,  born  March  7, 
1850;  Henry  O.;  William  Moses,  born  De- 
cember II,  1855,  who  married  December  18, 
1879,  Alice  M.  Sargent;  Carrie  Deborah,  born 
April  9,  1858,  who  died  March  1,  1890;  and 
Maria  Moulton,  who  was  born  October  18, 
1863,  and  died  August  28,   1865. 

Henry  O.  Fairbanks  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Boston,  being  graduated 
from  the  English  High  School  with  the  class 
of  1869.  He  at  once  entered  the  employ  of 
Nazro  &  Co.,  commission  merchants  of  that 
city,  and  there  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  flour  and  grain  business.  In  1881  he 
resigned  his  position  to  become  manager  of  a 
large  flouring-mill  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  re- 
maining there  a  year.  In  1882  Mr.  Fairbanks 
returned  to  Boston,  and  opened  an  office  as  a 
flour  merchant  on  Commercial  Street,  where 
he  soon  established  an  extensive  business, 
which  has  constantly  increased.  On  the  com- 
pletion of  the  present  Chamber  of  Commerce 
he  removed  his  office  to  that  building,  where 
he  is  still  engaged,  being  the  representative  of 
several  of  the  leading  flouring-mills  of  the 
United  States.  Removing  to  Quincy  soon 
after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Fairbanks  has  since 
been  identified  with  the  highest  interests  of 
this  city. 

In  1889,  when  the  city  charter  was  granted, 
he  represented  Ward  Five  in  the  Common 
Council;  and,  being  re-elected  the  succeeding 
year,  he  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of 
that  body.  In  1891  he  was  elected  to  the 
highest  office  within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-cit- 
izens, being  chosen  Mayor  of  the  city ;  and 
the  ensuing  two  years  he  was  honored  with  a 
re-election  to  the  same  position.  During  his 
mayoralty  the  town  reached  its  one  hundredth 
birthday;  and  he,  as  chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  having  charge  of  the  celebra- 
tion, did  much  to  insure  its  success.  While 
he  was  Mayor,  the  present  system  of  water- 
works was  completed,  the  commodious  and 
well-equipped  high-school  building  was 
erected,  also  the  large  central  fire  engine 
house,  and  the  lawsuit  of  Quincy  with  Dart- 
mouth College  over  the  Woodward  fund  was 
settled  in  the  city's  favor. 

In  politics   Mr.  Fairbanks   is  a  stanch    Re- 


;• 


feiOGRAPHtCAL    REVIEW 


publican.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Rural 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Quincy,  of  which 
he  is  Past  Master;  is  a  member  of  St. 
Stephen's  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  j  and  of  South 
Shore  Commandery;  and  has  been  District 
.  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Masonic  Dis- 
trict. He  also  belongs  to  the  John  Hancock 
Lodge,  I.  O.  ().  F. ;  to  the  Wollaston  Lodge, 
K.  of  H.,  of  which  he  has  been  Dictator  and 
District  Deputy;  Woodbine  Lodge,  K.  & 
L.  of  H.,  which  he  has  served  as  Protector; 
and  he  is  a  Past  Sachem  of  Hodenosaunee 
Tribe,  I.  O.  R.  M. 

Mr.  Fairbanks  was  married  January  14. 
1.S75.  to  Miss  Carrie  A.,  daughter  of  Henry 
11.  and  Julia  F.  (Severance)  Brown,  of  Bos- 
ton, Mass.  They  have  three  children  Mabel 
I'..  Harry  M.,  and  Mollie  E.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fairbanks  are  members  of  the  Unitarian 
Church  of  Wollaston. 


AUSTIN  THAYER,  of  Randolph, 
a  dealer  in  coal  and  wood,  hay, 
grain,  shingles,  brick,  etc.,  was 
born  in  Randolph,  February  27, 
1847,  son  of  Rufus  and  Margery  A.  (White) 
Thayer.  The  Thayer  family  is  an  old  one  in 
this  town.  Rufus  Thayer  was  an  extensive 
land-owner  here  and.  a  citizen  of  prominence 
and  influence.  A  member  of  the  old  Whig 
party,  he  joined  the  Republican  party  at  its 
formation,  and  continued  one  of  its  loyal 
supporters  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  on  May  25,  1855.  His  wife,  Mar- 
gery, a  native  of  Braintree,  was  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Peregrine  White,  who  was  the 
first  white  child  born  in  New  England. 
Rufus  and  Margery  Thayer  were  the  parents 
of  five  children,  of  whom  Rufus  A.,  Charles 
M.,  and  S.  Austin  are  living. 

S.  Austin  Thayer  lost  his  father  by  death 
when  young.  He  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Randolph  and 
in  an  academy  at  South  Braintree.  After- 
ward for  two  years  he  attended  the  Law- 
rence Scientific  School  at  Cambridge,  a  de- 
partment of  Harvard  University.  In  1876  he 
went  to  Kansas,  and  was  for  a  number  of 
years  engaged  in  cattle  and  sheep  raising  at 
Solomon  City.      In  1884  he   returned   and   en- 


gaged in  the  grain  business  at  South  Brain- 
tree, having  erected  a  mill  in  that  town. 
After  remaining  there  for  a  year,  he  came  to 
Randolph,  built  a  mill  here,  and  started  in 
the  same  business.  Subsequently  he  added 
coal,  wood,  and  other  merchandise  to  his 
stock  in  trade.  His  present  prosperity  is 
largely  due  to  his"  punctual  delivery  of  all 
goods  bought,  to  his  unfailing  fairness  in 
every  transaction,  and  to  the  fact  that  every- 
thing he  sells  is  as  represented  by  him. 

Mr.  Thayer  and  his  brother,  Rufus  A.,  were 
among  the  active  promoters  of  the  Randolph 
Street  Railway  connecting  Randolph  and 
South  Braintree.  Probably  no  one  man  tak- 
ing part  in  the  enterprise  did  more  to  forward 
it  than  did  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  For 
some  time  previously  he  saw  that  it  would  be 
of  great  convenience  to  the  residents  of  both 
towns,  and  would  increase  the  valuation  of 
property.  Every  one  now  recognizes  the 
value  of  the  mad  and  the  wisdom  of  Mr. 
Thayer's  vigorous  action  in  securing  it. 

Mr.  Thayer  is  a  well-known  sportsman, 
being  a  fisherman  of  proverbial  good  luck  and 
a  famous  shot.  He  makes  occasional  trips  to 
Maine  and  the  lower  British  Provinces,  and 
invariably  brings  back  trophies  of  his  skill. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  the 
father  of  three  children — -Arthur  A.,  Ethel, 
and  Lena. 


r®r« 


EORGE  T.  WILDE,  the  present 
\   '•>  I       efficient  Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  Hol- 

—  brook  and  a  leading  merchant  of  the 
town,  was  born  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  October 
7,  1845.  He  is  a  son  of  Atherton  T.  and  Avis 
A.  (Hobart)  Wilde,  both  natives  of  Brain- 
tree. Atherton  T.  Wilde,  who  is  now  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year,  has  been  a  farmer  during  the 
most  of  his  life.  He  still  resides  in  Hrain- 
tree,  where  he  is  generally  esteemed. 

George  T.  Wilde  grew  to  manhood  in  Brain- 
tree, receiving  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  town  and  in  Hollis  Institute. 
When  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  em- 
ployed as  a  clerk  by  B.  F.  Shaw  &  Henry 
Loud  at  East  Weymouth,  and  afterward 
worked  for  them  for  about  two  years.  He  was 
subsequently   a   clerk   for  a  year   with    S.    W. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


93 


Hayden,  of  Neponset.  In  1871  he  came  to 
Holbrook,  purchased  the  business  of  Henry  H. 
Packard,  and  has.  since  carried  on  a  general 
merchandise  store.  He  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent location  in  1894.  By  careful  and  trust- 
worthy business  methods  he  has  built  up  for 
himself  a  prosperous  business.  He  aims  to 
keep  a  full  line  of  the  different  classes  of 
goods  usually  carried  in  a  general  merchandise 
store,  and  to  have  only  stock  of  high  grade. 
Satisfied  with  moderate  rates  of  profit,  he  sup- 
plies his  customers  with  goods  at  low  prices. 

Mr.  Wilde's  wife  was  before  her  marriage 
Betsey  B.  White,  daughter  of  Isaac  W.  White, 
late  of  Holbrook.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilde 
have  two  children  —  George  H.  and  Walter  B. 
For  years  Mr.  Wilde  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  politics,  constantly  seeking  "the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number,1"  regard- 
less of  personal  considerations,  and  support- 
ing the  Republican  party.  He  has  been  the 
Town  Clerk  and  Treasurer  for  nine  years. 
He  was  one  of  the  promoters  and  organizers 
of  the  Holbrook  Co-operative  Bank,  and  since 
its  establishment  has  been  its  secretary  and 
treasurer,  with  the  exception  of  one  year. 
An  esteemed  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  of  Holbrook,  he  is  the  present 
treasurer  of  the  organization.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Winthrop  Congregational  Church  of 
Holbrook. 


T^ALEB  LOTHROP,  treasurer  of  the 
I  V-'  Cohasset  Savings  Bank,  was  born  in 
^Hs  Cohasset,       Mass.,       September      7, 

1849.  son  0I  John  O.  A.  and 
Eunice  B.  (Bates)  Lothrop.  His  parents 
were  natives  of  Cohasset,  as  were  also  his 
grandparents,  Caleb  and  Mary  (Snow)  Lo- 
throp. The  English  ancestor  of  the  family 
was  the  Rev.  John  Lothrop,  a  noted  preacher 
of  his  day;  and  Colonel  Thomas  Lothrop,  a 
descendant  of  the  Rev*.  John,  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

John  O.  A.  Lothrop,  when  a  young  man, 
learned  the  stair-builder's  trade  in  Boston, 
but  did  not  long  follow  it.  For  some  time  he 
was  employed  by  his  father  in  mackerel  fish- 
ing, and  for  a  number  of  years  he  held  the  ap- 
pointment of  Custom-house   Inspector  at   this 


port.  He  acted  as  a  trustee  and  was  finally 
elected  president  of  the  Cohasset  Savings 
Bank,  a  position  which  he  occupied  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  for  a  long  period 
identified  with  the  Board  of  Selectmen,  both 
as  a  member  and  as  chairman,  was  twice 
elected  a  County  Commissioner,  and  served 
three  terms  in  the  legislature.  Politically, 
he  was  a  Republican;  and  his  ability  and  ac- 
tivity as  a  party  leader  gained  for  him  a  wide 
acquaintance  throughout  the  county.  He  was 
a  member  of  Konohasset  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 
He  died  September  24,  1894,  and  his  wife, 
June  23,  1897.  Four  of  their  children  are 
living,  namely:  Caleb,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Mary  T.  L.,  wife  of  Charles  A. 
Gross,  of  Cohasset;  Ouincy  A.,  who  resides 
in  Boston;  and  Eunice  J.,  wife  of  Charles  H. 
Cousins,  a  resident  of  this  town. 

Caleb  Lothrop  acquired  his  education  in  the 
common  schools,  and  for  a  time  was  employed 
by  his  uncle,  Ephraim  Snow,  of  East  Boston. 
Entering  the  store  of  Tower  Brothers  as  a 
clerk,  he  later  became  a  partner  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  was  connected  with  that  concern 
until  1883,  when  he  was  elected  treasurer  of 
the  Cohasset  Savings  Bank.  Mr.  Lothrop  has 
occupied  the  position  of  registrar  of  the  Water 
Company  since  its  organization.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican,  has  served  the  town  as 
Auditor,  and  is  now  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  School  Board.  He  is  prominent  in  local 
musical  circles,  being  leader  of  the  choir  at 
the  First  Congregational  Church  (Unitarian), 
of  which  he  is  a  member;  and  he  was  at  one 
time  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school. 
Mr.  Lothrop  married  Mary  E.  Gross,  by  whom 
he  has  two  sons  —  Thomas  A.  and  Charles  G. 


tOSCOE    J.     SHERM 
Hill,  Norfolk  Count 
known     and     succi 
m^^     -i  t-i  A        Kn  1  1  >-!»»-  ntne 


RMAN,  of  Walnut 
ity,  Mass.,  a  well- 
iccessful  contractor 
and  builder,  was  born  in  Edge- 
comb,  Me.,  July  30,  1861,  a  son  of  Jared  and 
Emily  (Baker)  Sherman. 

Roger  Sherman,  father  of  Jared,  was  a 
farmer  of  Edgecomb,  his  native  town.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  Jared  Sher- 
man was  born  in  Edgecomb  in  1820,  and 
spent  his   life  there,  engaged    in   farming  and 


94 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


carpenter  work.  An  active  and  public- 
spirited  citizen,  he  served  for  some  time  as 
Selectman  ol  the  town.  Mis  wife,  who  was 
born  in  Edgecomb  in  1833,  and  is  now  sixty- 
four  years  oi  age,  1-  a  daughter  of  John  Baker, 
a  Revolutionary  patriot,  who  lived  to  be 
eighty-four  years  old.  Mrs.  Sherman  is  living 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Edgecomb.  She  is 
the  mother  of  five  children;  namely,  Roscoe 
J.,  Gertrude,  Stanton  1).,  Walter  John,  and 
Winnifred  M. 

Roscoe  J.  Sherman  remained  on  the  home 
farm  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  in 
the  meantime  attending  school  in  Edgecomb. 
Eor  five  years  he  led  a  seafaring  life,  making 
a  number  of  trips  to  the  Western  Banks,  cod- 
fishing,  two  trips  to  the  West  Indies  as  an 
able  seaman,  and  following  the  coasting  trade 
for  some  time  between  New  York  and  Boston 
and  South  Carolina.  In  1882  he  began  to 
learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  working  with 
Warren  Worth ington,  with  whom  he  remained 
nine  years.  He  then  formed  a  copartnership 
with  Otis  Worthington,  which  continued  about 
four  years;  and  since  the  dissolution  of  the 
firm  Mr.  Sherman  has  been  sole  manager  of 
his  business.  Among  the  noteworthy  build- 
ings he  has  constructed  may  be  mentioned 
those  of  the  Dedham  Poor  Farm.  Most  of  his 
operations  have  been  in  Dedham  and  Newton 
I  Iighlands. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  married  in  1892  to  Mrs. 
Charlotte  M.  Cobb,  daughter  of  Luther  Whit- 
ney. She  was  born  in  Hyde  Park  in  1861. 
They  have  one  child,  a  boy.  Mr.  Sherman 
votes  the  Republican  ticket.  He  is  an  Odd 
Fellow,  belonging  to  Samuel  Dexter  Lodge, 
No.  232.  He  is  an  attendant  at  the  Meth- 
odist church,  of  which  his  wife  is  a  member. 


lALPH  METCALF  FOGG,  D.D.S., 
of  Quincy,  Mass.,  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing dentists  of  Norfolk  County, 
having  a  large  practice  in  this  city 
and  in  adjacent  towns.  lie  was  born  Febru- 
ary 19,  1855,  in  Norwood,  Mass.,  and  is  a  son 
of  the  late  David  S.  Fogg,   M.D. 

Among  his  ancestors  are  representatives  of 
the  Fogg  and  Gilman  families,  from  whom  he 
is  descended,   who    were    prominent  among  the 


early  settlers  of  New  England.  Tin-  Fogg 
family  estates  in  England,  it  is  said,  which 
were  entailed,  were  recently  held  by  Sir 
Charles  Fogg.  The  History  of  Hampton, 
N.IL,  records  the  name  oi  Samuel  Fogg, 
probably  the  progenitor  of  most  of  the  race 
in  that  State,  as  a  grantee  of  land  there 
in  1658.  Ralph  Fogg,  who  was  made  a  frL-e- 
man  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in  [634,  and  was  Town 
Treasurer  in  i<>37,  and  was  for  some  years  ac- 
tive in  municipal  affairs,  at  length  returned 
to  London.  The  Gilmans  are  said  to  have 
originated  in  Wales.  Edward  Gilman,  a  na- 
tive of  Hingham,  Norfolk  County,  England, 
came  to  this  country  in  1638,  landing  in  Bos- 
ton. A  few  years  later  he  removed  to  Exeter, 
N.IL,  where  his  sons  were  already  settled. 

Stephen  Fogg  and  Bradbury  Gilman,  two  of 
the  great-grandfathers  of  Dr.  Ralph  M.  Fogg, 
were  born  and  bred  in  Exeter,  N.H.;andfor 
many  years  the  important  points  in  the 
life  history  of  these  two  men  were  nearly 
identical.  Both  were  participants  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  in  other  memo- 
rable engagements  of  the  Revolution;  and  at 
its  close  both  married,  moved  to  Meredith, 
N.H.,  and  took  up  tracts  of  forest  land  on  the 
banks  of  Lake  Winnepesaukee,  where  each 
cleared  and  improved  farms  that  are  now  in 
possession  of  his  lineal  descendants.  Joseph 
Fogg,  the  son  of  Stephen  Fogg,  and  the  Doc- 
tor's grandfather,  held  a  commission  as  Cap- 
tain of  a  New  Hampshire  company  in  the  War 
of  1812.  He  married  Judith  Gilman,  daugh- 
ter of  Bradbury  Gilman. 

David  Sylvester,  their  fourth  son,  attended 
Holmes  Academy  in  Plymouth,  N.H.,  and 
Dartmouth  College,  and  then  read  medicine 
with  Dr.  Josiah  Crosby,  of  Manchester,  N.H., 
taking  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  at 
the  Dartmouth  Medical  School  in  1845.  The 
succeeding  year  he  spent  in  the  medical 
schools  and  hospitals  of  Philadelphia,  at  that 
time  the  centre  of  medical  culture.  Coming 
to- Norfolk  County  in  1846,  he  settled  in  that 
part  of  Dedham  now  known  as  Norwood,  and 
built  up  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  in 
that  and  surrounding  towns,  at  his  deatli  in 
1893  being  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
best  known  physicians  in  this  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts.     In  1 86 1  he  was  appointed   a   volun- 


RALPH    H.    FOGG. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


97 


teer  surgeon,  and  served  in  the  Peninsular 
campaign.  He  was  subsequently  appointed  by 
President  Lincoln  as  surgeon  of  the  Board  of 
Enrolment  for  the  Seventh  Massachusetts  Di- 
vision, and  had  his  headquarters  at  Concord, 
this  State,  until  the  close  of  the  Rebellion. 
Returning  to  Norwood,  he  resumed  his  former 
practice  among  the  people  whose  confidence 
and  respect  he  had  long  since  won.  He  was 
a  physician  of  great  skill,  a  man  of  sterling 
character,  distinguished  for  his  love  of  right 
and  humanity,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  old 
and  young. 

In  1847  he  married  Mary  B.  Tucker,  a 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Tucker,  at 
that  time  in  charge  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  at  Dorchester  Lower  Mills.  The 
children  born  of  their  union  were:  Mary  (de- 
ceased) ;  Irving  S.  Fogg,  M.D.,  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  College;  Ralph  Metcalf,  the  special 
subject  of  this  biography;  Mabel  (deceased); 
Ada;  Helen  (deceased);  Arthur  and  Ernest 
T. ,  both  of  Boston.  The  Doctor  was  a  mem- 
ber ot  the  Norfolk  Medical  Society,  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Medical  Society,  and  the  American 
Medical  Association. 

Mrs.  David  S.  Fogg's  grandfather  Tucker, 
a  native  of  England,  married  Hannah  Waite 
in  Medford,  Mass.  Thomas  W.  Tucker  was 
the  youngest  of  a  large  family  of  children  born 
of  this  union.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Bromfield  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Boston  when  nineteen  years  old,  and  two 
years  later  was  ordained  a  minister  of  that  de- 
nomination, with  which  he  was  actively  identi- 
fied for  more  than  threescore  years.  For  a 
long  period  he  was  an  itinerant  preacher  of  the 
New  England  Conference,  his  circuit  extend- 
ing through  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Orne, 
was  born  in  Charlestown,  N.H.  A  woman  of 
superior  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  she  be- 
came his  worthy  helpmeet,  and  was  honored  in 
the  church  and  conference  as  a  true  mother  in 
Israel.  Mr.  Tucker  was  eminently  successful 
in  his  pastoral  labors,  by  his  earnest  efforts 
winning  large  numbers  of  men,  women,  and 
children  to  espouse  the  Master's  cause,  and 
greatly  increasing  the  membership  of  the 
churches.  The  Rev.  Edward  T.  Taylor, 
familiarly    known    as    "Father     Taylor,"    for 


many  years  pastor  of  the  Sailors'  Bethel,  Bos- 
ton, was  one  of  his  early  converts.  The  Rev. 
Thomas  W.  Tucker  passed  to  the  higher  life 
in  1 87 1,  at  Chelsea,  Mass.,  aged  eighty  years. 

Ralph  M.  Fogg  received  his  elementary  ed- 
ucation at  private  schools,  afterward  attending 
successively  Dean  '  Academy  in  Franklin. 
Mass.,  and  the  Harvard  Dental  College.  In 
1880  he  began  the  practice  of  dentistry,  open- 
ing offices  in  both  Norwood  and  Boston,  and 
met  with  good  success  from  the  first.  In  1893 
he  gave  up  his  office  in  Boston,  retaining  the 
one  in  Norwood,  and  opened  two  others,  one 
in  Quincy  and  one  in  Dedham  ;  and  in  each  of 
these  places  he  has  a  large  patronage.  For 
years  Dr.  Fogg  was  dissatisfied  with  nitrous 
oxide  gas  as  an  anaesthetic,  it  failing  to  pro- 
tect the  patient  against  pain;  and,  in  trying  to 
find  some  harmless  compound  to  accomplish 
the  desired  results,  he  made  many  experi- 
ments, and  after  much  study  produced  the 
"Boston  Vegetable  Vapor,"  an  anaesthetic  that 
has  proved  eminently  successful.  In  1885  the 
Boston  Vegetable  Anaesthetic  Company  was 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  placing  the  vapor 
on  the  market,  and  it  has  since  been  used  by 
leading  dentists  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
with  most  satisfactory  results.  Dr.  Fogg  is 
a  member  of  the  State  Dental  Association. 

In  December,  1893,  Dr.  Fogg  married  Miss 
Anna  Saville,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Francis 
Saville,  of  Quincy,  Mass.  A  brief  history  of 
her  paternal  ancestors  may  be  found  on 
another  page  of  this  volume,  in  connection 
with  the  sketch  of  her  cousin,  George  Saville. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fogg  are  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal church. 


EV.  WALTER  RUSSELL  BREED, 
B.S.,  B.D.,  the  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Quincy,  was  born  January 
10,  1866,  in  Lynn,  Essex  County, 
Mass.  His  father,  Joseph  Breed,  a  native  of 
Lynn,  Mass.,  born  in  1826,  who  was  a  well- 
known  merchant  of  that  city  throughout  his 
entire  business  life,  married  Frances,  daugh- 
ter of  the  Rev.  John  T.  Burrill.  They  reared 
six  children  —  Anna,  George,  Arthur,  Henry. 
Walter,  and  Laura.  George  is  now  a  resident 
of   Lynn.      Arthur,  also  residing  in  Lynn,  has 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


served  as  State  Senator,  and  been  a  member  of 
the  Governor's  Council.  Laura  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Walker.  The  Rev.  John  T.  Burrill 
was  for  some  years  the  pastor  of  the 
Point  church.  Subsequently,  after  entering 
the  Episcopal  denomination,  he  became  rector 
of  Christ  Church  in  Quincy,  and  later  was  the 
rector  of  the  Old  North  Church  in  Boston, 
during  the  decade  of  the  sixties. 

Walter  Russell  Breed  was  educated  in  the 
Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn., 
graduating  therefrom  in  1887  with  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Science.  Three  years 
later,  having  taken  the  prescribed  course  of 
stud)-  in  the  Episcopal  Theological  School  at 
Cambridge,  Mass  ,  he  there  received  the  de- 
gree ol  Bachelor  of  Divinity.  He  was  subse- 
quently ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop  Paddock 
m  Cambridge,  and  priest  in  Tarrytown, 
X.Y..  by  Bishop  Potter.  His  first  pastoral 
charge  was  the  Episcopal  church  at  Concord, 
Mass.,  where  he  was  settled  for  three  years. 
In  November,  1893,  he  accepted  the  rector- 
ship oi  Christ  Church,  Quincy,  where  he  has 
zealously  labored  in  his  sacred  calling. 

A  man  of  broad  culture,  Mr.  Breed  is 
deepl)  interested  in  the  cause  of  education, 
which  he  lias  done  much  to  advance  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Quincy  School  Board  and  the 
chairman  of  the  Board's  Committee  on  Even- 
ing Schools.  Also  connected  with  the  Wood- 
ward School  since  its  organization,  he  is  now 
the  vice-president  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 
On  June  4,  1894,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Ellen  Broderick  Zelmer,  a  daughter 
of  William  Zelmer,  of  Lansford,  Pa.,  and  now 
has  one  child,  William  Zelmer  Breed. 


EN  AS  A.  FRENCH,  the  chairman 
and  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Asses- 
sors  ol  Holbrook,  was  born  in  this 
town  on  September  4,  1843,  son  of 
the  Hon.  Zenas  and  Julia  (Tower)  French. 
The  French  family  is  of  English  origin.  Its 
first  representative  in  America  was  John 
French,  who  came  here  about  the  year  1630. 
Captain  Moses  French,  the  great-grandfather 
of  Zenas  A.,  commanded  a  company  of  soldiers 
in  the  Revolution.  His  son  Zenas,  who  was 
a    drummer    in    the    same    war,     became    very 


prominent  as  a  citizen,  and  served  in  the 
legislative  session  of  1818.  Zenas  (second), 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  for 
seventeen  successive  years  a  Selectman  of  the 
old  town  of  Randolph,  represented  it  in  the 
legislature  in  1837  and  1839,  and  was  State 
Senator  from  Norfolk  County  in  1852.  He 
was  a  Republican  from  the  time  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  party,  and  took  a  leading  part  in 
its  work.  He  voted  for  General  Fremont,  and 
was  president  of  the  local  Fremont  Club  at 
East  Randolph,  now  Holbrook.  His  mother, 
it  is  said,  was  a  descendant  of  John  Alden,  of 
the  Plymouth  Colony.  Julia,  his  wife,  was  a 
native  of  Braintree,  Mass.  Her  grandfather 
was  a  member  of  the  famous  Boston  Tea  Party. 
The  Hon.  Zenas  and  Julia  French  wet 
parents  of  seven  children.  Of  these,  five  are 
living,  namely:  Mrs.  A.  11.  Platts,  of  Alding- 
ton; Zenas  A.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Ruth  W. ,  Sarah  R.,  and  Caroline  F.,  who  re- 
side in  Holbrook. 

Zenas  A.  French  was  reared  on  his  father's 
estate  in  Holbrook,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  town.  At  the  age 
ot  twenty-one  years  he  was  employed  as  a 
cutter  in  the  boot  and  shoe  manufactory  of 
Thomas  White,  of  East  Randolph.  Subse- 
quently he  entered  the  employ  of  Edmund 
White,  working  for  him  from  1865  until  1893, 
most  of  the  time  in  the  capacity  of  g 
superintendent  of  the  shop.  For  sixteen 
years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Holbrook 
School  Committee;  and  for  a  number  of  years 
he  was  chairman  of  the  board,  which  position 
he  now  holds,  in  the  spring  of  1S97  having 
been  unanimously  elected  to  the  School  Board. 
He  is  also  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Assessors. 
In  1895  he  occupied  a  seat  in  the  legislature, 
and  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  legislative 
Committee  on  Education.  While  his  politi- 
cal principles  are  warmly  Republican,  he  is 
heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  aims  of  the 
Prohibitionists. 

Mr.  French  married  Lucy  J.  Beebe,  of 
Hampden,  Mass.  They  have  one  daughter, 
Linda  M.  Mr.  French  is  a  director  of  the 
Holbrook  Co-operative  Bank,  and  he  has  been 
the  librarian  of  the  Holbrook  Public  Library 
since  its  establishment  in  1874.  Fraternally, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Honor. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


99 


|EV.  CARLOS  SLAFTER  is  a  highly 
respected  resident  of  Dedham.  A 
man  of  scholarly  attainments  and 
broad  culture,  a  teacher  for  a  full 
half-century,  and  the  principal  of  the  Dedham 
High  School  for  forty  consecutive  years,  many 
of  the  leading  men  of  this  and  neighboring 
towns,  including  merchants,  ministers,  doc- 
tors, and  lawyers,  as  well  as  their  wives  and 
children,  are  indebted  to  him  for  a  large  por- 
tion of  their  educational  and  moral  training. 
He  was  born  July  21,  1825,  in  Thetford,  Vt., 
son  of  Sylvester  and  Mary  (Johnson)  Slafter. 
His  grandfather,  John  Slafter,  was  born  in 
Mansfield,  Conn.  When  a  young  man,  John 
removed  to  Norwich,  \'t.,  where  he  was  the 
first  permanent  settler,  and  was  numbered 
among  the  leading  farmers.  He  served  as  a 
soldier  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and 
also  for  a  short  time  in  the  Revolution, 
being  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne. 
He  lived  eighty  years,  and  held  town  office. 
During  most  of  the  years  he  was  a  citizen  of 
Norwich. 

Sylvester  Slafter,  born  and  reared  in  Nor- 
wich, after  reaching  man's  estate  settled  in 
the  neighboring  town  of  Thetford,  where  he 
was  afterward  engaged  in  general  farming  and 
fruit-growing  until  his  demise,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  He  was  active  in  town  affairs, 
serving  in  various  offices.  'His  wife,  Mary, 
was  a  daughter  of  Calvin  Johnson,  of  Norwich, 
who  for  four  years  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  taking  an  active  part  in  many  of  the 
battles  of  that  war.  They  reared  ten  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Edmund,  Mrs.  Christiana 
Tilden,  Lyman,  and  Carlos  are  living.  The 
mother  passed  away  years  before  her  husband, 
dying  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years.  Both 
parents  were  members  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Carlos  Slafter  was  fitted  for  Dartmouth  in 
the  Thetford  Academy,  and  was  graduated 
from  that  college  with  the  class  of  1849.  Be- 
ginning when  but  sixteen  years  old,  he  had 
previously  taught  school  for  several  terms  in 
Fairlee,  Vt.,  and  in  Lyme,  N.  H.  While  in 
college  he  taught  for  three  winters  in  Massa- 
chusetts. In  1 85 1  and  1852  he  had  charge  of 
the   Framingham  High  School    and   Academy. 


From  there  he  came  to  Dedham  in  the  latter 
year,  to  accept  the  position  of  master  of  the 
Dedham  High  School.  This  position  he  had 
ably  filled  for  forty  years,  when  he  resigned 
his  charge,  in  June,  1892.  When  he  took  the 
school  he  was  the  only  teacher  of  its  thirty- 
five  pupils.  In  1892  the  number  of  students 
enrolled  was  one  hundred  and  seventy,  while 
the  corps  of  instructors  included  five  other 
teachers  beside  himself. 

Mr.  Slafter  was  married  August  4,  1853,  to 
Miss  Rebecca  Bullard.  She  was  born  in  Ded- 
ham, daughter  of  William  Bullard,  a  substan- 
tial farmer  and  the  representative  of  one  of 
the  earliest  families  of  this  locality.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Slafter  have  two  children,  namely: 
Theodore  S.,  an  artist,  in  Dedham;  and  Anna 
R.,  the  wife  of  Calvin  Countryman,  a  mer- 
chant of  Rockford,  111.  In  the  capacity  of 
master  of  the  high  school  Mr.  Slafter  was 
identified  with  the  highest  interests  of  Ded- 
ham. He  was  also  largely  instrumental  in 
securing  the  establishment  of  the  public  li- 
brary, of  which  he  is  one  of  the  trustees,  and 
he  has  been  active  in  the  Historical  Society, 
of  which  he  is  a  curator.  He  was  ordained 
Deacon  by  Bishop  Eastburn  in  Trinity 
Church,  Boston,  May,  1865,  and  was  after- 
ward chaplain  of  the  jail  of  Norfolk  County 
for  several  years.  In  politics  he  has  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  voting  for  the 
best  men,  regardless  of  party  dictation'. 

Since  relinquishing  the  work  of  an  instruc- 
tor, he  has  devoted  much  of  his  leisure  to  writ- 
ing for  periodicals,  historical  discourses,  and 
the  composition  of  several  books  still  unpub- 
lished and  not  yet  dismissed  from  his  careful 
revision. 


§OHN  W.  CHASE,  M.D.,  one  of  the 
most  active  and  skilful  physicians  of 
Norfolk  County,  has  been  a  resident  of 
Dedham  for  thirty  years;  and  during 
this  time  he  has  been  busily  employed,  and  has 
built  up  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice. 
He  was  born  December  9,  1839,  >n  Epping, 
N.H.,  a  son  of  Prescott  and  Sally  (Sanborn) 
Chase,  and  comes  of  old  Colonial  stock. 

Among  the  emigrants  bearing  this   surname 
may  be  mentioned,  first,  Aquila,  of   Newbury, 


r.IOCK  M'lllCAI,     RKVIKW 


Mass.,  [646,  having  been  al  Hampton,  N.H., 
in  1640,  wild  was  the  founder  of  a  numerous 
family;  his  brother  Thomas,  of  Hampton;  and 
William,  ot  Roxbury,  1630.  Jonathan,  Jr., 
sun  ol  Jonathan  Chase,  Sr.,  and  grandfather 
ill  Dr.  Chase,  was  born,  lived,  and  died  in 
Epping,  where  he  was  engaged  in  genera] 
farming  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years. 

Prescott  Chase  was  one  of  a  family  of  two 
children  born  to  his  parents.  His  entire  life 
of  sixty-nine  years  was  spent  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  was  numbered  among  the  lead- 
ing agriculturists,  and  was  a  leading  citizen. 
Possessed  of  those  traits  of  industry  and  thrift 
characteristic  of  the  true  New  Englander,  and 
guided  by  the  principles  of  honesty  and  integ- 
rity, he  became  influential  in  the  community, 
and  was  held  in  high  respect  by  all  who  knew 
him.  It  was  a  common  saying  that  Prescott 
Chase's  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond.  He 
married  Sally  Sanborn,  a  daughter  of  Zebulon 
Sanborn,  a  farmer  and  lumberman,  and  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Epping,  N.H.  Eight 
children  were  born  of  their  union,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living,  as  follows:  John  W., 
the  Doctor;  Samuel;  Jennie,  the  wife  of 
Daniel  K.  Foster;  Frank;  and  Hattie.  The 
mother,  Mrs.  Sally  S.  Chase,  is  now,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  living  at 
the  old  homestead  in  Epping,  N.H.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  with 
which  her  husband  also  was  connected. 

John  W.  Chase  received  his  preliminary  ed- 
ucation in  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
town  and  at  the  academy  in  Kingston.  Dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  served  for 
some  time  as  a  hospital  steward  in  the  regular 
United  States  Army.  He  subsequently  pur- 
sued his  professional  studies  in  the  Medical 
School  hi  Maine,  at  Bowdoin  College,  in 
Brunswick,  Me.,  being  graduated  in  1867. 
•  )n  August  \2  of  that  year  the  young  Doctor 
located  in  Dedham,  and  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  met  with  such  success  from  the 
start  that  he  has  since  continued  here.  In 
[873,  with  the  desire  to  still  further  perfect 
himseli  in  the  science  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery, he  visited  some  of  the  principal  hospi- 
tals and  colleges  of  Europe,  pursuing  his 
studies    and    attending    lectures    in     Leipsic, 


Vienna,  and  London,  he  being  the  only  prac- 
titioner in  this  section  of  the  county  to  take 
such  a  course  of  study. 

In  Brunswick,  Me.,  on  June  16,  1869,  Dr. 
Chase  married  Miss  Harriet  E.  Weeman,  who 
was  born  in  Freeport,  Me.,  a  daughter  of 
James  Pope  and  Elizabeth  (True)  Weeman. 
Mr.  Weeman  was  a  hardware  merchant  in 
Freeport  until  [866,  when  he  removed  to 
Brunswick,  Me.,  where  he  is  still  actively  en- 
gaged in  business  pursuits,  although  seventy- 
nine  years  old.  His  wife  died  some  years 
ago,  aged  seventy-two  years.  They  reared 
three  children,  of  whom  two  are  living —  Mrs. 
Chase  and  her  sister,  Abbie  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Weeman  were  both  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  for  many  years  he  was  a 
Deacon.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Chase  are  the  parents 
of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living  ; 
namely,  Alice  W.  and  Julian  D. ,  the  latter  a 
bright  and  active  youth  of  fifteen,  now  prepar- 
ing for  a  scientific  education.  Grace  Lillian 
died  aged  eight  months. 

Dr.  Chase  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Republican  party.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  School  Board  one  year,  of 
the  Board  of  Health  four  years,  and  for  four 
years  under  President  Harrison's  administra- 
tion he  was  pension  examiner.  Being  wide- 
awake and  public-spirited,  he  takes  great  in- 
terest in  the  establishment  of  enterprises 
calculated  to  benefit  the  town,  and  is  one  of 
the  promoters  and  a  large  stockholder  of  the 
Norfolk  Suburban  Street  Railway,  and  also  of 
the  Norfolk  Central  Railway. 

The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society  of  Norfolk  County,  and 
for  twenty-five  consecutive  years  was  county 
physician,  holding  the  office  for  a  longer  time 
than  any  other  incumbent  since  the  office  was 
established.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of 
Constellation  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Dedham: 
of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.:  of  the  Knights  of 
Honor;  of  the  Royal  Arcanum;  and  of  the 
New  England  Order  of  Protection.  He  and 
his  family  are  attendants  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  Mrs.  Chase,  a  woman  of  cult- 
ure and  refinement,  was  educated  in  the  high 
school  of  Brunswick,  Me.,  and  for  some  years 
prior  tn  her  marriage  was  a  successful  teacher 
in  that  college  town. 


LEAVITT    BA'J  KS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


i°3 


§OSEPH  A.  CUSHING,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  East  Weymouth,  now  man- 
ager of  the  bicycle  sundry  department 
of  the  John  P.  Lovell  Arms  Company, 
Boston,  was  born  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  Decem- 
ber 24,  1846,  son  of  Adam  and  Harriet  (Lor- 
ing)  dishing,  both  parents  natives  of  that  old 
Plymouth  County  town. 

The  Cushing  family  is  an  old  and  honored 
one  in  this  section  of  the  State,  and  is  of 
English  origin.  The  emigrant  ancestor, 
Matthew  Cushing,  settled  in  Hingham  in 
1638.  Of  the  sixth  generation  in  lineal  de- 
scent from  Matthew  was  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Cush- 
ing's  grandfather,  Jonathan  Cushing,  who 
took  a  leading  part  in  town  affairs  in  Hing- 
ham in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  serving 
as  Selectman,  and  also  as  a  Representative  to 
the  General  Court.  Adam  Cushing,  above 
named,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812;  and 
his  widow  drew  a  government  pension  on  that 
account. 

When  Joseph  A.  Cushing  was  twelve  years 
of  age,  his  parents  removed  to  Cohasset;  and 
he  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that 
town,  including  the  high  school.  When  he 
was  eighteen  years  old,  his  father  died  ;  and  he 
shortly  became  self-supporting,  beginning  his 
working  life  as  clerk  in  the  revenue  office  at 
Hingham.  After  serving  there  for  some  time, 
he  was  employed  for  several  years  as  book- 
keeper for  A.  W.  Clapp  &  Co.,  boot  and  shoe 
dealers  of  Boston,  and  then  went  to  North 
Weymouth,  where  he  became  identified  with 
Alexis  Torry  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  boots 
and  shoes,  as  clerk  and  treasurer,  in  which  po- 
sition he  remained  for  twenty  years.  Since 
that  time  he  has  filled  his  present  position 
with  the  John  P.  Lovell  Arms  Company. 

Mr.  Cushing  married  Dora  L.  Benson,  a 
native  of  Falmouth,  Mass.,  and  a  lady  of  taste 
and  culture.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,, 
and  has  been  interested  in  various  ways  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs  in  the  town. 
He  has  been  on  the  School  Committee  of 
Weymouth  for  nine  years,  and  part  of  the  time 
was  clerk  of  the  board.  He  has  also  been  Au- 
ditor. He  was  formerly  treasurer  of  the  East 
Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  of  which  he  is  now 
vice-president,  trustee,  and  a  member  of  its 
Board  of  Investment.      In  religious  belief  Mr. 


Cushing  is  a  Methodist,  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  He  is  a  steward  and  trustee,  and  is 
now  treasurer  of  the  society.  Fraternally,  he 
is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  of  the 
Temple  of  Honor  at  East  Weymouth.  In 
1890  he  was  Representative  to  the  State  legis- 
ature,  and  while  there  served  on  the  Commit- 
tee on  Banks  and  Banking:. 


SEAVITT  BATES,  a  former  resident  of 
East  Weymouth,  who  had  served  in 
^  the  Civil  War,  and  was  well  known 
in  the  wholesale  clothing  trade  of 
Boston,  was  born  in  Weymouth,  August  11, 
1843.  His  father,  Abraham  Bates,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Weymouth;  and  his  mother,  Susan  L. 
(Stoddard)  Bates,  was  born  in  Hingham, 
Mass. 

Leavitt  Bates  attended  the  common  and 
high  schools  of  Weymouth  for  the  usual 
period,  and  completed  his  studies  at  a  busi- 
ness college  in  Boston.  His  business  career 
was  begun  in  the  general  store  of  Henry  Loud 
at  East  Weymouth,  where  he  remained  until 
1 861.  In  this  year  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  A,  Forty-second  Regiment,  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers,  for  nine  months'  service 
in  the  Civil  War.  After  the  expiration  of  his 
first  term  of  service  he  re-enlisted  in  the 
Fourth  Heavy  Artillery,  with  which  he  served 
until  mustered  out  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
Upon  his  return  home  he  resumed  his  former 
position  with  Mr.  Loud,  serving  in  the  capac- 
ity of  salesman  and  that  of  assistant  in  the 
post-office,  which  was  located  in  the  store. 
Subsequently  he  became  book-keeper  for  a 
Boston  house  dealing  in  tailors'  supplies. 
Later  he  entered  the  wholesale  clothing  busi- 
ness as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Smith,  Rich- 
ardson  &  Bates,  doing  business  on  Summer 
Street,  Boston.  After  the  withdrawal  of  Mr. 
Richardson  the  concern  was  known  as  Smith, 
Bates  &  Co.  Mr.  Pates  was  also  interested 
in  the  East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  of  which 
he  was  a  director.  His  connection  with  the 
clothing  firm  continued  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  suddenly  in  New  York,  Mav  6,  i.XSS, 
while  representing  the  Providence  District  at 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


copal  Church  held  in  that  city.  He  was  not 
quite  forty-five  years  old  at  the  time,  and  the 
event  was  a  shock  to  his  business  associates 
and  fellow-townsmen.  He  took  a  deep  inter- 
est in  the  general  welfare  and  progress  of  East 
Weymouth,  and  his  wise  counsels  and  valu- 
able assistance  in  all  mailers  of  public  impor- 
tance  ire  still  remembered  by  his  townsmen. 
His  business  ability  and  integrity  were  of  a 
high  standard.  He  was  an  active  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he 
served  as  its  treasurer  for  seventeen  years. 
He  was  connected  with  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
and  was  a  comrade  of  Reynolds  Post,  G.  A.  R., 
of  Weymouth.  His  political  views  were 
strongly    Republican. 

On  December  ii,  1867,  Mr.  Bates  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Anne  E.  Tirrell,  of 
Weymouth.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Harrison 
!•".  S.  and  Elizabeth  (Jacob)  Tirrell.  The 
former  was  a  native  of  this  town,  and  the 
latter  was  born  in  Hingham.  Mrs.  Bates's 
paternal  grandfather  was  Norton  Q.  Tirrell. 
On  her  mother's  side  she  is  a  descendant  of 
John  Hancock,  the  American  patriot  and 
statesman.  She  became  the  mother  of  three 
children  —  Harry  \V.,  Leavitt  W.,  and  Emma 
E.  Since  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs. 
Bates  has  continued  to  reside  at  73  Broad 
Street.  She  is  connected  with  the  Women's 
Relic!  Corps,  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  stands  high  in  the  es- 
timation of  the  entire  community. 


IDMUND  WHITE,  a  well-known  citizen 
of  Holbrook,  Mass.,  for  many  years  a 
leading  manufacturer  of  boots  and 
shoes,  is  a  native  of  this  town,  until  recent 
years  known  as  East  Randolph.  He  was  born 
on  August  21,  1823,  his  parents  being 
Thomas  and  Meriel  (Burr)  White,  the  former 
a  native  of  Holbrook,  and  the  latter  of  Co- 
hasset. 

John  White  (great-grandfather  of  Edmund) 
and  Joseph  White,  brother  of  John,  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  in  East  Randolph, 
now  Holbrook.  They  were  of  English  de- 
scent, and  belonged  to  an  old  Colonial  family. 
Their  earliest  progenitor  in  America  bearing 
this  surname  was   Thomas  White,  who   is  said 


to  have  been  "admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Colony  in  1636,  being  then  and 
previously  an  inhabitant  of  Weymouth  and  a 
member  of  the  church."  Thomas  White,  of  a 
later  generation,  father  of  Edmund  White, 
was  a  shoemaker  early  in  life,  and  later  be- 
came interested  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

Mr.  Edmund  White  received  his  early  men- 
tal training  in  the  common  schools  ot  Hol- 
brook. The  education  thus  acquired  he  has 
supplemented  by  reading  and  by  close  obser- 
vation of  men  and  affairs  during  the  years  oi 
his  business  life.  He  is  in  every  way  a  self- 
made  man;  and  his  success  has  been  due,  not 
to  exceptional  opportunities  at  the  beginning, 
but  to  his  purpose  and  readiness  to  make  the 
most  of  every  opportunity  for  personal  im- 
provement, and  to  his  persevering  energy, 
ambition,  and  enterprise.  When  about  twelve- 
years  of  age;  he  began  to  learn  the  shoe- 
maker's trade,  and  when  eighteen  years  old  he 
was  recognized  as  an  expert  Crispin.  He 
worked  at  this  handicraft  as  a  journeyman 
until  twenty-five  years  of  age.  when  he  started 
in  business  lor  himself  as  .1  booi  and  shoe 
manufacturer.  At  the  start  he  had  a  partner, 
George  N.  Spear,  and  the  business  was  carried 
on  under  the  name  of  White  &  Spear.  A 
short  time  after,  William  Gray  being  added  to 
the  firm,  it  became  White  &  Gray.  For  a 
number  of  years  Mr.  White  carried  on  busi- 
ness alone;  and  in  [.865  \\<-  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  his  brother  Thomas,  which  existed 
for  over  five  vears.  From  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  was  sole  manager  of  a  manufact- 
uring business  up  to  1893,  when  he  retired. 
Mr.  White  started  manufacturing  in  a  small 
way,  and  gradually  increased  until  he  carried 
on  a  very  extensive  business.  His  plant  in 
Holbrook  was  among  the  larger  manufacturing 
enterprises  of  New  England,  and  employed  at 
times  as  many  as  three  hundred  hands. 

The  marked  administrative  ability  that  has 
enabled  Mr.  White  to  become  the  head  of  a 
great  manufacturing  concern  also  demonstrates 
his  fitness  for  other  positions  where  breadth 
of  outlook  and  sound  judgment  are  needed. 
His  townsmen  have  recognized  his  desirabil- 
ity and  fitness  for  public  office,  and  in  1S82 
he  served  as  Representative  from  the  Sixth 
Norfolk  District  to  the  State  legislature.      He 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


>°5 


was  on  the  Fisheries  Committee.  His  record 
as  a  legislator  is  as  untainted  as  his  record  as 
a  business  man. 

Mr.  White  has  three  children  living; 
namely,  Emmons,  Edmund  B.,  and  Albert  B. , 
the  last  two  named  being  graduates  of  Yale 
College.  Mr.  White  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  is  in  favor  of  any  movement  looking 
to  the  general  improvement  of  society  or  the 
welfare  of  his  native  town.  He  is  one  of  the 
Deacons  of  Winthrop  Congregational  Church 
of  Holbrook. 


ILLIAM  NASH,  a  prosperous  gen- 
eral merchant  and  Postmaster  of 
Nash,  was  born  in  Weymouth, 
Mass.,  April  6,  1835,  son  of  William  G.  and 
Dorothy  (Torrey)  Nash.  He  is  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  highly  repu- 
table families  in  Weymouth;  and  his  grand- 
lather,  Joshua  Nash,  was  a  lifelong  resident 
of  Nash's  Corners.  William  G.  Nash  and  his 
wife  were  born  in  this  town;  and  the  former, 
who  for  many  years  kept  a  general  store  at 
"The  Corners,"  is  now  eighty-eight  years  old. 
He  has  reared  several  children,  of  whom  the 
survivors  are:  William,  Maria  D.,  and  El- 
bridge.  The  last-named  is  a  druggist  of 
South   Weymouth. 

William  Nash,  after  attending  the  schools 
of  his  town,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  shoes.  The  depression  in 
business  caused  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War  so  affected  his  particular  line  of  industry 
that  he  relinquished  it,  and,  entering  his 
father's  store  as  an  assistant,  eventually  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business,  which  he  has  since 
carried  on  successfully.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Republican;  and  in  July,  1892,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  of  Nash.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  of  Weymouth 
for  fifteen  years,  and  he  also  served  as  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
has  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  During  his 
long  period  of  public  service  he  has  been  in- 
strumental in  accomplishing  much  toward  the 
improvement  of  the  town.  He  is  connected 
with  Orphans'  Hope  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
East  Weymouth,  and  with  the  Lodge  of  Odd 
Fellows  at  South  Weymouth.     In  his  religious 


belief  he  is  a  Congregationalist.  Mr.  Nash 
is  married,  and  has  three  children  —  Annie 
M.,  William  B.,  and  Elbridge  B.  Nash. 


OUIS  N.  LINCOLN,  of  the  firm  of 
Lincoln  Brothers,  of  Cohasset,  dealers 
in  wood  and  coal,  was  born  Janu- 
ary 27,  1827,  a  son  of  Joseph  and' 
Mary  H.  (Nichols)  Lincoln,  native  residents 
of  this  town.  He  comes  of  old  New  England 
stock,  being  a  descendant  in  the  seventh  gen- 
eration of  Samuel  Lincoln,  who  settled  in  Co- 
hasset, then  a  part  of  Hingham,  in  1637. 
From  Samuel  the  line  is  traced  through 
Daniel,  Hezekiah,  Francis,  Zenas,  to  Joseph, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Jo- 
seph Lincoln,  who  was  a  native  of  Cohasset, 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade.  He  died  in  1869. 
His  wife  died  in  1867.  Of  their  children  the 
following  are  living:  Samuel  N. ;  Zenas  D., 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Lincoln  Brothers; 
and   Louis  N. 

Louis  N.  Lincoln  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town,  acquiring  his  education  in  the 
public  schools.  In  1842,  when  he  was  but  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  he  began  to  learn  the  brick 
mason's  trade  in  Boston  with  his  older 
brother,  Henry  Lincoln,  now  deceased.  In 
1850  Mr.  Lincoln  was  engaged  as  clerk  in  the 
store  of  John  Simmons,  a  wholesale  and  retail 
clothing  merchant  of  Boston;  and  he  re- 
mained in  Mr.  Simmons's  employ  about  six- 
years.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  in 
business  as  an  auctioneer  and  real  estate 
dealer;  and  in  1879,  with  his  brother,  he  es- 
tablished the  coal  and  wood  business  now 
managed  by  the  firm  of  Lincoln  Brothers,  an 
enterprise  which  has  been  very  successful. 
Several  years  ago  Mr.  Lincoln  became  a  trus- 
tee of  the  Cohasset  Savings  Bank,  and  he  was 
elected  vice-president.  He  has  also  been  for 
a  number  of  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Investment  of  the  bank,  and  for  an  extended 
period  he  has  held  the  office  of  president  of 
the  Cohasset  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Companv. 
On  September  15,  1850,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Eliza  A.  Liv- 
ingstone, of  Boston,  Mass.  The)  had  one 
daughter,  Effie  I7.,  who  died  October  21, 
1873.      In    politics    Mr.    Lincoln    i.s   a    Demo- 


io6 


BIOGK  M'llir  \I,    REVIEW 


crat,  and  some  years  ago  he  was  closely  iden- 
tified with  the  political  affairs  of  Cohasset. 
In  1S70  he  was  elected  Selectman.  Assessor, 
and  Overseer  of  the  Poor;  and  he  served  as 
such  eight  successive  years.  He  was  chair- 
man of  the  Hoard  of  Selectmen  for  some  time. 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  he  was 
also  Constable  of  Cohasset.  Mr.  Lincoln  is 
a  member  of  the  First  Congregational  (Unita- 
rian) Society  of  this  town. 


ENRY  A.  NASH,  the  well-known 
cashier  of  the  Union  National  Bank 
in  Weymouth,  Mass.,  was  born  in 
this  town,  November  23,  1829,  son 
of  Abner  1'.  and  Silence  W.  (Humphrey) 
Nash.  Timothy  Nash,  his  paternal  grand- 
father, who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
a  descendant  of  an  English  family  that  settled 
in  Weymouth  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Abner  P.  Nash,  son  of  Timothy,  was 
an  early  shoe  manufacturer  of  Weymouth; 
and  afterward  he  engaged  in  the  shoe  and 
leather  business  in  Boston.  Three  of  his 
children  now  survive:  Henry  A.;  Almena, 
wile  of  Israel  D.  Wildes,  of  Weymouth;  and 
George  H.,  residing  in  Oakland,   la. 

.Mr.  Henry  A.  Nash  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Weymouth,  at  Leices- 
ter Academy,  and  at  Milton  Academy.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  became  a  clerk  in  his 
father's  shoe  and  leather  establishment  in 
Boston;  and  upon  attaining  his  majority  he 
was  made  a  partner  in  the  business,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Abner  P.  Nash  &  Co.,  this  firm 
existing  until  1S54.  In  that  year  the  younger 
partner  withdrew  from  the  concern  to  estab- 
lish a  like  business  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  in 
partnership  with  T.  W.  Beamis  ami  Parker  S. 
Fogg,  with  whom  he  continued  for  ten  years. 
Soon  after  his  return  to  Weymouth,  in  1S65, 
Mr.  Nash  was  chosen  a  director  of  the  Union 
National  Bank,  also  holding  the  office  of  pres- 
ident of  the  bank  for  a  time;  and  in  1896  he 
was  appointed  to  his  present  position  of 
cashier.  For  several  years  past  he  has  been 
president  of  the  Weymouth  Savings  Hank. 

By  his  wife,  Betsey  B.  White,  also  a  native 
oi  Weymouth,  now  deceased,  Mr.  Nash  had 
three  children,  two  of  whom   are  now   living. 


His  son.   Harry  A.,  Jr.,  has  an   office    in    Bos- 
ton as  a  civil  engineer. 

Mr.  Nash  may  be  called  a  self-made  man, 
his  success  in  life  being  due  to  his  diligent 
application  to  business  and  his  faithfulness 
in  the  administration  of  trusts,  lie  has  al- 
ways devoted  much  time  and  attention  1 
affairs,  having  served  as  one  of  the  Selectmen 
for  a  period  of  thirteen  years,  for  twelve  years 
as  clerk  of  the  board,  and  since  1884  as  a 
member  of  the  Hoard  of  Water  Commissioners 
of  the  town,  also  acting  as  clerk  of  that  board. 
He  always  votes  independently,  favoring 
things  that  make  for  progress,  and,  as  a  man 
of  intelligence  and  undoubted  integrity,  com- 
mands the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who 
know  him. 


NDREW  J.  GOVE,  proprietor  of  a 
flourishing  livery  and  express  busi- 
ness in  Randolph  and  formerly  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature, was  born  in  the  town  now  known  as 
Plainfield,  N.IL,  October  26,  1S34,  son  of 
Isaiah  and  Mary  (Brown)  Gove.  The  Gove 
family,  of  which  he  is  a  representative,  was 
founded  in  America  by  three  brothers,  who 
emigrated  from  England  at  an  early  dale  in 
the  Colonial  period.  Of  the  one  who  located 
in  New  Hampshire,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  a  direct  descendant.  Isaiah  Gove  and  his 
wife  were  both  natives  of  the  Granite  State, 
and  the  former  was  an  industrious  tiller  of  the 
soil. 

Andrew  J.  Gove  was  reared  to  farm  life;  but 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  to  Boston, 
where  he  remained  a  short  time,  removing 
thence  to  South  Weymouth,  wdiere  also  he 
made  but  a  short  stay.  Subsequently  going  to 
Hingham,  he  obtained  his  first  experience  as 
an  expressman  in  the  employ  of  David  dish- 
ing. In  1858  he  came  to  Randolph,  where  he- 
was  employed  in  the  same  business  by  Will- 
iam Cole,  and  later  by  Charles  F.stabrook. 
From  1865  to  1871  he  was  engaged  in  busi- 
ness for  himself  at  East  Randolph.  After- 
ward, returning  to  Randolph,  he  purchased  the 
express  route  of  his  former  employer,  Charles 
Estabrook,  and  has  since  conducted  a  profitable 
business     between     this    town    and     Boston. 


RUPERT    F.    CLAFLIN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


log 


Since  1882  he  has  also  carried  on  a  first-class 
livery  stable,  and  he  enjoys  the  liberal  patron- 
age and  good  will  of  the  community.  Being 
elected  to  the  legislature  for  the  years  1873 
and  1874,  he  made  a  capable  Representative, 
proving  faithful  to  the  interests  of  his  con- 
stituents. He  is  well  advanced  in  Masonry, 
being  a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge  in  Ran- 
dolph, and  is  a  charter  member  of  Bay  State 
Commandery,   K.  T.,  of  Brockton. 

Mr.  Gove  married  Sarah  L.  Cushing,  of 
Hingham,  and  by  her  has  two  children:  Alice 
C,  wife  of  J.  S.  Fowler,  of  Hingham;  and 
A.  Florence  Gove,  who  resides  with  her  par- 
ents. 


tUPERT  FRANKLIN  CLAFLIN, 
who  has  been  cashier  of  the  National 
Granite  Bank  of  Quincy,  Mass.,  for 
"""'  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
was  born  in  Boston,  September  29,  1845,  and 
is  a  son  of  the  late  Thomas  J.  Claflin. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  James  Claflin, 
was  born  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  in  Barre,  Mass.,  whence  he  enlisted 
as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  subse- 
quently engaged  in  farming  in  Llopkinton, 
Middlesex  County.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Susan  Wadsworth,  was  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  two  of  the  early  presidents  of  Har- 
vard College,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Wadsworth 
and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Willard.  She  was  a 
woman  of  remarkable  energy  and  strong  physi- 
cal powers,  being  bright  and  active  until  her 
death,  which  occurred  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
seven  years  from  la  grippe. 

Thomas  J.  Claflin  was  born  in  Hopkinton, 
Mass.,  and  in  the  common  schools  of  that  town 
received  his  education.  He  started  in  the 
railroad  business  when  a  young  man,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Old  Colony  Railway,  on 
which  for  seventeen  years  he  was  employed  as 
a  conductor,  a  large  part  of  the  time  having 
charge  of  the  "steamboat  train"  running  be- 
tween Boston  and  Fall  River.  This  position 
gave  him  a  very  large  acquaintance  with  the 
leading  merchants  of  New  England,  who  in 
their  frequent  trips  to  New  York  were  his  pas- 
sengers. He  was  a  man  of  marked  personal- 
ity, very  genial  and  accommodating,  and  noted 


for  his  power  of  quick  and  apt  repartee.  On 
leaving  the  railroad,  he  lived  retired  from  ac- 
tive business  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years.  He  married  Mary  A., 
daughter  of  Anthony  Holbrook,  of  Boston, 
Mass.  Of  their  union  four  children  were 
born,  as  follows:  Rupert  Franklin;  Fred- 
erick A.,  of  Boston;  Hettie  H.,  wife  of 
George  E.  Whall,  of  Littleton,  Mass. ;  and 
James  Alfred,  of  Wollaston.  The  parents 
were  not  members  of  any  religious  organiza- 
tion, but  were  of  the  Orthodox  faith. 

Rupert  F.  Claflin  received  a  substantial  ed- 
ucation in  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  con- 
tinuing his  studies  until  fourteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  became  messenger  boy  in  a  wholesale 
dry-goods  house,  his  salary  being  fifty  dollars 
per  annum.  He  remained  there  a  year,  and 
the  next  year  was  employed  in  a  specie 
broker's  office.  Twelve  months  later  he  be- 
came assistant  to  the  ticket  master  in  the  Bos- 
ton office  of  the  Old  Colony  Railway  Com- 
pany, where  he  sold  tickets  for  a  little  more 
than  a  year.  Securing  then  a  situation  in 
the  National  Bank  of  Redemption,  which  was 
called  the  Bank  of  Mutual  Redemption,  under 
the  old  State  bank  system,  he  remained  there 
a  year.  He  was  subsequently  employed  in 
the  Atlas  Bank  an  equal  length  of  time,  after 
which  he  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  worked 
for  a  year  and  a  half,  part  of  the  time  in  a 
railway  office  and  during  the  remaining 
months  with  a  real  estate  dealer.  Returning 
East,  he  was  soon  made  cashier  of  the  Hop- 
kinton Bank  at  Hopkinton,  Mass.,  and  was 
also  elected  treasurer  of  the  Hopkinton  Sav- 
ings Bank,  positions  which  he  retained  three 
years,  resigning  to  come  to  Quincy.  Here 
on  the  1st  of  July,  1S71,  he  assumed  the 
cashiership  of  the  National  Granite  Bank;  and 
he  has  since  discharged  the  duties  of  this  po- 
sition with  marked  ability  and  faithfulness. 
Mr.  Claflin  has  also  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  this  bank  for  many  years, 
and  since  1890  has  been  president  of  the 
Quincy  Savings  Bank.  He  is  likewise  treas- 
urer of  the  Quincy  Shoe  Company  and  one  of 
the  directorate  of  the  Braintree  Street  Rail- 
way Company. 

In  politics  he  has  always  been  independent, 
voting    regardless    of    party    affiliations,       He 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


served  as  Notary  Public  fourteen  years,  and 
for  five  years  was  a  member  of  the  School 
Board,  three  years  being  its  chairman.  Fra- 
illy, he  is  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Reform  Club  of  Boston,  of  the  Granite  City 
Club,  and  of  the  Suburban  Bank-  Cashiers' 
Association.  He  is  very  progressive  in  his 
views,  and  has  been  somewhat  active  in  cur- 
rent reformatory  movements,  having  been 
made  president  of  the  first  Tariff  Reform 
League  established  in  Quincy,  of  the  Civil 
Service  Reform  League,  and  of  the  Business 
Men's  Association.  1  le  has  devoted  much  of 
his  leisure  time  to  physical  culture,  always 
striving  to  perfect  his  physical  condition,  with 
a  view  to  performing  his  mental  work  to  the 
best  advantage  and  to  obtaining  the  highest 
enjoyment  of  the  fast  fleeting  years.  Since 
1X82  he  has  been  a  devotee  of  the  bicycle,  and 
prior  to  that  time  he  was  an  enthusiastic  pe- 
destrian in  a  private  way. 

In  1869  Mr.  Claflin  married  Miss  Lydia  M., 
daughter  of  James  13.  Hull,  of  Lombard,  111. 
She  died  in  1877,  leaving  two  children,  who 
subsequently  died  from  diphtheria.  The  fol- 
lowing year  he  married  her  cousin,  Miss 
Alice  M. ,  daughter  of  Alanson  P.  Benson,  of 
Manlius,  X. Y.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Claflin  have 
two  children  —  Helen  II.  and  Alice  L. 

<3|  HOMAS  HENRY  McDONNELL,  a 
4  I  member  of  the  firm  McDonnell  &  Sons, 
of  Quincy,  and  the  president  of  the 
<  Hiincy  Quarry  Company,  was  born  in  this 
town,  August  18,  1848,  son  of  Patrick  and 
Mary  (Hughes)  McDonnell.  The  father  was 
born  June  12,  1S17,  in  the  County  Roscom- 
mon, Ireland.  Leaving  his  native  land  in 
1834,  he  came  to  this  country,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  Dorchester,  Mass.  Here  he 
worked  in  a  tannery  for  two  or  three  years. 
Then  he  came  to  Quincy,  where  he  served  an 
apprenticeship  at  the  trade  of  a  stone-cutter, 
and  subsequently  followed  that  trade  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  1857  he  embarked  in  the  gran- 
ite business  on  his  own  account,  manufactur- 
ing monumental  and  cemetery  work  of  all 
descriptions  for  the  wholesale  trade,  and  meet- 
ing with  great  success  from  the  first.  In 
1  s - r   he  enlarged   his  operations,  taking   into 


partnership  his  two  sons,  Thomas  Henry  and 

John  (J.,  of  whom  the  latter  died  in  I  S<  14 . 
Besides  one  of  the  largest  and  best  quarries  in 
Quincy,  the  linn  owns  another  in  Banc,  Vt., 
which  produces  a  line  quality  of  granite,  of  a 
lighter  shade  than  the  Quincy  granite,  and 
especially  adapted  for  building  vaults,  mauso- 
leums, and  that  class  of  structures,  as  it  is 
comparatively  easy  to  work,  and  can  be  quar- 
ried in  blocks  of  almost  any  si/e.  The  value 
of  the  Quincy  granite,  which  takes  and  holds 
a  higher  polish  than  any  other  yet  discovered, 
has  been  known  lor  more  than  half  a  century, 
and  still  leads  all  others  in  popularity.  Mc- 
Donnell &  Sons  have  large  yards  in  Buffalo 
and  Chictawauga,  Erie  County,  X.Y. ,  and  at 
West  Seneca,  in  the  same  State:  and  they 
keep  an  agent  and  office  at  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
and  an  agent  at  Geneva,  N.Y.  Their  trade 
throughout  the  Union  is  very  large.  Many 
monuments  and  mausoleums  from  their  works 
may  be  seen  in  the  principal  cemeteries  of 
New  York.  Indiana,  and  other  States.  They 
have  also  a  high  reputation  as  architects  and 
builders,  their  designs  being  artistic  and  well 
executed.  Having  started  in  business  on  a 
modest  scale,  they  are  now  obliged  to  keep 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  constantly 
employed  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  pa- 
trons. They  were  the  first  firm  in  Quincy  to 
adopt  the  apparatus  of  the  American  Pneu- 
matic Tool  Company  for  carving  and  cutting 
stone. 

After  attending  the  public  schools  of 
Quincy,  Thomas  Henry  McDonnell  took  a 
business  course  at  Comer's  Commercial  Col- 
lege in  Boston.  He  then  learned  the  stone- 
cutter's trade  in  his  father's  sheds,  where  he 
worked  until  of  age.  At  this  time  he  was 
taken  into  partnership  by  his  father  and 
brother,  since  which  event  he  has  been  an  im- 
portant factor  in  extending  the  business  and 
placing  the  firm  in  its  present  conspicuous  po- 
sition. He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Quincy  Quarry  Company,  and  has  since  been 
its  president.  He  has  also  been  a  director  of 
the  Quincy  <.K:  Boston  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany since  its  organization,  and  of  the 
Quincy,  Braintree  &  Holbrook  Street  Rail- 
way; and  he  is  largely  interested  in  real 
estate   in   various  parts  of  the  country,  being 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


a  member  of  President  Hill  and  Cranch  Hill 
Land  Companies.  As  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  McDonnell  &  Sons,  he  has  an  interest  in  a 
large  dairy  farm  of  five  hundred  acres  in 
Springfield,  N.Y.,  on  the  Rochester,  Buffalo 
&  Pittsburg  Railroad,  where  a  fine  grade  of 
petroleum  has  been  struck,  and  in  other 
real  estate  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Buf- 
falo,   N.Y. 

Mr.  McDonnell  has  fellowship  in  the  order 
of  the  Knights  of  Columbus  and  that  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum.  In  1892,  accompanied  by 
his  friend,  the  Rev.  T.  J.  Danahy,  he  enjoyed 
a  European  trip,  and  while  in  Rome,  together 
with  his  clerical  friend,  was  accorded  the 
great  and  rare  privilege  of  a  private  audience 
with  the  Holy  Father,  Pope  Leo  XIII. 


§OSEPH  HARDING,  a  skilled  tool- 
maker,  who  has  resided  in  Medfield 
since  he  gave  up  active  business  five 
years  ago,  was  born  in  what  is  now  Mil- 
lis,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  August  24,  182 1. 
His  parents  were  Theophilus  and  Mary  (Hard- 
ing) Harding,  the  father  a  son  of  Theodore 
Harding,  and  the  mother  a  daughter  of  Steven 
Harding. 

Theophilus  Harding  followed  farming,  and 
always  resided  in  Mi  I  lis.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, first  to  Abigail  Clark,  of  Medfield,  who 
bore  him  five  children,  all  now  deceased, 
namely:  Clark;  Betsy,  who  was  the  wife  of 
John  Cook,  also  deceased,  a  tanner  and 
butcher;  Julia,  wife  of  Orrin  Pratt,  who  was 
a  shoemaker;  Theodore,  who  lived  for  a  time 
on  the  old  homestead,  and  also  in  Medfield; 
and  Abigail,  who  was  twice  married,  her  first 
husband  being  Adin  Partridge,  and  her  sec- 
ond, Captain  Henry,  now  in  Philadelphia. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Abigail, 
Theophilus  Harding  married  Mrs.  Mary 
Harding  Atwell,  a  widow,  who  was  born  in 
Mill  is.  He  died  in  February,  1843,  and  she 
in  April,  1873.  Four  children  were  the  fruit 
of  this  second  union;  namely,  Joseph,  Eliza, 
Alfred,  and  Moses.  Eliza,  born  May  15, 
1823,  now  wife  of  L.  M.  Richards,  residing 
in  Medfield,  has  had  five  children,  as  follows: 
Mary  F.,  Addison,  and  Emma,  who  have 
passed    away;    Ella    Maria,    wife    of    William 


Crane;  Emma  L.,  wife  of  E.  M.  Bent,  a  coal 
dealer.  Alfred,  born  in  1827,  is  employed  in 
a  hotel  in  Foxboro.  Moses  (deceased),  was 
in  the  Civil  War.     He  married  Abbie  Seavey. 

Joseph  Harding,  the  eldest  child  of  The- 
ophilus and  Mary  Harding,  was  given  with  the 
other  children  a  practical  common-school  edu- 
cation. At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  learned  the 
trade  of  a  gunsmith,  at  which  he  worked  a  few 
years.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  the 
making  of  watch  tools,  gun  tools,  and  tools 
for  the  manufacture  of  tinware.  He  engaged 
in  the  tool  manufacturing  business  in  Sher- 
born,  Lowell,  Waltham,  and  Springfield,  and 
again  in  Waltham.  Going  to  Chicago  in 
1869,  he  worked  for  twenty  years  in  a  tin 
manufacturing  shop  in  that  city  and  for  some 
time  at  Elgin,  111.,  in  a  watch  factory.  He 
came  to  Medfield  in  1S92,  and  built  a  new 
house  on  Adams  Avenue,  his  present  home, 
where  Mrs.  Ella  M.  Crane  and  her  husband 
are  living  with  him.  For  several  years  Mr. 
Harding  has  not  been  engaged  in  business. 

On  June  23,  1846,  he  married  Miss  Eliza 
M.  Bacon,  of  Millis.  She  was  born  in  1823, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  William  and  Melinda 
Bacon,  both  now  deceased.  Her  father  was  a 
church  bell  maker.  Mrs.  Harding  died  in 
Chicago,  111.,  April  1,  1884,  at  sixty  years  of 
age. 

Mr.  Harding  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Franklin  Pierce,  but  since  then  he  has 
been  a  Republican.  Although  a  popular  and 
successful  man,  he  has  never  accepted  official 
honors. 


LIVER   H.   CLIFFORD,    who   is  well 
remembered  by  the  older  residents   of 
Medfield,    was  a   native  of  Brookfield 
Vt.,    born   January    18,    1809,    son   of 
Samuel  and  Betsy  (Hamlin)  Clifford. 

Samuel  Clifford,  who  was  born  in  Boscawen, 
N.H.,  was  a  schoolmate  of  Daniel  Webster. 
Betsy  Hamlin,  whom  he  married  in  Brook- 
field,  Vt.,  was  born  in  that  town.  May  6, 
1780,  a  daughter  of  Oliver  and  Rachel  (Cleve- 
land) Hamlin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Clifford 
had  eight  children,  of  whom  three  are  living, 
namely:  William  T.,  in  Ware,  Mass.;  Sam- 
uel, Jr.,    in   Eugene  City,  Ore.;  and   Loreua, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


now  Mrs.  Dean,  of  Waltham,  Mass.  The 
lather  died  in  Fisherville,  Vt.,  after  a  life 
of  usefulness  spent  as  a  farmer  and  school 
teacher. 

Oliver  Clifford  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Danburv.  N.H.  At  the  age  of 
twenty- one  he  came  to  Medfield,  Mass.,  and 
engaged  in  farming  here  and  in  Millis,  return- 
ing to  Medfield  in  1868,  after  which  he  lived 
in  retirement  in  the  village  until  his  death  on 
June  8,   1893. 

On  September  29,  1838,  Mr.  Clifford  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Mason,  who  was  born  in 
Princeton,  Mass.,  January  20,  18 16,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Sallie  (Foster)  Mason.  Her 
father  was  a  farmer,  and  always  lived  in 
Princeton.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clifford  had  four 
children,  namely:  Joseph  C,  who  was  born 
September  10,  1839,  and  died  November  12, 
1 89 1,  and  whose  widow,  formerly  Mary  E. 
Conders,  now  lives  in  Allentown,  Pa.  ;  Al- 
fred, born  February  11,  1845,  who  married 
Mary  F.  Morton,  lives  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and 
is  secretary  of  the  Consolidated  Steel  Ware 
Company;  Ellen,  born  March  7,  1846,  who 
for  several  years  was  a  teacher  in  Medfield 
and  Needham,  has  also  served  on  the  School 
Committee,  and  now  lives  with  her  mother  on 
the  homestead;  and  Sarah  Elizabeth,  born 
May  1,  1854,  who  married  George  F.  Twitch- 
ell,  an  engineer  in  the  straw  shop,  and  lived 
in  Medfield  till  her  death,  December  15, 
188^5. 


(5  I  IMC 


IMOTHY  SMITH,  a  well-known  and 
*  I  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Dedham, 
Mass.,  was  born  February  12,  1821,  in 
Stoughton,  Mass.,  and  is  the  representative  of 
one  of  the  earliest  families  settled  in  that  old 
Norfolk  County  town,  which  was  the  birth- 
place of  his  great-great-grandfather,  Jesse 
Smith,  his  great-grandfather,  his  grandfather, 
Joseph  Smith,  Sr. ,  and  his  father,  Joseph,  Jr. 
Joseph  Smith,  Sr.,  was  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  of  the  town,  and  acquired  a  large 
amount  of  real  estate.  To  him  and  his  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Rhoda  Morris,  seven 
children  were  born;  namely,  Joseph,  Jr.,  Na- 
than, Ebenezer,  Luther,  Calvin,  Timothy, 
and  Ruth.      As  these  children  settled   in  life, 


he  gave  to  each  of  them  a  farm.  Grandfather 
Smith  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy  years,  being 
a  vigorous  and  hearty  man  until  the  last. 

Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  was  reared  as  a  tiller  of 
the  soil,  receiving  a  common-school  education. 
Marrying  soon  after  he  attained  his  majority, 
he  continued  industriously  and  successfully 
engaged  in  agricultural  labors  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years.  A  man  of  ster- 
ling integrity,  he  was  highly  respected.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Susan  R. 
White,  was  born  and  bred  in  Easton,  being- 
one  of  the  three  children  of  her  parents.  She 
survived  her  husband,  living  to  the  age  of 
sixty-three  years.  Of  their  six  children  two 
are  yet  living,  namely:  Joan,  the  widow  of 
Willard  Corbetf,  of  Dedham;  and  Timothy, 
the  special  subject  of  this  sketch.  Both  par- 
ents were  attendants  of  the  Methodist  church. 

Timothy  Smith  spent  the  years  of  his 
childhood  and  youth  on  the  home  farm,  ob- 
taining the  rudiments  of  his  education  at  the 
Pierce  School,  which  he  attended  four  years. 
He  subsequently  pursued  his  studies  in  the 
district  school  of  West  Stoughton  and  later 
in  one  of  the  Canton  schools.  When  but 
twelve  years  old  he  entered  the  Messenger 
Mills  at  Canton,  in  order  to  learn  the  trade  of 
making  cotton  cloth,  including  shirting  and 
sheeting,  which  were  there  manufactured. 
Beginning  at  the  lowest  position,  he  gradually 
worked  his  way  through  every  department  of 
the  factory,  being  enabled  before  many  years 
to  superintend  the  entire  process  of  convert- 
ing a  bale  of  raw  cotton  into  cloth;  and  when 
but  eighteen  years  old  he  was  given  charge  of 
the  spinning  and  weaving  rooms,  with  their 
thirty  employees.  In  1840  this  mill  was 
burned;  and  Mr.  Smith  accepted  a  similar 
position  in  a  newly  erected  mill  at  Newton, 
remaining  there  until  some  time  during  the 
next  year,  when  he  went  to  Franklin  City 
Mills,  to  engage  with  Freeman  Fisher,  who 
had  previously  been  in  business  with  Mr. 
Messenger.  After  serving  as  overseer  of  the 
spinning  and  weaving  department  five  years, 
he  was  made  superintendent  of  the  mills,  and 
with  its  eighty  looms  turned  out  thousands  of 
yards  of  cloth  daily  for  a  number  of  years. 
When  the  company  drew  off  their  pond  for  the 
New   York   &    New    England   Railway   Com- 


J' MIX    Q.    A.    FIELD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


"5 


pany,  Mr.  Smith  went  to  Lewiston,  Me.,  to 
set  up  machinery  in  a  new  mill,  being  gone 
six  months.  On  his  return  to  Franklin  he 
acted  as  agent  for  a  company  for  eight  years, 
and  then  in  partnership  with  Timothy  Kaley 
began  the  manufacture  of  knitting  cotton  on 
his  own  account  in  Canton.  Mass.  Five  years 
later  Mr.  Smith  sold  his  interest  in  the  Can- 
ton mill,  and,  going  to  New  Orleans,  set  up 
machinery  in  a  new  mill.  He  remained 
there  until  he  saw  everything  in  good  run- 
ning order,  returning  North  just  before  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  During  the  succeed- 
ing three  years  Mr.  Smith  worked  as  an  over- 
seer for  Mr.  Taft  at  the  Norfolk  Mills  in 
Dedham;  and,  when  these  mills  were  pur- 
chased by  the  Merchants'  Woollen  Company, 
he  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  gang  of  night 
workmen  as  overseer.  After  the  war  he  re- 
signed his  position  to  engage  in  the  manu- 
facture of  spring  beds,  a  business  which  he 
carried  on  successfully  for  a  number  of  years. 
In  his  present  vocation,  that  of  undertaking, 
he  has  been  engaged  since  1875,  when  he  was 
appointed  undertaker  for  the  town.  He  is 
the  oldest  undertaker  in  point  of  service  of 
any  in  this  locality,  and  carries  on  a  large 
business,  with  the  aid  of  his  son-in-law,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Smith  &  Higgins.  He  has 
a  host  of  friends  throughout  the  community, 
and  does  work  for  all  classes  of  people,  irre- 
spective of  church  affiliations.  He  manufact- 
ures the  most  of  his  coffins,  keeping  several 
hands  constantly  employed. 

Mr.  Smith  was  married  in  1842  to  Miss 
Emily  Hamilton,  who  was  born  in  Scituate, 
Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Leonard  and  Ruth 
(Munis)  Hamilton.  Mr.  Hamilton  was  born 
and  reared  in  Brookfield,  Mass. ;  but  after  his 
marriage  he  settled  in  Scituate,  where  his 
death  occurred  when  he  was  but  forty-six  years 
old.  Mrs.  Smith  bore  her  husband  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  the  following  is  a  brief  record: 
George  E.,  the  first-born,  died  May  31,  1844, 
aged  fifteen  months;  Georgianna,  born  May 
19,  1845,  cl'e(l  October  29,  1862;  Emeline  F., 
born  October  23,  1848,  died  January  2,  1852; 
F ranees  A.,  born  February  19,  1854,  is  the 
wife  of  Franklin  P.  Higgins,  and  has  one 
child,  Herbert  F.  Higgins;  Charles  Sumner, 
born  May  4,   1857,  died  January  17,  1858;  and 


Clara  E. ,  born  November  12,  1867,  died  July 
11,  1868.  On  November  22,  1894,  after 
more  than  half  a  century  of  happy  wedlock, 
Mrs.  Smith  passed  to  the  life  immortal. 

In  politics  Mr.  Smith  is  a  steadfast  Repub- 
lican. He  is  a  Free  Mason,  belonging  to 
Constellation  Lodge  of  Dedham.  Mr.  Smith 
and  his  daughter  and  her  husband  are  members 
of  the  Baptist  church. 


§OHN  Q.  A.  FIELD,  the  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  Field  &  Wild,  of 
Quincy,  quarrymen  and  dealers  in 
building  and  monumental  granite,  was 
bom  here,  January  4,  1835.  His  great-grand- 
parents, Joseph  and  Abigail  (Newcomb)  Field, 
spent  their  lives  here;  and  their  son,  Joseph 
Field,  who  married  Relief  Baxter,  was  also  a 
lifelong  resident  of  this  town.  Harvey  Field, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  for 
many  years  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  men  in  Quincy,  and  a  promoter  of 
many  of  its  most  beneficial  enterprises.  A 
more  extended  account  of  him  will  be  found  in 
the  biography  of  George  H.  Field. 

John  O.  A.  Field  was  bred  and  educated  in 
Quincy.  As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  he 
took  charge  of  one  of  his  father's  farms,  on 
which  was  a  large  dairy.  He  subsequently  es- 
tablished a  milk  route  in  Quincy,  and  con- 
ducted it  for  nearly  forty  years,  having  a  very 
lucrative  patronage.  Besides  this,  from  1855 
to  i860  he  dealt  in  paving-stones;  and  he  did 
a  good  deal  of  heavy  teaming  in  this  locality. 
During  the  Civil  War  he  was  a  superintendent 
of  cavalry  horses  for  the  government  in  Read- 
ville  and  Boston.  He  abandoned  his  team- 
ing business  in  1870,  when  elected  High- 
way Surveyor,  a  position  which  he  filled  for 
two  years.  He  afterward  served  as  Selectman 
of  Quincy  for  five  years,  and  in  1876  was  the 
chairman  of  the  board.  He  had  been  Special 
Commissioner  of  Norfolk  County  nine  years 
when,  in  1884,  he  was  elected  Regular  Com- 
missioner, in  which  capacity  he  served  for  five 
years.  In  1884  Mr.  Field  formed  a  copartner- 
ship with  Frank  M.  Wild,  and  succeeding  to 
the  business  established  by  the  late  John 
Q.  A.  Wild,  the  father  of  Frank  M.,  became 
senior  member  of  the  present    firm   of   Field  & 


n6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REYIKYV 


Wild.  The  firm  owns  one  of  the  largest  quar- 
ries in  this  section  of  New  England,  executes 
monumental  and  cemetery  work  of  all  kinds, 
and  employs  a  large  numbei  of  men.  It  often 
furnishes  granite  for  building  material.  The 
stone  for  tin-  recenl  addition  to  the  Uedham 
court-house  was  obtained  at  Dover  quarry, 
owned  by  Mr.  Field.  For  the  past  fifteen 
years  Mr.  Field  has  been  a  member  of  the  In- 
vestment Committee  of  the  Quincy  Savings 
Hank.  Also,  for  four  years  he  was  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Granite  Manufacturers'  Association 
of  New  England,  which  included  six  New  Eng- 
land States  and  New  York  City.  Another  of 
his  occupations  has  been  the  settlement  of 
many  estates  in  this  vicinity,  some  of  which 
involved  large  sums  of  money. 

Mr.  Field  belongs  to  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  to  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  Knights  of  Honor,  and  the 
Granite  City  Club.  Politically,  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  in  1896  and  1897  was  elected 
Councilman-at-large.  He  was  married  No- 
vember 28,  1858,  to  Sylvia  Caroline  Welling- 
ton, daughter  of  Elbridge  Wellington,  a  na- 
tive of  Concord,  Mass.,  who  afterward  became 
a  resident  of  New  Orleans.  Of  their  five  chil- 
dren, four  are  living  —  John  W.,  Georgiana, 
Harvey  Adams,  and  Jennie  Bartlett.  Geor- 
giana is  the  wife  of  D.  P'rederick  Potter,  of 
Buffalo,  N.Y.  ;  and  Plarvey  Adams  is  a  student 
at  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  class  of  1898. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Field  are  members  of  the  Adams 
Temple  Parish,  in  which  he  served  as  one  of 
the  Parish  Committee  from  1872  until  1877; 
and  they  attend  the  church  connected  there- 
with. 


lEWCOMB  B.  TOWER,  one  of  the 
leading  merchants  of  Cohasset,  was 
born  in  this  town,  P'ebruary  20, 
1848.  His  parents  were  Abraham 
H.  and  Charlotte  (Bates)  Tower,  the  former 
of  whom  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  the 
mackerel  fishing  industry  of  this  locality,  but 
is  now  deceased.  A  more  extended  account  of 
Mr.  Tower's  ancestry  may  be  found  in  the 
sketch  of  his  brother,  Abraham  II.  Tower, 
which  is  published  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
Newcomb    B.    Tower    was    educated    in    the 


public  schools  of  Cohasset,  and  previous  to 
entering  mercantile  pursuits  he  assisted  his 
father  in  mackerel  fishing.  In  1866  lie  be- 
came associated  with  his  brother,  Abraham 
IL,  in  tarrying  on  a  general  store,  coal,  lum- 
ber, and  building  materials  being  later  added 
to  their  stock  in  trade.  The  firm,  which  is 
known  as  Tower  Brothers  &  Co.,  have  con- 
ducted a  successful  business  for  over  thirty 
years,  and  are  widely  and  favorably  known 
along  the  South  Shore.  Mr.  Tower  has  been 
a  trustee  of  the  Cohasset  Savings  Bank  for  the 
past  thirty-five  years,  and  takes  a  deep  interest 
in  all  other  institutions  established  for  the  ben 
efit  of  the  community.  In  politics  a  Republi- 
can, he  ably  fulfilled  the  duties  of  Town  Clerk 
for  twenty-five  years,  was  elected  to  the  Board 
of  Selectmen  in  1S95,  and  is  Assessor  and 
Overseer  of  the  Poor. 

Mr.  Tower  married  Sophronia  L.  Parker,  of 
this  town,  by  whom  he  has  had  five  children, 
four  of  whom  are  living;  namely,  George  P., 
Ella  G.,  Mary  P.,  and  Charlotte's.  Ella  G. 
is  the  wife  of   Edward    Nichols,  of  Cohasset. 

Mr.  Tower  was  formerly  organist  of  the 
First  Unitarian  Church,  of  which  he  is  now  a 
Deacon.  He  is  also  actively  interested  in  the 
Sunday-school.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  and  belongs  to  Konohasset 
Lodge. 


ELA  FRENCH,  a  venerable  and 
highly  respected  resident  of  Wey- 
mouth, was  born  in  this  town,  April 
15,  [818,  son  of  Stephen  and  Sallie 
(Dyer)  French,  both  also  natives  of  the  town. 
His  grandfather,  Stephen  French,  Si.,  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Weymouth.  The 
father,  who  was  a  farmer  and  did  considerable 
teaming,  died  in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  having 
been  .prominent  in  the  town  and  having  served 
as  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  His  surviving  chil- 
dren are:  Bela,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Thomas  M.,  who  resides  in  East  Wey- 
mouth. 

Bela  French  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm. 
His  school  life  ended  when  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age.  Upon  reaching  his  majority  he 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Weymouth  Iron 
Company,  for  whom  he  did  general  jobbing  for 


jolIN    CASHMAN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


119 


a  number  of  years.  He  subsequently  engaged 
in  farming,  which  has  been  his  chief  occupa- 
tion since.  He  owns  about  fifty  acres  of  land 
in  the  towns  of  Weymouth  and  Hingham. 
For  some  time  he  dealt  in  wood. 

Mr.  French  has  been  twice  married.  On 
the  first  occasion  he  was  united  to  Mary  A. 
Washburn,  of  Plympton,  who  bore  him  one 
son,  now  deceased.  The  second  marriage  was 
contracted  with  Lucy  E. ,  daughter  of  Jacob 
Lovell,  of  Weymouth.  She  is  the  mother  of 
Bela  French,  of  the  firm  of  French  &  Mer- 
chant, dry-goods  merchants  at  East  Weymouth. 
There  is  one  grandchild,  Lucy  A.  French. 
Mr.  French,  Sr. ,  has  been  a  trustee  of  the 
East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank  since  it  was 
organized.  He  is  an  active  member  and  a 
trustee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
East  Weymouth.  Public-spirited  and  gener- 
ous, he  is  ready  to  lend  his  time  and  influence 
for  the  furtherance  of  any  worthy  object. 
Watching  the  trend  of  events  in  Weymouth, 
he  has  witnessed  many  changes  and  seen  many 
improvements. 


DWIN  P.  WORSTER,  the  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  UJnion  National  Bank  of 
Weymouth,  was  born  August  24, 
1826,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Mary  (Bourne) 
Worster.  The  father,  a  native  of  Somers- 
worth,  N.  H.,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  came  to 
Weymouth,  and  was  here  engaged  in  boot  and 
shoe  making  until  fifty  years  of  age.  Subse- 
quently he  took  up  the  coal  and  wood  busi- 
ness, which  he  had  followed  for  several  years 
when  ill  health  compelled  him  to  retire.  He 
died  in  June,  i860.  His  wife  was  a  native  of 
Barnstable,  Mass. 

Edwin  P.  Wmster  went  to  school  in  Wey- 
mouth until  twelve  years  of  age.  Then  he 
learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  1844.  He  next  spent  two  years 
learning  the  carpenter's  trade  in  Lowell, 
Mass.,  after  which  he  returned  to  Weymouth. 
In  1S49  he  sailed  for  California  via  Cape 
Horn,  making  the  journey  in  seven  months  and 
fourteen  davs.  After  a  short  time  spent  in 
the  gold  mines  and  a  year  in  the  State  of  Cal- 
ifornia, he  decided  to  return  Fast,  and  em- 
barked on  a  sailing-vessel   bound   for  the   Isth- 


mus of  Panama.  Owing  to  severe  storms  and 
calms  the  ship  landed  its  passengers  on  the 
coast  of  Nicaragua,  from  which  place  the 
party  crossed  the  country  to  Grey  Town  on  the 
Atlantic  side.  At  Chagres  Mr.  Wmster  took 
passage  on  a  steamship,  and  returned  home  by 
way  of  New  York.  After- some  time  spent  in 
recruiting  his  health,  which  had  been  impaired 
by  malarial  fever  contracted  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  he  established  himself  in  the  brokerage 
business  in  Boston.  Dealing  principally  in 
foreign  money  and  negotiable  paper,  and 
negotiating  loans,  he  in  time  acquired  a 
large  and  profitable  connection.  In  1893  he 
practically  retired  from  business. 

Mr.  Worster  married  Miss  Mary  J.  Metcalf, 
of  Petersboro,  N.H.  Of  the  five  children 
born  to  them,  four  survive.  These  are:  E. 
Frank,  who  is  living  in  New  York  City; 
Clara  A.,  the  wife  of  P.  H.  Linton,  of  Wey- 
mouth; Charles  H.,  also  in  Weymouth;  and 
Nellie  W. ,  the  wife  of  George  W.,  of  the 
same  place.  Mrs.  Worster  died  March  21, 
1896.  Mr.  Worster  is  a  member  of  the  Delta 
Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Weymouth.  He 
is  a  director  and  the  vice-president  of  the 
Union  National  Bank.  Taking  an  earnest 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  native  town,  he  is 
always  ready  to  lend  his  aid  for  its  advance- 
ment. 


§OHN  CASHMAN,  a  quarry  owner  and 
a  general  contractor  of  Ouincy,  was 
born  June  23,  1S49,  in  Count}'  Cork, 
Ireland,  son  of  James  Cashman.  The 
father  came  to  the  country  with  his  family  in 
about  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  set- 
tling in  Hanover,  Mass.  Here,  after  learning 
the  trade  of  brickmaker,  he  became  a  con- 
tractor and  lumber  dealer.  One  of  the  most 
enterprising  men  of  his  time,  he  built  up  a 
large  business,  attained  honorable  prominence 
in  the  community,  and  at  different  times  served 
in  several  of  the  minor  town  offices.  He  mar- 
ried Catherine  Long,  a  daughter  of  Dennis 
Long,  of  the  County  Cork.  Of  their  ten  chil- 
dren, nine  grew  to  maturity.  The  latter  were  : 
Hannah,  who  is  the  widow  of  John  Connors, 
late  of  Rockland,  Mass.  ;  Julia,  who  married 
Daniel   Reardon,  of  Rockland;  John,  the  sub- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


ject  of  this  sketch;  Dennis  J.,  of  whom  there 
is  no  special  record;  James,  now  deceased; 
Catherine,  who  married  John  Mclntyre,  of 
Brockton,  Mass.  ;  William,  now  a  resident  of 
Quincy;  Ellen,  the  wife  of  James  Spence,  of 
Rockland,  Mass.  ;  and  Luke,  residing  in  New 
York  City. 

Although  John  Cashman's  opportunities  for 
obtaining  a  knowledge  of  hooks  in  his  early 
years  were  very  limited,  yet  by  close  observa- 
tion and  intelligent  leading  he  has  become 
well  informed  on  general  topics,  and  is  a  typi- 
cal representative  of  the  self-made  men  of  our 
generation.  When  a  lad  of  twelve  years  he 
began  driving  a  team  for  his  father,  an  occupa- 
tion which  he  followed  for  ten  years.  Coming 
then  to  Quincy,  he  drove  a  stone  team  for  four 
years,  and  then  established  himself  as  a  team- 
ster on  his  own  account.  He  has  done  well 
from  the  outset.  For  many  years  he  has  car- 
ried on  the  heaviest  business  of  that  kind  in 
this  section  of  the  count}',  employing  about 
thirty  horses  and  nearly  twice  as  many  men. 
As  a  contractor  he  has  been  very  prosperous. 
Among  his  more  important  works  have  been 
the  building  of  the  water-works  in  Quincy  and 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  of  those  at  Bar  Harbor, 
Me.  He  has  also  done  a  vast  amount  of  con- 
tract labor  on  various  railways.  In  1885  he 
purchased  one  of  the  finest  quarries  in  Quincy, 
the  product  of  which  is  a  very  handsome,  rich, 
dark  blue  stone,  much  in  demand  among 
builders.  He  is  also  interested  in  the 
Quincy  Electric  Light  and  Power  Company,  of 
which  he  is  a  director. 

On  April  12,  1S74,  Mr.  Cashman  married 
Hannah  M.  Falvey,  a  daughter  of  Eugene  Fal- 
vey,  of  Quincy.  They  have  had  eleven  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Adeline,  James  E. ,  Mary, 
William,  John,  Ellen,  Beatrice,  and  Henry 
are  living:. 


E  EVERETT  HOLBROOK,  a  represent- 
ative man  of  the  town  of  Holbrook,  was 
~^  born  here  April  23,  1835,  son  of 
Elisha  N.  and  Relief  (Linfield)  Holbrook. 
The  father,  a  native  of  Braintree,  was  a  well- 
known  shoe  manufacturer  of  East  Randolph 
(now  Holbrook),  for  a  half-century,  and  was 
one  of   the  most   successful    business   men  the 


county  has  produced.  The  industry  of  which 
he  was  the  head  was  one  of  the  important 
factors  in  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Last 
Randolph,  and  it  was  owing  largely  to  his 
influence  that  the  town  was  set  off  as  a  sepa- 
rate corporation.  Desirous  of  expressing  their 
appreciation  of  his  many  acts  of  generosity  to 
the  town  and  their  recognition  of  his  honor- 
able and  upright  character,  the  residents  vol- 
untarily renamed  the  town  Holbrook  in  his 
honor.  In  politics  he  was  a  Republican,  hav- 
ing joined  the  party  at  its  formation.  He  was 
previously  a  Whig.  A  public-spirited  man, 
he  was  interested  not  only  in  the  welfare  of 
his  own  town,  but  in  the  great  questions  at 
issue  concerning  the  advancement  or  welfare 
of  the  State  and  of  the  country  at  large,  having 
clear  and  decided  views  in  relation  to  all,  and 
being  always  ready  to  cast  the  weight  of  his 
influence  on  the  side  which  he  believed  to  be 
the  right.  He  was  a  devoted  member  of  Win- 
throp  Congregational  Church  and  one  of  its 
most  liberal  contributors.  He  donated  to  the 
town  the  magnificent  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  a  part  of  which  was  used  in  building 
the  public  library.  His  death  occurred  on 
February  5,  1871.  The  town  named  after 
him  was  incorporated  on  the  29th  of  the 
same  month.  His  wife,  Relief,  was  bom  in 
East  Randolph  (Holbrook).  Two  of  their 
children  are  living,  namely:  Mary  W. ,  of 
Holbrook  ;  and  E.  Everett,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

E.  Everett  Holbrook  grew  to  manhood  in 
East  Randolph,  receiving  his  education  partly 
in  the  town  and  partly  at  Phillips  Andover 
Academy.  When  about  thirty  years  of  age 
he  became  a  partner  in  business  with  his 
father,  the  firm  being  known  as  that  of  E.  N. 
Holbrook  &  Son.  Shortly  after  the  death  of 
his  father  Mr.  Holbrook  retired  from  the 
manufacturing  business.  He  was  a  director  of 
the  former  National  Bank  of  Randolph,  and  he 
is  now  a  director  of  the  Holbrook  Co-operative 
National  Bank.  He  was  the  first  Representa- 
tive of  Holbrook  in  the  General  Court. 
While  in  the  legislature  lie  served  on  the 
Committee  on  Mercantile  Affairs. 

Mr.  Holbrook  has  been  twice  married.  On 
the  first  occasion  he  was  united  with  Mary  J. 
Russell,    a  daughter  of  the   Rev.    E.    Russell, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


D.D.,  of  Holbrook.  She  died  in  1886,  the 
mother  of  two  children,  namely:  Jennie  L., 
now  the  wife  of  Edward  N.  Waterman,  of  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.  ;  and  Mary  S. ,  living  at  Holbrook. 
The  second  marriage  was  contracted  in  Febru- 
ary, 18S9,  with  Mrs.  Isabel  N.  Dana,  of  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.  Like  his  father,  Mr.  Holbrook 
is  an  active  member  of  Winthrop  Congrega- 
tional Church,  and  was  for  two  years  the 
superintendent  of  its  Sunday-school.  He  is  a 
man  of  extensive  information  and  a  keen 
judge  of  human  nature.  He  has  travelled  in 
Europe  and  in  the  United  States,  and  has 
spent  several  winters  in  the  South.  Mr.  Hol- 
brook's  house,  surrounded  by  lawn  and  shrub- 
bery, is  one  of  the  most  attractive  features  of 
the  town. 


^|UFUS  A.  THAYER,  of  Randolph,  a 
former  representative  of  the  Seventh 
Ward,  Norfolk  District,  in  the 
General  Court,  was  born  in  Ran- 
dolph, December  3,  1839.  A  son  of  Rufus 
Thayer,  he  is  a  descendant  of  Richard  Thayer, 
of  Boston,  who,  with  two  brothers,  came  to 
this  country  from  England  in  1640.  The 
father  was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  a  very 
public-spirited  man,  being  especially  inter- 
ested and  active  in  school  matters.  He  gave 
a  portion  of  his  farm  as  a  site  for  a  school 
building,  upon  which  the  district  school- 
house,  No.  5,  now  stands.  He  married  Mar- 
gery A.  White,  a  native  of  Braintree  and  a 
daughter  of  Captain  Calvin  White,  of  Brain- 
tree.  His  death  occurred  in  1863.  Of  bis 
children,  the  other  survivors  are:  Charles  M., 
of  the  firm  W.  T.  Piper  &  Co.,  manufacturers 
of  vinegar,  124  Broad  Street,  Boston;  and  S. 
Austin,  a  dealer  in  coal,  grain,  hay,  and  lum- 
ber at  Randolph. 

In  his  youth,  while  also  busy  at  farm  work, 
Rufus  A.  Thayer  attended  the  public  schools 
nf  Randolph,  Hollis  Institute  at  South  Brain- 
tree,  and  Pierce  Academy  at  Middleboro, 
Mass.,  finishing  his  education  with  a  business 
course  at  Comer's  Commercial  College  in  Bos- 
ton. At  his  father's  death  the  charge  of  the 
property  and  the  guardianship  of  his  younger 
brothers  and  sisters  devolved  upon  him.  Ac- 
tive in  local  politics  for  a  prolonged  period,  he 


served  on  the  Board  of  Selectmen  many  years, 
and  has  officiated  as  chairman  of  -the  Council. 
In  1888  and  1889  he  was  the  Seventh  Ward's 
Representative  in  the  State  legislature,  serv- 
ing in  1888  on  the  Committee  of  Count}  Es- 
timates and  Taxation,  and  as  clerk  of  the 
Committee  on  Taxation,  and  in  1889  as  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Chari- 
table Institutions. 

Mr.  Thayer  married  Isadore  Arnold,  of 
Braintree,  and  has  two  daughters.  The  latter 
are:  Flora  A.  and  Mabel  E.,  both  graduates 
of  Thayer  Academy,  of  Braintree.  Mr. 
Thayer  was  instrumental  in  the  building  of 
the  Randolph  Street  Railway,  and  is  a  director 
and  the  clerk  of  the  corporation  owning  it. 
He  is  a  man  of  position  and  influence  in  the 
community,  and  is  at  all  times  interested  in 
the  growth  of  the  town. 


,E\VTON  WHITE,  formerly  a  well- 
known  boot  and  shoe  manufacturer  of 
Holbrook,  was  born  in  East  Ran- 
dolph (now  Holbrook),  December 
27,  1  81  5.  He  was  a  son  of  Captain  Thomas 
and  Meriel  (Burr)  White,  and  a  brother  of  Ed- 
mund White,  a  biography  of  whom  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Captain  Thomas 
White  followed  his  trade  of  stone-cutter  in 
early  manhood  and  the  calling  of  farmer  in  his 
later  years. 

Newton  White  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and 
acquired  a  limited  education  in  the  schools 
near  his  home.  He  had  not  the  advantages 
afforded  young  men  of  the  present  day,  but  his 
natural  ability  and  intelligence  made  up  for 
his  lack  of  mental  training.  For  a  short  time 
he  manufactured  shoes  in  company  with  Na- 
thaniel Sprague,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
after  he  was  engaged  in  the  same  business 
without  a  partner.  As  a  business  man  he  was 
very  successful  ;  and  he  was  very  popular  with 
his  employees  and  with  all  with  whom  he  was 
associated. 

Mr.  Holbrook  was  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Rhoda 
White,  bore  him  four  daughters,  namely: 
Rhoda  R.,  of  whom  there  is  no  special  record; 
Ruth,  now  the  wife  of  David  Forrest;  Mary 
B.,  the  wife  of   Frank  Lewis;   ami  Lizzie,   now 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVll.U 


deceased.  His  second  marriage  was  contracted 
in  1880  with  Mar)  A.,  daughter  of  the  late 
Luther  White.      Mr.    White   was  a   prominent 

Republican.      During  the  sessi it    1877  he 

nted  Holbrook  and  Braintree  in  the 
State  legislature,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he 
was  ,1  Selectman  of  Holbrook.  A  public- 
spirited  man,  lie  was  actively  interested  in  the 
progress  oi  the  town,  lie  was  Deacon  in  the 
Winthrop  Congregational  Church  for  over  a 
quarter  oi  a  century,  and  the  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  school  for  a  number  of  years. 
Mr.  White  was  an  upright  and  conscientious 
man,  a  kind  father  and  husband,  and  an  oblig- 
ing neighbor.  He  died  November  15,  1882. 
His  widow  and  eldest  daughter  still  reside  in 
the  handsome  residence  at  the  corner  of 
Franklin  and  Adams  Streets  in  Holbrook, 
where  he  made  his  home  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  life. 


§KREMIAH  CREHORE,  for  many  years 
an  honored  and  respected  citizen  of 
Dedham,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  was 
born  in  Dorchester,  Suffolk  County, 
December  19,  1795,  a  son  of  John  S.  Crehore. 
IK-  was  of  Colonial  stock  and,  on  the  paternal 
side,  of  Irish  extraction,  his  emigrant  progen- 
itor, Teague  Crehore,  having  come  from  Ire- 
land to  Massachusetts  between  1640  and  1650, 
and  settled  in  the  town  of  Milton,  this  county. 
An  account  of  him  and  of  his  immediate  de- 
scendants is  given  in  Teele's  History  of  Mil- 
ton, in  the  chapter  devoted  to  noted  men  and 
women  and  early  families.  His  sons  and 
grandsons  became  prominently  identified  with 
the  interests  of  that  section  of  the  county,  and 
some  of  their  posterity  were  residents  of  Mil- 
ton until  within  a  very  few  years.  They  were 
principally  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
although  they  were  noted  for  their  mechanical 
skill  and  ingenuity,  one  member  of  a  former 
generation  being  the  fust  manufacturer  of  ar- 
tificial limbs,  as  well  as  of  the  first  piano  and 
the  first  violin  made  in  the  United  States. 

John  S.  Crehore  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Milton  in  1761,  and  died  January  7, 
1833,  in  Dedham,  whither  he  had  removed 
with  his  family  in  1828.  In  early  manhood  he 
learned    the    trade    of    a    chair     manufacturer, 


which  he  carried  on  in  addition  to  farming 
during   the  greatei  pan   of    his  life.      He  was 

held  in  much  esteem  as  a  man  and  as  a  citizen. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah 
Lyon,  was  a  daughter  of  Elhanan  Lyon,  ol 
Stoughton.  She  was  bom  in  that  town,  April 
5,  [765,  and  died  in  Dedham  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-six  years,  having  reared  six  chil- 
dren. Both  she  and  her  husband  were  attend 
ants  of  the  Congregational  church. 

Jeremiah  Crehore  was  brought  up  on  a  inn  , 

but  devoted  a  good  deal  of  his  time  to  mei  1 

ical  pursuits,  having  a  natural  aptitude  for  that 
work,  and  enjoying  a  wide  reputation  as  a 
skilled  mechanic.  He  had  his  workshop  on 
his  farm,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  spent  far  more 
days  at  the  bench  than  in  tilling  the  .-oil. 
He  was  very  ingenious,  and  among  other 
works  which  brought  him  fame  was  the  placing 
of  the  wires  on  cylinders  to  produce  the  fine 
lines  in  writing-paper.  In  1844  he  removed 
to  the  village  of  Dedham,  where  he  spent  his 
remaining  years,  dying  May  23,  1876,  at  the 
age  of  eighty  years  and  five  months.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Joan  Dunbar,  who  was  born  in 
Charlton,  Worcester  Count}',  Mass.,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  anil  Sarah  Dunbar.  Her  grand- 
father, Elijah  Dunbar,  was  born  in  Canton, 
Mass.,  where  his  father,  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Dunbar  (Harvard  College,  1723),  was  a  settled 
minister  for  fifty  years.  (A  very  interesting 
sketch  of  him  appears  in  the  History  of  Can- 
ton.) Elijah  Dunbar  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  being  known  as  Esquire  Dunbar;  and 
in  that  capacity  he  did  a  great  deal  of  town 
work,  and  was  very  prominent  in  local  affairs. 
Mrs.  Crehore  was  one  of  a  family  of  twelve 
children,  and  was  herself  the  mother  of  three, 
two  of  whom  are  now  living;  namely,  Ellen 
H.  and  Augusta.  The  other,  a  daughter  Mal- 
tha, died  aged  two  and  a  half  years.  Mrs.  Cre- 
hore survived  her  husband,  attaining  the  age 
of  eighty-seven  years.  Moth  were  active  mem- 
bers ol  the  Unitarian  church,  Mr.  Crehore 
having  been  Deacon  of  the  church  of  that  de- 
nomination in  Milton  until  his  removal  to 
Dedham. 

The  two  daughters  of  Mr.  and  Mis.  Crehore 
were  born  in  Milton,  but  were  bred  and  edu- 
cated in  Dedham,  being  students  in  the  high 
school.      Miss  Ellen  II.  Crehore  began  teach- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


123 


ing  when  but  seventeen  years  old,  and  after- 
ward pursued  the  higher  branches  of  education 
at  a  private  school  in  Boston.  Resuming  her 
former  occupation,  she  taught  for  a  time  in 
Dedham,  being  subsequently  a  teacher  in 
Dorchester  nine  years,  and  later  in  Dedham. 
She  has  ever  taken  an  active  and  prominent 
part  in  advancing  the  educational  interests  of 
Dedham,  for  six  years  serving  faithfully  as  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee. 

Miss  Augusta  Crehore  completed  her  studies 
at  a  select  .school  in  Roxbury,  and  afterward 
for  a  short  time  taught  a  private  school  in 
Dedham.  Since  the  death  of  their  parents, 
the  sisters  have  lived  together  in  Dedham, 
their  home  being  a  pleasant  and  attractive 
one.  Both  are  active  in  social  circles.  They 
are  members  of  the  Unitarian  church  and  of 
the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
Ellen  H.  being  also  a  member  of  the  Dedham 
Historical  Society. 


§OHN  K.  WILLARD,  a  leading  business 
man  of  Randolph,  was  born  in  Win- 
chester, N.  H.,  January  20,  1855,  son 
of  Samuel  W.  and  Mary  A.  (Bryant) 
Willard.  He  is  of  Scotch  descent  on  the 
paternal  side.  His  maternal  grandfather, 
Paul  Butler,  was  a  soldier  and  an  officer  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  His  father,  who 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tripe  immedi- 
ately alter  locating  here,  and  subsequently 
followed  this  industry  for  several  years,  retired 
from  business  some  time  previous  to  his  de- 
mise,  in  February,    1896. 

When  five  years  of  age  John  K.  Willard 
was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Randolph,  where 
he  attended  the  grammar  and  high  schools. 
His  education  was  completed  at  Phillips 
Academy  at  Andover,  Mass.  He  became 
associated  with  his  father  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four.  In  1S84,  when  the  latter  retired,  he 
went  into  partnership  with  L.  S.  Woodward, 
of  Rhode  Island.  One  year  later  Mr.  Wood- 
ward withdrew,  and  since  that  time  Mr.  Wil- 
lard has  conducted  the  business  alone.  In 
1886  he  added  the  rendering  of  tallow  to  the 
preparation  of  tripe  and  pigs'  feet.  He  now 
carries  on  a  large  wholesale  business  in  this 
class  of  goods. 


Mr.  Willard  married  Grace  F.  Wild,  a 
daughter  of  Daniel  Wild,  of  Randolph,  and 
has  three  sons  —  Robert  H.,  Roger  B. ,  and 
John  R.  He  is  both  a  Mason  and  an  Odd 
Fellow,  and  a  member  of  the  Young  Men's 
Mutual  Relief  Association  of  Randolph,  and  an 
attendant  of  the  Baptist  church.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Democrat ;  and  he  has  been  one  of  the 
Selectmen  of  Randolph  for  the  past  six  years, 
serving  as  chairman  of  the  board  during  the 
current  year.  In  the  tall  of  1896  he  was  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  Representative  of 
the  Seventh  Ward,  Norfolk  District,  but  was 
defeated  by  his  opponent,  Henry  A.  Belcher, 
of  the  same  place.  However,  he  is  popular  in 
the  town  with  both  parties,  and  is  much  es- 
teemed. 


LIHU  A.  HOLBROOK,  a  prominent 
resident  of  Holbrook,  is  a  native  of 
Braintree,  Mass.  Born  on  Decem- 
ber 23,  1825,  son  of  Samuel  L.  and  Susanna 
D.  (Adams)  Holbrook,  he  comes  of  an  old 
Braintree  family,  which  is  said  to  be  of 
Scotch  origin.  Joseph  Holbrook,  his  grand- 
father, was  a  son  of  Colonel  John  Holbrook, 
of  Braintree.  His  father,  Samuel  L.  Hol- 
brook, was  born  in  Braintree,  and  resided  there 
throughout  his  life,  engaged  in  farming.  His 
mother,  Susanna,  was  descended  from  the 
famous  Adams  family,  to  which  the  American 
Presidents  of  that  name  belonged.  Jesse 
Reed,  who  worked  for  John  Adams,  the  grand- 
father of  Flihu  Holbrook,  in  1815  trans- 
planted to  South  Franklin  Street  the  beauti- 
ful elm-tree  standing  near  Mr.  Holbrook's 
residence,  regarded  as  one  of  the  landmarks  of 
the  town  and  said  to  be  one  of  the  largest 
trees  in  the  State.  Mrs.  Susanna  D.  Hol- 
brook, who  was  then  a  girl,  assisted  in  the 
transplanting. 

Flihu  A.  Holbrook  grew  to  manhood  in 
Braintree,  ami  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  town.  When  about  eighteen 
years  old,  he  began  shoemaking.  This  trade 
he  afterward  followed  as  a  journeyman  until 
i860,  in  which  year  he  began  to  manufacture 
boots  on  his  own  account  in  Fast  Randolph, 
now  known  as  Holbrook,  in  partnership  with 
Danforth    Thayer,    under    the     firm    name    of 


124 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Thayer  &  Holbrook  .  The  firm  generally 
employed  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  hands, 
and  was  in  business  fur  fifteen  years.  After 
Mr.  Thayer's  death  'it  was  merged  in  that  of 
E.  A.  Holbrook  &  Co.  The  latter  firm  had 
carried  on  business  for  a  number  of  years  with 
Mr.  Holbrook  at  its  bead  when  it  dissolved 
and  the  senior  partner  retired  from  manufact- 
uring. 

Mr.  Holbrook  married  Annie  M.  White,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  W.  White,  of  Holbrook. 
She  bore  him  two  children  —  John  A.  and 
Annie  M.  A  second  marriage  subsequently 
united  him  to  Roxie  E.  Dickinson,  oi  Am- 
herst, Mass.  Air.  Holbrook  is  a  Republican 
in  politics.  He  is  now  serving  his  second 
term  as  a  member  of  the  Hoard  of  Assessors. 
He  was  one  of  the  Building  Committee  that 
superintended  the  erection  of  the  present 
town  hall  of  Holbrook;  and  he  has  occupied 
various  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  the 
town.  As  a  citizen  he  is  known  to  have  at 
heart  the  welfare  of  the  community  and  to  act 
always  for  the  public  interest. 


,EV.    WILLIAM    ORNE    WHITE,    of 

Brookline,  retired,  after  many  years 
of  faithful  service  in  the  ministry  of 
the  Unitarian  body  of  the  Congre- 
gational church,  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass., 
February  12,  1821.  His  parents  were  the 
Hon.  Daniel  A.  and  Eliza  (Orne)  White. 

The  founder  of  the  family,  William  White, 
came  from  England  to  this  country  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  (tradition  says 
from  Norfolk  County),  locating  in  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  in  1642.  'The  Rev.  Mr.  White's 
grandfather,  John  White,  who  was  a  native  of 
Haverhill,  was  engaged  in  farming  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life,  in  Methuen.  He 
died  I  here  in   1800,  aged  eighty  years. 

Daniel  A.  White,  son  of  John,  was  born  in 
Methuen,  June  7,  1776,  and  grew  to  manhood 
on  the  farm.  Graduating  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  17017.  after  studying  law  in  Salem  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  and  began  practice  in 
Newburyport.  He  subsequently  moved  to 
Salem,  where  he  acted  as  Judge  of  Probate  for 
thirty-eighl  years,  resigning  in  1853,  at  the 
age  oi    seventy-seven.      He   was   first   married 


May  24,  1807.  to  Mrs.  Mary  Van  Schalkwyck, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Josiah  Wilder,  of  Lancaster, 
Mass.  Two  daughters  bom  of  this  union 
grew  up,  and  were  married,  llis  wife,  Mary, 
died  June  29,  1811:  ami  <  ighl  years  later,  on 
August  1,  [819,  Judge  White  married  .Mrs. 
Eliza  Wetmore,  widow  oi  William  Wetmore 
and  daughti  r  "I  William  ( )i  no,  a  mi 
of  Salem.  The  fruit  of  this  marriage  was 
one  son,  William,  subject  of  this  sketch, 
named  tor  his  grandfather  Orne.  Mrs.  Eliza 
White  died  in  her  thirty-seventh  year,  March 
27,  1 82 1  ;  and  the  Judge  married  on  January 
22,  1824,  Mrs.  Ruth  Rogers,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Hurd,  a  merchant  of  Charlestown, 
Mass.  One  son  born  of  this  union  grew  to 
maturity,  and  was  married.  The  father,  the 
Hon.  Daniel  A.  White,  died  March  30,  1861, 
in  his  eighty-fifth  year.  His  third  wife,  out- 
living him,  attained  the  age  of  ninety  years, 
her  death  occurring  in  November,  1874.  The 
family  record  includes  a  long  list  of  grand- 
children and  great-grandchildren  sprung  from 
the  first  and  third  marriages.  Judge  White 
was  the  author  of  a  work  entitled  "New  Eng- 
land Congregationalism,"  also  of  eulogies  on 
Nathaniel  Bowditch  and  John  Pickering,  and 
of  other  public  addresses  that  appeared  in 
print.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  First  Church  of  Salem,  his  wife,  Eliza, 
also  being  connected  therewith. 

William  Orne  White  acquired  his  element- 
ary education  in  the  public  and  private  schools 
of  Salem,  and  prepared  for  college  at  Phillips 
Exeter  Academy.  Graduating  from  Harvard 
in  1840,  after  two  years  of  voyaging  and  for- 
eign travel  for  his  health,  he  entered  the  Di- 
vinity School  at  Cambridge,  pursued  thi 
lar  course  of  study,  and  was  graduated  in 
1845.  For  five  months  he  supplied  the  pulpit 
of  the  Unitarian  church  at  Eastport,  Me.:  and 
in  1846-47,  in  its  pastor's  absence,  he  had 
charge  of  the  Unitarian  chinch  in  St.  Louis. 
He  was  ordained  in  West  Newton,  November 
22,  [848.  From  that  time  until  January  1, 
1 85 1,  he  preached  in  West  Newton;  anil  for 
twenty-seven  years,  from  October  1.  1851,  to 
November  3,  [878,  be  was  settled  in  Keene, 
N.II.  Resigning  his  pastorate  in  Keene,  he 
supplied  different  pulpits  for  a  time,  and 
preached  lor  the  First  Congregational  Society 


EPHRAIM    H.    DOANE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


127 


of  Sharon,  in  this  county,  for  two  years,  from 
September,   18S1,  to  September,   1883. 

Several  of  Mr.  White's  discourses  have 
been  published.  Among  them  maybe  named: 
"Our  Struggle  Righteous  in  the  Sight  of 
God,"  delivered  in  Keene,  April  13,  1862, 
"on  the  day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  nation's 
victories";  an  address  at  Keene,  September 
18,  1863,  delivered  at  the  funeral  of  the  Rev. 
George  G.  Ingersoll;  a  sermon  preached  to 
the  "Keene  Congregational  Society,"  Septem- 
ber 29,  1867,  "previous  to  the  enlarging  and 
remodelling  of  their  house  of  worship";  an 
historical  address,  July  4,  1876,  delivered  in 
Keene,  N.H.,  by  request  of  the  city  govern- 
ment; farewell  sermon  at  Keene,  November 
3,  1878;  and  an  address  at  the  dedication  of 
a  mural  monument  to  the  memory  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Walker,  ex-president  of  Har- 
vard University,  delivered  in  Harvard  Church, 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  January  14,  1883.  In 
September,  1881,  Mr.  White  removed  to  his 
present  residence  in  Brookline. 

He  was  married  on  September  25,  1848,  to 
Margaret  E.,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Chester 
Harding,  the  artist,  whose  home  was  in 
Springfield,  Mass.  Mrs.  White  was  born  in 
Barre,  N.Y.  She  is  the  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren: Daniel  Appleton,  who  died  in  infancy 
in  1859:  and  Eliza  Orne  White,  born  August 
2,  1856,  author  of  "Miss  Brooks,"  "Winter- 
borough,"  "The  Coming  of  Theodora,"  "When 
Molly  was  Six,"  "A  Little  Girl  of  Long 
Ago,"  "A  Browning  Courtship  and  Other 
Stories." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  White  favors  the  Republican 
side  in  politics.  He  served  on  the  School 
Committee  of  Keene,  and  was  a  trustee  of 
Keene  Academy,  president  of  the  Cheshire 
County  Washingtonian  Total  Abstinence  So- 
ciety, and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Orphans' 
Home  in  Franklin,  N.  H.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
White  are  life  members  of  the  American  Uni- 
tarian Association. 


7TAAPT.  EPHRAIM  HARVEY  DOANE, 
I  Ky      superintendent   of    the    Sailors'    Snug 

vja^   Harbor,  a  home  for  disabled   seamen 

at    Germantown,    Quincy,    Mass.,    is 

well  fitted  for  the  position  by  birth,  breeding, 


and  experience.  Son  of  Ephraim  Doane,  Jr., 
he  was  born  December  28,  1844,  in  Harwich, 
Mass.,  where  his  ancestors  had  been  residents 
for  several  generations.  LI  is  grandfather, 
Ephraim,  Sr. ,  sun  of  Simeon  Doane,  one  of 
the  numerous  descendants  of  Deacon  John 
Doane,  of  Plymouth,  1630,  and  later  of  East- 
ham,  Cape  Cod,  Mass.,  was  engaged  in  seafar- 
ing pursuits  when  a  young  man  as  captain 
of  a  vessel.  On  retiring  to  land  service,  he 
opened  a  store  of  general  merchandise  in  his 
native  town,  Harwich,  and  in  connection  with 
it  had  charge  of  the  post-office  there  for  many 
years. 

Ephraim  Doane,  Jr.,  son  of  Ephraim,  Sr. , 
was  born  in  Harwich  in  [817.  Like  most 
boys  reared  on  the  coast,  he  early  imbibed  a 
love  for  the  sea,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  years 
was  employed  as  a  cook  on  board  a  coaster. 
From  that  time  on  for  many  a  year  he  led  a 
seafaring  life,  becoming  while  yet  a  very 
young  man  master  of  a  vessel.  He  was  en- 
gaged in  fishing  and  coastwise  sailing  until 
1*875,  when  he  abandoned  the  sea  to  become 
superintendent  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  in 
Quincy.  After  a  continuous  service  of  eight 
years  in  that  capacity,  he  returned  to  his  an- 
cestral home  in  Harwich,  where  he  is  living 
retired  from  active  labor,  a  hale  and  vigorous 
man  for  one  of  his  advanced  years.  His  wife 
was  Priscilla  Ellis,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Ellis,  of  Harwich.  Of  their  six  children, 
three  grew  to  years  of  maturity,  as  follows: 
Emily,  wife  of  Milton  Kelley,  of  Dennis, 
Mass.  ;  Ephraim  Harvey;  and  Minnie,  wife  of 
Edgar  Thomas,  of  Dorchester,  Mass.  The 
parents  early  united  with  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  and  have  faithfully  followed  its 
teachings. 

Ephraim  Harvey  Doane  left  school  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years  to  follow  in  the  footsteps 
of  his  father,  whom  he  then  accompanied  on 
a  coasting  trip  as  cook.  He  continued  going 
to  sea  upward  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  being 
employed  in  various  minor  capacities  until 
about  twenty  years  old,  when  he  was  made 
captain  of  a  schooner,  and  subsequently  en- 
gaged in  the  coasting  business  a  number  of 
years,  the  latter  part  of  the  time  turning  his 
attention  to  yachting.  In  1885  Captain 
Doane    was    appointed    superintendent    of    the 


BI<  IGK  MM  lie  \I,    REVIEW 


Sailors'   Snug   Harbor,  .1   lei   institution  of 

its  kind,  where  he  has  now  the  care  oi  about 
forty  men,  who  appreciate  to  the  highest 
degree  his  efforts  to  make  their  lives  home- 
like and  pleasant.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber "l  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company  "I  Boston. 

In  [863  Captain  Doane  married  Harriet  H., 
daughtei  oi  Josiah  Doane,  ol  Harwich,  who, 
although  he  bears  the  same  surname,  is  not  a 
near  kinsman.  Two  children  have  been  burn 
to  the  Captain  and  Mrs.  Doane,  namely: 
Annie,  wife  of  William  Gillion,  of  Dennis, 
Mass.;  and  llattie,  who  died,  unmarried,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-seven  years. 


ANIEL  BONNEY,  a  venerable  and 
honored  citizen  of  Dedham,  Mass., 
^5)  J  is  living  in  pleasant  retirement  from 
active  pursuits  at  his  home  on  East 
Street,  near  Washington  Street,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  his  many  busy  years  of  toil.  He  was 
born  October  5,  [Sir,  in  Kingston,  this  State, 
his  father,  Seth  Bonney,  being  the  son  of  Dan- 
iel Bonney,-  a  lifelong  resident  of  Plymouth 
County. 

Seth  Bonney  was  born  in  Middleboro.  He 
was  one  of  a  family  of  four  children,  and  with 
1  lie  others  was  brought  up  on  the  home  farm. 
IN'  learned  the  founder's  trade  when  a  young 
man;  and  this  calling  he  followed  winters  for 
some  years,  having  charge  of  a  blast  furnace  in 
Halifax,  while  in  the  summer  season  he  made 
a  -nod  living  at  fishing.  In  1823  he  settled 
in  Dedham,  where  he  was  engaged  in  various 
occupations  until  the  time  of  his  removal  to 
living,  where,  at  the  home  of  one  of  his  sons, 
he  passed  the  last  three  of  his  sixty-one  years 
of  life.  His  wife,  formerly  Deborah  Weston, 
was  born  and  bred  in  Plympton,  Mass.,  being 
one  of  the  eight  children  reared  by  Deacon 
Weston,  a  prosperous  cooper  Mis.  Bonney 
bore  her  husband  five  children,  of  whom  Dan- 
iel, the  special  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the 
only  one  living.  The  mother  passed  to  the 
higher  life  in  1X35,  aged  fifty-four  years. 
Both  parents  were  members  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Kingston. 

Daniel  Bonney  attended  the  common  schools 
of    Halifax    until    eleven    years    old,    when    he 


came  with  his  parents  to  Dedham.  At  the  age 
of  sixteen  In'  went  to  Dunstable,  N.H.,  to 
learn  the  trade  of  a  machinist  and  blacksmith, 
serving  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years;  and 
he  afterward  worked  at  his  trade  in  a  machine 
shop  in  Andover,  Mass.  In  1833  he  returned 
to  Dedham,  locating  in  the  east  part  of  the 
town,  where  he  built  a  simp  and  began  the 
manufacture  of  blind  hinges,  a  profitable  in- 
dustry, which  he  carried  on  several  years. 
Subsequently,  removing  his  simp  to  it- 
location,  near  his  residence,  he  enlarged  it, 
and  in  r 868  put  in  an  engine;  and  from  that 
time    until   his    retirement    from    business,    in 

1879,    he  made  a    specialty    oi    mi facturing 

burs,  washers,  and   rivets,  meeting    with  grati- 
fying success  in  his  enterprise. 

Mr.  Bonney  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  united  May  14, 
1835,  was  Cordelia  C.  Coney,  who  was  born 
in  Kastport,  Me.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Coney,  a  native  of  Dedham.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  fifty-four  vears,  leaving  six  chil- 
dren, namely:  Sarah,  wife  of  Horace  Went- 
worth ;  Isadora,  widow  of  the  late  Samuel 
Whitmore;  Henry  C. ,  auditor  for  the  Bell 
Telephone  Company,  whose  wife,  Florence 
Bridge,  died  in  1878,  having  borne  him  seven 
children,  of  whom  four  are  living  —  John, 
Robert,  Daniel,  and  Florence  C.  ;  Delia, 
widow  of  the  late  John  H.  Couclran  ;  Seth, 
who  is  married,  and  has  one  child,  Arthur 
W.  ;  and  Daniel  Weston,  who  married  Eva 
M.  Wetmore,  and  has  five  children  —  Daniel 
Weston,  Samuel  Coney,  John  Henry,  Roger, 
and  Eunice.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife 
Mr.  Bonney  married  Mrs.  Almira  S.  Gale 
Grover,  who  was  bom  and  reared  in  New 
Hampshire,  where  her  father,  Dudley  dale, 
was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  through- 
out his  life.  She  had  been  married  twice 
previous  \<>  her  union  with  Mr.  Bonney,  and 
by  her  first  husband,  Oliver  Holmes,  had  three 
children  —  Osmond  A.,  Cora  E.,  and  ('liver 
J.  Her  second  husband,  Frank  1).  Grover,  to 
whom  she  was  married    in    1863,  died    in   [866. 

Mr.  Bonney  is  a  man  of  keen  intelligence 
and  forethought,  keeping  well  informed  as  to 
current  events,  and  is  now.  as  in  his  earlier 
years,  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  and 
progress  oi  the  community  in  which  he  resides. 


DEXTER    E.    WADSWORTH. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFAV 


I31 


He  is  a  strong  Republican  in  politics,  support- 
ing the  principles  of  that  party  by  voice  and 
vote. 


HARLES      L.      FARNSWORTH,     a 

bread,  cake,  and  pastry  baker  at  Ev- 
erett Square,  Hyde  Park,  is  a  self- 
made  man  in  the  highest  sense  im- 
plied by  the  term.  lie  was  born  in  Whiting- 
ham,  \'t.,  November  24,  1840,  son  of  Luke 
W.  Farnsworth.  His  grandfather,  Thomas 
Farnsvvorth,  was  born  in  the  Green  Mountain 
State,  and  there  spent  his  threescore  and  ten 
years  of  life  employed  as  a  farmer  and  black- 
smith. Luke  W.  Farnsworth  grew  to  man- 
hood on  the  parental  farm,  assisting  in  its 
management  until  of  age.  Going  then  to 
Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts,  he  worked  for  some 
ten  years  at  quarrying,  first  as  a  common 
laborer  and  afterward  as  foreman  of  the  quarry. 
Subsequently,  returning  to  Vermont,  he  pur- 
chased land  in  Whitingham;  and  from  that 
time  until  his  demise,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-two  years,  he  was  engaged  in  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Harriet  Brigham,  was  born  in  Whiting- 
ham, daughter  of  John  Brigham,  a  leading 
farmer  of  that  town.  Six  children  were  born 
of  their  union,  namely:  Charles  L.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  ;  Sophia,  the  wife  of  Charles 
E.  Chase;  Ann  E.,  the  wife  of  Trueworthy 
Hayward,  of  Boston;  John  A.,  of  whom  there 
is  no  special  record ;  Laura,  who  married 
Cyrus  Boyd,  and  lives  on  the  old  homestead; 
and  Ellen,  the  wife  of  Frederick  Clifford,  liv- 
ing in  Maine.  The  mother  passed  away  in 
1 879,  aged  sixty  years.  Both  she  and  the 
father  were  regular  attendants  of  the  Univer- 
sal ist  church. 

Charles  L.  Farnsworth  remained  beneath 
the  parental  roof  until  he  attained  man's 
estate,  obtaining  his  education  in  the  public 
schools,  and  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  agriculture  on  the  homestead.  Coming 
then  to  Boston,  he  secured  a  situation  as  a 
driver  of  a  baker's  cart.  In  the  ten  years  that 
he  remained  in  that  capacity,  he  became  fa- 
miliar with  the  business,  and  in  1X69  was  able 
to  start  a  bakery  in  Hyde  Park,  then  a  village 
of  a  thousand   inhabitants.      Having   begun   in 


a  modest,  unassuming  manner,  limiting  his 
venture  to  the  capital  he  had  to  invest,  he  has 
since  built  up  an  extensive  and  remunerative 
trade  in  bread,  cake,  and  all  kinds  of  pastry. 
Mr.  Farnsworth  has  a  large  local  patronage, 
besides  a  considerable  share  of  that  of  the  sur- 
rounding towns,  including  Quincy,  Neponset, 
Dedham,  and  Milton  ;  and  he  employs  six 
wagons  and  twenty  hands.  He  is  one  of  the 
oldest-established  merchants  in  the  [dace,  and 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  developing  the  re- 
sources of  the  town,  which  has  grown  rapidly 
in  the  past  few  years. 

Mr.  Farnsworth  was  married  in  1869  to 
Miss  Nellie  D.  Clifford,  who  was  born  in 
Maine,  being  one  of  the  five  children  oi  Cap 
tain  John  Clifford.  The  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Farnsworth  are:  Harry,  Edith,  Nellie, 
and  Alice.  Harry,  who  is  an  electrician, 
married  Florence  Page,  and  has  one  son,  Au- 
gustus. A  zealous  advocate  of  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party,  Mr.  P"arnsworth  is 
fully  alive  to  his  duties  as  a  true  and  faithful 
citizen.  He  has  served  as  Selectman  for  two 
years,  being  chairman  of  the  board  for  one 
year;  as  Overseer  of  the  Poor  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Health  ;  and  he  for  four 
years  was  connected  with  the  fixe  department 
as  city  engineer.  An  esteemed  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  he  belongs  to  the  Hyde 
Park  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  to  Norfolk  Chap- 
ter, R.  A.  M.,  of  which  he  has  been  High 
Priest;  to  the  Hyde  Park  Council;  and  to 
Cyprus  Commandery,  in  which  he  has  served 
as  Standard  Bearer.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Forrest  Lodge  and  Monterey  Encampment  of 
the  I.  0.  O.  V.,  ami  a  charter  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Honor.  He  and  his  wife  are  active 
members  of  the  Congregational  chinch,  which 
his    children       attend.  Mr.     Farnsworth's 

bakery,  which  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
county,  was  erected  under  his  personal  super- 
vision. 


EXTER  EMERSON  WADS- 
WORTH,  one  of  the  foremost 
®/  dry-goods  merchants  of  the  city  of 
Quincy,  was  bom  in  the  neighboi 
ing  town  of  Milton,  March  7,  1866,  a  son  oi 
Edwin  Dexter  and  Ellen  M.   (Emerson)  Wads- 


i32 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


worth.  After  completing  the  course  of  study 
in  the  public  schools  of  Milton,  young  Wads 
entered  Bryanl  &  Stratton's  business 
College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1882. 
ilth  being  quite  poor  at  that  time,  he 
did  not  engage  in  any  especial  business  for  a 
year  or  two.  In  1884  he  went  to  work  for  the 
firm  nl  Brown,  Durrell  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  re- 
maining  with  them  five  years.  Then  he 
ill  store  in  the  Adams  Building, 
Quincy.  This  venture  was  so  successful  that 
at  the  end  of  two  and  a  half  years,  needing 
bettei  facilities  and  accommodations  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  business,  he  removed  to 
his  present  quarters  in  the  Greenleaf  Hotel, 
which  at  that  time  had  just  been  remodelled. 
I  [e  now  has  one  of  the  largest  dry-goods  stores 
in  Norfolk  County,  well  stocked  with  as  com- 
plete a  line  of  goods,  excepting  fancy  dress- 
ind  as  large  an  assortment  of  small- 
wares  as  can  be  found  in  the  largest  store  in 
Boston.  He  keeps  five  young  ladies  busily 
employed  throughout  the  year,  and  during  the 
holidays  employs  sixteen  clerks.  In  1894  he 
opened  a  branch  store  in  Milton,  where  he  has 
already  built  up  a  substantial  trade,  notwith- 
standing the  recent  business  depression. 

Prominent  in  Masonic  circles,  Mr.  Wads- 
worth  is  a  member  of  Macedonian  Lodge  of 
Milton,  of  which  he  is  J.  \V. ,  and  belongs  to 
St.  Paul's  Chapter,  the  Boston  Commandery, 
and  the  Boston  Council.  He  has  also  fellow- 
ship in  Damon  Lodge,  No.  12,  K.  of  P.,  of 
Boston;  the  Quincy  Club  and  the  Quincy 
Yacht  Club;  and  he  is  the  vice-president  of 
the  Granite  City  Club.  In  politics  he  is  an 
unswerving  Republican,  and  he  has  been  one 
of  the  Warrant  Committee  of  the  town  of  Mil- 
ton for  two  years.  An  energetic  young  man, 
Mr.  Wadsworth  has  shown  a  remarkable  apti- 
tude for  business,  and  no  doubt  has  a  prosper- 
ous future  before  him. 


/""tAPT.  CHARLES  W.  HASTINGS, 
I  Ky  of  South  Weymouth,  secretary  of  the 
\%>  Board     of     Commissioners    of    State 

Aid,     was     born      in       Schenectady, 
WW,    January    19,    1831,    son    of    Elijah   and 
i     (Smith)    Hastings,     who    were    both 
natives  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts.      On  the 


paternal  side  he  is  directly  descended  from 
Thomas  Hastings,  of  Ipswich,  England,  who 
came  with  his  wife  to  America  in  1834,  set- 
tling in  Watertown,  Mass.  His  maternal 
grandfather  was  a  minute-man  in  Revolu- 
tionary times,  and  was  at  Lexington  and  other 
battles.  Of  the  Richards  tribe,  from  whom 
his  mother  was  descended,  no  less  than  eight 
members  of  one  family  were  soldiers  in  the 
Revolution. 

Captain  Hastings's  father  died  rather  early 
in  life,  leaving  his  widow  with  nine  children. 
At  five  years  of  age  Charles  W.  was  taken  into 
the  family  of  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Enoch  Whiting, 
of  St.  Albans,  Vt. ,  where  he  remained  until 
thirteen  years  of  age.  He  then  made  his 
home  with  his  cousin,  Calvin  Whiting,  of  the 
same  place,  an  extensive  tanner;  but  a  short 
time  afterward  he  became  a  member  of  the 
family  of  Benjamin  F.  Tuller,  an  agriculturist 
near  St.  Albans.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
was  thrown  on  his  own  resources;  and  begin- 
ning life  for  himself  he  first  obtained  employ- 
ment with  the  then  well-known  S.  N.  Dicken- 
son, a  job  printer  of  Boston.  Mr.  Dickenson 
also  owned  a  type  foundry;  and,  after  serving 
as  office  boy,  Mr.  Hastings  was  employed  in 
the  stereotype  department  of  the  concern. 
He  left  this  business  to  go  into  the  freight 
department  of  the  Western  Railroad  at  .Spring- 
field, but  in  1852  became  an  employee  in  the 
shoe  factory  of  Tirrell  &  Bates  at  South  Wey- 
mouth, with  whom  he  continued  until  1861. 
Elected  in  the  fall  of  i860  Representative  for 
the  town  of  Weymouth  to  the  lower  house  of 
the  State  legislature,  he  served  during  a  por- 
tion of  the  session  of  1861,  resigning  in  April 
to  enter  the  army. 

He  enlisted  in  what  was  afterward  Company 
II,  Twelfth  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry, 
known  as  the  Webster  Regiment,  Colonel 
Fletcher  Webster  in  command.  He  was 
elected  First  Lieutenant  of  the  company  at 
its  organization,  and  August  10,  1862,  was 
made  Captain,  so  remaining  until  his  dis- 
charge from  the  service  in  March,  1865.  His 
company  became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  under  the  immediate  command  of 
General  Banks  in  Maryland.  In  [862  lie 
joined  the  General's  expedition  to  the  Shen- 
andoah   Valley.      He    was    jn    a    skirmish    at 


CHARLES    W.    HASTINGS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REV  I  EW 


'35 


Thoroughfare  Gap,  and  was  afterward  in  the 
battle  of  second  Bull  Run,  where  Colonel 
Fletcher  Webster  fell.  He  fought  in  the 
battles  of  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Freder- 
icksburg, Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  and 
participated  also  in  the  Mine  Run  campaign, 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  and  Spottsylva- 
nia.  Having  crossed  the  North  Anna  River, 
it  was  at  this  time  that  Captain  Hastings  was 
captured  by  the  Confederates,  and,  being 
taken  to  Libby  Prison,  spent  a  week  within 
the  walls  of  that  den  of  horrors.  With  other 
officers,  he  was  then  transferred  to  Macon, 
Ga. ,  and  imprisoned  in  a  stockade.  From 
there  he  was  taken  to  Savannah,  thence  suc- 
cessively to  Charleston  jail  yard,  to  Colum- 
bia, S.  C,  and  to  Charlotteville,  N.C.,  where 
he  was  duly  paroled  and  sent  to  Wilmington, 
N. C,  to  rejoin  the  Union  forces. 

Honorably  discharged  March  12,  1S65,  he 
returned  to  South  Weymouth,  and  has  since 
remained  in  this  town.  He  was  employed  in 
a  shoe  factory  until  1 87 1 ,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed clerk  of  the  Board  of  Police  Commis- 
sioners, then  under  the  metropolitan  system. 
In  this  capacity  he  served  for  about  four  years, 
and  after  that  he  again  entered  the  shoe  fac- 
tory. Receiving  the  appointment  of  docu- 
ment clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Commonwealth  in  December,  1877,  he 
discharged  the  duties  of  that  position  until 
May,  1879,  when  he  received  the  appointment 
he  now  holds,  of  State  Aid  Commissioner, 
and  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  board,  or,  in 
other  words,  executive  officer. 

He  married  first  Rachel  F.  Rogers,  daugh- 
ter of  John  G.  Rogers,  a  former  well-known 
citizen  of  Weymouth.  By  her  he  had  two 
sons — Edward  R.  and  Alfred  W.  He  mar- 
ried second  Marion  E.  Daggett,  daughter  of 
Isaac  R.  Daggett,  late  of  Weymouth. 

The  Captain  is  a  charter  member  of  Rey- 
nolds Post,  G.  A.  R.,  No.  58,  at  East  Wey- 
mouth, and  has  served  sixteen  years  as  Adju- 
tant of  the  post  and  two  terms  as  its  Com- 
mander. He  attends  the  Universalist  church 
.it  South  Weymouth,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Prudential  Committee.  A  Republican  in 
politics,  he  is  a  public-spirited  citizen  and  one 
of  the  honored  members  of  the  community. 
He  is  a  director  in   the   South  Weymouth  Co- 


operative Bank,  and  is  agent  for  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  in  Massachu- 
setts, situated  at  Chelsea,  his  duties  being  to 
investigate  cases  of  soldiers  and  sailors  apply- 
ing for  admission. 


HARLES  H.  RILEY,  the  popular 
Postmaster  of  Dedham,  was  born  in 
this  town,  January  1,  1852.  The 
genial  qualities  which  have  made 
him  a  favorite  with  all  who  know  him  are,  no 
doubt,  inherited  from  his  Irish  parents.  The 
father,  Francis  Riley,  who  after  his  marriage 
came  to  America,  settling  in  Dedham  and 
working  as  a  gardener,  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
four.  Of  his  five  children  the  only  other  sur- 
vivor is  now  one  of  the  sweet-faced  Sisters  of 
Charity  who  care  for  orphaned  children  in  St. 
Vincent's  Orphan  .Asylum  of  Boston.  The 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 

Postmaster  Riley  lost  his  father  when  but  a 
lad  of  twelve  years.  From  that  time  his  work- 
ing life  began,  as  it  was  needful  for  him  to 
earn  his  own  living  and  to  assist  in  the  sup- 
port of  his  mother.  For  seven  years  he  was 
a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  in  this  town,  and 
then  for  the  next  twelve  years  he  was  clerk  in 
a  hay  and  grain  business.  While  in  this  posi- 
tion, his  native  ability  and  fitness  to  hold  and 
administer  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility 
were  recognized;  and  he  made  many  friends 
who  were  ready  to  put  him  forward  as  the  best 
man  in  the  town  for  the  Postmastership.  In 
the  contest  of  1886  Mr.  Cummings  received 
the  appointment  to  this  important  position; 
but  upon  his  resignation,  in  18S8,  Mr.  Riley 
was  appointed  to  the  office  by  President  Cleve- 
land. At  the  end  of  his  term  of  four  years 
he  was  reappointed  by  President  Harrison, 
and  upon  the  expiration  of  his  second  term  he 
was  again  reappointed  by  President  Cleveland 
for  another  term  of  four  years.  The  fact  of 
these  reappointments  is  in  itself  sufficient 
proof  of  his  having  filled  the  position  in  a 
highly  satisfactory  way.  Beginning  with  one 
clerk,  the  business  of  the  office  has  been  so 
much  increased,  and  its  facilities  so  extended, 
that  now  three  clerks  are  employed.  The 
Dedham  office  is  one  of  the  best  appointed  and 
best  managed  of  its  class   in  the   State.      Mi. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVI  FAY 


Riley  believes  in  suiting  the  public  conven- 
ience as  far  as  possible,  the  most  satisfactor) 
thing  about  the  Dedham  office.  In  addition 
to  the  despatch  with  which  the  mails  are 
handled  then  ,  gratifying  feature  is  the 

i  onstant  and  never-failing  courtesy  with 
which  every  service  is  rendered.  In  1892  and 
(893  Mr.  Riley  had  charge  of  all  the  offices 
in  Norfolk  Count}-,  being  appointed  by  Post- 
master-General Wanamaker.  After  sending 
his  report  of  these  offices  to  Washington,  he 
received  a  letter  from  the  department  compli- 
menting him  on  his  excellent  manner  of  con- 
ducting the  business. 

In  1884  Mr.  Riley  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  Foley,  of  Cambridge.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Riley  are  communicants  of  the 
Roman  "Catholic  Church.  Mr.  Riley  is  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 
Beginning  life  as  a  poor  boy  and  with  small 
equipment  of  education,  he  has  by  his  own 
efforts,  by  personal  industry  and  thrift,  gained 
a  position  of  influence,  anil  has  won  for  him- 
self general  esteem. 


DMUND  G.  BATES,  an  enterprising 
dry-goods  merchant  of  East  Weymouth, 
was  born  in  Weymouth,  Mass.,  June 
26,  1833,  son  of  Jacob  and  Nabby  L.  (Water- 
man) Bates.  He  is  a  representative  of  old  and 
highly  reputable  families  of  Weymouth.  The 
Bates  family,  which  is  of  English  origin, 
sprung  from  three  brothers  who  emigrated  in 
company,  one  settling  on  Cape  Cod,  another 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  the  other,  of  whom 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  direct  descend- 
ant, in  Weymouth,  Mass.  Jacob  and  Nabby 
L.  Bates  were  both  lifelong  residents  of  this 
town.  The  former  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years,  and  the  latter  when  nearly  eighty- 
five. 

Edmund  G.  Bates  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Weymouth.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he 
entered  the  employ  of  Henry  Loud,  general 
'■per  and  Postmaster,  with  whom  he 
remained  as  clerk  for  twenty  years.  Subse- 
quently, after  serving  with  Mr.  Loud's  suc- 
cessor, C.  W.  Soule,  for  a  year,  he  in  1875 
established  himself  in  the  dry  and  fancy  goods 
business    on    Broad    Street,     East    Weymouth, 


where  he  has  built  up  a  flourishing  trade. 
Haying  started  in  business  with  a  limited 
capital  saved  from  his  earnings,  his  prosperity 
is  the  result  of  his  business  ability  ;  and  he  has 
good  reason  to  be  proud  of  his  success.  For  a 
number  of  years  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the 
East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Investment  Committee,  and  he 
served  on  the  '['own   Committee  for  some  time. 

Mr.  Bates  married  Jane  B.  Bicknell,  daugh 
ter  of  Quincy  L.  and  Deborah  (Porter)  Bick- 
nell, both  of  whom  were  natives  of  this  town. 
A  fuller  account  of  Mrs.  Bates's  ancestry  may 
be  found  in  a  sketch  of  Zachariah  L.  Bicknell, 
which  appears  elsewhere  in  the  Review. 
Mrs.  Bates  has  had  two  children  —  Arthur  W. 
and  Addie  L. ,  neither  of  whom  is  now  living. 

Mr.  Bates  has  always  displayed  an  active 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  may 
be  depended  upon  at  all  times  to  favor  any 
measure  calculated  to  develop  its  resoun 
improve  its  condition.  He  is  connected  with 
various  social  and  fraternal  organizations, 
being  a  member  of  Orphans'  Hope  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.  ;  has  been  treasurer  of  South  Shore 
Commander}',  Knights  Templar,  for  the  past 
twenty-two  years;  and  a  member  of  Crescent 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  for  over  thirty  years. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  United 
Order  of  the  Golden  Cross,  and  both  are  popu- 
lar in  social  circles. 


13 


iDOLPH  P.  MOSELEY,  the  act- 
ig  secretary  of  the  Brainard  Machine 
Company  and  the  superintendent  of 
their  foundry  at  Hyde  Park,  was 
born  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  June  22,  1842,  son 
of  Thomas  William  H.  and  Mary  A.  (Beck- 
ner)  Moseley.  The  grandfather,  Perrow 
Moseley,  who  was  a  Virginian  by  birth  and  a 
civil  engineer  by  profession,  reared  a  number 
of  children,  spent  the  most  of  his  life  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  died  there  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  The  father  was  reared  and  educated  at 
Mount  Sterling,  Ky.  In  early  life  he  fol- 
lowed his  father's  profession,  and  later  was 
connected  with  the  Washington  Iron  Works  in 
Ironton,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  sev- 
eral years.  From  Ironton  he  went  to  New- 
port, Ky. ,  and   in    1S62  came  to  Boston.      He 


JOHN     F.    MERRILL 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


■39 


was  the  inventor  of  the  corrugated  iron  rooting, 
which  he  manufactured  for  some  years.  Then 
he  organized  the  Moseley  Iron  Bridge  and 
Roof  Company,  whose  plant  was  located  in 
Roxbury  and  Readville,  Mass.  He  was  also 
the  projector  and  builder  of  a  large  rolling- 
mill  in  Readville,  where  he  employed  an  aver- 
age of  four  hundred  men,  and  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive business.  His  death  occurred  in  1879, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  As  an  able  and 
energetic  business  man  he  was  an  important 
factor  in  advancing  the  iron  manufacturing  in- 
terests of  this  locality,  and  his  connection  with 
the  industries  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity  was 
exceedingly  beneficial  to  the  laboring  classes. 
Originally  a  Whig  in  politics,  he  later  be- 
came a  Republican.  His  religious  creed  was 
the  Presbyterian.  He  wedded  Mary  A.  Beck- 
ner,  of  Carlisle,  Ky.,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-six  years.  She  was  the  mother  of  three 
children;  namely,  Anna  M.  L.,  Randolph  P., 
and  Samuel  R. 

Randolph  P.  Moseley  passed  his  earlier 
years  in  Newport,  Ky. ,  and  acquired  his  edu- 
cation in  a  private  academy.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  entered  the  employ  of  his  father. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Forty- 
second  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volunteers. 
While  serving  in  the  Civil  War,  he  was  capt- 
ured and  held  a  prisoner  for  some  time. 
Upon  his  return  from  the  army  he  resumed 
his  apprenticeship;  and,  after  learning  thor- 
oughly  every  branch  of  the  iron  manufacturing 
industry,  he  took  charge  of  the  rolling-mill. 
He  also  acted  as  superintendent  of  the  Bridge 
Company,  and  as  such  directed  the  adjustment 
of  a  number  of  iron  bridges  built  by  that  con- 
cern. He  was  connected  with  his  father's 
enterprises  until  1869,  when  he  was  employed 
by  George  Southern  &  Co.  in  the  steam  shovel 
manufactory  in  South  Boston,  and  remained 
with  that  concern  four  years.  He  next  en- 
gaged in  the  hotel  business  as  the  proprietor  of 
the  Everett  House  in  Hyde  Park,  which  he  ran 
for  a  year;  and  for  the  succeeding  four  years 
he  was  employed  by  the  Boston  Gas  Light 
Company.  He  then  became  the  secretary  and 
general  superintendent  of  the  Nashua  Lock 
Company  in  Nashua,  N.  If.  During  his  eight 
years'  connection  with  that  concern  he  pre- 
pared a  large   catalogue,  containing  one   thou- 


sand different  designs  of  locks,  knobs,  and 
keys,  which  was  issued  to  the  trade  at  a  cost 
of  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  Some  ten  years 
ago  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Brainard 
Foundry  in  Hyde  Park,  which  is  now  carried 
on  under  his  personal  supervision.  This  con- 
cern makes  castings  of  all  kinds,  employing 
a  large  force  of  workmen  ;  and  its  office  is  lo- 
cated at  156  Oliver  Street,  Boston. 

In  1868  Mr.  Moseley  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Eugenia  Davis,  daughter  of  Timothy 
Davis,  of  Boston.  She  died  in  January,  1876. 
For  his  second  wife  he  married  Josephine  B. 
Brainard,  daughter  of  Amos  H.  Brainard, 
Esq.,  the  founder  and  official  head  of  the  com- 
pany which  bears  his  name.  Mr.  and  Mis. 
Moseley  have  two  children  —  Robert  B.  and 
Edna  E.  Politically,  Mr.  Moseley  is  a  Re- 
publican. He  served  as  an  Assessor  in  Hyde 
Park  for  twelve  years,  and  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  Selectmen  in  1896  and 
1897,  during  the  last  term  being  chairman  of 
the  board.  He  is  connected  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  is  Past  Commander  of  Timothy 
Ingraham  Post,  No.  121,  G.  A.  R.  Mr. 
Moseley  has  had  a  very  successful  business 
career.  He  is  especially  familiar  with  the 
process  attending  the  alloying  of  metals,  and 
is  frequently  called  into  court  as  an  expert. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moseley  are  Episcopalians. 


ON.  JOHN  FLINT  MERRILL, 
the  proprietor  of  the  Boston  Branch 
Grocer}-  Store  at  Quincy  and  one  of 
the  leading  merchants  of  the  city, 
was  born  January  16,  1849,  in  Brownfield,  Ox- 
ford County,  Me.,  son  of  Samuel  Eastman 
Merrill.  The  family  is,  presumably,  of 
Huguenot  extraction,  although  the  first  ances- 
tor of  whom  there  is  anything  definitely 
known  was  Nathaniel  Merrill,  who  emigrated 
to  this  country  from  Hampshire,  England,  in 
1634,  settling  in  Newbury,  Mass.  In  relig- 
ious faith  he  was  a  Separatist,  belonging  to 
the  sect  known  as  the  Orthodox  Congrega- 
tional; and  his  descendants  to  the  present 
day,  without  a  break,  are  alleged  to  have 
affiliated  with  the  same  denomination  and  to 
have  ranked  high  as  regards  intelligence  and 
morality,  while,   for   the  greater  part,    obtain- 


I  I 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKYV 


ing  their  living  by  tilling  the  soil.  One  of 
his  gi  settled  in  Concord,  X.H.,  at  an 

early  period,  where  John  Merrill,  a  son  of 
said  grandson  and  the  great-great-grandfather 
i  i    fohn  1''.   Merrill,   was  horn  and  reared. 

Nathaniel  Merrill,  the  great  grandfather  of 
[ohn  F. ,  also  a  native  of  Concord,  was  born  in 
[738.  Soon  after  his  marriage  with  Martha 
Walker  he  removed  to  Fryeburg,  Me.,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  for 
many  years,  and  reared  his  family  of  thir- 
teen children.  Subsequently  he  removed  to 
Brownfield,  where  his  death  occurred  at  a 
ripe  old  age.  The  line  of  descent  was  contin- 
ued through  his  son  Nathaniel,  who  was  born 
and  bred  in  Fryeburg,  whence  in  early  man- 
hood he  went  to  Brownfield.  Here  he  took  up 
a  large  tract  of  wild  land,  which  he  converted 
into  a  good  homestead.  His  wife,  a  native 
of  Conway,  N.H.,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Phebe  Merrill,  came  of  the  same  ancestral 
stock  though  far  removed.  They  became  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  were 
born  on  the  Brownfield  homestead.  They 
were:  Phebe,  Samuel  Eastman,  Mary,  Otis, 
Clarinda,   Phedora,  and  Horatio. 

Samuel  Eastman  Merrill  was  born  February 
2 2,  1S02,  in  Brownfield,  where  he  lived  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  devoting  his  time  and 
attention  to  farming.  In  1852  he  settled  in 
Fayette,  Kennebec  County,  Me.  Two  years 
later  he  removed  to  Norway,  Me.,  where  he 
spent  his  remaining  years,  dying  there  Decem- 
ber 1  g,  1878.  With  the  exception  of  four 
years  spent  in  manufacturing,  he  continued  in 
the  occupation  to  which  he  was  reared,  and 
was  known  as  a  practical  and  prosperous 
farmer.  In  the  slavery  days  he  was  a  Free 
Soiler.  Later  he  became  an  earnest  supporter 
of  Neal  Dow's  prohibition  principles.  In 
[une,  1831,  he  married  Clarissa  Flint,  of 
Norway,  Me.,  a  daughter  of  John  Flint,  who 
sprung  from  a  pioneer  family  of  Essex  County, 
Massachusetts.  Loth  he  and  his  wife  were 
very  active  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  which  he  served  many  years  as  Dea- 
1  on.  They  had  eight  children,  namely: 
Elizabeth  F. ,  born  in  [833,  who  died  in  1837; 
Clara  Phebe,  born  in  [835,  now  the  widow  of 
the  late  James  B.  Potter,  of  the  firm  of  Moore, 
Smith  &  Co.,  of  Boston;  James  Flint,  born  in 


1837,  who  married  Harriet  Brown,  and  lives 
in  Quincy,  Mass.;  Horatio  Otis,  born  in 
1840,  wdio  died  in  1846;  Samuel  ( )scar,  born 
in  1842,  who  married  Fannie  Green,  of  Bos- 
ton, and  is  now  a  resident  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.  ;  Elizabeth  Flint,  born  in  1845,  who 
resides  in  Ashmont,  Mass  ;  John  Flint,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Frederick,  born  in 
1850,  who  died  in  1854. 

A  child  when  his  parents  removed  to  Nor- 
way, Me.,  John  Flint  Merrill  was  there  reared 
and  educated,  attending  its  public  schools. 
On  reaching  man's  estate  he  obtained  the 
situation  of  clerk  in  a  Boston  grocery  store, 
where  he  remained  five  years.  Then,  conver- 
sant with  the  business,  he  returned  to  his 
native  State,  opened  a  grocery  in  Lewiston, 
and  subsequently  carried  it  on  for  three  years. 
In  1878  he  came  to  Quincy  and  started  his 
present  store.  Since  then  he  has  built  up  an 
extensive  and  remunerative  trade  in  fancy 
and  staple  groceries,  having  the  largest  store 
of  the  kind  in  the  city.  In  1886  he  and 
A.  G.  Durgin  built  the  Durgin  &  Merrill 
Block,  the  first  business  block  with  modern 
improvements,  and  one  of  the  largest  erected 
in  Quincy.  Mr.  Merrill  has  always  taken  an 
active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  city.  He 
was  the  leading  spirit  in  forming  the  Quincy 
Street  Railway  Company,  of  which  he  was  at 
first  the  treasurer,  and  thereafter  the  president 
until  it  went  out  of  existence.  In  1890  he 
became  a  director  of  the  Quincy  &  Boston 
Street  Railway  Company.  He  is  also  the 
president  of  the  Braintree  Street  Railway 
Company,  the  treasurer  of  the  Randolph 
Street  Railway  Company,  and  a  director  of  the 
Cottage  City  and  Martha's  Vineyard  Street 
Railway  Companies. 

On  October  4,  1894,  Mr.  Merrill  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Elizabeth  Upton  Waters,  daugh- 
ter of  George  F.  Waters,  a  dentist  of  Boston, 
and  now  has  one  child,  Catherine.  He  and 
Mrs.  Merrill  attend  the  Congregational 
church.  In  politics  he  is  a  straight  Republi- 
can, and  for  four  years  was  president  of  the 
Republican  City  Committee.  He  represented 
the  towns  of  Quincy  and  Weymouth  in  the 
legislatures  of  1S87  and  1888,  serving  in  both 
on  the  Water  Supply  Committee.  In  1S92  he- 
was  elected  to  the   Massachusetts  Senate,  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


141 


re-elected  in  1893.  During  his  first  year  here 
he  was  on  the  Committee  on  Mercantile  Affairs 
and  the  Library  Committee;  and  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Constitutional 
Amendments.  In  his  second  year  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Mercantile  Affairs  Commit- 
tee and  a  member  of  that  on  towns  and  bills 
to  third  reading.  He  likewise  carried  through 
the  bill  for  undergrounding  the  electric  wires 
in  the  city  of  Boston.  Mr.  Merrill  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Quincy; 
of  St.  Stephen's  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  ;  of  South 
Shore  Commandery,  K.  T.  ;  of  Mount  Wol las- 
ton  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  and  for  a  time  was 
connected  with  the  Improved  Order  of  Red 
Men  and  the  Royal  Arcanum. 


/^JeORGE  MILES,  who  has  been  a  pros- 
y  '*)  I  perous  grocer  in  Hyde  Park  for  up- 
ward of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  was 
bom  April  7,  1842,  in  Stow,  Middlesex 
County.  A  son  of  Lewis  Miles,  he  belongs  to 
the  family  that  has  produced  Major-general 
Nelson  A.  Miles,  the  present  head  of  the 
United  States  Army.  His  great-grandfather, 
who  fought  in  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
after  being  captured  by  the  Indians,  made  his 
escape  but  a  few  hours  before  the  morning 
appointed  to  burn  him  at  the  stake.  Ezra 
Miles,  the  grandfather,  spent  a  large  part  of 
his  life  in  the  town  of  Stow,  being  engaged  in 
the  cabinet-maker's  trade  in  that  locality, 
living  there  until  his  demise,  at  the  age  of 
fourscore  and  four  years. 

Lewis  Miles  grew  to  man's  estate  in  Stow, 
his  native  town,  there  acquiring  his  education 
in  the  common  schools.  He  spent  some  years 
in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  in  his  early  manhood, 
working  in  the  rope-walk.  Afterward  he 
returned  to  Stow,  where  he  purchased  a  farm, 
and  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until 
the  close  of  his  life,  when  sixty-four  years  of 
age.  He  was  a  very  successful  farmer  and 
business  man,  honorable  and  upright  in  all  his 
dealings,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  regard 
by  the  community.  He  married  Miss  Hannah 
A.  Dean,  who  was  born  in  Cohasset,  Mass., 
one  of  the  seven  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  Dean.  Eight  children  were  born  of  this 
union,  six   of  whom   are   living;   namely,  Mrs. 


Hannah  M.  Mead,  Lewis  H.,  George,  Alonzo, 
Mrs.  Martha  A.  Potter,  and  Albert  T.  Three 
of  these  sons,  Lewis,  Alonzo,  and  George,  and 
one  son-in-law,  Mr.  Mead,  were  brave  partici- 
pants in  the  late  war.  The  mother,  a  bright 
and  winsome  woman  of  fourscore  years,  is  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Methodist  church. 

George  Miles  lived  beneath  the  parental  roof 
until  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  offered  his 
services  to  his  country.  He  was  assigned  to 
the  hospital  corps  of  the  Seventh  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  two  years  later  was 
transferred  to  the  sutler's  department,  in 
which  he  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  saw  many  of  the  important  battles  of  the 
war,  some  twenty  in  all,  and  experienced  the 
hardships  and  privations  of  army  life.  Subse- 
quently, for  three  years,  he  worked  for  the 
Weed  Tile  Manufacturing  Company,  and  then 
spent  a  few  seasons  at  the  old  homestead  in 
Stow.  After  that,  securing  a  situation  in  the 
Boylston  Market  in  Boston,  he  remained  there 
until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Hyde  Park,  which 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  Here  he  started 
at  once  in  the  grocery  business  as  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Miles  &  Silsbury,  continu- 
ing thus  five  years,  when  the  partnership  was 
dissolved.  Mr.  Miles  then  carried  on  the 
business  alone  until  1890,  when  he  took  in  a 
partner,  the  firm  name  having  since  been 
Miles  &  Morrison.  These  gentlemen  are  car- 
rying on  a  very  large  and  profitable  business, 
having  two  stores,  and  keeping  a  force  of  eight 
clerks  busily  employed. 

Mr.  Miles  was  married  December  25,  1873, 
to  Miss  Rosa  Belle  Allen.  Born  in  Cam 
bridge,  Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Orville  Allen, 
and  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  Thomas  E.  Faunce 
(of  whom  a  biography  is  presented  on  another 
page),  she  died  at  the  age  of  forty  years. 
Subsequently,  on  September  6,  1890,  Mr. 
Miles  married  Miss  Eva  E.  Shaw,  a  daughter 
of  William  Shaw,  of  Hyde  Park.  Oi  this 
union  one  child  has  been  born,  Georgia  Allen. 
In  politics  Mr.  Miles  is  a  sound  Republican, 
and  for  two  years  he  has  served  his  fellow- 
townsmen  as  Selectman.  A  leading  Mason  in 
Hyde  Park  and  vicinity  for  some  years,  he  has 
done  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  the 
lodges  with  which  he  is  connected.  lie  is  a 
member  of   Hyde   Park  Lodge,  E.  &  A.  M.,  of 


142 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


which  he  has  been  chaplain  for  years;  oi  Nor- 
folk Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  oi  which  he  is  also 
chaplain;  of  Hyde  Park  Council;  oi  Cyprus 
Commandery,  oi  which  he  has  been  Com- 
mander for  two  years,  besides  having  held 
other  offices;  oi  the  Boston  Lafayette  Lodge 
"t  Perfection;  oi  the  Giles  I ■'.  Yates  Council 
of  Princes  of  Jerusalem  ;  oi  the  Massachusetts 
Consistory,  in  which  he  has  taken  the  thirty- 
second  degree;  "i  the  Commanders'  Union  of 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island;  and  of  the 
Ulue  Hill  Chapter  of  the  Eastern  Star.  He 
also  belongs  to  the  Red  Men,  to  the  Knights 
of  Honor,  and  to  the  Royal  Arcanum.  Mr. 
Miles  has  been  a  director  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Co-operative  Hank  since  its  organization,  was 
its  president  fur  six  years,  and  is  now  its  vice- 
president.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Historical  Society,  in  which  he  takes  a  deep 
interest.  Ruth  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miles  are  active 
members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  contrib- 
ute generously  toward  its  support. 


ILLIAM  B.  HOLMES,  a  success- 
ful general  farmer  of  Sharon,  was 
born  in  North  Easton,  Mass.,  May 
8,  1847,  son  <>1  Bradford  and  Harriet  (Alexan- 
der) Holmes.  The  farm  he  now  occupies  was 
purchased  by  his  grandfather,  Nathan  Holmes, 
a  native  of  Stoughton,  who  cut  thereon  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  ship  timber,  hoop  poles, 
and  wood.  The  grandfather,  Nathan,  married 
Zilpha  Monk,  of  Stoughton,  and  their  chil- 
dren were  nine  in  number;  namely,  Nathan, 
Clements,  Elijah,  Bradford,  William,  Fisher, 
Wadsworth,   Francis,  and  Zilpha. 

Bradford  Holmes,  father  of  William  B.,  was 
born  in  Stoughton,  and  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  Sharon  when  quite  young.  While 
still  a  young  man  he  removed  to  North  Easton, 
where  he  remained  for  over  twenty  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  was  engaged  in  teaming. 
Subsequently,  returning  to  Sharon,  he  re- 
sided here  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1882.  In  politics  he  was  a  Republican,  and 
he  held  at  different  times  several  town  offices. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Universalist  church. 
His  wife,  Harriet  Alexander,  who  was  a 
native  of  Chcstcrville,  Me.,  became  the 
mother  of  five   children,    oi    whom    two    were 


twins.      The   twins  are   no   longer   living;  and 

'  has  also    passed    away,   dying  at  I 

of  twenty-one  years.  The  survivors  are: 
Mary,  the  first-born,  who  is  now  the  widow  oi 
Jeremiah  M.  Leonard,  late  of  Stoughton;  and 
William  R. ,  tin-  subject  of  this  sketch.  The 
mother  died  in   1  896. 

William  R.  Holmes  supplemented  the  edu- 
cation obtained  in  the  common  school-,  of 
Sharon  by  attendance  at  Stoughtonham  Insti- 
tute, where  he  finished  his  school  studies. 
Since  leaching  manhood  he  has  tilled  the  -oil 
of  the  homestead  faun  besides  dealing  largely 
in  milk.  He  also  does  a  good  business  in 
wood  and  hoops.  In  politics  he  supports  the 
.Republican  party;  and  he  has  been  called  upon 
to  serve  in  several  of  the  town  offices,  in  all 
of  which  he  has  acquitted   himself  with   credit. 

On  September  23,  1896,  Mr.  Holmes  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Caroline  I'.  Bowden, 
daughter  of  Anthony  W.  and  Hellen  N.  How- 
den,  of  Boston.  He  is  a  member  of  Lodge- 
No.  72,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  Grange  No.  [97,  of  Stoughton.  He  and 
his  wife  attend  the  Universalist  church. 


AVID  NEAL,  who  has  been  identi- 
fied with  the  mercantile  interests  oi 
Norfolk  County  for  more  than  a 
quarter  oi  a  century,  is  carrying  on 
an  extensive  trade  in  groceries  on  Washington 
Street,  Dedharh,  where  he  has  a  fine  and  well- 
equipped  store.  Son  of  Rufus  Neal,  he  was 
born  April  18,  [828,  in  Palermo,  Waldo 
County,    Me. 

Rufus  Neal  was  horn  on  a  farm  in  North 
Berwick,  Me.,  being  one  oi  a  family  of  twelve 
children.  He  was  reared  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, which  he  followed  throughout  his  long 
life  of  seventy-eight  years,  tiisi  in  his  native 
town  and  later  in  Palermo,  where  he  settled 
soon  after  his  marriage.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Sarah  Buffum,  was  a  daugh- 
ter ot  Jonathan  liuffum,  and  one  of  a  family  of 
thirteen  children.  She  also  was  born  and 
reared  on  a  North  Berwick  farm.  She  was 
the  mother  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  are 
still  living;  namely,  Miss  Harriet  L.  Neal, 
Mrs.  Jane  I'.  Shorey,  and  David,  the  special 
subject  of  this  brief  biographical  sketch.      The 


DAVID    NEAL. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


HS 


mother  lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty 
years,  and  during  her  entire  life  clung  to  the 
Quaker  faith,  in  which  she  was  reared,  her 
husband  being  a  devout  and  true   Uni  versa  list. 

David  Neal  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood 
and  youth  on  the  home  farm,  obtaining  his 
education  in  the  district  schools.  When  nine- 
teen years  old  he  left  home  and  went  to 
Orono,  Me.,  about  eight  miles  above  Bangor, 
where  he  worked  in  a  lumber-mill  two  years. 
Going  thence  to  South  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  he 
learned  the  trade  of  printing  oil-cloth  carpets, 
and  worked  at  that  business  in  different  cities 
for  sixteen  years.  After  being  employed 
as  an  operator  in  mills  at  Hallowell  Cross- 
roads, now  Manchester,  Me.,  two  years, 
at  Fall  River,  Mass.,  two  years,  Winthrop, 
Me.,  one  year,  and  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  two 
years,  he  spent  a  short  time  in  his  child- 
hood's home,  and  then  worked  in  the  South 
Dedham  Mills  until  the  winter  of  1861,  when 
he  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
settling  on  the  farm  which  he  had  previously 
purchased  in  Palermo,  Me.  Two  years  later 
he  again  went  to -Hallowell  to  work  in  the 
mills;  but  in  a  short  time  he  gave  up  his  posi- 
tion and  opened  a  meat  market  in  that  town, 
remaining  there  five  years. 

He  was  next  located  in  Ashland,  Mass.,  for 
two  years,  having  charge  of  the  meat  market 
of  H.  W.  Barrett.  In  1871  Mr.  Neal  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  clerk  in  his  present 
store  in  Dedham,  a  position  which  he  faith- 
fully filled  seven  years,  in  that  time  becoming 
fully  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  busi- 
ness. He  then  started  as  a  grocer  on  his  own 
account,  opening  a  store  a  short  distance  away, 
and  remained  there  prosperously  engaged  until 
1 891 ,  when  he  removed  to  his  present  com- 
modious and  well-arranged  quarters.  Mr. 
Neal  is,  with  one  exception,  the  oldest-estab- 
lished grocer  in  Dedham,  and  by  his  upright, 
honorable  business  methods  has  built  up  a 
large  and  lucrative  trade,  securing  an  extensive 
patronage  among  the  best  people  of  the  town. 
He  carries  a  full  stock  of  staple  and  fancy 
groceries,  besides  having  a  large  assortment  of 
crockery  and  glassware,'  his  highest  endeavor 
being  to  meet  the  wants  and  please  the  tastes 
of  his  numerous  customers. 

On  March  7,   i860,  Mr.   Neal   married   Miss 


Frances  E.  Griggs,  who  was  born  in  Dedham, 
daughter  of  James  Griggs,  a  cabinet-maker  of 
this  place.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Neal  have  two  chil- 
dren—  Carrie  E.  and  Edgar,  who  both  live  in 
Minneapolis.  Edgar  Neal  is  an  electrician 
in  that  city;  and  his  sister  is  the  wife  of 
Oliver  T.  Erickson,  and  has  three  children  — 
Elsie,  Irene,  and  Frances. 

Mr.  Neal  takes  an  active  interest  in  all 
things  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  his  adopted 
town,  and  for  four  years,  or  since  1893,  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen,  at 
the  election  in  1896  receiving  the  largest  num- 
ber of  votes  cast  for  any  one  candidate  for 
office.  In  politics  he  is  a  strict  adherent  of 
the  Republican  party.  For  over  thirty  years 
he  has  been  connected  with  the  Masonic 
order,  having  united  with  Kennebec  Lodge  in 
Hallowell,  Me.,  and  being  now  a  member  of 
Consolation  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Ded- 
ham. He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Samuel 
Dexter  Lodge,  No.  232,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Mr. 
Neal  and  his  wife  and  daughter  are  connected 
with  the  Unitarian  church  in  Dedham. 


IMOTHY  OWEN,  a  prosperous  druggist 
of  Canton,  who  was  born  in  Hanover, 
N.H.,  March  28,  1847,  is  a  son  of 
Frederick  L.  and  Rebecca  B.  (Chandler) 
Owen.  His  great-grandfather  was  an  early- 
settler  of  Hanover;  and  his  grandfather,  Tim- 
othy (first),  was  a  resident  of  the  same  town. 
Frederick  L.  was  fitted  for  college  at  Kimball 
Union  Academy;  and  he  would  have  taken  a 
course  at  Dartmouth  College,  but  for  the 
death  of  his  father.  He  spent  his  life  as  a 
farmer,  mostly  in  Hanover  and  Lebanon. 
His  wife,  Rebecca,  had  four  children  —  Tim- 
othy, Millard  F.,  Emily,  and  Frederick  L., 
Jr.  Millard  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  The 
father,  having  survived  the  mother,  contracted 
a  second  marriage  with  Emeline  E.  Ingalls, 
who  had  no  children.  He  died  in  Lebanon  at 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

After  receiving  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  and  at  Kimball  Union  Acad- 
emy, Timothy  Owen  attended  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege for  two  years,  completing  a  course  at  the 
age  of  nineteen.  Afterward  he  returned  to 
Hanover,    and     studied     pharmacy    with     Dr. 


146 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Smith.  He  then  took  charge  of  the  business, 
and  for  two  years  managed  the  store  of  George 
Kendrick  at  Lebanon.  His  next  step  was  to 
go  to  Boston,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of 
rheodore  Metcali  &  Co.,  remaining  with  them 
for  about  two  years.  Also  for  about  the  same 
length  of  time  he  was  associated  with  his 
father-in-law  in  that  city.  In  1N77  he  came 
tu  Canton,  and  started  for  himself  in  the  drug 
business,  which  he  has  si  nee  prosperously  fol- 
lowed, carrying  a  full  stock  of  drugs  and  med- 
icines. He  is  a  member  of  the  College  of 
Pharmacy. 

Mr.  Owen  has  been  Tax  Collector  for  seven 
years,  and  on  the  Board  of  Registrars  for  two 
years.  He  is  a  member  of  Line  Hill  Lodge 
(if  Masons:  oi  Mount  Zion  Chapter,  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  of  Stoughton ;  of  Hyde  Park 
Council;  and  of  Cyprus  Commandery,  Knights 
Templars,  of  Hyde  Park.  He  has  taken  the 
degrees  in  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, and  is  now  Past  Grand  therein.  In  the 
Blue  Hill  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  mentioned 
above,  he  has  been  the  secretary  for  thirteen 
years.  He  was  a  member  and  an  officer  of  the 
Golden  Cross  Commander}',  the  collector  and 
the  local  secretary  for  the  Bay  State  Benefi- 
ciary Association,  and  the  secretary  of  the  Odd 
Fellows  and  Masonic  Accident  Association. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican;  and  his  family 
attend  the  Universalist  church,  which  he  has 
served  as  collector  for  the  past  three  years. 
He  was  married  in  1871  to  Xancy  J.,  daughter 
of  Silas  D.  Coburn,  of  Boston.  They  have 
six  children  —  Florence  L.,  Alice  M.,  Fred- 
erick L.,  Daisy  F.,  S.  Coburn,  and  Mabel    R. 


NDREW  J.  NORRIS,  of  Dedham,  the 
agent  of  Parker's  Boston  Express,  and 
for  over  fifty  years  a  resident  of  this 
town,  was  born  in  Dorchester, 
X.H.,  February  2,  1830,  son  of  Zebulon  ami 
Martha  (Everett)  Xorris.  The  grandfather, 
Xathaniel  Xorris,  who  was  a  native  of  Strat- 
ford, X.H.,  settled  in  Dorchester  when  a 
young  man,  and  erected  mills.  He  had  car- 
ried on  a  large  manufacturing  business  for 
many  years,  when  he  retired;  and  he  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years.  He  reared  a  family 
of  ten  children,  of  whom  Zebulon  was  the  eld- 


est. Some  of  his  sons  succeeded  to  their 
father's  business,  which  was  located  in  a  part 
of  Dorchester.  X.1L,  known  as  Xorris  Mills: 
and  two  became  Methodist  minister-. 

Zebulon  Xorris,  father  oi  Andrew  J.,  left 
home  in  1833,  and  established  a  line  of  eight- 
horse  teams  between  a  point  in  Vermont  and 
Boston.  His  teams  made  the  round  trip, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  in  twenty  days, 
and  transported  large  quantities  ol  I  night. 
Some  years  later  he  gave  up  the  business;  and, 
after  following  agricultural  pursuits  for  a 
time,  he  came  to  Dedham,  where  he  passed 
the  rest  of  his  life.  He  figured  quite  promi- 
nently in  public  affairs,  serving  as  a  Select- 
man, Assessor,  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  in 
the  town  of  Fairlee;  Vt. ,  and  he  was  for  two 
years  a  Representative  to  the  legislature. 
His  wife  was  a  native  of  Chesterfield,  X.H., 
and  a  daughter  of  Xathaniel  Everett,  a  pros- 
perous farmer.  She  reared  three  children, 
two  of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Andrew  J., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Samuel  M. 
Zebulon  Xorris  and  his  wife  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine  years.  They  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

Andrew  J.  Xorris  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools,  and  resided  at  home  until 
seventeen  years  old.  Going  then  to  Boston, 
he  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  dry-goods 
store.  A  short  time  later  he  settled  in  Ded- 
ham, where  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
Benjamin  Boyden,  and  carried  on  business  at 
East  Dedham  several  years.  In  1S70  he  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  business  upon  his  own 
account  in  the  central  part  of  the  town,  and 
for  twenty  years  conducted  a  thriving  trade. 
He  sold  out  in  1890,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  connected  with  Parker's  Express,  having 
charge  of  the  business  at  this  end  of  the  line. 
Politically,  Mr.  Xorris  is  a  Republican.  For 
six  years  he  served  as  a  Selectman,  some  of 
the  time  acting  as  chairman,  when  the  duties 
of  assessing  the  town  and  overseeing  the  poor 
were  in  charge  of  the  board. 

In  1849  Mr.  Xorris  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Harriet  T.  Boyden,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Boyden,  his  former  business  associate.  Mrs. 
Xorris  has  had  seven  children  —  Albert  B., 
Clara,  Edward  E.,  Elizabeth  E.,  Frank, 
Annie  H.,  and  Ferdinand  F.      Edward   is  now 


HENRY    S.    DRAPER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


149 


deceased;  Albert  B. ,  who  is  in  the  dry-goods 
business  in  Boston,  married  Annie  Ingalls, 
and  has  three  children  —  Albert  F.,  Thomas 
M.,  and  Martha;  Elizabeth  E.  is  the  wife  of 
O.  H.  Hammond,  and  has  one  daughter,  Mar- 
jorie;  Frank,  who  occupies  a  responsible  po- 
sition with  S.  S.  Pierce,  Boston,  married  Ada 
Mosier,  and  has  one  son,  Ralph;  Ferdinand 
is  also  in  the  employ  of  S.  S.  Pierce;  Eliza- 
beth E.  and  Annie  H.  are  copyists  in  the 
office  of  the  Norfolk  County  Registry  of 
Deeds.  The  children  were  all  educated  in 
the  common  and  high  schools  of  Dedham. 
They  are  all  interested  in  music;  and  Frank  is 
a  well-known  tenor  singer,  a  member  of  a 
quartette  and  of  the  Apollo  Club  of  Boston. 
Mr.  Xorris,  Sr.,  is  Past  Master  of  Constel- 
lation Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  charter 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Honor.  The  fam- 
ily attend  the  Episcopal  church. 


ENRY  SIDNEY  DRAPER,  of  West 
Dedham,  one  of  the  most  extensive 
dairy  farmers  in  Norfolk  County, 
was  born  in  the  vicinity  of  his  pres- 
ent home,  July  18,  1827,  son  of  Willard  and 
Louisa  (Smith)  Draper. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  whose  name  was 
Daniel,  was  the  youngest  son  of  Aaron 
Draper,  who  resided  in  Dover,  Mass.,  and 
reared  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  Daniel 
Draper  married  Amy  Deane.  He  was  the  first 
of  the  family  to  settle  in  West  Dedham,  where 
he  followed  the  wheelwright's  trade  in  connec- 
tion with  farming. 

Willard  Draper,  son  of  Daniel  and  Amy 
(Deane)  Draper,  was  by  occupation  a  farmer. 
He  married  Louisa,  daughter  of  Abijah  Smith, 
and  had  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom 
Henry  S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the 
eldest,  and  now  the  only  one  living.  The 
others  were:  Frank,  Louisa,  Whiting  S., 
Mary,  Dora,  Hannah,  Abijah,  and  Edward. 

Henry  S.  Draper  resided  at  home  until 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  then  engaged  in 
farming  upon  his  own  account.  He  bought  a 
small  piece  of  land,  upon  which  he  began 
dairy  farming  on  a  limited  scale,  gradually  in- 
creasing his  acreage  as  his  business  advanced 
in  prosperity,  and  his  improvements  kept  pace 


with  his  progress.  When  circumstances  re- 
quired the  erection  of  large  barns,  he  visited 
Maine,  and  purchased  nine  or  ten  carloads  of 
lumber,  thus  securing  well-selected  building 
material  at  wholesale  rates.  Pie  now  owns 
five  hundred  acres  of  excellent  tillage  and 
pasture  land,  keeps  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  cows,  and  handles  three  hundred  cans  of 
milk  and  twenty  gallons  of  cream  per  day. 
He  has  established  and  sold  eight  different 
milk  routes  in  Boston,  and  at  the  present  time 
is  supplying  a  numerous  patronage  in  the 
Back  Bay  district.  He  has  recently  built  a 
hennery  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long, 
fourteen  feet  wide,  and  twelve  feet  high;  and, 
keeping  from  seven  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
fowls,  he  realizes  an  average  of  thirty  dozen 
eggs  per  day. 

Mr.  Draper  married  for  his  first  wife  Cath- 
erine Arris,  a  native  of  Maine.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two  years,  leaving  three 
daughters  —  Edna,  Lucy,  and  Martha.  Edna 
is  now  the  widow  of  James  Armstrong,  and 
the  mother  of  six  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Lucy,  who  is  the  wife  of  George  Williams, 
and  lives  in  Gardiner,  Me.,  has  one  son  and 
two  daughters.  Martha,  who  is  now  Mrs. 
McElroy,  of  Boston,  has  three  children.  For 
his  second  wife  Mr.  Draper  wedded  Harriet 
Butler,  a  native  of  Dixfield,  Me.,  daughter  of 
Shepard  Butler.  By  this  union  he  has  four 
children;  namely,  Sidney  Waldo,  Florence, 
Willard,  and  George.  Florence  is  now  Mrs. 
Almon  Daniels,  of  Boston.  She  has  had  two 
daughters,  but  has  been  bereft  of  one.  Will- 
ard Draper  is  married,  and  has  two  children. 
George,  the  youngest  son,  is  attending  school. 
In  politics  Mr.  Draper  is  a  Republican.  He 
and  Mrs.  Draper  united  with  the  Baptist 
church  many  years  ago,  and  the  children  are 
all  members. 


1OBERT  L.  FRAMPTON,  a  manu- 
facturer of  morocco  leather  at  Hyde 
Park,  was  born  October  18.  1847, 
in  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  son  of 
Robert  L.  Frampton.  The  family  originated 
in  England,  whence  the  first  representative  in 
America  came  in  did  Colonial  times,  locating 
probably  in  the   South.      James    F.   Frampton, 


'.V 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REV1KW 


the  -rand  fat  her  of  Robert  L.,  was  born  and 
reared  in   South   Carolina.     A  very  successful 

planter,  he  had  a  large  property,  which,  how- 
ever, was  swept  away  1))'  the  war  of  the  Re- 
bellion. 

The  father  lived  in  South  Carolina  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  when  he  joined 
the  Union  army,  enlisting  at  Washington, 
D.C.  lie  married  Elizabeth  Moultrie,  who 
was  horn  and  bred  in  South  Carolina.  She 
was  tin-  great-grand  daughter  of  the  heroic 
Colonel  William  Moultrie,  whose  gallant  de- 
fence i>t  Fort  Sullivan,  in  1776,  caused  that 
place  to  be  afterward  called  Fort  Moultrie. 
(  )l  her  four  children,  James  A.,  Robert  L., 
and  Charlotte  E.  are  living.  Charlotte  E.  is 
the  wife  of  William  Peabody,  of  Jamaica 
Plain.  The  mother,  now  seventy-eight  years 
of  age,  and  residing  at  South  Braintree, 
Mass.,  is  a  woman  of  fine  character,  and  be- 
longs to  the  Episcopal  church. 

Robert  L.  Frampton  spent  his  early  life  in 
New  Bedford,  acquiring  a  practical  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  During  the 
Rebellion  he  enlisted  in  New  Bedford  to  fill  a 
quota  from  Milford,  Mass.,  as  a  drummer  boy 
in  the  Nineteenth  (unattached)  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  until 
the  cessation  of  hostilities.  After  returning 
to  New  Bedford,  he  worked  in  a  morocco  fac- 
tory, learned  the  morocco  dresser's  trade,  and 
subsequently  became  foreman  of  a  shop  in 
Roxbury.  A  short  time  afterward  he  em- 
harked  in  business  for  himself  at  Boylston 
Station,  remaining  there  six  years.  Then  he 
transferred  his  operations  to  a  large  factory  he 
had  erected  at  Mount  Hope,  and  where  he  car- 
ried on  an  extensive  business  for  ten  years, 
employing  as  many  as  one  hundred  hands,  it 
being  the  largest  and  one  of  the  oldest  estab- 
lishments of  the  kind  in  New  England.  In 
1.XS5  the  Mount  Hope  factory  was  burned,  and 
Mr.  Frampton  at  once  removed  to  Hyde  Park, 
taking  possession  of  the  factory  which  he  had 
previously  built.  He  has  since  met  with 
greal  and,  seemingly,  abiding  prosperity. 

Mr.  Frampton  has  been  twice  married.  The 
first  occasion  was  in  1X71.  when  he  was  united 
to  Adcdaide  Rogers,  who  was  horn  in  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Rogers. 
She  died  in   1875,   leaving  two  daughters,  both 


of  whom  are  now  deceased.      His  second    mai 

riage  was  made  with  Miss  Amelia  E.  Russell, 
who  was  born  and  bred  in  Boston.  She  has 
become  the  mother  of  one  child,  Robert  L. 
Frampton,  Jr.,  who  is  engaged  in  business 
with  his  father.  The  son,  as  well  as  the 
daughter,  Adelaide  K..  was  educated  in  the 
Berkeley  School.  Adelaide  afterward  took  a 
course  of  study  in  the  Boston  Conservatory  oi 
Music.  Mr.  Frampton  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can in  politics.  He  belongs  to  the  Boston 
Lodge  of  Elks,  in  which  he  has  held  1  it 
a  charter  member  of  Stony  Brook  Lodge, 
Knights  of  Honor,  of  which  he  has  been  finan- 
cial reporter  for  several  years;  and  he  is  also 
a  comrade  of  the  Timothy  Ingraham  Post,  No. 
121,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Hyde  Park.  In  religious 
belief  he  is  an  Episcopalian,  and  with  his 
family  attends  the  Episcopal  church. 


(5 1  ho; 


HOMAS  DUNBAR,  a  retired  business 
'  I  man  of  Canton,  Mass.,  was  born  here, 
-"-  August  19,  1 8 14,  son  of  Thomas  and 
Cloa  (Bent)  Dunbar.  His  great-grandfather 
was  Samuel  Dunbar,  who  settled  in  Canton  in 
1727,  and  was  a  minister  in  the  place  for  fifty- 
six  years.  Samuel's  son,  Elijah,  was  famous 
in  the  musical  line,  and  was  the  first  man  in 
the  State  who  sang  by  note.  Elijah's  son, 
Thomas  (first),  who  was  a  farmer,  in  1804  pur- 
chased the  place  where  his  son  now  lives,  and 
where  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
The  wife  of  this  Thomas  was  a  daughter  of 
Captain  William  Bent,  who  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolution.  Of  their  twelve  children 
Thomas  and  Elijah  are  living.  Elijah  now 
resides  in  Grand  Haven,  Mich.  The  father 
died  in  1854,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  He 
was  a  stanch  Whig  in  politics. 

Thomas  Dunbar,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  place.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went 
to  Dedham,  Mass.,  and  served  five  years  as 
a  millwright  and  machinist.  After  finish- 
ing his  apprenticeship,  he  followed  the  same 
occupation  for  a  year,  and  subsequently 
took  charge  of  the  Revere  Copper  Company 
works;  and  he  remained  in  the  business 
for  six  years.  He  then  resigned,  and  went 
back  to  Dedham,  where   he   formed   a   partner- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'5' 


ship  with  the  man  to  whom  he  had  been  ap- 
prenticed. The  partnership  had  lasted  five 
years,  when,  in  1 851,  he  went  to  Canada,  and 
engaged  in  the  contracting  business.  This 
turned  out  to  be  a  permanent  and  lucrative 
undertaking,  and  occupied  his  time  and  atten- 
tion for  twenty-seven  years.  The  work  was 
mainly  dredging  the  harbors  of  Lake  Erie.  In 
1877  he  came  back  to  Canton,  and  has  re- 
mained there  ever  since,  having  retired  from 
active  business. 

Mr.  Dunbar  was  married  December  27, 
1837,  to  Hannah  French.  They  have  had  six 
children,  of  whom  the  only  survivor  is  Charles 
F. ,  now  a  contractor  in  Buffalo,  N.Y.  Fred- 
erick, another  son,  who  was  a  clerk  for  a  man- 
ufacturing company  in  Stoughton,  Mass.,  died 
at  the  age  of  forty-two.  Elwin  became  a  phy- 
sician, and  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-three. 
Willie  T.  died  when  he  was  twenty-nine  years 
old.  Mr.  Dunbar  is  a  member  of  the  Unita- 
rian church,  to  whose  support  he  is  a  liberal 
contributor.  He  has  served  as  Deacon  in  the 
same  for  some  time,  and  owns  the  same  pew 
that  his  father  did  before  him.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican.  He  has  been  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  cemetery  for  fourteen  years. 


iAPTAIN  ALPHEUS  P.  BOYD,  an 
esteemed  resident  of  Needham,  was 
formerly  a  sea  captain,  engaged  in 
the  merchant  service.  Born  in 
Wiscasset,  Me.,  in  1S26,  he  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  Boyd.  The  father,  also  a  native  of 
Wiscasset,  born  in  1780,  who  followed  the 
same  calling,  died  in  1835,  in  a  small  house 
on  School  Street,  Boston,  where  the  Parker 
House  now  stands.  His  death  resulted  from 
yellow  fever,  which  he  had  contracted  in  a 
Southern  port. 

Alpheus  P.  Boyd  attended  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  town  for  the  customary 
period.  Subsequently  he  took  a  course  in  the 
School  of  Navigation  in  New  York  City.  Pre- 
vious to  this  he  had  spent  five  years  at  sea, 
sailing  first  as  a  cabin  boy  in  the  ship  "  Massa- 
chusetts," Captain  Sampson,  engaged  in  the 
carrying  trade.  He  left  the  "Massachusetts" 
at  San  Francisco  in  1850,  and  for  the  succeed- 
ing two  years  was  engaged  in  freighting  goods 


from  vessels  to  the  shore.  Then  he  bought 
the  schooner  "Outolian,"  and  sailed  her  for 
three  years,  running  between  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  San  Francisco.  After  this  he  re- 
turned to  Maine,  and  bought  a  half-interest  in 
the  "Highland  Light,"  of  Damariscotta,  the 
other  half  being  owned  by  Humphrey  &  Baker, 
lie  was  three  years  in  this  ship,  making- 
voyages  between  New  Orleans  and  Liver- 
pool, England.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
sold  half  of  his  interest  in  her,  took  command 
of  the  "National"  of  Bath,  Me.,  and  engaged 
in  the  freight  business  between  Xew  Orleans 
and  Havre,  France.  On  the  26th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1858,  the  "National,"  which  drew  fifteen 
feet  of  water,  was  driven  by  a  heavy  gale  on 
the  rocks  off  Colorado  Reefs,  near  Cape  An- 
tonio, Cuba,  when  the  water  was  only  seven 
feet  deep.  The  ship  and  cargo  were  a  total 
loss,  but  the  passengers  were  taken  off  by  a 
Spanish  man-of-war,  and  landed  at  Havana. 
Captain  Boyd  then  returned  to  Bath,  and  took 
command  of  the  ship  "Mazeppa,"  running  her 
between  New  Orleans  and  Liverpool,  with 
freights  of  cotton.  He  was  in  her  a  year  ami 
a  half  when  a  new  ship,  the  "National,"  was 
placed  under  his  command.  This  he  sailed 
for  two  years  and  a  half,  between  the  same 
ports  as  when  in  the  old  "National."  He 
then  took  charge  of  another  new  ship,  the 
"Nyphon,"  also  built  in  Bath,  sailed  her  for 
three  years,  ami  then  became  master  of  the 
"Rangoon,"  built  in  Newburyport,  Mass.  He 
sailed  the  "Rangoon"  from  New  York  to 
San  Francisco,  and  from  Callao  to  Hamburg, 
Germany,  carrying  a  cargo  of  general  mer- 
chandise. He  then  went  to  San  Francisco 
and  Europe  in  the  "Sapphire"  of  Newbury- 
port. He  had  been  in  charge  of  this  ship  two 
and  one-half  years,  when  she  collided  with  a 
French  man-of-war  off  the  coast  of  California, 
and  both  vessels  were  disabled  and  obli 
put  into  San  Francisco  for  repairs.  A  law- 
suit resulted,  and  was  tried  twice  in  the 
United  States  district  courts  of  California. 
In  both  these  trials  the  "Sapphire's"  owners 
were  beaten ;  but  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  resulted  in  the 
final  decision  that  each  ship  should  pay  her 
own  expenses  and  costs,  and  should  stand 
her  own  damages.      The  underwriters   pa 


'52 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5  to  the  "Sap]  ill  ire,"  and  presented  her 
captain  with  a  fine  chronometer.  Captain 
Boyd  then  took  a  new  ship,  the  "Storm 
King,"  built  at  Richmond,  Me.,  and  sailed 
her  in  the  East  Indian  trade  for  four  years. 
His  next  command  was  the  "Willie  Rosen- 
felt,"  which  after  a  short  time  he  left  for  that 
of  the  "Solitaire"  of  Cardiff,  England,  ami 
sailed  to  ports  on  the  Pacific.  In  1890,  while 
on  the  last-named  vessel,  Captain  Boyd  was 
taken  ill  with  yellow  lever,  contracted  on  the 
coast  of  Panama.  He  went  to  San  Erancisco, 
whence  he  came  Mast  overland,  and  then  re- 
tired from  active  occupation.  Since  he  came 
to  Needham,  in  1884,  he  has  acquired  shares 
in  several  sailing-vessels,  and  has  interests 
with  the  Sewalls,  the  noted  ship-builders  of 
Bath,  Me.,  for  whom  he  formerly  sailed  in  a 
number  of  vessels. 

In  September,  185S,  Captain  Boyd  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Susan  T.,  daughter  of 
Gilbert  Trufant,  of  Bath,  Me.  Their  chil- 
dren are:  Helen,  Gilbert  T.,  Thomas.  James, 
Samuel,  Susan,  and  Belle.  Helen,  born  in 
i860,  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Bath  and 
in  the  Gillman  Young  Ladies'  School  of  Bos- 
ton. She  married  Robert  E.  Danfreld,  a 
teacher  in  the  Needham  High  School,  and 
now  located  at  Duluth,  Minn.  Gilbert  T., 
born  in  1862,  is  now  in  Duluth,  Minn.,  and 
holds  a  responsible  position  under  the  city 
government.  He  is  unmarried.  Thomas, 
born  in  1863,  is  now  chief  mate  of  the  steamer 
"Colon,"  in  the  Pacific  mail  service  between 
Panama  and  San  Francisco.  He  married  in 
Costa  Rica  a  Spanish  lady  of  South  American 
birth.  James,  born  in  1866,  graduated  from 
Chauncy  Hall  School  in  Boston,  and,  after 
passing  the  entrance  examinations  for  Harvard 
College,  went  West  to  Minnesota,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  business  of  a  plumber.  Sam- 
uel, burn  in  1872,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  in  Comer's  Commercial  College, 
and  is  now  in  the  lumber  business  in  Duluth, 
Minn.  Susan,  born  in  1877,  is  book-keeper 
for  Mr.  Isaac  Rich,  the  well-known  theatre 
man  of  Boston.  Belle  Boyd,  born  in  1881,  is 
now  .1  pupil  in  the  Needham  High  School. 
Captain  Boyd  took  his  family  with  him  on 
mam'  voyages  to  the  Mediterranean  and  to 
California.      He  was  made  a  Mason  of  Lincoln 


Lodge,  No.  3,  at  Wiscasset,  in  1857.  He  is 
also  a  member  oi  the  Boston  Marine  Society, 
which  was  incorporated  in  1742,  and  consists 
of  ship-owners  and  captains.  In  politics  the 
Captain  is  a  Democrat. 


w 


A.     DRAKE,    M.D..    a    prominent 

practitioner  of  Weymouth,  with  an 

office  at  North  Weymouth,  was 
born  October  22,  1849,  in  I  oncord,  N.IL,  son 
of  Simeon  and  Martha  E.  (Durgin)  Drake. 
The  first  of  the  family  in  America  was  Robert 
Drake,  who  came  from  England  in  1642,  and 
settled  at  Hampton,  N.H.  The  Doctor's 
boyhood  was  spent  in  Bath,  Me.,  to  which 
place  his  parents  removed  when  lie  was  about 
five  years  old.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Bath  and  of  Augusta,  and  received 
considerable  instruction  under  private  tutor- 
ship. When  fifteen  years  of  age  he  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  Company  B  of  the  First 
Battalion  of  Maine  Sharpshooters,  and  after- 
ward served  in  Virginia,  and  was  in  the  bri- 
gade which  received  the  formal  surrender  of 
General  Lee's  army.  After  Dr.  Drake's  re- 
turn from  the  war  he  completed  his  educa- 
tion. Beginning  the  study  of  medicine  after 
passing  his  majority,  he  graduated  from  the 
medical  department  of  Bowdoin  College  in 
1879,  and  was  selected  for  appointment  in  the 
Marine  Hospital  service.  He  was  in  this  ser- 
vice for  four  years  in  all,  and  was  located  at 
Portland,  Me.,  and  at  St.  Louis.  He  re- 
signed his  position  at  St.  Louis  on  November 
1,  1879,  and  in  the  following  March  came  to 
North  Weymouth,  where  he  has  since  been  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  For 
some  thirteen  years  he  has  been  a  member  of 
the  School  Board,  and  much  of  the  efficiency 
of  the  public  schools  of  the  town  is  due  in 
large  measure  to  his  wise  and  timely  sugges- 
tions I'M'  improvement  in  various  directions. 
For  nine  years  he  was  the  chairman  of  the 
board.  lie  is  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Association,  and  takes  a  lively  inter- 
est in  its  proceedings.  At  present  he  is  Mir- 
geon  ni  Reynolds  Post,  No.  58,  G.  A.  R.,  at 
Past  Weymouth.  He  is  also  connected  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity;  and  he  attends  the 
Congregational    church    at    North    Weymouth, 


JOSEPH     M.    GLOVER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'55 


and  liberally  contributes  to  the  support   of   its 
various  activities. 

Dr.  Drake  married  Rosalie  M.  Horn,  of 
Norway,  Me.,  who  is  now  the  mother  of  one 
son,  Wallace  H.  In  politics  the  Doctor  is  a 
Republican,  and  he  takes  a  strong  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  town  and  State.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Republican  Town  Committee, 
and  is  always  ready  to  expend  time  and  effort 
in  behalf  of  his  political  principles.  He  is  a 
director  and  stockholder  in  the  Quincy  & 
Boston  Electric  Railroad  Company. 


§OSEPH  M.  GLOVER,  a  former  resi- 
dent and  a  native  of  Quincy,  was  born 
April  ii,  1834.  A  son  of  John 
Glover,  Jr.,  he  was  a  descendant  of  one 
John  Glover,  who  came  from  England  to  Mas- 
sachusetts on  the  ship  "John  and  Mary,"  in 
1630,  landing  at  Hull.  His  great-grand- 
father, Nathaniel  Glover,  was  born  in  Dor- 
chester, Mass.  The  grandfather,  John  Glover, 
Sr.,  born  August  13,  1769,  on  territory  now 
included  in  Quincy,  died  here  in  1855.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker  when  young, 
but  never  followed  it,  preferring  farming,  an 
occupation  in  which  he  was  engaged  through- 
out his  active  days.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Phoebe  Curtis,  born  in  Braintree, 
this  county,  September  23,  1778,  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  Curtis.  They  reared  a  family 
of  ten  children,  of  whom  John,  the  first  son 
and  second  child,  was  the  father  of  Joseph  M. 
John  Glover,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Quincy, 
Mass.,  November  21,  1803,  and  died  January 
24,  1889,  having  spent  his  long  and  busy  life 
in  this  place.  He  was  a  bootmaker  by  trade, 
following  that  particular  branch  of  it  known  as 
bottoming  boots,  and  was  a  skilful  and  quick 
workman.  A  patriotic  citizen,  though  not  in 
actual  service  during  the  Rebellion,  he  was 
very  active  in  raising  soldiers  for  the  army, 
and  contributed  funds  for  necessary  expenses. 
He  married  Margaret  Adams  Field,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Field,  and  became  the  father 
of  three  children  —  William  IL,  John,  and  Jo- 
seph M. 

Joseph  M.  Glover  received  a  good  education 
in  the  Quincy  common  schools.  Afterward 
he   learned    the    trade    of    a    bootmaker,    and 


worked  at  it  until  after  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  War.  Then  he  enlisted  as  a  pri- 
vate in  the  Sixtieth  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and,  going  with  his  com- 
rades to  the  scene  of  conflict,  served  until  the 
regiment  was  mustered  out.  Soon  after  his 
return  to  Quincy  he  commenced  book-keeping, 
which  he  afterward  made  his  permanent  occu- 
pation, being  thus  employed  until  his  demise. 
On  January  3,  1861,  Mr.  Glover  married 
Frances  A.  Dodge,  a  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Dodge,  of  Quincy.  Benjamin  Dodge,  who 
was  born  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  brought  up  on  the 
coast,  imbibed  a  love  for  the  sea,  which  he 
followed  as  a  lad,  shipping  before  the  mast. 
One  or  two  rough  voyages  proved  enough  for 
him,  however:  and  he  made  up  his  mind  to  be 
content  with  land  pursuits.  Coming  to 
Quincy  in  early  manhood,  he  began  working 
in  the  quarries,  and  was  afterward  engaged  in 
the  granite  business  as  long  as  he  lived.  His 
first  wife  died  at  an  early  age,  leaving  one 
child,  Adeline,  now  the  wife  of  Josiah  Mun- 
roe,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.  He  subsequently 
married  Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Jacob  Fowles, 
of  Boston,  who  bore  him  four  daughters. 
These  were:  Sarah  Jane,  who  successively 
married  Seth  Pratt,  of  Weymouth,  and  Solo- 
mon Lovell,  and  died  March  19,  1896;  Eliza- 
beth F.,  now  the  wife  of  Napoleon  B.  Fur- 
nald,  of  this  city;  Mary  A.,  who  married 
David  J.  Pratt,  of  Weymouth;  and  Frances 
A.,  now  Mrs.  Glover.  Mrs.  Dodge  passed 
away  February  15,  1897,  aged  ninety  years, 
eleven  months,  and  twenty-three  days.  She 
was  a  strong  Universalist  in  religious  belief, 
and  with  her  husband  attended  the  church  of 
that  denomination.  Addie  Munroe  Glover, 
the  only  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glover,  is  now 
the  wife  of  Charles  H.  Burgess,  of  Quincy. 
Mr.  Glover,  while  holding  liberal  opinions  on 
questions  of  religion,  attended  and  generously 
supported  the  Unitarian  church.  He  died 
October  12,  1893,  regretted  as  one  of  the 
most  respected  citizens  of  Quincy. 


"CjMER" 


^MERY   CLINTON    BRITTOX,  a  stable- 
keeper  of    Canton,    Mass.,  was   born    in 
~^*""   '    ■"  Stoughton,     Mass.,     November     14, 
1858,    son   of  Joshua   and   Olive    F.    (White) 


r<;6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Britton.       His    grandfather,    Joshua    Britton, 

amily   to   settle   in 

Easton,  Mass.     The  Bri  ii  origin 

1 1  "in    England  at 

an  early  period. 

The  lather  ol  Emery  Clinton  Britton  was 
horn  December  27,  1819,  in  Stoughton,  where 
he  still  lives,  iir  was  a  manufacturer  of  shoe 
machinery  for  the  shoe  trade,  and  still  does 
iiisiness  in  this  line.  In  politics  he  is 
iblican,  but   he   I  1    held    public 

office.  He  married  Olive  F.  White,  of  Eas- 
ton, of  whose  twelve  children  by  him  six  are 
living.  These  are:  Leander  G.,  Melissa, 
Henry  W.,  Horace  E.,  Ellis  F.,  and  Emery 
C.  Leander  and  Henry  reside  at  Stoughton; 
■  is  the  wife  of  W.  T.  Morse,  of  West 
I,  Mass;  Horace  E.  now  carries  on  his 
father's  business;  and  Ellis  F.  is  interested  in 
mining  at  Cripple  Creek.  Col. 

Emery  Clinton  Britton  obtained  his  general 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native- 
town.  Later  he  attended  the  Bryant  &  Strat- 
ton  Commercial  College  at  Boston,  where  he 
completed  a  course  of  study  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen. After  this  he  was  employed  by  his 
father  for  two  years;  and  in  18S3,  June  15,  he 
came  to  Canton.  He  started  here  in  the 
livery  and  sale  stable  business.  In  1889  he 
purchased  the  carriage  repair  shop  of  John 
Hall,  and  has  now  added  that  branch  to  his 
business.  In  his  politics  he  is  a  Republican, 
member  of  the  Blue  Hill  Lodge  of 
mil  of  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  Stough- 
ton, in  both  of  which  he  has  held  offices.  He 
is  also  connected  with  the  Odd  Fellows 
Lodge.  No.  72,  in  which  he  has  held  office. 
Lie  married  Lizzie  M.  Cobb,  of  Sharon, 
daughter  of  Warren  Cobb.  They  have  one 
child,  a  daughter,  Marjorie.  The  family  at- 
tend the  Universalist  church. 


1IAKLLS  11.  ELLIS,  the  Postmaster 
of  Wesl  Dedham,  ami  one  oi  the  Se- 
lectmen of  the  town,  was  born  here, 
1  lecember  [4,  1 852,  son  of  Merrill 
1).  Ellis.  He  is  descended  from  Richard 
Ellis,  who  located  here  in  [632.  The  next  in 
line  of  descent  was  Joseph,  born  in  1666. 
After  him  cai  101  n  in  1696, 


who  died  in  1783,  and  then  Abner,  Sr.,  born 
in  1732,  who  died  in  [781.  Abner  Ellis, 
Sr.,  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of 
eneration,  serving  not  only  in  town 
offices,  but  as  a  Representative  to  the  General 
Court.  Colonel  Abner  Ellis,  born  in  1777, 
indfather  of  Charles  II  .  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm  in  West  Dedham.  Lor  many 
years  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  in 
merchandise,  his  store  standing  on  the  site  of 
the  present  establishment  of  his  grandson, 
Charles  H.  Ellis.  He  was  quite  influential 
in  local  affairs.  For  a  time  he  represented 
his  town  in  the  State  legislature,  and  he  was 
a  Colonel  in  tin;  State  militia.  In  1824  be' 
was  appointed  Postmaster,  a  position  which 
he  afterward  held  until  his  death,  in  1844. 
The  first  of  his  two  marriages  was  contracted 
with  Boll)-  Gay,  who  bad  two  dan- liters  by 
him.  His  second  marriage  was  made  with 
Polly  Newell,  who  bore  him  five  sons.  Theo- 
dore Gay,  his  assistant  in  the  post-office,  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  his,  and  in  1S45  became 
Postmaster,  holding  the  position  till  18S0. 

Merrill  D.  Ellis  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Dedham,  remaining  with  his 
parents  until  reaching  man's  estate.  lie  sub- 
sequently worked  at  various  occupations  in 
this  vicinity,  finding  nothing  congenial  to  his 
tastes  until  he  embarked  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness in  Dedham,  where  he  continued  fifteen 
years.  He  eventually  returned  to  West  Ded- 
ham, assuming  the  management  of  his  father"s 
old  store.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  personal- 
ity, universally  respected  for  his  honesty. 
He  took  a  leading  part  in  town  matters,  serv- 
ing as  Selectman  and  as  district  School  Com- 
mittee for  several  years.  He  was  also  a  Rep- 
resentative to  the  State  legislature  for  three 
terms.  He  was  a  natural  musician,  being  a 
tine  violinist,  and  for  many  years  led  the  choir 
of  the  Unitarian  church.  He  was  also  one  of 
tin  Parish  Committee,  and  the  parish  clerk  for 
a  long  time.  lie  passed  awa)  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine  years,  his  death  being  deeply  de- 
plored by  the  community.  He  married  Re- 
becca Ellis,  who  was  born  and  bred  in  Ded- 
ham, being  one  of  the  three  children  ol  Jason 
Ellis,  a  well-known  agriculturist.  She  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  leaving 
children;     namely,     Frederick,    Susan, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


iS7 


and  Charles  H.  An  esteemed  member  of  the 
Unitarian  church,  she  did  much  toward  its  ad- 
vancement. 

Charles  H.  Ellis  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  be 
of  assistance,  he  began  working  in  his  father's 
store.  In  1S69  he  became  one  of  the  regular 
clerks,  and  in  1880  he  succeeded  to  its  owner- 
ship. At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed 
Postmaster,  an  office  which  he  has  since  held, 
and  which  has  been  in  his  family  for  more 
than  seventy  years.  In  1887,  April  18,  the 
store  was  burned  to  the  ground ;  but  Mr. 
Ellis,  with  characteristic  enterprise,  immedi- 
ately rebuilt  it,  and  has  since  carried  on  a 
more  extensive  and  prosperous  business  than 
before.  He  keeps  in  stock  a  full  line  of  dry 
goods,  boots  and  shoes,  groceries,  etc.  His 
trade  is  large;  and  his  store  is  one  of  the 
oldest  in  this  locality,  and  well  known  for  the 
standard  quality  of  its  goods. 

Mr.  Ellis  was  married  February  23,  1890, 
to  Miss  Emma  Towne,  who  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, where  her  father,  Hosea  Towne,  was  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  Three  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  this  union;  namely: 
Charles  Newell,  George  Merrill,  and  Warren 
Hosea.      Mr.  Ellis  was   elected    Selectman    in 

1895,  and    re-elected    to    the    same    office    in 

1896.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
A.  O.  U.  W. 


ILLIAM  W.  SCOTT,  the  manager 
of  the  Wilton  Wool  Scouring  Mill 
at  Hyde  Park,  was  born  in  Hawick, 
Scotland,  March  7,  1S65,  son  of  John  and 
Jane  (Wilson)  Scott.  His  grandfather, 
Michael  Scott,  was  a  farmer,  who  resided  in 
Scotland  all  of  his  life,  and  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

John  Scott,  who  left  home  when  he  was 
eight  years  old,  worked  on  a  farm  until  he  was 
twenty.  Then  he  engaged  in  the  business  of 
a  wool-sorter  or  warehouse  man.  In  1869  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States.  Here  he  was 
employed  as  a  wool-puller  in  various  places 
until  1S72,  at  which  time,  his  family  having 
followed  him  to  America,  he  settled  in  Hyde 
Park.  He  was  in  charge  of  the  pickers  for  the 
Hyde  Park  Wooilen  Company  until  their  mills 


were  burned,  and  then  started  in  the  wool- 
scouring  business  for  himself  at  Milton 
Lower  Mills.  In  1881  he  erected  the  present 
mill  in  Hyde  Park,  where  he  established  a 
business  which  has  grown  into  an  important 
industry;  and  he  continued  at  its  head  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  March,  1893, 
when  he  was  sixty  years  old.  He  was  a  self- 
made  man;  and,  aside  from  his  natural  capac- 
ity for  labor,  he  displayed  excellent  business 
ability  and  strict  integrity.  He  married  Jam- 
Wilson,  daughter  of  William  and  Jeanette 
(Hunter)  Wilson.  Her  father  was  a  wool- 
sorter,  and  a  native  of  the  same  locality  in 
Scotland  in  which  the  Scotts  resided.  She 
became  the  mother  of  ten  children,  of  whom 
five  are  living,  namely:  Walter,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Wilton  Wool  Scouring  Mill: 
William  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mai)-, 
the  wife  of  Robert  E.  Grant;  John  P.;  and 
Annie  J.  Mrs.  John  Scott  is  still  living. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  as  was  her  husband. 

William  W.  Scott  was  about  eight  years  old 
when  his  parents  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  and  he  has  resided  in  Hyde  Park 
since  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  About 
the  same  time,  after  graduating  from  the 
Stoughton  Grammar  School  in  Boston,  he- 
began  to  learn  the  wool-scouring  business  with 
his  father.  Becoming  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  work,  he  ably  assisted  in  carrying  it 
on  under  his  father's  direction;  and  since  the 
death  of  the  elder  Scott  he  has  managed  the 
enterprise  as  his  mother's  representative. 
The  mill,  which  is  equipped  with  modern  ma- 
chinery, employs  about  twenty-five  men,  and, 
being  the  oldest  of  its  kind  in  this  locality,  is 
favorably  known  to  the  trade. 

In  1893  Mr.  Scott  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Minnie  Monroe,  daughter  of  Joseph  B. 
Monroe,  a  native  of  Hyde  Park,  and  a  carpen- 
ter by  trade.  Her  parents,  who  are  still  liv- 
ing, have  reared  five  children.  Mrs.  Scott  is 
the  mother  of  three  children;  namely,  Inez, 
Isabel,  and  Minnie.  Mr.  Scott  has  served  as 
Constable  for  some  years,  is  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Health,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican. He  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
young  men  in  Hyde  Park,  having  a  wide  circle 
of  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  occupies  a 


i:io(;rai'MI('.\i,   REVIEW 


prominent  social  position.  He  is  a  Past 
Grand  of  Forest  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  Pasl 
Sachem  oi  Neponset  Tribe,  Improved  Order  of 
Red  Men;  and  he  was  formerly  a  member  of 
the  Waverly  Club.  He  was  one  ol  the  first  to 
ride  a  high-wheel  bicycle  after  their  introduc- 
tion, was  captain  of  the  old  Hyde  Park 
Bicycle  Club,  a  member  of  the  League  of 
American  Wheelmen,  and  he  represented 
Massachusetts  in  the  national  meeting  of  that 
organization.  Mrs.  Scott  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


KRANK  C.  PACKARD,  an  enterprising 
business  man  of  Quincy,  Mass.,  has 
been  identified  with  its  manufacturing 
interests  for  the  past  twenty  years.  lie  was 
born  in  this  town,  June  6,  1852,  a  son  of  Colo- 
nel Abner  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Newcomb)  Pack- 
ard, of  whom  further  mention  may  be  found 
on  another  page  of  this  volume.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  received  his  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Quincy,  and  sub- 
sequently followed  a  course  of  study  at  a  pri- 
vate school.  When  seventeen  years  old  he 
entered  the  employ  of  E.  Packard  &  Co.,  man- 
ufacturers of  boot  and  shoe  makers'  ink,  as  an 
assistant,  continuing  with  them  in  that  capac- 
ity until  1876,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the 
firm.  In  1878  he  began  the  manufacture  of 
flavoring  extracts,  which  he  sold  on  the  road, 
driving  east  to  Cape  Cod,  and  as  far  south  as 
Providence,  R.I.,  and  going  west  to  the  New 
York  State  line —  in  fact,  taking  in  nearly  all 
the  towns  in  the  State  on  his  regular  routes. 
He  was  thus  engaged  until  1890,  and,  besides, 
made  all  the  blacking  sold  by  the  firm,  carry- 
ing on  a  very  large  business.  Since  1883  he 
has  been  occupied  with  inside  work  almost  ex- 
clusively. The  firm  has  been  exceedingly 
prosperous  as  regards  its  sale  of  both  ink  and 
extracts,  and  has  also  built  up  a  fine  jobbing 
trade  in  drugs  and  medicines.  Since  1872 
Mr.  Packard  has  been  a  regular  member  of 
the  lire  department,  having  in  that  year  joined 
i!i^'  Washington  M.  French  Hose  Company. 
When  that  disbanded,  he  was  sent  to  the  Vult- 
ure  engine  of  Quincy  Point,  with  which  he 
remained  six  months.  lie  was  then  made  a 
"fine  member"   of    the   steamer   company,   of 


which  he  was  afterward  elected  hoseman  and 
the  treasurer.  For  nearly  ten  years  he  h 
assistant  engineer  of  the  tire  department  of 
Wai'd  One.  During  one  winter  he  man 
money  by  hiring  a  skating  rink,  in  which  he- 
entertained  private  parties  twice  each  week 
throughout  the  season.  In  politics  he  affili- 
ates with  the  Republican  party,  but  in  local 
elections  votes  independently,  and  solely  with 
a  view  to  furthering  the  best  interests  oi  the 
city. 

He  is  a  member  of  Mount  Wollaston  I 
No.  1,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  belongs  also 
Knights  of  Honor,  the  New  England  <  >rder  of 
Protection,  the  O.  U.  A.  M.,  and  to  the 
Knights  of  the  Ancient  /Escenic  Order.  He 
is  likewise  a  member  of  the  Granite  City  Club 
and  of  the  Ramblers'  Club. 

March  31,  1875,  Mr.  Packard  married  Miss 
Lucy  C.  Newcombe,  daughter  of  Ira  New- 
combe,  of  Quincy.  They  have  had  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  but  two  are  now  living; 
namely,  Alice  Gertrude  and  Bertha  Haskell. 
Mrs.   Packard  attends  the  Unitarian  church. 


HARLES  F.  KNOWLTON,  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works  at  Quincy, 
was  born  in  Swampscott,  Mass., 
January  31,  1865,  a  son  of  James 
Austin  Knowlton.  His  great-grandfather, 
Edmund  Knowlton,  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  also  at  Saratoga,  where  he  capt- 
ured a  British  musket,  proudly  cherished  by 
Mr.  Knowlton.  Edmund  was  a  kinsman  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Knowlton,  of  Hartford,  Conn. 

James  Knowlton.  the  grandfather  of  Charles 
F.,  was  a  native  of  Hamilton,  Mass.,  where  he 
spent  his  early  years.  Later  he  resided  in 
the  neighboring  town  of  Magnolia.  He  was  a 
farmer,  carpenter,  and  boat-builder,  and  a 
good  worker  at  all. 

James  Austin  Knowlton  was  born  in  Mag- 
nolia, Essex  County,  February  [9,  1821. 
Under  the  instruction  of  his  father  he  learned 
the  trades  tit  a  ship-builder  anil  house  carpen- 
ter, which  he  followed  winters  until  1876. 
In  the  summer  seasons  he  kepi  a  hotel  for  the 
reception  ol  guests  from  the  city,  having 
charge  at  different  seasons  of  the  Gloucester 
Hotel,    the    Pavilion,    at  both   Gloucester  and 


*  ' 


A, 


FRANK    C.    PACKARD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


161 


Crescent  Beach,  and  the  Hesperus  at  Mag- 
nolia. Each  house  was  made  very  attractive 
to  boarders,  and  had  a  substantial  summer 
business.  For  several  years  he  let  for  rent  a 
hotel  that  he  owned  in  Swampscott;  but  in 
1882,  having  retired  from  his  trades,  he  as- 
sumed the  management  of  the  house  himself, 
and  has  since  conducted  it.  A  strict  Republi- 
can, he  has  been  quite  active  in  local  affairs, 
and  served  as  an  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  Asses- 
sor, and  Selectman  in  Swampscott  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  married  Clara  M.,  daughter 
of  William  Fuller,  of  Lynn,  Mass.  They  have 
had  eleven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  James  B.,  of  Ludlow,  Mass.;  Ed- 
mund F.,  of  Swampscott;  Daniel  F.,  of 
Somerville,  Mass.  ;  Nellie  M.,  the  wife  of 
Arthur  C.  Widger,  of  Longwood,  Mas^.  ; 
Charles  F.  ;  and  Hattie  F.  Both  parents  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church. 

Charles  F.  Knowlton  completed  his  school- 
ing at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Commercial  Col- 
lege in  Boston,  whither  he  went  from  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Swampscott.  He  was  then 
employed  by  Norman  Weaver  &  Co.  for  a 
time  in  putting  in  water-works,  and  was  after- 
ward with  Luce  &  Manning  from  1883  until 
1888.  Of  the  following  year,  six  months  were 
spent  in  the  capacity  of  clerk  for  H.  C. 
Thatcher  &  Co.,  wool  dealers,  and  the  other 
six,  in  that  of  salesman  for  Henry  Schmidt, 
of  Philadelphia.  Returning  to  Massachusetts 
then,  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself  in 
Boston.  At  the  end  of  four  months  his  health 
gave  out;  and  he  went  to  Duluth,  Minn.,  to 
recuperate.  While  there  he  saw  notice  of  a 
vacancy  in  the  city  engineer's  force,  and, 
applying  for  the  situation,  secured  it.  He  at 
once  began  studying  engineering,  and  was 
later  made  inspector  and  then  the  superin- 
tendent of  sewer  construction.  After  an  ex- 
perience of  eighteen  months  of  this  work  he 
went  to  Everett,  Wash.,  as  an  employee  of 
the  Everett  Land  Company,  and  assisted  in 
laying  out  that  city,  remaining  there  four  and 
one-half  years.  During  this  time  he  had  con- 
tinued the  study  of  engineering,  obtaining  a 
thorough  and  practical  knowledge  of  the 
science.  Having  received  word  of  the  serious 
illness  of  his  father,  Mr.  Knowlton  returned 
home  in  the  spring  of    1895.      He  soon    began 


working  for  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission, and  under  its  direction  he  built  State 
roads  in  North  Adams,  Williamstown,  and 
West  Newbury.  In  1896  he  was  appointed  to 
his  present  position  as  Commissioner  of 
Public  Works.  In  this  capacity  he  has  done 
much  to  advance  the  material  interests  of  the 
city  and  to  further  its  public  improvements. 

Mr.  Knowlton  is  a  member  of  Everett 
Lodge,  No.  122,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Everett, 
Wash.,  of  which  he  was  Noble  Grand  when  he 
came  East;  of  Everett  Lodge,  K.  of  P.:  and 
of  Everett  Encampment,  I.  O.  O.  F.  On 
September  18,  1895,  he  married  Lenor,  daugh- 
ter of  Josiah  Hatton,  of  Snohomish,  Wash. 
A  son,  James  Adams  Knowlton,  was  born  to 
them  August  27,  1897.  Mr.  Knowlton  and 
his  wife  attend  the  Congregational  church. 


ENRY  F.  ARNOLD,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  American  Tool  Com- 
pany's works  at  Hyde  Park,  was 
born  May  5,  1850,  in  Charlestown, 
Mass.,  son  of  Isaiah  F.  Arnold.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  a  descendant  of  an  early  Massa- 
chusetts family,  was  a  general  merchant  in 
Charlestown  for  many  years,  and  died  there  at 
a  comparatively  early  age,  leaving  a  family  of 
ten  children. 

Isaiah  Arnold  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
Charlestown.  In  1853  he  removed  to  Chelsea. 
After  conducting  a  shoe  store  in  Boston  for 
some  time,  he  accepted  a  position  as  book- 
keeper. In  1861  he  changed  his  place  of  resi- 
dence from  Chelsea  to  Newton  Centre.  Five 
years  later  he  came  to  Hyde  Park,  which  he 
made  his  home  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six  years.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  E. 
Snow,  a  daughter  of  Zenas  and  Temperance 
(Snow)  Snow,  who  traced  their  ancestry  to  a 
passenger  of  the  "Mayflower."  Of  Isaiah's 
three  children  two  are  living,  namely:  Henry 
F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Zenas  S., 
a  resident  of  Quincy,  this  county.  The 
mother,  an  active  woman  though  seventy 
years  old,  makis  her  home  with  her  son 
Henry.  She  is  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  of  which  her  husband  was 
Deacon  and  treasurer  at  the  time  of  his 
demise. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     KF.VIKW 


Henry  F.  Arnold  passed  his  boyhood  in 
1  and  Newton  Centre,  being  there  edu- 
cated  in  the  public  schools.  When  his  par- 
ents removed  the  family  to  Hyde  Park,  he 
went  to  Boston  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  machin- 
ist. His  apprenticeship  of  three  years  was 
served  with  Mellen  Bray  and  the  succeeding 
firm,  Bray  &  Newell.  Then  he  worked  for 
the  American  Tool  and  .Machine  Company, 
and  spent  a  short  time  with  the  Brainard  Mill- 
ing Company,  and  in  the  same  season,  in 
1869,  began  working  as  a  journeyman  for  the 
American  Tool  Company.  Four  years  later 
he  was  employed  for  a  while  by  the  Moseley 
Iron  Bridge  Company,  but  returned  to  the 
American  Tool  Company,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained another  four  years.  His  health  giv- 
ing out,  Mr.  Arnold  was  sent  to  St.  Lawrence 
Bay  to  recuperate.  After  his  return  he  was 
employed  in  the  grocery  business  at  Hyde 
Park.  At  the  end  of  the  first  season  he  gave 
up  this  employment,  and  secured  a  situation 
with  the  Peet  Valve  Company  of  Roxbury. 
He  had  worked  there  six  months,  when  he 
again  became  an  employee  of  the  American 
Tool  Company,  with  which  this  time  he  was 
connected  for  several  years.  He  then  started 
in  business  for  himself  in  the  manufacture  of 
sewing-machine  treadles  at  Norwood,  Mass., 
continuing  in  this  enterprise  about  eight 
months.  In  the  following  year  he  worked  for 
the  Tubular  Rivet  Company,  after  which  he 
was  employed  for  a  short  time  in  the  works  of 
the  Brainard  Milling  Company.  In  1882  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  Globe  Nail  Com- 
pany, being  foreman  of  one  of  their  depart- 
ments four  years.  In  1886  he  re-entered  the 
works  of  the  American  Tool  Company,  of 
which  four  years  later  he  was  made  superin- 
tendent, an  important  position  which  he  is 
now  ably  and  satisfactorily  filling.  This 
plant,  which  is  one  of  the  largest  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  county,  employs  three  hundred 
men,  all  of  whom  are  under  Mr.  Arnold's  con- 
trol. 

On  April  10,  1S72,  Mr.  Arnold  married 
Miss  Caroline  F.  Hibbard,  who  was  born  in 
South  Boston  in  1850,  being  one  of  the  three 
children  of  Horatio  N.  Hibbard,  a  machinist 
of  1 1  vile  Park.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnold  have 
three  children;   namely,   Helen    S. ,   Henry  F. . 


Jr.,  and  Gertrude  F.  In  politics  Mr.  Arnold 
is  a  decided  Republican,  and  for  three  years 
has  served  as  Assessor.  While  liberal  in  his 
religious  views,  he  is  nut  a  member  of  any 
church.  An  active  worker  in  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, he  belongs  to  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M..  in  which  he  is  Senior  Warden:  to 
Norfolk  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.:  to  Hyde  Park 
Council,  of  which  he  is  Thrice  Illustrious 
Master;  to  Cyprus  Commandery,  of  which  he 
is  treasurer;  and  to  Aleppo  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine.  He  is  also  an  indefatigable 
worker  in  Forest  Lodge,  No.  148,  I.  ().  <  ).  P., 
having  served  two  terms  in  the  principal 
chairs,  besides  being  secretary  of  the  lodge 
for  nineteen  years,  and  District  Deputy  Grand 
Master  for  six  years.  He  was  likewise  a 
member  of  Shalom  Encampment,  No.  12,  in 
which  he  held  all  the  offices,  and  had  been 
Scribe  for  five  years;  and  he  is  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Monterey  Encampment,  No.  60, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  in  which  he  served  as  Scribe  for 
a  number  of  years,  is  Past  Chief  Patriarch  and 
Past  High  Priest,  and  has  been  District  Dep- 
uty Grand  Patriarch.  Mr.  Arnold  was  the 
first  Commander  of  the  American  Legion  of 
Honor.  Having  served  for  five  years  in  the 
Hyde  Park  general  department,  he  is  now  a 
member  of  the  Veteran  Firemen's  Associa- 
tion. He  was  also  for  some  years  a  member 
of  the  Waverly  Club.  In  1869  he  assisted  in 
organizing  the  Hyde  Park  Band,  of  which  he 
was  the  leader  for  eleven  years;  and  he  is  now 
a  member  of  the  present  band.  He  is  like- 
wise a  valued  member  of  the  Hyde  Park  His- 
torical Society,  and  he  is  one  of  the  directors 
and  was  the  first  president  of  the  Employers' 
Benefit  Association  of  the  American  Tool 
and  Machine  Company. 


ILLIAM  W.  BROOKS,  a  real  es- 
tate dealer  in  Canton,  one  of  the 
prominent  and  well-to-do  citizens, 
was  bom  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  and  came  to 
Canton  in  1845.  His  parents  were  William 
and  Mary  Ann  (Bird)  Whittington. 

William  Whittington  was  born  and  reared 
in  Cohasset,  Mass..  and  became  a  seafaring 
man.  After  his  marriage  his  family  home 
was  on  Meeting  House  Hill  in  Dorchester,  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


wife's  native  place.  He  still  continued 
voyaging,  and  for  some  years  was  captain  of  a 
vessel  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade.  He 
died  at  sea  in  1831,  leaving  his  widow  with 
two  children,  namely:  Amanda,. who  died  in 
1852  in  Canton;  and  William,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  Mrs.  Whittington  subsequently 
married  George  W.  Brooks,  of  Medford, 
Mass.  ;  and  both  of  her  children  had  their 
names  changed  to  accord  with  hers,  the  son 
becoming  William   Whittington  Brooks. 

George  W.  Brooks  removed  from  Medford 
when  a  young  man,  and  served  a  full  appren- 
ticeship at  the  carriage  builder's  and  harness- 
maker's  trade  with  T.  W.  Cross,  of  Ouincy, 
Mass.  Settling  then  in  Dorchester,  he 
worked  at  his  trade  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
in  that  locality.  Mrs.  Brooks  lived  to  a  good 
age,  passing  away  in  February,    1874. 

William  Whittington  Brooks  attended  the 
public  schools  of  Dorchester  until  sixteen 
years  old,  when  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  shoe 
store  of  Henry  Wenzell  on  Washington  Street, 
Boston,  where  he  remained  until  about  twenty 
years  old.  After  the  removal  of  the  family  to 
Canton  he  worked  for  a  time  for  his  step- 
father in  this  town,  and  then  went  to  Stough- 
ton,  where  he  was  in  the  shoe  trade  until  he 
was  of  age.  Changing  his  occupation  at  that 
time,  he  began  the  manufacture  of  curtain 
fixtures  with  Uran  &  Fowle,  of  Saxonville, 
but  later  of  Canton,  continuing  witli  the  firm 
until  1856,  when  he  was  appointed  Post- 
master of  Canton.  He  served  through  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Pierce,  being  re- 
moved by  President  Lincoln  in  1861  to  make 
room  for  Rufus  C.  Wood.  In  1857  Mr. 
Brooks  opened  a  drug  store  in  company  with 
Dr.  Jesse  E.  Pearce,  with  whom  he  subse- 
quently studied  medicine;  and  for  thirty-five 
years  he  was  one  of  the  leading  druggists  of 
this  town.  He  was  exceedingly  prosperous,  and 
invested  his  money  wisely,  in  18S0  erecting 
the  brick  block  known  as  Brooks  Block  and 
the  Music  Hall.  In  1892  he  sold  out  his 
drug  business  to  John  W.  Tirrell,  who  was  for 
some  years  his  clerk.  (See  sketch  which  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  volume. )  Mr.  Brooks 
has  since  been  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and 
insurance  business,  in  which  he  has  been  very 
fortunate. 


Mr.  Brooks  married  Miss  Sarah  J.  Leavitt, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Leavitt,  formerly  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  Canton.  She  died  in 
1878.  leaving  no  family.  In  politics  Mr. 
Brooks  has  always  been  identified  with  the 
Democratic  party.  lie  has  been  a  candidate 
for  the  office  of  Representative  to  the  State 
legislature;  and  for  twelve  years  he  served 
his  fellow-townsmen  as  Selectman,  being 
chairman  of  the  board  a  part  of  the  time,  and 
for  fifteen  years  was  Tax  Collector.  Frater- 
nally, he  is  a  member  of  Blue  Hill  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Unitarian  church  and  parish. 


fOSEPH  HOLMES,  the  Town  Treasurer 
of  Milton,  was  born  Novembers,  1825, 
in  Pembroke,  Plymouth  County.  His 
parents,  John  and  Margaret  (Porter) 
Holmes,  were  natives  of  Marshfield,  Mass. 
John  Holmes  was  a  wheelwright  by  trade. 
He  followed  carriage-making  for  a  number  of 
years  in  Pembroke,  and  then  engaged  in  gen- 
eral mercantile  business,  keeping  a  country 
store  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1S41. 
Of  his  children  there  are  three  survivors, 
namely:  John;  Joseph,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Samuel.  John  Holmes  t and  his 
brother  Samuel  are  still  residing  in  Pembroke. 
Joseph  Holmes  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  town,  and  in  his  seven- 
teenth year  came  to  Milton,  where  he  entered 
upon  an  apprenticeship  at  the  tinsmith's  trade 
with  George  Haynes.  After  serving  his  time 
and  working  as  a  journeyman  for  a  year,  he  was 
engaged  for  a  while  in  the  sheet-iron  and  tin- 
plate  business  on  his  own  account  in  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  and  in  1849  went  to  California  by  Cape. 
Horn,  the  length  of  the  passage  being  five 
months  and  three  clays.  He  remained  on  the 
Pacific  coast  two  and  one-half  years,  either 
working  in  the  mines  or  following  his  trade 
until  his  return  East,  which  was  made  by  way 
of  the  Isthmus.  After  a  temporary  sojourn  in 
Milton,  he  was  engaged  several  years  in  farm- 
ing in  Pembroke,  but  eventually  returned  to 
Milton,  where  he  lias  since  resided,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  years  spent  in  Dorchester. 

In  politics  Mr.    Holmes  is  independent,  vot- 
ing for  the  candidates  whom   he  considers  best 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


qualified  to  hold  office;  and  he  is  now  serving 
his  tenth  year  as  Town  Treasurer.  He  is  a 
sell  -mule  man  :  and  as  a  progressive  and  public- 
spirited  citizen  and  a  competent  and  faithful 
official  he  has  gained  the  esteem,  confidence, 
and  good  will  of  his  fellow-townsmen.  For  a 
number  ol  years  he  has  acted  as  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  He  is  a  member  of  Macedonian 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 

Mr.  Holmes  married  Elmira  W.  Sumner,  of 
Milton.  Two  children  were  born  of  this 
union,  namely:  J.  Porter;  and  Nellie,  who  is 
mi  longer  living.  Though  not  a  church  mem- 
ber, Mr.  Holmes  contributes  liberally  toward 
the  support  of  religious  activities,  and  is  a 
trustee  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  Society 
of  Dorchester. 


/srso 


EORGE   H.    HOI.BROOK,   of  Brain- 

\  '•>  I  tree,  a  well-known  contractor  and 
builder,  was  born  in  this  town,  April 
15,  1852,  son  of  Elias  and  Susan  (Tower) 
Holbrook.  His  grandfather,  Ludovicus  Hol- 
brook,  was  a  resident  of  Braintree,  Mass. 
The  immigrant  ancestor  of  the  family  was 
Thomas  Holbrook,  who  was  an  early  settler 
in  Weymouth.  Savage  says  that  all  his  chil- 
dren (six,  including  three  sons,  John, 
Thomas,  and  William)  "were  probably 
brought  from  England."  Thomas  Holbrook, 
doubtless  the  second  of  the  name,  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Braintree  records  for  the  year 
1640. 

Elias  Holbrook,  who  was  born  in  Braintree, 
has  diligently  followed  shoemaking  for  the 
greater  part  of  his  life,  and  is  still  residing 
here,  being  now  seventy-five  years  old.  He 
.is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  having  served 
in  the  engineers'  corps.  His  wife,  Susan 
I'ow.r,  who  also  was  born  in  Braintree,  be- 
came the  mother  of  a  large  family  of  children, 
of  whom  six  are  living,  namely:  Mary  E., 
wife  of  Henry  B.  Vinton,  of  the  adjoining 
town  of  Weymouth;  Charles  F.,  who  resides 
in  Brockton,  Mass.;  George  H.,  whose  name 
heads  this  biographical  sketch;  Eugene  W., 
of  Braintree;  Emma,  wife  of  George  E. 
Fuller,  of  Melrose:  and  lluttie,  wife  of  R.  A. 
Gage,  of  Braintree. 

George    H.    Holbrook,    after    receiving    his 


general  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Braintree,  pursued  a  business  course  at 
Comer's  Commercial  College,  Boston,  and 
was  graduated  therefrom.  He  served  a  three 
years"  apprenticeship  at  the  carpenter's  trade 
with  A.  F.  Hannaford,  formerly  a  builder  in 
this  town,  and  subsequently  became  foreman 
for  Ira  Litchfield,  of  Quincy,  Mass.  In  1886 
he  engaged  in  business  for  himself;  and  he 
has  since  been  identified  with  building  opera- 
tions in  Braintree  and  elsewhere,  employing  a 
large  number  of  men.  At  the  starting  of  the 
Braintree  Co-operative  Bank  he  was  chosen 
one  of  the  directors,  but  did  not  act  as  such. 
He  is  a  charter  member  of  Monatiquot  Lodge, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  of  this  town;  a  member 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias,  of 
Massachusetts;  and  of  the  Eastern  Past  Chan- 
cellors' Association  of  Boston;  also  a  mem- 
ber of  Francis  L.  Souther  Camp,  Sons  of 
Veterans,  of  Quincy. 

Mr.  Holbrook  married  Sarah  E.  Newcomb, 
of  Medford,  Mass.,  and  has  had  seven  children 
—  Alfred  H.,  Irving  N.,  Bessie  F.,  Irene  A., 
Clara  N.  M.,  Miriam  F.,  and  Arthur  W.—  the 
first  five  of  whom  are  now  living. 


AMUEL  D.  CHASE,  the  present 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen 
of  Holbrook,  and  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  White  &  Chase,  manufact- 
urers of  shoe  finishing  supplies  in  Brookville, 
Mass.,  was  born  December  17,  1842,  in  Graf- 
ton, Mass.  His  parents  were  Samuel  and 
Lydia  (Holbrook)  Chase,  the  former  a  native 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  latter  of  Brain- 
tree. His  father  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade. 
One  of  his  uncles,  William  Holbrook,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1S12. 

When  about  eight  years  of  age,  Samuel 
went  to  Deering,  N.H.,  where  he  resided  for 
a  short  time  with  an  uncle.  He  then  came  to 
Braintree.  Mass.,  and  there  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  and  at  the 
Hollis  Institute,  which  was  then  located  in 
Braintree.  He  left  school  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen, and  subsequently  worked  at  shoemaking 
until  he  joined  the  Union  army  for  service  in 
the  Civil  War.  He  served  in  the  First  Mas- 
sachusetts    Andrew's      Sharpshooters,      which 


SAMUEL    I).    CHASE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


167 


was  so  named  in  honor  of  the  famous  war 
governor.  Mr.  Chase  fought  in  both  the  first 
and  second  battles  of  Fredericksburg,  at 
Gettysburg,  the  Wilderness,  Cold  Harbor, 
Bristoe  Station,  Ream's  Station,  Mine  Run, 
and  at  the  siege  of  Petersburg.  At  Petersburg 
he  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  left  arm  by  a 
spent  ball.  His  whole  time  was  spent  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  Third  Brigade 
of  the  Second  Army  Corps,  and  he  was  a  wit- 
ness of  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox 
Court-house.  In  1865  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged, and  was  mustered  out  on  June  30  of 
that  year.  After  his  return  to  Braintree  he 
was  engaged  in  shoemaking  for  several  years. 
In  1866  he  removed  to  Brookville,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  About  1870,  in  company 
with  L.  A.  Hayden,  Jr.,  he  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  at  Brookville,  doing  busi- 
ness under  the  name  of  Chase  &  Hayden  for 
some  three  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
Mr.  Chase  became  a  journeyman  shoemaker, 
and  subsequently  the  foreman  of  the  bottoming 
department  in  the  boot  and  shoe  factory  of  Ed- 
mund White,  for  whom  he  worked  some  ten 
years.. 

In  1878,  while  foreman  in  Mr.  White's 
shop,  Mr.  Chase  was  elected  a  Selectman  of 
Holbrook,  and  served  successively  for  six 
years,  being  for  a  part  of  the  time  chairman 
and  clerk  of  the  board.  After  an  interval  of 
five  years,  during  which  time  he  was  not  hold- 
ing any  political  office,  he  was  again  elected 
Selectman,  and  as  such  served  for  seven  suc- 
cessive terms,  being  a  large  portion  of  the 
time  chairman  of  the  board.  In  the  spring  of 
1897  he  was  again  elected,  and  is  at  present 
serving  as  chairman  of  the  board.  For  three 
years  in  the  seventies  he  was  a  member  of  the 
School  Committee,  and  for  seven  years  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Engineers  of  the  fire 
department.  He  has  been  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  many  years,  and  has  done  a  large 
amount  of  business  in  that  capacity.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Chase  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Industrial  and  Improvement 
Committee  of  Holbrook;  of  the  Knights  of 
Honor,  being  charter  member  of  Holbrook 
Lodge;  and  a  charter  member  of  Norfolk 
Lodge,  K.  of  P.,  and  of  Brookville  Grange, 
P.    of   H.      A   self-made   man,    his   success    in 


life  may  be  attributed  to  his  energy,  intelli- 
gence, and  honesty.  Mr.  Chase  was  married 
on  December  26,  1866,  to  Mary  L.  White,  a 
native  of  Holbrook. 


(9Thl( 


HEODORE  R.  GLOVER,  a  retired 
ll  merchant  residing  on  one  of  the  famous 
old  Colonial  estates  of  Milton,  was 
born  November  7,  1S24.  He  is  a  son  of  Cap- 
tain Stephen  and  Rebecca  Payne  (Gore) 
Glover,  and  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  John 
Glover,  who  came  from  England  in  the  ship 
"John  and  Mary,"  commanded  by  Captain 
Squib,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Milton.  (See  History  of  Milton,  Mass.) 
Stephen  Glover,  father  of  Theodore  R. 
Glover,  was  born  in  Ouincy,  Mass.  He  was 
a  sea  captain,  and  sailed  to  all  quarters  of  the 
globe.  His  wife  was  born  in  Boston.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Gore,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party.  She  was  a 
niece  of  Christopher  Gore,  LL.  D.,  who  was 
Commissioner  to  England,  1 796-1 804;  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  1809;  United  States 
Senator,  18 13-16;  and  who  bequeathed  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  Harvard 
College. 

Theodore  R.  Glover  passed  the  greater  part 
of  his  boyhood  in  Roxbury,  acquiring  his 
education  in  the  public  schools.  In  his 
seventeenth  year  he  first  went  to  sea;  and  he 
afterward  made  a  number  of  voyages,  in  the 
meantime  buying  shares  in  vessels  until  he 
was  owner  of  a  number  of  ships  which  were 
engaged  principally  in  the  East  India  trade 
and  in  carrying  cotton  to  Europe.  Shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Glover,  having 
been  very  successful  as  a  business  man,  retired 
from  commercial  pursuits.  After  residing  for 
a  number  of  years  in  Roxbury,  spending  the 
summers  in  Hingham,  in  1879  he  removed  to 
his  present  beautiful  country  seat  in  Milton. 
This  estate  was  the  home  of  a  number  of  the 
Colonial  governors;  and  for  some  time  it  was 
occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield,  an  Eng- 
lish clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  church. 

On  May  26,  1846,  Captain  Glover  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  T.  Mal- 
bon,  of  Hingham,  Mass.  :  and  on  May  26, 
1896,    they   celebrated   their  golden   wedding. 


i68 


BI<  IGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Iti  politics  he  is  independent,  voting  on  prin- 
ciple and  not  fur  part\-  feeling.  He  is  a  pub- 
lic-spirited citizen,  actively  interested   in  the 

welfare  of  the  town.  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Glover  arc  members  of  the  Unitarian  church. 


ENRY  S.  BUNTON,  Town  Treasurer 
of  Hyde  Park  for  the  past  twenty- 
three  years,  was  born  in  Manches- 
ter, \.  II..  April  6,  [848,  son  of 
Dr.  Sylvanus  and  Clara  (Conant)  Bunton. 
His  family  was  of  the  so-called  Scotch-Irish 
stock,  and  was  undoubtedly  represented  among 
the  stalwart  defenders  of  Londonderry  in  the 
famous  siege  of  1689. 

The  emigrant  Robert  Bunton  was  one  of  the 
original  settlers  of  Allenstown,  Merrimack 
County,  N.  H.  In  1746,  while  he  was  work- 
ing with  his  son  on  his  intervale  farm,  border- 
ing on  the  Merrimac  River,  they  were  both 
taken  captive  by  Indians  and  carried  by  them 
to  Canada,  where  they  were  held  for  quite  a 
protracted  period.  The  son,  the  great-grand- 
father of  Mr.  Bunton  of  Hyde  Park,  entered 
the  service  of  the  colonies  as  a  Captain  of 
militia  early  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  at 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  in  1775,  and  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  White  Plains  in  Sep- 
tember, 1776.  His  son,  Andrew,  married 
Lavinia  Holden,  daughter  of  David  Holden, 
who  served  as  First  Sergeant  during  the 
French  and  Indian  War.  After  his  return 
from  the  army  Mr.  Holden  lived  at  Town- 
send,  Mass.  ;  but  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution  his  sympathies  were  with  the 
Crown,  and  so  strong  was  the  feeling  in  his 
neighborhood  at  that  period  against  the  Tories 
that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  home  and  re- 
move  to    Mollis,    N.  1 1. 

Dr.  Sylvanus,  the  son  of  Andrew  Bunton, 
was  born  at  Allenstown,  N.H.,  March  8,  18  12. 
He  acquired  a  common  school  education  in 
Goffstown,  and,  coming  to  Massachusetts  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  learned  the  stone-mason's 
trade  in  Quincy,  teaching  district  schools 
during  the  winter  before  he  himself  had  at- 
tended any  higher  school.  In  the  fall  of  1833 
he  went  to  Pembroke  Academy  to  lit  himself 
for  college;  and,  entering  Dartmouth  in  1836, 
he   was   graduated    in    1840.      Impaired    health 


necessitating  a  change  of   climate    in    1841,  he 
went  to  Georgetown,  D.C.,  and  was  for  several 

years  teacher  in  select  classical  schools  at 
Georgetown,  at  Elk  Ridge  Landing,  Md., 
and  at  Queen  Anne,  Anne  Arundel  County, 
Md.  While  at  tin-  latter  place  he  began 
the  study  of  medicine,  attending  lectures  at 
the  Washington  University,  Baltimore.  Here 
he  was  graduated  ;  and,  being  elected  a  resident 
physician  to  their  hospital,  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  that  position  for  over  a  year.  Re- 
turning to  New  Hampshire,  he  commenced 
practice  in  Manchester  in  1846,  which  he  con 
tinned  until  the  Civil  War,  during  this  time 
holding  many  responsible  positions  oi  the  city. 
While  living  in  Manchester,  he  became  con- 
nected with  the  State  militia,  and  for  two 
years  held  a  commission  as  Major  and  surgeon 
of  the  Ninth  Regiment.  Early  in  the  war  his 
patriotism  led  him  to  volunteer  his  services  to 
the  national  cause;  and,  being  commissioned 
by  Governor  Berry  as  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the 
Second  New  Hampshire  Infantry,  he  was  iden- 
tified with  that  regiment  in  active  service  until 
June,  1864.  When  the  Second  was  mustered 
out,  he  was  immediately  appointed  surgeon  of 
the  Seventh  New  Hampshire  Regiment;  and 
after  serving  nearly  fourteen  months  he  was 
mustered  out  with  the  regiment,  July  25,  1865. 
He  practised  his  profession  in  Hollis,  N.H., 
for  two  years,  then,  removing  to  Mont  Vernon, 
N.H.,  there  continued  in  active  practice  until 
failing  health  and  disability  occasioned  by  his 
army  service  compelled  him  to  retire.  He 
died  August  13,  1884.  By  his  first  wife, 
Clara  Conant,  of  Hollis,  N.H.,  whom  he 
married  December  17,  1846,  and  who  died 
July  3,  1873;  he  had  two  sons-  Henry  Syl- 
vanus and  Leonard  Jewett,  the  latter  dying  in 
infancy.  Dr.  Bunton's  second  wife,  whom  he 
married  in  1874,  formerly  Miss  Sarah  Jane 
Trevitt,  of  Mont  Vernon,  survives  him.  Dr. 
Bunton  was  a  man  of  sincere  religious  con- 
victions and  unquestioned  integrity,  and  of 
humane  and  benevolent  disposition,  these 
qualities  being  peculiarly  marked  in  his  con- 
scientious discharge  of  duty  during  his  army 
service. 

Through  his  mother's  family  Mr.  Henry  S. 
Bunton  is  descended  from  the  immigrant, 
Roger  Conant,  who  was  baptized    in   the  parish 


HENRY    S.    BUNTON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


171 


church  of  East  Budleigh,  Devonshire,  Eng- 
land, April  9,  1592,  youngest  of  eight  children 
of  Richard  and  Agnes  (Clarke)  Conant.  Me 
was  married  in  London  in  November,  1618, 
and  came  to  America  in  the  year  1623,  in 
company  with  John  Oldham,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense. He  did  not  long  remain  at  Plymouth, 
owing  to  a  difference  of  religious  belief  be- 
tween himself  and  the  Pilgrim  fathers,  who 
were  Separatists,  while  he  was  a  Non-conform- 
ist, or  Puritan.  He  joined  Oldham  and  his 
colony  at  Nantasket,  and  lived  on  (or,  as  Felt, 
the  historian  says,  "used")  Governor's  Island 
in  Boston  Harbor,  which  was  for  some  time 
known  as  Conant's  Island.  During  the  fol- 
lowing winter  he  was  chosen  by  the  Dorchester 
Company  to  govern  their  affairs  at  Cape  Ann, 
and  he  proved  himself  a  prudent  ruler  and 
skilful  peacemaker.  The  settlers  removed  to 
Naumkeag,  near  Salem,  in  the  fall  of  1626. 
Mr.  Conant  was  Governor  of  the  colony  for 
about  three  years.  "Although  he  is  not  uni- 
versally recognized  as  the  first  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  he  is  fairly  entitled  to  that 
honor,  for  the  colony  of  which  he  was  the  head 
made  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  territory"  (History  and 
Genealogy  of  the  Conant  Family).  His  char- 
acter was  distinguished  by  strict  integrity, 
great  moral  courage,  and  an  indomitable  will  ; 
and  he  was,  as  well,  tolerant  and  conciliatory, 
and  preferred  the  public  good  to  his  own  pri- 
vate interests.      He  died  at  Beverly  in  1679. 

Henry  S.  Bunton,  a  descendant  in  the  eighth 
generation  of  this  distinguished  colonist,  was 
educated  in  the  Manchester  public  schools. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  went  to  Point  Look- 
out, Md,  and  for  nine  months  rendered  cleri- 
cal assistance  to  his  father  in  connection  with 
the  medical  department  of  the  Confederate 
prisoners'  camp.  During  this  period  he  con- 
tinued his  studies  under  his  father's  tuition. 
Appointed  hospital  steward  of  the  Seventh 
New  Hampshire  Regiment  in  December,  1864, 
he  served  until  the  war  ended.  He  became  a 
resident  of  Hyde  Park  in  1866,  coming  here  to 
assume  the  duties  of  book-keeper  and  paymas- 
ter for  the  Hyde  Park  Woollen  Company,  and 
continuing  in  that  capacity  until  1S75.  In 
1 87 1,  upon  the  incorporation  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Savings  Bank,  he  was  elected    first  treasurer  of 


the  bank,  and  held  the  office  continuously  until 
1888,  since  which  time  he  has  been  one  of  its 
trustees  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Invest- 
ment. Upon  his  retirement  from  the  treasurer- 
ship  of  the  savings  bank  he  became  associated 
with  Messrs.  Robert  and  John  S.  Bleakie  as 
treasurer  of  their  mills  at  Sabattus,  Me.,  styled 
Webster  Woollen  Company  ;  and  this  position 
he  still  occupies.  In  1875  he  was  elected 
Town  Treasurer,  and  at  each  successive  elec- 
tion has  been  re-elected  by  a  practically  unani- 
mous vote. 

For  over  twenty-five  years  Mr.  Bunton  has 
been  an  active  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity, and  has  held  its  highest  offices.  In  1874 
he  was  the  Commander  of  Timothy  Ingraham 
Post,  No.  I2i,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Commandery  of  the  Mili- 
tary Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  the  Sons  of 
Veterans,  and  the  Independent  Order  of  <  Hid 
Fellows.  For  eight  years  he  served  Hyde 
Park  as  a  member  of  its  School  Committee. 
He  is  a  communicant  in  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal church,  and  at  the  present  time  is  a  Warden 
and  the  treasurer  of  Christ  Church,  Hyde  Park. 
Mr.  Bunton  enjoys  the  respect  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  in  a  high  degree,  and  implicit  trust  is 
placed  in  him  as  a  financier  and  an  honorable 
gentleman.  He  married  November  9,  1880, 
Miss  Mary  Greenwood  Giles,  of  Winthrop, 
Mass. 


§OHN  H.  BURT,  of  the  firm  of  J.  H. 
Burt  &  Co.,  contractors  and  builders  of 
Mattapan,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  was 
born  in  Walpole,  N.H.,  June  6,  1827, 
son  of  Holland  and  Nancy  (Watkins)  Burt. 
The  family  is  said  to  be  of  English  descent. 
Holland  Burt  was  both  a  carpenter  and  cabi- 
net-maker, and  followed  one  or  the  other  of 
these  trades  throughout  his  life.  Of  his  chil- 
dren two  sons  are  living;  namely,  John  H. 
and  George  L.,  both  members  of  the  firm 
above  named. 

John  II.  Burt  resided  in  his  native  State 
until  he  reached  his  seventeenth  year,  and  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools,  which  after 
the  age  of  eight  years  he  attended  only  dur- 
ing the  winter  terms.  Many  New  England 
country  boys  born  a  half-century  and  more  ago 


BIi  (GRAPHICAL    Kl-A  IIW 


had  an  experience  similar  to  Mr.  Hurt's. 
Their  school  advantages  were  of  the  most 
meagre  sort ;  and  the  prosperity  attained  b)  so 
many  of  them  shows  that  not  opportunity,  but 
ability  and  determination  to  make  the  most  of 
whatever  offers,  is  tin-  foundation  of  success. 

While  a  youth  Mr.  Hint  began  to  learn  the 
trades  in  which  his  father  was  skilled;  and, 
being  ambitious  and  capable,  he  became  an 
expert  workman  in  both  carpentry  and  cabinet- 
making.  In  1850,  in  company  with  his 
brother  George,  he  began  to  engage  in  con- 
tracting and  building  at  Mattapan,  under  the 
firm  name  of  J.  H.  &  G.  L.  Hurt.  This  firm 
existed  for  a  year  and  a  half;  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  Sumner  A.  Hurt,  another  brother, 
was  admitted,  the  company  taking  the  name  of 
J.  H.  Hurt  &  Co.  Sumner  Burt  died  several 
years  since,  but  the  name  of  the  firm  has  re- 
mained unchanged.  The  business  was  started 
in  a  small  way:  but  by  degrees  it  has  in- 
creased, until  now  Messrs.  J.  H.  Hurt  &  Co. 
employ  during  the  busy  season  from  sixty  to 
eighty  workmen.  As  both  partners  are  prac- 
tical mechanics  and  understand  every  detail  of 
construction,  they  are  able  to  personally  direct 
their  working  force  and  to  secure  the  best 
possible  results. 

Mr.  Hurt  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  In 
the  sixties  he  served  two  years  as  Selectman 
of  Milton,  and  in  the  seventies  and  eighties 
he  served  for  eight  years.  He  served  as  fire 
warden  of  Milton  under  a  former  law,  and 
later  on  was  engineer  in  the  fire  department. 

Mr.  Hurt  married.  Mary  dishing,  a  native 
of  Liverpool,  England.  She  was  an  adopted 
daughter  of  Isaac  dishing,  late  of  Milton. 
Early  called  to  part  with  the  three  children 
born  to  them,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burt  have  but  one 
child  living,  an  adopted  daughter,  Mabel  B., 
now  the  wife  of  Graham  C.  Lawson,  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 


AVID  J.  PIERCE,  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Weymouth  and  a 
'■Sy  veteran  of  the  Forty-second  Massa- 
chusetts Regiment,  was  born  in 
this  town,  October  2,  [839,  son  of  David  J. 
and  Nancy  (Blanchard)  Pierce.  His  paternal 
grandfather,    David   Pierce,   Sr.,  was   probably 


a  native  of  Vermont.  The  family,  which  in- 
1  ludes  several  branches,  has  been  established 
in  New  England  more  than  two  hundred 
years,  among  the  early  immigrants  bearing 
this  surname  being:  Abraham,  of  Plymouth, 
nd  of  Duxbury,  1643:  John,  <>!  Water- 
town  ;  and  Thomas,  of  Charlestown. 

David  Pierce,  Jr.,  father  of  David  J.  Pierce, 
was  born  in  the  vicinity  of  Pake  Champlain, 
and  many  years  after  he  distinctly  remembered 
hearing  the  roar  of  artillery  at  the  battle 
fought  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  birthplace 
during  the  War  of  1S12.  About  the  year 
1S25  he  came  to  Weymouth,  where  he  fol- 
lowed the  stone-cutter's  trade  tor  the  rest  of 
his  life,  his  death  occurring  in  1848.  His 
wile,  Nancy  Blanchard,  who  was  a  native  ot 
Weymouth,  was  the  mother  of  several  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Will- 
iam, who  resides  at  Weymouth  Heights: 
Nancy,  a  resident  of  Weymouth;  George,  who 
lives  in  California;  and  David  J.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

David  J.  Pierce  was  thrown  upon  his  own 
resources  at  an  early  age,  and  when  ten  years 
old  he  began  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade. 
He  attended  school  at  intervals,  and,  after 
completing  his  studies,  devoted  his  whole  time 
to  the  shoe  business,  of  which  he  acquired  a 
good  knowledge;  and  for  four  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing  upon  his  own  account. 
Afterward  he  became  a  photographer,  and  was 
engaged  in  that  occupation  until  enlisting  as 
a  private  in  Company  A,  Forty-second  Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts  Volunteers,  for  service- 
in  the  Civil  War.  He  served  under  General 
Butler  on  the  Lower  Mississippi  for  a  year, 
most  of  the  time  on  detached  duty  as  a  gunner 
at  New  Orleans.. 

After  his  discharge  he  engaged  in  the 
jewelry  business  in  Natick,  Mass.  Five 
years  later  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Singer  Sewing  Machine  Company  as  head 
salesman  in  Toledo,  Ohio;  and  subsequently 
he  was  appointed  agent  of  the  company  in 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  for  sev- 
eral years,  or  until  failing  health  caused  him 
to  return  East.  He  then  took  the  position  of 
general  manager  of  the  Howe  Company  for  the 
New  England  States,  with  headquarters  in 
Boston,  and   had    continued  with    that    concern 


J.    EVERETT    SMITH. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


*75 


for  two  years  when  the  feeble  state  of  his 
health  compelled  him  to  permanently  relin- 
quish the  business.  For  several  years  he  car- 
ried on  the  drug  business  in  Weymouth,  under 
the  firm  name  of  D.  J.  Pierce  &  Co.,  also  en- 
gaging in  the  real  estate  business;  and  since 
1892  he  has  devoted  his  principal  attention 
to  the  latter  enterprise.  He  was  one  of  the 
organizers  and  is  now  treasurer  of  the  Stand- 
ard Rubber  Company  of  Brockton,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Investment  Committee  of  the 
South  Shore  Co-operative  Bank. 

He  is  well  advanced  in  Masonry,  being  at 
the  present  time  Generalissimo  of  South  Shore 
Commandery,  Knights  Templar;  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  South  Shore  Masonic  Relief  Asso- 
ciation; and  Past  Master  of  Delta  Lodge.  He 
is  also  a  comrade  of  Reynolds  Post,  No.  58, 
G.  A.  R. 

As  a  business  man  he  is  widely  known  and 
highly  respected  for  his  integrity  and  regular- 
ity, and  as  a  worthy  and  useful  citizen  he 
enjoys  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 
Politically,  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Pierce  married  Sarah  H.  Clapp,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  Clapp,  late  of  Weymouth. 
Four  children  have  been  born  to  them.  Three 
died  in  infancy;  and  one  is  now  living,  a 
daughter,  Alice  M.  Pierce. 


§  EVERETT  SMITH,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  carrying  on 
an  extensive  business  as  a  provision 
dealer  on  Washington  Street,  is  at  the 
present  time,  1897,  chairman  ot  the  town 
Board  of  Selectmen.  He  was  born  March  1  1, 
1838,  in  Norton,  Bristol  County,  Mass.,  a 
son  of  Jarvis  Smith,  and  is  descended  from 
one  of  the  early  settled  families  of  Norfolk 
County.  His  grandfather,  Araunah  Smith, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  Dedham,  removed 
thence  to  Norton,  where  he  purchased  a  farm 
and  established  a  home.  He"  died  in  1844, 
aged  eighty  years. 

His  son  Jarvis  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Norton,  and  with  the  four  other  children  of 
the  household  was  brought  up  on  the  home 
farm.  In  early  life  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
nail-maker,  at  which  he  worked  for  some 
years.      Afterward  he  bought   a   farm    in    Nor- 


ton, and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  demise,  which  occurred  in  1847  while  he 
was  yet  in  the  prime  of  manhood.  Jarvis 
Smith  married  Henrietta  Sweet,  daughter  of 
Hezekiah  Sweet,  an  early  settler  of  Norton. 
All  of  their  children  grew  to  years  of  maturity, 
and  two  of  them  are  yet  living,  namely:  J. 
Everett;  and  Adeline,  wife  of  Stillman  A. 
Witherell.  The  mother  survived  her  husband 
but  a  few  years,  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
fifty -two.  Both  parents  were  members  of  the 
Unitarian  church,  and  for  several  years  the 
father  was  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school. 

J.  Everett  Smith  was  but  ten  years  old  when 
his  father  died;  and,  when  the  death  of  his 
mother  occurred  a  few  years  later,  he  went  to 
live  with  an  older  sister,  making  his  home 
with  her  until  sixteen  years  of  age.  From 
that  time  onward  he  was  self-supporting.  He 
worked  first  as  a  farm  laborer  by  the  month, 
afterward  engaging  in  the  ice  trade  and  in  the 
butchering  business.  In  1862,  in  company 
with  a  Mr.  Brown,  he  opened  a  meat  market 
in  South  Dedham,  and  after  a  few  months  pur- 
chased his  partner's  interest,  and  carried  on 
the  business  himself  for  a  while.  In  1863 
Mr.  Smith  removed  to  Dedham,  where  for  the 
first  ten  years  of  his  residence  he  sold  meat 
from  the  cart.  In  this  way  he  won  an  exten- 
sive trade,  gaining  the  confidence  of  the 
people  with  whom  he  had  dealings,  either  in 
buying  or  selling,  and  met  with  such  encourag- 
ing success  that  he  opened  his  present  store 
on  Washington  Street  in  1873.  He  has  grad- 
ually enlarged  his  business,  and  has  now  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  profitable  meat  and 
provision  trades  in  this  section  of  Norfolk 
County.  He  keeps  an  up-to-date  market, 
carrying  a  full  line  of  first-grade  provisions 
and  meat,  and  in  addition  runs  three  order 
wagons  in  this  and  neighboring  towns.  His 
sons  ably  assist  him  in  his  work,  all  being- 
kept  busily  employed. 

On  April  26,  1862,  Mr.  Smith  married 
Miss  Mary  A.  H.  Wood,  who  was  born  and 
bred  in  Norton,  where  her  father,  Ely  Wood, 
was  for  many  years  station  agent.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smith  have  two  children,  namely:  Lewis 
D.,  who  married  Miss  Jennie  K.  Cassell;  and 
Frederick  Everett. 

In  politics  Mr.  Smith  is  a  sound  Democrat. 


1 7<> 


hlOGRAI'HICAI.    RKVIKW 


lie  takes  an  active  and  intelligent  interest  in 
local  affairs,  uniformly  giving  his  moral  sup- 
poi  t  ami  financial  aid  to  works  of  improvement. 
In  1 893  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Select- 
man, and  the  succeeding  four  years  was  re- 
elected to  the  same  responsible  position,  the 
last  three  years  hem-  chairman  of  the  hoard, 
lie  is  quite  prominent  in  Masonic  circles,  be- 
longing to  Constellation  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
of  which  he  is  Pasl  Master,  and  is  the  present 
High  Priest  of  Hebron  Chapter,  R.  A.  M. 
He  likewise  belongs  to  the  Knights  of  Honor, 
and  tor  the  past  five  years  has  been  Dictator 
of  the  local  lodge.  Liberal  in  his  religious 
belief,  Mr.  Smith  with  his  family  attends  the 
Unitarian  church,  of  which  Mrs.  Smith  is  an 
active  member. 


'AMES  F.  PRING,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Boston  Gossamer  Rubber  Com- 
pany's factory  at  Hyde  Park,  was  born 
February  3,  1856,  in  Kennebunkport, 
A  son  of  John  Pring,  who  is  a  native  of 
Prince  Edward  Island,  he  is  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Martin  Pring,  an  early  explorer. 
John  Pring,  Sr. ,  the  paternal  grandfather  of 
James  F.,  spent  his  long  and  busy  life  of  four- 
score years  on  Prince  Edward  Island,  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  The  father, 
John  Pring,  Jr.,  was  brought  up  on  the  home 
farm,  and  while  a  resident  of  his  native  island 
learned  the  ship-carpenter's  trade.  At  this  he 
worked  after  removing  to  the  States,  first  in 
Hath,  Me.,  and  later  in  Kennebunkport,  where 
he  is  now  living  retired  from  active  life,  at 
the  good  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  He  mar- 
ried Katherine  Campbell,  who  was  also  born 
and  bred  in  Prince  Edward  Island,  where  her 
father,  John  Campbell,  was  a  lifelong  farmer 
and  fisherman.  Eight  children  were  born  of 
their  union;  namely,  William,  Annie  (de- 
ceased), John,  James  F.,  Mary  (deceased), 
Walter  S. ,  Robert  !•",.,  and  Thomas.  Annie 
was  the  wife  of  Robert  Delanty.  The 
mother's  death  occurred  in  the  sixty-fifth  year 
of  her  age.  Roth  parents  united  with  the 
Methodist  church  in  their  early  years. 

I  mils  F.  Pring  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Kennebunkport.  When  old 
enough    In-    began    working    in    the    ship-yard 


with  his  father,  learning  the  trade  of  a  ship- 
carpenter,  which  he  made  his  chief  occupation 
a  number  of  years.  Subsequently,  in  Boston, 
he  was  engaged  as  a  house  carpenter  and  con- 
tractor lor  ten  years,  after  which  he  became 
connected  with  the  rubber  busim  ss  as  foreman 
nt  the  cutting  department  in  a  factory  at  Hyde 
Park,  a  position  which  he  held  three  years. 
During  the  succeeding  three  years  he  was  the 
superintendent  of  the  works  of  the  Sterling 
Rubber  Company  at  Framingham,  Mass. 
This  position  he  resigned  to  accept  his  pi 
ent  office,  the  factory  of  this  company  being 
then  in  Readville.  In  1889,  when  the  com- 
pany decided  to  remove  their  plant  to  a  more 
advantageous  location,  Mr.  Pring  was  given 
the  entire  charge  of  selecting  a  site  and  of 
erecting  the  necessary  buildings.  Choosing 
the  twenty-one  acres  of  land  on  which  the 
plant  is  located,  he  erected  one  building 
ninety-five  feet  by  one  hundred  ami  seventy- 
five  feet,  two  stories  in  height,  and  another 
in  the  form  of  the  letter  T,  forty  feet  by 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  with  an  addition 
sixty  feet  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  both 
two  stories  high.  The  plant  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  count)'.  Under  his  excellent 
management  the  business  has  been  greatly  in- 
creased, and  the  original  force  of  fifty  hands 
greatly  augmented,  numbering  about  four  hun- 
dred in  the  busy  season.  The  manufactures 
of  this  company  consist  of  mackintosh  cloth- 
ing. They  make  a  specialty  of  the  first  grade 
of  goods,  which  finds  a  ready  sale  in  the  lead- 
ing cities  of  the  United  States. 

On  August  25,  1875,  Mr.  Pring  married 
Miss  Mary  P..  Kalleher,  who  was  born  in  New- 
ton, Mass.,  daughter  of  Daniel  Kalleher,  a 
machinist  in  the  Newton  foundry,  she  being 
one  of  a  family  of  four  children.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Pring  have  had  two  children.  George, 
their  first-born,  died  at  the  age  of  twentv-one 
years.  The  other  child  is  a  daughter,  Lliza- 
beth.  In  politics  Mr.  Pring  is  a  steadfast 
Republican,  but  takes  no  active  part  in  public 
affairs.  Made  a  Mason  in  Hyde  Park  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  he  is  a  member  of  Roval  Arch 
Chapter,  of  Hyde  Park  Council,  of  Cyprus 
Commandery,  and  oi  Mecca  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine  of  Boston.  He  is  likewise  a 
charter  member  of   Allen  Lodge,   I.  O.   O.   F., 


BIOGRAPHICAL   RE\  1 1\\ 


'77 


and  belongs  to  Waverly  Club,  in  which  he  was 
chairman  of  the  House  Committee  for  three 
years.  Both  he  and  his  estimable  wife  are  ac- 
tive members  of  the  Methodist  church,  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  official  board  for 
seven  years. 


AVID  L.  DAVIS,  who  is  now  living 
in  retirement  at  Hyde  Park,  was 
for  over  fifty-two  years  in  the 
employ  of  the  Boston  &  Providence 
Railroad  Company.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  regular  employees  of  the  road,  worked 
his  way  forward  to  a  responsible  position, 
and  is  now  one  of  the  few  survivors 
of  those  with  whom  he  was  originally 
associated  in  the  service.  Born  in  East 
Washington,  N.H.,  August  3,  181 1,  he  is  a 
son  of  Edmund  and  Mary  (Graves)  Davis. 
His  grandfather,  Edmund  Davis  (first),  was  a 
native  of  Hancock,  N.H.;  and  the  family  de- 
scends from  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Hillsborough  County  of  that  State.  The 
grandfather,  who  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and 
a  life-long  resident  of  Hancock,  reared  several 
children. 

Edmund  Davis  (second),  David  L.  Davis's 
father,  was  reared  upon  his  father's  farm  in 
Hancock,  and  acquired  a  good  education  in  the 
schools  of  that  town.  When  a  young  man  he 
was  employed  as  clerk  in  a  store  for  a 
time,  and  he  also  taught  school.  He  finally 
settled  in  East  Washington,  N.  H.,  where  he 
afterward  operated  a  saw  and  grist  mill  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was 
seventy-nine  years  old.  He  was  considered 
one  of  the  best  mathematicians  in  his  locality, 
and  was  called  upon  to  transact  a  great  deal  of 
the  town's  public  business.  He  was  the  first 
Postmaster  in  East  Washington,  and  held  the 
office  for  a  number  of  years.  His  wife,  Mary, 
a  daughter  of  William  Graves,  a  lifelong  resi- 
dent of  East  Washington,  lived  to  be  ninety- 
two  years  old.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  Baptist  church  in  East  Washington,  and 
he  and  his  wife  were  active  members.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eight  children;  and  David 
L.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the  only  one 
now  living. 

David  L.  Davis  began  life  for  himself  when 


a  youth,  and  for  a  few  years  he  worked  in  a 
mill  in  New  York  State.  He  then  returned 
to  his  native  town,  where  he  completed  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  common  schools.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  went  to  Brookline,  Mass., 
where  he  was  employed  as  a  farm  assistant  for 
three  years.  Again  returning  to  East  Wash- 
ington, he  worked  in  his  father's  mills  for 
about  three  years.  In  1836  he  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Boston  &  Providence  Railroad 
Company,  whose  line  had  just  been  opened. 
Erom  the  occupation  of  track  laborer  he  ad- 
vanced to  the  position  of  roadmaster,  thence 
in  a  short  time  to  that  of  superintendent  of 
repairs.  During  his  long  connection  with  the 
road  he  saw  its  rolling-stock  increase  from 
the  original  two  locomotives  and  eight  or  ten 
cars  to  the  immense  equipment  of  modern  en- 
gines and  elegant  passenger  coaches  afterward 
possessed  by  the  road.  He  saw  four  tracks 
take  the  place  of  the  old  one-track  line,  and 
he  has  witnessed  many  changes  in  the  Beard 
of  Directors  and  the  official  heads  of  depart- 
ments. He  has  survived  more  than  one  gen- 
eration of  employers,  and  continued  a  faithful 
and  highly  esteemed  servitor  of  the  company 
until  1888,  when  he  retired,  after  having  been 
connected  with  the  road  for  fifty-two  years 
and  four  months.  A  settler  of  Hyde  Park 
previous  to  its  incorporation  as  a  town,  he  has 
seen  it  grow  from  a  few  farm-houses  to  a  com- 
munity of  eleven  thousand  inhabitants.  He 
erected  his  present  residence  at  66  Milton 
Street  in  1846,  when  that  locality  was  thinly 
populated;  and  he  is  now  the  oldest  resident 
in  his  neighborhood.  He  was  a  member  of 
one  of  the  first  Boards  of  Selectmen,  served  as 
an  Assessor  for  one  year,  and  has  been  a  Re- 
publican in  politics  since  the  formation  of 
that  party. 

In  1833  Mr.  Davis  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Olive  Shackley,  daughter  of  Aaron 
Shack  ley,  a  native  of  Norway,  Me.  Of  the 
five  children  born  of  the  union,  Ellerv  C,  Ed- 
mund, and  Frances  E.  are  living.  Ellery 
C,  who  was  formerly  a  civil  engineer,  is  now 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  wedded 
Minnie  M.  Appleton,  and  has  two  children  — 
Frances  and  Jessie.  Edmund,  who  is  a  well- 
known  lawyer  of  Hyde  Park,  married  Sophia 
H.  Chase,  and  has  four  sons  — Alvan  I...  Sid- 


•78 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ney  L.,  Edward  H.,  and  David  L.  Frances 
E.  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  Ballard,  resides  in 
Read vi lie,  Mass.,  and  has  two  sons — William 
Ellery'and  Albert  D.  Mrs.  David  L.  Davis 
died  in  [876,  aged  sixty-five  years.  Mr. 
Davis  is  one  of  the  oldest  surviving  members 
of  the  Mutual  Benefit  .Society  of  Railroad 
Men. 


§OHN  L.  TWIGG,  a  leading  druggist  of 
Needham,  and  a  son  of  Charles  and 
Harriet  (Cox)  Twigg,  was  born  here  in 
1868.  The  father,  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, who  was  engaged  for  many  years  in  the 
manufacture  of  elastic  bandages  in  this  coun- 
try, is  still  living  in  Needham.  The  mother, 
also  born  in  England,  died  here  in  1S91. 

John  Twigg  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town,  graduating  from 
the  high  school  in  1886.  Upon  leaving 
school,  he  entered  the  drug  store  of  E.  J. 
Williams  at  Newton  Highlands,  where  he  was 
engaged  as  clerk.  Two  years  later  he  ob- 
tained a  similar  position  in  the  drug  store  of 
C.  E.  Coombs  on  Massachusetts  Avenue,  Bos- 
ton. After  working  there  for  one  year,  he 
went  back  to  his  former  employer.  Six 
months  later  he  bought  out  the  store.  He  had 
carried  on  the  business  for  one  year  when  he 
sold  out,  and  started  a  drug  store  in  Needham, 
where  he  is  established  at  the  present  time. 
In  1890  he  received  a  certificate  from  the 
State  Board.  He  joined  the  Massachusetts 
Pharmaceutical  Society  some  time  ago.  In 
politics  he  is  an  independent.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Norfolk  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at 
Needham,  in  which  he  holds  the  office  of 
Senior  Deacon:  of  the  Newton  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.  ;  of  the  Gethsemane  Commander)' 
at  Newtonville,  K.  T.  ;  and  of  Eliot  Lodge, 
I.   O.  O.   F.,  at  Newton  Highlands. 


(5  I  HOMAS  JOEL   BAKER,  who  for  more 
1  I        than   thirty   years    has   been  intimately 

-*-  associated  with  the  mercantile  interests 
of  Dedham  as  one  of  its  leading  grocers  and 
hardware  dealers,  was  born  in  Medfield,  this 
county,  September  25,  [822,  son  of  Joel 
Baker.       The     paternal     grandfather,      Joseph 


Baker,  was  born,  lived,  and  died  in  West  Ded- 
ham, where  he  was  prosperously  engaged  in 
lumbering  during  his  active  life.  While 
highly  respected,  he  was  familiarly  called 
"Uncle  Joe."  In  his  earlier  years  he  made  a 
specialty  ot  getting  out  ship  timber,  which  he 
sold  in  Boston,  using  oxen  in  transporting  it 
to  the  city.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty- 
five. 

Joel  Baker  was  one  of  a  family  of  eight 
children  born  to  his  parents.  He  was  a  nat- 
ural mechanic,  and  when  quite  young  learned 
the  trades  of  a  boat-builder  and  carriage- 
maker.  The  latter  he  made  his  principal 
occupation,  locating  in  Medfield,  where  he 
established  a  factory,  and  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive business,  being  an  especially  skilled 
workman.  He  married  Abigail  lleaton,  a  na- 
tive of  Sutton,  Mass.,  whose  father,  Joseph 
Heaton,  was  a  farmer  and  for  many  years  a 
Deputy  Sheriff.  She  bore  her  husband  three- 
children —  Joseph  Heaton,  Thomas  Joel,  and 
Julia  A.  Of  these  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  the  only  one  now  living.  The  father  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  and  the 
mother  when  eighty-four  years  old.  Both 
were  faithful  members  of  the  Baptist  church. 

Thomas  J.  Baker  left  home  when  a  boy  of 
twelve  years  to  attend  school  in  Charlestown, 
N.H.  Three  years  later  he  returned  to  Med- 
field, where  he  pursued  his  studies  for  a  time. 
He  was  subsequently  employed  for  some 
years  in  general  merchandise  stores  as  a  clerk, 
first  in  Medfield,  and  then  in  Sherborn,  Mass. 
In  1863  he  opened  a  store  in  Framingham, 
Mass.,  where  he  carried  on  a  substantial  busi- 
ness until  after  the  close  of  the  late  war. 
Disposing  of  his  store  there  in  1865,  he  came 
to  Dedham,  where  he  has  since  been  located. 
Here,  by  his  sturdy  industry,  enterprise,  and 
honest  methods  of  transacting  business,  he 
has  won  the  confidence  of  the  public,  and  built 
up  an  extensive  and  profitable  trade.  He  has 
a  well -stocked  store,  including  a  complete 
assortment  of  staple  and  fancy  groceries,  hard- 
ware of  all  descriptions,  and  crockery.  In  the 
selection  of  his  goods  his  aim  is  to  please  his 
numerous  patrons,  both  as  to  quality  and 
price. 

Mr.  Baker  was  married  May  1.  1N51,  to 
Miss  Cynthia  A.  Breck,  one  of  the  four  chil- 


henry  b.   Humphrey. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dren  of  Joseph  Breck,  a  well-known  farmer  of 
Medfield.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baker  have  five  chil- 
dren, namely:  Frederick  ].,  now  a  cotton 
broker  in  Texas,  who  married  Miss  Fannie  E. 
Draper;  Edward  F. ,  who  is  in  partnership 
with  his  father;  Julia  A.;  Sarah  B. ;  and 
Moses  E.  In  his  earlier  life  Mr.  Baker  was  a 
-Whig  in  politics,  but  since  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  party  he  has  been  one  of  its 
strongest  adherents.  He  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  all  matters  concerning  the  welfare  of 
his  town;  and  for  the  past  eighteen  years  he 
has  held  the  office  of  Tax  Collector,  a  longer 
period  of  continuous  service  than  is  recorded 
of  any  other  incumbent. 


"ENRY     B.     HUMPHREY,    of    Hyde 

Park,  president  and  general  manager 
of  the  H.  B.  Humphrey  Company, 
Boston,  was  born  in  Braintree, 
Mass.,  November  27,  1865,  son  of  Edward 
I.  and  Olive  W.  (Curtis)  Humphrey.  His  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  John  Humphrey,  was  a 
shoemaker  by  trade,  and  later  was  a  manufact- 
urer of  boots  and  shoes  in  Milton  and  Brain- 
tree,  Mass.  He  died  November  1,  1862. 
John  Humphrey  was  probably  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Jonas  Humphrey,  who  settled  at 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  in  1637,  and  whose  son, 
Deacon  Jonas,  removed  to  Weymouth  soon 
after   1650. 

Edward  I.  Humphrey  was  born  in  Brockton 
February  15,  1837.  After  completing  his 
education  in  the  common  schools,  he  entered 
the  service  of  the  Chickering  Piano  Company, 
with  whom  he  has  remained  for  the  past  forty- 
four  years,  being  now  salesman  at  their  ware- 
rooms  in  Boston.  He  has  resided  in  Hyde 
Park  since  1872,  and  is  actively  interested  in 
public  affairs,  having  served  upon  the  School 
Board  and  in  other  town  offices.  He  is. a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Arcanum.  Olive  W.  Curtis, 
his  first  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Ira  Cur- 
tis, a  lumber  dealer  of  Weymouth,  Mass.,  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years,  leaving  two 
children  :  Henry  B.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ; 
and  Olive  C. ,  wife  of  Charles  E.  Putnam, 
who  is  with  L.  I.  Thompson,  a  grocer  of 
Hyde  Park.  Edward  I.  Humphrey  wedded  for 
his    second    wife    Mary  Dorety,   and    by   this 


union  has  two  sons  —  Irving  W.  and  Chester 
B.  He  is  an  attendant  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Henry  B.  Humphrey  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Hyde  Park,  including  the 
high  school,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  began 
work  as  a  clerk  in  the  wholesale  dry-goods 
house  of  Jackson,  Mandell  &  Daniels,  Boston. 
A  year  later  he  entered  the  advertising  busi- 
ness, first  with  T.  C.  Evans;  and  a  year  or  so 
after  he  became  the  representative  of  a  large 
list  of  circulating  mediums.  He  next  entered 
the  employ  of  the  Boston  Post,  where  he  re- 
mained until  September,  1886,  when  he  be- 
came connected  with  the  Davis  Advertising 
Agency,  which  he  purchased  July  1,  1887, 
shortly  afterward  changing  it  to  the  Hum- 
phrey Advertising  Agency.  Under  his  able 
and  energetic  direction,  this  concern  has 
greatly  increased  its  business.  Incorporated 
January  1,  1894,  as  the  H.  B.  Humphrey 
Company,  it  now  covers  a  wide  field,  and  rep- 
resents leading  advertisers,  constructing  and 
placing  their  announcements  in  any  and  all 
newspapers,  magazines,  and  periodicals  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  Several  assistants 
are  employed,  the  company  occupying  spa- 
cious quarters  at  Nos.  72,  "j^,  and  74  Interna- 
tional Trust  Company  Building,  45  Milk 
Street.  Mr.  Humphrey  is  a  director  in  sev- 
eral other  companies  of  Boston. 

Politically,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a 
member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ; 
Norfolk  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  Hyde 
Park  Council  and  Cypress  Commandery, 
Knights  Templar.  He  is  also  connected  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  encampment,  being  Lieutenant  Colonel  of 
Underwood  Canton,  No.  61.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  the  local  historical  society,  was 
its  first  Recording  Secretary,  and,  when 
the  twentieth  anniversary  of  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Hyde  Park  was  observed,  he  pub- 
lished the  history  of  the  town.  He  is  also 
interested  in  music,  the  drama,  and,  as  an 
amateur  photographer,  is  a  member  of  the 
Boston  Camera  Club. 

On  August  20,  1888,  Mr.  Humphrey  mar- 
ried Jennie  B.  Sears,  daughter  of  Eben  T. 
Sears.  Her  father,  who  was  formerly  a  sea 
captain  and  vessel-owner,  retired  from  the  sea, 


[82 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and   for   some   years    was    a   coal    merchant    in 

Park,   Mass.,    where   his   last  days  were 

spent.      Mrs.  Humphrey  is  the  mother  of  two 

children  —  Evelyn     Miller    and     Ruth     Page. 

i  Mrs.  Humphrey  attend  Christ  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  was  treasurer  of  the  par- 
ish from   1887  to  1889. 


SUTHER  ORLANDO  EMERSON, 
composer,  "whose  name  has  been  as- 
^  sociated  with  the  musical  delights 
of  many  years,"  was  born  in  Par- 
sonsfield,  Me.,  August  3,  1820.  His  parents 
were  Luther  and  Elizabeth  Usher  (Parsons) 
Emerson;  and  on  the  paternal  side  his  ances- 
try is  traced  to  Thomas  Emerson,  who  settled 
in  Ipswich,  Mass.,  about  1635,  having  come 
over  from  Durham,  England,  where  lived  the 
noted  mathematician  whose  heraldic  arms 
were  those  of  Sir  Ralph  Emerson.  The  lines 
from  this  coat-of-arms,  we  are  told,  are  the 
same  that  are  carved  on  the  tombstone  of  the 
emigrant's  son  Nathaniel,  who  died  at  Ipswich 
in  1712,  aged  eighty-three. 

The  second  in  the  ancestral  line  now  being 
traced  was  another  son  of  Thomas  —  namely, 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson,  the  first  settled 
minister  of  Mendon,  Mass.;  the  third  was  his 
son  Edward,  who  was  the  great-grandfather  of 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  the  great-great- 
grandfather of  Luther  Orlando  Emerson;  the 
fourth  was  Edward  Emerson's  son,  the  Rev. 
John  Emerson,  for  forty-six  years  minister  of 
the  church  in  Topsfield ;  and  the  fifth  was  Jo- 
seph, who  married  Lydia  Durrell,  and  lived 
in  Alfred,  Me. 

Luther  Emerson,  above  named,  son  of  Jo- 
seph and  Lydia  D.  Emerson,  and  grandson  of 
tin'  Rev.  John,  was  a  man  of  pronounced 
views,  a  strong  Whig  and  abolitionist.  In 
religious  belief  he  was  a  Congregationalist. 
He  was  married  in  1807  to  Elizabeth  Usher 
Parsons,  daughter  of  Thomas  Parsons,  of  Par- 
sonsfield,  Me.  (The  Parsons  family  history 
includes  many  distinguished  names.  John 
Parsons  was  Mayor  of  Hereford  in  Hereford- 
shire, England,  in  1481.  A  Parsons  coat  of 
arms,  it  is  said,  was  granted  by  Charles  I.  in 
1634.       An    early    emigrant,    Joseph    Parsons 


was  a  resident  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  1636, 
and  died  there  March  25,    1684.) 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  U.  Emerson's  father, 
Thomas  Parsons,  was  born  in  Bradford,  Mass., 
September  18,  1735.  He  married  first  Anna 
Poor,  of  Andover,  who  died  May  24,  1783; 
and  second,  Lucy  Bradbury,  of  Saco,  Me., 
who  died  November  10,  181  1.  By  his  first 
wife  he  had  nine  children,  by  his  second,  ten. 
Mrs.  Kmerson  died  in  1857.  She  was  the 
mother  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely: 
Thomas,  a  clergyman:  Joseph  Pratt;  Lucy 
B.,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Calvin  Chapman,  of 
Saccarappa,  Me.;  Sylvester;  Charles  1L,  a 
clergyman,  now  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  liv- 
ing in  California;  Luther  Orlando;  and  Eliz- 
abeth, who  was  married  first  to  the  Rev. 
Abram  J.  Bourn,  and  second  to  Dr.  John 
Moore,  of  Quincy,  111.  Now  a  widow  for  the 
second  time,  she  resides  in  Quincy,  111. 

Luther  Orlando  Emerson  remained  on  the 
home  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  in 
the  meantime  attending  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town,  the  academy  in  that  place, 
and  the  academy  in  Effingham.  He  then  ob- 
tained employment  in  the  Quincy  Market, 
Boston,  and  shortly  after,  intending  to  qualify 
for  the  medical  profession,  entered  Dracut 
Academy,  near  Lowell,  Mass.  ;  but  the  pas- 
sion for  music  was  so  strong  that  he  finally  de- 
cided to  perfect  himself  in  that  art.  Return- 
ing to  Boston,  he  obtained  a  position  in  the 
market  again,  and  saved  as  much  of  his  earn- 
ings as  possible. 

In  the  spring  of  1844,  he  resolutely  turned 
his  whole  attention  to  music.  With  his  first 
teacher  in  Boston,  I.  B.  Woodbury,  he  studied 
vocal  and  instrumental  music  —  piano,  organ, 
and  composition  —  for  two  years;  and  he  sub- 
sequently studied  with  other  teachers  of  note. 
He  began  his  work  of  teaching  in  Salem, 
Mass.,  and  also  took  charge  of  a  church  choir. 
His  compositions  were  so  highly  appreciated 
by  the  choir  and  congregation  that  he  felt  en- 
couraged to  prepare  a  book  of  church  music, 
which  was  published  in  1853.  One  of  the 
tunes  in  the  book  was  "Sessions,"  named  for 
Mr.  Emerson's  pastor.  This  melody  was  des- 
tined to  have  perennial  popularity;  but  the 
book,  like  most  first  attempts,  was  not  a 
flattering  success.      Mr,    Lmerson   resided    in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


■S3 


Salem  eight  years,  removing  then  to  Boston, 
and  accepting  the  position  of  organist  and 
musical  director  in  the  Bulfinch  Street 
Church.  This  position  he  held  four  years. 
He  was  subsequently  organist  in  Greenfield, 
Mass.,  and  teacher  in  Powers  Institute, 
Bernardston.  While  in  Greenfield  his  sec- 
.ond  book  of  psalmody,  "The  Sabbath  Har- 
mony," was  published.  It  was  well  received 
by  the  better  class  of  teachers,  and  gave  him 
a  high  reputation  as  a  composer  of  church 
music.  In  1857  he  formed  the  connection 
with  Oliver  Ditson  &  Co.  which  has  contin- 
ued up  to  the  present  time,  only  one  of  his 
books  having  been  brought  out  by  another 
firm.  The  "Golden  Wreath,"  forty  thousand 
copies  of  which  sold  the  first  year,  was  the 
initial  volume  in  a  long  series  issued  by  the 
Ditsons.  In  1863  this  firm  published  his  first 
thoroughly  successful  church-music  book, 
"The  Harp  of  Judah."  Thirty  thousand 
copies   were   sold    in    the   first    three    months. 

His  services  were  now  in  constant  demand 
as  a  director  and  leader  in  musical  conven- 
tions, and  he  gave  up  teaching  to  devote  his 
whole  time  to  directing  and  composing.  Mr. 
Emerson  stands  in  the  front  rank  as  a  con- 
ductor. His  first  great  triumph  in  this  capac- 
ity was  at  the  convention  in  Keene,  N.H.,  in 
1862.  At  the  convention  at  Concord,  N.H., 
with  nine  hundred  singers,  he  carried  immense 
audiences  captive  to  the  splendid  harmonies 
evoked  under  his  baton.  Mr.  Emerson  has  a 
magnetic  personality  and  wonderful  control 
over  his  singers.  He  was  for  several  years 
associated  with  Carl  Zerrahn  in  conducting 
the  Worcester  Musical  Festival.  He  has  con- 
ducted three  hundred  and  fifty  musical  festi- 
vals, and  has  had  under  his  direction  all  of 
the  famous  singers  of  America  during  the  past 
thirty  years.  In  festival  and  convention  work 
he  has  been  associated  with  Dudley  Buck, 
W.  O.  Perkins,  Solon  Wilder,  and  H.  R. 
Palmer,  of  New  York,  names  famous  in  musi- 
cal circles.  He  is  still  teaching  vocal  music, 
and  has  several  musical  works  begun. 

Among  his  compositions,  "Sessions," 
"Guide  me,  O  Thou  Great  Jehovah,"  and 
"Oh,  praise  the  Mighty  God,  all  ye  Nations," 
it  may  be  said,  will  live  forever.  The  last- 
named   number  was   composed   for   the    grand 


Worcester  Festival,  and  was  sung  by  five  hun- 
dred voices,  under  the  author's  leadership. 
Among  his  secular  compositions  perhaps  the 
best  known  is  "Star  of  Ascending  Night." 
He  has  completed  sixty-seven  works  in  all, 
has  written  twelve  church  music  books,  ten 
singing-school  books,  eight  anthem  books,  fif- 
teen public-school  singing-books,  four  Sab- 
bath-school books,  two  glee  books,  four  books 
of  selections  for  male  voices,  two  instruction 
books  for  the  voice  and  one  for  the  organ, 
several  chorus  books,  and  one  mass  published 
ami  two  in  preparation. 

He  was  married  March  4,  1847,  to  Mary  J., 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Burgess)  Gove. 
Mr.  Gove  was  a  prominent  Boston  merchant. 
Six  of  the  seven  children  born  of  their  union 
are  living.  The  eldest,  Mary  Gove,  mar- 
ried first  Edgar  Clark,  of  Framingham,  by 
whom  she  had  two  children;  and,  second, 
William  Jones,  of  Framingham,  Mass.  She- 
is  now  again  a  widow.  She  is  a  writer  on  the 
Boston  Herald  staff,  and  is  a  talented  musi- 
cian. John  G.  Emerson  resides  in  Ouincy, 
Mass.  Luella  P.,  wife  of  the  late  Robert 
Davie,  of  New  York,  is  a  music  teacher,  and 
has  been  remarkably  successful  as  a  leader  of 
ladies'  choruses.  Charles  W.  Emerson  is  in 
business  in  Boston.  Abbie  died  in  infancy. 
Elizabeth,  also  a  talented  musician,  received  a 
diploma  and  bronze  medal  at  the  World's  Fair 
in  Chicago  in  1893.  She  has  written  two 
books  for  schools  which  are  very  popular. 
The  youngest  daughter,  Mabel  H.,  is  highly 
cultured,  and  had  she  had  the  physical 
strength  would  have  made  her  impress  upon 
the  literature  of  the  clay. 

On  March  4  of  the  present  year,  1897,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Emerson  celebrated  their  golden 
wedding  at  their  pleasant  home  in  Hyde  Park. 
Mrs.  Thomas  Green,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  who 
acted  as  bridesmaid  fifty  years  ago,  received 
with  Mrs.  Emerson.  The  Rev.  Alexander 
Archibald,  of  Hyde  Park,  read  a  poem  written 
for  the  occasion  by  the  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage, 
of  New  York;  and  other  poems  were  contrib- 
uted by  Mrs.  S.  H.  R.  Giles,  General  H.  B. 
Carrington,  and  Miss  Harriet  Wheeler,  of 
Florida,  N.Y.  There  was  also  a  wedding 
song,  composed  ami  set  to  music  by  Mrs.  Clara 
Sothy,  of  Chicago, 


i84 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


legree  of  Doctor  of  Music  was  recently 
ed  upon  Mr.  Emerson  by  the  faculty  of 
Findlay  College,  Findlay,  Ohio.  Successful 
to  a  remarkable  degree,  his  relations  with  all 
have  always  been  tempered  with  singular 
..  thoughtfulness,  and  benevolence. 
He  is  kindly,  charitable,  liberal,  with  a  strong 
brain,  a  warm  heart,  and  a  brave  and  generous 
personality. 


)|"ON.  JOSIAH  GARDNER  ABBOTT, 
LI..  D.,  sometime  Judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
and  later  for  many  years  a  leading 
member  of  the  Suffolk  County  bar,  was  born 
at  Chelmsford,  Middlesex  County,  Mass.,  No- 
vember i,  1814,  and  died  at  his  summer  home 
at  Wellesley  Hills,  Norfolk  County,  July  2, 
1 89 1.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Caleb  and 
Martha  (Fletcher)  Abbott,  and  on  both  pater- 
nal and  maternal  sides  was  of  English  Puritan 
and  early  Colonial  stock.  His  father  was  a 
son  of  Caleb,  Sr.,  and  Lucy  (Lovejoy)  Abbott, 
and  was  sixth  in  lineal  descent  from  George 
Abbot,  who  settled  at  Andover,  Mass.,  in 
1643,  the  intervening  ancestors  being:  Timo- 
thy; Timothy,  Jr.;  and  Nathan,  father  of 
Caleb,  Sr.  William  Fletcher,  the  immigrant 
progenitor  of  his  mother's  family,  settled  in 
Chelmsford  in  1653.  He  owned  a  large  part 
of  the  territory  now  included  in  the  city  of 
Lowell.  Judge  Abbott's  grandfathers  both 
fought  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  best  of  home  influences,  a  village  li- 
brary, and  a  classical  school  taught  for  a  time 
by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  afterward  by 
the  Rev.  Abiel  Abbot  of  honored  memory, 
contributed  to  develop  the  mind  and  form  the 
character  of  Jos i ah  G.  Abbott.  He  was  grad- 
uated it  Harvard  in  1832,  began  the  study  of 
law  in  the  office  of  Joel  Adams,  of  Chelms- 
ford, in  1834  entered  the  law  office  of  Na- 
thaniel Wright  in  Lowell,  and  in  January, 
1837,  was  admitted  to  the  Middlesex  bar.  He 
served  as  Associate  Justice  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Suffolk  County  from  1855  till  Janu- 
ary 1,  1858,  when  he  resigned  to  resume  the 
more  lucrative  practice  of  law,  being  from  that 
time  on  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Suffolk 
County  bar.      His  first   law  partner  was  Amos 


Spaulding,   and   his  second,    1842-55,  Samuel 
A.  Brown. 

A  Jacksonian  Democrat  in  politics,  a  firm 
believer  in  the  principles  of  self-government, 
he  was  a  strong  Union  man  and  ever  faithful 
to  the  duties  of  citizenship.  He  served  as  a 
Representative  in  the  State  legislature  in 
1837,  as  Senator  in  1842  and  1843,  and  as 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  in 
1853;  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1874,  and 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Electoral  Commission 
in  1877.  In  1840,  as  editor  of  the  Lowell 
Advertiser,  he  advocated  the  re-election  of 
President  Van  Buren ;  in  1848,  as  a  "bolter," 
he  supporter  the  Free  Soil  nominees,  Van 
Buren  and  Adams;  and  in  i860,  "as  a  choice 
of  evils,  he  voted  the  Douglas  ticket."  He 
was  a  delegate  to  seven  Democratic  National 
Conventions,  and  in  six  of  them  was  chairman 
of  the  Massachusetts  delegation. 

Judge  Abbott  served  as  an  overseer  of  Har- 
vard College,  1859-65,  his  removal  from 
Lowell  to  Boston  occurring  in  1861.  In 
1862  he  received  from  Williams  College  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  Among  the  busi- 
ness enterprises  with  which  he  was  connected 
may  be  named  the  Hamilton  Manufacturing 
Company  at  Lowell,  of  which  he  was  presi- 
dent, 1860-62;  the  Atlantic  Cotton  Mills  at 
Lawrence,  of  which  he  was  president,  1861- 
76;  the  Hill  Manufacturing  Company,  Lewis- 
ton,  Me.,  of  which  he  was  a  director  thirty-five 
years  and  from  1874  till  his  death  its  presi- 
dent; the  Union  Power  Company  at  Lewiston; 
and  the  Boston  &  Lowell  Railroad,  of  which 
he  was  a  director,  1857-85,  and  president, 
1879-84. 

For  the  foregoing  facts  and  for  the  follow- 
ing estimates  of  the  character  and  career  of 
this  eminent  jurist  we  are  indebted  to  the 
"In  Memoriam  "  volume  containing  the  mem- 
oir of  Judge  Abbott  by  the  Hon.  Charles 
Cowley  and  tributes  from  notable  contempo- 
raries. 

"Judge  Abbott's  reputation  as  a  lawyer  was 
won  in  the  court-room,  not  in  the  closet.  En- 
dowed by  nature  with  a  body  and  mind  of 
great  vigor,  with  never-satisfied  ambition  and 
untiring  powers  of  work,  he  early  came  in  con- 
flict with  the   most   prominent   lawyers  of  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


187 


Middlesex  bar,  and  proved  himself  an  oppo- 
nent worthy  of  their  steel.   .  .  . 

"'  I  lis  power  of  statement  of  mixed  questions 
of  law  and  facts  was  unrivalled.  None  knew 
better  than  he  how  to  elicit  facts  from  a  reluc- 
tant or  dishonest  witness;  and  his  appeals  to 
juries  were  always  forcible  and  judicious,  and 
.met  with  merited  success.  For  many  years  he 
was  "lie  of  the  most  trusted  counsellors  and 
advocates  of  the  Suffolk  bar." — Hon.  L.  J. 
Stockpole. 

"In  his  bearing  to  the  court  he  was  always 
respectful,  and  in  his  relations  to  the  bar  he 
never  forgot  those  coitrtesies  which  give  grace 
to  professional  intercourse  and  lighten  profes- 
sional labors.  In  the  conduct  of  business  he 
was  always  controlled  by  the  highest  prin- 
ciples of  honor  and  fair  dealing.  When  fill- 
ing the  high  position  of  judge,  he  discharged 
its  difficult  and  laborious  duties  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  profession  ;  for  he  possessed,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  those  valuable  judicial 
virtues — -patience,  impartiality,  and  indus- 
try."—  Hon.   F.   O.   Prince. 

"So,  too,  in  political  action,  he  was  faith- 
ful and  firm.  He  was  pre-eminently  a  man 
for  a  crisis.  This  is  proved  by  many  points  in 
his  career,  notably  in  1861  and  1877.  In  such 
limes  he  never  hesitated  or  faltered.  He 
loved  his  party,  but  he  loved  his  country 
more.  .  .  .  On  the  altar  of  his  country  he 
offered  up  with  the  firmness  of  a  Roman  father 
the  children  he  loved  with  more  than  Roman 
tenderness." — F.   T.    Greenhalge. 

He  was  married  July  21,  1838,  to  Miss 
Caroline  Livermore,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Ed- 
ward St.  Loe  Livermore.  Eleven  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  and  nine  grew  to  ma- 
turity, two  sons  having  died  in  childhood. 
Two  sons,  Edward  G.  and  Henry  L. ,  laid 
down  their  lives  for  their  country  on  Southern 
battle-fields;  and  one  daughter,  Caroline 
Mercy,  died  after  marriage.  The  survivors 
are:  Fletcher  Morton;  Samuel  Appleton 
Brown;  Franklin  Pierce;  Grafton  St.  Loe; 
Holker  Welch :  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Abbott  Fay, 
widow  of  William  P.  Fay.  Mrs.  Caroline  L. 
Abbott  died   in   the   autumn   of    1887.      A   su- 


perior woman,  of  great  sweetness  and  strength 
of  character,  in  her  loss  Judge  Abbott 
"suffered  the  greatest  affliction  of  his  life." 

Fletcher  Morton  Abbott,  born  in  Belvidere, 
Mass.,  February  18,  1843,  was  educated  in 
the  Lowell  public  schools  and  St.  Paul's 
Academy,  Concord,  N.H.  In  1861  he  en- 
listed in  Company  D,  under  Captain  Savage, 
Second  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 
in  which  he  served  three  years,  being  in  en- 
gagements at  Harper's  Ferry  and  in  the  Shen- 
andoah Valley  campaign.  He  entered  the 
medical  department  of  Harvard  University  in 
1874,  and  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine in  1875.      He  has  since  lived  retired. 

Samuel  Appleton  Brown  Abbott,  born  in 
1846,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1866;  stud- 
ied law  in  his  father's  office,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Suffolk  bar  in  1868;  has  since 
practised  in  Boston  and  in  the  United  States 
Courts;  was  for  ten  years  trustee  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  and  six  years  president  of  the 
board.  He  is  married,  and  has  four  children. 
Edward  Gardner  Abbott,  eldest  son  of  the 
Hon.  Josiah  G.  and  Caroline  (Livermore) 
Abbott,  was  born  in  Lowell,  September  29, 
1840.  Remarkably  active,  both  physically 
and  mentally,  before  he  was  ten  years  old  he 
had  read  all  the  Waverley  novels.  He  was 
fitted  for  college  at  the  Lowell  High  School, 
and,  entering  Harvard,  was  graduated  in  i860. 
A  diligent  student,  he  was  also  a  good  oars- 
man, and  belonged  to  the  'Varsity  crew.  En- 
tering the  law  office  of  S.  A.  Brown  in  Low- 
ell, he  applied  himself  from  ten  to  twelve 
hours  a  day  to  the  study  of  law,  continuing 
thus  engaged  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  Re- 
bellion. He  then  recruited  a  company,  called 
the  Abbott  Grays,  of  which  he  was  commis- 
sioned Captain  on  May  24,  1861,  the  company 
being  attached  to  the  Second  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  brevetted  Major 
in  August,  1862,  and  was  killed  August  9, 
1862,  at  the  -battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  Va. 
It  has  been  said  of  him  that  he  was  a  "born 
commander,  cool,  intrepid,  self-reliant,  in- 
domitable," a  man  who  "took  to  leadership 
of  affairs  as  naturally  as  an  eagle  takes  to  the 
air." 

Henry  Livermore  Abbott,  born  in  Lowell, 
January   21,    1842,  was   graduated   at    Harvard 


|SS 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


in  i860.  He  was  of  a  social,  genial  nature, 
and  a  general  favorite.  Like  his  elder 
brother,  he  took  a  good  deal  of  interest  in 
athletic  sports.  He  also  began  the  study  of 
law,  but  early  laid  aside  his  books  to  engage 
in  the  war  for  the  Union.  In  July,  1861, 
commissioned  Lieutenant  in  Company  A  of 
the  Twentieth  Ma  s,  he  took  part   in 

the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  and  was  soon  after- 
ward in  command  of  his  company.  He  was 
present  and  active  in  nearly  all  the  principal 
battles  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  his 
military  genius  and  ability  were  pronounced 
of  the  highest  order.  He  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness,  May  6,  1864,  aged 
twenty-two  years,  and  after  his  death  was 
brevetted  Brigadier-general.  His  company,  it 
is  said,  was  the  pride  of  the  regiment.  "Had 
he  lived  and  continued  the  profession  of  arms," 
said  General  Hancock,  "he  would  have  been 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  commanders." 


|NOCH  HALL  DOBLE,  a  well-known 
and  prominent  business  man  of  Quincy, 
Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  who  is 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  E.  H.  Doble  & 
Co.,  and  is  also  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  A.  H. 
Doble  &  Co.,  was  born  March  13,  1S21,  in 
Livermore,  Me.,  son  of  Aaron  and  Abigail 
(Hall)  Doble,  and  a  grandson  of  William 
Doble. 

Aaron  Doble  was  born,  bred,  and  educated 
in  Sumner,  Oxford  County.  Me.,  growing  to 
man's  estate  on  the  home  farm.  He  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade;  but,  having  much  nat- 
ural ingenuity,  he  gave  much  of  his  time  to 
the  making  of  a  variety  of  articles,  including 
wooden  ploughs,  which,  it  was  said,  were  the 
best  used  in  that  locality.  One  of  the  first  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  Free  Soil  party,  he 
continued  a  stanch  supporter  of  its  policy. 
He  was  actively  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
his  town,  and  served  in  some  of  its  minor 
offices.  On  March  1  r,  1809,  he  married  Abi- 
gail Hall,  who  was  born  December  3,  1790,  in 
Buckfield,  Me.,  daughter  of  Enoch  Hall. 
Their  children  were:  Miriam,  deceased,  born 
August  2~,  [810,  who  became  the  wife  of 
John  Godding,  of  Livermore,  Me.  ;  Sarah,  de- 
ceased,    born     July     2,      1812,     who     married 


Nathan  Beals;  John,  deceased,  born  August 
23,  [814;  Mary,  deceased,  born  December  11, 
1816,  who  became  the  wife  of  Joshua  Spear, 
of  Quincy,  Mass.;  Henry  Parsons,  deceased, 
born  January  25,  18 19;  Enoch  Hall,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Delphina  Parish,  de- 
ceased, born  March  13,  1821,  who  married 
John  II.  Ward;  William,  deceased,  bom 
September  24,  1826;  Cynthia  Green,  born 
July  27,  1829,  who  married  Daniel  Ward,  oi 
Wellington,  Me.  ;  Vesta  Jane,  deceased,  born 
August  20,  1 83 1  ;  and  Elvira  Varnum,  born 
July  22,  1833,  who  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
Gordon,  (if  Livermore,  Me.  The  mother  died 
May  27,  1855.  The  father  died  Febru 
1 86 1.  Both  parents  were  regular  attendants 
of  the  meetings  held  each  Sunday  in  the  dis- 
trict school-house,  but  neither  was  a  church 
member. 

Enoch  Hall  was  born  November  10,  1763, 
in  either  Falmouth  or  Windham,  Me.  In 
1780  he  enlisted  from  the  latter  town  in  the 
Continental  army  as  a  private,  and  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war  of  independence. 
Soon  afterward,  for  five  hundred  dollars,  he 
bought  a  tract  of  almost  wild  land  in  Buck- 
field,  on  which  were  a  rude  log  cabin,  ten 
acres  of  felled  trees,  and  a  yoke  of  oxen.  In 
the  spring  of  17S4  he  removed  the  trees  al- 
ready felled,  and  in  the  ensuing  season  raised, 
on  the  ten  acres  they  haxl  occupied,  two  hun- 
dred bushels  of  corn.  From  Windham,  in 
the  fall  of  1784,  he  brought  his  wife,  Miriam 
Furbish  Hall,  together  with  his  household 
goods,  including  a  bushel  of  salt,  upon  the 
backs  of  two  horses,  arriving  at  the  little  log 
cabin  on  his  twenty-first  birthday.  He  wore 
a  tow  frock  all  the  following  winter.  Next 
spring,  he  having  invested  two  dollars  that  he 
had  saved  in  two  sheep,  his  wife  made  from 
the  fleeces  of  the  latter  a  piece  of  "waled 
cloth,"  and  from  the  cloth  a  new  suit  of 
clothes.  Enoch  wisely  made  it  one  of  the 
rules  of  his  life  never  to  buy  anything  for 
which  he  could  not  pay  at  the  time  of  pur- 
chase. In  the  spring  of  1785,  working  day 
and  night  while  the  season  lasted,  taking 
turns  in  sleeping  and  laboring,  he  and  his 
wife  made  three  hundred  pounds  of  maple 
sugar  and  twelve  gallons  of  maple  molasses, 
boiling   the   sap    in   a   new  iron   kettle   in    the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


189 


cabin.  In  the  spring  of  17S6  he  built  a  barn, 
covering  it  with  long  shingles  made  by  him- 
self. At  the  end  of  nine  years  he  replaced 
the  humble  cabin  with  a  substantial  frame 
house,  which  was  thereafter  his  residence 
until  his  death,  December  10,  1835.  His 
widow  survived  but  a  few  years.  The  only 
school  he  ever  attended  was  one  kept  in  his 
own  house  for  a  period  of  three  weeks  by 
Elder  D.  Hutchinson,  he  and  his  three  elder 
children,  Dolly,  Ruth,  and  Abigail,  being 
the  pupils.  Here  he  gained  some  knowledge 
of  arithmetic,  and  learned  to  write.  With 
this  slight  aid  he  subsequently  educated  him- 
self, becoming  qualified  to  instruct  his 
younger  children,  and  to  hold  many  important 
and  useful  positions  in  his  after  life.  For 
many  years  he  was  one  of  the  Selectmen  of 
Buckfield,  and  served  repeatedly  in  other 
offices.  It  is  said  of  him  that  lie  exercised  a 
remarkable  influence  among  his  townsmen, 
who  seemed  to  consider  his  judgment  almost 
infallible.  He  was  several  times  sent  to  Bos- 
ton as  a  member  of  the  General  Court  while 
Maine  was  a  province  of  Massachusetts.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  framed 
the  Constitution  of  Maine  in  18 19  and  1820, 
and  represented  Buckfield  in  the  first  legislat- 
ure of  the  State  in  1821.  Nine  children  were 
born  to  him  and  his  wife,  namely:  Dolly, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years;  Ruth, 
born  February  17,  1788,  who  married  Hol- 
lingsworth  Hines;  Abigail,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Aaron  Doble;  Andrew,  born  January 
i),  1792;  John,  born  November  14,  1795; 
VVinslow,  born  June  16,  1798;  Dolly  (sec- 
ond), born  August  24,  1 80 1,  who  married 
Daniel  Brown;  Zilpha,  born  June  8,  1804, 
who  married  Simon  Brown;  and  Hiram,  born 
September  29,    1806. 

Enoch  Hall's  father,  Hatevil  Hall  (third), 
was  born  in  Dover,  N.H.,  March  24,  1736. 
He  lived  at  various  times  in  Windham,  Buck- 
field,  and  Brooks,  dying  in  the  latter  place 
May  10,  1804.  In  1754  he  married  Ruth, 
daughter  of  Job  and  Margaret  (Barbour) 
Winslow.  She  died  June  11,  1798,  leaving 
among  other  children  a  son  named  Enoch. 
The  maiden  name  of  the  second  wife  of  Hate- 
vil Hall  (third)  was  Ann  Jenkins.  Hatevil 
Hall  (second)  who  was  born   in  Dover,  N.H., 


February  15,  in  either  1708  or  1709,  died  No- 
vember 28,  1797,  leaving  four  hundred  and 
seventy-five  descendants.  He  was  either  a 
turner  or  chair-maker  by  trade,  and  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  On 
April  1,  1733,  lie  married  Sarah  Furbush, 
who  died  March  2,  1790.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  remarkably  open-hearted,  generous, 
and  hospitable  people.  Hatevil  Hall  (first), 
the  father  of  the  preceding  bearer  of  the  name, 
married  Mercy  Cornwall,  and  lived  at  Black 
River.  According  to  tradition,  he  was 
drowned  in  early  manhood,  leaving  but  the 
one  child.  John  Hall,  the  immigrant  founder 
of  the  Hall  family,  was  born  in  1617.  He 
served  as  Town  Clerk,  Lot  Layer,  Commis- 
sioner, and  Selectman.  His  son,  Hatevil 
(first),  was  his  third  child. 

Enoch  Hall  Doble  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Livermore,  Me.,  and  remained 
beneath  the  parental  roof  until  twenty  years  of 
age.  Coming  then  to  Boston,  he  shipped  for 
one  summer  with  his  brother  John,  who  ran  a 
packet  between  Boston  and  Cohasset.  In  the 
following  summer  he  worked  on  the  farm  of 
his  brother-in-law,  Joshua  H.  Spear,  in 
Ouincy.  Going  thence  to  Braintree,  he  started 
in  the  meat  business  on  his  own  account,  con- 
tinuing about  a  year.  Returning  then  to 
Livermore,  he  bought  a  farm,  and  was  there 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  six  or  more 
years.  Having  disposed  of  his  farm  at  the 
end  of  that  period,  he  came  again  to  Ouincy, 
purchased  the  store  of  his  brother  Henry,  and 
with  the  exception  of  four  years  has  since 
continued  in  mercantile  business  at  the  stand 
now  occupied  by  the  firm  of  E.  H.  Doble  & 
Co.  This  firm  was  formed  in  1874,  when  Mr. 
Doble  admitted  into  partnership  his  son  Her- 
bert. It  carries  a  fine  line  of  general  mer- 
chandise, including  hay  and  grain,  and  em- 
ploys about  sixteen  hands,  their  trade  being 
both  wholesale  and  retail.  In  1890  Mr. 
Doble's  son,  William  H.  Doble,  opened  the 
store  now  occupied  by  the  present  firm  of 
A.  H.  Doble  &  Co.;  and  in  1S93  the  firm  of 
W.  H.  Doble  &  Co.  was  incorporated.  In 
February,  1896,  the  stock  of  that  firm  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Doble  ami  his  son,  Arthur 
1L,  with  whom  he  formed  a  partnership  under 
the  name  of  A.  II.  Doble  &  Co.     This  firm 


190 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


also  handles  general  merchandise,  and  is 
carrying  on  an  extensive  wholesale  and  retail 
business,  keeping  fourteen  clerks  busily  em- 
ployed. 

In  politics  Mr.  Doble  lias  been  actively 
identified  with  the  Republican  party  since  he 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  General 
J.  C.  Fremont.  He  married  Rachel,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Timberlake,  of  Livermore,  Me. 
Of  his  six  children  Herbert  F.,  Ernest  E., 
William  H.,  and  Arthur  H.  are  living. 
Ernest  E.  is  a  physician  in  Boston.  Arthur 
H.,  who  was  born  January  5,  1870,  after 
graduating  from  Adams  Academy  in  1888,  en- 
1  red  his  lather's  store,  and  is  now  in  partner- 
ship with  him.  He  married  Lucy,  daughter 
of  William  N.  Eaton,  of  this  city;  and  they 
both  attend  the  First  Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Doble  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  of  which  he  has  been  for  several 
years  a  trustee. 


fOSEPH  FISHER,  late  a  prominent  citi- 
zen and   lifelong  resident  of  Dedham, 
was  born   here,   July   21,    1805,    son   of 
Benjamin   and    Nabby   (Baker)    Fisher, 
and  died  on  August  13,   1880. 

He  was  of  ancient  and  honorable  Colonial 
stock,  on  his  father's  side  tracing  his  lineage 
back  through  six  generations  in  Norfolk 
County,  Massachusetts,  to  Anthony  Fisher, 
who  owned  and  occupied  the  estate  in  Syle- 
ham,  Suffolk  Count}-,  England,  called  "  Wig- 
notte, "  and  on  his  mother's  side  counting 
among  his  ancestors  prominent  members  of 
the  "Mayflower"  company.  Anthony  Fisher1 
married  Mary  Fiske,  of  St.  James,  South 
Elmham,  Suffolk  County,  England.  Their 
son  Anthony,2  the  emigrant,  was  baptized  in 
1 591,  and  came  to  the  Massachusetts  Colony  in 
the  ship  "Rose"  in  1637.  He  first  settled 
in  Dedham,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Dor- 
chester, where  he  died  April  18,  1671.  He 
had  a  son  Anthony,'  who  married  Joanna 
Faxon  on  September  7,  1647.  She  was  born 
in.  Braintree,  now  Quincy,  in  1626,  and  died 
October  16,  161)4,  her  husband  having  died 
the  year  before  his  father.  The  next  in  line 
was  their  son  Eliezer, 4  born  September  18, 
1669.      He  was  married  on  October  13,   1698, 


to  Mary  Avery,  who  was  born  in  Dedham, 
August  21,  1674,  daughter  of  Deacon  Will- 
iam and  Mary  (Lane)  Avery.  He  died  Febru- 
ary 6,  1722,    and  she  on  March  25,   1749. 

Benjamin,5  their  youngest  son,  was  born  in 
Dedham  in  May,  1721.  He  married  in  1742 
Sarah  Everett,  who  was  born  in  Dedham,  June 
7,  1718,  daughter  of  William  and  Rachel 
(Xewcomb)  Everett,  and  grand-daughter  of 
Captain  John  Everett,  whose  father,  Richard 
Everett,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Dedham. 
Benjamin  Fisher  died  January  18,  1777,  and 
his  widow  on  August  2,  1795.  The  next  in 
line  was  their  son  Asa,6  born  April  30,  1745, 
who-was  well  educated,  and  amassed  a  consider- 
able fortune  for  his  day.  On  July  2,  1767,  he 
married  Elizabeth  Draper,  whose  birth  occurred 
in  Dedham,  January  16,  1747.  Her  parents 
were  Daniel  and  Rachel  (Pond)  Draper.  Asa 
Fisher  died  April  2,  1823,  and  his  wife  on 
October  26,  1813. 

Benjamin  Fisher,7  son  of  Asa  and  Elizabeth, 
and  the  father  of  Joseph  FisheC  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  February  23,  1777,  and  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Nabby  Baker  on  May 
13,  1801.  She  was  born  November  5,  1778, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Monica  (Gay)  Baker. 
Monica  Gay,  who  was  born  in  Attleboro, 
Mass.,  in  1754,  daughter  of  Jabez  and  Hannah 
(Bradford)  Gay,  was  a  descendant  of  Governor 
Bradford,  also,  it  is  said,  of  John  and  Priscilla 
(Mullins)  Alden.  One  ancestral  line  is  thus 
briefly  given  :  her  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
Perez  and  Abigail  (Belcher)  Bradford,  and  a 
grand-daughter  of  Samuel  Bradford,  of  Dux- 
bury,  who  was  a  grandson  of  William  Bradford, 
the  second  Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony. 
Benjamin  Fisher7  died  July  5,  1829,  aged  fifty- 
two  years. 

In  early  life  Joseph  Fisher,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  began  business  as  a  manufacturer 
of  carriages  and  harnesses  in  West  Dedham. 
He  had  followed  the  business  but  a  few  years 
when  on  account  of  his  health  he  was  advised 
to  seek  an  occupation  that  would  permit  of  his 
spending  more  time  in  the  open  air,  and  he 
afterward  dealt  in  horses  quite  extensively. 
He  purchased  his  father's  homestead  on  High 
Street,  West  Dedham,  and  subsequently  lived 
there. 

Joseph   Fisher  was  twice  married,  his  first 


ALBERT    M.    MILLER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


J93 


union  being  with  Miss  Hannah  Baker,  by 
whom  he  had  one  son,  George  Fisher.  His 
second  wife,  who  survives  him,  was  Mary  Eliz- 
abeth Campbell  before  marriage.  She  was 
born  in  Harrington,  now  Millbridge,  Washing- 
ton County,  Me.,  daughter  of  Colin  Campbell, 
who  was  a  native  of  the  same  town.  His 
father,  James,  born  February  9,  1761,  was  a 
son  of  Alexander  Campbell,  Jr.,  one  of  the 
early  settlers  in  Maine,  who  in  turn  was  the 
son  of  Alexander  and  Frances  (Drummond) 
Campbell. 

Alexander  Campbell,  Jr.,  was  a  Brigadier- 
general  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  1758 
he  married  Elizabeth  Nichols,  with  whom  he 
lived  almost  fifty  years,  his  death  occurring  in 
1807,  and  hers  four  years  later,  in  181 1. 
James  Campbell,  Mrs.  Fisher's  grandfather, 
was  very  prominent  in  public  affairs,  and  served 
several  terms  as  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts legislature,  making  the  journey  to  and 
from  his  home  in  Maine  on  horseback.  He 
was  also  a  Judge  in  the  local  courts.  On 
August  24,  1788,  he  married  Susanna  Coffin, 
of  Nantucket,  Mass.  He  died  July  7,  1826, 
and  she  on  September  24,  1833.  Colin  Camp- 
bell, after  completing  his  school  education  at 
Blue  Hill  Academy,  taught  school  for  awhile. 
As  a  life  work  he  chose  farming;  but  much  of 
his  time  was  given  to  official  duties,  including 
those. of  Town  Clerk  and  other  local  offices. 
He  married  Sally  Griggs  Ricker,  who  was 
born  in  Cherryfield,  Me.,  daughter  of  Amaziah 
and  Susanna  (Baker)  Ricker,  the  last  named  a 
native  of  West  Roxbury,  Mass. 

Four  children  were  born  to  Joseph  and  Mary 
E.  (Campbell)  Fisher:  Hattie  Smith;  Joseph 
Lyman;  Elizabeth  Campbell;  and  May  Camp- 
bell, who  died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years. 
Hattie  S.  Fisher  married  George  Henry  Smith, 
a  native  of  Halifax,  England,  who  is  now  a 
manufacturer  in  Halifax,  England.  Joseph 
Lyman  Fisher  is  a  farmer,  and  has  a  handsome 
house  on  Main  Street,  West  Dedham. 

In  politics  Joseph  Fisher  was  a  lifelong 
Republican.  He  was  a  trustee  of  Dedham 
Savings  Bank,  a  director  of  Dedham  National 
Bank,  also  of  Norfolk  Insurance  Company  and 
the  Mutual  Insurance  Company  of  Dedham. 
He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Unitarian 
church,  and  a  man  of  pronounced  public  spirit. 


(sTVLBERT  MONROE  MILLER,  M.D.,  a 
L^A       well-known  and  esteemed  physician  of 
/j|\         Needham,  nephew  of  Dr.  Albert  E. 
—  Miller,    was    born    in    the    town    of 
Virgil,    Cortland    County,    N.Y.,    August   30, 
1857,  son  of  George  W.  and   Lucinda  (Wood- 
ard)  Miller,  and  grandson   of   Ezekiel    Miller. 
His  father  was  a  farmer,  born   in   the  town  of 
Covert,  Seneca  County,  N.Y. ;  and  his  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Archibald  and  Betsey  (Ben- 
ton) Woodard,  of  Virgil. 

Albert  M.  Miller  received  his  first  school 
training  in  his  native  town,  and  when  only 
thirteen  years  of  age  came  to  Massachusetts, 
and  attended  successively  a  grammar  school  in 
Weston,  Middlesex  County,  where  he  spent 
about  a  year,  and  Willow  Park  Seminary  in 
Westboro,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1875. 
Returning  to  his  old  home  in  Virgil,  his 
father  having  died  during  his  absence,  he  then 
attended  the  Cortland  State  Normal  School 
for  a  year,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  came  to 
Needham  to  make  his  home  with  his  uncle, 
Dr.  Albert  E.  Miller,  and  to  begin  the  study 
of  medicine.  For  about  five  years  he  travelled 
much  as  advance  agent  for  the  lecture  tours  of 
his  uncle,  and  at  the  same  time  pursued  a  reg- 
ular course  of  study.  He  then  attended  med- 
ical lectures  at  the  Maine  Medical  College 
in  Brunswick  and  at  Dartmouth  College, 
graduating  from  the  last-named  institution  in 
1881,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
After  several  months'  experience  as  an  assist- 
ant physician  in  the  McLean  Asylum  Hospi- 
tal and  a  brief  period  in  Chesterfield,  Hamp- 
shire County,  Mass.,  he  came  back  to  Need- 
ham, and  was  with  his  uncle  until  1883.  In 
that  year  he  removed  .to  Waltham,  where  he 
practised  until  the  latter  part  of  18S4,  when 
he  returned  to  Needham.  The  thirteen  years 
that  have  since  elapsed  have  been  years  of  use- 
ful activity  and  progress. 

Dr.  Albert  M.  Miller  is  a  physician  of  the 
regular  school,  and  by  his  skill  and  natural 
aptness  for  his  profession  has  gained  a  large 
and  steadily  increasing  practice.  Pie  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Needham  Board  of  Health 
for  ten  years,  and  in  this  position  has  served 
the  town  with  the  utmost  faithfulness.  In 
politics  the  Doctor  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a 
member  of   Norfolk  Lodge  of    F.   &  A.   M., 


194 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


having  joined  the  organization  in  1883;  also 
a  member  of  Eliot  Lodge,  No.  58,  I.  O.  O  F., 
of  which  he  is  Past  Grand;  and  member  of  the 
U.  O.  G.  C,  an  insurance  society.  He  was 
graduated  from  the  C.  L.  &  S.  C.  of  New 
England  in  1888. 

Dr.  Miller  and  Isabelle  B.  Mann,  daughter 
of  Daniel  F.  Mann,  of  Needham,  were  mar- 
ried on  January  26,  1887.  They  have  one 
child,  Harold  Lionel  Miller,  born  January  7, 
1895. 


/^^TeORGE  THOMAS  MAGEE,  a  well- 
\    '*)  I       known  journalist  residing  in   Quincy, 

— *~  Mass.,  was  bom  in  the  adjacent  town 
of  Hingham,  August  9,  i860,  being  the  only 
sun  of  Thomas  and  Caroline  (Penniman) 
Magee.  His  father,  a  native  of  Rraintree, 
Mass.,  was  born  March  14,  1825,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Magee;  and  his  mother 
is  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Penniman.  An  ac- 
count of  her  ancestry  may  be  found  following 
this  sketch  under  the  title  of  "  James  Penni- 
man. " 

Mr.  Magee  has  two  sisters:  Susan  Caroline, 
born  in  Quincy,  May  21,  1S52;  and  Eliza 
Maria,  born  in  Hingham,  May  19,  1856. 
Susan  Caroline  Magee  was  married  at  Hing- 
ham, December  2,  1875,  to  William  Howard 
North,  who  was  born  in  Watertown,  Mass., 
January  1,  1853,  son  of  Richard  and  Rebecca 
(Tupper)  North.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  North 
have  two  children  :  Grace  Caroline,  born  in 
Quincy,  January  23,  1877;  and  Howard  Mann- 
ing, born  in  Quincy,  June  28,  1S79.  Eliza 
Maria  Magee  was  married  in  Quincy,  Novem- 
ber 7,  1883,  to  Charles  Barrett  Tilton,  who 
was  born  in  East  Boston,  May  16,  1858,  a  son 
of  Thomas  Barrett  and  Maria  Melvina  (Ams- 
den)  Tilton.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  B.  Tilton  have 
one  child  —  Irma  Caroline,  born  in  Quincy, 
June  5,   1S87. 

George  Thomas  Magee' s  parents  moved  to 
Quincy  when  he  was  a  child  ;  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  three  years  in  the  seventies,  which 
were  spent  in  Hingham,  and  five  years  in  the 
eighties,  when  he  lived  in  East  Weymouth,  he 
has  had  his  home  in  this  town.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Quincy  and 
Hingham.      After  leaving  school,  he  was  first 


employed  as  an  operator  by  the  Telephone 
Despatch  Company  of  Boston,  with  whom  he 
remained  until  1886.  Having  a  taste  for 
newspaper  work,  he  seized  the  first  opportunity 
of  entering  upon  that  sphere  of  activity  by  ac- 
cepting a  position  on  the  staff  of  the  Wey- 
mouth Gazette  as  local  reporter.  In  1891  he 
severed  his  connection  with  the  Gazette  to  take 
the  position  of  city  reporter  for  the  Uuincy 
Daily  Ledger ;  and  this  position  he  still  holds. 
In  the  fall  of  1892  he  was  engaged  to  repre- 
sent the  New  England  Associated  Press  in 
Quincy  and  Milton;  and  he  was  thus  occupied 
something  over  four  years  —  until  April,  1897, 
when  the  association  retired  from  business. 
Immediately  offered  the  post  of  correspondent 
in  Quincy  and  Milton  for  the  Boston  Tran- 
script, Mr.  Magee  entered  on  his  duties  May  1, 
1897.  He  is  affiliated  with  several  well- 
known  secret  organizations,  being  a  member  of 
the  Essenic  Order  and  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen,  etc. 

On  June  15,  1887,  he  married  Fannie, 
daughter  of  Charles  Granderson  and  Mary 
Frances  (Merrill)  Jackman.  Mrs.  Magee  was 
born  in  Boston,  January  14,  1864.  One  of 
her  ancestors,  Eli  Conant,  was  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  Revolutionary  army.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Magee  have  no  children. 

James  Penniman,  ancestor  of  the  Penniman 
family  in  America,  was  born  in  England.  He 
was  admitted  a  freeman  in  the  Massachusetts 
Colony,  March  6,  163 1.  He  married  Lydia 
Eliot,  a  sister  of  the  "Apostle  to  the  Indians,  " 
the  Rev.  John  Eliot,  with  whom  he  came  to 
America  on  the  ship  "Lion"  in  1631;  and 
the  earliest  known  of  him  was  in  Braintree, 
Mass.  His  descendants  in  direct  line  were: 
Joseph,2  James,3  James,4  Major  Stephen,5 
Stephen,''  and  Stephen.7 

Stephen  Penniman5  was  born  in  Braintree, 
June  4,  1743,  a  son  of  James  and  Dorcas 
(Vinton)  Penniman.  The  Braintree  town  re- 
ports and  the  Massachusetts  archives  at  the 
State-house  are  the  sources  from  which  his 
military  history  has  been  complied.  It  is  in 
part  as  follows  :  — 

He  was  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Benjamin 
Lincoln's  regiment  of  minute-men  in  April, 
1775,  and  was  Captain  from  April  28  to  May 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'95 


25  that  same  year.  On  August  S,  1776, 
he  marched  as  Captain  to  join  Colonel 
Ebenezer  Francis's  regiment ;  and  he  was  or- 
dered to  be  commissioned  September  26,  1776. 
He  was  at  one  time  Captain  in  Colonel  Dike's 
regiment,  stationed  at  Dorchester  Heights; 
and,  to  quote  directly  from  the  archives, 
"  Stephen  Penniman  appears  with  the  rank  of 
Major  on  the  muster  and  pay  roll  of  the  field 
and  staff  officers  of    the  Massachusetts 

regiment,  Colonel  Benjamin  Gill  for  services 
in  re-enforcing  General  Gates  at  Northward 
in  1777.  Engaged  September  15,  1777;  dis- 
charged November  29,  1777."  In  1779  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Colonel  (Pat- 
tee's  History  of  Old  Braintree).  He  married 
Sarah  Holbrook,  January  25,  1765.  They  both 
died  in  Washington,  N.  H. 

Their  son,  Stephen  Penniman,6  was  born  in 
Braintree,  January  15,  1768,  and  died  in  that 
town,  January  5,  1849.  He  was  married  in 
1792  to  Relief  Thayer,  of  Braintree,  who  was 
born  July  19,   1774,  and  died  August  26,   1861. 

Stephen  Penniman,7  son  of  Stephen  and 
Relief,  was  born  in  Braintree,  August  25, 
1800,  and  died  in  Quincy,  March  25,  1864. 
He  married  Caroline  Veazie,  who  was  born  in 
Quincy,  April  26,1805,  and  died  in  the  same 
town,  May  5,  1842.  The  following  is  a  brief 
record   of   their  children  :   George  was   born    in 

1826,  and    died    in     1850;    Eliza,    born    about 

1827,  died  about  1855;  Caroline,  born  Febru- 
ary 22,  1830,  was  married  to  Thomas  Magee 
in  Quincy,  August  5,  1851  (the  parents  of 
George  T.  Magee)  ;  Stephen,  born  November 
12,  1 83 1,  married  Melinda  D.  Bridgham,  Oc- 
tober 28,  1858;  Henry,  born  in  1837,  married 
Mary  Batchelder;  William  Wood,  born  Sep- 
tember 1,  1836,  married  Eliza  A.  Giles, 
November  25,  1858;  Martha  Ann,  born  Sep- 
tember 1,  1836,  is  the  wife  of  John  W. 
Moore. 


]DWIN  C.  JENNEY,  the  Postmaster  at 
Hyde  Park  and  an  attorney-at-law,  is  a 
most  popular  public  official,  having 
won  by  his  courtesy,  accommodating  spirit,  and 
attention  to  his  responsible  duties,  a  host  of 
friends  and  well-wishers.  Born  December  14, 
1865,  in   Lakeville,    Plymouth   County,  son  of 


Charles  E.  Jenney,  he  is  a  descendant  of  John 
Jenney,  who  came  to  the  Plymouth  Colony  in 
162 1,  or,  as  is  perhaps  more  correctly  stated, 
in  1623,  in  the  ship  "  Little  James,"  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  Sarah  (whom  he  married  in 
Leyden  in  16 14)  and  three  children  —  Samuel, 
Abigail,  and  Sarah.  On  May  22,  1627,  there 
was  a  division  of  the  cattle  into  twelve  lots, 
which  were  assigned  in  just  proportion  to  the 
colonists,  who  were  divided  into  a  correspond- 
ing number  of  companies.  The  twelfth  lot 
fell  to  John  Jenney  and  his  company.  Some 
of  the  descendants  of  John  Jenney  are  living 
in  Plymouth  at  the  present  clay. 

Edwin  Jenney,  the  grandfather  of  Edwin 
C,  was  born  in  New  Bedford,  where  he  was 
engaged  during  the  larger  part  of  his  active 
years  as  a  cooper.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  Lakeville,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Howland,  bore  him  four  children, 
all  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Charles  E.  Jenney  was  born  in  New  Bed- 
ford, where  he  was  educated,  and  afterward 
learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker.  In  his 
young  manhood  he  was  engaged  for  a  time  as 
a  manufacturer  of  shoes  in  Middleboro,  Mass. 
Thence  he  removed  to  Brockton,  accepting  the 
position  of  Chief  of  Police,  which  he  held 
many  years.  In  1882  he  came  to  Hyde  Park 
to  act  in  a  similar  capacity  in  this  town,  con- 
tinuing at  the  head  of  the  police  force  here 
for  about  ten  years.  In  1889  he  was  appointed 
Deputy  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  County,  an  office  in 
which  he  has  since  served  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned.  He  married  Alvira  F. 
Clark,  who  was  born  in  Middleboro,  one  of  the 
four  children  of  Zebulon  Clark,  a  farmer  of 
that  place.  She  reared  four  children,  namely: 
Charles  V.,  an  attorney,  with  offices  in  Hyde 
Park  and  Boston  ;  Edwin  C.  ;  Mabel  C.  ;  and 
Lizzie  K.  Both  parents  ore  members  of  the 
Baptist  church.  In  politics  the  father  is  a 
straightforward  Republican. 

Edwin  C.  Jenney  obtained  his  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Middleboro 
and  Brockton.  After  graduating  from  the 
Hyde  Park  High  School,  he  went  to  work  in 
the  post-office  as  a  clerk,  under  Henry  C. 
Stark,  remaining  with  him  three  years.  He 
subsequently  took  up  the  study  of  law,  gradu- 


196 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ated  from  Boston  University  School  of  Law  in 
1890,  and  was  duly  admitted  to  the  bar.  Soon 
after  beginning  practice  in  Hyde  Park,  he 
opened  an  office  in  Boston  also,  and  con- 
ducted both  until  appointed  Postmaster  in 
October,  1894.  Since  then  Mr.  Jenney  has 
given  undivided  attention  to  his  official  duties. 
Under  his  management  the  Hyde  Park  post- 
office,  which  is  one  of  the  second  class,  has 
greatly  facilitated  the  business  interests  of  the 
place.  His  present  force  of  assistants  numbers 
ten  carriers,  five  substitutes,  four  clerks,  and 
one  special  delivery  messenger,  as  against  six 
carriers,  two  substitutes,  and  three  clerks  when 
he  took  the  office.  Within  the  past  two  years 
stations  have  been  established  at  Claren- 
don Hills,  Readville,  and  East  River  Street, 
and  stamp  agencies  at  140  Fairmount  Avenue 
and  in  the  Hazelvvood  district.  The  territory 
over  which  he  has  postal  charge  covers  five 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  about  four- 
teen thousand  people,  which  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing, the  town  being  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
and  important  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Jenney  was  married  June  24,  1891,  to 
Miss  Lora  J.  Pattee,  who  was  born  in  New- 
ton, Mass.,  daughter  of  Alonzo  H.  and  Mary 
B.  (Brooks)  Pattee.  Mr.  Jenney  is  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  being  one  of  the  strongest  and 
most  active  members  of  his  party  in  this  local- 
ity. In  1 89 1  and  1892  he  was  a  candidate  for 
the  State  legislature  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 


Tp)TENRY  BLACKMAN,  an  enterprising 
L^J  farmer  of  Needham,  was  born  in 
\\s  I  Dorchester,    Mass.,    September    8, 

— "  1823,  son  of  Henry  and  Caroline 
M.  (Enslin)  Blackman.  The  family  came 
originally  from  England,  and  settled  in  Dor- 
chester, in  which  town  Jonathan  Blackman, 
grandfather  of  Henry,  was  born,  lived,  and 
died.  Henry  Blackman,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Dorchester  in 
1803.  He  was  engaged  for  some  time  in  the 
junk  business  there,  and  carried  on  the  same 
business  in  Boston  after  becoming  a  resident 
of  Needham.  He  was  also  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. He  died  January  26,  1863.  His  wife, 
Caroline,    who   was    born    February    8,    1804, 


and  is  now  living  in  Needham,  is  a  daughter 
of  John  Frederick  Enslin,  formerly  of  Boston. 

Their  son,  Henry  Blackman,  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Dorchester,  pursuing 
his  studies  until  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  came  to  Needham  with  his  father, 
and  began  working  on  the  farm.  He  now 
owns  a  farm  of  twenty-eight  acres  on  Green - 
dale  Avenue,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Needham. 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  milk  and  pork,  and 
has  also  dealt  quite  extensively  in  wood.  He 
served  the  town  as  Selectman  for  two  years, 
has  been  Surveyor  of  Highways,  was  a  fire  en- 
gineer for  ten  years,  and  also  served  as  fire 
warden.  He  attends  the  First  Parish  (Unita- 
rian) Church,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Stand- 
ing Committee  for  a  number  of  years. 

Mr.  Blackman  married  in  1870  Jane  C,  a 
daughter  of  David  Young,  of  Loudon  Centre, 
N.H.,  and  has  had  two  children:  Carrie  M., 
born  in  1871,  who  married  William  Tilton, 
and  died  in  December,  1895;  and  Henry  D., 
born  in  1874,  who  was  educated  in  Comer's 
Commercial  School,  married  Mabel  A.  Dodge, 
and  now  resides  on  the  farm. 


'ARRY  W.  SOUTHER,  Postmaster  at 
Cohasset,  his  native  place,  was  born 
on  November  29,  1862,  son  of  An- 
drew J.  and  Mehitable  C.  (Hart- 
well)  Souther.  The  family  is  one  of  the  old- 
est in  this  town.  Probably  the  first  of  the 
name  in  Massachusetts  was  Nathaniel  Souther, 
who  was  at  Plymouth  in  1636,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Boston. 

Andrew  J.  Souther,  father  of  Harry  W.,  was 
in  his  earlier  years  in  the  employ  of  the  South 
Shore  Railroad  as  book-keeper,  a  vocation 
which  he  followed  until  a  few  years  ago.  He 
is  still  residing  in  Cohasset,  his  native  town, 
and  is  now  in  his  sixty-eighth  year.  He  was 
formerly  active  in  public  affairs,  having  served 
as  Town  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  and  is  a  highly 
respected  citizen.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mehitable  C.  Hartwell,  was  born  in 
Middleboro,  Plymouth  County,  this  State. 
Her  father  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  William 
Hartwell,  who  settled  in  Concord,  Mass.,  in 
1636;    and    her  mother   was  a    descendant    of 


HENRY    BLACKMAN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


199 


John  Alderi,  who  came  over  in  the  "  May- 
flower. " 

Seven  children  were  born  to  Andrew  J.  and 
Mehitable  C.  Souther,  namely:  Harry  W.,  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Eleanor  G.  ; 
Abide  H.  ;  Edward  E.  H.  ;  George  W.  ;  Ray 
M.  ;  and  Blanche  M. 

Harry  W.  Souther  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  Cohasset.  After 
completing  his  studies  he  entered  the  employ 
of  Charles  A.  Gross  &  Co.  as  a  clerk,  and 
gained  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  em- 
ployers, with  whom  he  remained  several  years, 
during  which  time  he  acquired  a  wide  circle  of 
friends  anil  acquaintances.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Republican  Town  Committee 
for  a  number  of  years;  was  formerly  Town 
Auditor;  was  nominated  Postmaster  on  July  2, 
1897,  and  confirmed  three  days  later. 

Mr.  Souther  is  a  Past  Master  of  Konohasset 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  connected  with 
Pentalpha  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and 
South  Shore  Commandery,  Knights  Templars; 
and  is  a  member  of  Cohasset  Lodge,  No.  192, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 


r HAVEN  DEARING,  M.D.,  a  well- 
known  and  popular  physician  of  Brain- 
tree,  was  born  in  Kittery,  York 
County,  Me.,  son  of  Captain  Roger  and  Lu- 
cinda  (Boston)  Dearing,  both  of  Maine.  His 
father  was  of  English  descent.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  sea  captain,  afterward  carrying 
on  commercial  pursuits  at  Kittery  and  at 
Portsmouth.  Members  of  the  family  in  Eng- 
land have  sat  in  Parliament  and  held  high 
offices.  The  town  of  Deering,  N.H.,  was 
named  by  Governor  Wentworth,  who  married 
one  of  this  family. 

Thomas  Haven  Dearing  received  his  early 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  Kittery 
and  in  different  New  England  academies,  and 
continued  it  under  special  tutors  in  special 
college  courses.  His  father  met  with  finan- 
cial reverses;  and,  in  order  to  provide  himself 
with  funds  necessary  to  further  study,  the 
young  man  taught  school  for  some  years  in 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  Ill  health  also 
interrupted  his  student  life,  and  obliged  him 
to  take  two  sea  voyages.      He  studied  medi- 


cine at  the  best  colleges  of  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  and  Boston,  and  visited  the  principal 
hospitals  of  Europe.  First  settling  in  Bos- 
ton, he  was  professor  of  surgery  and  derma- 
tology in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, for  nearly  six  years  was  dean  of 
the  college,  and  was  assistant  surgeon  of  a 
Boston  regiment.  In  the  late  war  he  was  sur- 
geon in  one  of  the  largest  hospitals  of  Wash- 
ington; and  he  is  now  an  honorary  member  of 
Company  K,  Fifth  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Militia. 

Since  May,  1863,  Dr.  Dearing  has  been  a 
resident  physician  of  Braintree,  and  to-day 
controls  a  large  local  practice,  with  a  firmly 
established  reputation  as  physician  and  sur- 
geon. He  is  president  of  the  South  Norfolk 
Medical  Society,  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  ex  officio  vice-president 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  a 
member  of  the  Harvard  Alumni  Association. 
While  a  resilient  of  Boston  he  was  placed 
upon  the  School  Board  of  that  city,  has  since 
been  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Braintree 
Board,  and  for  five  years  its  chairman.  He 
has  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  local 
politics  of  the  town,  and  is  at  the  present 
time  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Water  Com- 
missioners. He  is,  and  has  been  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  vice-president  and  a  director  of 
the  Braintree  Co-operative  Bank.  In  1889  he 
was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives. 
He  has  always  been  associated  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Nor- 
folk Republican  Club,  Boston. 

He  married  Mary  J.  Jenkins,  daughter  of 
the  late  Deacon  Solon  Jenkins,  of  Boston. 
Four  children  were  born  of  this  union, 
namely:  Mary  J.,  wife  of  C.  E.  Belcher,  a 
real  estate  dealer  of  Braintree;  H.  Flora  (de- 
ceased); Frank  H.,  with  the  firm  of  Barry, 
Thayer  &  Co.,  well-known  cotton  merchants 
of  Boston;  and  Dr.  Henry  L.,  who  is  a  gen- 
eral practitioner  of  Braintree,  also  making 
a  specialty  of  diseases  of  women  and  children. 
The  younger  son  is  also  a  member  ot  the 
Braintree  School  Board.  His  present  (sec- 
ond) wife,  Helen  A.,  is  the  daughter  of  J.  W. 
Nevers,  an  engineer  of  Charlestown. 

Dr.  Dearing  is  a  member  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational   Church.      Pie    is   well    known    in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


musical  circles,  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
Musical  Choral  Society  of  Braintree  and  its 
president,  and  is  also  identified  with  the 
Stoughton  Musical  Society,  the  oldest  musical 
society  in  the  country  and  one  of  the  largest, 
of  which  he  has  been  president.  He  was  for 
many  years  the  chorister  of  the  Congregational 
church.  The  Doctor  is  identified  with  the 
Masonic  order,  and  with  the  Knights  of 
Honor,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Boston  and  the 
Braintree  Pine-tree  Clubs,  being  president  of 
the  latter  organization:  also  at  the  present 
time  vice-president  of  the  Massachusetts  So- 
ciety of  that  name.  Needless  to  say,  both 
professionally  and  socially,  he  enjoys  a  very 
wide  and  extended  acquaintance.  He  has  al- 
ways been  a  strong  advocate  of  temperance, 
and  upon  appropriate  occasions  has  delivered 
lectures  on  this  subject,  thus  gaining  an  added 
reputation  in  the  vicinity. 


LBERT  DAVENPORT,  of  Hyde  Park, 
one  of  the  largest  retail  milk  dealers 
in  this  section  of  Norfolk  County, 
was  born  November  i,  1855,  in  the 
neighboring  town  of  Canton,  which  was  also 
the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Charles  Daven- 
port. His  grandfather,  John  Davenport,  who 
was  born  and  brought  up  in  Milton,  Mass.,  re- 
moved to  Canton,  where,  until  his  death  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years,  he  was  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  on  the  farm  that  now 
forms  a  part  of  the  J.  M.  Forbes  estate. 

Charles  Davenport,  one  of  a  family  of 
seven  children,  with  them  was  reared  on  the 
parental  homestead.  Like  his  father,  he  has 
followed  the  occupation  of  farmer;  and  now,  a 
hale  and  hearty. man  of  seventy-two  years,  he 
resides  on  his  homestead,  Green  Lodge  farm, 
one  of  the  most  attractive  estates  in  Canton. 
His  wife,  in  maidenhood  Mary  Davenport,  a 
daughter  of  Jesse  Davenport,  has  borne  him 
five  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  the 
daughters  are  deceased.  The  sons  are: 
Charles  E. ,  who  is  engaged  in  the  ice  busi- 
ness at  Readville;  Albert,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Jesse  E.  ;  Roger  S.  ;  and  Warren  J. 
Both  the  father  and  mother  are  exemplary 
Universalists. 

Albert  Davenport   obtained  a  practical  edu- 


cation in  the  common  schools  of  Canton.  In 
his  boyhood  he  became  familiar  with  farm 
work.  When  a  young  man  he  entered  into 
the  ice  business  in  company  with  his  brother 
Charles,  continuing  ten  years,  when  the  part- 
nership was  dissolved.  In  1891  he  estab- 
lished his  present  business,  commencing  on  a 
modest  scale.  His  route  at  first  covered  but 
a  small  territory,  and  thirty-one  eight-quart 
cans  were  sufficient  to  supply  milk  to  his  cus- 
tomers. He  is  now  one  of  the  largest  of  the 
eleven  dealers  in  Hyde  Park,  as  far  as  trade  is 
concerned,  running  two  wagons  in  Hyde  Park 
alone.  In  the  business  he  disposes  of  the 
milk  product  of  nine  dairy  farms,  or  eight 
hundred  quarts  per  day. 

On  June  1,  1879,  Mr.  Davenport  married 
Miss  Annie  E.  Forknall,  who  was  born  and 
bred  in  Boston,  where  her  father,  William  S. 
Forknall,  now  a  resident  of  Needham,  was 
then  engaged  as  a  woollen  manufacturer. 
They  have  a  family  of  six  daughters;  namely, 
Edna  F.,  Hattie  E.,  Myrtle  F.,  Annie  M., 
Norma  A.,  and  Alberta  E.  Mr.  Davenport  is 
a  steadfast  Republican  in  politics.  He  is  a 
member  and  one  of  the  trustees  of  Forest 
Lodge,  No.  148;  and  Monterey  Encampment, 
No.  60,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  a  member  of  the 
American  Legion  of  Honor;  of  the  Ridley 
Protective  Association  of  Worcester;  and  of 
the  Waverly  Club  of  Hyde  Park.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  are  in  communion  with  the  Evan- 
gelical Society  of  Readville. 


ON.  JAMES  T.  STEVENS,  a  well- 
known  manufacturer  of  South  Brain- 
tree, was  born  in  this  town,  June 
20,  1835,  son  of  Benjamin  Stevens, 
an  Englishman,  and  Elizabeth  (Austin) 
Stevens,  who  was  a  native  of  Nova  Scotia. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  years,  after  attending 
school  in  Braintree  for  a  time,  and  taking  a 
short  course  at  the  Hollis  Academy,  he  began 
to  work  for  his  living  in  a  tack  factory  of 
South  Braintree.  He  industriously  followed 
this  line  of  occupation  afterward  until  he  was 
able  to  go  into  business  for  himself.  In 
1870,  in  company  with  George  D.  Willis,  he 
established  himself  as  a  manufacturer  of  tacks 


JAMES    T.    STEVENS 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


1*3 


and  nails  at  South  Braintree,  under  the  firm 
name  of  J.  T.  Stevens  &  Co.,  which  was  after- 
wards changed  to  that  of  Stevens  &  Willis. 
This  enterprise  has  proved  most  successful. 
The  factory,  well  situated  on  the  Monatiquot 
River,  is  fitted  up  with  the  best  of  machinery. 
He  is  also  interested  in  the  Co-operative 
Bank  of  Braintree,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
incorporators,  and  has  since  been  the  presi- 
dent; and  he  is  a  trustee  of  the  Braintree 
Savings  Bank. 

For  several  years  before  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Stevens  was  connected 
with  the  State  militia,  and  held  the  rank  of 
First  Lieutenant.  He  responded  to  President 
Lincoln's  first  call  for  troops,  and,  as  First 
Lieutenant  of  his  company,  saw  service  for 
three  months  at  different  stations  in  Virginia. 
He  was  subsequently  made  Captain  of  Com- 
pany I,  Forty-second  Regiment,  Massachu- 
setts Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  at  the 
front  in  Virginia.  As  a  young  man  Mr. 
Stevens  developed  strong  musical  tastes,  and 
was  long  an  active  member  of  the  Braintree 
Glee  Club.  During  Gilmore's  Peace  Jubilee 
in  Boston  he  served  as  the  president  of  the 
Braintree  Musical  Society,  an  organization 
which  aided  materially  in  the  success  of  the 
great  Jubilee.  A  strong  Republican,  he  has 
been  before  the  public  eye  in  various  offices 
of  trust  for  many  years  past.  He  has  served 
as  chief  engineer  of  the  fire  department.  In 
1876  he  was  Braintree's  Representative  to  the 
General  Court ;  and  he  has  been  for  many 
years  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Water 
Commissioners  and  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Sinking  Fund.  In  1888  he  was  elected 
State  Senator,  and  served  for  two  terms. 

Mr.  Stevens  married  Myra  F.  Willis,  a 
daughter  of  George  W.  Willis,  late  of  Brain- 
tree, and  by  her  has  two  children  — ■  George 
W.  and  Idella  F.  His  daughter  is  now  the 
wife  of  Louis  W.  Thayer.  Mr.  Stevens  is  an 
esteemed  Mason  of  Delta  Lodge  of  Weymouth, 
having  membership  with  the  Pentalpha  Chap- 
ter and  the  South  Shore  Commandery. 
Fleeted  First  Commander  of  General  Sylvanus 
Thayer  Post,  No.  87,  G.  A.  R.,  he  held  that 
office  for  three  consecutive  terms.  Mr. 
Stevens  is  also  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


ERMON  B.  MILLER,  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  Franklin,  Mass., 
a  son  of  Elkanah  and  Isabella 
(Battles)  Miller,  was  born  in  the 
house  where  he  now  lives,  March  23,  1823. 
His  father,  Elkanah  Miller,  son  of  Jesse 
Miller,  lived  in  Franklin  for  a  time  after  mar- 
riage; but  in  1824  he  moved  to  Augusta,  Me., 
where  he  continued  his  labors  as  a  tiller  of 
the  soil.  His  first  wife,  Isabella  Battles,  of 
North  Bridgewater,  now  Brockton,  Mass.,  bore 
him  seven  children,  namely:  Hermon,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Catharine,  the  widow 
of  Eliphalet  Cooper,  now  living  in  Augusta; 
and  Harriet  Richardson,  William,  Adeline, 
Thurston  (who  went  to  California),  and 
Charlotte  Skillings,  all  of  whom  have  passed 
from  earth.  Mrs.  Isabella  B.  Miller  died  in 
1840;  and  Mr.  Elkanah  Miller  married  for  his 
second  wife  Mrs.  Deborah  Gleason,  now  de- 
ceased. He  died  in  Augusta  in  November, 
1880. 

Hermon  B.  Miller  was  taken  by  his  parents 
to  Augusta  when  he  was  but  one  year  old:  and 
he  there  grew  to  maturity,  and  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools.  Learning 
the  blacksmith's  trade  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
he  subsequently  worked  at  the  anvil  in  Au- 
gusta and  elsewhere  in  Maine  for  about  two 
years.  When  he  was  in  his  twenty-first  year 
he  went  to  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  where  he  re- 
mained about  three  years.  After  that  he 
worked  at  his  trade  for  three  years  in  West 
Medway,  a  year  in  VVoonsocket,  R.I.,  and  for 
seven  years  in  Blackstone.  Obliged  then  on 
account  of  his  poor  health  to  change  his  occu- 
pation, he  bought  his  present  farm 'in  Frank- 
lin, Mass.  Industrious  and  enterprising,  he 
has  made  many  improvements  on  the  place, 
which  contains  about  seventy-five  acres  of 
land.      He  now  works  at  farming  altogether. 

While  living  in  Blackstone.  Mr.  Miller 
held  the  office  of  Constable:  and  since  he  has 
lived  in  Franklin  he  has  served  on  the  police 
force  of  the  town.  In  politics  Mr.  Miller  is 
an  Independent,  believing  in  putting  the  best 
man  in  office. 

Mr.  Miller  was  married  September  4,  1845, 
to  Mary  Wadsworth,  a  daughter  of  Seth  and 
Olive  (Metcalf)  Wadsworth,  of  Franklin. 
Mrs.   Miller  died  April    10,    1897.      She  was 


''■'  I 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  mother  of  five  children,  as  follows:  Mary 
I.,  born  August  25,  1848,  now  the  widow  of 
George  F.  Wadsworth,  and  living  at  the  pa- 
ternal home;  Olive  W.,  born  June  1,  1858, 
and  George  H.,  born  May  25,  i860,  both  liv- 
ing at  home;  and  twins,  Arthur  O.  and  Alice 
O.,  born  March  2,  1863.  Alice  O.  died  May 
10,  1896;  and  Arthur  is  working  in  a  straw 
shop  in  Boston. 


§  ALBERT  SIMPSON,  of  East  Milton, 
the  treasurer  of  the  Granite  Railway 
Company,  whose  headquarters  are  at 
166  Devonshire  Street,  Boston,  was 
born  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  November  12,  1848. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  A.  and  Mahala  L.  (Wig- 
gin)  Simpson.  The  Simpson  family  is  of 
Scotch  origin.  John  A.  Simpson,  who  was 
born  in  Greenland,  N.H.,  resided  in  Quincy 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  there  engaged 
in  the  transportation  of  granite.  He  served 
on  the  Building  Committee  under  whose  di- 
rection the  present  city  hall  in  Quincy  was 
erected.  A  Democrat  before  the  Civil  War, 
he  became  a  Republican  after  it.  He  died  in 
1862.  His  wife,  a  native  of  New  Market, 
N.H.,  is  still  living.  Of  their  family  five  are 
living,  namely:  John  A.,  in  Newfields,  N.H.  ; 
Mary  E.,  the  wife  of  Jonas  W.  Jewett,  of 
Hartland,  Me.  ;  Emma  L. ,  the  wife  of  Charles 
Leavitt,  of  Quincy,  Mass.  ;  Addie  L. ,  the 
wife  of  Thomas  L.  Pearce,  of  East  Milton, 
Mass.  ;  and  Charles  F. 

J.  Albert  Simpson  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Quincy,  finishing  with  the  high 
school.  When  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age 
his  parents  moved  to  Fast  Milton,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
obtained  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  millinery 
store  of  Boston.  There  he  remained  three 
years,  and  then  for  some  time  he  was  clerk  in 
a  Quincy  store.  During  the  ensuing  four 
years  he  worked  at  paper-hanging  and  paint- 
ing, and  for  several  years  after  he  was  a  clerk 
in  East  Milton.  In  1882  he  was  employed  as 
book-keeper  by  the  Granite  Railway  Com- 
pany. He  served  in  this  capacity  until  1890, 
when  he  was  elected  the  treasurer  of  the  com- 
pany. An  able  business  man,  he  is  well  fitted 
for  his  important  position. 


Married  in  1882  to  Ela  M.,  daughter  of 
William  Balch,  late  of  Boston,  Mass.,  Mr. 
Simpson  has  two  sons  —  George  A.  and  Will- 
iam B.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  For 
nine  successive  years  he  was  Selectman  of 
Milton,  and  for  five  years  he  was  chairman  of 
the  board.  During  the  first  six  years  of  his 
service  on  the  board  he  was  Assessor,  Sur- 
veyor of  Highways,  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor. 
For  two  years  he  was  Sewer  Commissioner  of 
Milton.  An  esteemed  Mason,  he.  belongs  to 
Macedonian  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Milton; 
and  he  is  an  Odd  Fellow  of  Dorchester  Lodge, 
No.  158.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  East  Milton,  and  was  chairman  of 
the  Building  Committee  that  had  charge  of 
the  erection  of  the  present  church  edifice. 


§'OHN  ADAMS  TILTON,  a  leading 
business  man  of  Needham,  is  a  native 
of  the  Granite  State.  Born  on  the 
Tilton  farm  at  Deerfield  in  the  year 
1861,  he  belongs  to  the  fifth  generation  of  the 
family  that  has  occupied  the  Tilton  home- 
stead. His  first  ancestor  in  this  country,  who 
settled  in  New  Hampshire,  was  one  of  three 
brothers  that  came  from  Tilton,  England. 
The  others  severally  settled  in  Maine  and 
Massachusetts.  The  grandfather  of  John  A., 
Josiah  B.  Tilton,  was  a  prominent  farmer  of 
Deerfield,  engaged  extensively  in  market  gar- 
dening. He  married  Nancy  Adams,  who  was 
a  cousin  of  John  Adams,  the  second  President 
of  the  United  States.  Grandfather  Tilton 
was  prominently  identified  with  all  public 
movements  in  his  native  town,  and  was  Dep- 
uty Sheriff  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many 
years.  Albert  Tilton,  son  of  Josiah,  born  in 
1835,  has  always  been  engaged  in  agricult- 
ure. He  married  Emma,  daughter  of  George 
W.  Manning,  a  retired  business  man  of  New- 
buryport,  Mass.,  and  with  his  wife  is  now  liv- 
ing at  Needham. 

John  A.  Tilton  was  educated  in  the  town 
schools  of  Deerfield.  After  leaving  school, 
he  worked  on  his  father's  farm  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age.  Then  he  began  learn- 
ing the  blacksmith's  trade  with  Edward  F. 
Manning,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  remaining 
with  him  for  three  years.      Afterward  he  car- 


GEORGE    W.    MORTON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


207 


ried  on  a  general  blacksmith  business  for  some 
five  years  at  Deerfield.  In  1883  he  came  to 
Needham,  where  he  has  since  resided.  For 
about  three  years  he  worked  at  farming.  In 
1  So  1  he  went  into  the  grain  business,  which 
he  has  since  followed.  He  deals  extensively 
in  grain,  flour,  hay,  coal,  and  wood.  By  his 
fair  dealing  and  prompt  delivery  he  has  built 
up  a  prosperous  and  growing  business. 

In  1882  Mr.  Tilton  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Lucy,  daughter  of  Caleb  C.  Crawley,  of 
East  Boston,  Mass.  He  has  two  children, 
namely:  Marion  E.,  bom  in  1 888,  now  at- 
tending the  Kimball  Intermediate  School; 
and  Ruth  A.,  born  in  1896.  In  politics  Mr. 
Tilton  supports  the  Republican  party. 


DWIN  N.  MAYBERRY,  M.D.,  a 
leading  physician  and  surgeon  of  South 
Weymouth,  was  born  in  Edgartown, 
Mass.,  February  18,  1858,  son  of  Dr.  Edwin 
and  Leonora  (Hall)  Mayberry.  His  father 
was  a  practising  physician  of  Edgartown  for 
twenty-five  years.  He  removed  to  East  Wey- 
mouth late  in  life,  and  there  followed  his  pro- 
fession for  several  years  previous  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1895.  Four  of  his  chil- 
dren survive,  namely:  a  daughter,  the  wife  of 
H.  N.  Allin,  an  attorney  of  Waltham,  Mass.; 
Dr.  Edwin  N.  ;  George  L. ,  a  lawyer  of  Wal- 
tham and  an  ex-Mayor  of  that  city;  and  Dr. 
Charles  B.,  connected  with  the  State  Hospital 
at  Danville,  Pa. 

Edwin  N.  Mayberry  fitted  for  college  at 
Edgartown,  and  began  the  study  of  medicine 
under  the  instruction  of  his  father.  He  took 
the  regular  course  at  the  Medical  School  of 
the  University  of  Vermont,  graduating  in  the 
class  of  1882,  afterward  taking  post-graduate 
studies  at  the  Harvard  University  Medical 
School.  After  a  brief  period  of  professional 
experience,  partly  at  Saugus  and  partly  at 
West  Warren,  Mass.,  in  December,  1885,  he 
came  to  South  Weymouth,  where  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  a  large  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice. He  married  Fannie  E.  Lowry,  of  Bur- 
lington, Vt. 

Dr.  Mayberry  is  a  member  of  the  State 
Medical  Society,  and  has  served  officially  as 
censor  and  counsellor  of  that   body.     He  has 


been  for  several  years  a  Deacon  of  the  Union 
Congregational  church  at  South  Weymouth. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  South 
Weymouth  Co-operative  Bank,  and  has  from 
the  first  been  a  director  of  the  bank.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  Wildey  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  he  is 
now  a  Past  Grand  of  that  lodge.  He  is  also 
associated  with  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State. 
The  Doctor  is  a  medical  examiner  for  the 
Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New 
York,  for  the  North-western  Life  Insurance 
Company  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  for  the  Penn 
Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  National  Life  Insurance  Company 
of  Montpelier,  the  State  Mutual  Life  In- 
surance Company  of  Worcester,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  also  for  several  other 
companies  in  Maine  and  Connecticut. 


/pTTo 


EORGE  WOODBURY  MORTON,  a 
\  •>  I  naval  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  and 
a  prominent  real  estate  dealer  of 
Ouincy,  was  born  here,  May  2,  1842,  in  the 
old  Morton  homestead  on  the  corner  of  Cod- 
dington  and  Spear  Streets.  A  son  of  the  late 
William  Saxton  Morton,  he  is  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  George  and  Sarah  (Bradford)  Mor- 
ton. This  George  Morton  came  to  America 
in  the  ship  "Ann,"  which  arrived  in  Plym- 
outh Harbor  from  England  in  July,  1623, 
being  the  third  vessel  after  the  "Mayflower" 
to  reach  this  part  of  the  coast.  He  and  a  Mr. 
Hathaway  were  spoken  of  by  William  Pierce, 
the  commander  of  the  "Ann"  as  two  of  his 
principal  passengers.  With  him  were  his 
wife,  who  was .  a  sister  of  Governor  Brad- 
ford, and  his  four  children.  One  of  the 
latter,  Nathaniel  Morton,  subsequently  served 
the  colony  as  its  Secretary,  and  was  the  author 
of  the  "New  England  Memorial,"  a  brief  his- 
torical volume. 

William  Saxton  Morton,  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Wheeler)  Morton,  born  in  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.,  September  22,  1809,  died  in 
Ouincy,  September  21,  1871.  He  was  well 
educated,  having  studied  at  the  Phillips  Exe- 
ter Academy  in  New  Hampshire  and  later  at 
Harvard  College,  from  which  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1831.      Among  his  classmates  at  liar- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


vard  were  the  celebrated  Wendell  Phillips; 
the  late  ex-Mayor  Shurtleff,  of  Boston;  and 
others  who  attained  eminence  in  business  or 
professional  life.  After  spending  a  short 
time  abroad,  he  commenced  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Sidney  Bartlett,  and  subse- 
quently entered  upon  the  legal  profession  at 
Amherst,  N.H.,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Hon.  Perley  Dodge,  then  Clerk  of  Courts  in 
that  locality.  In  1840  he  settled  in  Quincy, 
where  he  continued  his  professional  labors 
until  his  demise,  becoming  one  of  trte  leading 
members  of  the  bar.  He  served  many  years 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Commissioner  of 
Insolvency,  and  he  was  also  Trial  Justice  for 
a  time.  He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in 
the  formation  of  many  of  the  leading  business 
and  financial  organizations  of  this  locality, 
and  through  his  wise  efforts  their  future  suc- 
cess was  attained.  He  was  a  charter  member 
of  the  Ouincy  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany, which  was  established  in  1850,  and, 
being  soon  after  chosen  its  president,  served 
in  that  capacity  throughout  the  rest  of  his 
life,  his  activity  in  its  behalf  placing  it 
among  the  foremost  offices  of  the  kind  in  New 
England.  His  name  also  headed  the  list  of 
incorporators  of  the  Mount  Wollaston  Na- 
tional Bank,  established  in  1853,  and  of  which 
he  was  for  several  years  a  director.  In  1850 
he  was  a  Representative  to  the  General  Court, 
and  during  that  year  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention.  He  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  being  espe- 
cially interested  in  the  advancement  of  the 
public-school  system,  and  was  for  some  years 
a  member  of  the  local  School  Board  and  a 
trustee  of  Milton  Academy.  While  at  Har- 
vard, the  memories  of  which  period  he  fondly 
cherished,  he  cultivated  a  taste  for  poetical 
literature  that  afterward  bore  fruit  in  the  form 
of  contributions  to  the  leading  periodicals  of 
the  day.  He  was  of  a  sunny,  genial  disposi- 
tion, hospitable  and  generous  almost  to  a 
fault,  with  sympathies  that  were  quickly 
aroused  by  any  call  of  distress.  In  him  the 
deserving  poor  found  a  friend  prompt  to  alle- 
viate their  wants,  and  few  seeking  his  aid 
went  away  empty-handed.  At  the  home  fire- 
side, surrounded  by  his  family,  in  whom  was 
centred  his  greatest  happiness,  his  endearing 


qualities  of  heart  and  mind  shone  brightest. 
When  the  tocsin  of  war  sounded  through  the 
land,  his  patriotic  blood  was  aroused  to  the 
highest  enthusiasm;  and  he  bravely  surren- 
dered two  of  his  sons  to  his  country,  sending 
them  forth  to  assist  in  sustaining  the  nation's 
honor  and  flag.  While  his  life  was  not  un- 
marked by  sorrow,  it  was  brightened  by  a  firm 
belief  in  a  happy  future,  as  expressed  by  him- 
self in  the  following  stanzas:  — 

Twilight  shades  are  gathering  round  me. 

And  the  night  is  coming  on  ; 
Peering  from  their  homes  of  azure, 

(Team  the  star-fires  one  by  one. 

As  I  sit  in  silence  lonelv. 

Musing  o'er  the  dying  da  v. 
With  its  shadows  come  the  memories 

Of  the  dear  ones  passed  away. 

On  the  farther  shore,  united, 

They  have  met,  and  will  not  part. 

Clinging  to  each  other's  bosoms, 
Hand  to  hand  and  heart  to  heart. 

Radiant  in  that  land  of  glory. 

Waiting  are  our  angel  train. 
Heath,  for  me  thou  hast  no  terrors: 

I  shall  meet  my  loved  again. 

The  union  of  William  S.  Morton  with  Mary 
Jane  Woodbury  Grimes  was  solemnized  on 
October  3,  1839,  at  the  Stone  Chapel,  Boston. 
She  was  born  in  Francestown,  N.H.,  Febru- 
ary 19,  1 82 1,  daughter  of  Thomas  Grimes. 
Her  children  were:  Joseph  William,  born  at 
Amherst,  N.H.,  July  22,  1840,  who  died  at 
Ouincy,  Mass.,  December  17,  1865;  George 
Woodbury,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mary, 
born  June  17,  1844;  Arthur  Austerfield,  born 
January  11,  1S47,  who  died  March  24,  1854; 
Martha  Woodbury,  born  December  25,  1849, 
who  died  April  26,  1870;  Arthur  Austerfield 
(second),  born  July  22,  1855,  died  December 
17,  1890;  and  Sarah  Josephine,  born  August 
12,  1858.  Joseph  William,  the  first-born,  was 
fitted  for  college  under  the  tuition  of  Profes- 
sor Jenks,  of  Middleboro,  with  whom  he  sub- 
sequently visited  the  principal  cities  of  Europe. 
In  the  spring  of  1859  he  entered  the  Harvard 
Law  School,  in  which  he  pursued  his  studies 
until  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war. 
Abandoning  then  his  personal  ambitions,  he 
enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Fourth   Massachu- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


;o9 


setts  Volunteer  Cavalry,  which  was  at  once  sent 
to  Ship  Island,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  For 
meritorious  conduct  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Second  Lieutenant;  and  at  the  battle 
of  Baton  Rouge,  August  5,  1862,  owing  to  the 
illness  or  absence  of  higher  officers,  he  was 
commanding  officer  of  the  cavalry  there  en- 
gaged, and  was  soon  after  made  First  Lieuten- 
ant. On  account  of  sickness  the  young  Lieu- 
tenant returned  home  for  a  short  furlough. 
Going  back  to  New  Orleans  before  he  had  re- 
covered his  health,  he  was  forced  to  come 
home  a  second  time,  whereupon  he  resigned 
his  commission.  Governor  Andrew  subse- 
quently asked  him  to  raise  a  company  of  men. 
Having  complied  with  the  request,  he  was 
made  Captain  of  Company  D,  Fourth  Massa- 
chusetts Cavalry,  and  sent  to  Hilton  Head 
with  his  men,  arriving  there  April  1,  1864. 
He  then  went  to  Jacksonville,  thence  to 
Gainesville.  In  Gainesville  he  was  taken 
prisoner  on  August  8,  1864;  and  with  other 
captives  he  was  carried  to  Macon,  then  to  Au- 
gusta, whence  he  was  marched  to  Anderson- 
ville.  He  was  subsequently  sent  to  Charles- 
ton, and  thence  to  Columbia,  S.C.  While 
here  he  escaped  from  prison,  and  found  pro- 
tection within  the  lines  of  Sherman's  army. 
Subsequently  he  was  assigned  to  duty  on  the 
staff  of  General  Blair,  of  the  Seventeenth 
Army  Corps.  With  his  health  completely 
undermined  by  the  hardships  of  army  and 
prison  life,  he  died  a  few  months  after  he  was 
mustered  out  of  service. 

Mary  Morton,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Saxton  Morton,  married  Jesse  P.  Wood- 
bury, of  Francestown,  N.H.,  his  birthplace. 
He  was  a  paymaster  in  the  United  States 
Navy  during  the  war.  Their  children  were: 
Mary  Morton,  born  December  16,  1868;  Jesse 
D.,  born  May  7,  1871;  Martha  Morton,  born 
July  9,  1872;  Edith,  born  February  5,  1874; 
and  William  Saxton  Morton,  born  September 
25,  1876,  who  died  June  17,  1880.  Sarah 
Josephine,  the  youngest  child  of  William  Sax- 
ton Morton,  was  married  October  2,  1885,  to 
Frederick  H.  Smith,  of  Ouincy. 

George  Woodbury  Morton  enlisted  in  the 
United  States  Navy  when  nineteen  years  old, 
and  on  September  25,  1S61,  was  appointed 
acting  assistant  paymaster.     On    October    10 


of  that  year  he  reported  for  duty  on  board  the 
United  States  steamer  "R.  B.  Forbes,"  at 
Hampton  Roads,  Virginia,  where  Commodore 
S.  F.  Dupont  was  fitting  out  a  squadron.  A 
few  days  later  the  Commodore,  with  his  fleet, 
set  sail  for  Port  Royal,  where  he  arrived  aftei 
a  very  stormy  passage  in  which  several  vessels 
were  disabled  and  some  lost.  On  November 
7  the  squadron,  headed  by  Commodore 
Dupont  in  the  frigate  "Wabash,"  made  an 
attack  on  Forts  Beauregard  ami  Walker,  which 
they  captured  after  five  hours  of  righting. 
The  "Forbes,"  being  disabled,  was  towed  to 
New  York  navy-yard  by  the  steamship  "At- 
lantic" for  repairs.  On  the  23d  of  February, 
1862,  her  repairs  being  completed,  she  was 
sent  to  New  Orleans  to  join  Admiral  Farra- 
gut's  squadron;  but.  encountering  bad  weather 
on  the  way,  she  was  wrecked  and  burned  three 
days  after  leaving  New  York.  Air.  Morton 
was  on  board  the  "Roanoke,"  waiting  orders 
during  the  memorable  engagement  between 
the  "Merrrimac"  and  the  "Monitor"  on 
March  9,  1S62.  Three  days  later  he  reported 
for  duty  to  Lieutenant  Commander  Henry  K. 
Davenport,  on  board  the  "Hetzel,"  at  New- 
bern,  N.C.  He  remained  on  the  "Hetzel" 
three  years,  and  afterward  served  under  Cap- 
tain John  J.  Almy,  on  the  "Juniata,"  stationed 
first  at  Fort  Fisher  and  then  at  Port  Royal, 
S.C.  In  May,  1865,  the  "Juniata"  sailed  for 
Bermuda,  thence  to  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands, 
Pernambuco,  Bahia,  Rio  Janeiro,  Montevideo, 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  to  the  coast  of  West  Africa, 
stopping  at  Loanda,  Benguela,  and  at  Great  and 
Little  Fish  Bay.  On  the  homeward  trip  the 
"Juniata"  put  in  at  St.  Helena,  Montevideo, 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  Rio  Janeiro.  In  the  last- 
mentioned  place  Mr.  Morton  was  deta<  hed 
from  the  vessel,  and  ordered  home,  to  which 
he  returned  by  way  of  London,  ami  received 
his  honorable  discharge  June  9,  1867.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  actively  identified  with 
the  real  estate  interests  of  Quincy,  conducting 
a  successful  business. 

On  February  3,  1S87,  Mr.  MortGn  married 
Mrs.  Lydia  Lincoln  (Averill)  Follett,  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Thomas  W.  Averill.  The 
maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Morton's  mother  was 
Lydia  Lincoln  Souther.  A  further  ancestral 
history  of    Mrs.    Morton's   maternal    relatives 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


may  be  found  in  connection  with  the  sketch  of 
Edward  B.  Souther,  a  brother  of  her  mother. 
The  Souther  family  has  been  noted  for  longev- 
ity. An  aunt  of  Mrs.  Morton's  mother, 
named  l.ydia  Souther,  lived  to  the  remarkable 
age  of  one  hundred  years  and  three  months. 
Mr.  Morton  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. In  the  years  of  1S90,  1891,  and  1892 
he  was  a  member  of  the  City  Council,  and 
served  on  the  Finance  Committee  of  that 
body.  He  has  served  as  commodore,  secre- 
tary,  and  treasurer  of  the  Quincy  Yacht  Club, 
of  which  he  was  a  charter  member.  An  ac- 
complished sportsman,  he  is  equally  expert 
with  the  gun  and  rod.  He  spends  his  sum- 
mers at  his  residence,  called  the  Red  Lion, 
at  Hough's  Neck,  where  he  and  his  many 
friends   find  ample    amusement   and    pleasure. 


DGAR  H.  BOWERS,  an  influential 
resident  of  Needham,  w-as  born  in 
Framingbam,  Middlesex  County,  on 
the  23d  day  of  May,  [837,  son  of  Francis 
and  Elmira  (Rice)  Bowers.  His  grand- 
father, Samuel  Bowers,  was  a  native  of 
Groton,  Mass.  The  father,  who  was  also  born 
in  Groton,  and  lived  to  be  seventy  years  of 
age,  died  in  1861.  By  occupation  he  was 
a  general  farmer.  The  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Ezra  Rice,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Edmund  Rice,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
1638,  bringing  eight  sons. 

Edgar  H.  Bowers  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  his  native  town,  graduating 
from  the  high  school  in  1S52.  Then  he  went 
to  work  at  the  shoe  business  in  Framingham. 
In  i860  he  came  to  Needham,  and  was  here 
engaged  for  six  years  in  the  grocery  business. 
He  subsequently,  with  Galen  Orr,  his  father- 
in-law,  under  the  name  of  Galen  Orr  &  Co., 
went  into  the  manufacture  of  blind  trimmings, 
their  factory  being  at  Needham,  and  their 
customers  including  jobbers  and  retail  dealers 
throughout  New  England  and  as  far  West  as 
California.  Mr.  Bowers  was  elected  Assessor 
of  Needham  in  1885  and  1887,  and.  served 
seven  years  in  all,  being  for  two  years  the 
chairman  of  the  board,  and  for  the  remainder 
of  the  time  its  clerk.  From  1892  to  1895  he 
served  the  town  as  Selectman.      He  was  again 


elected  to  that  office  in  March,  1S97,  and  is 
now  the  chairman  of  the  board.  In  Norfolk 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  he  is  a  Past  Master  and 
the  present  secretary.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat,  with  a  tendency  to  independence. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  and  has  been  a  chorister  therein  for  a 
number  of  years.  Taking  a  deep  interest  in 
the  temperance  question,  he  was  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance. 
Since  1 868  he  has  been  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  After  serving  in  the  capacity  of  Post- 
master from  1885  to  1889,  under  President 
Cleveland's  first  administration,  he  resigned  in 
favor  of  his  assistant. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Bowers  married  Mary  E.  Orr, 
eldest  daughter  of  Galen  and  Alary  A.  (Smith) 
Orr,  of  Needham.  Galen  Orr,  whose  name  is 
highly  honored  in  this  section,  was  one  of  the 
representative  business  men  of  Needham.  He 
was  a  descendant  of  Hugh  Orr,  born  in  Loch- 
winnoch,  Scotland,  on  June  2,  1715,  who 
came  to  this  country,  and  settled  in  East 
Bridgewater,  dying  there  on  December  6, 
1798.  Hugh  is  said  to  have  made  the  first 
cannon  barrel  from  a  solid  casting;  and  this 
weapon,  it  is  alleged,  was  afterward  used  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  Senate,  and  was  a  manu- 
facturer of  cotton  machinery.  Galen  Orr's 
parents  were  Thomas  Orr,  of  Bridgewater,  and 
Rachel  (Bullen)  <  )rr,  who  belonged  to  Need- 
ham. Galen  was  born  in  Shirley,  Mass. 
After  receiving  a  meagre  school  training,  he 
began  in  very  early  life  to  be  self-supporting. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  nail-cutting,  and  then 
became  a  blacksmith.  In  1839  he  estab- 
lished the  business  which  still  bears  his 
name.  In  1864  he  represented  the  Four- 
teenth Norfolk  District  in  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts;  was  Selectman  and  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor  of  Needham  for  eight  con- 
secutive years,  dating  from  1S55;  and  was 
elected  again  in  1872,  and  became  the  chair- 
man of  the  board.  In  1869  he  was  elected 
Special  County  Commissioner,  and  served  for 
three  years;  and  in  1871  he  was  elected 
County  Commissioner,  and  served  until  1880. 
He  was  president  of  the  Needham  Savings 
Bank  and  a  most  liberal  supporter  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  Society.      Though  not 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


a  church  member,  he  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  society,  furnished  the  church 
organ,  and  was  for  many  years  the  organist. 
His  noble  and  upright  character  were  recog- 
nized and  appreciated,  and  his  natural  kindli- 
ness of  heart  won  for  him  the  lasting  gratitude 
of  many  whom  he  had  helped.  In  politics  he 
was  a  Republican.  Mr.  Orr  was  married  in 
1837  to  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Luther  Smith, 
and  had  a  family  of  one  son  and  three 
daughters. 

Mr.  and  Airs.  Bowers  have  had  three  chil- 
dren— .Howard  Francis,  Willie  S.,  and  Alls- 
ton  Rice.  Howard,  who  was  born  in  1861, 
died  in  1894;  Willie  died  in  1S72,  when  four 
years  old;  Allston,  born  in  November,  1874, 
after  passing  through  the  grammar  and  high 
schools  of  Needham,  took  a  course  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Institute  of  Technology,  and  is 
now  book-keeper  for  the  Union  Cycle  Com- 
pany of  Needham. 


lARCUS  P.  HODGES,  a  success- 
ful agriculturist  and  dairyman  of 
Foxboro,  Mass.,  was  born  Oc- 
tober 13,  1825,  on  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides;  and  his  father,  Benjamin 
Hodges,  Jr.,  was  born  on  the  same  place,  al- 
though the  farm  was  at  that  earlier  time  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  the  town  of 
Sharon. 

The  family  is  of  English  extraction,  the 
emigrant  ancestor  having  been  William 
Hodges,  who  settled  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  as 
early  as  1643,  and  died  there  eleven  years 
later.  He  was  one  of  the  original  owners  of 
the  Taunton  Iron  Works.  By  his  wife,  Mary, 
a  daughter  of  Henry  Andrews,  he  had  two 
sons:  John,  born  in  1650;  and  Henry,  born 
in  1652.  From  Henry  Hodges,  who  was  a 
Deacon  in  the  church  and  Captain  in  the  mi- 
litia, and  who  married  Esther  Gallop,  Mr. 
Marcus  P.  Hodges  is  descended,  the  succes- 
sive ancestors  being:  Henry,  Jr.,  of  the  third 
generation;  his  son  Josiah ;  Benjamin,  Sr.  ; 
and  Benjamin,  Jr. 

In  his  early  manhood  Benjamin  Hodges, 
Sr.,  son  of  Josiah  Hodges,  was  a  lifelong 
farmer.  By  dint  of  patient  and  persevering 
labor  he  cleared  a  large   tract   in  what    is   now 


Foxboro,  and,  having  replaced  the  original 
log  cabin  by  a  substantial  frame  house,  here 
spent  his  declining  years,  dying  at  the  age  of 
threescore  and  ten.  He  was  a  minute-man  of 
the  Revolution,  was  called  into  service  at  dif- 
ferent times,  and  was  on  guard  when  Dorches- 
ter Heights  was  fortified.  His  first  wife, 
Esther  Allen,  whom  he  married  in  1772,  was 
a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Ruth  (Fisher) 
Allen,  of  Walpole.  She  died  in  1780,  having 
been  the  mother  of  three  children  —  Sewall, 
Daniel,  and  Esther.  His  second  wife,  mar- 
ried in  1783,  was  Miriam  Pratt,  daughter  of 
Josiah  and  Abigail  (Williams)  Pratt.  She 
was  the  mother  of  six  children:  Hannah,  born 
1784;  Rachel;  Joseph;  Benjamin,  Jr. ;  Anna, 
born  in  1 791  ;  and  James,  born  1794,  died  in 
infancy.  Benjamin  Hodges,  Sr. ,  died  in 
1 8 14.  His  wife,  Miriam,  died  December  31, 
1825. 

Benjamin  Hodges,  Jr.,  was  brought  up  on 
the  home  farm,  and  here  spent  his  long  and 
busy  life  of  ninety-three  years.  He  worked  at 
the  cooper's  trade  in  conjunction  with  general 
farming,  and  was  also  a  charcoal  burner  for 
many  years.  To  him  and  his  wife,  Hannah 
Talbot,  six  children  were  born,  namely:  Ben- 
jamin F.,  who  died  in  1895;  Emeline;  Lucy; 
Lewis,  who  died  in  infancy;  Marcus  Pratt; 
and  Catherine  F.  Emeline,  who  lives  with 
her  brother,  Marcus  P.,  is  the  widow  of  the 
late  S.  L.  Boyden,  and  the  mother  of  four 
children:  Hannah  E. ;  Charles  L.,  a  private 
in  Company  F,  Fourth  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  who  was  wounded  in  battle, 
and  died  in  New  Orleans;  Benjamin  F.;  and 
Amos.  Lucy,  the  widow  of  Asahel  Dean,  has 
two  children — Marcus  E.  and  Anna.  Cath- 
erine, who  lives  in  Chelsea,  Mass.,  is  the 
wife  of  Nahum  Dunbar,  and  has  three  chil- 
dren—  Mary  Louisa,   Charles  G.,    and   Annie. 

Marcus  P.  Hodges  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  on  the  homestead  farm  ob- 
tained a  practical  knowledge  of  the  various 
branches  of  industry  included  in  agriculture. 
On  leaving  school  he  began  working  for  his 
brother  Benjamin,  remaining  with  him,  how- 
ever, but  a  short  time.  He  then  returned  to 
the  old  homestead,  and  at  his  father's  death 
inherited  a  portion  of  the  paternal  acres.  He 
owns  forty  acres   of   tillable   land,  and   has    in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


addition  a  large  and  valuable  wood  lot.  He 
carries  on  general  farming,  making  somewhat 
a  specialty  of  dairying,  keeping  about  twenty 
cows  the  entire  year. 

Mr.  Hodges  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
in  1 848' for  Zachary  Taylor.  He  is  an  ear- 
nest advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for 
political  honors,  although  he  has  served  as 
Highway  Surveyor,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
the  jury  on  several  occasions. 


T^HARLES  WILLIAMS  HODGES, 
I  \y  real  estate  dealer  of  Foxboro,  Mass., 
^^ja  has  been   closely  identified  with  the 

business  interests  of  this  section  of 
Norfolk  County  for  forty  years,  and  has  ma- 
terially assisted  in  advancing  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  town  in  which  he  has  so  long 
resided.  He  was  born  September  12,  1823, 
on  the  same  farm  in  Norton,  Bristol  County, 
that  was  the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Williams 
Hodges. 

Concerning  his  early  ancestors  in  this  coun- 
try we  glean  a  few  particulars  from  the  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  "Genealogical  Records 
of  the  Hodges  Family  in  New  England,"  com- 
piled by  Almon  D.  Hodges,  Jr.,  published  in 
1896. 

William  Hodges  was  an  early  settler  in 
Taunton,  Mass.,  his  name  appearing  on  the 
records  in  1643.  He  married  Mary  Andrews, 
daughter  of  Henry  Andrews,  and  had  two 
sons:  John,  born  in  1650;  and  Henry,  who 
was  born  in  1652,  and  died  in  1 7 1 7,  having 
been  a  ''leading  man  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
settlement."  His  son  Joseph,  who  was  the 
first  of  the  family  to  settle  in  Norton,  living 
at  "Crooked  Meadow,"  was  a  Major  in  the  old 
French  War.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the 
siege  of  Louisburg  in  1745,  and  died  before 
he  could  reach  home.  The  Major's  eldest 
son,  Captain  Joseph,  through  whom  the  line 
was  continued,  was  born  in  17 14,  and  was 
killed  in  battle  with  the  Indians  near  Lake 
George,  N.Y. ,  in  1756.  He  left  one  son, 
Joseph  Hodges,  3d,  the  grandfather  of  Charles 
W.,  and  two  daughters  —  Miriam  and   Naomi. 

Joseph  Hodges,  3d,  was  by  occupation  a 
tiller    of    the    soil.      Inheriting    the    military 


and  patriotic  spirit  of  his  father  and  grand- 
father, he  served  long  and  bravely  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary War,  first  as  private,  then  succes- 
sively as  Sergeant,  Lieutenant,  and  Captain. 
He  lived  to  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  He  mar- 
ried Lurana  Williams,  and  had  eight  children, 
seven  of  whom  grew  to  years  of  maturity; 
namely,  Miriam,  Lurana,  Joseph,  Sophia, 
Williams,  Clarissa,  and  Nancy  —  a  son,  Sim- 
eon, having  died  in  childhood.  The  old 
homestead  on  which  they  were  brought  up  is 
still  in  the  possession  of  the  family. 

Williams  Hodges  succeeded  to  the  vocation 
in  which  he  was  reared,  being  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  farmers  and  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zens of  Norton.  He  was  very  modest  and  re- 
tiring, and,  with  the  exception  of  serving  for 
a  time  as  Selectman  and  Assessor  when  he 
was  a  young  man,  steadily  refused  public 
office.  He  married  Avis  P.  Whitmarsh,  of 
Dighton,  Mass.,  and  they  reared  seven  chil- 
dren, namely:  Charles  Williams,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Mary  Avis;  Angelia  P.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years;  Joseph 
F.  ;  Clarissa;  Emma  R. ;  and  Alfred  B. 
Mary  A.  is  the  widow  of  Augustus  Lane,  for- 
merly a  prominent  citizen  of  Norton,  and  has 
two  children —  Helen  and  Dwight  F. ;  Joseph 
F.  Hodges,  a  resident  of  Hyde  Park,  married 
Caroline  Andrews,  and  has  one  child,  George 
W. ;  Clarissa  is  the  widow  of  the  late  Ben- 
jamin Parker,  of  Norton;  Emma;  who  has 
never  married,  lives  in  Norton;  Alfred,  resid- 
ing in  Taunton,  married  Ellen  Pratt,  of  Nor- 
ton, and  has  one  child,  Bertha. 

Charles  W.  Hodges,  after  acquiring  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  district  schools  of  Norton  and 
at  the  academy  in  Seekonk,  now  East  Provi- 
dence, taught  school  four  years  in  the  towns 
of  Norton,  Taunton,  and  Attleboro.  He  was 
subsequently  employed  seven  years  in  a  store 
of  general  merchandise  in  Norton,  whence  he 
came  to  Foxboro  in  1857.  Here,  in  company 
with  his  brother,  Joseph  F.  Hodges,  he 
opened  a  furniture  and  grocery  store,  which 
they  conducted  ten  years,  when  the  firm  was 
changed,  the  business  being  carried  on  for 
nine  years  more  under  the  name  of  Hodges  & 
Messenger.  The  partnership  was  then  dis- 
solved and  the  business  divided,  Mr.  Hodges 
retaining  the  furniture  department,  to  which, 


CHARLES    W.    HODGES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


"S 


fifteen  years  later,  he  added  the  insurance 
business,  becoming  agent  for  several  com- 
panies. In  1889  he  sold  the  furniture  busi- 
ness to  his  eldest  son.  Since  that  time  he 
has  been  largely  interested  in  real  estate,  in 
which  he  has  had  many  extensive  transactions; 
and  he  has  recently  admitted  into  partnership 
one  of  his  younger  sons. 

Mr.  Hodges  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
in  1844  for  James  K.  Polk.  He  is  a  strong 
Prohibitionist  in  politics,  and  is  a  leading 
member  of  the  Good  Templars  and  of  the  Sons 
of  Temperance.  He  has  been  elected  to  all 
the  important  offices  within  the  gift  of  his 
fellow-townsmen,  having  been  Selectman,  As- 
sessor, School  Committee,  Town  Treasurer  for 
many  years,  Justice  of  the  Peace  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  in  1853  he  represented  Norton 
in  the  State  legislature.  He  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Foxboro  Savings  Bank.  He  has 
been  a  member  and  the  treasurer  of  the  local 
grange  since  its  organization. 

Mr.  Hodges  was  married  April  30,  1856,  to 
Mary  E.  Nichols,  daughter  of  Gilbert  and  Re- 
becca (Crane)  Nichols,  of  Berkeley,  Mass. 
They  have  four  children;  namely,  Charles  G., 
Mary  Avis,  Louis  Williams,  and  John  Brad- 
ford. Charles  G.  Hodges  married  Laura  L. 
Shepard,  and  has  two  children  —  Maud  A.  and 
Ruth  E.  He  is  in  the  furniture  business, 
having  succeeded  his  father,  and  is  now  Town 
Auditor  and  a  trustee  of  the  Savings  Bank. 
Louis  W.  Hodges  is  Town  Clerk  of  Foxboro, 
and  also  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  married 
Annie  A.  Wilbur,  a  daughter  of  Seth  S.  Wil- 
bur, of  this  town  ;  and  they  have  three  children 
—  Grace  Avis,  Gilbert  Williams,  and  Gene- 
vra  Wilbur. 


ANIEL  B.  WHITE,  of  Randolph,  a 
prosperous  coal  dealer  of  Randolph, 
|vSy  was  born  in  this  town,  May  27, 
1844.  His  parents  were  Solomon 
L.  and  Elizabeth  (Belcher)  White,  the  father 
being  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  the  mother  of 
Randolph,  Mass. 

Daniel  B.  White  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  at  the  Stetson  High  School. 
When  fifteen  years  old  he  entered  a  grocery 
store   as    clerk.      After    acquiring  a  thorough 


knowledge  of  the  business,  he  engaged  in  it 
for  himself,  taking  as  a  partner  Mr.  R.  W. 
Turner.  Mr.  Turner  subsequently  retiring, 
Mr.  C.  H.  Belcher  was  admitted  as  a  partner, 
the  firm  assuming  the  style  of  D.  B.  White 
&  Co.  Mr.  White  later  became  interested  in 
the  retail  coal  business  with  Mr.  Turner,  and 
selling  in  1887  his  interest  in  the  grocery 
store  to  Mr.  Belcher,  and  buying  the  interest 
of  his  partner  Turner  in  the  coal  business,  he 
has  since  carried  on  the  latter  alone.  He  is 
actively  interested  in  the  business  develop- 
ment and  general  improvement  of  the  town, 
was  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Randolph 
Power  Company,  of  which  he  is  treasurer,  is 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Water  Commis- 
sioners, and  a  trustee  of  the  Savings  Bank. 
Politically,  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  White  married  Flora  A.  Belcher, 
daughter  of  Charles  Belcher,  late  of  Ran- 
dolph, and  has  two  children:  Jennie  I'".,  wife 
of  W.  H.  Leavitt,  of  Randolph;  and  Helen 
E.,  who  resides  with  her  parents.  Mr. 
White  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Honor,  and  has  been  officially  connected  with 
the  order  in  this  town  since  its  organization. 


/jsFili 


ILMAN  B.  LOUD,  of  the  firm  R. 
\  '•>  I  Loud  &  Sons,  box  manufacturers  of 
^ —  South  Weymouth,  and  Assessor  of 
the  town,  was  born  in  Weymouth,  July  1 2, 
1839.  A  son  of  Reuben  and  Theda  (Burrell) 
Loud,  he  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  families 
in  Weymouth.  The  grandfather,  Eliphalet 
Loud,  who  was  also  born  in  Weymouth,  is 
said  to  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution; 
and.  his  son  Reuben  is  said  to  have  been  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  181  2.  Reuben,  born  in 
1798,  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  In 
early  life  he  was  in  the  grain  business  and  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Joseph  Loud  &  Co. 
Subsequently  he  started  a  planing-mill  and 
box  factory,  which  was  conducted  under  the 
style  of  Reuben  Loud  &  Son.  He  became  an 
extensive  land-owner,  and  was  a  well-known 
man  in  Weymouth  in  his  day.  His  living 
children  are:  Reuben,  Richard,  Mary,  Francis 
P.,  Oilman  B.,  and  Maria  J. 

Gilman  B.  Loud  grew  to  manhood    in    Wey- 
mouth, obtaining  his  education    in    the   public 


!l6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


schools.  When  about  fourteen  years  old  he 
began  working  in  his  father's  planing-mill 
and  box  factory.  In  July,  1861,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Reuben  Loud  &  Sons, 
with  which  he  has  been  since  identified.  He 
married  Lydia  M.  Shaw,  of  Weymouth,  daugh- 
ter of  George  W.  Shaw.  Nine  children  have 
been  born  of  the  marriage;  namely,  Emily  T. , 
George  G. ,  Wilton  A.,  Frank  E.,  R.  Cady, 
Chester  S.,  Lina  M. ,  Merton  S. ,  and  Jessie  S. 
Mr.  Loud  has  taken  an  active  part  in  poli- 
tics in  Weymouth.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Republican  Town  Committee  for  some  twenty 
years.  For  a  year  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  and  he  has  served  five 
years  as  Assessor  of  Taxes.  A  member  of  the 
Old  South  Congregational  Church  at  South 
Weymouth  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  has 
been  a  chorister  therein,  the  treasurer  of  the 
society,  and  one  of  its  Deacons  for  the  past 
fifteen  years.  His  large  circle  of  business 
acquaintances  have  the  fullest  confidence  in 
his  integrity.  Promptness  and  fair  dealing 
are  the  characteristics  of  his  business  rela- 
tions. 


(£>r"LBERT  J.  DANIELS,  one  of  the  lead- 
j^\  ing  farmers  of  Foxboro,  was  born 
/j[\  where  he  now  resides,  October  13, 
— "  1846,  son  of  Lewis  G.  and  Sarah 
A.  (Perrigo)  Daniels.  His  great-grandfather, 
Francis  Daniels,  who  was  a  native  of  Nor- 
mandy, France,  emigrated  to  America,  and 
settled  in  Foxboro  in  1749.  Francis  Daniels 
located  upon  wild  land,  which  he  cleared  for 
agricultural  purposes,  erecting  thereon  a  frame 
house;  and  before  his  death  he  had  improved 
sixty  acres  of  tillage  land.  He  married 
Keziah  Rockwood.  His  daughters,  Margaret 
and  Mary,  became  the  first  and  second  wives 
respectively  of  Ezra  Carpenter,  one  of  the 
leading  residents  of  Foxboro  in  his  day,  con- 
cerning whom  further  information  may  be 
found  in  the  sketch  of  E.  P.  Carpenter,  which 
appears  elsewhere  in  the  Review.  Anna 
Daniels,  another  daughter  of  Francis,  mar- 
ried for  her  first  husband  Nehemiah  Carpen- 
ter,  and  for  her  second,  Stephen  Rhodes. 

James    Daniels,    grandfather    of    Albert   J., 
was  born  on  the  homestead  in  1761.      He  suc- 


ceeded to  its  ownership,  and  resided  there 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1849.  He 
married  for  his  first  wife  Naamah  Guild,  and 
for  his  second,  Elizabeth  Gay,  and  reared  the 
following  children:  Jemima,  Chloe,  James, 
and  Tryphena  by  his  first  marriage;  and  Eliz- 
abeth, Lewis  G.,  and  Anna  by  his  second. 

Lewis  G.  Daniels,  Albert  J.  Daniels's 
father,  was  born  and  reared  upon  the  home 
farm,  which  he  inherited  in  turn;  and  during 
his  life  he  added  many  acres  to  the  property. 
He  also  improved  the  house,  and  displayed 
much  energy  in  the  management  of  the  prop- 
erty. He  died  in  the  spring  of  1896,  aged 
eighty-six  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Sarah  A.  Perrigo,  became  the 
mother  of  three  children  —  Lewis  S.,  John  F., 
and  Albert  J.  Lewis  S.,  who  is  a  travelling 
man,  and  resides  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  married 
Lillian  E.  Carroll,  and  has  one  son,  Harry 
C. ,  born  September  14,  1S74.  John  F.,  who 
resides  in  Central  City,  Col.,  wedded  Martha 
Boomer,  and  his  children  are:  Albert  J., 
born  July  25,  1870;  and  Susan  M.,  born  July 
1,   1876. 

Albert  J.  Daniels  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  Foxboro.  When  a 
young  man  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade, 
which  he  followed  as  a  journeyman  in  this 
town,  and  also  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  until  1871, 
when  he  returned  to  the  homestead,  and  has 
since  been  engaged  in  general  farming. 

On  November  29,  1883,  Mr.  Daniels  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Eliza  A.  Morse, 
daughter  of  Newell  Morse;  and  for  an  account 
of  her  family  and  ancestors  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  a  sketch  of  Charles  N.  Morse,  which 
also  may  be  found  upon  another  page  of  this 
work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniels  have  four  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Francis  Newell,  Marion 
Winifred,  Laura  Antoinette,  and  Bertha 
Alice. 

Politically,  Mr.  Daniels  is  a  Republican; 
and  his  first  Presidential  vote  was  cast  for 
General  Ulysses  S.  Grant  in  1868.  He  has 
rendered  able  services  to  the  town  as  an  As- 
sessor for  eight  years  and  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  for  two  years.  He  and 
Mrs.  Daniels  are  members  of  Foxboro  Grange, 
No.  193,  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  in  which  he 
was  lecturer  three  years.     Four  generations  of 


MARSHALL    L.    PERRIN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


"9 


the  family  have  occupied  the  farm,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  the  house  built  by  his 
great-grandfather  has  been  remodelled  or  en- 
larged by  each  succeeding  generation. 


who  came  to  this  country  from  London  in 
1635,  and  with  others  founded  the  town  of 
Rehoboth,  was  his  paternal  ancestor;  while  his 
mother's  family  descended  from  Gregory 
Stone,  who  came  here  from  England  in  1634. 
Noah  Perrin,  his  father,  one  of  Boston's 
wholesale  merchants  fifty  years  ago,  was  a 
prominent  Methodist.  His  mother,  Philenia 
Winship  Stone  Perrin,  was  daughter  of  Cap- 
tain P.  R.  L.  Stone,  in  the  line  of  the  early 
Unitarian  settlers  of  Cambridge,  Mount  Au- 
burn being  formerly  called  "Stone's  Woods." 

Marshall  Livingston  Perrin  received  his 
schooling  in  Grantville,  and  was  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Needham  High 
School,  West  Division,  which  was  held  alter- 
nately by  years  in  Maugus  and  in  Waban 
Halls.  He  went  from  there  to  Harvard  Col- 
lege, entering  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  graduating  in  the  class  of  1874,  be- 
fore he  was  nineteen,  the  youngest  in  his 
class.  Immediately  afterward  he  was  ap- 
pointed secretary  of  an  expedition  of  the 
United  States  Fish  Commission  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  travelled  extensively  in  the  unset- 
tled portions  of  the  West.  During  this  time, 
while  living  among  the  McCloud  River  Ind- 
ians near  Mount  Shasta,  he  was  bitten,  pre- 
sumably by  a  tarantula,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  barely  recovered.  On  returning 
East,  he  pursued  post-graduate  studies  in 
science  at  Harvard  University,  receiving  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1876.  For  a 
number  of  years  he  was  afterward  connected 
with  Mr.  Stone's  private  school  for  boys,  now 
located  on  Chestnut  Street. 

In  1 88 1,  when  Wellesley  was  incorporated, 
Mr.  Perrin  was  chosen  by  the  citizens  of  the 
new  town  one  of  the  first  broad  of  School 
Committee.      About  this  time,  after  recover- 


ing from  pneumonia,  he  made  several  trips 
upon  the  Western  Ocean,  frequently  on  sail- 
ing-vessels, doing  his  share  of  the  work,  and 
one  summer  cruising  among  the  whalers  of  the 
North  with  supplies  from  Newfoundland. 

Leaving  home  in  the  autumn  of  1S83,  Mr. 
Perrin  spent  five  or  six  years  in  travel  and 
study,  becoming  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  various  phases  of  life  in  the  countries  of 
modern  Europe.  During  this  time  he  was 
connected  with  the  German  universities  in 
the  capacity  of  student  or  instructor,  being 
appointed  by  the  Prussian  government  for 
three  years  to  the  position  of  Lektor  of  the 
English  language  at  the  University  of  Gottin- 
gen.  At  this  university  he  passed  his  doc- 
tor's examination  in  1889.  He  had  already 
been  elected  to  the  head  of  the  department 
of  Teutonic  languages  in  Boston  University, 
which  position  he  still  holds,  having  been 
made  full  professor  in  1892. 

Since  1893  Mr.  Perrin  has  also  filled  the 
office  of  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  his  na- 
tive town,  where  the  condition  and  reputation 
of  the  schools  attest  his  efficiency. 

Mr.  Perrin's  literary  work  has  been  varied, 
including  educational  articles,  an  algebra 
drill  book,  the  translation  of  the  ponderous 
volumes  of  Von  Sybel's  "Founding  of  the 
German  Empire,"  and  a  commentary  in  Ger- 
man upon  an  ancient  Middle  English  Chron- 
icle in  manuscript,  upon  which  Mr.  Perrin 
spent  a  good  deal  of  learned  research  in  the 
libraries  of  the  Old  World.  Mr.  Perrin  has 
also  been  active  in  Masonic  circles,  and  is 
to-day  Master  of  Meridian  Lodge,  situated  at 
Natick.  Withal,  Mr.  Perrin  is  one  of  the 
busiest  men  in  town,  though  he  never  seems 
to  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  stop  for  a 
genial  chat.  From  the  delicate  and  weakly 
child  of  whicli  the  old  residents  tell  us,  one 
could  scarcely  recognize  the  robust  and 
healthy  figure  of  to-day. 

Mr.  Perrin  married  February  23,  1889, 
Mary  Josephine  Williams,  daughter  of  George 
B.  Williams,  of  Maple  Grove  Farm,  Walpole, 
N.H.,  a  lady  of  rare  accomplishments  and  re- 
finement. Very  soon  after  the  birth  of  their 
boy,  Harold  Livingston,  who  still  survives, 
la  grippe  first  raged,  and  numbered  the  young 
wife  among    its  victims.      Mr.  Perrin   has   not 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


since  married.      He   lives  with  his  mother  on 
the    homestead. 


(Ww 


EORGE  W.  PORTER,  a  leading  mu- 
\  '*)  I  sician  of  Avon,  and  lately  Repre- 
^—  sentative  to  the  legislature  from  the 

Seventh  Norfolk  District,  was  born  in  East 
Stoughton  (now  Avon),  January  30,  1843,  son 
of  Ahira  and  Rachel  D.  (Swan)  Porter.  The 
Porter  family  is  of  English  origin,  and  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  is  of  the  fifth  generation 
in  this  country.  His  grandfather  was  Colonel 
Cyrus  Porter,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Avon. 
Ahira  Porter,  the  father,  was  born  in  this 
town,  and  worked  in  the  boot  and  shoe  shops 
here  for  a  number  of  years.  An  accomplished 
musician,  he  taught  singing-school  in  East 
Stoughton  and  neighboring  towns.  His  death 
occurred  in  1863.  His  wife,  a  native  of 
Stoughton,  died  in  1861.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  six  children  —  Ahira  S.,  Rachel  D., 
William,  Samuel,  James,  and  George  W. 

George  W.  Porter  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Avon.  When  he  was 
about  eighteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  work 
in  a  shoe  shop;  and  for  twenty  years  he  was 
employed  in  boot  and  shoe  manufactories  in 
this  town,  most  of  the  time  as  a  cutter.  A 
natural  and  trained  musician,  he  has  been 
manager  and  director  of  the  well-known 
Porter's  Orchestra  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
This  orchestra  was  organized  by  his  oldest 
brother,  Ahira  S.  Porter  (now  deceased),  and 
is  one  of  the  best  musical  organizations  of  the 
kind  in  this  part  of  the  State.  For  the  past 
ten  years  Mr.  Porter  has  devoted  practically 
all  his  time  to  the  interests  of  the  orchestra, 
which  has  filled  engagements  in  many  differ- 
ent towns  throughout  Eastern  Massachusetts. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Stoughton  Musical 
Society. 

In  1866  Mr.  Porter  was  married  to  Ellen 
E.,  daughter  of  William  H.  Tucker,  of  Avon. 
Mr.  Porter  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  During  the  session  of  1 895— 
96  he  represented  this  district  in  the  State 
legislature;  and  he  has  been  chairman  of  the 
Avon  Republican  Committee  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  has  served  as  Selectman  for  the 
past  three  years. 


REDERICK  E.  ROBINSON,  a  pros- 
perous shoe  merchant  of  Dedham, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1854,  son  of  Samuel  and  Deborah 
Cutting  (Upton)  Robinson. 

Elijah  Robinson,  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  Frederick  E.,  was  a  son  of  Jabez  Robinson, 
who  was  born  in  England,  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica about  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
He,  Jabez,  served  as  a  private  in  the  War  of 
18 1 2.  Elijah  Robinson  was  borrr  in  Litch- 
field, Me.,  which  was  likewise  the  birthplace 
of  his  son  Samuel.  The  latter,  who  is  now 
eighty-five  years  old,  followed  farming  during 
his  active  career,  and  also  did  contract  work, 
giving  employment  to  a  large  number  of  men. 
His  wife,  Deborah,  was  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Deborah  (Cutting)  Upton.  Her  maternal 
grandfather,  Earl  Cutting,  was  an  American 
patriot,  who  fought  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Samuel  and  Deborah  Robinson  became 
the  parents  of  six  children;  namely,  Esther 
and  Melissa  (who  died  young),  Samuel 
Francis,  Theodore  Edgar,  Melissa  Deborah, 
and  Frederick  E. 

Frederick  E.  Robinson  spent  the  early  years 
of  his  life  in  Dedham,  and  acquired  his  school 
education  in  the  grammar  and  high  schools. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  store 
of  Andrew  Wiggin  as  clerk,  and  here  gained 
his  first  knowledge  of  the  shoe  business. 
Subsequently  he  became  a  salesman  for  W.  H. 
Pierson  on  Temple  Place,  Boston,  and  still 
later  office  clerk  in  a  Lynn  establishment.  In 
1887  he  returned  to  Dedham,  and  went  into 
the  boot  and  shoe  business  for  himself.  He 
has  been  very  successful,  and  now  enjoys  the 
largest  trade  in  his  line  in  this  town.  Mr. 
Robinson  is  unmarried.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican.  He  attends  the  Congregational 
church. 


WITHIN  BROTHERS,  comprising 
John  and  Thomas  Swithin,  granite 
dealers  of  Ouincy,  were  born  Octo- 
ber 2,  1854,  sons  of  Thomas 
The  parents,  both  of  whom  were 
born  in  Scotland,  came  to  this  country  in 
1852,  settling  in  Ouincy.  The  father  was 
successfully  engaged   in    the  granite  business 


Swithin. 


CHARLES    L.    BADGER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


223 


here,  which  included  quarrying,  building, 
paving,  and  monumental  work  by  contract  and 
otherwise,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
belonged  to  Suffolk  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of 
Boston,  and  to  the  Scotch  Charitable  Society. 

John  and  Thomas  Swithin  were  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Quincy  and  at  Miss  *Sa- 
vi lie's  private  school.  Both  served  an  appren- 
ticeship at  the  stone-cutter's  trade,  and  subse- 
quently worked  at  it  for  wages  until  1887. 
Then  they  started  their  present  thriving  busi- 
ness, under  the  firm  name  of  Swithin  Brothers. 

They  make  a  specialty  of  fine  monumental 
and  statuary  work.  While  their  business  is 
exclusively  of  a  retail  character,  it  is  large; 
and  they  keep  a  number  of  agents  on  the 
road.  The  brothers  are  stockholders  of  the 
Lyons  Granite  Company,  while  John  is  one 
of  its  directors.  Both  are  directors  of  the 
Blue  Hill  Granite  Company;  and  they  are 
stockholders  of  the  Quincy  Quarry  Company, 
of  which  John  was  a  promoter  and  is  now  a 
director.  They  are  also  in  the  real  estate 
business,  keeping  an  office  therefor  in  Durgin 
&  Merrill's  Block,  and  owning  property  in 
various  parts  of  the  city.  John  Swithin  is  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Granite  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Quincy; 
the  president  of  the  Quincy  Shoe  Company; 
and  a  trustee  of  the  President's  Hill,  Presi- 
dent's Hill  Annex,  and  the  Cranch  Hill  Real 
Estate  Trusts. 

Both  John  and  Thomas  Swithin  are  mem- 
bers of  Mount  Wollaston  Lodge,  No.  80, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  and  of  Manet  Encampment. 
John  was  elected  to  the  City  Council  from 
Ward  One  in  1S96,  and  served  on  the  Com- 
mittee of  Streets,  Ways,  Bridges,  and  Lights, 
and  on  that  of  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds. 
Both  brothers  attend  the  Episcopal  church. 


EUTHER  O.  CROCKER,  a  prosperous 
manufacturer  of  Braintree,  was  born 
in  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  December, 
1857,  son  of  Luther  O.  and  Olive 
M.  Crocker.  He  is  of  English  descent,  and 
his  paternal  grandfather  was  Luther  H. 
Crocker.  Luther  O.  Crocker,  the  father,  was 
a  native  of  West  Dedham,  and  a  machinist  and 
mechanical  engineer  by  trade,  which    in   early 


life  he  followed  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio.  Though  of  limited  education, 
not  having  enjoyed  the  opportunities  within 
the  reach  of  the  young  men  of  this  generation, 
yet  he  improved  those  he  had,  and  became  ex- 
pert in  his  calling  and  successful  in  business. 
He  was  the  inventor  of  fancy  and  complicated 
dies  used  in  the  manufacture  of  ticket  punches, 
and  established  the  manufactory  now  carried 
on  in  East  Braintree  by  his  son.  He  was  a 
Republican  politically,  and  was  interested  in 
all  public  improvements  within  the  limits  of 
his  town  and  county.  He  attended  the  Union 
Congregational  Church  of  Weymouth  and 
Braintree,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order.  He  died  in  April,  1895,  leaving  two 
children  —  Oscar  M.  and  Luther  O.  His 
widow  survives,  and  resides  with  her  younger 
son. 

Until  fifteen  years  of  age  Luther  O. 
Crocker,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch, 
attended  school  in  East  Braintree.  LIpon 
finishing  his  studies,  he  entered  his  father's 
factory  to  learn  the  art  of  manufacturing  rail- 
road punches.  After  his  father's  death  he 
assumed  entire  management  of  the  business, 
and  he  has  since  maintained  the  high  reputa- 
tion of  the  firm  for  reliable  work.  Mr. 
Crocker  married  Jennie  Pratt,  by  whom  he  has 
three  children  —  Fred  M.,  Edith  O.,  and 
Olive.  Following  his  father's  example,  he  is 
a  Republican  in  politics.  Fraternally,  he  be- 
longs to  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 


HARLES  LOUIS  BADGER,  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  Badger 
^  Brothers,  granite  dealers  and  ma- 
chinists at  West  Quincy,  is  one  of 
the  oldest  and  best  known  quarrymen  of  this 
vicinity.  He  was  born  August  17,  1820,  in 
Bow,  N. H.,  son  of  Ezra  Badger.  The  grand- 
father, Jacob  Badger,  resided  in  Concord, 
N.H.,  his  native  town,  throughout  the  larger 
part  of  his  long  and  busy  life  of  fourscore 
years.  The  other  part  was  spent  in  Old 
Town,  Me.,  where  he  was  in  business.  A 
blacksmith  by  trade,  he  was  a  very  skilful 
and  ingenious  workman,  and  sometimes  made 
traps,  knives,  and  other  useful  articles  for  the 
Indians. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Ezra  Badger,  born  June  9,  1798,  was  reared 
in  Concord,  which  was  also  his  native  town. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  a  quarryman  when 
young,  and  started  in  business  on  his  own  ac- 
count in  the  neighboring  town  of  Hooksett. 
Here  he  quarried  about  one-half  of  the  granite 
used  in  the  construction  of  Ouincy  Market  in 
Boston.  This  brought  him  into  prominence; 
and  a  visit  from  Thomas  Hollis,  of  Milton, 
Mass.,  induced  him  to  give  up  his  busi- 
ness in  Hooksett,  and  come  to  Ouincy  as 
superintendent  of  his  quarries.  When  the 
Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  was 
formed,  he  was  chosen  by  the  committee  to 
superintend  the  quarrying  of  the  granite  to  be 
used  in  erecting  the  monument;  and  with 
Solomon  Willard,  its  architect,  he  selected 
the  Quincy  quarry  from  which  the  first  granite 
used  in  its  construction  was  taken.  Begin- 
ning in  1847,  ne  carried  on  business  in 
Ouincy  until  about  1S55,  when  he  sold  out, 
and  retired.  During  the  Civil  War  he  en- 
listed as  a  wagoner  in  the  Thirty-third  Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
died  while  in  the  army.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Jacksonian  Democrat  during  his  younger  days. 
Afterward  he  became  successively  a  Whig 
and  a  Republican.  He  married  Sophia 
White,  a  daughter  of  James  White,  of  Bow, 
N.  H.,  and  by  her  became  the  father  of  eight 
children,  namely:  Charles  Louis  and  Maria 
L. ;  Mary  A.,  the  wife  of  Alonzo  G.  Davis, 
of  this  city;  Charlotte  S.  J.;  Leon  C,  de- 
ceased, who  served  in  the  Rebellion  as  a  pri- 
vate in  the  Twenty-second  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity:  Frank  C,  of  Kinsley, 
Kan.  :  Hannah  Porter,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
seven  years;  and  Clara  O.,  who  lived  but 
three  years.  Both  parents  attended  the  Con- 
gregational  church. 

Charles  Louis  Badger  was  eight  years  old 
when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Ouincy. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  when  he  had  ac- 
quired the  usual  common -school  education,  he 
became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Solomon  Wil- 
lard, an  architect.  During  five  of  the  seven 
years  he  spent  in  this  employment,  he  devoted 
his  evenings  to  study,  and  gave  one  winter  at 
the  University  of  Norwich,  Vt.,  perfecting 
himself   in   mathematics.     After  leaving  Mr. 


Willard,  he  joined  the  J.  B.  Whicher  Granite 
Company.  Withdrawing  from  it  in  1847,  ne 
passed  the  next  two  years  travelling  through 
New  England,  engaged  in  railway  work.  On 
November  11,  1849,  ne  sailed  for  California 
by  Cape  Horn,  spending  six  months  on  the 
way.  On  arriving  at  San  Francisco,  he  went 
directly  to  the  gold  mines  on  the  Tolumne 
River.  Not  meeting  here  with  the  success 
that  he  had  anticipated,  he  returned  to  Massa- 
chusetts in  the  spring  of  1852  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus.  Very  soon  after,  he  started  in  the 
granite  business  in  company  with  his  father, 
his  brother  Leon  C,  and  his  brother-in-law, 
A.  G.  Davis,  under  the  name  of  E.  Badger  & 
Sons.  In  a  few  months  the  brother  Leon  and 
Mr.  Davis  withdrew  from  the  firm,  but  the  two 
remaining  partners  continued  in  the  business 
until  1855.  Mr.  Badger  and  his  brother, 
Leon  C.  Badger,  then  established  the  present 
firm  of  the  Badger  Brothers.  They  first 
worked  the  quarry  from  which  was  taken  the 
granite  used  in  building  the  New  York  Ex- 
change in  1835.  In  1868  they  purchased 
their  present  quarry,  one  of  the  largest  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  have  since  been  num- 
bered among  the  most  extensive  and  prosper- 
ous granite  dealers.  They  employ  an  average 
of  one  hundred  men,  including  several  skilled 
machinists  for  a  branch  of  their  business  that 
they  have  carried  on  since  the  firm  was  incor- 
porated. Leon  C.  Badger  died  in  or  about  the 
year  1888,  leaving  three  children — George 
L.,  Frederick  L.,  and  Margaret  M.  In  1863 
Mr.  Badger  admitted  to  partnership  these  two 
nephews  and  two  sons. 

On  August  10,  1852,  Mr.  Badger  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  C,  daughter  of  William  Love- 
land,  of  Norwich,  Vt.  She  bore  him  four 
children,  namely:  William  E.,  now  at  the 
head  of  the  firm  of  Badger  Brothers:  Clara 
E. ,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years; 
Charles  F.,  who  died  in  March,  1896;  and 
Mary  L.,  also  deceased.  Mr.  Badger's  first 
wife  died  in  April,  1870;  and  he  subsequently 
married  Annie  W.  French,  a  daughter  of 
Adam  and  Sally  (Allen)  French.  The  pres- 
ent Mrs.  Badger  is  a  direct  descendant  of  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullins.  Her  only  child, 
Henry  L.,  died  in  infancy.  Soon  after  that 
event    Mr.  and    Mrs.    Badger  adopted    a   little 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


!2S 


boy,  Russell  W.  Badger,  to  whom  they  are 
giving  the  same  advantages  and  care  as  they 
would  to  one  of  their  own  blood.  In  politics 
Mr.  Badger  is  a  strong  Republican;  and  he  is 
a  member  of  Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Bethany  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Mrs.  Badger  is  a  Deaconess 
of  the  same  church  and  the  president  of  the 
Bethany  Ladies'  Circle  connected  therewith. 


»' 


WALES  BAKER,  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Selectmen  of  Ran- 
dolph and  formerly  Postmaster, 
was  born  in  this  town,  November 
18,  1843,  son  of  Minot  and  Fanny  (White) 
Baker.  His  father  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire;  and  his  mother,  who  was  born  in 
what  is  now  Brookville,  Mass.,  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Peregrine  White,  the  first  white  child 
born  in  New  England  after  the  landing  of  the 
"Mayflower"  Pilgrims.  Minot  Baker  fol- 
lowed the  shoemaker's  trade  in  Randolph,  and 
was  a  well-known  and  respected  citizen-.  His 
death  occurred  in  1862. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in 
the  common  and  high  schools  of  Randolph, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  began  to  learn 
the  tinsmith's  trade,  serving  an  apprentice- 
ship of  four  years.  After  working  as  a  jour- 
neyman in  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  a  year,  he  re- 
turned to  Randolph,  where  he  engaged  in 
business  for  himself,  first  alone  and  later  be- 
coming associated  with  G.  F.  Thayer.  The 
firm  of  Baker  &  Thayer  continued  in  business 
until  1873,  when  they  sold  out  to  Charles  A. 
Wales,  Mr.  Baker  remaining  with  the  new 
proprietor  until  1888.  For  a  short  time  he 
was  employed  at  his  trade  in  North  Easton, 
Mass.  In  June,  1890,  he  was  appointed  Post- 
master at  Randolph  by  President  Harrison, 
and  held  office  until  May  15,  1895,  since 
which  time  he  has  carried  on  the  tinware  busi- 
ness here. 

Mr.  Baker  married  Emma  A.  Fritts,  of 
Randolph,  and  has  a  family  of  seven  children; 
namely,  Alice  W.,  M.  Everett,  Florence  L., 
Cora  A.,  Arthur  C,  Norman  F.,  and 
Ernest  R. 

Politically,  Mr.  Baker  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  served  as  a  Selectman  since  March,  1897. 


He  is  a  Dictator  of  the  Knights  of  Honor, 
and  permanent  secretary  of  Rising  Star 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  chaplain  of  Pilgrim 
Lodge,  No.  14,  New  England  Order  of  Protec- 
tion; a  member  of  Maple  Lodge,  No.  313, 
Knights  and  Ladies  of  Honor,  of  Ouincy, 
Mass. ;  and  Orator  of  Randolph  Lodge,  No.  7, 
American  Benefit  Society.  He  is  an  earnest 
advocate  of  the  temperance  cause.  As  an  ac- 
tive member  of  the  Congregational  church  he 
takes  a  deep  interest  in  religious  work,  serv- 
ing as  assessor  and  collector  of  the  parish, 
treasurer  of  the  church,  and  superintendent  of 
the  Sabbath-school. 


LLIS  J.  PITCHER,  a  leading  grocer 
and  business  man  of  South  Weymouth, 
;  a  native  of  Belfast,  Me.,  born 
April  30,  1840,  son  of  Calvin  and  Joanna 
(Prescott)  Pitcher.  The  father  was  a  native 
of  Stoddard,  N.H.,  and  served  as  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  1812.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  at- 
tended the  district  schools  during  the  winters. 
When  eighteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  sea, 
and  spent  ten  years  in  foreign  trade,  serving 
both  before  the  mast  and  as  officer.  Soon 
after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  he  returned 
home  ;  and  after  a  brief  visit  to  his  native  place 
he  established  himself  in  the  grocery  business 
at  West  Medford,  Mass.  After  being  thus 
engaged  for  some  time,  he  made  one  more  sea 
voyage,  on  his  return  taking  up  his  residence 
in  Everett,  Mass.,  where  also  he  engaged  in 
the  grocery  business.  In  1872  he  came  to 
South  Weymouth,  and  opened  a  grocery  store, 
in  which  he  has  been  very  successful.  Mr. 
Pitcher  married  Mary  G.  Allen,  of  Hillsboro, 
N.H.,  by  whom  he  has  three  children  — 
George  E.,  Florence  M.,  and  Eloise  A.  He 
is  a  member  of  Wildey  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
at  South  Weymouth,  and  has  been  its  treas- 
urer since  1885;  and  is  a  member  of  the 
U.  O.  G.  C,  of  which  society  he  has  been 
treasurer  since  its  organization  in  1880.  He- 
is  a  trustee  of  the  South  Weymouth  Savings 
Bank,  a  director  in  the  Weymouth  Agricult- 
ural and  Industrial  Society,  and  a  director  in 
Odd  Fellows  Hall  Association.  He  was  an 
incorporator  of  the  Co-operative  Bank,  and  has 


±26 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


been  its  treasurer  since  its  incorporation. 
Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  capably 
served  the  town  of  Weymouth  as  Auditor. 


RTHUR  WHITAKER,  an  enterpris- 
ing farmer  and  milk  dealer  of  Need- 
ham,  Mass.,  was  born  in  South- 
bridge,  Mass.,  in  1859,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Harriet  A.  (Mason)  Whitaker. 
The  lather,  Thomas  Whitaker,  who  was  born 
in  England,  came  to  this  country  in  1S38. 
He  went  first  to  Southbridge,  but  removed  to 
Needham  in  1866,  where  he  took  an  active 
part  in  politics,  and  was  also  an  ardent  tem- 
perance worker.  His  death  occurred  in  1882. 
He  married  Harriet  A.,  daughter  of  Abel 
Mason,  of  Southbridge,  but  formerly  of  Med- 
field.  Mrs.  Thomas  Whitaker  was  a  member 
of  the  old  Massachusetts  family  of  Masons. 
Her  grandfather  served  with  the  rank  of  Cap- 
tain in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  pres- 
ent at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne. 

Arthur  Whitaker  came  to  Needham  with  his 
parents  when  he  was  seven  years  of  age,  and 
received  his  elementary  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  this  town.  He  was  graduated 
at  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  at 
Amherst  in  1881,  and  then,  returning  to 
Needham,  engaged  in  his  present  business. 
He  lias  a  farm  of  fifty  acres,  and  keeps  forty 
cows,  supplying  four  hundred  families  with 
milk.  He  also  makes  a  specialty  of  market 
gardening,  and  grows  large  quantities  of  sweet 
corn  for  the  Boston  market,  being  probably 
the  largest  raiser  of  sweet  corn  in  Massachu- 
setts. Mr.  Whitaker  personally  supervises 
every  department  of  his  growing  business, 
which  he  conducts  according  to  the  most 
scientific  methods.  The  degree  of  success 
which  he  has  attained  is  a  strong  argument  in 
favor  of  scientific  agriculture.  Mr.  Whitaker 
was  elected  Selectman  in  1886,  when  he  was 
but  twenty-seven  years  of  age:  and  lie  served 
for  seven  years,  during  three  of  which  he  was 
chairman  of  the  board.  He  had  previously 
been  elected  Assessor.  He  is  now  serving  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican. He  is  a  member  of  the  Norfolk 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  of  Eliot  Lodge,  No.  58, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  which  he  is  a  Past  Grand;  and 


of  the  Needham  Lodge  of  A.  O.  U.  W.  He 
also  takes  a  great  interest  in  athletics,  and  is 
a  member  ot  the  Needham  Bicycle  Club,  and 
vice-president  of  the  Newton  Bicycle  Club. 

On  October  30,  1897,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Christine  Wenzel,  daughter  of  Iwan  P. 
Wenzel,  a  prominent  instructor  of  music  in 
Boston. 


7TAHARLES  A.  GROSS,  a  prominent 
I  V'  merchant  of  Cohasset,  and  a  veteran 
^U  _,  of  the  Civil  War,  was  born  in  Dux- 
bury,  Mass.,  June  25,  1832,  son  of 
Jonathan  Y.  and  Cynthia  (Willard)  Gross. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  Massachusetts, 
and  his  father  was  a  carpenter  by  trade.  He 
acquired  his  education  in  the  common  schools 
and  an  academy  of  his  native  town,  where  he 
resided  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He 
then  settled  in  Cohasset,  and  was  for  some 
time  messenger  for  Beals's  Cohasset  &  Boston 
Express.  Enlisting  as  a  private  in  Company 
A,  Forty-fifth  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteers, he  served  one  year  in  the  Rebellion, 
participating  in  the  battles  of  Goldsboro, 
Kingston,  and  others.  After  his  return  home 
he  resumed  his  former  occupation,  but  subse- 
quently established  himself  in  mercantile 
business,  in  which  he  continued  alone  for  sev- 
eral years.  He  finally  became  associated, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Gross  &  Nichols,  with 
Mr.  James  H.  Nichols,  his  present  partner. 
The  firm  do  a  large  retail  business  in  gen- 
eral merchandise,  and  their  methods  are  such 
as  to  gain  the  confidence  of  their  numerous 
patrons.  Mr.  Gross  is  also  president  of  the 
Cohasset  Water  Company,  and  is  interested 
generally  in  public  improvements.  He  is  a 
Republican  politically,  and  served  as  Post- 
master of  Cohasset  for  eighteen  years.  He  is 
a  Past  Master  of  Konohasset  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  belongs  to  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  and  has  been  Commander  of 
Henry  Bryant  Post,  No.  98,  G.  A.  R.,  for  a 
number  of  years. 

Mr.  Gioss's  present  wile  was  before  mar- 
riage Mary  T.  L.  Lothrop,  daughter  of  John 
O.  A.  Lothrop,  further  reference  to  whom  may 
be  found  in  the  sketch  of  Caleb  Lothrop, 
which  appears  on  another  page  of  the  Review. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


229 


Mr.  Gross  has  three  daughters  —  Mrs.  Caleb 
Lothrop,  Laura  A.  Gross,  and  Mrs.  Harry  \V. 
Parker,  of  Cohasset. 


ABNER  B.  PACKARD, 
icy,  a  manufacturer  of  electro- 
stereotype,  and  linotype 
metal,  a  refiner  of  dross,  and  a 
dealer  in  lead,  spelter,  antimony,  and  tin,  is 
a  pioneer  in  his  line  of  industry,  and  the 
founder  of  an  extensive  and  profitable  busi- 
ness. He  was  born  in  this  town,  November 
21,  [821,  a  son  of  William  and  Lucy  (Turner) 
Packard.  The  father  was  one  of  the  leading 
quarrymen  of  Ouincy.  By  his  wife,  who  was 
a  native  of  Ouincy,  he  became  the  father  of 
seventeen  children,  of  whom  eleven  grew  to 
maturity.  These  were:  Lucy  Ann,  who  is 
the  widow  of  the  late  Dr.  George  Newcomb,  of 
this  city;  Rosamond,  deceased;  Margaret, 
now  deceased,  who  married  Thomas  White, 
also  deceased;  Lydia,  deceased,  who  was  the 
wife  of  the  late  Francis  Saville;  William  H., 
of  whom  there  is  no  special  record;  Elisha, 
deceased;  Emily,  deceased,  who  was  the  wife 
of  the  late  Charles  Marsh;  Louisa,  now  Mrs. 
Stowe;  Colonel  Abner  B.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Abigail,  the  wife  of  Andrew  J.  Dun- 
bar; and  Sarah,  the  widow  of  the  late  Joseph 
Franklin  Burrell.  Both  parents  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  the  father 
was  a  Deacon  of  the  society  for  many  years. 

Abner  B.  Packard,  having  completed  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  Ouincy  public  schools,  went  to 
Boston,  where  he  was  employed  as  clerk  in  a 
store  for  two  or  three  years.  He  was  subse- 
quently engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  with 
his  brother  for  a  few  years,  and  then  started  in 
his  present  business,  beginning  in  a  small  way 
as  a  dealer  in  metals.  With  a  team  he  first  went 
through  the  country  districts  purchasing  lead 
until  his  money  was  exhausted.  Then,  return- 
ing with  about  a  thousand  pounds  of  the  metal, 
he  unloaded  it  in  a  corner,  mentally  wondering 
how  he  was  ever  to  get  his  money  back.  One 
day  subsequently,  while  passing  through 
Washington  Street,  Boston,  he  saw  something 
lying  in  a  hallway  that  looked  like  lead;  and, 
climbing  several  flights  of  narrow  stairs,  he 
found    himself    in    the     old    Dickinson    Type 


Foundry.  Here  he  inquired  if  they  wanted 
to  buy  any  lead,  and,  receiving  an  affirmative 
answer,  returned  to  Ouincy,  ran  the  lead  he- 
had  on  hand  in  an  old  pan,  and  forwarded  it 
to  the  foundry.  This  transaction  proved  so 
profitable  that  he  continued  in  the  business, 
and  soon  had  among  his  regular  customers  two 
other  type  foundries  and  two  lead-pipe  fac- 
tories. Afterward  he  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  type  metal,  and  has  since  supplied 
the  offices  of  the  New  York  Woild,  Press,  and 
News,  and  furnishes  nearly  all  the  stereotype 
material  for  the  New  England  trade,  handling 
over  six  hundred  tons  of  type  metal  annually. 
Colonel  Packard  is  also  associated  in  business 
with  his  nephew  Elisha  and  his  two  sons. 
This  firm,  which  at  first  made  ink  for  shoe- 
makers' use,  is  now  engaged  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  flavoring  extracts  and  patent  medicines. 
In  his  younger  days  the  Colonel  manufactured 
boots  for  a  few  years,  employing  twenty  men 
in  his  factory.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Mount 
Wollaston  National  Bank  and  of  the  Ouincy 
Electric  Light  and  Power  Company. 

When  the  military  company  known  as  the 
Ouincy  Light  Guards  was  organized,  Mr. 
Packard  was  made  Captain  of  a  company,  and 
in  the  following  year  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant  Colonel.  In  April,  1861, 
scarce  a  month  after  burying  three  beautiful 
little  daughters,  and  leaving  his  wife,  son,  and 
nephew  sick  in  bed,  he  set  out  to  do  his  part 
in  suppressing  the  Rebellion,  in  command  of 
the  Fourth  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry. 
He  went  by  steamer  directly  to  Fortress  Mon- 
roe, thence,  four  weeks  later,  to  Newport 
News,  and  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  to  Hamp- 
ton, where  the  regiment  remained  until  the 
expiration  of  its  three  months'  term  of  enlist- 
ment, when  it  was  mustered  out  of  service, 
and  in  1862  was  called  out  again,  and  waited 
in  Boston  three  days,  where  they  were  dis- 
charged. 

Colonel  Packard  was  married  in  November, 
1849,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Lewis  New- 
combe,  of  Ouincy.  They  have  had  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Frank  C.  and  Walter  M.  are- 
living.  Mrs.  Packard,  who  is  a  great  lover 
of  flowers,  has  made  an  extensive  study  of 
floriculture,  and  has  had  erected  under  her  per- 
sonal  supervision   three   of   the    finest    green- 


230 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


houses  in  the  city,  one  of  which  is  one  hun- 
dred feet  in  length,  and  has  about  ten 
thousand  feet  of  space  under  glass.  She  is 
very  successful  as  a  florist,  raising  many  rare 
and  choice  plants,  but  neither  advertises  nor 
sells  to  the  trade,  simply  accommodating  the 
home  people. 


Lj8  RAN  KLIN  G.  MORSE,  superintend- 
ent of  the  Holbrook  Water  Works,  is 
-*-  a  native  of  Hubbardston,  Mass.,  born 
October  10,  1835,  son  of  Asa  and  Elizabeth 
(Golding)  Morse.  He  is  a  descendant  of 
Abner  Morse,  an  Englishman,  who,  with  a 
number  of  others  bearing  the  same  surname, 
came  to  America  several  generations  ago. 
Asa  Morse,  the  father,  was  born  in  Hubbards- 
ton. He  lived  for  a  number  of  years  in 
Petersham,  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  in  farm- 
ing. His  wife  also,  the  mother  of  Franklin 
G.,  was  a  native  of  the  old  Bay  State. 

Franklin  G.  Morse  was  three  years  old 
when  his  parents  moved  to  Petersham  ;  and  he 
grew  up  on  the  farm  there,  acquiring  his  edu- 
cation in  the  district  school.  When  he  at- 
tained his  majority,  he  went  to  work  for  him- 
self; and  for  seven  years  he  was  engaged  in 
sewing  leather  in  a  boot  and  shoe  shop  in 
Athol,  Mass.,  running  a  machine  by  foot- 
power.  He  was  then  for  about  three  years  en- 
gaged in  the  same  way  in  East  Randolph 
(now  Holbrook),  Mass.  Subsequently  he  was 
employed  for  nearly  thirty  years  as  stationary 
engineer  for  Thomas  White  &  Co.,  the  well- 
known  shoe  manufacturers.  In  1894  he  was 
elected  superintendent  of  the  Holbrook  Water 
Works,  the  duties  of  which  responsible  posi- 
tion he  has  since  capably  performed.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Holbrook 
Water  Commissioners  for  nine  years. 
itics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  August  16,  1859, 
to  Elvira  I.  Stockwell,  of  Athol,  Mass.  ;  and 
they  had  one  son,  Charles,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  one  year  and  fifteen  days.  Mr.  Morse 
is  a  member  of  Rising  Star  Lodge,  No.  76, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Randolph,  Mass.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Winthrop  Congrega- 
tional Church.      A  self-made  man  and  mainly 


Board    of 
In  pol- 


self-educated,  his  success  reflects  credit  upon 
him;  and  he  has  the  respect  of  all  who  know 
him. 


WATSON  ARNOLD,  a  prominent 
resident  of  Braintree  and  a  member  of 
the  firm  Skinner  &  Arnold,  provi- 
sion dealers  of  Boston,  was  born  here,  March 
25,  1837,  son  of  John  B.  and  Nancy  B. 
(Thayer)  Arnold.  He  is  descended  from  the 
English  Arnolds.  His  father  was  a  well- 
known  boot  and  shoe  manufacturer  of  Brain- 
tree,  and  was  prominent  in  local  politics. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  after  receiving  a  com- 
mon-school education,  Mr.  Arnold  entered  a 
Boston  wooden-ware  establishment  in  the 
capacity  of  clerk.  Several  years  afterward 
spent  by  him  in  various  lines  of  business  in- 
cluded some  time  in  a  pharmacy,  four  years  in 
the  wholesale  provision  business,  and  ten 
years  in  the  general  merchandise  business  in 
Braintree.  He  then  learned  the  wholesale 
grocery  business  in  the  establishment  of 
Henry  Cal lender  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  with  whom 
he  was  associated  for  ten  years.  In  July, 
1878,  the  present  firm  of  Skinner  &  Arnold 
came  into  existence.  This  firm,  which  is 
most  prosperous,  deals  in  general  provisions 
and  hotel  and  restaurant  supplies. 

Mr.  Arnold  married  Miss  Maria  V.  Board- 
man,  of  Saugus,  Mass.,  and  has  four  daugh- 
ters living  —  Bertha  M.,  Helen  L.,  Julia  I., 
and  Jessie  R.  He  is  Republican  in  politics, 
and  he  represented  Braintree  in  the  House  in 
1868.  He  also  served  for  several  years  as 
Town  Clerk  and  the  Postmaster  of  Braintree, 
and  he  is  a  trustee  of  the  Thayer  Public  Li- 
brary. A  supporter  of  every  good  cause,  he 
is  a  liberal  contributor  to  religious  denomina- 
tions. He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
and  belongs  to  the  South  Shore  Commandery 
at  East  Weymouth.  In  1861  he  took  his  blue 
lodge  degrees. 


§ONATHAN   COBB,  of  Dedham,  Regis- 
ter of  Probate  and  Insolvency  for  Nor- 
folk  County,    was    born    in    this    town 
March     2,       1829,      son      of     Jonathan 
Holmes    and     Sophia    (Doggett)    Cobb.     His 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REV  I  FAY 


!3' 


paternal  grandfather,  Jonathan  Cobb,  was  a 
lifelong  resident  of  Sharon,  Mass.  He  was 
an  inn  keeper  in  the  days  when  the  only  means 
of  travel  was  by  stage,  and  he  also  carried  on 
a  farm. 

Jonathan  Holmes  Cobb,  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Sharon,  July 
g,  1799.  He  prepared  for  his  collegiate 
course  at  the  Milton  Academy,  and  was  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  in  1817.  Entering  the  law 
office  of  William  Dunbar,  Esq.,  of  Canton,  he 
there  engaged  in  the  study  of  law  until  Octo- 
ber 9,  1 8 18,  when  he  sailed  for  Charleston, 
S.C.,  and  resumed  his  studies  in  the  office  of 
Benjamin  F.  Dunkin,  then  a  prominent  law- 
yer in  that  city.  While  in  Charleston  he 
opened  a  classical  and  English  school;  but 
upon  the  appearance  of  yellow  fever  in  1819 
he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  went  into 
the  law  office  of  Jabez  Chickering,  Esq.,  in 
Dedham.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Norfolk 
County  bar  in  September,  1820,  and  opened 
an  office  in  this  town.  Later  he  also  had  a 
law  office  in  Boston,  and  for  a  year  or  two  he 
was  editor  of  the  Village  Register.  About 
the  year  1831  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  silk,  and  published  a  work  upon  the  sub- 
ject. In  February,  1831,  the  legislature  hav- 
ing authorized  the  publication  of  a  manual 
upon  the  mulberry-tree  and  the  manufacture  of 
silk,  Jonathan  H.  Cobb  was  commissioned  by 
Governor  Lincoln  to  prepare  such  a  work. 
Several  editions  of  the  manual  were  printed; 
and  afterward,  by  special  act  of  Congress,  it 
was  issued  by  the  national  government,  and 
distributed  throughout  the  country.  In  1837 
Mr.  Cobb,  its  author,  established  a  sewing- 
silk  manufactory,  of  which  he  was  the  prin- 
cipal owner  and  superintendent.  He  con- 
ducted this  enterprise  until  1845,  when  the 
plant  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

Upon  the  retirement  of  Judge  Haven  in 
1833,  Jonathan  H.  Cobb  was  appointed  Regis- 
ter of  Probate  for  Norfolk  County,  a  position 
which  he  held  until  1879,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son.  For  thirty  consecutive 
years  he  served  as  Town  Clerk  of  Dedham,  de- 
clining a  re-election  in  1875,  and  for  forty 
years  he  was  an  active  magistrate  in  this 
county.  For  many  years  he  was  an  important 
factor  in  financial  circles,  and  in  1831  was  in- 


strumental in  founding  the  Dedham  Institu- 
tion for  Savings.  He  was  a  Deacon  of  the 
First  Church  for  more  than  forty  years.  Jon- 
athan Holmes  Cobb  died  March  12,  1882. 
His  wife,  Sophia,  was  a  daughter  of  John 
Doggett,  a  Boston  merchant  who  resided  in 
Dedham.  She  became  the  mother  of  eight 
children,  of  whom  the  following  survive: 
Sophia  J.  French;  Jonathan,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Samuel  D.  ;  Isabella  F.  French; 
Abbie  Guild  ;  and  John  D.,  a  graduate  of  Har- 
vard and  Assistant  Register  of  Probate. 
Mrs.  Sophia  D.  Cobb  lived  to  be  seventy-two 
years  old. 

Jonathan  Cobb  received  his  education  in  the 
public  and  private  schools,  and  had  several 
teachers  of  languages,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
went  into  a  wholesale  importing  house  in  Bus- 
ton.  In  January,  1849,  he  departed  for  Cali- 
fornia by  way  of  Mexico,  and  upon  his  arrival 
there  worked  in  the  mines  two  seasons  and  on 
a  cattle  ranch  for  a  year.  In  November, 
1851,  he  returned  to  Dedham.  He  was  em- 
ployed in  the  probate  office  for  -about  a  year, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  he  returned  to  mer- 
cantile pursuits  as  a  salesman  in  a  wholesale 
store  in  Boston.  From  1855  to  1859  he  was 
in  business  in  Nashville,  Tenn.  Returning 
home  in  that  year,  he  resumed  work  in  the 
Registry  of  Probate  as  clerk;  and  in  January, 
1862,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Register. 
In  1879  he  succeeded  his  father  as  Register, 
and  has  since  occupied  that  position.  His 
ability  has  been  fully  demonstrated  by  the 
efficient  manner  in  which  the  large  amount  of 
probate  and  insolvency  cases  are  handled,  and 
he  also  transacts  considerable  private  busi- 
ness. 

On  July  29,  1857,  Mr.  Cobb  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Martha  S.  Wales,  who  was  born 
in  Boston,  March  24,  1832,  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel Wales,  a  merchant  of  that  city.  Mrs. 
Cobb  died  June  29,  1877.  She  was  the 
mother  of  five  children,  and  is  survived  by 
four,  namely:  Edward  S.,  a  mechanical  en- 
gineer in  San  Francisco;  Benjamin  W.,  a 
book-keeper;  Charles  A.,  a  travelling  sales- 
man in  the  wholesale  paper  trade;  and  Fred- 
erick Copeland,  a  book-keeper  in  Dedham. 

Mr.  Cobb  is  connected  with  the  California 
Pioneers   Society  of   New  England.      He    is   a 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


member  of  the  Unitarian  church,  and  was 
parish  clerk  for  twenty  years.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican. 


LfRANCIS  METCALF,  a  retired  manu- 
Pl  '  facturer,  residing  in  Bellingham, 
-"-  Mass.,  and  a  son  of  Hollis  and  Abi- 
gail (Allen)  Metcalf,  was  born  here,  January 
28,  [823.  One  of  his  early  ancestors,  who 
was  bom  in  Dedham  in  1704,  in  1735  took  up 
a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres  in  North  Bel- 
li ng ham,  which  he  afterward  cleared  and 
largely  brought  under  cultivation.  He  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life  there.  His  son  Stephen, 
who  inherited  the  property,  built  the  house 
which  is  still  standing.  Stephen  was  the  first 
judge  to  hold  court  in  the  Norfolk  County 
court-house.  He  died  in  Bellingham;  and 
his  son  Stephen,  the  grandfather  of  Francis, 
took  charge  of  the  farm.  Grandfather  Met- 
calf, who  was  both  a  lawyer  and  farmer,  died 
in  the  old  home.  Hollis  Metcalf,  son  of  the 
last  Stephen,  engaged  in  farming  on  the  old 
homestead.  He  built  the  house  now  occupied 
by  Francis  Metcalf,  and  lived  there  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  October  1,  1876.  The 
first  of  his  two  marriages  was  contracted  with 
Abigail  Allen,  who  died  in  i860.  She  had 
two  children:  Francis,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Olive,  who  died  in  1 84 1.  The 
second  marriage  united  him  with  Louise 
Allen,  (it  Holliston,  Mass.,  who  died  in  No- 
vember,  1896. 

Francis  Metcalf  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Bellingham.  Then  he  went  for  one 
year  to  the  institute  in  Worcester,  Mass. 
After  leaving  college,  he  worked  on  the  farm 
with  his  father  until  185  1,  when  he  started  in 
the  manufacture  of  packing  cases,  in  which  he 
employed  four  or  five  men,  and  which  was  his 
business  until  his  retirement  from  active  life. 
Although  successful  in  this  line  of  busi- 
ness, he  has  always  devoted  some  time  to 
farming;  and  he  still  owns  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  acres  of  the  old  Metcalf  home- 
stead. He  also  owns  land  in  other  parts  of 
the  town,  and  he  has  built  several  houses. 
The  packing  case  factory  is  now  conducted  by 
his  son. 

In    politics    Mr.    Metcalf    was    formerly    a 


Whig.  In  later  years  he  has  voted  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket,  although  he  is  very  independent, 
preferring  to  support  the  better  man  regard- 
less of  party.  A  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F., 
he  belongs  to  Rising  Sun. Lodge,  No.  99,  of 
West  Medway.  He  has  been  married  three 
times.  The  first  occasion  was  in  1845,  when 
he  was  united  to  Almira  Adams,  of  Medway. 
Her  father  was  Captain  Christopher  Adams,  a 
cabinet-maker  of  Medway.  She  had  two  chil- 
dren: Frank  H.,  who  died  when  a  baby;  and 
Olive,  now  living  in  Providence,  R.I.  The 
mother  died  April  11,  1849.  The  second 
marriage  was  contracted  on  May  7,  185  1,  with 
Maria,  daughter  of  Caleb  Adams,  a  farmer  of 
Bellingham.  Her  children  were:  Hiram 
Frank,  born  June  22,  1852,  who  married 
Katie  E.  Hazelton,  of  West  Medway,  and  is 
now  living  in  Providence,  R.I.,  where  he  has 
charge  of  a  large  paper  box  shop;  Alice 
Maria,  born  October  17,  1853,  who  died  in 
Minnesota,  December  29,  1877;  Lydia  A., 
born  November  13,  1855,  who  married  Addi- 
son E.  Bullard,  the  superintendent  of  a  fac- 
tory in  Caryville,  Mass.;  Edward  B.,  born  in 
1857,  who  died  in  babyhood;  Sarah  A.,  who 
died  July  10,  1859;  and  Edward  E. ,  born 
July  1,  1861,  who  lives  in  Caryville,  and 
is  working  in  his  father's  shop.  Mr.  Met- 
calf's  second  wife  died  January  21,  1870, 
at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  On  Novem- 
ber 27,  1 87 1,  the  third  marriage  was  made 
with  Mary,  daughter  of  Alexander  T.  and 
Maria  (Sayles)  Wilkinson,  of  Mendon,  Mass. 
Her  father,  who  was  a  merchant,  is  now  living 
in  Milford,  Mass.  The  present  Mrs.  Metcalf 
has  had  one  child,  Jesse  W. ,  born  July  27, 
1873,  who  died  February  23,  1875.  Mrs. 
Metcalf  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  Woonsocket,  R.I. 


HARLES  H.  SPEAR,  of  Quincy, 
was  born  here,  April  12,  1844,  son  of 
Charles  Adams  Spear.  The  emi- 
grant ancestor  of  the  Spear  family 
was  John  Spear,  whose  son  Samuel  married 
Elizabeth  Daniels.  The  next  in  line  of  de- 
scent was  their  son,  John  Spear,  who  married 
Mary  Arnold.  Their  son,  Seth  Spear,  who 
was  born  January  19,  1 741 ,  and  who  died  Au- 


FRANCIS    METCALF. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


=  35 


gust  26,  18 iS,  was  the  great-grandfather  of 
Charles  H.  The  line  was  continued  through 
Alpheus  Spear,  a  son  of  Seth  by  his  second 
wife,  Abigail  Marsh  Spear.  Alpheus  was  a 
lifelong  resident  of  Quincy,  where  he  carried 
on  a  thriving  business  as  a  farmer  and  trader. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Universalist 
church  of  Quincy  and  very  active  in  the  work 
of  that  denomination.  He  married  Ann 
Adams,  a  woman  of  superior  intellect,  who 
ably  assisted  him  in  his  domestic,  social,  and 
religious  relations. 

Charles  Adams  Spear  was  born  in  this  town, 
January  10,  1820,  and  was  here  bred  and  edu- 
cated. On  attaining  his  majority,  he  hired 
the  did  Adams  farm,  and  there  for  many  years 
of  his  married  life  resided  in  the  house  in 
which  John  Adams,  the  second  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in  1735.  He  car- 
ried on  general  farming  quite  extensively, 
making  a  specialty  ot  raining  hay  and  produc- 
ing milk.  He  kept  on  an  average  about  sixty 
cows,  and  as  early  as  1834  he  began  carrying- 
milk  into  Boston.  In  the  summer  of  1848  he 
introduced  the  use  of  a  two-wheeled  cart  as  a 
conveyance.  He  had  a  large  and  lucrative 
milk  route,  and  continued  in  the  business 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  May  8,  1868. 
He  married  Caroline  Adams,  a  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  Green,  of  Quincy.  Their  children 
were:  Charles  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Carrie  Adams,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
years;  and  Alice  Dean,  the  wife  of  John  \V. 
Sanborn,  of  this  town.  His  religious  creed 
was  broad  and  liberal;  and  he  was  a  generous 
contributor  toward  the  support  of  the  Univer- 
salist church,  of  which  he  was  a  valued 
member. 

Charles  H.  Spear  received  his  education  in 
the  Quincy  public  schools.  As  soon  as  he 
was  old  enough,  he  began  assisting  his  father 
in  the  dairy  and  farm  work.  When  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  succeeded  his  father  in 
the  milk  business,  which  he  carried  on  suc- 
cessfully until  April  4,  1876.  As  boy  and 
man  he  drove  the  milk  wagon  for  twenty 
years,  during  which  period  he  never  lost  a 
day.  He  did  not  again  engage  in  any  perma- 
nent business  until  1882,  when  he  embarked 
in  the  ice  trade,  beginning  in  a  modest  way, 
with   but  two  wagons,  disposing  of  only  sev- 


eral hundred  tons  a  year.  He  soon  estab- 
lished an  extensive  business,  each  year  put- 
tin-  on  additional  wagons  and  men,  being  thus 
engaged  until  the  1st  of  January,  1895,  when 
he  sold  his  route,  which  then  demanded  five 
thousand  tons  yearly,  to  Frank  S.  Patch. 
Since  that  time  Mr.  Spear  has  not  been  ac- 
tively engaged  in  any  business.  lie  ha-,  been 
a  director  of  the  Blue  Hill  Granite  Company 
since  its  organization  and  the  treasurer  of 
President's  Hill   Real  Estate  Trusts. 

<)n  November  14,  1S66,  Mr.  Spear  married 
Mary  F. ,  daughter  of  Samuel  Mitchell.  Mr. 
Mitchell,  who  was  born  February  11,  1S13,  in 
Otisfield,  Me.,  died  in  Quincy,  at  the  home 
of  Mr.  Spear,  on  June  16,  [889.  lie  learned 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter  in  his  youthful  days, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  removed  to 
Boston,  where  he  continued  at  his  chosen  oc- 
cupation until  the  death  of  his  wife.  There- 
after he  resided  with  his  daughter  in  Quincy. 
His  wife,  Charlotte  Bray,  a  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Thankful  (Bray)  Plumer,  had  three  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Mary  F.  and  Charlotte  A.  at- 
tained maturity.  Charlotte  is  the  wife  of 
Frank  A.  Bates,  of  Braintree.  Mrs.  Spear's 
grandmother,  Thankful  Bray  Plumer,  who, 
born  May  29,  1776,  in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  died 
August  3,  1865,  was  married  to  Joshua 
Plumer  on  October  9,  1S03.  Her  father, 
Samuel  Bray,  Jr.,  was  married  May  23,  1 77 1 , 
to  Molly  Herrick.  His  father,  Samuel  Bray, 
Sr.,  who  was  baptized  October  30,  1720,  and 
died  February  ig,  1803,  was  married  to  Abi- 
gail Glover,  June  13,  1743.  Moses  Bray, 
the  father  of  the  last-named  Samuel,  was 
a  son  of  Thomas  Bray,  Jr.,  whose  father, 
Thomas  Bray,  Sr.,  a  ship-builder  by  trade, 
in  1642  came  from  England  to  America, 
landing  in  Gloucester,  where  the  Bray  family 
have  since  held  an  honored  position.  Mr. 
Spear  and  his  wife  have  two  children  — 
Horace  Fmery  and  Lottie  Bray.  Both  par- 
ents attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


RANKLIN     D.      THAYER,     a     well- 
known  resident   of    Braintree.  was   born 
in   the  adjoining  town   of    Weymouth, 
September  27,   1838,  son  of   David    and 
(Loud)    Thayer.      His    maternal    grandfather, 


'3« 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Benjamin  Loud,  who  was  a  carpenter  and  an 
early  settler  of  Weymouth,  lived  to  be  more 
than  ninety  years  old.  The  father,  a  native 
of  Braintree,  resided  in  Weymouth  after  his 
marriage,  and  died  when  Franklin  D.  was  but 
a  child.  The  other  surviving  children  of 
David  Thayer  are:  Augusta,  now  Mrs. 
Walker,  of  Weymouth;  and  Susan  T.,  the 
wife  of  Herbert  A.  Vinton,  also  of  Wey- 
mouth. 

Franklin  D.  Thayer  was  brought  up  in  the 
family  of  a  relative,  Thomas  Humphrey,  of 
Weymouth,  a  tanner  and  currier  by  trade. 
He  attended  the  public  schools  until  old 
enough  td  go  into  business.  Then  he  became 
a  manufacturer  of  leather,  and  afterward  car- 
ried on  that  industry  in  Weymouth  for  eigh- 
teen years,  employing  about  forty  men  in  his 
plant.  He  married  Sarah  J.  Brooks,  who  bore 
him  one  daughter,  Jennie  F.  Thayer.  For 
fourteen  years  he  was  identified  with  the  fire 
department  of  the  town,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  he  was  chief  engineer  of  the  department. 
He  has  also  served  two  terms  on  the  Board  of 
Assessors  in  Weymouth.  Mr.  Thayer  is  a 
member  of  the  Crescent  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
of  East  Weymouth  ;  of  Pentelpha  Chapter  of 
Royal  Arch  Masons:  and  the  Scribe  of  Or- 
phans' Hope  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is 
also  connected  with  the  South  Shore  Com- 
mander)', and  is  a  thirty-second  degree  Mason. 
Mr.  Thayer  is  prominent  in  business  circles 
in  Weymouth,  is  a  director  of  the  Union 
National  Bank  there,  and  also  a  director  of 
the  South  Weymouth  Co-operative  Bank.  In 
1894  he  retired  from  business. 


SAMUEL  A.  TUTTLE,  the 
well-known  veterinary  surgeon  of 
Hyde  Park,  and  the  proprietor  of 
"Tuttle's  Elixir,"  having  an  office 
Beverly  Street,  Boston,  was  born  in 
Effingham,  N.H.,  September  u,  1837,  son  of 
Samuel  and  Nancy  (Drake)  Tuttle.  His 
great-grandfather,  George  Tuttle,  who  came 
from  England  and  settled  in  Lee  on  a  farm, 
at  a  later  date  removed  to  Effingham,  where  he 
afterward  resided  on  another  farm,  and  worked 
at  his  trade  of  wheelwright.  George  was  em- 
ployed in  various  mills  in  that  section,  built  a 


number  of  water-wheels,  was  a  very  well- 
known  and  influential  man,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four.  His  son  George,  the 
grandfather  of  Dr.  Tuttle,  was  a  farmer,  and 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  on  the  farm, 
to  which  his  parents  moved  when  he  was  a 
boy.  Grandfather  Tuttle,  who  was  one  of  a 
family  of  fourteen  children,  had  fourteen  chil- 
dren of  his  own,  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
six.  His  wife,  Sarah  G.  Tuttle,  was  born  in 
that  vicinity,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-four  years 
old. 

Samuel  Tuttle,  the  second  of  the  fourteen 
children  of  his  parents,  was  brought  up  a 
farmer,  and  afterward  devoted  his  attention  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  lived  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  after  the  death  of  his  father 
assisted  in  the  support  of  the  family,  and 
later  moved  to  East  Andover,  where  he  spent 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  dying  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years.  His  wife,  Nancy,  was  a 
daughter  of  Deacon  John  Drake,  and  was  born 
in  Effingham.  She  had  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  of  whom  ten  grew  to  maturity,  and 
four  are  still  living.  The  latter  are:  Abra- 
ham D.,  Charles  F.,  Samuel  A.,  and  W.  D. 
Tuttle.  The  mother  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  She  was  married  when 
only  sixteen  years  old,  and  had  spent  fifty-six 
years  of  wedded  life.  The  celebration  of  her 
golden  wedding  was  a  pleasant  occasion  to  all 
who  were  present.  Both  parents  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  church. 

Samuel  A.  Tuttle  spent  the  early  years  of 
his  life  on  his  father's  farm,  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town  and 
in  the  academies  at  Wolfboro  and  Andover. 
In  1859  he  went  to  Illinois,  where  he  had  a 
farm  and  ran  a  ranch,  shipping  cattle  and  hogs 
to  Chicago.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  he  sold 
out,  and  went  to  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
where  he  managed  a  large  cotton  plantation 
for  a  year.  Then,  coming  North,  he  stopped 
in  Boston,  where  he  opened  a  sale  and  livery 
stable  on  a  large  scale.  A  year  later  he 
bought  out  the  large  Everett  Stables  in  Hyde 
Park,  containing  fifty  horses,  and  carried  on  a 
large  business  here  for  two  years.  Returning 
to  Boston  then,  and  purchasing  a  livery  and 
sale  stable,  he  carried  it  on  until  1884,  when 
he   entered  upon   his   present  profession.      In 


ALONZO    F.    BENNETT. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


239 


the  same  year  he  began  to  manufacture 
"Tuttle's  Elixir,"  which  has  since  been  intro- 
duced into  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  has 
given  such  remarkable  satisfaction.  He  has 
now  a  high  reputation  for  skilful  and  success- 
ful treatment,  and  is  called  to  go  to  all  parts 
of  New  England  to  attend  the  most  difficult 
cases  of  disease  in  high-bred  and  valuable 
animals. 

Dr.  Tuttle  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  as 
have  been  several  generations  of  his  family; 
but,  though  well  suited  for  public  life,  he  has 
steadily  refused  to  be  a  candidate  for  office. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  A  Mason 
of  high  standing,  he  belongs  to  Norfolk  Royal 
Arch  Chapter,  Hyde  Park  Council,  and 
Cyprus  Commandery.  In  the  Hyde  Park 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  is  a 
member,  the  Doctor  has  served  on  the  Official 
Board  for  many  years,  and  has  been  a  teacher 
of  the  Sunday-school.  At  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  Co-operative  Bank  League  he  was 
placed  on  the  Executive  Committee  for  three 
years.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  Hyde  Park 
since  1872. 


LONZO  F.  BENNETT,  a  retired  man- 
ufacturer of  jewelry,  residing  in 
VVrentham,  was  born  February  13, 
1 841 ,  in  this  town,  which  was  the 
birthplace  of  his  father,  Isaac  F.  Bennett. 
He  is  descended  from  a  pioneer  family  of  New 
Hampshire,  the  State  in  which  his  grand- 
father, Isaac  Bennett,  was  born  and  bred. 
While  living  among  the  granite  hills,  he 
learned  the  cabinet-maker's  trade,  after  which 
he  removed  to  this  county,  settling  in 
Wrentham,  where  he  died  full  of  years.  To 
him  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Elizabeth  Randall,  thirteen  children  were 
born. 

Isaac  F.  Bennett,  one  of  the  younger  chil- 
dren of  Isaac  Bennett,  was  born  September 
11,  1810.  In  common  with  the  companions 
of  his  youth  he  obtained  his  education  in  the 
schools  of  his  district.  Subsequently,  after 
working  at  the  blacksmith's  trade  for  several 
years,  he  became  a  tool-maker  in  the  jewelry 
business,  being  employed  in  that  capacity  in 
North  Attleboro,  Mass.     Sixteen  years  ago  he 


retired  from  active  pursuits;  and  he  has  since 
resided  at  the  beautiful  home  of  his  son, 
Alonzo  F.,  on  the  South  Road.  His  wife, 
Lydia,  was  born  in  Rhode  Island,  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Lydia  (Haskell)  Hayden.  They 
have  six  children  —  Ellen  F.,  Bradford  A., 
Alonzo  F.,  Charles  H.,  Daniel,  and  Alice. 
Bradford,  who  is  unmarried,  lives  on  the  old 
homestead.  Charles  H.  is  a  prominent  mer- 
chant of  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  has  three 
times  represented  that  city  in  the  General 
Court.  Daniel,  who  married  Anna  O.  Whit- 
ing, died  in  1882,  leaving  three  children  — 
Alice  B.,  Marion  N.,  and  Arthur  H.  Alice, 
the  youngest  child  of  Isaac  F.  Bennett,  and 
who  graduated  from  the  Woman's  College  of 
Philadelphia  and  from  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
the  first  woman  to  receive  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy  in  this  country.  She  is  a  mem- 
ber of  both  the  Legal  Medico  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Legal  Medical  Society 
of  New  York.  For  sixteen  years  she  was  su- 
perintendent of  the  State  Asylum  for  the  In- 
sane at  Norristown,  Pa.  This  responsible 
position  she  recently  resigned  to  take  charge 
of  an  invalid  daughter  of  one  of  Chicago's 
millionaires,  with  whom  she  has  travelled  ex- 
tensively through  the  country. 

Alonzo  F.  Bennett  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Wrentham.  While  yet  a  lad  he 
became  familiar  with  agricultural  labor,  and 
also  learned  the  jewelry  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  until  the  late  Civil  War  was  in  full 
progress.  In  1862,  inspired  by  purely  pa- 
triotic motives,  he  enlisted  in  the  Forty-fifth 
Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry,  as  Sergeant 
of  a  company.  Afterward,  with  his  comrades, 
he  was  in  several  important  engagements,  in- 
cluding the  battles  of  Kingston  and  Goldsboro 
in  North  Carolina.  At  the  close  of  the  Re- 
bellion he  resumed  his  trade,  locating  in 
North  Attleboro,  where  he  continued  in  the 
manufacture  of  jewelry  for  seventeen  years. 
He  then  disposed  of  his  interest  in  that,  and 
has  since  resided  on  his  farm  in  Wrentham, 
free  from  the  restraints  of  business. 

On  October  10,  1888.  Mr.  Bennett  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Mary  Allstnn  Morse,  a  daughter 
of  William  Morse.  They  have  two  children 
—  Helen  F.  and   Alice  A.      With  the  excep- 


2  4-0 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


tion  of  the  year  1864,  when  he  cast  his  first 
Presidential  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Bennett  has  been  an  earnest  supporter  of  the 
Democratic  party. 


TJlIJA 


LIJAH  ADAMS  MORSE,  of  Canton, 
I-8!  manufacturer,  member  of  Congress  for 
"^"  "  the  Twelfth  Massachusetts  District, 
is  a  native  of  Indiana,  born  in  South  Bend, 
but  of  an  early  New  England  family.  His 
father,  the  Rev.  Abner  Morse,  A.M.,  was  a 
native  of  Medway,  Mass.,  descending  from 
Samuel  Morse,  who  settled  in  Dedham  in 
1635;  and  his  mother,  Hannah  Peck  Morse, 
was  born  in  New  York  State.  His  middle 
name,  Adams,  is  a  family  name,  coming  from 
the  marriage  of  an  ancestor  of  Joseph  Morse, 
of  Sherborn,  with  Prudence  Adams,  of  Brain- 
tree  (now  Quincy),  a  relative  of  the  Presi- 
dents, John  Adams  and  John  Quincy  Adams. 
Eleven  years  after  his  birth  the  family  re- 
turned to  Massachusetts;  and  his  early  educa- 
tion was  acquired  here,  in  the  public  schools 
of  Sherborn  and  Holliston,  and  at  the  well- 
known  old  Boylston  School  in  Boston,  and 
finished  at  the  Onondaga  Academy  in  New 
York  State.  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  en- 
listed in  the  Civil  War  in  Company  A,  Fourth 
Massachusetts  Infantry,  as  a  private,  and  was 
with  General  Butler  in  Virginia  three  months 
and  with  General  Banks  for  nine  months  in 
Louisiana.  The  foundation  of  his  fortune  was 
laid  when  he  was  yet  a  boy,  alone  in  a  little 
shop  in  Sharon,  during  his  school  vacations, 
in  the  preparation  of  the  stove  polish  which 
afterward  became  so  widely  known  under  the 
name  of  the  "Rising  Sun."  Upon  his  return 
from  the  army  he  joined  his  brother  in  the 
establishment  in  Canton  of  the  works  for  the 
manufacture  of  his  stove  polish;  and  this  was 
rapidly  developed  into  an  important  industry. 
The  factory  now  covers  four  acres  of  land,  and 
has  a  capacity  of  ten  tons  a  day.  Since  Sep- 
tember 1,  1888,  Mr.  Morse  has  been  the  sole 
proprietor  of  the  business. 

Mr.  Morse's  public  career  began  in  the 
seventies,  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives 
for  1876,  in  which  body  he  at  once  became 
prominent.      In  1886  and  1887  he  was  a  mem- 


ber of  the  State  Senate,  in  1888  a  member  of 
the  Executive  Council,  and  in  the  latter  year, 
while  holding  the  position  of  Councillor,  was 
nominated  and  elected  to  Congress  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  by  a  ma- 
jority of  three  thousand,  six  hundred  and 
eighty  votes.  He  has  since  served  in  the 
Fifty-first,  Fifty-second,  Fifty -third,  and 
Fifty-fourth  Congresses,  and  declined  a  cer- 
tain nomination  and  re-election  to  the  Fifty- 
fifth  Congress.  As  a  State  Senator  he  was 
influential  in  advancing  various  reform  meas- 
ures, and,  with  other  legislation,  secured  rad- 
ical amendments  to  the  laws  for  the  protection 
of  children  and  for  punishment  of  crimes 
against  chastity.  In  Congress  he  has  been 
identified  with  all  the  great  measures  advo- 
cated by  the  Republican  party,  and  has  made 
speeches  on  the  floor  of  the  House  in  favor  of 
protection  to  American  manufactures  and 
American  labor,  in  favor  of  sound  finances, 
in  favor  of  restricted  immigration,  against 
sectarian  appropriations  of  public  money,  in 
favor  of  more  stringent  naturalization  laws,  in 
favor  of  the  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  in  favor  of  memorializing  the  Russian 
government  in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  Jews, 
in  favor  of  a  non-partisan  commission  to  in- 
vestigate the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic  and  its  re- 
lation to  pauperism,  crime,  insanity,  and  tax- 
ation, and  on  many  other  important  subjects. 
His  politics  have  always  been  Republican. 
He  has  also  been  a  lifelong  supporter  of  tem- 
perance measures,  for  many  years  a  recognized 
leader  in  the  temperance  cause.  He  is  inter- 
ested in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  public 
schools,  and  is  a  warm  supporter  of  every 
effort  for  social  reform  which  he  regards  as 
genuine.  He  is  a  practical  philanthropist, 
and  has  given  generously  to  various  charities. 
The  ground  for  the  Canton  Memorial  Hall,  the 
memorial  tablets  on  the  hall,  and  the  bronze 
soldier  on  the  green,  in  memory  of  those  who 
fell  in  the  Civil  War,  were  his  gifts  to  the 
town  of  Canton.  He  has  frequently  been 
heard  on  the  public  platform  in  addresses  on 
political,  educational,  temperance,  Grand 
Army,  and  religious  topics,  of  which  he  has 
delivered  more  than  two  thousand  in  New 
England  and  other  States.  Mr.  Morse  is  a 
member  of  the  New  England  Historic-Genea- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


logical  Society,  of  the  Congregational  Club, 
of  the  Norfolk  Club,  of  Post,  No.  94,  G.  A.  R., 
and  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
and  has  for  many  years  been  a  Deacon  of  the 
Congregational  church  in  Canton. 

He  was  married  January  1,  1868,  to  Miss 
Felicia  Vining,  daughter  of  Samuel  A.  Vin- 
ing,  of  Holbrook.  They  have  three  living 
children:  Abner,  born  in  1 870;  Samuel,  in 
1876;  and  Benjamin,  in  187S.  (Copied  from 
"Men  of  Progress.") 


|ISS  JULIA  A.  EASTMAN,  of 
Wellesley,  a  well-known  writer 
and  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Dana  Hall  School,  was  born  in 
Fulton,  N.Y.,  in  1837.  A  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  John  Eastman  and  his  wife,  Prudence, 
she  is  a  descendant  of  Roger  Eastman,  who 
settled  in  Salisbury  in  1638.  Born  in  Eng- 
land in  1 6  [  1 ,  he  came  to  the  country  from 
London  in  the  ship  "Confidence,"  John  Tob- 
son,  master.  Joseph,  one  of  the  ten  children 
of  Roger,  born  in  1651,  went  from  Salisbury  to 
Hadley,  and  died  there  in  April,  1691.  He 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Peter  Til- 
son,  of  Hadley,  and  had  a  family  of  three  chil- 
dren. Joseph  (second),  son  of  Joseph  (first), 
was  born  in  1683.  He  was  taken  captive  by 
the  French  and  Indians  at  the  time  when  the 
raid  upon  Deerfield  was  made.  After  his  re- 
lease he  settled  in  Hadley  on  the  place  of 
his  grandfather.  In  171 1  he  married  Mary 
Smith.  Joseph  (third),  a  native  of  Amherst, 
born  in  171 5,  died  in  1790.  On  May  17, 
1746,  he  married  Sarah  Ingraham ;  and  ten 
children  were  born  to  them.  John,  son  of  Jo- 
seph (third),  was  born  at  Amherst  in  175 1. 
He  married  Hepzibah,  daughter  of  John 
Keyes,  and  became  the  father  of  fifteen  chil- 
dren. 

The  Rev.  John  Eastman,  born  in  Amherst 
in  1803,  was  educated  at  Williams  College 
and  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Auburn, 
N.Y.  In  1830  he  was  ordained  to  the  minis- 
try, and  commenced  his  pastoral  duties  in  the 
Congregational  church  at  Fulton,  N.Y.  For 
eleven  years  he  was  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  in  Danville,  Vt.  For  seventeen 
years  he  labored  at  Hawley,  Mass.,  in  the  East 


and  West  Parishes,  and  he  was  in  Indiana  for 
two  years.  He  continued  in  active  work  until 
he  was  seventy-five  years  old,  when  he  retired: 
and  in  18S0  he  died  at  Wellesley.  Mrs.  Pru- 
dence Eastman,  a  daughter  of  Barnet  Dole,  of 
Charlemont,  Mass.,  was  born  in  18 12,  and 
died  in  1844.  Her  mother  before  marriage 
was  Prudence  Wilder,  of  Shelburne,  Mass. 

Miss  Eastman  came  to  Hawley  in  1843,  and 
was  sent  to  the  public  schools  of  that  town. 
She  was  subsecpiently  a  pupil  of  Amherst 
Academy,  of  Monson  Academy,  and  of  Ipswich 
Female  Seminary  at  Ipswich,  Mass.  She 
commenced  teaching  in  Owego,  N.Y.,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  academy  there  in  1859  and 
i860.  Later  she  taught  in  Monson  Academy 
and  in  a  private  school  of  Westfield,  Mass., 
for  five  years.  She  then  devoted  her  time  for 
six  or  eight  years  to  literary  work,  writing 
books  for  boys  and  girls,  and  winning  therein' 
many  prizes.  One  of  her  stories  was  "Strik- 
ing for  the  Right,"  which  won  a  prize  of  one 
thousand  dollars,  offered  by  the  publishers,  D. 
Lothrop  &  Co.  This  and  other  writings  of 
Miss  Eastman  published  by  the  Lothrops  have 
been  translated  into  several  foreign  languages. 
She  has  also  written  more  or  less  for  the 
Youth's  Companion.  In  188 1  she  and  her  sister 
Sarah  opened  the  Dana  Hall  School  at  Welles- 
ley, a  preparatory  school  for  young  ladies, 
fitting  especially  for  Wellesley  College,  and 
entering  its  pupils  at  the  college  upon  the 
certificate  of  its  principals.  The  Misses  East- 
man are  sole  proprietors  of  the  school,  which 
now  has  about  one  hundred  pupils. 

Miss  Sarah  F^astman,  the  younger  of  the  two 
ladies,  was  born  in  Mexico,  N.Y.,  in  1839, 
and  was  graduated  from  Mount  Holyoke  Col- 
lege in  the  class  of  1861.  Of  this  college 
she  is  at  present  one  of  the  trustees.  She 
taught  for  several  years  in  Ohio,  also  in  Welles- 
ley College,  which  she  left  to  take  charge  of 
the  preparatory  school  with  her  sister. 


REELAND  DAVID  LESLIE,  M.D., 
a  leading  physician  of  Milton,  was  born 
June  29,  1858,  in  Patten,  Me.,  son  of 
Sylvester  Z.  and  Isabel  L.  (Huston)  Leslie, 
both  natives  of  Maine.  The  Leslies  are  an 
old  Scottish  family;  anil  this  branch  in  Amer- 


•4- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ica  is  traced  back  to  the  Rev.  James  Leslie, 
who  came  to  New  England  with  his  wife,  Mar- 
garet Sherar,  about  the  year  1728,  and  settled 
at  Topsfield,  Essex  County,  Mass. 

From  James  Leslie,  through  his  son  George, 
his  grandson  William,  and  William's  son, 
Samuel  Chase  Leslie,  the  line  descends  to 
Sylvester  Zina,  father  of  Dr.  Leslie. 

The  Rev.  George  Leslie,  born  November 
25,  1727,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1748,  ordained  to  the  ministry  at  Linebrook  in 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  November  15,  1749,  had 
charge  of  the  church  there  thirty  years,  was 
then  dismissed  at  his  own  request,  and  was  in- 
stalled July  12,  1780,  as  minister  at  Washing- 
ton, N.H.,  where  "he  discharged  his  duties 
with  faithfulness  and  great  acceptance  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  September  11, 
1800."  The  headstone  which  marks  his 
grave,  placed  there  by  vote  of  the  town,  con- 
tains this  epitaph,  showing  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  friends  who  knew 
him  best:  "He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  genius 
and  great  learning  and  eminent  in  piety  and 
morality."  Further  interesting  particulars 
concerning  him  may  be  found  in  Felt's  His- 
tory of  Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  the  History  of 
Washington,  N.  H. 

He  married  Hepzibah  Burpee,  daughter  of 
Deacon  Jonathan  Burpee,  and  had  eight  chil- 
dren—  George,  Jr.,  David,  James,  Jonathan, 
William,  Hepzibah,  Joseph,  and  Mehitable. 
David  Leslie,  the  second  son,  was  the  father  of 
the  Rev.  David  Leslie,  born  in  1797,  who  in 
1837  was  sent  as  a  Methodist  missionary  to 
Oregon,  where  he  assisted  in  forming  one  of 
the  first  Protestant  churches  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  aided  in  founding  Willamette 
University. 

William,  fifth  son  of  the  Rev.  George 
Leslie,  born  in  Ipswich,  Mass.,  resided  for 
some  years  in  Cornish,  N.H.,  the  home  of  his 
wife,  Mary  Chase,  who  died  at  the  early  age 
of  twenty-three  years.  Their  children  were: 
Betsy,  Mary,  and  Samuel  Chase,  who  is  the 
fourth  in  the  line  now  being  considered. 

Samuel  Chase  Leslie,  born  September  17, 
1791,  married  Mary  Eliza  Thomas,  of  Clare- 
mont,  N.H.,  and  lived  successively  in  Salem 
and  Haverhill,  Mass.,  in  Lincoln  and  in  Pat- 
ten, Me.,  where  he  died,  April  20,  1845.     His 


wife,  born  November  26,  1792,  died  December 
29,  1847.  Their  children  were:  William, 
born  January  29,  18 18;  David  T.,  born  July 
19,  1 8 19,  who  was  educated  at  West  Point, 
served  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  killed  at 
Matamoras,  January  20,  1847;  Esther  Ives; 
James  B. ;  Samuel  C.  5  John  P.;  Sylvester 
Zina,  born  July  12,  1831;  and  Mary  E.,  born 
in  1835,  died  April  29,  1857.  Sylvester 
Zina  Leslie  married  October  7,  1855,  Isabel 
Leighton  Huston,  born  January  21,  1835. 
They  had  two  children,  namely:  Freeland 
David,  the  special  subject  of  this  biographical 
sketch;  and  his  sister,  Ida  May,  born  in 
Patten,  Me.,  February  5,  i860 

When  in  his  eleventh  year  Freeland  D. 
Leslie  removed  with  his  parents  to  Boston, 
Mass.  He  attended  the  public  schools  in  that 
city,  including  the  English  High  School,  and 
subsequently  pursued  a  course  in  medicine  in 
the  Boston  University  School  of  Medicine, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1879.  Beginning 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Canton, 
Mass.,  in  June,  1880,  he  remained  there  for 
five  years;  and  at  the  end  of  this  time  he  went 
abroad,  and  took  special  lecture  courses  in  the 
hospitals  at  Vienna  and  Berlin,  spending  two 
years  in  Europe.  In  1888  Dr.  Leslie  came  to 
Milton,  where  he  has  since  been  assiduously 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  becoming 
so  well  and  favorably  known  in  this  region 
that  comment  upon  his  skill  seems  needless. 
Having  found  time  to  be  interested  in  many 
things  not  directly  within  the  pale  of  his  pro- 
fessional duties,  he  is  now  on  his  second  term 
as  a  member  of  the  School  Committee,  and  he 
has  also  served  on  the  local  Board  of  Health. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society;  of  Macedonian 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Milton,  of  which  he 
was  first  Master;  and  of  Dorchester  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F. 

Dr.  Leslie  married  Georgiana  Shepard, 
daughter  of  James  S.  Shepard,  of  Canton, 
Mass.  They  have  three  children:  Bernard 
Shepard  Leslie,  born  in  London,  England, 
December  2,  1882;  Howard  Clifford  Leslie, 
born  in  Milton,  Mass.,  Sunday,  November  4, 
1888;  and  Freeland  Huston  Leslie,  born  in 
Milton,  November  7,  1890.  The  Doctor  and 
his  family  reside  on  Brook  Road. 


ALFRED     G.    METCALF. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


24S 


(gTlTLFRED  G.  METCALF,  a  prominent 
j^\  and  highly  respected  citizen  of  Frank- 
/j(\  lin,   now    living   in   retirement,  was 

^""^  born  in  this  town,  May  23,  1825, 
son  of  William  and  Sallie  (Gaskell)  Metcalf. 
William  H.  Metcalf,  the  grandfather,  was 
born  December  23,  1754.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  a 
lifelong  resident  of  Franklin,  dying  here  in 
1842.  His  wife,  Patty  Richardson,  to  whom 
he  was  married  in  1776,  died  in  1823.  Their 
children  were:  Willard,  born  in  1777,  who 
died  in  1839;  Polly,  born  in  1778,  who  died 
in  1 795;  Marcus,  born  in  1780,  who  died  in 
1803;  Patty,  born  in  1783;  Ebenezer,  born  in 
1788,  who  died  in  1796;  William,  born  March 
8,  1790,  who  died  June  23,  1872;  Abigail, 
born  in  1795,  who  died  in  1870;  Mary,  born 
in  1797;   and  Elizabeth,  born  in  1801. 

William  Metcalf  was  a  farmer,  a  lumber- 
man, and  a  dealer  in  wood  and  charcoal.  He 
served  his  native  town  as  Selectman,  Asses- 
sor, Collector  of  Taxes,  and  in  1851  repre- 
sented it  in  the  State  legislature.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  First  Congregational  Parish. 
His  wife,  Sallie,  who  was  born  at  Mendon, 
Mass.,  April  2,  1797,  died  on  February  25, 
1885.  Their  children  were:  William  War- 
ren and  Alfred  G.  William  Warren,  born  in 
1 8 19,  was  educated  at  Franklin  Academy  in 
Franklin,  and  studied  dentistry  with  Dr. 
Mayo,  of  Boston.  He  subsequently  practised 
in  that  city  for  fifteen  years,  and  died  in  1S70. 

Alfred  G.  Metcalf  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Franklin  and  at  Holliston 
Academy.  He  has  always  lived  at  home, 
spending  his  active  period  in  agriculture.  He 
has  also  done  considerable  lumbering  and 
dealt  in  wood.  He  has  been  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  has  taken  a  strong  interest  in 
town  affairs.  In  1875  he  was  Selectman. 
He  has  also  been  Road  Commissioner,  and 
was  Assessor  for  two  years.  A  Mason  of  Ex- 
celsior Lodge  of  Franklin,  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  He  attends  the 
Baptist  church. 

On  December  28,  1845,  Mr.  Metcalf  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Charlotte  A.  Gil- 
more,  of  Franklin,  Mass.  She  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1824,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Maria 
(Dilber)   Gilmore.     The  father  was  a  farmer 


and  a  native  of  Franklin;  and  the  mother  was 
a  native  of  Providence,  R.I.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Metcalf  have  been  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren:  Evelyn  E.,  born  September  16,  1846, 
who  died  in  1865;  William  S.,  born  May  14, 
1853;  and  Louisa  A.,  born  January  30,  1861. 
William,  who  is  a  member  and  the  treasurer 
of  the  Plainville  Stock  Company,  manufactur- 
ing jewellers,  married  Ida  E.  Heaton,  of  this 
town,  and  has  two  children,  namely:  Bertha 
L. ,  born  May  9,  1879;  and  Leroy  A.,  born 
September  25,  1886.  Louisa  A.,  who  resides 
with  her  parents,  has  been  a  teacher  in  Frank- 
lin village  for  fourteen  years. 


ief  of  Police 
the  most 
was  born 
.rthfield,  Vt., 
son  of  Walter  Bowman,  who  was  born  in 
Springfield,  N.H.  His  grandfather,  Deputy 
Bowman,  who  was  born  in  New  Hampshire, 
there  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  engaged 
as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  1 8 12.  Deputy  married  Margaret  Mc- 
Clure,  who  was  born  in  Southern  New  Hamp- 
shire of  Irish  parentage.  They  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  fourteen  children.  Both  were  attend- 
ants of  the  Baptist  church.  They  both  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

After  following  the  tanner's  trade  in  his  na- 
tive State  for  a  number  of  years,  Walter  Bow- 
man turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  re- 
moved to  Vermont,  where  he  passed  his 
remaining  days,  and  died  at  the  age  of  four- 
score and  eight  years.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Jacksonian  Democrat.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Abigail  Calef,  was  born  in 
Grantham,  N. H.,  being  one  of  the  ten  chil- 
dren of  Nathaniel  Calef,  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  that  place.  Of  Walter's  six  children, 
Sarah  P.,  Abbie  M.,  Sylvester,  and  Alonzo 
are  living.  Both  parents  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  church. 

Alonzo  Bowman  received  his  education  in 
the  district  schools.  When  about  seventeen 
years  old  he  came  to  Massachusetts,  secured  a 
situation  as  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  in  Bos- 
ton, and  was  employed  in  that  capacity  for 
several  years.     Subsequently  he  was  engaged 


>46 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


in  the  express  business  in  Brookline  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  Enlisting 
then  in  Company  F,  Twenty-sixth  Massachu- 
setts Volunteer  Infantry,  he  went  South  with 
the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  and  was  detailed 
to  duty  in  the  office  of  the  Provost  Marshal 
at  Louisiana,  being  stationed  at  New  Orleans 
for  some  time.  He  afterward  went  with  his 
regiment  to  Virginia,  and,  joining  Sheridan 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  was  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  some  of  the  most  hotly  contested 
battles  of  the  entire  war,  and  had  several  nar- 
row escapes  from  death.  In  1864,  his  term 
of  enlistment  having  expired,  he  was  dis- 
charged as  a  private,  and  returned  to  Brook- 
line.  From  1865  till  1871  he  was  employed 
in  the  weighing  department  of  the  Boston 
custom-house.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  patrolman  on  the  Brookline  police 
force.  Five  years  later,  in  1876,  he  was 
made  Chief  of  Police,  an  office  which  he  has 
since  filled  with  commendable  ability.  When 
he  assumed  his  present  position,  the  police 
force  numbered  but  seven  men.  There  are 
now  thirty-nine  men  and  five  horses.  An  am- 
bulance and  a  patrol  wagon  are  used. 

Mr.  Bowman  is  a  steadfast  Republican  in 
his  political  affiliations.  In  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity he  has  been  Marshal  for  ten  years, 
and  belongs  to  Beth-Horon  Lodge  of  Brook- 
line; to  St.  John  Royal  Arch  Chapter;  to  De 
Molay  Commandery  of  Boston ;  and  to  Rox- 
bury  Council,  in  which  he  has  taken  the 
thirty-second  degree.  He  is  likewise  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Brookline  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  of  the  Knights  of  Honor;  is  president  of 
the  Chiefs  of  Police  Association  of  Brookline, 
and  also  of  the  Chiefs  of  Police  Union  of 
Massachusetts.  Mr.  Bowman  was  married  in 
1858  to  Miss  Ann  E.  Russell,  and  has  one 
child,  Walter  H. 


|RS.  NANCY  D.  GILLETT,  an 
esteemed  resident  of  Walnut  Hill, 
was  born  in  Maxfield,  Me.,  Au- 
gust 17,  1S33,  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel and  Sarah  H.  (Davis)  Mcintosh.  On 
the  paternal  side  she  is  of  Scotch  descent. 
Her  grandfather,  Jeremiah  Mcintosh,  was  born 
April    13,   1751,  in   what   is  now   Hyde  Park, 


Mass.  He  fought  for  American  independence 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  taking  part  in  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  April  19,  1775,  as  a 
member  of  Captain  Samuel  Heath's  company. 
In  May  of  the  same  year  he  volunteered  to 
serve  under  Captain  George  Goold,  in  Colonel 
Sargent's  regiment,  and  was  appointed  Orderly 
Sergeant.  From  October,  1775,  to  February, 
1776,  he  was  on  furlough  in  Dorchester,  being 
sick  with  fever  and  general  prostration.  He 
resumed  active  service  in  September,  1776, 
under  Captain  Ebenezer  Gore,  in  the  regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  W.  M.  Mcintosh, 
which  marched  to  Sawpits,  N.Y.,  where  and 
at  New  Castle,  N.Y.,  near  White  Plains,  he 
performed  guard  and  patrol  duty.  One  of 
Mrs.  Gillett's  great-grandfathers  on  the  ma- 
ternal side  was  Benjamin  Swett,  a  sea  captain 
of  Orrington,  Me.  Her  grandfather,  Isaac- 
Davis,  was  a  Methodist  minister.  Samuel 
Mcintosh,  her  father,  was  a  native  of  Hyde 
Park,  Mass.  He  and  his  wife  had  a  family 
of  seven  children;  namely,  Elizabeth,  Isaac 
D.,  Lydia  K.,  Elisha,  Nancy  D.,  Benjamin 
S.,  and  Eliza  Ann. 

Nancy  D.  Mcintosh  attended  the  district 
school,  remaining  with  her  parents  until 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  In  1856  she  ob- 
tained work  in  East  Dedham  at  Taft's  Cotton 
Mills  Thence  she  moved  to  Waltham,  and 
engaged  in  dressmaking.  There  she  met  Ben- 
jamin F.  Gillett,  a  widower,  to  whom  she  was 
married  in  that  town  on  November  15,  1858. 
After  her  marriage  she  went  with  her  husband 
to  Rochester,  Vt.,  where  he  bought  a  farm, 
which  he  conducted  for  some  time.  In  1874 
Mr.  Gillett  purchased  a  lot  in  Dedham,  which 
he  cultivated  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
Though  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  ac- 
cept public  office,  lie  took  a  lively  interest  in 
town  and  county  affairs;  and  he  was  an  active 
worker  for  the  welfare  of  the  Methodist 
church,  acting  as  class  leader  for  a  number  of 
years.  An  exemplary  citizen,  he  was  held  in 
high  esteem  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  death 
occurred  December  18,  1893.  By  his  first 
wife  he  had  two  children:  Austin  F.,  now  a 
farmer  in  Bethel,  Vt. ;  and  Ellen  M.,  now 
the  widow  of  C.  O.  Wiley,  a  farmer  and  a 
resident  of  Rochester,  Vt.  Mrs.  Gillett  has 
resided  in  this  vicinity  for  twenty-three  years, 


DANIEL   J.    KELEHER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


>49 


has  been  an  active  and  valuable  church  mem- 
ber, and  is  widely  known  and  respected.  She 
has  one  child,  Henry  W.,  born  in  Troy, 
N.H.,  June  16,  1861,  who  is  now  a  dentist, 
practising  in  Newport,  R.I.  He  was  married 
June  14,  1893,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Pay,  of 
England. 


ILLARD  P.  CLARK,  the  chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  of 
i  1 1  is,  was  born  in  his  present  resi- 
dence, December  24,  1830,  son  of  James  P. 
and  Maria  F.  (Frost)  Clark.  The  farm  now 
cultivated  by  Mr.  Clark  and  his  brother  was 
cleared  from  the  wilderness  by  their  grand- 
father, John  Clark,  who  erected  the  dwelling, 
and  resided  there  until  his  death. 

James  P.  Clark,  who  inherited  the  home- 
stead, conducted  it  energetically  during  his 
active  years.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in 
his  day,  holding  various  town  offices,  and  act- 
ing as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  was  highly  es- 
teemed for  his  many  commendable  qualities. 
He  died  September  6,  1865.  His  wife, 
Maria,  who  was  a  native  of  Billerica,  Mass., 
became  the  mother  of  three  children;  namely, 
Willard  P.,  John  M.,  and  James  W.  John 
M.  successively  married  Martha  D.  Pierce 
and  Mary  Clark,  and  died  in  August,  1866. 
His  widow  died  in  Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  Novem- 
ber 2,  1897.  James  W.,  who  resides  at  the 
homestead,  married  Amelia  Wallace.  Mrs. 
Maria  Clark  died  in  1883. 

Willard  P.  Clark  acquired  a  common-school 
education,  which  included  a  course  in  the  high 
school.  He  has  always  lived  at  the  home- 
stead, and  he  assisted  in  its  cultivation  from 
an  early  day.  Since  1865  he  and  his  brother 
have  managed  it  jointly.  Besides  the  home- 
stead proper  of  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
acres,  they  own  seventy  acres  of  outlying 
land.  Willard  P.  Clark  is  also  engaged  in 
the  insurance  business  as  agent  for  the  Nor- 
folk, Dedham,  Quincy,  Fitchburg,  and  the 
Traders'  and  Mechanics'  Insurance  Com- 
panies. In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  he 
has  been  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men for  the  past  thirteen  years.  He  is  also  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  settled  several 
estates. 


Mr.  Clark  has  been  twice  married.  The 
first  occasion  was  on  November  9,  1854,  when 
he  was  united  to  Susan  Billings,  of  Walpole, 
Mass.,  daughter  of  Hewins  Billings,  a  farmer 
and  stone-cutter  of  that  town.  She  died  in 
April,  i860,  leaving  no  children.  The  sec- 
ond marriage  was  contracted  on  November  21, 
1861,  with  Abbie  R.  Lovell,  of  Millis, 
daughter  of  Asahel  P.  and  Eliza  (Stedman) 
Lovell.  She  died  May  17,  1893,  leaving  two 
children  —  Jennie  M.  and  John  F. —  both  of 
whom  are  residing  at  home.  Mr.  Clark  occu- 
pies a  prominent  position  both  as  a  business 
man  and  farmer,  and  his  able  public  services 
have  earned  for  him  the  sincere  esteem  of  his 
fellow-townsmen.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Patrons  of  Husbandry  of  Millis. 


m 


EV.  DANIEL  J.  KELEHER,  Ph.D., 
the  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  Medway,  was  born 
in  North  Andover,  Mass.,  March  6, 
1859,  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Lane)  Keleher. 
His  parents  emigrated  from  Ireland  in  1849, 
first  settling  in  Lawrence,  Mass.  After  grad- 
uating from  the  Lawrence  High  School  in 
1876,  he  became  a  student  at  Villanova  Col- 
lege in  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania.  His 
theological  course  was  pursued  at  St.  Mary's 
University,  Baltimore,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1883. 

Having  been  ordained  to  the  priesthood  by 
Cardinal  Gibbons,  Father  Keleher  was  as- 
signed as  assistant  pastor  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1888,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
faculty  at  St.  John's  Seminary  in  Brighton, 
Mass.;  and  in  November,  1896,  he  came  to 
Medway  to  undertake  the  pastorate  of  St.  Jo- 
seph's Church.  This  parish  was  formerly  in 
charge  of  priests  from  neighboring  towns,  in- 
cluding Father  Cuddihy,  of  Milford,  and 
Father  Ouinlan,  of  Holliston.  Its  first  regu- 
lar pastor  was  Father  Boylan,  now  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass.  His  successor  was  Father 
Thomas  B.  Lownay,  who  remained  nine  years, 
and  is  now  stationed  in  Marlboro.  St.  Jo- 
seph's church  edifice,  which  was  commenced 
by  Father  Ouinlan,  was  completed  by  Father 
Boylan.      Under   the   pastoral   care   of    Father 


2S0 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Keleher,  the  entire  parish,  which  includes  St. 
Brendan's  Church  and  congregation  at  North 
Bellingham,  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
Since  coming  to  Medvvay,  Father  Keleher 
has  gained  many  warm  friends.  His  untiring 
labors  in  behalf  of  the  church  and  the  general 
morality  of  the  community  are  highly  appre- 
ciated by  his  fellow-townsmen. 


[OSES  C.  ADAMS,  a  Selectman  of 
Mi  His  and  an  ex-member  of  the 
Massachusetts  legislature,  was 
born  where  he  now  resides,  No- 
vember 17,  1843,  son  of  Edward  and  Keziah 
L.  (Clark)  Adams.  Henry  Adams,  the  first 
of  his  ancestors  to  settle  in  this  section  of  the 
county,  located  upon  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  present  homestead.  Micah  Adams,  his 
grandfather,  who  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
the  locality  now  called  Millis,  spent  his  ac- 
tive years  in  farming. 

Edward  Adams,  who  was  also  a  farmer, 
built  the  house  in  which  his  son  now  resides. 
He  died  September  23,  1870.  His  wife,  who 
was  a  native  of  Milford,  Mass.,  became  the 
mother  of  five  children,  as  follows:  Charles, 
born  November  16,  1831,  who  died  September 
24,  1837;  Mercy  P.,  born  August  26,  1834, 
who  married  Francis  O.  Phillips,  of  this 
town;  Mary  R.,  born  October  24,  1838,  who 
is  the  wife  of  George  Wight,  of  Medfield, 
Mass.;  Edward  M.,  born  November  17,  1840, 
who  died  October  12,  1849;  and  Moses  C. , 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Mrs.  Keziah 
Adams  died  January  15,  1891. 

After  acquiring  a  common-school  education, 
Moses  C.  Adams  began  to  assist  upon  the 
farm  where  he  has  always  resided.  He  now 
owns  the  property,  which  contains  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  fine  tillage  land.  A  successful 
agriculturist,  his  crops  are  large  and  of  su- 
perior quality;  and  he  raises  some  excellent 
stock.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen 
since  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  has 
served  as  Inspector  of  Cattle  for  the  last  five 
years,  is  at  the  present  time  Street  Commis- 
sioner, was  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Assessors 
for  five  years,  and  he  ably  represented  Millis 
in  the  legislature  of  1890. 


On  June  17,  1880,  Mr.  Adams  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Abbie  H.  Ellis,  who  was 
born  in  Milford,  March  9,  1850.  Her  par- 
ents, both  now  deceased,  were  Warren  and 
Louisa  (Cutter)  Ellis,  of  that  town,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Adams  have  three  children,  namely: 
Edward  Ellis,  born  July  27,  1881  ;  Bessie  K., 
born  September  13,  1883;  and  Lotta  M.,  born 
June  24,  1889.  Mr.  Adams  is  connected  with 
Medfield  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  with  the 
Royal  Arcanum;  and  he  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Home  Circle  since  its  organization  in 
Millis. 


ANIEL  BROWN,  a  prosperous  busi- 
ness man  of  Wrentham,  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  manila  hats, 
split  braids,  etc.,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, December  26,  1842.  His  father,  Alex- 
ander Brown,  in  1843  emigrated  from  Ireland 
to  the  United  States,  locating  in  Wrentham. 
Alexander  followed  cabinet-making  here  for 
some  years,  and  was  also  engaged  in  tilling 
the  soil,  being  the  owner  of  a  well-improved 
farm,  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the 
family.  He  died  on  his  homestead  in  1889, 
aged  seventy-eight  years.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Margaret  Lawson,  bore  him 
four  children;  namely,  Ellen,  Daniel,  John, 
and  Alexander.  Ellen  married  Charles  S. 
Goddard,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  has  three 
children  —  George,  Frank,  and  Fred.  Alex- 
ander is  now  deceased. 

Daniel  Brown  was  bred  and  educated  in 
Wrentham,  having  been  but  an  infant  when  he 
was  brought  to  the  country.  After  leaving 
the  district  schools,  he  learned  the  cabinet- 
maker's trade,  which  he  worked  at  for  five 
years,  being  an  ingenious  and  skilful  artisan. 
He  then  turned  his  attention  to  pattern-mak- 
ing, and  was  employed  for  twenty  years  in 
the  straw  shop  of  William  E.  George.  When 
his  employer  failed,  Mr.  Brown  purchased  the 
business,  and  has  since  carried  it  on  with 
signal  success.  He  enlarged  the  plant  by 
additions  to  the  buildings  as  the  work  in- 
creased, and  now  gives  steady  employment  to 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  people.  He  has 
purchased  a  new  residence,  in  which  he  and  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


25' 


estimable  wife  extend  a  gracious   hospitality 
to  their  hosts  of  friends. 

On  July  22,  1868,  Mr.  Brown  married 
Miss  Esther  A.  Getchell,  who  was  born  in 
Topsfield,  Me.,  daughter  of  Isaac  Getchell. 
They  have  two  children  —  Charles  Edwin  and 
Grace  G.  The  son  married  Grace  Armsbey, 
of  Winchester,  Mass.,  and  has  one  child, 
Anna.  Mr.  Brown  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  in  1864  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  has 
since  been  an  active  worker  in  the  Republi- 
can ranks.  In  1896  he  was  a  member  of  the 
State  legislature.  He  is  a  member  of  Wam- 
pum Lodge,  No.  195,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Wren- 
tham.  Both  he  and  his  wife  attend  the  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Wrentham. 


§AMES  D.  McAVOY,  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Hyde  Park,  has  been  identi 
fied  with  the  interests  of  this  town  fo 
nearly  thee  decades,  in  that  time  con 
tributing  his  full  share  toward  promoting  its 
prosperity.  He  was  born  September  24 
1824,  in  Londonderry,  on  the  north  coast  of 
Ireland,  coming  from  thrifty  Scotch-Irish  an- 
cestry. His  father,  John  McAvoy,  was  a  ship- 
per of  grain  and  cattle  in  Londonderry  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  was  very  successful  in 
business.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Strat- 
ton,  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five.  He  married  Miss 
Ellen  Sheran  ;  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
nine  children,  of  whom  James  D.  is  the  only 
survivor.  Both  were  Catholics,  and  their 
children  have  never  departed  from  the  relig- 
ious faith  in  which  they  were  reared. 

When  a  boy  of  thirteen  years,  James  D. 
McAvoy  left  his  native  land,  and,  crossing  the 
Atlantic  in  a  sailing-vessel,  after  a  tedious 
passage  of  two  months  landed  at  St.  John, 
N.B.,  where  he  lived  two  years.  Coming 
then  to  Boston,  he  secured  work  in  the  gas- 
house  at  the  North  End,  and  proved  himself 
so  efficient  that  he  was  later  made  foreman  of 
a  gang  of  men  appointed  to  lay  gas-pipes  in 
trenches,  remaining  in  this  capacity  until 
1 841.  Going  in  that  year  to  North  Easton, 
Bristol  County,  a  town  reached  then  only  by 
stage-coach,  he  began  work  in  the  cutlery  fac- 
tory of  John  Ames,   great-grandfather  of  ex- 


Governor  Ames,  receiving  fifteen  dollars  per 
month,  and  boarding  himself.  This  was  good 
pay,  as  eight  dollars  a  week  was  the  highest 
price  then  paid  to  skilled  laborers.  He  re- 
mained with  Mr.  Ames  until  1849,  saving 
meanwhile  several  hundred  dollars  from  his 
monthly  stipend.  One  of  his  brothers  at  that 
time  borrowed  money  of  him  in  order  to  go  to 
California  with  a  company  that  were  to  start 
for  the  gold  fields;  but  at  the  last  moment  the 
brother  was  prevented  from  going,  and  Mr. 
McAvoy  took  his  place  with  scarcely  twenty- 
four  hours'  notice.  The  company,  consisting 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  sailed  in  the 
good  ship  "Edward  Everett,"  manned  with  a 
crew  of  twenty-five  sailors,  on  January  10, 
1849,  and,  after  a  delightful  voyage  around 
the  Horn,  arrived  at  San  Francisco  the  10th 
day  of  July. 

Hundreds  of  vessels  were  in  the  bay,  and 
five  dollars  an  hour  was  willingly  paid  to  all 
who  would  assist  in  unloading  vessels.  The 
main  body  of  the  company  left  'two  days  later 
for  the  mines,  the  captain  with  six  or  seven 
others  remaining  behind  to  look  after  the 
cargo,  as  well  as  to  convert  the  "Edward 
Everett"  into  a  steamer.  This  they  did  by 
putting  in  an  engine  and  boiler  which  they 
had  brought  with  them.  The  boat  was  a  flat- 
bottomed  side-wheeler.  Mr.  McAvoy,  N.  A. 
Proctor,  Samuel  Baker,  and  a  Mr.  Perkins, 
who  were  the  most  active  in  the  work,  arc  all 
now  living  in  Eastern  Massachusetts.  In  the 
early  part  of  August  they  made  a  trial  trip 
with  the  steamer  into  Suisun  Bay,  going  as  far 
as  Benecia  Bay,  now  known  as  Atlantic  City. 

Its  mining  ventures  proving  unfortunate, 
the  company  broke  up;  and  the  vessel  was  run 
up  Sacramento  Bay,  and  afterward  disposed  of 
for  six  thousand  dollars,  the  cargo  being 
loaded  on  to  an  ox  wagon,  and  taken  to  the 
mines  on  Moquelumne  River.  The  trip  was 
in  every  way  a  discouraging  one.  There  was 
a  great  scarcity  of  water,  sickness  universally 
prevailed  among  the  men,  and,  being  heavily 
overloaded,  the  oxen  gave  out,  and  another 
pair  had  to  be  purchased  to  complete  the  four- 
ox  team.  On  a  foot-hill  the  cattle  evidently 
scented  water,  and  made  a  dash  for  the  stream. 
Mr.  McAvoy,  sick  and  exhausted,  left  the 
company,     and     proceeded     on     foot     to     the 


252 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Moquelumne  River,  where  a  Dr.  Hubbard  was 
found,  who  gave  him  medical  attention,  charg- 
ing him  a  fee  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

On  recovering  his  health,  Mr.  McAvoy 
crossed  the  river  to  Willow  Bend,  where  he 
worked  with  shovel  and  pan,  "picking"  up 
from  thirty  to  forty  dollars  a  day.  Becoming 
dissatisfied,  he  started  with  his  pack  mule  for 
the  South,  going  along  the  Calaveras  River  to 
General  Fremont's  claim,  "Mariposa,"  and 
was  away  six  months,  but  never  found  as  good 
picking  as  he  had  left.  In  1850  he  returned 
to  Sonora,  where  there  were  good  "dry  dig- 
gins,"  but  was  again  taken  with  fever  and 
ague.  He  dosed  himself  with  whiskey  and 
quinine,  but  remained  sick  for  some  time, 
going  to  work,  however,  in  a  store  at  sixteen 
dollars  a  clay,  until  he  should  be  well  enough 
to  resume  mining.  All  articles  of  merchan- 
dise sold  high,  potatoes  and  vegetables  bring- 
ing a  dollar  a  pound.  In  the  fall  of  1852  he 
decided  to  return  home,  and  wrote  to  the 
brother  whose  place  he  had  taken  in  the  com- 
pany to  collect  the  thirteen  hundred  dollars 
due  him  from  the  Ames  Company,  and  come 
at  once  to  California.  The  brother  was  thir- 
teen months  on  the  voyage  out,  being  so  sick 
when  he  arrived  that  Mr.  McAvoy  remained 
to  nurse  him,  and  afterward  gave  him  one 
thousand  dollars  in  gold  dust,  advising  him 
to  return  to  Massachusetts.  Since  that  time 
he  has  not  been  definitely  heard  from.  He  was 
once  reported  to  have  been  seen  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  as  the  cholera  was  raging  there  at 
the  time  it  is  very  probable  that  he  became  its 
victim.  Mr.  McAvoy  came  East,  and,  think- 
ing his  brother  dead,  never  returned  to  the 
mines  as  he  had  intended. 

In  the  fall  of  185  1,  very  soon  after  coming 
from  California,  he  stayed  for  a  short  time  in 
Sharon,  Mass.,  where  he  was  offered  nine  dol- 
lars a  week  to  run  a  trip-hammer,  but  declined 
the  job.  He  accepted  instead  a  position  with 
Mr.  Schenck,  of  Mansfield,  agreeing  to  give  a 
week's  notice  before  leaving,  and  was  with 
him  just  two  weeks.  Going  then  to  Canton, 
he  began  to  make  trowels,  working  as  a  jour- 
neyman at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  day, 
afterward  earning  as  much  as  seven  dollars  a 
day  at  piece  work.  At  length  he  secured  a 
water   privilege    in    Cumberland    Hill,    R.I., 


and  started  in  business  for  himself  as  a  trowel 
manufacturer,  becoming  senior  member  of  the 
firm  of  McAvoy  &  Co.,  taking  in  as  an  equal 
partner  his  former  employer,  J.  B.  Schenck, 
and,  competing  with  other  trowel  manufact- 
urers in  the  Boston  market,  continued  fourteen 
months  to  manufacture  trowels  from  steel  im- 
ported from  England,  he  having  charge  of  the 
inside  work,  and  Mr.  Schenck  attending  to 
the  outside  management.  By  bad  policy  his 
partner  involved  the  company  to  a  fearful  ex- 
tent, and  disappeared.  He  was  subsequently 
arrested  in  New  York,  but  only  one  hundred 
and  forty  dollars  of  the  company's  money 
was  recovered;  and  it  took  Mr.  McAvoy  two 
years  to  pay  off  the  debts  contracted  by  his 
absconding  partner.  He  next  located  in  Fox- 
boro,  Mass.,  where  he  manufactured  trowels, 
at  the  same  time  running  a  grist-mill  nights, 
continuing  until  1861,  when  he  disposed  of 
his  factory.  For  fifteen  years  thereafter  he 
operated  his  grist-mill,  and  in  addition  car- 
ried on  a  grocery  business,  in  which  he  made 
money  rapidly,  his  business  becoming  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  him  in  opening  a  second  store. 

In  1876  he  came  to  Hyde  Park,  then  a 
thriving  village,  and  established  a  grain  store 
in  the  old  government  building.  He  met  with 
excellent  success  from  the  start,  and  a  few 
years  later  added  coal,  brick,  lime,  and 
cement  to  his  stock,  continuing  in  active 
business  until  1S89.  In  1890  Mr.  McAvoy 
was  one  of  the  party  of  one  hundred  "forty- 
niners"  to  make  a  pleasure  trip  to  California, 
being  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daughter. 
This  party,  which  was  away  forty-five  days, 
received  marked  attention  along  the  entire 
route,  and,  carrying  letters  from  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  to  the  Governor  of  California 
and  to  the  Governors  of  the  intermediate 
States,  was  royally  entertained  at  every  stop- 
ping-place. At  San  Bernardino  they  literally 
walked  on  flowers,  a  foretaste  of  their  recep- 
tion being  given  them  some  hours  before  they 
reached  the  city,  when  a  special  car,  bearing 
representatives  from  that  place,  met  them, 
bringing  fruit,  wine,  and  other  choice  deli- 
cacies for  the  inner  man. 

Mr.  McAvoy  was  one  of  the  original  pro- 
moters of  the  Hyde  Park  Electric  Light  and 
Power  Company,  of  which   he  has   been   a   di- 


Mil.    and    Mrs.    GEORGE    E.    HOLBROOK. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


255 


rector  since  its  organization,  and  of  which  he 
was  president  from  1890  until  his  resignation 
in  October,  1896.  In  September,  1896,  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  Norfolk  Sub- 
urban Electric  Railway  Company,  an  office 
which  he  still  holds.  He  has  for  some  years 
been  largely  interested  in  real  estate  matters, 
and  in  1884  he  erected  his  present  elegant 
house  on  Milton  Street  in  Readville.  He  has 
taken  a  very  prominent  part  in  local  affairs, 
having  been  Selectman  four  years,  one  year 
serving  as  chairman  of  the  board;  and  during 
the  entire  time  he  was  also  Highway  Sur- 
veyor. He  is  now  one  of  the  State  Board  of 
Park  Commissioners.  In  politics  he  is  a 
strong  gold  Democrat. 

Mr.  McAvoy  was  married  June  1,  1851,  to 
Miss  Mary  Morrison,  a  native  of  Sharon, 
Mass.  Of  their  four  children  but  one  is  liv- 
ing, a  daughter,  Nellie  L. 


ENTON  P.  CROCKER,  M.D.,  a 
young  and  prominent  physician  of 
Foxboro,  was  born  March  13,  1867, 
in  Hyannis,  Mass.,  son  of  Benjamin 
E.  Crocker.  The  latter  was  born  in  Barn- 
stable, Mass.,  where  he  is  now  actively  en- 
gaged in  business,  being  one  of  the  foremost 
residents  of  the  place.  For  many  years  he 
has  been  profitably  engaged  in  lumber  dealing 
and  brick-making.  He  has  also  cultivated 
cranberries  with  success.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Caroline  P.  Pulsifer,  was 
born  in  Eden,  Me.,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr. 
Moses  R.  Pulsifer,  who  was  a  prominent  ho- 
moeopathic physican  of  Ellsworth,  Me.  They 
have  reared  four  children,  namely:  Willard 
C,  a  former  physician  of  Foxboro,  but  now 
of  Springfield,  Mass.,  who  married  Anna 
Pond,  of  this  town;  Augusta  P.,  who  is  the 
wife  of  James  V.  Turner,  a  designer  of 
woollen  fabrics;  Bertha,  a  school-teacher  in 
Springfield,  Mass.;  and  Benton  P.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 

Benton  P.  Crocker  received  his  elementary 
education  in  the  district  schools  of  Cape  Cod. 
Afterward  he  pursued  a  course  at  Amherst 
College  and  at  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Vermont.  He  subsequently  at- 
tended the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 


of  New  York  City,  from  which  he  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  with  the 
class  of.  1891.  He  then  obtained  experience 
and  a  practical  knowledge  of  his  profession  at 
the  New  York  Lying-in  Hospital,  where  he 
remained  as  assistant  resident  physician  for 
nearly  a  year.  In  September,  1894,  Dr. 
Crocker  came  to  Foxboro,  where  he  has  made 
rapid  strides  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
The  share  of  patronage  he  has  already  won  in 
Foxboro  gives  promise  of  a  very  successful 
future. 

The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  medical  so- 
cieties of  Massachusetts  and  Norfolk  County. 
He  was  made  an  Odd  Fellow  in  Excelsior 
Lodge,  No.  87,  of  Foxboro.  He  is  also  a 
member  and  the  medical  examiner  of  the 
United  Order  of  the  Golden  Cross,  and  of  the 
United  Order  of  Pilgrim  Fathers,  Cocasset 
Colony.  Taking  much  interest  in  agricultural 
questions,  he  also  belongs  to  Foxboro 
Grange,  Patrons  of  Husbandry.  A  member  of 
the  Universalist  church,  his  religious  creed  is 
liberal. 


/STeORGE  E.  HOLBROOK,  one  of  the 
\  •)  I  most  prominent  farmers  in  Norfolk, 
^ —  was  born  December  14,  1839,  uPon 
the  farm  he  now  owns  and  occupies,  son  of 
George  E.  and  Clarissa  (Turner)  Holbrook. 
The  paternal  grandfather,  Daniel  Holbrook, 
who  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  was  a  resident  of  Norfolk  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  and  the  original  owner  of  the 
Holbrook  homestead.  His  death  occurred 
April  17,  1839.  He  wedded  Mary  Edwards, 
and  reared  three  children,  namely:  Eliza  E., 
born  in  1802;  Mary  B.(  born  January  13, 
1804,  who  married  Silas  J.  Llolbrook;  and 
George  E. ,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.      None  are  now  living. 

George  E.  Holbrook  (first)  was  born  in 
Norfolk,  September  13,  1806,  and  died  in 
1859.  He  inherited  the  home  farm,  which  he 
had  helped  to  clear;  and  he  cultivated  it  suc- 
cessfully during  his  active  years.  He  was  ac- 
tive in  military  affairs,  serving  as  a  Major  in 
the  State  militia.  His  wife,  Clarissa,  who 
was  a  native  of  Medfield,  Mass.,  became  the 
mother   of    three   children,    as    follows:    Silas 


■5<> 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


P.,  M.D.,  who  married  Jennie  Campbell,  and 
is  a  practising  physician  in  East  Douglas, 
Mass.;  George  E.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Mary  E.,  who  married  Edwin  F.  Cowell, 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  and  a  conductor  on 
the  New  England  Railroad,  residing  in  Dor- 
chester, Mass.     The  mother  died  in  1889. 

George  E.  Hoi  brook,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  attended  schools  in  Norfolk  and 
Wrentham,  completing  his  studies  at  the  age 
of  eighteen.  He  has  always  resided  at  the 
homestead,  assisting  his  father  in  its  cultiva- 
tion. After  caring  for  his  mother  during  her 
declining  years,  he  succeeded  to  the  farm. 
The  property  contains  eighty-seven  acres  of 
well-improved  land,  located  in  one  of  the 
most  fertile  districts  of  the  State,  and  is  de- 
voted to  general  farming,  dairying,  and  fruit- 
growing. In  1873  Mr.  Holbrook  engaged  in 
the  provision  business  in  Boston,  but  with- 
drew from  that  enterprise  a  year  later,  prefer- 
ring to  give  his  entire  attention  to  his  farm. 
Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  has  for 
years  been  identified  with  local  public  affairs. 
He  served  with  ability  as  Highway  Surveyor 
for  five  years,  was  Collector  of  Taxes  for  eight 
years,  Constable  for  two  years;  and  he  has 
been  on  the  Board  of  Assessors  in  all  for  over 
sixteen  years,  having  been  the  first  Assessor 
of  Norfolk  after  its  incorporation.  At  the 
present  time  he  is  special  police  officer,  and 
he  fills  other  town  offices.  He  is  Master  of 
Norfolk  Grange,  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  and 
a  charter  member  of  Mount  Nebo  Council, 
Royal  Arcanum  of  Medfield. 

In  1870  Mr.  Holbrook  married  Estella  L. 
Pond,  daughter  of  Henry  E.  and  Louisa  B. 
Pond,  of  Franklin,  Mass.  Her  father,  now 
deceased,  was  an  inventor,  and  for  some  time 
a  depot  agent  in  that  town.  Her  mother  re- 
sides in  Holliston,  Mass.  Mrs.  Holbrook  is 
the  mother  of  five  children;  namely,  Estella 
L. ,  George  P.,  Warner  Howard,  Sarah 
Fisher,  and  Louisa,  all  of  whom  are  residing 
at  home.  All  the  members  of  the  family  are 
musicians,  and  frequently  furnish  music  for 
dancing  parties,  receptions,  and  other  social 
functions.  Mr.  Holbrook  has  taught  music 
and  led  orchestras,  and  Mrs.  Holbrook  spent 
some  time  in  Germany  studying  music.  She 
is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 


,HARLES  N.  MORSE,  of  Foxboro, 
is  engaged  in  the  Christian  work  of 
bringing  up  children  placed  under 
his  protection  by  the  Boston  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society.  He  was  born  in  North 
Foxboro,  Mass.,  March  5,  1833,  son  of  Newell 
Morse.  His  great-grandfather,  Amos  Morse 
(first),  took  up  land  here  at  an  early  day,  and 
erected  thereon  a  saw-mill  in  the  place  now 
occupied  by  Boynton's  grist-mill.  He  cleared 
a  part  of  the  land,  carrying  on  farming  and 
milling  until  his  demise. 

Amos  Morse  (second),  the  grandfather  of 
Charles  N.,  was  born  on  the  old  homestead, 
which  subsequently  became  his  by  inheri- 
tance. During  his  active  life  he  was  likewise 
engaged  in  lumbering  and  farming,  and  he  im- 
proved the  property  in  many  ways.  His  wife, 
Submit  Paine  Morse,  belonged  to  a  family 
that  was  founded  here  in  Colonial  times. 
Newell  Morse,  his  second-born  child,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  occupations  of  his  ancestors,  and 
with  his  brother  Leonard  inherited  the  ances- 
tral acres.  During  the  later  days  of  his  life, 
which  was  closed  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years, 
Newell  was  exclusively  engaged  in  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  He  married  Miss  Sally  F. 
Mann,  who  bore  him  six  children,  namely: 
Charles  N. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Helen 
F.,  who  died  in  childhood;  Edson  A.,  who 
lives  on  the  old  homestead  near  the  Neponset 
Reservoir;  Eliza  A.,  who  married  A.  J. 
Daniels,  of  this  town,  and  has  four  children; 
Julius  E.,  of  Wrentham;  and  Elwin  C,  a  real 
estate  dealer  in  Boston. 

Charles  N.  Morse  obtained  his  education  in 
the  district  schools.  Beginning  when  quite 
young,  he  was  employed  in  the  Union  Straw 
Works  for  twenty  consecutive  years.  Subse- 
quently, in  Milford,  Mass.,  he  had  charge  of 
the  straw  department  in  a  factory  for  four 
years.  Returning  then  to  Foxboro,  he  pur- 
chased the  Hartshorn  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  acres,  where  in  recent  years  he 
has  cared  for  the  boys  sent  to  him  by  the 
benevolent  organization  above  referred  to. 
Twenty-three  boys  are  now  there.  They  are 
trained  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  do  for 
themselves  in  due  time,  and  become  worthy 
citizens  of  the  republic. 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  November  19,  1856, 


CLIFFORD    BELCHER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


259 


to  Miss  Hester  Maria  Maybury,  of  Otisfield, 
Me.  They  have  two  children  —  Frank  A. 
and  Mabel  E.  The  latter  is  a  student  at 
Wellesley  College.  Frank  A.,  after  attend- 
ing Amherst  College,  graduated  from  the 
Harvard  Medical  School,  and  has  since  been 
prosperously  engaged  in  the  medical  profes- 
sion at  Lynn,  Mass.  He  married  Miss 
Blanche  Boardman,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  has 
one  child,  Beatrice  Morse.  Mr.  Morse,  Sr., 
has  been  an  advocate  of  Republican  principles 
since  he  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  in 
1856  for  John  C.  Fremont,  and  has  served  as 
a  member  of  the  School  Committee.  He  has 
recently  united  with  the  local  society  of  the 
Knights  of  Honor.  In  185 1  he  joined  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Foxboro,  and  since 
then  has  been  twice  elected  a  Deacon.  He 
was  also  a  Deacon  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Milford. 


(Willson)  Bird.  His  grandfather,  Seth  Bird, 
was  engaged  in  teaming  in  Portland,  Me.,  for 
a  number  of  years;  and  in  that  city  Harrison 
Bird  was  born,  reared,  and  educated.  When 
a  young  man,  Harrison  Bird  came  to  Boston, 
and  was  employed  for  some  time  in  a  market 
as  clerk  for  his  uncle.  He  then  established 
a  stall  of  his  own,  and  was  for  sixty  years  in 
the  provision  business  in  Faneuil  Hall 
Market.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  market- 
men  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  was  widely  known 
and  very  popular.  In  1847  he  moved  to 
Brookline,  where  he  lived  thirty-five  years, 
and  erected  a  handsome  residence.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five.  He  attended  the 
Swedenborgian  church.  His  wife,  a  native  of 
Boston,  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  She 
was  the  mother  of  three  children,  two  of  whom 
have  passed  away. 

Albert  H.  Bird  passed  the  first  seven  years 
of  his  life  in  Dorchester,  now  a  part  of  Bos- 
ton. He  acquired  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Brookline,  and  on  leaving  school 
went  into  business  with  his  father.  After 
the  death  of  the  latter  he  sold  out  the  busi- 


ness, and  has  since  been  retired.  He  built 
his  present  handsome  residence  at  246  Har- 
vard Street,  Brookline,   in  1888. 

Mr.  Bird  was  married  in  1864  to  Eliza  A., 
daughter  of  William  Churchill,  of  Brookline. 
Mrs.  Bird  was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass. 
Her  father,  a  wealthy  fish  merchant,  with  a 
place  of  business  at  Long  Wharf,  Boston,  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty.  Mrs.  Bird  died  at  the  age 
of  fifty-five.  Mr.  Bird  is  a  gentleman  of  cult- 
ure, interested  in  literature  and  art.  He  is 
an  extensive  reader,  and  is  conversant  with 
the  best  English  authors. 


7TALIFF0RD    BELCHER,    who    died    on 
I  KjS      September    15,   1897,    at   his   home    in 

\L>  Canton,    was    born    in    this    town    in 

1821,  and  was  the  third  in  direct 
line  to  bear  that  name.  He  came  of  substan- 
tial English  stock,  represented  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  before  1640  by  Edward  Bel- 
cher, of  Boston;  Andrew  Belcher,  of  Cam- 
bridge; Gregory  Belcher,  of  Boston  and  later 
of  Cambridge;  and  Jeremy  Belcher,  of  Ipswich. 
Mr.  Belcher's  grandfather,  Clifford  Belcher, 
first,  was  born,  lived,  and  died  in  Canton, 
spending  his  long  years  in  useful  activity. 

His  son,  Clifford  Belcher,  second,  was  bom 
and  reared  in  Canton,  and  for  many  years  was 
known  as  one  of  the  most  energetic,  industri- 
ous, and  valued  citizens  of  the  place.  He 
owned  a  small  farm,  which  he  carried  on  in 
connection  with  carpentering.  He  built  in 
1845  the  house  now  owned  by  his  son  Clifford, 
and  there  spent  his  last  days  in  comfort  and 
plenty,  passing  away  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  In  his  earlier  life  he  was  an 
adherent  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  in  later 
years  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party.  He  was  for  some 
years  Selectman,  and  held  other  offices  of  minor 
importance.  To  him  and  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Mary  McKendry,  seven  chil- 
dren were  born,  only  one  of  whom  is  now  liv- 
ing; namely,  Sarah,  wife  of  A.   W.   Kinsley. 

Clifford  Belcher,  third,  attended  the  common 
schools  of  Canton  until  eighteen  years  of  age. 
He  then  went  to  Easton  and  learned  the 
moulder's  trade  in  the  foundry  with  his 
brother,    Daniel     Belcher.       In     1X45    lie    re- 


260 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


turned  to  Canton,  and  entered  into  the  service 
of  the  Kinsley  Iron  and  Machine  Company. 
In  1866  he  established  a  foundry  of  his  own 
on  Walnut  Street,  which  he  conducted  suc- 
cessfully for  many  years.  For  the  last  seven 
years  Mr.  Belcher  lived  retired  from  active 
pursuits,  enjoying  a  well-deserved  leisure,  a 
much  respected  citizen.  He  was  a  Republican 
in  politics,  but  was  never  an  aspirant  for  office. 
Mr.  Belcher  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  B. 
Spair,  died  in  1S81,  leaving  four  children, 
namely—  Fred  C,  Charles  E.,  Addie  L.,  and 
Elmer  A.  Mr.  Belcher  married  September 
10,  1883,  Miss  L.  Arvilla  Dean,  of  Easton, 
Mass.  With  his  wife  he  attended  the  Congre- 
gational church,  to  whose  support  he  was  a  lib- 
eral contributor. 


f  STeORGE  HOLLISTER  BROWN,  an 
y  '*)  I  alert,  enterprising,  and  far-sighted 
^ —  business  man,  engaged  in  dealing  in 
real  estate  and  mortgages,  conveyancing,  and 
insurance  business  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  was  born 
in  Detroit,  Mich.,  March  17,  1870,  a  son  of 
Charles  Hall  and  Georgianna  (Newcomb) 
Brown. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Nathan  Hollister 
Brown,  was  born  and  bred  in  Charlton,  Sara- 
toga County,  N.Y.,  the  date  of  his  birth  being 
May  10,  181  5.  He  was  active  in  town  affairs, 
holding  the  office  of  Supervisor  for  several 
years,  and  was  familiarly  known  as  "Squire" 
Brown.  After  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  in 
which  he  served  as  Captain  of  Company  H, 
New  York  Seventy-seventh  Regiment,  State 
Volunteers,  he  removed  to  Detroit,  Mich., 
where  he  carried  on  business  as  a  contractor 
and  builder.  He  was  subsequently  appointed 
as  an  officer  in  the  House  of  Correction  at  De- 
troit, serving  there  for  some  time.  He  was  a 
man  of  much  mechanical  ingenuity  and  the 
inventor  of  a  freight-car  roofing.  He  attained 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years  and  seven  months, 
passing  to  the  life  eternal  February  20,  1884. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Amanda 
Hall,  was  born  in  Southeast,  Putnam  County, 
N.  Y.,  August  19,  18 1 5,  and  died  in  Detroit, 
October  23,   1876. 

Charles  Hall  Brown  was  born   July  5,   1849, 


at  Charlton,  Saratoga  County,  N.Y.  Having 
completed  his  schooling  in  his  native  State,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  secured  employment 
at  Dr.  Spence's  drug  store  in  Detroit,  whither 
his  parents  had  removed  and  at  seventeen  he 
was  putting  up  prescriptions,  being  the  young- 
est prescription  clerk  the  proprietor  had  ever 
known,  proving  himself  efficient  and  trust- 
worthy. Marrying  in  1868,  he  continued  to 
live  in  Detroit  up  to  the  date  of  his  appoint- 
ment, in  1 87 1,  as  the  general  Western  agent 
of  the  Frederick  Stearns's  Drug  Company,  in 
which  capacity  he  was  engaged  in  travelling 
most  of  the  time  for  about  fifteen  years,  hav- 
ing his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  the  home 
of  the  family  being  in  Detroit  as  before.  Re- 
moving to  Little  Falls,  Minn.,  in  1888,  he 
established  a  drug  store  in  that  city,  and  has 
since  conducted  a  satisfactory  business,  hav- 
ing built  up  an  extensive  trade.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  His  wife, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  George  Newcomb,  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  died  December  24,  1881,  leav- 
ing three  children,  as  follows:  Charles  Fred- 
erick, proprietor  of  the  Brown  Electrical  Con- 
struction Company  of  New  Haven,  Conn.; 
George  Hollister;  and  Herbert  Stanley,  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics  at  the  Episcopal  Acad- 
emy in  Cheshire,  Conn.  Both  of  the  parents 
were  endowed  with  musical  talent;  and  for 
some  years  the  mother  was  the  principal  alto 
singer  in  one  of  the  large  churches  of  Detroit, 
and  afterward  officiated  as  organist  in  an 
Episcopal  church  in  that  city.  Mrs.  Brown 
was  also  an  instructor  in  a  music  school,  and 
had  a  large  class  of  private  pupils. 

George  H.  Brown,  the  special  subject  of 
this  sketch,  obtained  the  rudiments  of  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  Coddington  School,  Quincy, 
which  he  attended  in  1875,  afterward  continu- 
ing his  studies  at  a  private  school  in  Detroit 
and  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  At  the 
age  of  twelve  vears  he  obtained  a  situation  in 
the  office  of  the  Michigan  Central  Railway 
Company,  and  continued  in  the  railroad  busi- 
ness until  coming  to  Quincy  three  years  later. 
He  secured  work  in  Boston  as  a  clerk  in  the 
office  of  an  insurance  publication,  with  which 
he  was  connected  a  year.  In  1886  he  opened 
an  office  as  public  stenographer  and  typewrit- 
ist,  but  closed  it  three  months   later  when  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


261 


was  appointed  an  assistant  in  the  secretary's 
office  of  the  New  England  Insurance  Ex- 
change. He  remained  there  a  year,  and  in 
the  meantime  formed  a  partnership  with  Al- 
fred E.  Cram,  under  the  firm  name  of  George 
H.  Brown  &  Co.,  and  opened  offices  in  the 
Chadwick  Building,  Boston,  for  shorthand 
work,  continuing  until  1888.  Prior  to  that 
time  he  had  formed  a  liking  for  insurance 
work,  and  in  the  winter  of  1887  had  taken  out 
an  insurance  broker's  license,  and  had  solic- 
ited fire  risks,  confining  his  operations  to 
Ouincy  chiefly.  In  1888  he  opened  an  office 
in  the  Durgin  &  Merrill  Block,  and  soon,  in 
addition  to  his  insurance  business,  added  that 
of  real  estate,  mortgages,  and  kindred  matters, 
removing  to  his  present  offices  in  the  Adams 
Building  in  18S9.  Frequently  requested  by 
his  numerous  customers  to  prepare  legal  in- 
struments, he  determined  to  fit  himself  for 
that  work,  and  accordingly  took  a  two  years' 
course  of  study  at  the  Boston  University  Law 
School,  continuing  his  business  here  at  the 
same  time. 

In  [891  Mr.  Brown  was  appointed  by  the 
late  Governor  Russell  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
ami  in  1893  he  received  his  appointment  as 
Notary  Public.  His  business  has  greatly  in- 
creased, his  dealing  in  realty  and  mortgages 
being  extensive;  and  as  a  fire  insurance  agent 
he  represents  several  of  the  old  and  reliable 
stock  and  mutual  insurance  companies.  He 
is  a  trustee  of  several  estates,  and  has  the 
management  of  a  number  of  trust  estates,  mak- 
ing a  specialty  of  the  care  of  property.  He 
collects  rents  and  incomes,  settles  estates  of 
deceased  persons,  etc. 

u  Mr.  Brown  is  a  Republican,  and,  although 
interested  in  politics,  has  never  held  public 
office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  Good  Fellows,  of  which  he  has  been  secre- 
tary since  its  formation  in  1889;  is  a  direc- 
tor in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
which  he  assisted  in  organizing;  is  a  director 
in  the  Ouincy  Board  of  Trade;  is  a  member 
of  the  Ouincy  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters; 
and  in  1891  assisted  in  the  organization 
of  the  Ouincy  Musical  Club,  and  became  its 
first  president.  He  has  inherited  some  of  the 
musical  talent  of  his  parents,  and,  while  at- 
tending   the   law  school,    was  a   member  and 


the  manager  for  one  season  of  the  Boston  Uni- 
versity Glee  Club.  He  is  one  of  the  Wardens 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  takes  an  active 
interest  in  church  work.  Mr.  Brown  is  a 
member  of  the  Ouincy  Historical  Society,  the 
Yacht  Club,  and  the  Wollaston  Golf  Club. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1893,  Mr.  Brown 
married  Miss  Mabel  Lewis  Pollock,  daughter 
of  Allen  F.  Pollock,  of  Ouincy.  Three  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  them,  and  two  are  liv- 
ing; namely,  Madeleine  Pollock  and  Francis 
Irving. 


ALTER  S.  WESTON,  a  Boston 
contractor  and  builder,  was  born  in 
Duxbury,  Plymouth  County,  Mass., 
November  12,  1852,  son  of  Augustus  Weston 
and  Elmira  White  Weston,  and  belongs  to  an 
old  Massachusetts  family  of  English  descent. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Galon  Weston,  a 
ship-builder  of  Duxbury,  married  Judith 
Frost.  They  were  Unitarians;  and  their  six 
children — -Samuel,  Judith,  Seth,  Margaret, 
Augustus,  and  Caroline  —  were  brought  up  in 
that  faith. 

The  son  Augustus  learned  the  shoemaker's 
trade  in  his  youth,  but  afterward  became  a 
butcher,  and  also  engaged  in  agriculture.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Union  Army,  in  Company  I  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teers, December  6,  1862,  was  made  Sergeant 
of  his  company,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  After  his  return  to  Duxbury  he  de- 
voted his  time  to  farming  and  to  the  public- 
affairs  of  the  town.  He  was  a  Republican, 
and  represented  the  district  in  the  legislature. 
He  also  held  the  office  of  Assessor,  always 
taking  a  lively  interest  in  the  political  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  His  death  occurred  October 
18,  1873.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Bart- 
lett  White,  of  Duxbury,  and  was  one  of  a 
family  of  three  children.  Mr.  White,  who 
was  a  butcher  by  trade,  carried  on  the  express 
business  between  Duxbury  and  Boston.  He 
was  a  man  of  influence  in  the  town.  The  off- 
spring of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weston  were  twelve 
in  number,  of  whom  seven  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  Walter  S. ;  Amelia,  who  mar- 
ried James  Walley,  and  resides  in  Hyde 
Park;   Samuel;   Henry;   Harry;    Thomas:    and 


862 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Hattie,  who  married  Elmer  Leach,  of  Dux- 
bury. 

Walter  S.  Weston  lived  at  home  until  four- 
teen years  old.  At  that  early  age  he  went  to 
Boston  to  learn  the  mason's  trade,  which  he 
followed  as  a  journeyman  until  able  to  go  into 
business  for  himself.  In  1872  he  decided  to 
try  his  fortunes  in  California,  and  journeyed 
thither  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
For  some  time  he  was  employed  on  the  Capi- 
tol Building  in  Carson  City,  Nev.,  setting 
stone  which  was  cut  from  the  quarries  by  the 
inmates  of  the  county  jail.  He  spent  a  year 
in  the  State  of  Nevada,  and  returned  to  Bos- 
ton upon  the  death  of  his  father  in  the  fall  of 
1873.  As  the  eldest  son  he  undertook  the  en- 
tire support  of  his  widowed  mother  and  her 
large  family,  and  cheerfully  supplied  their 
every  need.  He  built  extensively  in  St. 
John,  N.B.,  after  the  great  fire  of  1877. 
Going  South  in  1890,  he  was  located  for  a 
year  in  Cardip,  Tenn.,  and  subsequently  in 
Alabama.  Upon  his  return  to  Boston  he  was 
placed  upon  the  police  force,  and  remained  a 
patrolman  in  the  South  Cove  district  for  three 
years.  Again  making  a  change,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  foreman  in  the  establishment  of 
Messrs.  Weston  &  Sheppard,  of  which  firm 
his  uncle  was  the  senior  partner.  During  his 
business  career  in  Boston  many  fine  hotels 
have  been  erected  by  Mr.  Weston,  notably  one 
on  the  corner  of  Marlboro  and  Exeter  Streets, 
the  fine  structure  on  the  corner  of  Boylston 
Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue,  also  that  on 
Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Haviland  Street. 
Fourteen  houses  on  Haviland  Street,  between 
Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Parker  Street,  va- 
rious apartment  houses  on  Commonwealth 
Avenue,  also  Hotel  Ludlow,  opposite  Trin- 
ity Church,  and  the  remodelled  Hotel  Plaza, 
are  specimens  of  his  business  achievements. 

He  married  July  3,  1876,  Minnie  Calder,  of 
Nova  Scotia.  Of  this  union  two  children 
have  been  born  —  Walter  A.  and  Minnie  B. 
Since  1887  Mr.  Weston  and  his  family  have 
resided  in  Hyde  Park. 

Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  for  the 
past  two  years  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen.  He  is  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  the  Knights  of  Malta;  a  member  of  the 
Aberdour  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Boston,  and 


of  the  Norfolk  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  Hyde 
Park  Council,  R.  &  S.  M. ;  and  Cyprus  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T.  ;  also  of  Mount  Forest  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  No.  148,  of  Hyde  Park;  was 
formerly  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Red  Men,  now  a  member  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum, Alpha,  No.  1,  and  was  at  one  time  a 
member  of  the  Lancers  of  Boston.  He  has 
also  been  connected  with  the  Boston  Builders' 
Exchange  and  with  the  Mechanic  Exchange 
of  the  city  of  Boston.  An  influential  member 
of  the  Universalist  church,  Mr.  Weston  at  the 
present  time  holds  the  president's  chair  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  that  society. 


SOHN  FLAVEL  JENKINS  MAYO, 
better  known  as  John  F.  J.  Mayo,  for 
many  years  a  prominent  manufacturer 
of  Norfolk  County,  was  born  in  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.,  in  1819,  and  died  at  his  home  in 
Needham,  August  11,  1893.  He  belonged  to 
an  old  Massachusetts  family,  dating  from 
early  Colonial  times. 

"The  Roxbury  Mayos,"  says  Francis  S. 
Drake  in  his  history  of  the  town,  "are  de- 
scended from  John,  a  young  child  brought 
over  in  1633  by  Robert  Gamblin,  Jr.,  and 
who  was  the  son  of  his  wife  by  a  former  hus- 
band. He  married  in  1654  Hannah,  daughter 
of  John  Graves."  "Thomas,  son  of  John 
Mayo,  was  born  in  1673."  A  later  Thomas 
Mayo,  father  of  the  late  Mr.  John  F.  J.  Mayo, 
was  born  at  Roxbury  in  1765,  and  was  for 
many  years  a  merchant  in  Roxbury  and  in 
Boston.  He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight 
years.  His  wife,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Deacon  Davis,  of  Roxbury,  died  in  1856. 

Having  received  his  education  in  the  Rox- 
bury schools,  John  F.  J.  Mayo  began  his 
working  life  as  an  assistant  in  a  jewelry  store, 
where  he  remained  for  some  time.  Not  liking 
the  business,  however,  he  left  it,  and  learned 
the  trade  of  carpenter  and  builder,  at  which  he 
worked  for  many  years.  He  then  engaged  in 
the  business  of  manufacturing  glue  in  Rox- 
bury, removing  his  plant  in  1855  to  Need- 
ham,  and  operating  for  some  time  in  this 
town.  His  partner  for  sixteen  years  was 
Edwin  Evans,  and  the  business  was  carried  on 
under  the  name  of  Evans  &   Mayo.      At  the 


CHARLES    W.    THAYER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


265 


end  of  that  time  Mr.  Mayo  began  to  work  at 
his  trade  again  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Gould  &  Mayo,  which  continued  for  eight 
years.  He  then  retired  from  active  business 
life. 

On  April  20,  1848,  Mr.  Mayo  was  married 
to  Ellen  E.  Eaton,  daughter  of  William  and 
Sally  (Johnson)  Eaton,  of  Needham.  Mr. 
Eaton  represented  one  of  the  old  and  honored 
families  of  this  region,  and  was  himself  a 
broad-minded,  public-spirited  citizen,  and  for 
some  years  Selectman  of  the  town.  He  had 
a  family  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  George 
Eaton,  born  in  1819,  now  residing  in  Needham; 
Emily,  born  in  1821,  who  died  in  1885,  wife 
of  George  H.  Gay;  Augustus,  born  in  1823,  a 
resident  of  Needham;  Charles,  born  in  1824, 
who  died  in  infancy;  Ellen  E.,  now  Mrs. 
Mayo;  Mary  J.,  who  was  born  in  182S,  and 
died  in  1889;  Adeline,  born  in  1830,  who 
was  married  in  1864  to  John  Morton  Harris, 
late  resident  of  Needham,  whose  life  is 
sketched  on  another  page  of  this  work; 
Charles  VV.  Eaton,  born  May  30,  1833,  who 
married  Lucetta  Hunt,  of  Sudbury,  and  is 
now  in  the  clothing  business  in  Boston; 
Everett  J.,  the  youngest  son,  born  in  1837, 
who  married  Lydia  Fuller,  of  Wellesley,  lived 
in  Needham  until  his  death  in  June,  1896, 
and  was  well-known  in  the  express  and  livery 
business  and  as  a  prominent  politician. 

Mr.  Mayo  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  one 
child,  a  daughter,  Alice  E.,  who  was  born  in 
1859,  was  married  to  Charles  Atherton  Hicks 
in  1883,  and  resides  in  Needham. 

Mr.  Mayo  was  deeply  interested  for  many 
years  in  the  work  of  the  First  Parish  Church, 
Unitarian  Congregational,  both  he  himself 
and  Mrs.  Mayo  being  members  thereof.  He 
was  one  of  the  Parish  Committee,  and  one  of 
the  Building  Committee  when  the  church 
edifice  was  removed.  In  politics  Mr.  Mayo 
was  a  Republican,  and  ever  ready  to  work  for 
his  party  or  to  contribute  liberally  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  its  interests.  In  1850  he  was 
elected  member  of  the  Council  of  Roxbury  for 
two  years,  and  he  was  also  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Roxbury  Artillery  Company. 
He  took  an  active  interest  in  all  town  im- 
provements, and  was  a  generous  promoter  of 
reforms. 


HARLES     W.     THAYER,     a    promi- 
nent farmer  of   Bellingham,  was  born 
in    this    place,    October    22,    1824, 
son    of    Willard   and    Rhoda    (Sher- 
man) Thayer,  both  natives  of  Bellingham. 

Willard,  son  of  Ebenezer  Thayer,  was  a 
carriage-maker  in  early  life,  afterward  devot- 
ing himself  to  farming.  In  1837  ne  built 
the  house  now  owned  by  his  son;  and  he  died 
there,  December  17,  1878,  his  wife  surviving 
until  November  28,  1889.  They  had  nine 
children,  namely:  James  A.,  a  mechanic  by 
trade,  who  spent  much  of  his  life  in  Belling- 
ham, and  died  in  Providence,  R.I.,  March  4, 
1887;  Charles  W.  ;  Henry  Franklin,  who 
died  February  16,  1833,  at  the  age  of  four 
years;  Barton  D.,  who  married  Laura  Ban- 
croft (deceased),  and  who  lives  in  New  York 
City,  where  he  has  charge  of  the  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt  place;  Olney  S.,  who  died  in 
1887;  Mary  Frances,  the  wife  of  Edward  F. 
Light,  a  machinist  of  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Ade- 
line, who  married  John  W.  Randall,  of  Provi- 
dence; William  Henry,  who  is  married  and 
resides  in  Providence;  Rhoda  Mandella,  who 
is  the  wife  of  William  Brittin,  a  carpenter, 
and  resides  in  Milford,  Mass. 

Charles  W.  Thayer,  the  second  son,  was 
well  educated  at  the  common  and  high  schools 
of  the  county,  and  lived  at  home  with  his  par- 
ents until  he  married,  at  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  He  then  purchased  the  entire  interest 
in  the  old  homestead  farm  of  thirty  acres  at 
South  Bellingham,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  has  made  all  the  improvements  on  the 
place,  including  the  erection  of  new  build- 
ings. He  has  also  engaged  in  different  real 
estate  transactions,  and  he  is  now  the  owner 
of  other  houses  and  lands  in  the  vicinity. 
He  has  devoted  most  of  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing, but,  owing  to  somewhat  failing  health 
during  the  past  few  years,  has  been  obliged  to 
take  a  less  active  part  in  the  farm  work  than 
formerly. 

He  married  October  23,  1845,  Betsey  W. 
Aldrich,  who  was  born  in  Mendon,  Mass., 
July  7,  1826,  daughter  of  Allen  and  Sarah 
(Scott)  Aldrich.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aldrich  had 
four  children:  Betsey  W. ;  Phoebe,  wife  of  C. 
Cooper,  a  retired  merchant  of  New  York  City; 
Sylvanus;  and  Allen  — the  last  two  being  de- 


266 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ceased.  The  father  was  a  farmer  of  Mendon, 
and  died  there  in  1834.  The  mother  married 
a  second  husband,  James  Burchard,  and  had 
five  children;  namely,  Daniel,  Francis  (de- 
ceased), Joseph,  Charles,  and  George,  de- 
ceased.     She  died  in  Killingham,  Conn. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thayer  have  one  child,  a 
daughter,  Ella  F.,  born  August  15,  1855. 
She  married  Charles  E.  Delmage,  who  is  in 
the  fruit  and  confectionery  business,  and  re- 
sides in  Providence,  R.I. 

Mr.  Thayer  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
has  always  cast  his  vote  for  the  candidates  of 
that  party.  Though  he  belongs  to  no  secret 
orders,  and  has  always  refused  public  office, 
he  is  a  well-known,  popular,  and  influential 
citizen.  His  farm  is  well  improved  and  a 
credit  to  his  industry.  The  products  of  his 
dairy  are  well  known  to  the  people  of  the  vi- 
cinity. 


kERRITT  S.  KEITH,  one  of  the 
foremost  provision  dealers  of 
Wellesley  Hills,  and  a  son  of 
Samuel  and  Mary  (Price)  Keith, 
was  born  in  Havelock,  N.B.,  in  1850.  The 
father  was  born  in  New  Brunswick  in  1792, 
and  was  engaged  in  farming  there  until  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1868.  By  the  first  of  his 
two  marriages  there  were  four  children  — 
John,  Charles,  Noah,  and  Hattie.  Born  of 
the  second  marriage,  which  was  contracted 
with  Mary  Price,  of  New  Brunswick,  were 
eight  children  —  Elizabeth,  Isaiah,  Ezekiel, 
David,  Victoria,  Jane,  Theodore,  and  Merritt. 
Isaiah  died  in  1887.  The  mother  was  eighty- 
one  years  old  at  her  death  in  1888. 

Leaving  the  public  schools  of  Havelock 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  Merritt 
Keith  went  to  work  on  the  farm.  In  1872  he 
came  to  Massachusetts,  and  was  employed 
in  the  express  business  with  Everett  J.  Eaton, 
of  Needham,  during  the  ensuing  six  years. 
Then  he  was  engaged  in  the  provision  busi- 
ness at  Highlandville  for  one  year,  after 
which  he  moved  to  Needham  village.  In  1887 
he  came  from  there  to  Wellesley,  and  engaged 
in  the  same  business.  He  has  a  good  busi- 
ness now,  supplying  customers  in  Needham 
and  Wellesley  Hills  with  general  provisions, 


including    meats,    canned    goods,    vegetables, 
and  fruit. 

Mr.  Keith  is  a  member  of  the  Eliot  Lodge, 
No.  158,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Needham;  and  of 
Wellesley  Grange,  P.  of  H.  In  politics  he  is 
a  thorough  Republican,  and  he  is  a  regular 
attendant  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Wellesley  Hills.  He  was  married  March  1, 
1877,  to  Ida,  daughter  of  William  Herring, 
who  belongs  to  one  of  the  old  families  of 
Needham.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Keith  are:  Eva,  born  in  1878,  now  attending 
the  high  school;  Harold  F.,  born  in  1880,  a 
student  of  the  Burdett  Commercial  College; 
Laura  Pearl,  born  in  18S4,  who  attends  the 
grammar  school ;  and  Malcomb,  born  in  1886, 
who  is  a  pupil  of  the  intermediate  school. 


/©Yo 


EORGE  R.  MANN  and  his  brother, 
V  |ST     WILLIAM       R.       MANN,      cotton 

—  manufacturers  of  Sharon,  are  sons  of 
George  Harvey  and  Rhoda  (Fisher)  Mann  ;  and 
their  father  was  a  pioneer  in  the  cotton  indus- 
try of  New  England. 

They  are  descendants  in  the  seventh  genera- 
tion of  William  Mann,  who  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Kent,  England,  in  1607,  and  emi- 
grated to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony  at  an 
early  date,  settling  in  Cambridge.  In  1637 
he  married  Mary  Jerauld  and  on  June  11, 
1657,  he  married  for  his  second  wife  Alice 
Teal.  William  Mann  died  March  7,  1662. 
Samuel  Mann,  only  son  of  William,  was  born 
July  6,  1647,  and  was  one  of  the  early  stu- 
dents of  Harvard  College,  where  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1667.  He  settled  at  Wrentham, 
Mass.,  in  1673,  and  died  May  22,  17 19.  His 
wife,  Esther  Ware,  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  whom 
he  married  on  Mjfy  13,  1673,  died  in  Septem- 
ber, 1730.  Samuel  and  Esther  Mann  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children;  namely,  Mary, 
Samuel,  Nathaniel,  William,  Theodore, 
Thomas,  Hannah,  Beria,  Pelatiah,  Margaret, 
and  Esther. 

Nathaniel,  the  next  in  line,  was  born  in 
Dedham,  April  8,  1677.  On  December  19, 
1704,  he  married  Elizabeth  Georges,  and  his 
children  were:  George,  John,  Nathaniel, 
Marv,  Robert,  Jeremiah,  Joseph,  Ezra,  Rich- 
ard, and   Timothy.      Ezra  Mann,  great-grand- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


267 


father  of  the  subjects  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  Wrentham,  October  13,  17 19.  On  July 
16,  1752,  he  married  Esther  Newland.  They 
reared  a  family  of  four  children  —  Otis, 
Rufus,  Esther,  and  Jeremiah. 

Rufus  Maun,  grandfather  of  the  present 
generation,  was  born  in  Wrentham,  August 
26,  1755.  He  was  Sergeant  in  Captain  Sabin 
Mann's  company  of  minute-men,  who  marched 
from  Medfield  to  Boston,  April  19,  1775;  and 
he  also  rendered  further  service,  for  which  he 
received  a  United  States  pension  near  the 
close  of  his  life.  He  followed  the  black- 
smith's and  cooper's  trades  during  his  active 
years,  and  died  August  26,  1837.  On  Janu- 
ary 25,  17S1,  he  married  Sybil  Allen,  who 
was  born  in  Medfield,  Mass.,  April  13,  1757, 
and  died  November  10,  1838.  Rufus  and 
Sybil  Mann  lived  in  Medfield  until  [814, 
when  they  moved  to  Wrentham.  They  were 
the  parents  of  five  children:  Sarah,  born  Janu- 
ary 2,  1782;  Rodney,  born  March  15,  1784; 
Susanna,  born  September  7,  1785;  George 
Harvey,  born  September  16,  1793;  and  Jer- 
auld Newland  Ezra,  who  was  bom  June  20, 
1796,  and  married  Betsey  Kingsbury,  of  Wal- 
pole,  February  16,  1822.  Receiving  the  ap- 
pointment of  Sheriff  for  Norfolk  County  in 
1835,  he  held  that  office  and  that  of  jailer  for 
twenty-one  years,  and  then  resigned  on  ac- 
count of  his  health.  He  moved  to  Vernon, 
Conn.,  and  died  there  in  April,  1857.  Sarah 
Mann  married  Daniel  Everett,  January  1, 
1807;  and  she  died  March  16,  1808.  Rodney 
died  in  Buenos  Ayres,  South  America,  April 
16,  1826.  Susanna  became  the  wife  of  Timo- 
thy Palmer  Whitney,  who  was  for  a  number  of 
years  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  County. 

George  Harvey  Mann,  second  son  of  Rufus, 
and  the  father  of  George  R.  and  William  R. 
Mann,  was  born  in  Medfield,  and  lived  there 
until  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  He  then  went 
to  Mansfield,  and  was  apprenticed  to  Messrs. 
Otis  and  Oliver  Allen  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter.  In  1814  he  went  under  an  agree- 
ment with  others  to  Greenwich,  Conn.,  to 
work  in  a  machine  shop.  While  there  he 
was  one  of  a  number  of  men  that  were  called 
out  to  throw  up  fortifications  to  resist  the 
British,  who  were  ravaging  the  coast.  From 
Greenwich  he  went   to   Medway  village,   and 


was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  ma- 
chinery and  cotton  goods,  being  associated 
with  John  and  Peter  Smith,  Dean  Walker, 
and  Oliver  Dean.  He  stayed  there  until 
1822,  when  he  removed  to  East  Walpole,  and 
took  charge  of  the  Neponset  Cotton  Manufact- 
uring Company  factory,  where  he  remained 
until  1826,  when  he  went  to  Amoskeag, 
N.  H.,  taking  his  family  with  him.  While 
there  he  changed  the  works  from  sheetings  to 
bed-tickings,  and  established  the  reputation  of 
the  celebrated  Amoskeag  tickings.  Not  find- 
ing it  for  his  interest  to  remain,  he  returned 
to  his  old  position  in  East  Walpole.  In  1831 
he  purchased  of  Joseph  \V.  Revere  a  water 
privilege  in  Sharon,  erected  a  factory,  and 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  bed-ticking 
that  held  the  first  price  in  the  market,  the 
business  continuing  until  March  10,  1840, 
when  his  factory  was  destroyed  by  fire.  In 
1841  he  erected  a  building  on  another  site, 
and  commenced  the  construction  of  machinery 
for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  duck  for  sails. 
In  1843  he  filled  the  building  with  machinery, 
and  started  on  his  new  venture  in  company 
with  his  eldest  son.  His  health  failing,  in 
1844  he  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  concern 
to  his  youngest  son.  He  died  October  25, 
1847.  George  H.  Mann  always  took  an  active 
part  in  everything  that  related  to  the  best  in- 
terest of  the  town.  He  was  elected  to  the 
General  Court  in  1837.  He  was  one  of  the 
early  advocates  of  the  temperance  cause  in 
this  locality,  and  was  actively  interested  in 
the  Congregational  church,  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  His  wife,  Rhoda  Fisher,  whom  he 
married  May  10,  1820,  was  born  in  Medway, 
Mass.,  June  18,  1798.  She  became  the 
mother  of  four  children,  namely:  George 
Rodney,  born  in  Medway,  June  30,  1821  ; 
William  Rufus,  born  in  Walpole,  October  30, 
1823;  Caroline  Frances,  born  in  Walpole, 
June  18,  1829;  and  Sarah  Elizabeth,  who  was 
born  in  Sharon,  February  5,  1834,  and  mar- 
ried    William     Curtis     Mills,     November    2, 

1853- 

George  R.  and  William  R.  Mann  continued 
the  manufacture  of  sail  duck  until  the  fall  of 
1845,  when  they  contracted  with  Henry  Ed- 
wards, of  Boston,  to  manufacture  belting  duck 
for  the  foundation  of  rubber  machine   belting 


263 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


under  the  Goodyear  patent,  the  firm  being 
afterward  known  as  the  Boston  Belting  Com- 
pany; and  for  them  they  have  for  over  fifty 
years  been  engaged  exclusively  in  producing 
that  fabric.  In  1856  they  enlarged  their  busi- 
ness, and  erected  a  brick  factory  building  on 
a  new  site. 

On  June  6,  1843,  George  Rodney  Mann 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Laura  C.  John- 
son, of  Sharon.  She  died  in  November,  1886. 
They  had  an  adopted  daughter,  Emma  May, 
who  was  born  in  1850,  and  died  in  1888.  He 
was  always  found  on  the  right  side  in  advanc- 
ing the  public  interest. 

William  Rufus  Mann  has  figured  quite 
prominently  in  public  affairs.  He  served  as 
a  Selectman  in  1854,  was  again  elected  for  the 
years  1872  and  1873,  was  Town  Treasurer  in 
1856,  and  has  ably  filled  other  positions  of 
public  trust.  He  received  his  first  appoint- 
ment as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  April  27,  1858. 
Prevented  by  physical  incapacity  from  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  defence  of  the  Union,  he 
rendered  much  valuable  aid  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  in  this  vicinity  during  the 
Civil  War.  He  received  the  appointment  of 
United  States  Enrolling  Officer;  and  he  en- 
listed and  filled  the  town's  cpiota  of  soldiers, 
and  visited  all  the  hospitals  in  Maryland  and 
Northern  Virginia,  procuring  furloughs  for 
the  wounded.  His  deeds  of  kindness  are  still 
fresh  in  the  memory  of  many  citizens.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  New  England  and  the  Ded- 
ham  Historical  Societies  and  a  life  member 
of  the  American  Pomological  Society,  and 
takes  an  active  interest  in  these  organizations, 
as  well  as  in  subjects  kindred  to  those  with 
which  they  deal. 

William  R.  Mann  has  been  three  times 
married.  On  June  7,  1849,  he  wedded  Mary 
Hewins,  of  Sharon;  and  she  died  March  7, 
1878.  On  July  13,  1881,  he  was  again  mar- 
ried to  Esther  E. ,  widow  of  Richard  Fletcher 
Ladd,  late  of  Boston,  the  daughter  of  Christo- 
pher C.  Barney;  and  she  died  January  10, 
1892.  His  present  wife,  whom  he  married 
December  5,  1893,  was  before  marriage  Julia 
A.  Barney,  of  Fall  River,  Mass.  Mr.  Mann 
has  two  children  by  his  first  union:  Mary 
Ella,  born  July  9,  1850;  and  George  Hewins, 
born   February  28,    1856.      Mary   Ella   is  the 


wife  of  James  E.  Greensmith,  a  native  of 
Derby,  England,  and  now  superintendent  of 
the  Portland  (Me. )  Locomotive  and  Marine 
Engine  Works.  George  Hewins  married  De- 
cember 5,  18S3,  Elizabeth  Cass  Stowell,  born 
in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  in  1863,  and  has  three 
children;  namely,  Esther  Stowell,  Ruth  Hew- 
ins, and  William  Rufus.  The  Mann  broth- 
ers are  Republicans  in  politics. 


RANK  CLARK  GRANGER,  M.D., 
of  Randolph,  Norfolk  County,  Mass., 
physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  in 
Randolph,  Vt.,  April  8,  1849,  a  son  of  Noah 
and  Caroline  (Clark)  Granger.  He  comes  of 
an  old  New  England  family,  being  descended 
from  Launcelot  Granger,  who  emigrated  from 
England  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  is  known  to  have  been  living  in 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  in  1648.  From  Ipswich  he 
removed  to  Newbury;  and  thence  he  migrated 
to  Suffield,  Conn.,  where  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  were  spent.  He  died  in  1689,  leav- 
ing a  large  family. 

Dr.  Granger's  great-grandfather,  Captain 
John  Granger,  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary army.  Having  raised  a  company  of 
minute-men  at  New  Braintree,  Mass.,  he  was 
chosen  Captain,  and  was  in  command  at  Bun- 
ker Hill  and  during  the  siege  of  Boston. 
The  Doctor's  grandfather,  Roger  Granger,  was 
a  farmer. 

Frank  Clark  Granger,  after  attending  school 
in  Randolph,  Vt.,  in  his  early  years,  entered 
the  Vermont  State  Normal  School  at  Ran- 
dolph, where  he  was  graduated  in  1867.  In 
the  meanwhile,  however,  his  father  having 
met  with  financial  reverses,  he  was  obliged  to 
earn  the  money  to  meet  the  expenses  of  his 
professional  training;  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  began  to  teach,  taking  charge  of  a 
school  at  Tunbridge,  Vt.  He  subsequently 
taught  at  Cresskill,  N.J.  After  graduating 
from  the  Normal  School,  he  taught  for  two 
years  and  a  half  in  California;  and  he  then 
taught  in  Belmont,  Nev.,  until  1876.  The 
study  of  medicine  he  began  in  1874,  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  Grant  Moore;  and  he 
continued  it  under  Dr.  L.  C.  Butler,  of  Essex, 
Vt.       Matriculating    at    Dartmouth    Medical 


LYMAN  K.  PUTNEY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


271 


College,  in  1876  he  there  took  a  course  of 
lectures;  and  he  later  took  a  course  at  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Ver- 
mont. From  the  latter  institution  he  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in 
1877.  He  pursued  a  post-graduate  course  in 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York ;  and 
during  the  year  1877  he  did  special  work  in 
the  Manhattan  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  under 
Dr.  William  Oliver  Moore,  of  New  York 
City.  In  1 888  Dr.  Granger  spent  four 
months  in  post-graduate  work  in  the  General 
Hospital  at  Vienna,  Austria,  and  three 
months  more  he  devoted  to  travel  in  Europe. 
In  December,  1877,  he  settled  in  Randolph; 
and  he  now  has  a  large  and  lucrative  practice 
in  Randolph  and  the  adjoining  towns.  Dr. 
Granger  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  also  a  fellow  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society,  and  since  1890  has 
been  on  the  Board  of  Censors. 

On  August  13,  1873,  he  was  married  to 
Alice  M.,  daughter  of  Dr.  Lucius  C.  and 
Hannah  D.  (Page)  Butler,  of  Essex,  Vt.  The 
following  children  have  blessed  their  union: 
Frank  Butler,  Lucius  Dwight,  and  Roger 
Gordon.  Dr.  Granger  is  Master  of  Norfolk 
Union  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Randolph;  is 
a  member  of  Santucket  Chapter,  R.  A.  M., 
of  Brockton ;  and  of  Bay  State  Commandery, 
K.  T.,  of  Brockton.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Norfolk  Lodge,  No.  119,  Knights  of  Pythias. 
In  1875  he  was  elected  superintendent  of  pub- 
lic instruction  in  Nye  County,  Nevada.  He 
has  contributed  some  valuable  papers  to  medi- 
cal literature,  notably  "Jaborandi  as  a  Galac- 
togogue  "  (1880),  and  "Chloroform  in  Labor" 
(1891). 


2YMAN  K.  PUTNEY,  one  of  the  prom- 
inent residents  of  Wellesley,  was  born 
^  in  Troy,  N.  H.,  in  1835,  son  of  Jo- 
seph M.  and  Mary  (Winch)  Putney. 
His  grandfather,  Jedediah  Putney,  who  was 
born  in  Putney,  England,  came  to  this  coun- 
try when  about  twenty  years  of  age.  After 
following  the  occupation  of  farmer  in  Ashfield, 
Mass.,  and  in  Troy,  N.H.,  he  died  in  Troy  at 
the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred  and  three 
years.      His   wife,    formerly   Abigail    Knight, 


of  Fitzwilliam,  N.H.,  died  in  1832.  Their 
son,  Joseph  M.,  born  in  Ashfield,  who  has 
also  been  a  farmer,  is  now  leading  a  retired 
life  in  Lancaster,  Mass.,  having  already  passed 
his  ninety-fourth  birthday.  His  wife,  Mary, 
who  came  from  Fitzwilliam,  and  was  born  in 
1812,  is  also  living. 

Leaving  the  public  schools  of  Troy  when  he 
was  eleven  years  old,  Lyman  K.  Putney 
started  out  in  life  for  himself.  He  first 
worked  on  farms  in  various  towns  in  the  in- 
terior of  New  Hampshire  for  three  years. 
Then  he  went  to  Clintonville,  now  Clinton, 
Mass.,  with  the  intention  of  learning  the 
woollen  maker's  trade;  but,  finding  the  work 
very  distasteful,  he  abandoned  it  at  the  end  of 
the  first  year.  He  was  next  employed  in  Bos- 
ton, first  in  a  stable  and  then  in  a  market. 
After  staying  in  the  market  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  he  began  driving  teams  in  the  city  for 
another  man.  Four  years  later  he  started  in 
the  teaming  business  for  himself.  In  1854  he 
helped  to  form  the  firm  of  Whipple  &  Co., 
and  became  the  junior  partner.  This  firm 
still  does  business  under  the  same  name.  Lo- 
cated first  on  Kilby  Street,  they  moved  later 
to  their  present  location  on  Lincoln  and  High 
Streets,  where  they  have  been  doing  a  large 
business  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  chiefly 
for  the  shoe  and  leather  trade.  Although  Mr. 
Putney  has  not  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
business  since  1876,  he  retains  his  interest  in 
the  firm.  In  1873  he  purchased  a  farm,  put 
up  buildings,  and  carried  on  farming  for  the 
next  fourteen  years.  Then  he  sold  out  his 
land,  and  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business. 
He  has  put  up  some  of  the  public  buildings  at 
Wellesley  Hills,  and  owns  a  number  of  houses 
and  blocks  in  the  village.  In  1868  he  moved 
from  Boston  to  West  Newton,  and  two  years 
later  to  Grantville,  now  Wellesley  Hills. 
Ever  since  he  has  lived  in  Wellesley,  Mr.  Put- 
ney has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  life  of  the 
town.  He  served  as  Town  Assessor  for  two 
years.  In  1877  he  was  elected  Selectman  of 
the  old  town  of  Needham,  and  served  for  four 
years  in  that  capacity,  being  the  chairman  of 
the  board  for  three  of  those  years.  He  was 
elected  to  the  General  Court  from  the  Ninth 
Norfolk  District  in  1879,  and  served  on  the 
Claims    Committee.      Made    chairman    of    the 


272 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Board  of  Selectmen  again  in  188 1,  he  served 
for  five  years.  During  the  two  following 
years  he  was  Water  Commissioner.  He  was 
again  elected  to  the  General  Court  in  1882, 
and  he  served  on  the  Committee  on  Chari- 
table Institutions.  He  was  also  on  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  investigate  charges  made 
against  the  management  of  the  Tewksbury 
Almshouse  by  General  Butler,  who  was  then 
the  Governor  of  the  State.  Once  more  elected 
to  the  Board  of  Selectmen  in  1887,  he  served 
for  four  years,  making  fourteen  years  in  all 
that  he  has  been  on  this  board.  He  has  also 
been  on  the  committee  elected  by  the  town  to 
look  after  public  buildings,  etc. 

In  1S60  Mr.  Putney  joined  the  Bethesda 
Lodge,  No.  30,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  passed 
through  all  the  chairs.  In  1861  he  became  a 
member  of  Mount  Washington  Encampment. 
Nine  years  later  he  was  made  Master  Mason 
in  the  Dalhousie  Lodge  and  a  member  of  the 
R.  A.  Chapter,  both  of  Newtonville.  He 
was  a  charter  member  of  the  Sincerity  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  at  Wellesley,  and  subsequently 
was  its  first  Noble  Grand,  to  become  which 
he  withdrew  from  the  lodge  in  Boston.  In 
1878  he  was  made  Deputy  of  the  Twenty- 
eighth  District  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.;  and  in 
1895  he  took  the  degrees  in  the  Natick  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T.  In  politics  Mr.  Putney  is  an 
Independent,  although  tending  toward  Repub- 
lican principles.  Mr.  Putney  has  been 
abroad  three  times,  in  1895,  1896,  and  1897, 
when  he  travelled  extensively  through  Europe. 
He  was  married  in  1858  to  Abbie  A.,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Marshall,  of  Troy,  N.H.,  and 
has  had  four  children.  These  were:  Alice 
M.,  born  in  1859,  married,  and  living  in 
Needham;  Henry  Marshall,  born  in  1864, 
now  a  partner  in  the  teaming  business,  and  in 
charge  of  it;  Herbert  W.,  born  in  1868,  who 
died  in  1879;  and  Ethel  W. ,  born  in  1881, 
now  attending  the  Wellesley  High  School. 


ENRY      BEEBEE      CARRINGTON, 
lawyer,  soldier,  author,  born  at  Wal- 
lingford,     Conn.,     March    2,     1824, 
son  of  Miles  M.  and  Mary  (Beebee) 
Carrington,  is  a  grandson  of  James  Carring- 


ton  (partner  of  Eli  Whitney  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  rifles  for  the  United  States,  inspector 
of  Harper's  Ferry  and  Springfield  arsenals, 
inventor  of  the  coffee-mill)  and  a  great-grand- 
son of  Captain  Jeremiah  Carrington,  by  whom 
Washington  was  entertained  at  Wallingford 
during  his  trip  to  New  England  after  the  war. 
His  grandfather  and  great-grandfather  Beebee 
were  graduates  of  Yale  College,  and  the  latter 
served  in  the  French  and  Canadian  War  of 
1758—59.  His  great-grandfather,  Captain 
Caleb  Atwater,  was  president  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Land  Company  which  settled  "New  Con- 
necticut," known  as  "the  Western  Reserve," 
where  several  towns  retain  family  names  given 
at  their  settlement. 

Early  education  largely  shaped  his  political 
future.  While  at  Torringford,  Conn.,  1836, 
at  the  boarding-school  of  the  Rev.  Epaphras 
Goodman  and  Dr.  Erasmus  D.  Hudson  (after- 
ward noted  abolitionists),  John  Brown,  of 
Ossawatomie,  visiting  the  school,  took 
pledges  from  the  scholars  that,  when  they  be- 
came men,  they  would  work  for  the  extinction 
of  slavery.  Among  these  were  W.  W. 
Patton,  afterward  president  of  Howard  Univer- 
sity, and  Thomas  K.  Brace,  afterward  Mayor 
of  Hartford.  Later,  at  Farmington,  Conn., 
where  the  escaped  slaves  of  the  "Armisted" 
(slaver)  were  cared  for  by  the  United  States 
pending  the  question  of  their  return  to 
slavery,  the  prayer-meeting  of  the  venerable 
Noah  Porter  was  mobbed  because  he  prayed 
that  the  slaves  might  remain  free.  A  few 
days  later  his  old  teachers,  Goodman  and 
Hudson,  were  mobbed  at  West  Hartford  dur- 
ing an  anti-slavery  lecture.  The  impressions 
thus  made  were  never  effaced.  Lender  date  of 
March  10,  1886,  the  poet  Whittier  thus  wrote 
to  the  subject  of  this  sketch:  "In  my  way,  I 
have  tried  to  serve  the  cause  of  Liberty  and 
Humanity  by  speech  and  pen,  while  others  like 
thyself  enforced  their  stern  and  righteous 
lessons  in  the  dread  arbitrament  of  the  battle- 
field. The  incident  of  John  Brown's  address 
to  thee  and  thy  schoolmates  is  noteworthy. 
One  boy,  at  least,  took  to  heart  the  lesson, 
and  made  it  the  rule  of  his  life." 

While  yet  a  mere  boy,  the  subject  of  our 
sketch,  going  from  New  York  to  New  Haven 
in  company  with  his  cousin,  Sherlock  J.  An- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


273 


drews,  then  member  of  Congress  from  Cleve- 
land, during  the  half-day's  sail  sat  upon  the 
knee  of  Daniel  Webster,  and  listened  with  in- 
tense interest  to  his  discussion  of  the  slavery 
question  and  that  of  protection  to  American 
manufactures.  The  lesson  made  an  earnest 
impression.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1845;  and,  of  his  classmates,  William  B. 
Woods  (Union),  and  Richard  Taylor,  Isaac 
Monroe  St.  John,  James  C.  Tappan,  and 
William  Connor  (Confederate)  also  became 
Generals  during  the  Civil  War.  As  optional 
studies  during  the  Junior  and  Senior  years  Car- 
rington  took  drawing,  surgery,  and  French, 
all  of  which  became  factors  in  subsequent  en- 
gineering and  military  life.  When  the  famous 
firemen's  riot  occurred,  his  room,  No.  1  South 
College,  on  Chapel  Street,  was  a  point  of  the 
students' defence.  On  the  17th  of  June,  1S87, 
during  the  Soldiers'  Monument  celebration, 
while  awaiting  the  advance  of  the  military 
column,  Generals  Sherman  and  Sheridan  left 
the  reviewing  stand  near  by,  and  accompanied 
him  to  No.  1,  to  witness  the  theatre  of  his 
"first  skirmish." 

Upon  graduating,  Carrington,  at  the  request 
of  Washington  Irving,  was  selected  by  Pro- 
fessor B.  Silliman,  Sr.,  for  the  professorship 
of  natural  science  and  Greek  at  the  Irving  In- 
stitute, Tarrytown,  N.Y.  There  he  instituted 
military  drill,  erected  a  gymnasium,  and  for  a 
while  acted  as  amanuensis  for  Mr.  Irving  in 
work  upon  his  "Life  of  Washington."  He 
also  acted  as  usher  at  Mr.  Irving's  reception 
upon  his  return  from  Spain,  when  the  widow 
of  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Harper, 
Philip  K.  Paulding,  Hiram  Ketchum,  Com- 
modore Perry,  Commander  McKenzie,  and 
others  were  guests.  On  one  occasion,  while 
accompanying  Mr.  Irving  to  White  Plains, 
the  latter  pointed  out  Chatterton  Hill  as  the 
spot  where  the  nominal  battle  of  White 
Plains  was  fought.  After  a  survey  of  the  po- 
sition a  map  was  drawn,  which  became  the 
starting-point  for  "Battles  of  the  American 
Revolution,"  completed  thirty  years  later. 
Among  the  pupils  under  his  instruction  were: 
William  (afterward  Governor  and  Senator) 
Sprague;  Amasa  Sprague ;  Adam  C.  Badeau 
(afterward  of  Grant's  staff),  Hobart  C.  Her- 
rick    (New    York    Corn     Exchange),     Thomas 


and  John  Denny,  of  New  York;  and  others, 
mostly  from  New  York  City. 

A  course  at  the  Yale  Law  School  followed, 
he  at  the  same  time  serving  as  professor  of 
mathematics  and  natural  science  at  Root's 
Collegiate  Institute.  A  daily  diary  was  main- 
tained during  his  college  course,  embracing 
current  data  as  to  the  political  and  military 
events  of  Europe;  and  these  were  tabulated 
when  the  revolutions  of  1848  occurred.  Dr. 
Baird's  lectures  upon  Russia  were  also  copied, 
and  utilized  when  events  made  Russia  a  factor 
in  the  subsequent  campaigns. 

November,  1848,  Mr.  Carrington  settled 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  first  as  partner  of  A.  F. 
Perry  and  then  for  nine  years  with  William 
Dennison,  until  the  latter  became  Governor  of 
Ohio.  During  the  winter  of  1849  ne  partici- 
pated with  Henry  C.  Noble  and  others  in  the 
rescue  of  Frederick  Douglass,  when  his  oppo- 
nents tried  to  drown  out  with  a  fire-engine  his 
attempted  delivery  of  an  anti-slavery  lecture 
in  the  old  Ohio  State-house.  In  1S51  he 
visited  Henry  Clay  at  Ashland,  Ky.,  in 
furtherance  of  a  purpose  formed  while  in  col- 
lege, and  secured  a  copy  of  the  "  Memorial  to 
Washington,"  which  contains  the  autographic 
signatures  of  the  members  of  the  United 
States  Senate  in  1840.  His  address  upon 
Russia,  just  before  the  arrival  of  Kossuth,  in 
whose  reception  he  participated,  was  the  last 
delivered  in  the  old  State-house,  which 
burned  that  night.  In  conference  with  the 
patriot  he  prepared  a  detailed  map  of  the 
Hungarian  struggle  up  to  and  including 
the  camp  where  Georgey  surrendered  to  the 
combined  armies  of  Austria  and  Russia. 

An  incident  occurred  in  1852  which  made 
permanent  friendship  with  General  Scott.  On 
his  arrival  at  Columbus,  while  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  during  the  firing  of  a  salute  at 
the  station  a  premature  discharge  killed  two 
and  blinded  a  third  of  the  gunners.  Sending 
medical  aid  to  their  relief,  he  seated  General 
Scott  in  a  carriage,  without  advising  him  of 
the  accident,  introduced  him  to  the  people  at 
the  Neil  House,  reported  for  the  Whig  Review 
his  protest  to  the  assembled  Germans  against 
the  current  report  that  he  shot  German  de- 
serters at  Mexico  because  they  were  for- 
eigners,   and   the   next    morning    accompanied 


274 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


him  to  visit  the  afflicted  families  of  the  vic- 
tims. Besides  liberal  gifts  of  money  General 
Scott  exhibited  the  most  tender  sympathy,  and 
afterward  wrote  more  than  once,  inquiring  as 
to  their  welfare.  He  supplied  books  from 
time  to  time  for  military  study,  and  in  1861 
sent  him  through  the  fortifications  about 
Washington  to  make  observations  likely  to  be 
useful  in  his  army  career. 

In  1854,  with  J.  W.  Andrews,  Joseph  R. 
Swan,  Henry  C.  Noble,  B.  F.  Martin,  Lo- 
renzo English,  and  others,  a  plan  was  devised 
for  a  State  conference  as  to  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  A  State  con- 
vention was  called  for  July  13;  and  Henry  S. 
Lane,  of  Indiana,  started  a  similar  movement 
in  that  State.  More  than  a  thousand  dele- 
gates attended.  A  Committee  of  Resolutions 
from  each  district  included  leading  men  of  all 
parties.  At  noon  Mr.  Dennison  produced  a 
Detroit  paper  suggesting  the  name  "Republi- 
can" for  the  fusion  movement.  Mr.  Giddings 
opposed  this,  preferring  "Republican  Confed- 
eracy." No  name  was  adopted,  but  the  fusion 
was  so  complete  that  a  State  ticket  was 
elected  by  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  ma- 
jority. A  permanent  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  correspond  with  lovers  of  liberty 
throughout  the  land,  to  make  the  movement 
national;  namely,  H.  B.  Carrington,  Joseph 
R.  Swan,  Dr.  J.  B.  Coulter,  J.  H.  Baker,  and 
Rufus  P.  Spaulding.  Of  the  Congressional 
Committee,  William  Allison  alone  survives. 
Henry  S.  Lane  telegraphed  from  Indianapolis, 
"The  Indianapolis  Convention  repudiates  the 
Nebraska  swindle,  and  has  organized  for  a  vic- 
torious conflict."  Lane  and  Dennison  were 
president  and  vice-president  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Convention,  which  first  introduced  the 
Republican  party  to  national  suffrage. 

During  this  period  Mr.  Carrington  was  an 
Elder  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
for  a  time  was  superintendent  of  its  Sunday- 
school.  He  organized  the  first  Y.  M.  C. 
Association  of  Central  Ohio,  secured  the  sub- 
scription and  superintended  the  building  of 
the  stone  church  still  used  by  the  society,  and 
was  also  a  trustee  of  Marietta  College. 

When  Mr.  Chase  became  Governor,  he  was 
charged  with  the  organization  of  a  uniformed 
State  militia,    and    State    encampments    were 


instituted.  His  annual  report  for  1859 
showed  thirty  companies  at  one  encampment, 
and  sudden  calls  were  made  to  test  their  dis- 
cipline. The  First  Regiment  (Colonel  Ed. 
A.  King,  afterward  killed  at  Chickamauga,  as 
Lieutenant  Colonel,  Nineteenth  United  States 
Infantry)  rallied  seven  companies  at  night  in 
thirty  minutes.  On  a  dark  and  stormy  night 
the  Columbus  battalion  reported  more  than 
half  its  strength  in  twenty-seven  minutes. 
Major-generals  Walcott,  Mitchell,  and  Jones 
were  from  these  companies.  Such  was  the 
trend  and  character  of  the  Ohio  militia  as  war 
drew  near. 

Until  war  began,  he  was  attorney  of  all  rail- 
roads in  Central  Ohio,  and  two  cases  reported 
in  Sixth  Ohio  Reports  (New  Series)  became 
authority.  He  was  appointed  by  Justice  Mc- 
Lain,  upon  recommendation  of  the  Ohio  bar, 
Special  Commissioner  to  dispose  of  certain 
admiralty  cases  during  the  illness  of  District 
Judge  Leavitt,  and  was  counsel  with  Thomas 
Corwin  in  the  case  of  Driscoll  v.  Parish, 
where  the  alleged  participancy  of  the  defend- 
ant in  the  rescue  of  a  fugitive  slave  gave  im- 
portance to  the  issue.  He  accompanied  Mr. 
Chase  in  his  election  canvass,  alternating  the 
opening  address  at  various  county  seats;  ac- 
companied him  to  the  opening  of  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railroad,  and  spoke  at  the  Mary- 
land Institute  in  honor  of  the  event;  and, 
under  the  Governor's  direction,  negotiated 
with  President  Buchanan  and  his  cabinet  a 
plan,  carried  into  effect,  for  the  joint  dismissal 
by  Federal  and  State  Courts  of  conflicting 
processes  in  the  Greene  County  fugitive  slave 
case.  In  the  subsequent  Langston  case  he 
placed  the  militia  under  arms  to  support  the 
Supreme  Court  and  prevent  the  rearrest  of 
the  defendant  in  case  the  court,  under  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  should  order  a  discharge. 

As  Adjutant-general  he  escorted  the  Prince 
of  Wales  from  Cincinnati  to  Columbus,  the 
legislatures  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  as 
well,  and  took  part  in  the  escort  of  President- 
elect Lincoln  from  Illinois  to  Columbus.  A 
volume  of  military  regulations  and  tactics, 
published  in  1859,  was  revised  the  following 
year;  nearly  twenty  bronze  guns  were  rifled; 
and,  as  the  result  of  a  State  convention  of 
officers,  new   laws   were  enacted  to  make  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


275 


organization  more  complete.  Trips  to  New 
York  and  Massachusetts  encampments  and  to 
Generals  Scott  and  Wool  were  annual.  The 
Adjutant-general  of  New  York,  Frederick  K. 
Townsend,  afterward  became  a  Major  in  the 
Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry;  and  Will- 
iam Schouler,  Adjutant-general  of  Massachu- 
setts, had  been  for  a  time  Adjutant-general  of 
Ohio  while  Carrington  was  Judge  Advocate- 
general  of  the  State. 

When  his  partner  Dennison  became  Gov- 
ernor, new  impetus  was  given  to  the  militia. 
The  dedication  of  the  Perry  monument  at 
Cleveland  brought  the  force  again  together. 
Wood's  (afterward  Barnett's)  battery  had  al- 
ready been  inspected  by  General  Scott  and 
pronounced  "excellent."  The  sham  battle  on 
the  lake  was  arranged  to  correspond  as  nearly 
as  possible  with  the  rig,  tonnage,  and  arma- 
ment of  vessels  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Lake 
Erie;  and  the  survivors  of  Perry's  men,  with 
the  Marine  Artillery  and  Providence  Light  In- 
fantry, formed  the  escort  of  Governor  Sprague 
from  Rhode  Island. 

In  January,  1861,  Senator  Chase  wrote: 
"Our  most  sober  thinkers  and  those  best  in- 
formed, as  well  as  conservative  men  from  the 
South,  predict  war.  Our  militia  should  be 
officered  by  the  wisest  and  best  men.  How 
soon  they  may  be  needed,  no  man  can  tell." 
Secretary  Cass  also  wrote,  "We  have,  indeed, 
fallen  upon  evil  times,  when  those  who  should 
preserve  seem  bent  upon  destroying  our 
country." 

On  the  nth  of  April  the  Adjutant-general 
delivered  an  address,  entitled  "The  Hour,  the 
Peril,  and  the  Duty,"  predicting  the  war  and 
its  result.  At  the  request  of  Senators  Gar- 
field, Cox,  and  others,  it  was  repeated  twice; 
and  Fort  Sumter  fell  before  the  last  delivery. 
The  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  men  fol- 
lowed. Two  regiments  were  despatched  for 
Washington  within  sixty  hours.  Sixty  Sena- 
tors and  members  were  uniformed  as  a  com- 
pany, and  drilled  under  the  State-house 
dome.  Garfield,  being  tallest,  was  assigned  to 
the  right,  and  made  acting  First  Sergeant. 
Upon  his  demanding  why  the  "left"  and  not 
the  "right"  foot  was  uniformly  advanced,  the 
Adjutant-general  gave  him  a  musket,  with  the 
order,   "Charge  Bayonet!"     The  Sergeant  ac- 


cepted the  lesson  amid  the  merriment  of  his 
associates.  Senators  Cox  and  Sleigh,  repre- 
senting the  two  parties,  were  selected  for 
vacant  militia  brigadierships,  to  make  them 
eligible  for  appointment  in  the  three  months' 
service;  and,  upon  suspension  of  the  rules 
before  midnight,  a  bill  was  passed  authoriz- 
ing the  Governor  to  appoint  a  Major-general 
from  citizens  at  large,  and  the  commission 
of  McClellan  was  made  out  and  delivered  to 
him. 

A  plan  of  campaign  in  the  contingency  of 
war  had  been  submitted  to  General  Wool  and 
approved  by  him.  A  foundry  was  opened  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  solid  shot  cast  for  Barnett's 
battery,  which  had  been  ordered  to  Columbus. 
The  State  militia  were  placed  in  various  fair 
grounds  for  quick  concentration.  General 
Wool  supplied  ten  thousand  stand  of  arms; 
and  the  militia  were  ready  for  service  before 
a  regiment  of  volunteers,  other  than  those  sent 
East,  had  been  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service. 

A  despatch  from  Senator  Carlisle,  of  West 
Virginia,  reported  that  hostile  forces  would  be 
upon  the  Ohio  border,  if  not  anticipated  by 
the  immediate  presence  of  troops.  Doubtful 
of  his  right  to  pass  militia  beyond  the  State 
line,  Governor  Dennison  authorized  the  Ad- 
jutant-general to  report  to  General  McClellan, 
and  execute  any  orders  he  deemed  necessary 
at  such  a  juncture.  The  result  was  tele- 
graphic orders  given  on  the  train  at  various 
stations,  so  that  the  eight  regiments  of  militia 
were  put  in  motion  within  eight  hours.  A 
section  of  Barnett's  battery  and  Steadman's 
regiment  crossed  to  Parkersburg,  and  occupied 
the  heights  at  midnight,  just  in  time  to  cut  off 
the  Confederate  advance.  Bridges  were  re- 
built, and  the  whole  line  restored  as  far  as 
Grafton.  The  battle  of  Philippi  was  fought, 
Barnett's  battery  firing  the  first  shot  of  the  war 
in  the  West.  Confederates  occupied  Huttons- 
ville  Pass  with  one  small  iron  gun;  and  Colo- 
nel Steadman,  Colonel  Milroy,  of  Indiana, 
and  Barnett  favored  the  proposition  of  the 
Adjutant-general  to  advance,  without  transpor- 
tation except  ambulances,  receipt  for  sup- 
plies, and  live  on  the  country.  This  was 
overruled  by  General  Morris,  in  command  at 
Grafton,  and  Colonel  Kelly,  of  the  West  Yir- 


276 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ginia  regiment,  who  was  too  seriously 
wounded  to  join  his  command.  But  Grafton 
and  its  communications  with  the  Ohio  were 
never  afterward  disturbed. 

The  thanks  of  the  President  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  were  followed,  upon  the  request 
of  Generals  Scott  and  Wool,  seconded  by  Sec- 
retary Chase,  by  the  appointment  (unsolicited) 
of  the  Adjutant-general  as  Colonel  of  the 
Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry.  This  was 
the  only  three-battalion  regiment  filled  to  its 
maximum  during  the  war.  It  took  to  the  field 
two  thousand,  four  hundred  and  forty-three 
officers  and  men,  containing  during  the  war 
four  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  men,  of  whom  three  thousand,  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  were  American  by  birth,  and 
two  thousand  forty-nine,  citizens  of  Ohio. 
By  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  War  the 
Adjutant-general,  while  commanding  the  reg- 
ular army  rendezvous  at  Camp  Thomas,  near 
Columbus,  was  permitted  to  continue  duty  for 
the  State  until  July  1,  1S61.  He  therefore 
signed  the  commissions  of  McClellan,  Cox, 
Garfield,  Rosecrans,  Sill,  Hayes,  Matthews, 
Steadman,  Beatty,  and  others  afterward  dis- 
tinguished in  the  war.  One  detachment  of 
colored  volunteers  for  Massachusetts  received 
from  him  a  set  of  silk  colors  before  their  de- 
parture. No  other  Western  State  presented  a 
militia  organization  which  had  been  drilled 
in  both  battalion  and  brigade  movements. 

During  November,  1861,  he  reported  with 
his  command  to  General  Thomas  at  Lebanon, 
Ky. ,  leaving  a  battalion  of  the  Sixteenth 
United  States  Infantry  at  Louisville,  after 
suppressing,  at  the  request  of  General  Buell,  a 
mutiny  of  volunteers  claiming  a  furlough  of 
thirty  days  after  enlistment.  The  Ninth  and 
Thirty-fifth  Ohio  and  the  Second  Minnesota 
were  added  to  the  Eighteenth  to  complete  the 
brigade  ;  but  peremptory  orders  from  Washing- 
ton detached  the  commander  to  first  complete 
the  enlistments  at  the  Regular  Army  Camp  of 
Instruction  at  Camp  Thomas.  The  result  was 
the  separation  of  the  regiment  from  its  im- 
mediate commander. 

In  June,  1862,  he  published  an  appeal  to 
the  people  of  Ohio,  urging  the  formation  on 
Saturday  afternoons  of  a  reserve  force  of  one 
hundred    thousand    men,    closing    the    appeal 


with  the  words,  "for  this  is  a  war  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people." 
He  was  unexpectedly  called  to  Washington. 
A  conference  of  several  Cabinet  officers  had 
been  called  at  the  suggestion  of  Secretary 
Chase,  who  threatened  to  surrender  the  Treas- 
ury portfolio  unless  General  McClellan  were 
removed  from  command;  and  Colonel  Carring- 
ton  was  named  as  the  officer  to  bear  despatches 
to  that  effect.  Secretary  Seward  suggested 
that  the  relations  of  that  officer  with  General 
McClellan  had  been  such  as  to  make  such  a 
duty  very  unpleasant,  especially  as  General 
McClellan  had  desired  the  Eighteenth  In- 
fantry to  be  sent  East  to  join  his  command. 
Secretary  Welles  and  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
who  had  been  invited  to  the  interview,  con- 
curred. Despatches  had  been  received  stat- 
ing that  Generals  Halleck  and  Pope  would 
arrive  during  the  night  from  the  West;  and 
Colonel  Carrington  was  instructed  to  meet 
those  officers  upon  their  arrival,  with  requests 
that  they  would  not  report  at  the  War  Depart- 
ment, but  be  ready  at  ten  o'clock  the  follow- 
ing morning  to  visit  the  President  at  the  Sol- 
diers' Home.  General  Pope  was  met  at  mid- 
night, and  General  Halleck  at  daylight.  The 
latter  was  unknown  to  Colonel  Carrington, 
and  insisted  that  the  cap  ornament  "18"  was 
of  Ohio,  that  he  was  absent  without  leave,  and 
not  an  officer  of  the  regular  army.  The  com- 
munication was  delivered,  however;  and  at  ten 
o'clock  the  officers  of  the  Cabinet  mentioned 
alighted  at  Willard's,  and  were  introduced. 
Halleck  accepted  the  fact,  but  did  not  until 
after  the  war  forgive  the  incident. 

The  question  with  President  Lincoln  was 
simply  "whether  different  operations  in  Ken- 
tucky, Missouri,  and  Tennessee  were  acci- 
dentally harmonious  or  the  result  of  forecast 
which  included  all  zones  of  operation  in  one 
systematic  conduct  of  the  war."  These  offi- 
cers were  at  once  placed  in  their  respective 
commands,  and  Colonel  Carrington  returned 
to  Camp  Thomas. 

The  Kirby  Smith  campaign  opened.  Upon 
urgent  appeal  of  Governor  Morton,  the  Adju- 
tant-general ordered  Colonel  Carrington  to  re- 
port at  once  to  Indiana  and  take  charge  of 
organizing  and  equipping  its  forces  for  the 
field.      Eleven  regiments  were  forwarded  in  as 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFAV 


'77 


many  days,  including  muster,  arming,  and 
payment  of  bounty;  and  eventually  this  officer 
sent  into  the  service  nearly  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men  from  that  State  alone.  A  battalion 
of  officers  was  organized.  The  return  of 
paroled  men  and  new  regiments  soon  placed 
under  drill  four  brigades,  with  batteries  daily 
instructed  in  target  practice,  and  cavalry  in 
sword  exercise.  The  entire  force  was  in- 
spected by  Inspector-general  Van  Rensselaer, 
and  was  claimed  by  General  McClerland  to  be 
organized  for  a  separate  command  for  himself. 
It  was  known  that  such  had  been  President 
Lincoln's  design  —  his  "castor-oil  expedition 
to  open  the  Mississippi,"  as  he  called  it.  On 
the  30th  of  November  the  commanding  officers 
of  the  regiments  and  batteries  sent  a  request 
to  General  Halleck  that  the  force  take  the 
field  under  its  temporary  commander.  Grad- 
ually the  regiments  were  sent  to  various 
points  requiring  troops,  and  McClerland's 
corps  ceased  to  exist.  Meanwhile  and  fol- 
lowing the  draft  of  1862,  which  was  resisted 
in  parts  of  Indiana,  the  disloyal  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  and  then  that 
of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  became  more  pro- 
nounced in  its  revolutionary  plans.  The  as- 
signment of  Colonel  Carrington  to  command 
the  regular  brigade  shortly  before  the  battle  of 
Stone  River,  when  Rosecrans  called  for  all  his 
force,  brought  such  a  protest  from  Governor 
Morton  that  finally  that  brigade  went  into 
action  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Shepherd  of 
the  Eighteenth  Infantry.  The  year  closed 
with  troops  on  duty  near  the  State-house,  re- 
sisting processes  of  the  State  Supreme  Court, 
which  were  nearly  as  revolutionary  and  trea- 
sonable as  the  plans  of  the  more  openly  dis- 
loyal. One  judge  in  Illinois,  who  instructed 
a  grand  jury  to  find  indictments  for  kidnap- 
ping against  officers  and  soldiers  arresting  de- 
serters, was  removed  from  the  court-house, 
and  his  court  adjourned  sine  die.  The  legis- 
lature passed  an  act,  removing  from  the  Gov- 
ernor control  of  the  militia,  substituting 
officers  of  the  State  to  issue  commissions 
and  control  the  militia.  The  Governor  was 
called  upon  to  surrender  to  their  control  the 
public  arms.  The  following  paper  was  ex- 
ecuted by  him  at  midnight,  and  solved  the 
dilemma:  — 


Executive  Department,  January  30,  1863. 
All    arms    and    equipments   belonging  to    the  United 
States  in  the  arsenal  of   this  city  are  hereby  turned  over 
to  your  possession  and  control. 

Yours  respectfully, 

O.  P.  Morton. 
Colonel  Carrington. 


After  promotion,  as  Brigadier-general,  Car- 
rington commanded  the  district,  conducted  its 
recruiting  service  as  well  as  the  border  de- 
fence, and  at  one  time  armed  eighteen  thou- 
sand of  the  militia  to  supply  the  need  of 
troops  along  the  Ohio  River.  When  Bragg 
threatened  Louisville,  and  all  public  stores 
were  removed  to  the  north  shore,  the  fortifica- 
tion of  the  banks  became  a  necessity,  as  the 
stage  of  water  exposed  fording-places  below 
the  falls.  The  domestic  treason  became  so 
marked  that  over  one  hundred  were  convicted 
by  juries  in  the  Federal  Court.  One  deserter 
and  three  bounty  jumpers  were  sent  in  irons 
to  General  Sherman  for  work  in  trenches. 
Attempts  to  release  Confederate  prisoners  in 
Camps  Morton,  Douglass,  and  Chase  became 
so  serious  that  a  howitzer  battery  was  sent  by 
General  Rosecrans  from  St.  Louis,  and  the 
Sixtieth  Massachusetts  was  sent  to  increase 
the  guard,  which  had  been  depleted  for  ser- 
vice at  the  South.  Provost  Marshal  Richard 
W.  Thompson,  of  Terre  Haute,  reported  a 
deposit  of  the  rituals  of  the  traitors  at  an 
office  in  that  city,  and  upon  seizure  sent  the 
entire  material  to  headquarters.  A  full  ex- 
posure was  made  to  the  government. 

Detached  for  a  short  time  to  organize  one- 
hundred-day  men  at  Cleveland  by  request  of 
Governor  Todd,  General  Carrington  was 
ordered  back  to  Indiana  during  the  Morgan 
raid,  and  afterward  joined  his  regiment  in  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  The  thanks  of  the 
State  and  a  special  testimonial  from  the  city  of 
Indianapolis  attended  his  departure.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Major- 
general  Heintzelman  to  General  Halleck: 
"To  his  [General  Carrington's]  energy,  per- 
severance, and  good  judgment  I  am  indebted 
for  all  the  information  I  have  been  able  to 
submit.  To  the  information  thus  obtained 
and  the  measures  taken  in  consequence 
thereof,    we    are    indebted    mainly    for    being 


27s 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


saved   the   horrors   of    civil   war    in    this    sec- 
tion." 

While  General  Carrington's  headquarters 
were  at  Louisville,  he  received  the  thanks  of 
Governor  Bramblett  and  General  Burbridge  for 
services  in  raising  the  siege  of  Frankfort; 
and  he  was  president  of  the  commission  to 
try  guerilla  chiefs  leaving  for  the  frontier  in 
the  fall  of  1865.  During  the  fall  and  winter 
he  commanded  the  East  District  of  Nebraska, 
organized  a  Pawnee  battalion  under  Major 
North,  and  operated  along  the  line  of  the  Re- 
publican. In  the  spring  of  1866  he  was 
visited  by  General  Sherman  at  Fort  Kearney, 
and  the  expedition  to  open  a  wagon  road 
around  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  to  Montana 
was  projected.  So  confident  was  General 
Sherman  that  the  Laramie  conference  with 
Indians,  designated  for  May,  would  ensure 
peace,  that  families  of  officers  were  induced 
to  accompany  the  command.  Upon  reaching 
Laramie  the  Indian  conference  was  in  ses- 
sion, but  peremptory  orders  obliged  the  troops 
to  proceed  without  waiting  for  final  action. 
The  treaty  was  a  failure.  Members  of  the 
conference  received  presents,  and  immedi- 
ately began  war  upon  the  new  line.  Daily 
conflicts  occurred.  Forts  were  built,  but 
only  protected  their  immediate  vicinity.  Re- 
enforcements,  called  for  and  promised,  were 
withheld.  The  fight  of  December  6  and  the 
Fetterman  disaster  of  December  21  left  the 
small  garrisons  with  ammunition  varying  from 
ten  to  forty-five  rounds  per  man.  A  special 
commission  visited  the  country,  and  their 
official  report  uses  this  caustic  language: 
"The  difficulty  is,  in  a  nutshell,  that  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  district  was  furnished 
no  more  troops  or  supplies  for  this  state  of 
war  than  had  been  provided  and  furnished  for 
a  state  of  profound  peace.  In  regions  where 
all  was  peace,  as  at  Laramie  in  November, 
twelve  companies  were  stationed;  while  in 
regions  where  all  was  war,  as  at  Fort  Kearney, 
there  were  only  five  companies  allowed."  For 
want  of  timely  re-enforcements  to  retain  the 
country  occupied,  the  forts  were  dismantled 
or  burned;  and  the  whole  line  was  abandoned 
for  a  season  by  order  of  General  Grant.  It 
was  not  until  more  than  two  years  later,  and 
after    the    then    senior   colonel    of    the    army 


had  been  retired  from  active  service  for  a 
wound  received  in  line  of  duty,  that  his 
official  report  as  District  Commander,  re- 
ceived early  in  1867  at  Washington,  was 
permitted  to  be  published. 

During  1867  he  conducted  conferences 
while  at  Fort  McPherson  with  Chiefs  Pawnee 
Killer,  Dull  Knife,  Spotted  Tail,  and  others, 
and  in  1868-69  commanded  Fort  Sedgwick, 
Colorado.  His  wound  disabled  him  from 
mounted  service;  and  in  December  he  was  as- 
signed as  military  professor  of  Wabash  Col- 
lege, Indiana.  Upon  increase  of  disability 
that  threatened  to  prove  fatal,  he  was  retired 
the  following  year.  While  on  this  detail  he 
erected  the  large  gymnasium,  now  the  Hovey 
Museum,  raising  most  of  the  funds  by  per- 
sonal solicitation  in  Indiana;  built  the  city 
hall  and  other  structures;  assisted  at  the  test 
of  the  St.  Louis  Bridge  at  request  of  Captain 
Eads;  and  made  an  examination  of  the  Ash- 
tabula Bridge  after  that  disaster,  which  vindi- 
cated its  designer,  Amasa  Stone,  Jr.,  from 
responsibility  for  alleged  defects  of  design 
and  construction. 

Meanwhile,  in  lectures  and  study,  General 
Carrington  completed  the  text  and  many  of  the 
maps  for  his  "Battles  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion," and  then,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
British  and  American  governments,  visited 
Europe  to  perfect  his  work.  He  was  placed 
on  assimilated  rank  with  British  officers,  re- 
ceived the  courtesies  of  the  Athenaeum,  Army 
and  Navy  Club  (senior  and  junior),  United 
Service  Club  (senior  and  junior),  Huntington 
Fine  Arts  Club,  The  Reform  Club,  and 
others,  as  well  as  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety, in  whose  rooms  he  prepared  a  large 
map,  now  held  by  the  society,  for  illustration 
of  a  lecture,  before  the  British  Association, 
upon  the  American  Indians  of  the  North-west. 
He  was  a  member  of  several  standing  commit- 
tees of  the  British  Association,  and  at  Ox- 
ford, Dublin,  Belfast,  Glasgow,  and  Edinburgh 
Universities  was  alike  welcomed.  At  the 
casting  of  the  first  eighty-one  ton  gun  at  Wool- 
wich he  was  the  only  foreigner  present  except 
the  Duke  of  Braganza;  and  at  its  final  test 
he  was  called  from  Paris  by  General  Camp- 
bell, Director-general  of  Artillery,  to  witness 
the   same,    being    the    only  foreigner  present. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


279 


Each  member  of  Lord  Beaconsfield's  Cabinet 
contributed  aid  in  his  researches;  and,  as  a 
member  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
bar,  he  was  present  when  the  Lord  Chancellor 
announced  the  end,  sine  die,  of  the  High  Court 
of  English  Chancery.  Courtesies  extended  to 
Major  Bridges,  of  the  First  Regiment,  Queen's 
Guards,  and  William  Blackmore,  of  Parlia- 
ment, while  they  were  on  the  frontier  in  1868, 
were  more  than  reciprocated  by  British  army 
circles  during  his  visit. 

In  Paris,  Minister  Washburne  and  Secretary 
Hitt  secured  opportunities  for  research;  and 
ex-President  and  Madame  Thiers,  as  well  as 
Count  Rochambeau  and  Senators  Oscar  and 
Edmund  Lafayette,  largely  contributed  to  his 
success.  Each  of  these  officials  and  each 
member  of  the  British  Cabinet  took  occasion, 
upon  completion  of  the  volume,  to  recognize 
its  impartiality  of  research  and  record.  Colo- 
nel Hamley,  of  the  Queen's  Staff  College,  and 
Colonel  C.  C.  Chesney,  of  the  Royal  En- 
gineers, especially  indorsed  its  treatment  of 
the  art  of  war  in  the  introduction.  Sir  Jo- 
seph Hooker,  president  of  the  Royal  Society, 
wrote,  "I  was  never  able  before  to  understand 
the  full  character  of  Washington;  and  I  have 
read  the  volume  most  carefully,  with  ever-in- 
creasing delight  and  profit."  Of  the  Ameri- 
can proof-readers  of  the  manuscript,  George 
Bancroft,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  and  President 
Woolsey  were  equally  cordial  in  its  indorse- 
ment. 

Besides  being  a  life  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Society,  General  Carrington 
was  made  corresponding  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts, Virginia,  and  other  State  Historical 
Societies,  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  from  Wabash  College  in  1870.  His 
literary  works,  besides  more  than  a  hundred 
addresses  before  historical  and  educational  so- 
cieties and  conventions  at  home  and  abroad, 
include  the  following:  "The  Scourge  of  the 
Alps"  (a  serial,  1847);  "American  Classics" 
(1849);  "Russia  among  the  Nations"  (1851); 
"Military  Regulations  and  Tactics"  (1859); 
"Crisis  Thoughts"  (1861);  "Hints  to  Sol- 
diers taking  the  Field"  (1862),  of  which  the 
United  States  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commis- 
sions distributed  more  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand;     "Absaroka,      Land      of       Massacre" 


(1868),  enlarged  as  "Wyoming  Opened" 
(1886);  "Battles  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion" (1876),  in  its  sixth  thousand,  as  revised 
with  the  aid  of  the  late  Robert  C.  Winthrop; 
"The  Indian  Question"  (1884);  "Ocean  to 
Ocean"  (1886);  "Washington  Obelisk  and 
its  Voices"  (1886);  "Boston  and  New  York 
in  the  Revolution  "  (1889) ;  "Human  Liberty 
Developed,"  (a  patriotic  reader,  1888);  "Co- 
lumbian Selections"  (1893);  "The  Six  Na- 
tions of  New  York"  and  the  "Cherokees  of 
North  Carolina"  (1892),  published  by  the 
government;  "Beacon  Lights  of  Patriotism" 
(1895);  and  the  editing  of  "  Poems  of  Home 
and  Country"  (by  the  Rev.  S.  F.  Smith, 
author  of  the  hymn  "America").  General 
Carrington  was  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
Boston  committee  having  in  charge  the  testi- 
monial to  Dr.  Smith  at  Music  Hall,  Boston, 
April  3,   1895. 

"The  Battles  of  the  Bible  "  and  "  Pre-Chris- 
tian Assurances  of  Christianity"  were  in  prep- 
aration, when  the  sheets  were  destroyed  by  a 
fire  which  also  destroyed  many  hundreds  of 
photo  negatives  of  Indians  taken  in  person. 
"The  Rent  Veil  and  Other  Poems"  is  ready 
for  the  printer.  "The  Rose  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir," the  data  of  which  Mr.  Irving  left  in- 
complete, is  in  process  of  development. 

General  Carrington  removed  to  Boston  in 
1882  and  to  Hyde  Park  in  1885.  In  1889  he 
was  detailed  to  make  treaties  with  the  Flat- 
head Indians  of  Montana.  In  1890  he  made 
the  Indian  census  of  the  Six  Nations  of  New 
York,  and  in  1891,  personally  conducted  the 
removal  of  the  Flathead  Indians  from  Bitter 
Root  valley  to  their  new  reservation  in  North- 
western Montana.  In  1896  he  became  mem- 
ber of  the  Sewer  Board  of  Commissioners 
of  Hyde  Park,  otherwise  avoiding  civil 
office. 

He  first  married  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in 
1S51,  Margaret  McDowell,  eldest  daughter  of 
Joseph  Sullivant,  a  noted  scientist  and  scholar. 
Their  eldest  son,  Henry  Sullivant,  graduated 
at  Wabash  College,  1879,  had  two  years  of 
service  in  the  South  Seas,  and  died  in  1S94, 
while  in  the  service  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company,  leaving  one  son,  Henry 
B.  Carrington,  Jr.  Of  six  children  by  this 
wife,  the  only  survivor  is  James  Beebee  Car- 


280 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


rington,  of  the  editorial  staff  of  Sctibner's 
Magazine,  whose  versatile  literary  work  in 
that  duty  has  given  him  a  well-deserved  posi- 
tion among  scholars. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1870,  General  Carring- 
ton  married  Frances  Courtney  (widow  of  Lieu- 
tenant G.  W.  Grummond,  Colonel  of  a  Michi- 
gan regiment  during  the  Civil  War).  He  was 
killed  in  battle  with  Indians,  December  21, 
1866.  She  was  the  youngest  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Eliza  J.  (Haynes)  Courtney,  of 
Franklin,  Tenn. ,  Virginians  of  noted  loyalty 
to  the  Union  even  while  surrounded  by  those 
opposed  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  This 
family,  after  the  battle  of  Franklin,  took  per- 
sonal charge  of  the  Federal  wounded  left  on 
the  field,  and  nursed  them  in  a  church  until 
Federal  troops,  after  the  battle  of  Nashville, 
again  occupied  Franklin.  General  Thomas 
and  other  Federal  officials  officially  recognized 
this  service;  and  the  history  of  the  experience 
of  Mrs.  Carrington  (then  Miss  Courtney)  was 
published  by  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com- 
mission as  one  of  the  striking  episodes  of  the 
war.  One  son  by  her  former  husband,  Will- 
iam Wands,  adopted  by  General  Carrington, 
died  of  consumption  at  Hyde  Park,  January 
19,  1897.  Their  son,  Robert  Chase  Carring- 
ton, born  January  28,  1872,  was  for  two  years 
associated  with  the  mercantile  house  of  Buck 
&  Co.,  in  Montana,  and  later  book-keeper  of 
Bleakie  &  Co.,  woollen  manufacturers  at 
Hyde  Park,  until  he  went  to  North  Carolina 
in  the  fall  of  1896,  to  restore  impaired  health. 
Two  daughters  are:  Henrietta,  born  April  28, 
1874;  and  Eliza  Jane,  born  April  27,  1875. 
Mrs.  Carrington's  sister,  Mrs.  Florence  O. 
Cochnower,  who  participated  in  the  care  of 
Federal  wounded  soldiers  during  the  war,  is 
in  the  public  service  at  Washington,  and  is  in 
receipt  of  a  pension  for  services  rendered. 


AMUEL  W.  THORNDIKE,  who 
was  for  many  years  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Boston  and  during 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  a  resident 
of  Braintree,  Mass.,  was  born  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  February  23,  1836,  a  son  of  James  P. 
and  Martha  E.  (Hodgdon)  Thorndike.  His 
father,  James  P.  Thorndike,  a  native  of  War- 


ner, N.H.,  was  one  of  the  leading  wholesale 
leather  merchants  in  Boston,  in  which  city  he 
took  up  his  permanent  residence  in  1835,  hav- 
ing previously  been  engaged  in  the  tanning 
business  in  Salem.  About  1856  he  began 
spending  his  summers  in  Braintree,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  which 
closed  in  October,  1878.  His  wife,  Martha, 
was  a  native  of  Salem,  Mass. 

Samuel  W.  Thorndike  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  Boston,  receiving  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  and  in  the  institution  now 
known  as  the  Chauncy  Hall  School  of  that 
city.  He  then  became  a  clerk  in  his  father's 
office  in  Boston,  in  which  position  he  contin- 
ued for  a  number  of  years.  He  subsequently 
entered  into  a  partnership  with  his  elder 
brother  in  the  wholesale  leather  business, 
under  the  style  of  James  D.  Thorndike  &  Co., 
the  firm  existing  until  the  great  Boston  fire  of 
1872,  when  it  dissolved.  After  some  years 
more  of  business  life  devoted  to  railroad  in- 
terests, Mr.  Thorndike,  owing  to  ill  health, 
retired,  and  passed  his  days  as  a  private  citi- 
zen of  Braintree  until  his  demise  on  May  20, 
1896.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics;  and, 
though  not  an  active  politician,  he  took  a 
lively  interest  in  town  affairs.  He  served 
some  time  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  His  relig- 
ious opinions  led  him  to  attend  and  support 
the  Congregational  church,  but  he  was  also  a 
generous  contributor  to  other  religious  bodies 
and  various  charitable  institutions.  Mr. 
Thorndike  was  a  representative  citizen  in  the 
sense  that  he  combined  the  best  and  most 
prominent  elements  of  New  England  charac- 
ter—  tenacity  of  purpose,  devotion  to  prin- 
ciple, and  indomitable  perseverance  in  what- 
ever he  undertook.  Commanding  the  respect 
which  accompanies  success  in  any  legitimate 
walk  in  life,  he  was  also  esteemed  for  his  per- 
sonal qualities,  which  realized  a  lofty  ideal  of 
manhood;  and  his  death  was  the  cause  of 
wide-spread  sorrow. 

Mr.  Thorndike  married  Elizabeth  J.  Hay- 
den,  daughter  of  Charles  D.  and  Rebecca  T. 
(Arnold)  Hayden,  and  a  member  of  an  old 
Braintree  family,  her  paternal  grandfather, 
Robert  Hayden,  having  been  many  years  a  resi- 
dent of  this  town.  One  of  Mrs.  Thorndike's 
ancestors,     Nehemiah     Hayden,     fought     for 


w 


HENRY    T.    MANSFIELD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


i*3 


American  independence  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thorndike  were  the  par- 
ents of  one  son,  Alden  A.,  who  now  resides, 
with  his  own  family  and  his  widowed  mother, 
at  the  beautiful  homestead  in   Braintree. 


ENRY  TUCKER  MANSFIELD, 
M.D.,  a  successful  medical  practi- 
tioner of  Needham,  was  born  in 
Boston,  February  2,  1838,  son  of 
John  T.  and  E.  Adeline  (Story)  Mansfield. 
As  Dr.  Mansfield  is  descended  on  the  paternal 
side  from  the  Dudleys  and  Tuckers,  and  on 
the  maternal  side  from  the  Storys,  on  his  fam- 
ily tree  may  be  found  some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished names  of  the  old  Bay  State.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Daniel  Hopkins  Mans- 
field,  son  of  Matthew  Mansfield,  was  a  prosper- 
ous merchant  of  Salem  interested  in  the  ocean 
carrying  trade;  and  his  grandmother  Mans- 
field was  a  direct  descendant  of  Governor 
Dudley  of  Massachusetts,  whose  daughter, 
Anne,  married  Governor  Bradstreet. 

John  T.  Mansfield,  above  named,  was  born 
in  Salem  in  1799,  anc'  was  a  prominent  mer- 
chant and  business  man  of  that  town.  He 
was  for  eleven  years  United  States  Consul  at 
Pernambuco,  Brazil,  South  America,  and 
filled  the  office  with  eminent  credit.  He  died 
in  1839.  His  wife,  E.  Adeline,  was  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Dr.  Elisha  Story,  of 
Marblehead,  and  sister  to  the  late  Hon.  Jo- 
seph Story,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  Dr.  Story  was 
one  of  the  members  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party 
of  1773,  and  Dr.  Mansfield  has  now  in  his 
possession  a  very  ancient  and  interesting  doc- 
ument describing  that  historical  event. 

In  1862  Henry  T.  Mansfield,  who  had  been 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  received  a  commission  as  assistant 
paymaster  of  the  United  States  Navy.  He 
was  stationed  off  Charleston  Harbor,  S.C. , 
and  was  present  at  the  fall  of  Charleston. 
He  resigned  in  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  returning  to  Boston  began  the  study  of 
medicine  at  the  medical  department  of  Har- 
vard University;  and,  graduating  in  1869 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 


Boston.  He  removed  to  Dedham  in  1873, 
and  practised  there  for  one  year,  being  during 
that  time  both  town  and  county  physician. 
In  July,  1874,  he  came  to  Needham,  and  has 
since  resided  in  this  town,  where  he  has  made 
many  warm  personal  friends,  and  has  built  up 
a  successful  and  lucrative  practice.  For  ten 
years  he  has  been  town  physician  of  Needham, 
and  he  has  served  as  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Health. 

Dr.  Mansfield  is  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society,  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  of  the  Harvard  Medical 
Alumni;  is  a  comrade  of  Galen  Orr  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  Needham;  is  connected  with  the 
military  order,  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United 
States;  Oriental  Lodge,  No.  10,  I.  O.  O.  F. , 
of  Boston;  and  the  Veteran  Odd  Fellows 
Association.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree 
Mason,  being  a  member  of  Revere  Lodge, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  Boston;  of  Newton  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M. ;  Gethsemane  Commandery,  K.  T., 
of  Newtonville;  and  of  De  Witt  Clinton  Con- 
sistory. Dr.  Mansfield  has  been  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  for 
nearly  twelve  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
First  Parish  Church. 


JRVTNG  W.  HORNE,  the  popular  and 
efficient  Superintendent  of  Schools  in 
Braintree,  was  born  in  Berlin,  N.H., 
July  10,  1859,  son  of  John  R.  and  Sarah 
(Wheeler)  Home,  both  natives  of  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire.  John  R.  Home,  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire,  is  an  extensive  land-owner 
in  Berlin,  and  is  said  to  own  the  largest  farm 
in  Coos  County.  He  has  been  a  successful 
agriculturist  and  prominent  in  local  politics. 
He  served  for  nine  years  as  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  of  Berlin,  was  Town  Col- 
lector for  seven  years,  and  he  represented  the 
place  in  the  legislature  for  two  terms. 

The  early  education  of  Superintendent 
Home  was  obtained  in  the  schools  of  Berlin 
and  at  the  Bridgton  Academy  of  North  Bridg- 
ton,  Me.  After  graduating  from  the  latter 
institution  in  1882,  he  entered  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege. Graduating  from  Bowdoin  four  years 
later,  he  began  his  career  as  teacher,  having 
already  gained   some   experience   at    different 


284 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


times  during  his  under-graduate  days.  His 
first  position  after  leaving  college  was  that  of 
principal  of  the  high  school  at  Topsham,  Me. 
This  he  subsequently  left  to  become  principal 
of  the  Gorham  High  School.  He  held  the 
same  position  in  the  Southboro  (Massachu- 
setts) High  School  for  two  years  and  at  East 
Providence  for  one  year;  and  for  the  same 
length  of  time  he  was  assistant  principal  of 
the  Chelsea  High  School.  He  next  accepted 
the  charge  of  the  Ouincy  High  School,  and  in 
1892  he  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the 
Schools  of  Braintree. 

Mr.  Home  is  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  at  Braintree.  He  married 
Miss  E.  J.  Pulsifer,  of  Sumner,  Me.,  and 
has  one  son,  named  Alton  Irving.  He  is 
identified  by  membership  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 


"ON.  HENRY  B.  TERRY,  a  leading 
lawyer,  the  Town  Clerk  and  Trial 
Justice  of  Hyde  Park,  was  born  at 
Raynham,  Mass.,  April  21,  1845, 
son  of  John  and  Miriam  S.  (Bradbury)  Terry. 
The  first  ancestor  of  the  family  in  this  country 
was  Thomas  Terry,  who,  with  a  company  of 
other  settlers,  purchased  Block  Island  in  1662. 
He  later  removed  to  Freetown,  of  which  he 
was  Selectman  and  for  many  years  the  Repre- 
sentative to  the  General  Court.  He  was  also 
Lieutenant  of  the  Freetown  Militia  Company, 
and  was  known  as  Lieutenant  Jerry.  Zeph- 
eniah,  great-grandfather  of  Judge  Terry,  was  a 
farmer,  and  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Free- 
town, where  he  was  prominent  and  respected. 
His  son  John,  who  was  a  ship-master  and  a 
farmer,  died  in  Newtown,  N.Y. ,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-nine  years.  John  married  Clarissa  Dean, 
of  Raynham,  one  of  the  five  children  of  Job 
Dean,  a  farmer  of  that  town.  She  was  born 
in  a  house  now  over  two  hundred  years  old. 
Of  her  eight  children,  three  are  living, 
namely:  James,  residing  in  New  York;  Eliz- 
abeth, the  widow  of  Henry  Southworth;  and 
John  (second),  iiving  in  Hyde  Park.  Clarissa 
Terry  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  She  was 
a  Congregational ist  in  religious  faith,  as  was 
her  husband. 

John    Terry,    the    father    of    Judge    Terry, 


began  life  on  the  home  farm,  and  remained 
there  until  nineteen  years  of  age,  receiving 
his  education  in  the  public  schools.  When 
nineteen  he  took  employment  on  a  coasting- 
vessel.  After  following  the  sea  for  the  next 
four  years,  he  settled  down  on  the  shore,  and 
learned  the  foundry  business.  He  worked  ten 
years  as  a  journeyman,  spending  the  latter 
half  of  that  period  in  Raynham.  He  opened  a 
foundry  in  Raynham,  which  he  operated  for 
two  years.  Then  he  built  a  foundry  in  Mans- 
field, and  conducted  that  for  three  years, 
after  which  he  sold  it  to  Gardiner  Chilson, 
and  was  his  superintendent  until  1866.  In 
this  year  he  came  to  Hyde  Park,  where  he  has 
since  resided.  Here  he  has  been  interested  in 
all  local  affairs,  and  has  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  public  life  of  the  town.  He  has  been 
Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  fifteen  years  and  on 
the  Board  of  Health  for  two  years.  He  has 
also  been  interested  quite  largely  in  real  es- 
tate investments,  building  a  number  of  houses, 
and  beginning  the  village  of  Sunnyside.  His 
wife,  Miriam,  to  whom  he  was  married  on  No- 
vember 5,  1843,  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Bradbury,  of  York,  Me.  Mr.  Bradbury  was  a 
carpenter  and  builder,  and  was  born  and  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  York.  Mrs. 
Miriam  S.  Terry  died  March  27,  1890,  having 
had  one  child,  Henry  B.  Both  parents  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  the  father  has  been  a  trustee  and  steward 
of  the  society  for  many  years.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics. 

Henry  B.  Terry  spent  the  early  years  of  his 
life  at  home,  receiving  his  elementary  instruc- 
tion in  private  schools.  Among  these  was  the 
well-known  academy  at  East  Greenwich,  R.I., 
a  Methodist  fitting  school,  where  he  was  a 
student  in  May,  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  F  of  the  Ninth  Rhode  Island  Regi- 
ment as  a  private.  After  three  months  he 
was  discharged;  and  in  the  spring  of  1863  he 
returned  to  East  Greenwich,  and  completed 
his  course.  He  then  entered  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity at  Middletown,  Conn.  Having  grad- 
uated in  1867,  he  then  entered  upon  a  course 
of  reading  in  preparation  for  the  legal  pro- 
fession with  Charles  W.  Turner,  Esq.,  of  Bos- 
ton. In  1 87 1  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
Thereupon    he    settled   in   Hyde  Park,    where 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


285 


he  has  since  been  in  active  practice.  In  1870 
he  was  first  elected  Town  Clerk,  which  office 
he  has  held  since,  a  period  of  twenty-six 
years.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  Trial  Jus- 
tice, a  capacity  in  which  he  has  since  effi- 
ciently served,  being  now  among  the  oldest 
trial  justices  in  this  county  and  among  the 
oldest  lawyers  in  the  town.  In  his  private 
practice  he  makes  a  specialty  of  settling  es- 
tates, and  has  done  a  large  amount  of  business 
in  that  line.  Like  his  father,  he  is  a  loyal 
Republican,  and  has  always  taken  an  active 
interest  in  town  affairs. 

In  1872  Judge  Terry  married  Abbie  A., 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Abigail  (Bird)  Wether- 
ell,  of  Newton.  Mr.  Wetherell,  who  was 
superintendent  for  nineteen  years  with  the 
firm  of  Grover  &  Baker,  manufacturers  of  sew- 
ing machines,  and  saw  the  business  grow  from 
a  factory  employing  fifty  men  to  one  employ- 
ing five  hundred,  died  in  1874.  Mrs.  Wether- 
ell was  one  of  a  large  family.  Of  her  six 
children,  three  are  living  —  Mrs.  George 
Pettee,  Mrs.  Terry,  and  Frank  J.  She  was 
connected  with  the  Baptist  denomination,  and 
was  an  active  worker  in  the  church.  At  her 
death  she  was  seventy-one  years  old.  Judge 
Terry  and  his  wife  have  one  child,  Sarah 
Miriam.  The  Judge  is  a  comrade  of  Timothy 
Ingraham  Post,  No.  121,  G.  A.  R.,  and  has 
membership  in  several  Masonic  bodies,  in- 
cluding the  Norfolk  Royal  Arch  Chapter, 
Hyde  Park  Council,  and  Cyprus  Commandery. 
Lie  is  a  director  of  the  Real  Estate  and  Build- 
ing Company,  the  oldest  in  this  section. 
Both  he  and  Mrs.  Terry  attend  and  support 
the  Methodist  church,  of  which  he  has  been  a 
trustee  for  several  years.  Mrs.  Terry  is  one 
of  the  most  active  members  of  the  society. 


§011 X  EVERETT,  a  lawyer  of  Canton, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  Foxboro,  May  16, 
1852,  and  is  the  son  of  Colonel  John 
Metcalf  Everett  and  Elizabeth  Morse 
Barrett  Everett.  His  great-grandfather,  John 
Everett  (an  uncle  of  Edward  Everett,  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  and  his  brother,  Alex- 
ander H.  Everett,  lawyer  and  diplomatist), 
lived  in  Stoughton  and  Dedham  previous  to 
the  Revolutionary  War,   in  which  he  served  as 


Captain,  in  Dorchester  and  other  places,  and 
in  Rhode  Island.  When  Foxboro  was  set  off 
as  a  town,  he  was  the  first  Selectman  and 
Representative  to  the  General  Court.  He 
held  the  place  of  Representative  for  many 
years,  and  died  in  Foxboro. 

Colonel  John  M.  Everett,  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Foxboro  in 
1803.  He  carried  on  the  business  of  straw 
manufacturer  for  many  years,  and  on  retiring 
from  that  enterprise  he  bought  the  hotel  called 
the  Half-way  House,  where  he  resided  several 
years,  holding  court  as  a  Justice  and  carry- 
ing on  a  farm.  He  was  also  Selectman  and 
Representative.  In  politics  he  was  a  Re- 
publican. He  had  charge  of  the  schools  of 
Foxboro  for  some  years.  As  civil  engineer 
he  made  the  map  of  the  town.  He  was  a 
prominent  man  in  military  matters,  was  Colo- 
nel of  the  Second  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Militia,  and  also  served  on  the  General's  staff. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Morse  Barrett,  a  lady 
of  culture  and  refinement,  daughter  of  Amos 
Barrett,  and  they  had  these  children:  Met- 
calf, named  after  his  grandfather,  Captain 
Metcalf  Everett;  John,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Elizabeth.  Metcalf  Everett  died 
in  New  York  City,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
business.  On  the  death  of  the  Hon.  M. 
Everett,  who  was  a  prominent  lawyer  in 
Wrentham,  Colonel  John  M.  Everett  removed 
to  that  place;  and  there  he  died  in  April, 
1883,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years. 

John  Everett,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  Foxboro 
High  School,  graduating  in  1868,  while  that 
school  was  under  the  supervision  of  his  father, 
and  in  New  York.  He  taught  school  a  few 
years  as  principal  of  large  grammar  schools. 
The  Everett  School,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
where  Richard  Olney,  Attorney-General  of  the 
United  States  during  President  Cleveland's 
second  administration,  once  taught,  now 
bears  the  family  name,  by  vote  of  the  town, 
in  honor  of  the  father  and  son,  both  former 
teachers  of  this  school.  In  1876  Mr. 
Everett  commenced  the  study  of  law  with 
Ellis  Ames,  Esq.,  of  Canton,  and  in  1879 
was  admitted  as  an  attorney  and  counsel lor-at- 
law  to  practise  in  all  the  courts.  He  has 
since  been  in   active   practice    in   Canton,  sue- 


286 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ceeding  Mr.  Ames,  and  occupying  his  noted 
office.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He 
has  served  as  Moderator,  School  Committee, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Town  Treasurer, 
chairman  of  Selectmen,  and  chairman  of  the 
Water  Commissioners.  For  the  past  five 
years  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Fifteen  on  Recommendations  to  the  Town, 
and  is  now  honorably  retired  by  rule  of  the 
town,  fixing  this  limit.  Mr.  Everett  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  Lodge,  and  has  been 
trustee  of  the  Odd  Fellows  Lodge  for  several 
years.  He  is  also  president  and  director  of 
the  Co-operative  Bank,  and  takes  a  deep  inter- 
est in  the  peace,  industry,  prosperity,  and 
happiness  of  the  people.  Mr.  Everett  has 
never  married. 


7~"\HARLES  ILSLEY  PORTER,  M.D., 
I  V-'      of  Canton,  Mass.,  is  a  native  of  Nor- 

vJs^  folk  County.  He  was  born  in 
Weymouth  on  Xovember  27,  1865, 
the  son  of  George  E.  and  Amanda  (Cushing) 
Porter.  His  branch  of  the  family  is  de- 
scended from  Richard  Porter,  who  was  one  of 
the  company  of  about  one  hundred  persons 
that  came  from  Weymouth,  England,  to  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1635,  and  settled  at  the  place 
then  known  as  Wessagussett,  which  name  was 
shortly  changed  to  Weymouth,  the  territory 
remaining  the  same,  it  is  said,  to  this  day. 
John  Porter,  son  of  Richard,  married  in  1660 
a  daughter  of  Nicholas  Byram.  As  we  learn 
from  the  "Porter  Genealogy,"  by  the  Hon.  Jo- 
seph W.  Porter,  of  Burlington,  Me.,  the  line 
continues  thus:  Samuel,3  Samuel,4  Joseph,5 
Lebbeus,6  Whitcomb,7  George  E.,s  Charles 
Ilsley.9  Lieutenant  Joseph  Porter5  married 
i"  '753  Elizabeth  Burrill,  a  "woman  of  re- 
markable personal  beauty,"  a  school-teacher, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Content  (Whitcomb) 
Burrill.  Lebbeus  Porter,6  born  in  1 771,  great- 
grandfather of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  married  life  in 
Wrentham,  Mass.  His  son,  Whitcomb  Porter, 
who  was  a  prominent  insurance  agent  of  Bos- 
ton, for  many  years  was  engaged  in  business  on 
State  Street,  and  resided  in  Ouincy.  His 
wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and 
Betsy  (Nash)  Hunt,  of  Weymouth,  was  a  di- 


rect descendant  of  John  and  Priscilla  Alden,  of 
the  Plymouth  colony. 

George  E.  Porter,  son  of  Whitcomb  and 
Susan  (Hunt)  Porter,  was  born  in  1828.  For 
thirty  years  he  was  a  prominent  shoe  manu- 
facturer in  Weymouth,  Mass.  He  married 
Amanda  Cushing,  daughter  of  Simeon  Cush- 
ing, and  had  five  children,  as  follows:  Edith, 
Alice,  Susan  H.,  Charles  Ilsley,  and  Edgar. 
Edith  Porter  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  L.  S. 
Crossley,  of  South  Framingham,  Mass. 
Edgar  died  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years. 
Mr.  George  E.  Porter  died  at  his  home  in 
Weymouth,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years, 
November  23,   1896. 

Charles  Ilsley,  now  the  only  surviving  son, 
received  his  early  education  in  the  common 
schools  and  the  high  school  of  his  native  town, 
and  was  tutored  for  one  year.  He  entered 
the  Boston  University  Medical  School  in 
1884,  was  graduated  in  1888,  and  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year  settled  as  a  physician  in  Can- 
ton, Mass.,  where  he  has  since  remained,  ac- 
tive in  his  profession,  with  an  increasing 
practice.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican;  but 
he  has  not  held  pub! ic  office,  having  declined 
to  serve  on  the  Board  of  Health,  as  he  believes 
a  physician  should  give  all  his  time  to  those 
who  employ  his  services.  On  October  6, 
1 89 1,  he  married  Margery,  daughter  of  Joseph 
W.  Wattles,  one  of  the  prominent  manufact- 
urers of  the  town.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  have 
one  child,  a  daughter  named  Helen  M.  The 
Doctor  and  his  wife  are  attendants  at  the  Uni- 
tarian church. 


TT^HARLES  ALLEN  HOWLAND,  a 
I  Vr^      well-known   and   esteemed    citizen    of 

vil'^  Ouincy,  the  president  of  the  Mount 
Wollaston  National  Bank,  and  the 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  Ouincy  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Company,  was  born  in  Worces- 
ter, Mass.,  September  4,  1829.  A  son  of 
Southworth  Allen  Howland,  he  is  a  direct  de- 
scendant in  the  seventh  generation  of  John 
Howland,  whose  signature  is  the  thirteenth  of 
the  forty-one  names  appended  to  the  memo- 
rable compact  made  in  the  cabin  of  the  "May- 
flower" in  Cape  Cod  Harbor,  November  21, 
1620.     At  that  time  he  was  twenty-one  years 


CHARLES    A.    HOWLAND. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


old.  From  the  day  of  his  departure  from 
England  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  family 
of  John  Carver,  the  first  Governor  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony.  He  was  one  of  the  "prin- 
cipal men "  who  were  sent  out  in  a  boat 
manned  by  eight  sailors  to  select  a  place  in 
which  the  weary  band  might  settle,  and  who, 
upon  being  driven  by  a  storm  into  Plymouth 
Harbor,  made  choice  of  Plymouth.  This 
John  Howland  was  subsequently  a  prominent 
man  in  the  new  colony.  In  1633,  1634,  and 
1635  ne  was  one  °f  the  seven  members  of  the 
Governor's  Council.  He  was  also  Assessor  in 
1633,  and  in  1636  he  served  on  a  jury.  In 
1643  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  Plymouth  Mili- 
tary Company,  and  in  1666  was  Selectman  of 
the  town.  He  was  Assessor  in  1633  and 
1634  and  a  member  of  Governor  Bradford's 
Council  in  1633-35.  He  was  chosen  Deputy 
in  1 64 1 ,  1645  to  1652,  1656,  1658,  1661, 
1663,  1666,  1667,  and  1670.  After  the  elec- 
tion which  was  held  on  June  2,  1670,  he  re- 
fused to  become  a  candidate  again.  He  died 
February  23,  1673,  over  eighty  years  old. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Tilley,  a  daughter  of 
John  Tilley.  She  died  December  21,  1687, 
aged  fourscore  years. 

John  Howland  (second),  son  of  the  Pil- 
grim, born  in  Plymouth,  October  26,  1627, 
married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Lee,  of  Barn- 
stable. He  lived  for  a  time  in  Marshfield, 
Mass.,  where  he  was  highly  respected  as  a 
systematic  and  energetic  business  man.  The 
next  ancestor  was  their  son,  John  Howland 
(third),  who  was  born  in  Barnstable,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1664.  On  June  1,  1719,  he  married 
for  his  second  wife,  Mary  Crocker,  who  was 
born  June  6,  168 1.  Their  son  Job,  who,  born 
in  Barnstable,  June  18,  1726,  died  in  the 
same  town.  May  1,  1794,  married  December 
6,  1753,  Hannah  Jenkins,  a  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Jenkins,  and  a  grand-daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Howland)  Jenkins.  She  was  born 
in  1733,  and  died  September  21,  1781. 
Their  son  Southworth,  the  grandfather  of 
Charles  Allen  Howland,  was  born  March  29, 
1775,  in  the  town  of  Barnstable,  where  he 
spent  his  early  years.  Subsequently  in  Con- 
way, Mass.,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  house 
carpenter  from  his  brother  John,  and,  on  com- 
ing of  age,  settled   in  West  Brookfield,  Mass. 


A  very  skilful  and  ingenious  workman,  he  was 
often  called  upon  to  do  jobs  entirely  foreign 
to  his  trade.  On  one  occasion  he  was  asked 
to  alter  and  fit  an  artificial  leg  that  had  been 
imported  from  England  by  one  of  his  neigh- 
bors. He,  however,  found  it  easier  to  make 
a  new  one,  adding  such  improvements  as  to 
give  full  satisfaction  to  the  wearer.  His  suc- 
cess became  widely  known,  and  in  the  ensu- 
ing forty  years  he  was  often  called  upon  to 
furnish  artificial  limbs  to  men  and  women  in 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  he  being 
the  only  manufacturer  of  them,  so  far  as 
known,  for  many  years  thereafter.  He  was 
a  man  of  decided  convictions,  and  was  prompt 
and  fearless  in  expressing  and  defending  them. 
As  early  as  1812  both  he  and  his  good  wife 
pledged  themselves  not  to  touch  intoxicating 
drinks  when  passed  around  in  company,  as 
was  then  the  universal  custom;  and  a  short 
time  afterward  they  joined,  with  a  few  of  their 
neighbors,  in  forming  a  society  for  the  pro- 
motion of  temperance.  He  likewise  had  pub- 
lished at  his  own  expense,  for  free  distri- 
bution, a  tract  written  on  that  subject  by  the 
noted  Dr.  Rush.  On  November  24,  1797, 
he  married  Esther  Allen,  a  daughter  of 
Nathan  and  Persis  Allen,  of  West  Brookfield. 
She  was  born  December  18,  1780,  and  died 
October  12,  181 2.  On  March  13,  18 16,  he 
married  fo  his  second  wife  Polly  Ware,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  and  Bethia  (Avery) 
Ware,  of  Conway,  Mass.  She  was  born  De- 
cember 5,  1785,  and  died  February  11,  1870. 
Southworth  Allen  Howland,  born  in  West 
Brookfield,  Mass.,  September  11,  1800,  died 
in  Worcester,  Mass.,  October  7,  1882.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  bookbinder  in  Plym- 
outh, Mass.,  and  in  1821  opened  a  book  store 
and  bindery  in  Worcester,  both  of  which  he 
conducted  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. In  1852  he  went  into  the  insurance 
business,  and  was  afterward  engaged  therein 
during  the  rest  of  his  active  years.  He  was 
also  a  publisher  of  some  note.  Among  the 
books  issued  by  him  were:  "Historical  Col- 
lections of  Massachusetts,"  "Historical  Col- 
lections of  New  England,"  and  a  cook-book, 
entitled  "The  Economical  Housekeeper,"  of 
which  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  copies 
were    sold.       He    married     Esther    Allen,    a 


290 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


daughter  of  Captain  William  Allen,  of  Plym- 
outh, and  became  the  father  of  five  children; 
namely,  South  worth  A.,  Esther  A.,  Charles 
A.,  Edward  Payson,  and  William  O.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational church.  A  man  of  sterling  worth,  he 
was  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  An 
obituary  referring  to  him  has  the  following: 
"He  was  an  active,  useful  citizen,  an  ener- 
getic worker,  charitable  and  kind  to  all,  a  man 
who  loved  his  home." 

Charles  Allen  Howland  attended  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  Worcester.  After- 
ward he  studied  with  a  private  tutor,  and  com- 
pleted his  education  at  the  Leicester  Acad- 
emy. While  going  to  school,  he  learned  the 
bookbinder's  trade  with  his  father.  After 
leaving  the  academy,  he  was  employed  in  the 
Registry  of  Deeds  for  two  and  one-half  years. 
While  there  he  spent  most  of  his  leisure  time 
in  the  office  of  his  father,  who  had  changed 
his  business  from  that  of  a  bookseller  and 
binder  to  that  of  an  insurance  agent,  and  was 
then  representing  several  companies,  includ- 
ing the  Ouincy  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany, at  that  time  but  four  or  five  years  in 
existence.  He  helped  his  father  in  making 
out  surveys,  applications,  plans,  etc.  Some 
of  this  work  executed  by  him,  when  sent  to 
the  main  office  in  Ouincy,  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  secretary,  who  wrote  to  the  agent 
in  Worcester,  inquiring  whom  he  had  for  a 
clerk.  On  being  told  that  it  was  his  son 
Charles,  the  secretary  visited  Worcester  for 
the  purpose  of  hiring  the  said  son  Charles  as  a 
clerk  in  the  Ouincy  office,  offering  him  as  an 
inducement  eleven  dollars  per  week.  Mr. 
Howland  accepted  the  offer,  coming  at  once  to 
Ouincy,  where  he  has  since  resided.  In  three 
months  he  mastered  the  details  of  his  work, 
and  during  the  first  year  he  adjusted  a  few 
losses  for  the  company.  The  work  done  by 
him  in  the  second  year  was  so  satisfactory 
that  he  was  appointed  adjuster,  and  in  the  en- 
suing year  he  was  made  assistant  secretary. 
On  December  13,  i860,  the  secretary  of  the 
company  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis;  and  the 
charge  of  the  office  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  How- 
land. On  April  14,  1861,  he  was  regularly 
elected  secretary  of  the  company,  a  position  in 
which  he  subsequently  served  with  great  abil- 


ity and  fidelity  for  nearly  twenty-four  years. 
In  1884  he  was  elected  president  and  treas- 
urer of  the  corporation.  He  is  also  interested 
in  other  business  enterprises.  A  director  of 
the  Mount  Wollaston  National  Bank  for  the 
past  twenty  years,  he  has  been  its  president 
since  1893.  He  is  likewise  a  trustee  of  the 
Ouincy  Savings  Bank;  a  director  of  the  Hing- 
ham  Cordage  Company;  director  of  the  Law- 
rence Duck  Company,  manufacturers  of  cotton 
duck,  of  Lawrence,  Mass.  ;  and  he  is  the  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  Adams 
Academy.  He  has  steadily  refused  all  politi- 
cal office.  Outside  his  business  relations  he 
takes  much  interest  in  psychology,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Psychological  Society  of 
Boston. 

On  January  5,  1871,  Mr.  Howland  married 
Miss  Helen  M.  Moore,  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Josiah  Moore,  of  Duxbury,  Mass.  They 
have  two  children,  namely:  Mabel,  now  the 
wife  of  Francis  H.  Lister,  who  is  a  chief  en- 
gineer in  the  British  army;  and  Charles  A. 
Howland,  Jr.,  a  member  of  the  class  of  1900 
at  Harvard  College. 


DWARD     BANGS     RICHARDSON,     a 

well-known  and  highly  esteemed  resi- 
dent of  Brookline,  living  on  Davis 
Avenue,  is  now  United  States  clerk  at  the 
Boston  custom-house,  with  which  he  has  been 
connected  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  has 
been  employed  in  various  capacities;  and  his 
continuous  retention  in  the  civil  service 
through  the  last  six  Presidential  administra- 
tions is  in  itself  a  speaking  evidence  of  his 
ability,  fidelity,  and  popularity.  He  was 
born  May  20,  1838,  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  a 
son  of  Peter  and  Hitty  S.  (Prentise)  Richard- 
son. 

His  ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Princeton,  Worcester  County;  and  there 
his  paternal  grandparents,  Samuel  and  Lucy 
(Mirick)  Richardson,  spent  their  entire  lives, 
each  dying  at  an  advanced  age. 

Peter  Richardson  was  born  in  Princeton, 
and  in  common  with  his  numerous  brothers 
and  sisters  was  brought  up  on  the  home  farm. 
In  his  younger  days  he  was  employed  for  a 
time  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  in  his  native  town, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


291 


afterward  going  into  business  for  himself  in 
Worcester,  where  he  remained  some  years. 
In  1848  he  opened  a  large  grocery  store  in 
Boston,  but  shortly  removed  to  Brookline, 
and  here  spent  the  last  thirty-five  years 
of  his  life,  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
As  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  he  was  highly 
respected.  He  attended  and  supported  the 
Unitarian  church.  He  married  Hitty  Spencer 
Prentise,  who  was  born  in  Princeton,  where 
her  father,  Henry  Prentise,  was  engaged  as  a 
blacksmith.  Her  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Abigail  Gill,  was  a  niece  of  Lieutenant 
Governor  Gill,  who  was  Acting  Governor  1799 
to  May,  1800.  Her  early  home  was  on  School 
Street,  Boston,  near  Tremont  Street,  occupy- 
ing the  present  site  of  the  Parker  House. 

Peter  Richardson  and  his  wife  reared  ten 
children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living,  as  fol- 
lows: William  E. ,  Thomas  E.,  George  P., 
Spencer  W.,  and  Edward  Bangs.  Five  of 
their  sons  participated  in  the  late  Civil  War, 
all  serving  as  commissioned  officers:  James, 
as  a  Captain  in  the  Twenty-first  Massachu- 
setts and  later  a  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the 
Third  Massachusetts  Heavy  Artillery;  Will- 
iam, as  a  Quartermaster  and  a  Captain  in 
the  Thirty-third  Massachusetts  Volunteer  In- 
fantry; George  P.,  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Third  Heavy  Artillery;  Spencer  W.,  a  Cap- 
tain in  the  Forty-fourth  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Infantry;  and  Edward  B.,  the  special 
subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  First  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  Forty-fifth  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  later  of  the  United  States 
Signal  Corps.  These  five  brothers  are  all 
credited  to  the  quota  of  the  town  of  Brook- 
line.  They  served  their  country  with  fidelity, 
and  each  was  discharged  with  an  honorable 
record.  Their  mother,  who  spent  her  last 
years  at  the  home  of  her  son,  Edward  B. ,  in 
Brookline,  retained  her  mental  faculties  and 
her  physical  vigor  until  about  a  year  before 
her  death,  which  occurred  when  she  was 
'ninety  years  old.  The  graves  of  the  parents 
are  in  the  family  lot  in  Walnut  Hill  Ceme- 
tery. 

Edward  B.  Richardson  was  but  one  year  old 
when  his  parents  left  Worcester.  After  a 
brief  stay  in  Boston  he  came  with  them  to 
Brookline,  then   a  small  village  with   scarce  a 


thousand  inhabitants,  now  a  prosperous  town 
that  has  increased  in  population  and  valua- 
tion with  phenomenal  rapidity.  After  his 
graduation  at  the  high  school  he  began  work 
in  the  office  of  the  Manchester  Print  Works  in 
Boston;  and  in  1858  he  entered  the  Bank  of 
Mutual  Redemption  in  that  city  as  receiving 
teller,  remaining  there  three  years.  In  1862 
he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Forty-fifth  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  as  P'irst  Lieuten- 
ant of  the  company.  He  was  later  assigned 
to  the  United  States  Signal  Corps  with  the  same 
rank,  which  was  the  highest  in  that  branch  of 
the  service,  and  continued  there  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  Soon  after  his  discharge  he  went 
to  Burlington,  la.,  as  private  secretary  of  Gen- 
eral William  B.  Strong,  who  was  general 
freight  agent  and  superintendent  of  the  Bur- 
lington &  Missouri  Railway  Company.  Hav- 
ing resigned  that  position  in  1871,  in  the 
ensuing  year  he  was  appointed  Inspector  of 
Customs,  and  has  since  held  positions  in 
nearly  every  department  in  the  custom-house. 
In  1894  he  was  made  storekeeper. 

Mr.  Richardson  is  a  stanch  Republican  in 
politics.  He  is  a  prominent  comrade  of  C.  L. 
Chandler  Post,  No.  143,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which 
he  has  been  Commander;  is  Master  Workman 
of  the  A.  O.  U.  W. ,  and  a  life  member  of  its 
Grand  Lodge;  is  also  a  member  of  the  Mili- 
tary Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  composed  of  officers  of  the 
army  and  navy  who  served  in  the  late  Rebell- 
ion. 

On  May  10,  1881,  Mr.  Richardson  married 
Miss  Amanda  Jellison,  a  daughter  of  James 
Jellison,  of  Calais,  Me.  Liberal  in  religious 
belief,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richardson  attend  the 
Unitarian  church. 


77?\APTAIN  EDWIN  DEXTER  WADS- 
I  VV  WORTH,  of  Milton,  one  of  the  Com- 
^^Hs  missioners  of    Norfolk  County,   was 

born  in  this  town,  December  3, 
1832,  son  of  Thomas  Thacher  and  Mary 
(Bradlee)  Wadsworth.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Milton;  and  his  mother  was  born  in 
Brookline,  Mass.  Captain  Wadsworth  is  of 
the  eighth  generation  in  descent  from  Chris- 
topher Wadsworth,  who  emigrated   from    Eng- 


292 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


land  in  1632,  and  settled  in  Duxbury.  The 
lineage  is  as  follows:  Christopher,'  Captain 
Samuel,2  Deacon  John,3  Deacon  Benjamin,4 
John,5  Benjamin,''  Thomas  Thacher,7  Edwin 
Dexter. s 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Wadsworth,  D.D. , 
president  of  Harvard  College,  1725-37,  was 
the  youngest  son  of  Captain  Samuel  Wads- 
worth.  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow,  Amer- 
ican poet  and  scholar,  son  of  Stephen  and 
Zilpha  (Wadsworth)  Longfellow,  was  a  grand- 
son of  General  Peleg  Wadsworth,  who  was  of 
the  fifth  generation  in  descent  from  Christo- 
pher, of  Duxbury,  the  line  descending  from 
his  son  John.' 

Captain  Samuel  Wadsworth  settled  in 
1656  in  what  was  then  a  part  of  Dorchester 
and  is  now  Milton,  where  he  became  proprie- 
tor of  a  large  tract  of  land,  including  Wads- 
worth Hill,  on  which  is  situated  the  estate 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Captain  Wadsworth  was  killed  at 
Sudbury  in  April,  1676,  while  defending  that 
town  from  an  attack  by  the  Indians  during 
King  Philip's  War.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
at  that  time  forty-six  years  of  age.  The  spot 
where  he  and  other  brave  officers  and  soldiers 
were  slain  is  now  marked  by  a  monument  at 
Green  Hill,  Sudbury,  where  the  bicentennial 
anniversary  of  the  battle  was  celebrated  in  1 876. 

Captain  Samuel  Wadsworth's  descendants 
have  now  for  more  than  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies been  identified  with  the  town  of  Milton. 
Representatives  of  four  generations  of  the  fam- 
ily, including  Captain  Edwin  D.  Wadsworth's 
father,  have  been  members  of  the  General 
Court ;  and  Thomas  T.  Wadsworth,  was  also 
prominent  in  the  public  affairs  of  Milton, 
serving  as  a  Selectman  and  in  other  town 
offices.      He  died  in  1883. 

Edwin  D.  Wadsworth  was  graduated  from 
the  Milton  Academy ;  and  in  1849,  when  in 
his  seventeenth  year,  he  went  to  California  by 
way  of  Cape  Horn,  remaining  there  about  a 
year  and  a  half.  After  his  return  he  entered 
the  merchant  marine  service,  in  which  he 
rapidly  worked  his  way  forward;  and  as  mas- 
ter of  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade 
he  visited  the  principal  ports  of  Europe, 
South  America,  and  the  Far  East.  During 
the    Civil    War    he    commanded    a    transport 


steamer  conveying  soldiers  to  different  points 
of  destination  along  the  Southern  coast;  and 
he  was  later  in  command  of  steamships  of  the 
Cromwell  and  Black  Star  lines,  plying  be- 
tween New  York  and  New  Orleans.  In  18G8 
he  abandoned  the  sea,  and,  settling  in  Milton, 
was  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  the  coal 
business. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men; was  a  member  of  the  School  Board  six 
years,  a  part  of  the  time  acting  as  its  chair- 
man ;  is  now  serving  his  fourth  year  as  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Assessors,  and  was 
elected  a  County  Commissioner  for  three 
years  in  1896.  He  was  one  of  the  promoters 
of  the  Milton  Water  Works,  is  actively  inter- 
esting himself  in  securing  an  improved  sewer- 
age system  for  the  town,  and  as  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  is  always  ready  with  his  influ- 
ence to  aid  in  forwarding  all  measures  calcu- 
lated to  be  of  benefit  to  the  community.  He 
is  a  charter  member  and  a  Past  Master  of 
Macedonian  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ,  has  been 
treasurer  of  the  Boston  Marine  Society  for 
the  past  twelve  years,  and  for  five  years  sec- 
retary of  the  Society  of  California  Pioneers  of 
New  England.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Colonial  Wars,  and  of  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution. 

Captain  Wadsworth  married  Ellen  M.  Emer- 
son, daughter  of  the  late  Joshua  Emerson,  of 
Milton,  and  has  two  children  —  Dexter  E.  and 
Annie  M.  Wadsworth. 


§UDGE  LOUIS  A.  COOK,  of  Wey- 
mouth, Clerk  of  Courts  for  Norfolk 
County,  was  born  in  Blackstone,  Mass., 
May  4,  1847.  A  son  of  Louis  and  Orinda 
Ballou  (Cook)  Cook,  he  traces  his  ancestry  to 
Walter  Cook,  who  settled  in  Weymouth  at 
some  time  previous  to  the  year  1643.  After- 
ward, in  company  with  a  number  of  others 
from  Weymouth  and  Braintree,  Walter  settled 
in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Mendon,  Mass. 
During  King  Philip's  War  he,  with  the  other 
members  of  the  company,  was  driven  back  to 
Weymouth;  but  he  subsequently  returned,  and 
died  in  Mendon. 

Ichabod  Cook,  the  grandfather  of  the  sub- 


LOUIS    A.    COOK. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


295 


ject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
Blackstone —  which  was  formerly  a  part  of 
Mendon  —  the  author  of  two  or  three  books, 
and  also  a  Quaker  preacher.  He  served  a 
term  in  the  legislature,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was 
Louisa  Cook.  His  son  Louis,  a  man  of 
scholarly  attainments,  taught  in  the  Friends' 
Boarding-school  at  Providence,  R.I.,  and  was 
a  member  of  the  School  Committee  in  Black- 
stone.  He  married  Orinda  Ballou  Cook  on 
October  16,  1S43,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-five.  The  widow  survived  him  until 
the  fifty-sixth  year  of  her  age. 

Louis  A.  Cook  spent  the  most  of  his  early 
life  at  Candlewood,  a  farm  in  Blackstone  that 
derived  its  name  from  a  neighboring  hill 
where  pine  knots  were  obtained  for  illumina- 
tion. He  was  well  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Blackstone  and  Woonsocket,  R.I., 
and  at  Phillips  Exeter  Academy.  Several 
years  of  his  boyhood  were  spent  in  semi- 
invalidism  through  a  severe  injury,  acciden- 
tally received  when  he  was  eleven  years  old, 
and  which  threatened  to  be  fatal.  Having, 
however,  recovered  his  normal  health  and 
strength,  and  after  spending  a  short  time  in 
business,  he  engaged  in  school -teaching  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two,  and  subsequently 
taught  in  Bellingham,  Blackstone,  Smithfield, 
and  Manville.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he 
was  made  head  master  of  the  Bates  Grammar 
School,  located  in  South  Weymouth,  where  he 
has  since  resided. 

In  November,  1879,  he  was  elected  Repre- 
sentative to  the  State  legislature;  and  in  Jan- 
uary, 1880,  he  resigned  his  position  as  teacher 
to  take  his  seat.  He  afterward  pursued  the 
study  of  law,  to  which  he  had  previously  given 
some  attention,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Plym- 
outh County  bar  at  Plymouth,  November  13, 
1884.  Offices  were  opened  by  him  at  Abing- 
ton,  South  Weymouth,  and  afterward  at  Bos- 
ton, with  Messrs.  William  J.  Coughlan  and 
Daniel  R.  Coughlan,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Cook  &  Coughlan.  In  1889  and  1890  he  was 
again  a  member  of  the  State  legislature.  In 
the  convention  of  the  First  District  delegates 
held  in  1892  he  was  for  a  time  the  leading 
candidate  for  the  Senatorial  nomination,  with 
more  than  eighty  ballots   in  his  favor,  and  in 


three  ballots  came  within  one  vote  of  the  nom- 
ination, which  was  finally  won  near  midnight 
by  the  Hon.  John  F.  Merrill,  of  Quincy.  He 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  School  Com- 
mittee both  in  Blackstone  and  Weymouth,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  chosen 
Moderator  of  the  annual  town  meetings  of 
Weymouth.  He  is  chairman  of  the  Park 
Commissioners  of  Weymouth  and  a  trustee  of 
the  Tufts  (town)  Library.  On  July  30,  1896, 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Special  Justices 
of  the  District  Court  of  East  Norfolk.  Re- 
ferring to  that  event,  the  Boston  Herald  of 
July  24,  1896,  said,  "The  appointment  by 
Governor  Wolcott  of  Louis  A.  Cook,  of  Wey- 
mouth, to  the  position  of  Special  Justice  of 
the  District  Court  at  East  Norfolk  that  holds 
its  sessions  at  Quincy,  gives  great  satisfaction 
to  the  appointee's  hosts  of  friends."  In  No- 
vember, 1896,  after  a  hot  contest  in  the 
county  convention  and  at  the  polls,  he  was 
elected  Clerk  of  Courts  for  Norfolk  County  by 
a  plurality  of  more  than  four  thousand  votes. 
During  the  canvass  the  leading  papers  of  the 
county  published  many  complimentary  notices 
of  his  life  and  character. 

Unlike  many  men  who  have  been  successful 
in  the  political  field,  Judge  Cook  is  a  strict 
temperance  man.  He  is  a  member  of  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Good  Templars  and  of  the 
Order  of  the  Golden  Cross.  During  his  first 
year  in  the  legislature  he  had  charge  of  all 
the  prohibition  legislation.  It  was  mainly 
through  his  efforts  that  the  celebrated  "screen 
law,"  compelling  saloon  proprietors  to  remove 
screens  from  their  doors  and  windows,  was 
passed.  Judge  Cook  also  belongs  to  the 
Royal  Arcanum  and  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows.  In  August,  1893,  he  was 
elected  to  the  highest  State  office  in  the  latter 
fraternity,  and  he  was  Massachusetts  repre- 
sentative at  Chicago  in  the  demonstration 
made  by  the  order  at  the  World's  Fair  in  the 
same  year.  In  1894  he  was  one  of  the  repre- 
sentatives to  the  Sovereign  Lodge  from  Mas- 
sachusetts at  Chattanooga,  Term.,  when  the 
members  were  quartered  and  the  session  was 
held  at  Lookout  Inn,  on  the  summit  of  Look- 
out Mountain;  and  he  served  in  the  same  ca- 
pacity in  the  session  of  1895,  held  at  Atlantic 
City/ N.J. 


296 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


On  February  22,  1876,  Judge  Cook  married 
Lucinda  A.  Clark,  who  was  bom  in  Smith- 
field,  R.I.,  daughter  of  Joseph  S.  Clark.  Mrs. 
Cook  is  one  of  five  children.  Their  children 
are:  Louis  A.,  Jr.,  now  a  student  at  Yale 
University;   Sidney  R. ;   and  Florence  M. 


MOS  H.  BRAINARD  is  prominently 
associated  with  the  manufacturing  in- 
terests of  Norfolk  County,  being 
general  manager  and  treasurer  of 
the  Brainard  Milling  Machine  Company,  which 
is  located  in  Hyde  Park.  He  was  born  in 
Newburyport,  Mass.  ;  and  his  father,  Joseph 
Brainard,  was  a  native  of  the  same  city,  and  tra- 
ditionally the  lineal  descendant  of  "one  of  two 
brothers  who  came  from  England  to  America 
in  1640.  " 

Joseph  Brainard  was  reared  in  Newburyport, 
where  he  learned  the  cabinet-maker's  trade, 
and  was  for  some  time  there  engaged  in  busi- 
ness. He  subsequently  removed  to  Boston 
and  embarked  in  business  as  a  stair-builder, 
following  that  trade  principally  until  his  death 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  He  married 
Miss  Ednah  Haskell,  who  was  born  in  Deer 
Isle,  Me.  This  town  was  also  the  birthplace 
of  her  father,  Caleb  Haskell,  who  served  in 
the  Revolution,  being  a  participant  in  several 
engagements,"  including  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  and  Arnold's  expedition  to  Quebec. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Haskell  settled 
in  Newburyport,  where  most  of  his  ten  chil- 
dren were  reared.  The  children  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Joseph  Brainard  were  five  in  number, 
all  being  boys,  and  two  are  still  living, 
namely:  Samuel,  a  resident  of  Iowa;  and 
Amos  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The 
parents  were  both  members  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Newburyport. 

Amos  H.  Brainard  spent  his  childhood  and 
youth  in  his  native  city,  acquiring  his  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools.  During  his  early 
manhood  he  was  engaged  in  various  employ- 
ments, mostly  of  a  mechanical  nature;  and  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  carriage-maker  in  Bos- 
ton. He  subsequently  established  a  machine 
shop  in  that  city,  but  later,  transferring  his 
business  to  Hyde  Park,  under  the  name  of  the 
Union  Vise  Company  began   the  manufacture 


of  vises  of  his  own  invention.  He  employed 
a  force  of  seventy  men  in  his  factory,  and 
during  the  five  years  in  which  he  was  thus  en- 
gaged turned  out  forty  thousand  vises.  He 
then  embarked  in  the  milling  machine  busi- 
ness, being  a  pioneer  in  this  industry,  in  which  - 
he  has  been  eminently  successful.  The  com- 
pany began  on  a  modest  scale,  and  gradually 
enlarged  their  works.  Having  secured  a  large 
number  of  patents  upon  the  inventions  of  Mr. 
Brainard,  they  are  now  carrying  on  the  most 
extensive  and  lucrative  business  of  any  firm 
similarly  engaged  in  this  or  any  other  country. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  men  are  kept  constantly 
employed,  the  demand  for  their  manufactures 
being  great  throughout  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  as  well  as  in  foreign  countries.  They 
have  branch  houses  in  all  the  large  European 
cities,  and  they  ship  goods  to  China  and  other 
Asiatic  ports.  Making  a  specialty  of  milling 
machines  and  of  automatic  gear  cutting  ma- 
chines, they  carry  out  the  American  idea  of 
keeping  a  supply  of  interchangeable  parts  of 
machinery.  Mr.  Brainard  is  a  very  intelli- 
gent, energetic  and  capable  man,  a  typical 
"Captain  of  Industry,"  and  his  well-written 
and  interesting  articles  on  various  topics  con- 
nected with  machinery,  which  frequently  ap- 
pear in  journals  devoted  to  mechanics,  are 
widely  read.  Since  1858  he  has  made  his 
home  in  Hyde  Park,  where  he  is  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  influential  citizens. 

Mr.  Brainard  is  the  father  of  eight  children, 
namely:  Genevieve;  Florence,  wife  of  George 
D.  Thayer,  a  shoe  merchant  in  Boston,  ami 
mother  of  three  children  —  Lila,  Harry  P., 
and  Burgess;  and  Amos  D. ,  who  married 
Marie  Louise  Gridley,  and  is  in  partnership 
with  his  father;  Josephine,  Edith  I.,  Marian, 
and  Ida  A.  Josephine  is  the  wife  of  Ran- 
dolph P.  Moseley,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume;  Edith  I.  is  the  wife 
of  John  L.  Barry,  Jr.,  a  resident  of  Hyde  Park, 
in  business  in  Boston,  and  has  three  children 
—  Margaret  L.,  John  L.,  and  Edward  H.  ; 
Ednah,  who  married  E.  McAdam,  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  leaving  two  children  — 
Linda  B.  and  Edith  G.  ;  and  Ida  A.,  the  wife 
of  O.  S.  Hyde,  a  wool  merchant  in  Wrentham, 
has   two   children  —  Stillman  B.  and    Amos  B. 

Mr.  Brainard  is  one  of  the  leading  Republi- 


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BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


299 


cans  of  this  vicinity,  and  takes  an  active  part 
in  local  affairs.  He  has  served  as  Selectman 
of  Hyde  Park  nine  years,  being  chairman  of 
the  board  one  year;  was  also  Overseer  of  the 
Poor,  being  chairman  of  the  board  one  year; 
and  for  many  years  has  served  as  a  trustee  of 
the  public  library,  for  several  years  as  chair- 
man nt  the  board.  He  is  a  trustee  and  vice- 
president  of  the  savings-bank;  is  a  charter 
member  of  the  Hyde  Park  Trust  and  Safe  De- 
posit Company;  and  was  the  first  president  of 
the  Hyde  Park  Historical  Society.  He  at- 
tends the  Episcopal  church,  of  which  Mrs. 
Brainard  is  a  communicant,  and  takes  great 
interest  in  that  organization,  having  been  its 
first  Senior  Warden. 


'RANCIS  L.  BABCOCK,  M.D.,  a 
highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Dedham, 
where  he  is  successfully  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine,  also  now  serving  as 
county  physician  and  as  chairman  of  the  Ded- 
ham Board  of  Health,  was  born  June  12, 
1849,  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Medfield  in 
the  same  county.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late 
Benjamin  J.  Babcock,  and  is  descended  from 
one  of  the  early  families  of  this  part  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, the  emigrant  ancestor  having  come 
from  England  at  an  early  period.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Lowell  Babcock,  was  born 
and  reared  in  Norfolk  County,  and  during  his 
active  life  was  engaged  as  a  blacksmith  in 
Sherborn,  Middlesex  County,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Benjamin  J.  Babcock  was  born  in  Sherborn. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  a  baker  in  Medfield, 
where  he  subsequently  followed  this  occupa- 
tion, first  as  a  journeyman  and  later  in  busi- 
ness for  himself,  living  there  until  1876, 
when  he  moved  to  Middleboro,  Mas's.  Later 
he  settled  in  Dedham,  where  he  died  when 
but  sixty-six  years  old.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Milletiah  T.  Johnson,  was 
born  in  Medfield,  a  daughter  of  Oliver  John- 
son, for  many  years  a  harness-maker  in  that 
town.  She  died  at  the  age  of  forty  years, 
having  borne  her  husband  four  sons  and  one 
daughter.  The  four  sons  grew  to  maturity, 
three  of  them  being  now  living,  as  follows: 
Francis  L.,  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch; 


Albert  J. ;  and  Charles  B.  Both  of  the  par- 
ents were  valued  members  of  the  Baptist 
church  of  Medfield,  the  father  having  served 
many  years  as  a  Deacon. 

Francis  L.  Babcock  was  brought  up  and  ed- 
ucated in  Medfield,  attending  first  the  district 
schools  and  later  the  high  school.  He  began 
life  for  himself  as  a  carriage-maker,  being  en- 
gaged in  the  business  for  eleven  years.  Ever 
keeping  in  mind  his  determination  to  pursue 
a  professional  calling,  he  continued  his 
studies,  and  in  1876  entered  Boston  Univer- 
sity Medical  School,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1879.  Dr.  Babcock  at  once  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Dedham, 
where  by  prompt  and  faithful  attention  to  his 
duties  he  has  won  a  large  and  constantly 
growing  practice.  He  is  identified  by  mem- 
bership with  the  Massachusetts  State  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society  and  the  American 
Medical  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  He  is 
now  serving  as  county  physician,  is  chairman 
of  the  Dedham  Board  of  Health,  of  which  he 
has  been  a  member  for  eight  years,  and  is  also 
a  member  of  the  School  Board,  with  which  he 
has  been  connected  eight  years. 

Dr.  Babcock  was  married  November  27, 
1873,  to  Miss  Frances  J.  Daniels,  daughter  of 
Frank  P.  and  Jane  F.  (Ellis)  Daniels,  of 
Medway,  where  her  father  was  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  until  his 
death.  The  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Babcock  have 
one  child,  Millie  F.  Babcock. 

Dr.  Babcock  is  a  strong  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and,  in  addition  to  his  other  town  offices, 
has  been  a  Park  Commissioner  several  years. 
He  is  a  member  of  Constellation  Lodt;e,  F.  & 
A.  M.;  of  Norfolk  Chapter;  of  Hyde  Park 
Council;  and  of  Cypress  Commandery,  K.  T. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W. 
and  a  charter  member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum 
and  the  Home  Circle,  in  which  be  has  held 
many  offices.  He  is  the  examining  surgeon 
of  the  Travellers'  Commercial  Insurance  Com- 
pany, his  outside  work,  with  his  regular  prac- 
tice, taking  up  all  of  his  time.  The  Doctor 
and  Mrs.  Babcock  are  active  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  and  of  the  Sunday-school  con- 
nected with  it,  in  which  both  take  great  in- 
terest. The  Doctor  is  also  chairman  of  the 
trustees  of  the  church. 


300 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ILLIAM  MANN,  who  was  formerly 
a  scythe-maker,  and  is  now  residing 
upon  a  farm  in  Franklin,  Norfolk 
County,  Mass.,  was  born  December  11,  1819, 
in  Chesterfield,  N.H.,  where  his  parents, 
Thomas  W.  and  Ruth  (Buxton)  Mann, 
natives  of  Smithfield,  R.I.,  had  settled  in 
1 8 18.  His  father  was  for  a  few  years 
there  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  scythes. 
In  1852  the  family  removed  to  Franklin, 
Mass.,  where  the  father  joined  them  in  1856; 
and  they  resided  in  this  town  for  the  rest  of 
their  lives.  Thomas  W.  Mann  died  in  1864, 
and  his  wife  died  in  1871.  They  were  the 
parents  of  five  children,  of  whom  the  only  sur- 
vivor is  William,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  others  were:  Emily;  Ruth  Elizabeth; 
Diana;  and  Susan  Caroline,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  three  years. 

William  Mann  acquired  a  common-school 
education ;  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years 
he  went  to  Smithfield,  R.I.,  where  he  began 
work  in  a  scythe  manufactory.  He  served  his 
apprenticeship,  and  followed  the  trade  as  a 
journeyman  for  thirty-five  years,  during  which 
time  he  worked  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  Montreal, 
Canada.  In  1852  he  settled  upon  the  farm  in 
Franklin  where  he  now  resides,  but  continued 
to  work  as  a  scythe-maker  for  several  years. 
He  then  relinquished  it,  and  entered  the  wood 
and  coal  trade,  in  which  he  was  engaged  for 
fifteen  years.  He  now  owns  thirty  acres  of 
fertile  land,  well  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of 
general  crops;  and  he  also  has  a  dairy,  and 
raises  poultry.  For  sixteen  years  he  sup- 
ported the  Liberty  party  (anti-slavery),  he  was 
a  Republican  twenty-seven  years,  and  for  the 
past  six  years  has  been  a  Prohibitionist. 

In  1849  Mr.  Mann  married  for  his  first 
wife  Sarah  B.  Metcalf,  of  Winthrop,  Me., 
daughter  of  Deacon  Addison  A.  and  Chloe  F. 
(Adams)  Metcalf,  neither  of  whom  is  now  liv- 
ing. Mrs.  Metcalf,  who  reached  the  advanced 
age  of  one  hundred  years,  died  in  Walpole, 
Mass.,  in  July,  1897.  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Met- 
calf Mann  died  in  1872;  and  in  1879  Mr. 
Mann  married  Mrs.  Mary  W.  Smith,  daughter 
of  Michael  Bright,  of  Stoughton,  Mass.  Mr. 
Mann's  first  wife  was  the  mother  of  five 
children,  namely :    Emily;    Harriet;    William 


A.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seven  years; 
Alden  Taylor;  and  Mary.  Emily  is  the  wife 
of  Willard  E.  Everett,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  ad- 
vertising agent  for  Hood's  Sarsaparilla ;  Har- 
riet married  the  Rev.  N.  T.  Dyer,  a  Con- 
gregational preacher  in  Ashburnham,  Mass. ; 
Alden  Taylor  Mann,  who  married  Elsie  Smith, 
is  connected  with  the  Steinhert  Company,  a 
pianoforte  concern  in  Lowell;  and  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  Smith,  a  life  insurance  agent 
of  that  city. 

As  an  artisan  Mr.  Mann  acquired  a  wide 
reputation,  his  services  being  in  constant  de- 
mand while  he  followed  his  trade.  As  a 
farmer  he  is  equally  successful;  and  as  a  man 
he  is  highly  esteemed  for  his  many  estimable 
qualities,  not  the  least  of  them  being  his  gen- 
erosity and  public  spirit.  He  was  an  early 
abolitionist,  a  coworker  with  Garrison,  Pills- 
bury,  and  Phillips;  and  he  has  always  been  a 
firm  friend  of  the  temperance  cause.  A  great 
reader,  he  is  well  informed  on  many  questions, 
and  is  strong  in  argument.  Possessed  of  deep 
religious  convictions,  he  is  a  ready  defender 
of  the  Bible  and  an  expounder  of  its 
teachings. 


RANCIS  OLIVER  PHILLIPS,  the 
representative  of  one  of  the  oldest  fam- 
ilies in  M il lis,  was  born  where  he  now 
resides,  January  8,  1829,  son  of  Oliver  and 
Hannah  (Richardson)  Phillips.  The  grand- 
father, Jedediah  Phillips,  who  was  reared  and 
educated  in  Phillipston,  Mass.,  settled  here 
when  a  young  man,  and  was  actively  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  ninety-sec- 
ond year.  He  was  the  father  of  ten  children, 
none  of  whom  are  living. 

Oliver  Phillips,  who  was  born  June  10, 
1789,  on  the  site  of  Millis,  learned  the  wheel- 
wright's trade,  and  followed  it  for  many  years 
in  connection  with  farming.  Settling  in  1815 
upon  the  farm  his  son  now  occupies,  he  culti- 
vated it  successfully  during  the  rest  of  his  ac- 
tive years.  His  first  wife,  Hannah,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  district,  died  in  1855.  He 
was  again  married  to  Mrs.  Irene  Hawes,  a 
daughter  of  Simeon  Richardson,  of  this  town, 
and  who  died  in  1875.  Oliver  Phillips's 
children,      all      by     his      first      union,     were: 


BENJAMIN    F.   SHUMWAY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3°3 


Amanda,  born  March  31,  1809;  Elisha  R. , 
born  April  5,  181 1;  Sarah  E.,  born  Septem- 
ber 17,  181 3;  Hannah,  born  November  23, 
1816;  and  Francis  O.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Amanda,  who  married  John  Barber, 
died  July  18,  1834;  Elisha  R.,  now  deceased, 
married  Elizabeth  Daniels;  Sarah  E.,  also  de- 
ceased, married  Ellis  Daniels,  who  died  July 
3,  1844;  and  Hannah  is  the  wife  of  Timothy 
Bullard,  of  Millis. 

Francis  Oliver  Phillips  attended  school  in 
his  native  town.  When  a  young  man  he 
learned  the  wheelwright's  trade;  and  he  sub- 
sequently worked  in  Sherborn,  Mass.,  for  a 
year.  With  this  exception  he  has  always  re- 
sided at  the  homestead,  and  followed  his  trade 
in  Millis.  In  1854  he  took  charge  of  the 
farm,  relieving  his  father  of  all  care  during 
his  declining  years,  and  succeeding  to  the 
farm  after  the  latter's  death.  His  property 
consists  of  the  homestead,  containing  eigh- 
teen acres,  with  other  land  amounting  to  forty- 
five  acres.  .The  Phillips  farm  is  one  of  the 
oldest  pieces  of  agricultural  property  in 
Millis.  The  barn  was  built  in  1740.  Besides 
carriage-making,  Mr.  Phillips  carries  on  gen- 
eral farming. 

In  April,  1854,  Mr.  Phillips  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mercy  P.  Adams,  who  was  born 
in  this  town,  August  26,  1S34.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Edward  and  Keziah  L.  (Clark) 
Adams,  of  whom  an  account  will  be  found  in 
the  biography  of  Moses  S.  Adams.  Mrs. 
Phillips  has  been  the  mother  of  two  children. 
They  were:  Edward  Adams,  born  in  January, 
1856,  who  resides  with  his  parents;  and  Mary 
Frances,  born  in  i860,  who  married  Stuart 
McLee,  of  East  Walpole,  Mass.,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  Mr.  Phillips  is 
independent  in  politics.  He  is  a  member  of 
Medway  Lodge,  No.  163,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Both 
he  and  Mrs.  Phillips  attend  the  Congrega- 
tional  church. 


ENJAMIN  F.  SHUMWAY,  the  sec- 
ond Selectman  of  Medfield,  and  a 
prosperous  farmer,  was  born  in 
Dover,  this  county,  March  23,  1823. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  and  Abigail  (Wight) 
Shumway,  and  a  grandson  of  Jeremiah  Shum- 


way  and  Amos  Wight.  The  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Pomfret,  Conn.,  whence  he  came  to 
Norfolk  County  about  the  year  1803,  and 
worked  for  several  years  as  hostler  in  a  hotel 
in  Medfield.  Alter  his  marriage  he  settled  in 
Dover,  and  took  up  farming,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  his  death  in  1844.  His  wife, 
Abigail,  was  born  in  Medfield.  She  survived 
him  thirty  years,  dying  in  1874.  John  and 
Abigail  Shumway  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  namely:  Abigail,  who  died  in  the 
same  year  as  her  father;  Elizabeth,  deceased; 
Amos  W.,  who  died  in  1892;  John,  who  died 
in  1891  ;  Benjamin  F.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  George,  who  successively  married 
Mary  Bickford,  of  Sherborn,  Mass.,  and  Ida 
May  Rogers,  and  now  resides  in  Medfield 
village;  Elbridge,  a  resident  of  Norwood, 
Mass.;  William  and  Louisa,  deceased;  and 
Sarah  E.,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  N.  Sawin, 
of  Dover. 

Benjamin  F.  Shumway  received  a  common- 
school  education.  He  lived  at  home  until 
1839,  when  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  started  for 
himself  on  the  farm  which  he  now  occupies. 
The  estate  contains  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  excellent  farm  land.  He  keeps  a 
dairy  of  twenty  cows,  from  which  he  sells  the 
milk  for  Boston  consumers.  .  On  November 
26,  1846,  he  married  Miss  Lucy  A.  Cutler,  of 
Medfield.  She  was  born  February  iS,  1827, 
daughter  of  Oliver  and  Lucy  (Fairbanks) 
Cutler,  and  grand-daughter  of  Oliver  and 
Nancy  (Harding)  Cutler.  Her  grandparents 
were  lifelong  residents  of  Medfield.  Oliver 
Cutler,  Jr.,  was  born  here,  February  22,  1797. 
Both  he  and  his  father  were  engaged  in  farm- 
ing on  the  same  place.  He  died  in  Septem- 
ber, 1864,  aged  sixty-seven  years,  survived  by 
Lucy,  his  wife,  whose  death  occurred  Febru- 
ary 7,  1 88 1,  in  her  ninetieth  year.  She  was 
born  in  Needham,  Mass.  They  had  six  chil- 
dren—Charles C,  Mary  B.,  Alfred  and  Al- 
bert (twins),  Lucy  A.,  and  Caroline  A. 
Charles  C,  now  deceased,  born  September  14. 
1820,  married  Cynthia  Randall,  and  had  one 
child,  Cynthia  C,  who  is  now  the  widow  of 
William  B.  Marchant,  and  lives  in  Brooklyn, 
N.Y.  Mary  B.,  born  April  3,  1822,  married 
George  Dunham,  and  died  April  13,  1853, 
leaving  one  child,  George  O. ,  who   is  now  in 


3°4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Michigan.  Alfred  and  Albert  were  born 
June  13,  1824.  Albert  died  March  21,  1845. 
Alfred,  now  living  in  Medfield,  married  Ade- 
line Spencer,  who  has  since  died.  Their  son, 
Lewis  A.,  married  Miss  Thursa  Fleming?  and 
has  one  child,  Archie  E.  Caroline  A.,  born 
January  13,  1830,  died  February  21,  1878. 
She  was  the  wife  of  John  Baldwin,  who  is  in 
the  white  lead  business  in  Chicago,  111. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shumway  have  had  three  chil- 
dren: Nathan  Wight,  born  January  3,  1848, 
who  is  employed  in  a  net  and  twine  factory  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.;  Benjamin  F.,  Jr.,  born 
February  10,  1850,  who  died  March  15,  1850; 
and  Albert  Cutler,  born  October  17,  185 1, 
now  a  pattern-maker  in  Pawtucket,  R.I.,  who 
married  March  30,  1876,  Miss  Kate  E. 
Wetherell,  of  Providence,  R.I.,  where  they 
lived  for  twenty  years. 

In  politics  Mr.  Shumway  is  a  Democrat. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men for  twenty-four  years,  a  part  of  the  time 
serving  as  chairman,  an  Assessor  for  about 
twelve  years,  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  ten 
years,  and  a  member  of  the  School  Committee 
for  one  year. 


AVID  CARPENTER,  a  lifelong  and 
esteemed  resident  of  Foxboro,  was 
born  here,  January  6,  1830.  A  son 
of  Ezra  Carpenter,  Jr.,  he  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  William  Carpenter,  a  na- 
tive of  England,  who  came  to  America  in 
early  Colonial  times,  and  died  at  Weymouth, 
Mass.,  in  1659.  (Further  information  con- 
cerning Mr.  Carpenter's  early  ancestors  will 
be  found  in  the  biography  of  Robert  W.  Car- 
penter.) Nehemiah  Carpenter,  the  great- 
grandfather of  David,  who  was  born  October 
20,  1 73 1,  moved  to  Foxboro  in  1749,  after- 
ward living  here  until  his  death  on  May  14, 
1799. 

Ezra  Carpenter,  son  of  Nehemiah  and  the 
grandfather  of  David,  born  in  Foxboro  in 
1752,  died  in  this  town,  July  1,  1840.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  Soon  after 
reaching  man's  estate,  he  bought  land  situated 
about  one  mile  south  of  the  parental  home- 
stead, and  there  improved  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable farms  in  the  locality,     lie  was  a   Lieu- 


tenant of  a  company  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Lieutenant  Carpenter  first  married 
Margaret  Daniels,  who  died  a  few  years  later, 
leaving  three  children.  He  subsequently 
married  Mary  Daniels,  who  bore  him  five  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 
They  were:  Francis,  who  attained  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years;  Polly,  who  was  ninety-two 
years;  Daniels,  who  was  eighty-five;  Ezra, 
Jr.,  who  was  seventy;  and  Achsa,  who  was 
eighty-four  years.  Ezra  Carpenter,  Jr.,  born 
in  this  town,  November  7,  1S01,  died  on  the 
parental  homestead,  December  25,  1871.  He 
assisted  his  father  in  the  pioneer  labor  of 
clearing  the  land,  cared  for  his  parents  in 
their  old  age,  and  at  their  death  succeeded  to 
the  home  farm.  Possessing  good  judgment 
and  much  force  of  character,  he  was  looked  up 
to  for  leadership  by  the  community.  He 
served  as  Selectman  for  several  years,  was  also 
a  member  of  the  State  legislature,  and  his 
name  appeared  oftener  than  that  of  any  other 
person  as  an  administrator  of  estates.  He 
married  Eliza  Belcher,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Belcher;  and  they  reared  three  children  — ■ 
Susan,  Eliza,  and  David.  Susan  is  the  wife 
of  James  A.  Comey,  of  this  town.  Eliza  first 
married  Henry  Belcher,  who  died  in  1862. 
Afterward  she  became  the  wife  of  Cyrus  L. 
Cook. 

David  Carpenter  obtained  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  district  school,  where  he  was  an 
apt  pupil.  Subsequently  he  worked  as  a 
moulder  in  an  iron  foundry  for  a  time:  but, 
not  liking  the  trade,  he  abandoned  it,  and  en- 
tered the  employment  of  the  Union  Straw 
Works.  In  this  factory  he  spent  thirty  years, 
serving  in  different  positions  of  responsibil- 
ity. For  the  past  twenty-four  years  Mr.  Car- 
penter has  had  charge  of  Rock  Hill  Cemetery. 
The  handsome  mortuary  chapel  connected 
therewith  was  erected  under  his  supervision. 
When  a  young  man  he  built  a  house  for  him- 
self and  family,  not  far  from  the  home  of  his 
youth,  but  subsequently  removed  to  the  dwell- 
ing he  now  occupies.  He  is  a  great  lover  of 
nature  in  all  its  forms,  and  takes  great  delight 
in  the  cultivation  of  flowers.  He  is  also  fond 
of  reading,  and  has  collected  a  valuable  library 
of  choice  literature,  with  which  he  regales  his 
leisure  hours. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


3°5 


On  May  27,  1849,  Mr.  Carpenter  married 
Miss  Mary  Davis,  of  Pittston,  Me.  They  have 
two  children  —  Sanford  Irving  and  Mary  E. 
Mr.  Carpenter  has  persistently  advocated  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  since  its 
formation.  In  1852  he  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Franklin  Pierce.  He  is  in- 
terested in  all  things  pertaining  to  the  educa- 
tional and  literary  advancement  of  the  town, 
and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  been  a  trus- 
tee of  the  public  library.  He  belongs  to  the 
Knights  of  Honor,  and  is  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Universalist  church. 


§'EREMIAH  B.  HALE,  a  well-known 
fire  insurance  agent,  who  was  at  one 
time  the  Postmaster  of  Medfield,  Mass., 
was  born  in  Smithfield,  R.I.,  February 
22,  1830,  son  of  Gardner  and  Ann  Susan 
(Ballon)  Hale.  The  grandfather,  Levi  Hale, 
who  resided  in  Swansea,  Mass.,  was  a  cooper 
by  trade.  His  children,  all  now  deceased, 
were:  Elizabeth,  Anthony,  Levi,  Hannah, 
Pklward,  Elmira,  Gardner,  William,  Cordelia, 
and  Betsey. 

Gardner  Hale,  who  was  born  in  Swansea, 
at  an  early  age  left  home  to  start  in  life  for 
himself.  He  worked  ,in  cotton  factories  of 
various  towns  in  Rhode  Island  and  Massachu- 
setts, and  became  an  expert  in  the  cotton  in- 
dustry. In  1849  he  went  as  superintendent  of 
a  factory  to  Prattville,  Ala.,  where  he  resided 
during  the  ensuing  ten  years.  He  built  two 
mills  in  Alabama,  where  the  rest  of  his  life 
was  spent,  having  his  residence  in  the  vicinity 
of  Birmingham.  He  died  in  September,  1886. 
His  wife,  Ann  Susan,  who  was  a  native  of 
Cumberland,  R.I.,  became  the  mother  of 
eleven  children.  These  were:  Jeremiah  B., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Hannah,  who  is 
the  widow  of  Thomas  Williams,  and  resides 
in  Alabama;  Susan,  who  is  the  widow  of  Pro- 
fessor J.  F.  Tarrant,  and  is  now  a  school 
teacher  in  Montgomery,  Ala. ;  George,  who 
died  in  1887;  Emily  and  Emeline,  twins,  who 
are  also  deceased;  Henry  A.,  who  was  an  edi- 
tor, and  died  in  Birmingham,  Ala.  ;  Charles, 
who  died  young;  Anna,  who  is  the  widow  of 
Foster  Terrill,  and  resides  in  Birmingham; 
Daniel,  also  a  resident  of  that  city;  and  Eliza, 


who  married  William  Morgan,  and  resides  in 
Dadeville,  Ala.  Mrs.  Gardner  Hale  was  a 
lady  of  superior  intelligence,  and  occupied  a 
prominent  social  position.  She  died  very 
suddenly  of  cholera  in  1870. 

Jeremiah  B.  Hale  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Massachusetts,  and  resided  at 
home  until  he  was  nineteen  years  old.  He 
became  an  operative  in  a  cotton-mill,  and 
later  accompanied  his  father  to  Alabama, 
where  he  was  an  overseer  in  a  factory  of  Pratt- 
ville for  three  and  one-half  years.  Then  he 
returned  North,  and  worked  in  a  straw  factory 
of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  for  five  years.  During  the 
succeeding  four  years  he  carried  on  the  straw 
business  for  Alden,  King  &  Co. ,  in  Middleboro, 
Mass.,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  previous 
position  in  Foxboro,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  for  three  years.  After  this  he  came  to 
Medfield,  and  engaged  in  the  straw  and  palm 
leaf  business  in  company  with  Warren  Chen- 
ery.  A  year  later  he  purchased  the  machinery 
from  Mr.  Chenery,  and  three  years  from  then 
his  interest  in  the  business.  The  sole  propri- 
etor thereafter,  he  had  carried  on  a  flourishing 
enterprise  for  several  years,  when,  in  1876, 
the  factory  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Appointed 
the  Postmaster  of  Medfield  in  1880,  he  filled 
that  office  until  1889,  when  he  became  the 
superintendent  and  general  manager  of  the 
straw  factory  of  Searle,  Dai  ley  &  Co.  This 
position  he  held  until  1896,  when  he  retired. 
He  has  been  engaged  in  the  fire  insurance 
business  since  1873,  and  for  some  years  has 
been  the  local  agent  for  the  Home,  the  West- 
chester, Hartford,  the  Citizens',  Middlesex, 
Merchants'  and  Farmers',  the  Norfolk,  the 
Dedham,  and  the  Abington  Fire  Insurance 
Companies. 

Mr.  Hale,  who  has  been  three  times  mar- 
ried, was  first  wedded  in  1S49  t0  Eliza  A. 
Grover.  A  native  of  Mansfield,  Mass.,  she 
was  a  daughter  of  William  and  Betsey  Grover, 
prosperous  farming  people  of  that  town,  both 
of  whom  are  now  deceased.  Mrs.  Eliza  Hale 
died  in  Alabama  in  1851;  and  in  June,  1852, 
Mr.  Hale  contracted  his  second  marriage  with 
Mary  J.  Plimpton,  a  daughter  of  George  and 
Mary  (Tolman)  Plimpton,  who  were  lifelong 
residents  of  Sharon,  Mass.  His  second  wife 
having  died    in    1887,    he   married    her  sister, 


306 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Josephine  E.  Plimpton,  in  August,  1889. 
Born  of  his  first  union  were  two  children  — 
William  and  Eliza  —  both  of  whom  died 
young.  His  second  wife  was  the  mother  of 
four  children,  namely:  Merton,  who  did  not 
live  to  grow  up;  Clarence,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  two  years;  Lillian,  who  married  Dr. 
C.  E.  Bigelow,  of  Leominster,  Mass.,  and  has 
had  two  children,  one  of  whom  is  living;  and 
Charles,  who  was  accidentally  drowned  at  the 
age  of  twenty  years.  Mr.  Hale  has  been  Se- 
lectman,  Assessor,  Town  Clerk,  and  Overseer 
of  the  Poor,  and  was  a  member  of  the  School 
Board  for  nine  years.  He  is  still  acting  as  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Cemetery  Committee.  In  politics  he  sup- 
ports the  Republican  party,  and  he  has  been 
a  delegate  to  several  State  conventions.  He 
is  one  of  the  best  informed  men  upon  current 
topics  in  Medfield,  and  is  held  in  high  esteem 
by  all  who  know  him.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Hale 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  church. 


ARREN  H.  BRIGHT,  a  well- 
known  farmer  and  lumber  dealer  of 
Franklin,  was  born  in  Canton,  this 
county,  August  4,  1X42,  son  of  Michael  and 
PTvira  (Richards)  Bright.  Michael  Bright, 
who  was  born  in  Natick,  Mass.,  was  engaged 
in  farming  in  Canton  for  some  time,  and  then 
removed  to  Sharon.  In  1871  he  came  to 
Franklin,  where  he  made  his  home  with  his 
son  Warren,  until  his  death  in  April,  1879. 
The  mother  died  in  Sharon  in  1862.  Her 
other  children  were:  Samuel,  the  first-born, 
now  in  California;  Mary,  who  is  the  wife  of 
William  Mann,  and  lives  in  Franklin;  Eliza- 
beth, who  is  the  widow  of  John  Metcalf,  and 
lives  in  Franklin;  Thomas,  who  died  in  1895; 
Daniel,  who  died  during  the  war  at  New  Or- 
leans; Edwin,  who  lives  in  Attleboro,  Mass., 
engaged  in  the  jewelry  business;  Frederick, 
who  is  a  farmer,  and  resides  at  Franklin  vil- 
lage; Willard,  who  is  living  near  Warren  H. 
Bright;  Charles,  who  resides  in  Franklin,  and 
is  employed  in  the  straw  shop;  and  Sarah, 
Elizabeth,  and  Abbie,  deceased. 

Warren  H.  Bright  received  a  common- 
school  education.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  he   obtained   a   position    in   the    Lothrop 


Knife  Shop  in  Sharon,  Mass.,  and  worked 
there  for  about  a  year.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  enlisted  for  service  in  the  Civil  War 
in  the  Eleventh  Massachusetts  Battery.  He 
was  subsequently  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness at  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Cold 
Harbor,  and  at  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  with- 
out receiving  an  injury  in  any  way.  After  he 
was  discharged  at  Readville,  Mass.,  he  re-- 
turned  to  Sharon.  Subsequently  he  went  to 
Avon,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  near  a 
sister  living  there.  At  the  end  of  five  years 
he  came  to  Franklin,  settling  near  the  village, 
and  there,  besides  farming,  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  buying  wood  lots,  and  cut- 
ting wood  and  lumber.  He  owns,  in  addition 
to  the  home  farm  containing  fifty-five  acres, 
two  others  of  sixty-five  and  forty  acres  respec- 
tively, and  about  eighty-five  acres  of  sprofit 
land.  He  has  much  improved  the  land  since 
it  came  into  his  possession. 

In  1866  Mr.  Bright  was  married  to  Mary 
Peary,  of  Avon,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  and 
Susan  (Rowe)  Peary.  Mr.  Peary  is  a  well- 
known  farmer  and  lumberman  of  Avon,  and 
resides  there  at  the  present  time  with  his 
wife.  Mrs.  Bright  died  in  December,  18S6. 
Her  children  were:  Edna,  now  teaching  in 
the  seminary  at  Montpelier,  Vt.  ;  Susan,  the 
wife  of  Roy  Conant  Southworth,  living  at 
Ware,  Mass.  ;  Annie  Belle,  a  teacher  in  the 
public  schools,  residing  at  home;  Elvira, 
now  Mrs.  Frank  Ribero,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.  ; 
Henry  James  and  Harry,  both  living  at  home; 
and  Ina  and  Mabel,  both  of  whom  died  young. 
Mr.  Bright  married  for  his  second  wife  Agnes 
M.  Trask,  a  native  of  Yarmouth,  N.S.  She 
was  born  February  10,  1864,  daughter  of 
Henry  G.  and  Rebecca  (Crosby)  Trask,  both 
natives  of  Yarmouth.  The  father,  who  was 
a  farmer,  is  now  deceased;  and  the  mother 
lives  in  Milford  with  her  children.  By  Mr. 
Bright's  second  marriage  there  is  one  child, 
Carl  Aubrey,  born  December  12,  1892.  Mr. 
Bright's  older  children  attended  the  high 
school  and  the  academy.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican.  He  was  Overseer  of  the  Poor 
in  Franklin  for  nine  years,  and  was  Assessor 
of  the  town  in  1895.  He  belongs  to  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  of  Franklin  and  to  Post  60, 
G.  A.  R.     While  he  is  a  member  of  the  Bap- 


FREEMAN    A.    PARMENTER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3°9 


tist  denomination,  he  and  his  family  attend 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  Franklin. 
His  success  in  the  world  is  chiefly  due  to  his 
tireless  industry. 


'REEMAN  A.  PARMENTER,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Assessors  of  Dover, 
was  born  in  Bolton,  Mass.,  August  31, 
1849,  son  of  Curtis  and  Mary  (Dwinells) 
Parmenter.  The  father,  who  was  a  native  of 
Framingham,  Mass.,  followed  the  shoemaker's 
trade.  He  possessed  considerable  musical 
ability,  and,  after  settling  in  Bolton  after  his 
marriage,  he  taught  music  there  for  some  time. 
Later  in  Sudbury,  Mass.,  he  continued  to 
give  music  lessons,  and  worked  at  his  trade 
for  some  three  years.  Then  returning  to 
Framingham,  he  was  there  engaged  in  team- 
ing and  the  work  of  a  stone-mason  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  July  3,  1884.  His 
wife,  Mary,  who  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
became  the  mother  of  seven  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Freeman  A.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
George,  who  married  Delia  Dickey,  and  is  a 
confectionery  dealer  in  South  Framingham; 
Mary,  who  resides  in  Worcester,  Mass. ; 
Charles,  who  married  Jennie  Robinson,  and 
lives  in  South  Framingham,  Mass.;  Estella 
V.,  the  wife  of  Elijah  Goulding,  of  Wellesley, 
Mass.  ,  Ellsworth  L.,  a  travelling  salesman, 
who  married  Alice  Burbidge,  and  resides  in 
South  Framingham;  and  Sarah  R.,  who  is  the 
widow  of  Joseph  Smith,  and  lives  in  Welles- 
ley.  Mrs.  Mary  Parmenter  is  still  living,  and 
resides  with  her  children. 

Freeman  A.  Parmenter  was  reared  in  Fram- 
ingham, receiving  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  Beginning  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, he  worked  as  a  stone-mason  for  a  few 
years.  In  1873  he  went  to  Sudbury,  where 
he  had  charge  of  the  famous  Wayside  Inn  for 
a  year.  He  then  settled  upon  the  old  Gould- 
ing farm  in  Dover,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  owns  eighty  acres  of  fertile  land,  which  he 
devotes  to  general  farming  and  pasturage.  He 
keeps  an  average  of  twenty-eight  cows,  and 
supplies  a  large  number  of  regular  customers 
in  Wellesley  with  milk. 

On  November  27,  1873,  Mf-  Parmenter  was 
united   in  marriage  with    Lucy  E.    Goulding. 


She  was  born  in  Dover,  November  11,  1852, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  H.  Emeline  (Edwards) 
Goulding.  Henry  Goulding,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Sherborn,  Mass.,  settled  upon  the 
farm  in  Dover  after  his  marriage,  and  was 
there  engaged  in  agriculture  until  his  death, 
which  was  caused  by  an  accident  on  July  16, 
1884.  His  wife,  who  was  born  in  Lincoln, 
Mass.,  died  January  14,  1883.  Mr.  Parmen- 
ter's  first  wife  died  November  1,  1886.  On 
October  10,  1888,  he  wedded  her  sister,  Ma- 
tilda Goulding,  who  was  born  March  15,  1847. 
The  children  of  the  first  marriage  were: 
George  F.,  born  March  26,  1877,  who  is  now 
a  student  at  Amherst  College;  Elmer  Henry, 
born  November  27,  1881;  and  Lucy  M.,  born 
March  22,  1886,  who  died  May  30,  1893. 
The  present  Mrs.  Parmenter  has  one  son, 
Ernest  B.,  born  March  15,  1892.  In  politics 
Mr.  Parmenter  acts  with  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  served  as  an  Assessor  for  the 
past  four  years.  His  long-continued  industry 
has  been  attended  with  good  results  finan- 
cially, and  as  an  able  and  progressive  farmer 
he  ranks  among  the  leading  agriculturists  of 
this  town.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Parmenter  are 
attendants  and  members  of  the  Baptist  church 
in  Medfield. 


§OHNr  T.  MELLUS,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Wellesley  Steam  Laundry,  was 
born  in  Smith  Braintree  in  1855.  His 
father,  Joseph  Melius,  who  was  born 
May  30,  1809,  after  spending  a  number  of 
years  in  the  express  business  at  South  Brain- 
tree,  became  a  newsdealer  in  the  Old  Colony 
depot.  On  November  26,  1S31,  Joseph  mar- 
ried Adeline  M.,  daughter  of  Edward  M.  Vin- 
ton. Mrs.  Melius  belongs  to  the  seventh 
generation  of  Vintons  in  this  country.  Her 
first  ancestor  concerning  whom  anything  is 
known  was  born  in  Europe,  probably  in 
France,  in  1620.  In  1648,  when  his  first 
child  was  born,  he  was  living  in  Lynn,  Mass. 
Joseph  Melius  was  the  father  of  eight  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  are  now  living.  These 
are:  Adeline  Elizabeth,  who  married  Thomas 
Fallon,  and  resides  in  Roxbury,  Mass. ;  Lucy 
Preston,  who  married  Edward  Hunt,  and  re- 
sides  in    Rockland,    Mass.;    Eliza    Ann,    who 


3io 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


married  D.  F.  Morse,  and  is  now  living  in 
Brookline,  Mass. ;  and  John  T.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

John  T.  Melius  was  educated  in  the  graded 
schools  and  high  school  of  South  Braintree. 
After  leaving  school  he  worked  in  a  shoe  shop 
in  South  Braintree.  In  1883  he  came  to 
Wellesley,  and  worked  at  the  same  business 
for  two  years.  Then  he  went  to  work  in  a 
laundry  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  F.  Morse,  and 
was  soon  made  foreman,  a  position  that  he 
held  four  years.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr. 
Morse  in  1S90,  he  bought  a  share  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  ran  it  for  a  year  and  a  half  in  part- 
nership with  Leonard  T.  Morse.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  he  bought  out  the  business,  and 
has  since  conducted  it  alone.  Mr.  Melius  has 
made  many  improvements  in  his  laundry,  and 
the  work  is  now  done  with  the  best  of  modern 
appliances.  He  runs  two  wagons,  and  has 
patrons  in  Wellesley,  Newton,  Auburndale, 
and  Newtonville.  Mr.  Melius  is  a  member  of 
Sincerity  Lodge,  No.  173,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  at 
Wellesley,  having  transferred  his  member- 
ship in  1896  from  Puritan  Lodge,  No.  179, 
South  Braintree.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Nahanton  Tribe  of  Red  Men,  No.  81,  at 
South  Braintree. 


§OHN  BULLARD,  of  Millis,  a  thriving 
fanner  and  the  representative  of  an  old 
family  in  this  section,  was  born  here, 
December  7,  1823,  son  of  John  and 
Chloe  (Partridge)  Bullard.  His  great-grand- 
father, Timothy  Bullard,  settled  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  town,  upon  land  which  he  con- 
verted into  a  good  farm,  and  which  has  been 
in  the  family's  possession  for  three  genera- 
tions. The  grandfather,  Ralph  Bullard,  re- 
sided at  the  homestead.  The  father,  who 
succeeded  to  the  home  farm,  thereafter  occu- 
pied it  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Sep- 
tember 27,  1875.  His  wife,  Chloe,  who  was 
a  native  of  Medway,  died  April  13,  1861.  By 
him  she  was  the  mother  of  three  children, 
namely:  Timothy,  born  November  20,  1S16, 
who  married  Hannah  Phillips,  and  resides  in 
Millis;  Rhoda,  born  in  February,  18 19,  who 
died  October  1,  1S20;  and  John,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 


John  Bullard  acquired  a  common-school  ed- 
ucation. From  an  early  age  he  assisted  in 
carrying  on  the  farm,  remaining  on  it  until  he 
was  fifty  years  old.  He  then  bought  the  old 
Daniels  farm,  formerly  the  property  of  his 
wife's  father,  and  now  owns  seventy-five  acres 
of  well-improved  land,  which  he  devotes  to 
general  farming.  By  the  exercise  of  good 
judgment  and  a  practical  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture he  has  reached  a  position  of  comfort- 
able prosperity,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
prominent  and  successful  farmers  of  thus 
locality. 

On  May  21,  1845,  Mr.  Bullard  married 
Pearllee  Daniels,  who  was  born  in  this  town, 
July  29,  1823.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Paul  and 
Fliza  (Breck)  Daniels,  who  were  natives  re- 
spectively of  Millis  and  Sherborn,  Mass. 
Her  father,  one  of  the  stirring  farmers  of  his 
day,  died  here,  February  15,  1876;  and  her 
mother  died  June  16,  1885.  Mr.  ami  Mrs. 
Bullard  have  had  four  children,  namely: 
Harriet  P.,  born  October  20,  1846;  Lewella, 
born  November  4,  1849;  Sewell,  born  March 
21,  1 8 5  1  :  and  Joseph  D.,  born  September  16, 
1855.  Harriet  P.  is  the  second  wife  of  Lewis 
La  Croix,  a  Selectman  and  the  Town  Clerk  of 
Millis.  They  reside  with  her  father,  and 
have  two  children  —  Lewis  B.  and  Chester. 
Lewella,  who  died  March  13,  1SS0,  was  the 
first  wife  of  Lewis  La  Croix.  Sewell  H., 
who  is  a  fruit-grower  in  Waldo,  Fla.,  wedded 
Marion  J.  Daniels.  Joseph  D.  wedded  Mary 
Emma  Follansbee,  and  is  an  employee  of  the 
Old  Colony  Railroad  Company  in  Framing- 
ham,  Mass.  In  politics  Mr.  Bullard,  Sr., 
supports  the  Republican  party.  Mrs.  Bullard 
is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 


ILLIAM  H.  WADE,  a  retired  jew- 
eller of  Wrentham,  Mass.,  was  born 
in  this  town,  Norfolk  County,  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1840.  His  parents  were  Marshall 
S.  and  Elizabeth  (Hunt)  Wade.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Lewis  Wade,  was  born  in 
Rehoboth,  Mass.,  in  1766,  and  was  a  black- 
smith by  trade.  He  married  Rebecca  Peck, 
who  was  born  August  19,  1765. 

Their    son,    Marshall    .S.    Wade,    born     in 
March,  1798,  was  a  native  of  Rehoboth.      He 


WILLIAM    H.   WADE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3'3 


was  a  reed-maker  by  trade,  but  he  also  learned 
the  business  of  cabinet-making,  to  which  he 
gave  some  attention,  and  besides  that  he  did 
house  painting  to  some  extent.  He  came  to 
Wrentham  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  and 
settled  at  the  place  where  he  lived  for  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  For  his  first  wife  he 
married  Miranda  Cobb.  The  fruit  of  this 
union  was  one  son,  Marshall  S.,  Jr.,  who 
served  in  the  Thirty-fifth  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment during  the  late  war,  where  he  re- 
ceived three  wounds,  and  never  fully  re- 
covered from  them;  and  a  daughter,  Miranda 
M.,  who  married  L.  D.  Newell,  of  Provi- 
dence, R.I.,  and  has  one  son,  Frank  W.  For 
his  second  wife  Mr.  Marshall  S.  Wade  married 
Flizabeth  Hunt,  by  whom  he  had  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Caroline  E. ;  Lydia  I'".; 
Mary  R.,  who  died  young;  William  H.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Frank,  who  died 
in  infancy.  Mr.  Wade  married  for  his  third 
wife  Azubah  Parmenter  Russell,  but  had  no 
children  by  that  marriage.  He  died  Sep- 
tember 26,   [881 . 

William  H.  Wade,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  educated  in  the  district  schools  of 
the  town  and  at  Day's  Academy.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  years  he  left  home,  and  started  for 
himself  in  Boston,  working  in  the  office  of  the 
Traveller,  one  of  the  prominent  daily  papers 
of  that  city.  He  afterward  went  to  North 
Attleboro,  Mass.,  where  he  was  employed  in 
the  store  of  W.  D.  Cotton  &  Co. ;  and,  remain- 
ing with  that  firm  until  its  dissolution,  he 
continued  with  its  successors,  R.  Knapp  & 
Holmes,  for  three  years.  He  afterward  be- 
came book-keeper  for  Freeman  Brothers  & 
Co.,  of  Attleboro,  and  remained  with  them 
until  the  war  broke  out.  He  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  Seventh  Massachusetts  Regiment, 
was  soon  appointed  Sergeant,  and  afterward 
at  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks  was  made  First 
Sergeant.  Later  he  was  made  Second  Lieu- 
tenant of  Company  D,  and  commanded  that 
company  at  Fredericksburg.  Promoted  to  be 
First  Lieutenant,  May  14,  1863,  he  was  in 
active  service  in  all  of  the  battles  up  to 
Gettysburg;  and  soon  after  this  he  was  put  on 
detached  service  at  Long  Island,  Boston  Har- 
bor, where  he  remained  until  February,  1864. 
He  subsequently  returned  to  active  service  in 


the  field,  and  was  with  his  regiment  in  1864 
during  Grant's  campaign.  In  June,  1864, 
his  term  expired;  but  he  returned  to  the  army 
in  the  commissary's  department  in  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Corps,  when  it  went  to  Texas  from  Vir- 
ginia in  1865,  and  was  on  duty  there  until 
May,  1868.  He  then  purchased  a  farm  in 
Eyota,  Minn.,  and  cleared  the  land,  building 
a  small  house,  where  he  and  his  sister  lived 
until  November,  1870,  when  he  sold  it,  and 
came  East.  He  went  to  Attleboro,  Mass., 
and  engaged  in  book-keeping  for  a  period  of 
six  years.  In  1876  he  started  in  the  jewelry 
business  at  Plainville,  where  he  continued 
until  1890,  when  the  firm  changed,  he  remain- 
ing with  the  new  firm  until  1896,  and  then 
retiring  from  active  mercantile  life.  He  has 
since  purchased  a  farm  of  twenty-five  acres  in 
Wrentham,  on  which  he  now  lives. 

Mr.  Wade  married  Elizabeth  N.  Sherman, 
daughter  of  George  B.  Sherman,  of  Wrentham, 
Mass.  They  have  no  children.  Mr.  Wade  is 
one  of  the  most  prominent  and  influential  cit- 
izens of  the  town.  He  has  served  as  Repre- 
sentative to  the  legislature,  Selectman,  High- 
way Surveyor,  Assessor,  and  Auditor.  He  is 
a  charter  member  of  the  local  G.  A.  R.  Post, 
and  also  of  Post  No.  145,  of  Attleboro,  and  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  Post  No.  133  of  Plain- 
ville, of  which  he  was  first  Commander.  This 
position  he  has  held  with  slight  intermissions 
for  the  larger  part  of  the  time  up  to  the  pres- 
ent. He  was  also  Commander  of  the  Attle- 
boro Post.  He  has  been  a  St.  Albans  Mason 
since  1863.  In  1886  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  No. 
57,  of  Wrentham.  He  is  also  connected  with 
the  American  Benefit  Society,  of  which  he  is 
at  present  State  president,  being  a  charter 
member.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  Wade  is 
a  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1864. 


RANCIS  A.  BRAGG,  M.D.,  a  skilful 
physician  of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  where  he 
has  been  located  since  1895,  was  born 
January  2,  1865,  in  Shutesbury,  Franklin 
County.  A  son  of  Henry  O.  Bragg,  he  comes 
of  excellent  New  England  ancestry. 

Henry   O.    Bragg    was    born    in    Royalston, 


3i4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Mass.,  where  he  was  brought  up  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  He  subsequently  carried  on 
farming  for  a  time  successively  in  Shutesbury 
and  Amherst.  In  1895  he  removed  to  this 
town,  and  has  since  lived  retired  from  active 
business  cares.  He  married  Miss  Jemima 
Shores,  a  direct  descendant  of  Peregrine 
White,  who,  born  to  William  and  Susanna 
White  in  Provincetown  Harbor  soon  after  the 
arrival  of  the  Pilgrims  in  America,  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  white  child  to  receive  birth 
in  the  New  World.  Of  Henry  O.  Bragg's 
children  —  three  boys  and  two  girls  —  the 
daughters  are  both  dead.  The  sons  are: 
Everett  B.,  a  manufacturing  chemist  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  William  T.,  of  Springfield, 
Mass.  ;  and  Francis  A.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

After  graduating  from  Amherst  High 
School,  Francis  A.  Bragg  attended  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  from  which  he  received 
his  degree  with  the  class  of  1894.  He  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  Boston,  Mass.,  re- 
maining there  for  a  time.  In  1S95  he  came 
to  Foxboro,  where  he  has  since  followed  his 
profession.  He  has  won  a  fair  share  of  prac- 
tice in  this  and  surrounding  towns,  and  he  is 
rapidly  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society,  of  the  Boston  Medi- 
cal Association,  and  of  the  American  Medical 
Association.  He  is  also  an  Odd  Fellow, 
belonging  to  Excelsior  Lodge,  No.  87,  of 
Foxboro.  In  politics  he  is  a  steadfast  Re- 
publican. He  is  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Congregational  church  of  Foxboro,  with 
which  he  joined  by  letter.  With  his  natural 
ability,  scholarly  attainments,  and  profes- 
sional skill,  it  is  easy  to  predict  a  successful 
future  for  him. 


T^HARLES  O.  GREENE,  a  prosperous 
I  V'      farmer    of    Norfolk   and   a   Civil    War 

vj**^  veteran,  was  born  August  27,  1844, 
in  Bristol,  Addison  County,  Vt., 
son  of  Squire  and  Rhoda  (Rathburn)  Greene. 
The  father,  a  native  of  Weare,  N.  H.,  when 
twelve  years  old  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Bristol.  When  a  young  man,  Squire  Greene 
engaged  in   farming  and  teaming.     After  re- 


siding in  Bristol  until  1863,  he  moved  to  a 
farm  in  Marquette,  Wis.,  where  he  died  in 
1865.  His  wife,  Rhoda,  who  was  a  native  of 
Bristol,  became  the  mother  of  six  children,  as 
follows:  George  N.  and  Asa  R.,  both  of  whom 
are  retired  farmers  in  West  Concord,  Minn.  ; 
Charles  O.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Alfa- 
rette,  the  wife  of  John  Steen,  a  merchant  and 
stock-raiser  in  Waltham,  Minn.  ;  David  S.,  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Palmer,  S.  Dak. ;  and 
Liena,  the  wife  of  George  Ralph,  a  tobacco 
and  cigar  dealer  in  West  Superior,  Wis.  The 
mother  died  in  Bristol  in  1854. 

After  attending  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  town  for  a  brief  period,  Charles  O. 
Greene  at  the  age  of  ten  years  began  to  work 
for  the  neighboring  farmers.  He  left  Ver- 
mont in  March,  1861,  and  on  September  27, 
1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  First  Rhode  Island 
Cavalry,  under  Colonel  Dupee  and  Captain 
Willis  Capron.  In  the  following  October 
the  regiment  was  sent  to  Montville,  Va.  At 
Kelley's  Ford  on  March  17,  1863,  it  lost 
forty  men.  On  the  same  occasion  Mr.  Greene 
was  taken  prisoner,  but  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape  the  same  night.  At  the  battle  of 
Middleboro,  June  17,  1863,  his  regiment  lost 
over  three  hundred  men,  leaving  but  fifty-two 
of  its  original  quota.  His  next  engagement 
was  at  Boonsboro,  Md.,  after  which  the  regi- 
ment took  an  active  part  in  all  the  engage- 
ments from  that  of  Gettysburg  to  that  of  the 
Rapidan  River.  On  January  1,  1864,  he  was 
transferred  to  the  First  New  Hampshire 
Regiment,  in  which  later  he  re-enlisted,  and 
served  under  General  Grant  at  Cold  Harbor, 
Spottsylvania,  and  Petersburg.  At  one  time 
his  regiment  was  kept  marching  for  forty  days 
and  nights,  with  but  few  intervals  for  sleep. 
It  lost  heavily  in  Wilson's  Raid;  and,  after 
being  somewhat  recruited,  it  was  ordered  to 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  under  General  Sheri- 
dan. At  Fisher's  Hill,  September  9,  1864, 
Mr.  Greene  received  a  gunshot  wound  in  the 
right  shoulder  that  put  an  end  to  his  active 
service.  After  being  confined  by  it  in  sev- 
eral hospitals,  he  was  discharged  at  Chestnut 
Hill,  near  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1865.  Dur- 
ing the  year  following  the  close  of  the  war  he 
resided  in  Providence,  R.I.;  and  the  succeed- 
ing two  years  were  spent  in  farming  in  Smith- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3'5 


field,  R.I.  In  1868  he  went  to  San  Mateo, 
Cal.,  and  was  there  employed  upon  a  large 
stock  ranch  for  six  years,  after  which  he  was 
engaged  in  keeping  a  summer  resort  at  Seig- 
ler's  Springs  until  October,  1876.  Then  he 
returned  East,  and  resided  for  a  year  in  Woon- 
socket,  R.I.  For  some  time  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  and  staging  in  Gloucester,  R.I., 
resided  in  Greenville  for  one  year,  and  in 
1884  settled  upon  his  present  farm  in  Nor- 
folk. He  owns  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  excellent  land,  well  adapted  to  gen- 
eral farming  and  dairying,  on  which  he  has 
made  various  improvements.  The  industrious 
habits  acquired  by  bim  in  his  early  boyhood 
have  never  been  allowed  to  deteriorate,  and 
since  the  war  have  kept  him  constantly  busy. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  has 
served  as  Road  Commissioner  six  years,  and 
he  was  upon  the  School  Board  four  years. 

On  March  25,  1866,  Mr.  Greene  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Emily  Harris,  born  in 
Smithfield,  R.I.,  September  6,  1845.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  Hezekiah  S.  and  Susan  M. 
(Sawyer)  Harris,  the  former  of  whom  was  a 
native  of  Lyndon,  Vt,  and  the  latter  of  Provi- 
dence. Mr.  Harris  was  for  many  years  en- 
gaged in  the  cigar  manufacturing  business  and 
in  general  mercantile  pursuits,  and  was  also 
a  well-known  horseman  and  farmer.  Now 
seventy-seven  years  old,  he  resides  upon  his 
farm  in  Smithfield.  His  wife  died  November 
12,  1879.  ^lr-  a,lL'  Mrs-  Greene  have  had 
three  children,  namely:  Charles  E.  and 
Austin  E.,  twins,  who  were  born  in  San 
Mateo,  Cal.,  April  20,  1872;  and  Frank  H., 
born  December  31,  1876,  who  died  September 
9,  1893.  Charles  E.  resides  in  Providence, 
R.I.  Austin  E.,  who  lives  with  his  parents, 
married  Rose  F.  Whiting,  of  Norfolk,  and  has 
two  children  —  Everett  W.  and  Malcolm  H. 
Mr.  Greene  is  a  comrade  of  Franklin  Post, 
No.  60,  G.  A.  R.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Greene 
attend  the  Universalist  church. 


DVVARD  MOFFETTE,  the  manager  of 
the  Dedham  Lumber  Company  at  Ded- 
ham,  Mass.,  is  carrying  on  an  exten- 
sive lumber  and  coal  business  in  partnership 
with    his    brother,    Robert    J.     Moffette.      He 


was  born  August  8,  1849,  in  Boston,  Mass.,  a 
son  of  George  A.  Moffette.  He  is  of  English 
ancestry,  his  great-grandfather,  Edward  Mof- 
fette, having  been  born  and  reared  in  England. 
This  ancestor  spent  some  years  of  his  life  in 
Quebec,  Canada,  as  a  government  official,  al- 
though he  returned  to  his  native  land,  and 
died  there. 

George  Moffette,  the  grandfather,  was  born 
in  Quebec,  where  he  spent  his  brief  life.  He 
was  accidentally  killed  by  being  thrown  from 
a  horse  when  but  little  more  than  twenty-four 
years  old.  At  his  death  he  left  his  young 
wife  with  four  small  children.  George  A. 
Moffette,  who  was  born  in  Quebec,  spent  a 
large  part  of  his  seventy-one  years  of  life  in 
Boston,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1893. 
From  1848  until  his  death  he  was  employed  in 
the  pianoforte  factory  of  Chickering  &  Sons, 
for  some  years  in  the  capacity  of  superintend- 
ent of  the  factory.  He  married  Miss  Jane 
Turner,  who  was  born  in  Gibraltar,  Spain, 
being  the  daughter  of  Edward  Turner,  an  Eng- 
lish officer,  and  one  of  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren. She  became  the  mother  of  five  children, 
of  whom  George,  Robert  J.,  Edward,  and 
Clarissa  are  living.  Clarissa  is  the  wife  of 
Franklin  P.  Bingham.  Both  parents  were 
members  of  the  Episcopal  church.  The 
mother  died  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years. 

Edward  Moffette  obtained  his  education  in 
the  Boston  public  schools,  being  graduated 
from  the  English  High  School.  He  afterward 
spent  some  years  in  his  native  city,  being  em- 
ployed as  a  clerk  in  various  stores.  He  was 
then  appointed  to  the  State  Weather  Bureau 
at  Washington,  D.C.,  where  he  remained 
until  1889.  In  that  year,  in  partnership  with 
his  brother  Robert,  he  established  his  present 
coal  and  lumber  yard  on  Mount  Vernon  Street, 
Dedham,  where  he  has  a  large  stock  of  all 
kinds  of  lumber  and  coal,  and  has  since  car- 
ried on  a  very  remunerative  business.  Enter- 
prising and  industrious,  he  has  met  with  suc- 
cess in  his  undertakings. 

Mr.  Moffette  was  married  October  8,  1890, 
to  Miss  Mary  A.  Howard,  who  was  born  in 
Cumberland,  Md.,  where  her  father,  the  late 
Henry  Howard,  was  largely  interested  in  coal 
mines.       Mr.    Howard    was    born     in    Salem, 


3i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Mass.,  where  he  resided  throughout  the  most 
of  his  lifetime,  although  his  business  took 
him  frequently  to  Cumberland.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  forty-five  years.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Winchester,  and  who 
was  born  in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  is  the  mother 
of  six  children,  Mrs.  Moffette  being  the 
youngest.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  to  which  Mr.  Howard  also  belonged. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moffette  have  four  children; 
namely,  Thelma,  George  E.,  Henry  E.,  and 
Phyllis.  Mr.  Moffette  belongs  to  Longfellow 
Lodge,  Roslindale,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  and  the  Odd  Fellows  Encampment. 
He  is  a  member  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal 
Church  of  Dedham. 


RLANDO  B.  CRANE,  a  prominent 
merchant  of  Avon,  was  born  here 
when  the  place  was  called  East 
Stoughton,  January  20,  1835.  He  is 
a  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Angeline  A.  (Briggs) 
Crane.  The  Crane  family  is  one  of  the  old 
families  of  Avon.  Ebenezer  Crane,  who  was 
a  boot  cutter,  died  in  1852.  The  mother's 
death  occurred  in  1897. 

Orlando  B.  Crane  attended  the  schools  near 
his  home  when  he  had  an  opportunity,  obtain- 
ing a  fair  education.  When  about  fifteen 
years  of  age,  he  went  to  work  in  a  boot  factory 
of  East  Stoughton.  Here  he  learned  the 
trade,  and  was  afterward  engaged  in  boot-mak- 
ing for  a  number  of  years.  When  he  was 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  he  engaged  in  the 
express  business,  running  from  East  Stough- 
ton to  Boston.  After  spending  five  years  at 
that,  he  manufactured  boots  for  a  year  and  a 
half.  In  the  fall  of  1866  he  opened  a  grocery 
store  in  East  Stoughton,  which,  after  conduct- 
ing it  for  about  eight  years,  he  sold  in  1874. 
He  was  subsequently  in  business  in  Brockton 
and  Canton,  Mass.  About  the  year  1882  he 
started  in  the  provision  business  in  East 
Stoughton,  subsequently  adding  groceries, 
hay,  and  grain  to  his  stock  in  trade.  He  is 
now  in  control  of  a  large  and  successful  busi- 
ness, and  his  methods  are  such  that  he  has  the 
confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  deals.  Suc- 
cessful by  his  own  efforts  alone,  he  is  a  self- 
made  man. 


Mr.  Crane  was  married  to  Miss  Annie  S. 
Kimball,  of  Bethel,  Me.  They  have  five 
children  —  A.  Evaline,  Everett  C,  Harry  L., 
Orlando  B.,  and  Lester  K.  Mr.  Crane  has 
taken  a  prominent  part  in  local  politics,  and 
he  represented  this  district  in  the  State  leg- 
islature in  1867. 


(£>TDDISON  S.  SHEPARD,  a  prominent 
fjj  farmer  and  dairyman  of  Franklin,  was 
/j|\  born     in     Wrentham,    this    county, 

^"'  May  29,  1829,  son  of  Chickery  and 
Relief  (Gilmore)  Shepard.  His  paternal 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather  were  both 
named  John.  The  father,  born  in  Foxboro, 
was  a  blacksmith,  and  worked  at  his  trade  in 
Foxboro,  Wrentham,  and  in  Walpole.  He 
afterward  moved  to  Franklin,  and  settled  on 
the  farm  where  his  son  Addison  now  lives, 
dying  here  in  June,  1855.  His  wife,  who  was 
a  native  of  Raynham,  died  in  1868.  Their 
other  children  were:  John  C,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one;  Laura  E.,  the  wife  of 
Philip  S.  Sparrow,  who  is  now  living  in  re- 
tirement at  West  Medway;  Louis  B. ,  who 
married  Mary  Tibbetts,  and  resides  in  Fox- 
boro village;  Elmira,  who  is  the  widow  of 
the  late  Abner  D.  Sparrow,  and  lives  in 
Calais,  Vt.  ;  Daniel  G.,  a  veteran  of  the 
G.  A.  R.,  living  in  Boston,  who  married 
Mary  Pond,  now  deceased;  and  Eliza  A.,  who 
is  the  widow  of  George  H.  Robinson,  and  re- 
sides near  her  brother  Addison. 

Addison  S.  Shepard  received  his  education 
at  Day's  Academy  and  in  the  public  schools 
of  Wrentham.  After  the  death  of  his  father 
he  took  charge  of  the  farm,  and  has  lived  here 
since,  engaged  in  general  farming  and  dairy- 
ing, and  in  the  raising  of  poultry  and  fruit. 
He  owns  fifty  acres  of  well-improved  land. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  Although  he 
may  be  found  at  the  polls  on  voting  day,  he 
has  never  cared  to  put  himself  forward  as  a 
candidate  for  office.  A  member  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  of  Franklin,  he  is  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  society.  For  twenty-seven 
years  he  worked  in  the  straw  shop.  His  in- 
dustry and  thrift  have  made  him  a  successful 
man. 

On    October    15,     1863,    Mr.    Shepard    was 


ADDISON    S.    SHEPARD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3'9 


united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Harriet  M. 
Pond  Wilson,  of  Franklin,  daughter  of 
Hiram  and  Joanna  (Fales)  Pond.  The  father 
was  a  farmer  of  this  place.  Mrs.  Shepard 
died  January  19,  1889,  having  been  the  mother 
of  three  children.  These  were:  Martha  A., 
who  died  at  the  age  of  nine  years;  and  Addie 
May  and  Louis  A.,  both  of  whom  died  in 
childhood. 


2EONARD  DRAPER,  who  is  now  liv- 
ing in  retirement  in  Dover,  repre- 
^  sents  an  old  and  highly  reputable 
Norfolk  County  family.  He  was 
born  in  Dover,  January  6,  1823,  son  of  Moses 
and  Maria  (Wilbur)  Draper.  His  great- 
grandfather, John  Draper,  moved  his  family  to 
Dover,  and  settled  in  the  western  part  of  the 
town.  Josiah  Draper,  grandfather  of  Leon- 
ard, cleared  and  improved  a  farm. 

Moses  Draper,  after  succeeding  to  the 
farm,  cultivated  it  during  the  active  period 
of  his  life,  and  died  in  1885.  His  wife, 
Maria,  who  was  a  native  of  Westmoreland, 
Mass.,  became  the  mother  of  six  children  — 
Elizabeth,  Leonard,  Alfreda,  Ann  Maria,  Ann 
Maria  (second),  and  Adeline.  Elizabeth  is 
now  the  widow  of  Albert  Mann,  and  resides 
in  Milford,  Mass.  Both  Alfreda  and  Ann 
Maria  (first)  died  young.-  Ann  Maria  (second) 
married  Everett  Mann,  and  she  and  her  hus- 
band are  no  longer  living.  They  were  the 
parents  of  four  children  —  Herbert,  Bertha, 
Lester,  and  another  child  who  did  not  reach 
maturity.  Adeline  first  married  Simon  Mc- 
Donald, who  died  leaving  three  children; 
namely,  Arthur,  Flora,  and  George.  She  is 
now  the  wife  of  William  Schofield,  and  re- 
sides in  Nova  Scotia.  Mrs.  Moses  Draper 
died  in  1871. 

Leonard  Draper  attended  the  common 
schools.  When  seventeen  years  old  he  went 
to  Providence  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the 
baker's  trade.  Soon  becoming  homesick,  he 
returned  to  Dover,  and  assisted  upon  the  farm 
for  some  time.  He  later  learned  the  shoe- 
maker's trade,  which  he  afterward  followed  in 
connection  with  farming  until  he  was  fifty 
years  old;  and  he  succeeded  to  the  ownership 
of  the  property  after   his  father's   death.      He 


remained  at  the  homestead  until  1890,  when 
he  sold  the  farm.  Then,  retiring  from  active 
labor,  he  has  since  occupied  his  present  resi- 
dence in  the  village. 

On  October  13,  1846,  Mr.  Draper  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Caroline  F.  Chicker- 
ing.  She  was  born  in  Dover,  February  22, 
1826,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Orpha  (Bur- 
bank)  Chickering.  Her  father,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Dover,  and  resided  in  this  town  and  in 
Medfield,  was  twice  married.  By  his  first 
union,  which  was  with  Caroline  Lovell,  there 
was  one  son,  Cyrus,  who  is  now  deceased. 
His  second  wife,  in  maidenhood  Orpha  Bur- 
bank,  had  three  children:  James,  who  is  de- 
ceased; Caroline  F.,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Draper; 
and  Almira,  who  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 
In  politics  Mr.  Draper  acts  with  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  could  never  be  induced  to  ac- 
cept a  nomination  to  any  public  office.  Mrs. 
Draper  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church. 


PHLANDER  BATES,  a  well-known 
boot  and  shoe  merchant  of  Cohasset, 
Norfolk  County,  secretary  of  the  Co- 
hasset Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  an  ex-member  of  the  Massachusetts 
legislature,  wa#  born  in  South  Weymouth, 
September  16,  1836.  His  parents  were  War- 
ren and  Harriet  N.  (Vining)  Bates,  natives  of 
South  Weymouth,  who  moved  to  Cohasset 
about  the  year  1840. 

Philander  Bates  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Cohasset;  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  began 
work  in  a  shoe  factory  in  his  native  town, 
where  he  remained  some  years.  In  1861  he 
returned  to  Cohasset,  and  opening  a  retail  boot 
and  shoe  store  has  carried  on  the  business  up 
to  the  present  time. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in  1874 
he  was  chosen  Selectman,  Assessor,  and  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor.  He  has  held  the  first  two 
offices  continuously  since  that  time,  having 
been  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  for 
several  years;  and  with  the  exception  of  two 
years  he  has  served  as  Overseer  of  the  Poor. 
In  1880  he  represented  Cohasset,  Scituate, 
and  Norwell  in  the  legislature.  In  January, 
1895,  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  Cohas- 


320 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


set  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company.  He  is 
a  Deacon  of  the  Second  Congregational 
Church,  and  for  a  number  of  years  has  been 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school. 


(UCIUS  W.  DANIELS,  a  leading  farmer 
of  the  town  of  Franklin,  son  of  Fisher 
and  Ann  (Fames)  Daniels,  was  born 
April  5,  1839,  on  the  farm  where  he 
now  resides.  The  homestead  was  first  occu- 
pied by  his  great-grandfather,  David  Daniels, 
who  came  to  this  town  from  East  Medway;  and 
it  has  now  been  in  the  family  one  hundred  and 
forty  years.  David's  son  Joseph,  who  was 
born  on  the  place,  carried  on  the  farm  and  also 
conducted  a  country  store.  His  wife  was 
Susan  Fisher,  a  native  of  Franklin.  Their 
thirteen  children  were  named  as  follows: 
Seth,  Fisher,  Albert  E.,  Hiram,  Darwin, 
George,  Charles,  Julia,  Myra,  Susan,  Martha, 
Harriet,  and  Caroline.  The  only  survivor  is 
Harriet,  who  is  the  widow  of  Mortimer  Blake, 
and  is  living  at  Hyde  Park,  Norfolk  County, 
with  her  son. 

Fisher  Daniels,  the  second  son  of  David,  as 
the  list  is  here  given,  took  charge  of  the 
homestead  property  upon  the  death  of  his 
father,  and,  besides  carrying  on  farming,  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school.  He  taught  at  differ- 
ent times  in  every  district  in  Franklin,  and 
was  a  schoolmaster  for  over  twenty  years.  He 
always  lived  at  the  homestead  with^  the  excep- 
tion of  about  three  years,  when  he  was  in  a 
grocery  store  in  Manchester,  N.  H.,  with  his 
brothers.  He  died  in  Franklin  on  March  7, 
1874.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Eunice  Adams,  of  Franklin,  lived  only  about 
a  year  after  their  marriage.  She  was  the 
mother  of  one  child,  a  son  Waldo,  who  was  a 
schoolmaster  and  at  different  times  held  all 
the  town  offices,  being  a  very  prominent  man 
in  town.  He  died  in  1886.  His  wife,  for- 
merly Helen  R.  Gilmore,  is  now  living  in 
Franklin.  Mrs.  Ann  Eames  Daniels,  the  sec- 
ond wife  of  Fisher  Daniels,  was  a  native  of 
Hopkinton.  She  died  in  February,  1876, 
having  been  the  mother  of  five  children; 
namely,  J.  Wheaton,  Eunice  Adams,  Lucius 
W.,  Eunice  Ann,  and  Lucelie  Adelaide.  J. 
Wheaton  Daniels  married  Hattie  King,  and  is 


now  living  at  Palmyra,  N.J.  Eunice  Adams 
Daniels  died  at  the  age  of  four  years,  and 
Eunice  Ann  at  the  age  of  two  years.  Lucelie 
Adelaide  is  the  wife  of  William  Schlesu- 
meyers,  a  carpenter  of  West  Dedham,  now 
Westwood. 

Lucius  W.  Daniels,  after  receiving  his  ele- 
mentary education  in  the  common  schools,  at- 
tended the  Franklin  High  School  and  the  well- 
known  Literary  Institution  at  New  Hampton, 
N.  H.,  where  he  was  a  student  for  a  year  and 
a  half.  When  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
spent  two  months  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  With 
that  exception  he  has  remained  at  the  home- 
stead. He  took  care  of  his  parents  in  their 
declining  years,  and  since  coming  into  posses- 
sion of  the  estate  he  has  made  many  improve- 
ments on  the  place.  He  owns  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  and  has  a  fine  new  set  of 
buildings.  He  carries  on  some  general  farm- 
ing and  stock-raising,  but  his  main  business  is 
the  marketing  of  dairy  products.  He  for- 
merly operated  a  box  factory,  but  has  now  dis- 
continued that  and  devotes  his  time  to  his 
agricultural  interests. 

He  has  held  the  office  of  Assessor  for  a  year 
and  that  of  Selectman  of  the  town  for  two 
years.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  al- 
ways takes  a  lively  interest  in  all  Republican 
meetings  and  movements.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Honor,  of  Franklin,  and  of  the 
local  grange.  He  and  his  wife  belong  to  the 
Congregational  church. 

Mr.  Daniels  was  married  on  September  3, 
1861,  to  Miss  Helen  S.  Warfield,  of  Franklin, 
who  was  born  October  23,  1839,  a  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  and  Sarah  (Morse)  Warfield,  the 
mother  a  native  of  Walpole  and  the  father  of 
Franklin.  Mr.  Warfield  was  a  school-teacher, 
farmer,  and  trader.  He  died  in  Franklin 
when  his  daughter  Sarah  was  eight  years  of 
age,  and  his  wife  is  also  deceased.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Daniels  have  four  children  —  Mary, 
Hattie,  Ernest,  and  Edith.  Mary  Leola  was 
educated  in  this  country,  and  is  now  teaching 
in  a  seminary  in  Eastern  Turkey,  where  she 
has  been  engaged  for  about  ten  years.  Hattie 
Adelia  and  Edith  Nellie  are  at  home  with 
their  father  and  mother.  Mr.  Ernest  Darling 
Daniels  has  been  for  a  number  of  years  the 
popular     principal      of     the     Franklin      High 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


323 


School.  He  married  Miss  Gertrude  Goodwin, 
a  former  classmate  in  the  Bridgewater  Normal 
School. 


/'SFeorge    alonzo  southgate, 

I  '•)  I  M.D.,  one  of  the  most  successful 
^ —  physicians  of  Dedham,  was  born  in 
Leicester,  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  Septem- 
ber 27,  1833,  son  of  Samuel  and  Charlotte 
Warren  (Fuller)  Southgate.  He  is  a  direct 
descendant  of  Richard  Southgate,  a  civil  en- 
gineer, who,  with  his  wife  and  five  children 
and  his  brother  John,  joined  a  company  formed 
in  Boston  and  vicinity  in  1718  or  1719,  and 
settled  at  Strawberry  Hill,  now  Leicester, 
Mass.  Richard  Southgate  laid  out  the  town, 
of  which  he  was  the  first  Treasurer,  and-  re- 
ceived a  grant  of  seven  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land.  The  line  of  descent  comes  through 
Richard  (second),  Isaac,  Samuel  (first),  and 
Samuel  (second)  to  Dr.  Southgate,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

Samuel  Southgate  (first),  Dr.  Southgate' s 
grandfather,  who  was  a  card  manufacturer  in 
Leicester,  as  was  also  the  Doctor's  father,  died 
in  Dedham,  June  5,  1876.  The  family  record 
for  longevity  is  somewhat  remarkable.  The 
first  and  second  Richards  were  eighty-four 
when  they  died  in  Leicester.  Isaac  died  there 
at  eighty-one,  Samuel  (first)  died  there  in 
1859,  aged  eighty-one,  and  Samuel  (second) 
lived  to  be  seventy.  Dr.  Southgate's  mother 
was  born  in  Easton,  Mass.,  daughter  of  Rufus 
and  Charlotte  (Warren)  Fuller.  The  former, 
who  was  a  woollen  manufacturer,  spent  his  last 
days  in  Worcester  County,  Massachusetts. 
The  maiden  name  of  Dr.  Southgate's  maternal 
great-grandmother  was  Elizabeth  Wheeler. 
His  maternal  great-great-grandmother  was 
Mary  Belcher  (Bass)  Henshaw,  whose  father, 
Joseph  Bass,  married  Ruth  Alden,  daughter  of 
John  Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullins.  The  Doc- 
tor's mother,  who  lived  to  be  seventy-five  years 
old,  had  two  children,  of  whom  only  he  reached 
maturity.  The  other  child  was  Mary  Louise, 
born  twenty  years  later  than  the  Doctor,  and 
who  died  when  but  two  and  one-half  years  old. 
George  Alonzo  Southgate  fitted  for  his  col- 
legiate course  at  the  Leicester  Academy  and 
under    the   direction    of   a    private    tutor.      He 


began  his  professional  studies"  in  the  medical 
department  of  Dartmouth  College.  Later  he 
entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  graduated  with  the  class  of  1859.  P'irst 
locating  in  Mill  bury,  Mass.,  he  remained  there 
until  1863.  Then  he  came  to  Dedham,  where 
he  has  been  in  successful  practice  for  over 
thirty  years.  P"or  the  past  three  years  he  has 
had  an  office  at  2  Commonwealth  Avenue, 
Boston. 

On  June  13,  i860,  Dr.  Southgate  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Mary  Bigelow  Will- 
son.  She  is  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Luther 
and  Fidelia  (Wells)  Willson.  Her  father, 
who  was  pastor  of  a  Unitarian  church  in 
Petersham,  Mass.,  for  many  years,  died  in 
that  town.  Mis.  Southgate's  parents  had  a 
family  of  twelve  children,  and  her  brother,  the 
Rev.  E.  B.  Willson,  was  the  pastor  of  a  Uni- 
tarian Church  at  Salem,  Mass.,  for  thirty-five 
years.  She  is  the  mother  of  five  children, 
namely:  Robert  Willson,  a  graduate  of  Bos- 
ton University  Medical  School,  and  asso- 
ciated with  his  father;  Delia  Wells,  the  wife 
of  Anson  S.  Marshall,  a  lawyer  of  Concord, 
N.  H.  ;  May  Fuller,  who  married  Harry  P. 
Cormerias,  a  business  man  of  Boston,  and  a 
resident  of  Dedham  ;  Walter  Bradford,  who  is 
also  in  business  in  Boston;  and  Helen  Louise, 
a  kindergarten  teacher.  In  politics  Dr.  South- 
gate  is  a  Republican,  and  he  served  upon  the 
Board  of  Health  for  four  years.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Olive  Branch  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Millbury.  For  many  years  he  was  officially 
connected  with  the  Unitarian  society,  and  the 
family  attend  that  church. 


ILLIAM  STEARNS,  residing  on 
Sewell  Avenue,  Brook] ine,  is  prac- 
tically retired  from  active  pursuits, 
although  he  still  pays  some  attention  to  vege- 
table gardening.  Born  August  10,  1830,  near 
his  present  home,  he  is  a  son  of  Marshall 
Stearns,  who  was  a  native  of  Waltham  or 
Weston,  Mass.  Charles  Stearns,  the  grand- 
father, spent  his  early  life  in  Waltham, 
whence  he  came  to  Brookline  in  the  first  years 
of  the  present  century.  He  purchased  land  in 
Brookline,  and  thereafter  was  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming;  and  market  gardening  as   long  as 


324 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


he  was  able  to  work.  He  also  purchased  a 
house,  which  is  now  occupied  by  one  of  his 
grandsons,  Charles  H.  Stearns.  He  spent  his 
last  days  in  Brookline,  passing  away  at  the 
venerable  age  of  ninety-three  years.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Nancy  Flagg, 
born  and  bred  in  Ashby,  Mass.,  died  in  Brook- 
line  at  the  age  of  fourscore  years.  They  had 
a  family  of  seven  children,  none  of  whom  are 
now  living.  Both  parents  were  highly  re- 
spected throughout  the  community,  and  were 
active  members  of  the  Unitarian,  or  First 
Parish,  Church. 

Marshall  Stearns  succeeded  to  the  owner- 
ship of  a  portion  of  the  old  homestead  farm. 
After  erecting  the  house  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  son  William,  he  made  it  his  per- 
manent residence.  He  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  tilling  the  soil,  meeting  with  especial 
success  in  raising  early  vegetables  and  fruit  for 
the  home  markets.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  served  his  towns- 
men as  Selectman,  Assessor,  and  Overseer  of 
the  Poor,  and  was  Brookline's  Representative 
in  the  State  legislature  for  two  terms.  He 
was  a  Whig  in  his  early  years,  but  after  the 
formation  of  the  Republican  party  was  one  of 
its  firmest  adherents.  At  his  death  he  was 
sixty-eight  years  of  age.  He  married  Su- 
sanna C.  Jones,  who  was  born  in  Brookline, 
March  5,  1807.  She  was  one  of  the  two  chil- 
dren of  Joseph  and  Hannah  (Clark)  Jones. 
Joseph  Jones,  a  well-known  farmer,  died  Sep- 
tember 14,  1822,  aged  forty-nine  years;  while 
his  wife,  who  was  born  February  2,  1778,  died 
February  28,  1826.  Susanna  C.  Stearns  died 
July  26,  1873,  aged  sixty-six  years,  leaving 
two  children,  namely:  William,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  and  Hannah  C,  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam J.  Swift,  formerly  of  Nantucket,  Mass. 
Two  other  children  died  in  early  life.  Both 
were  connected  with  the  Unitarian  church,  the 
father  having  been  an  official  member. 

William  Stearns  was  educated  in  Brookline, 
attending  both  the  common  and  high  schools, 
and  subsequently  assisted  in  the  care  of  the 
home  farm,  which  came  into  his  possession  on 
the  death  of  his  parents.  He  afterward  en- 
gaged in  the  real  estate  business.  Having 
divided  his  land  into  house  lots,  he  has  since 
sold   the   larger  part  of   it ;  and  forty  or    more 


houses  occupy  the  site  of  his  former  farm,  on 
which  for  so  many  years  he  and  his  father 
raised  garden  truck. 

Mr.  Stearns  was  married  October  6,  1858, 
to  Miss  Margaret  G.  Swift.  Born  in  Nan- 
tucket, Mass.,  she  was  one  of  the  three  chil- 
dren of  Henry  Swift,  who  was  engaged  as  a 
whaler  in  his  early  life.  She  died  March  18, 
1869,  aged  thirty  years,  having  borne  her  hus- 
band one  child  —  Henry,  who  lived  but  four 
years.  On  October  28,  1874,  Mr.  Stearns 
married  Miss  Annie  Russell,  daughter  of 
Thomas  V.  Russell,  a  lawyer  of  St.  Lawrence 
County,  New  York.  By  this  marriage  there 
are  three  children  —  Elsie  R.,  Marshall,  and 
Russell.  In  politics  Mr.  Stearns  votes  for 
the  men  he  deems  best  qualified  for  the  posi- 
tions to  be  filled,  irrespective  of  party  affilia- 
tions. He  is  a  member  of  the  Brookline 
Club  and  of  the  Casino.  His  religious  creed 
is  liberal,  and  he  attends  the  Unitarian 
church. 


ENJAMIN     KENRICK,    a    thriving 

dairy  farmer  of  Dover,  was  born  in 
this  town,  April  25,  1850,  son  of 
John  and  Abigail  (Ingalls)  Kenrick. 
His  grandfather  was  a  native  of  Newton,  Mass. 
The  father,  who  was  also  born  in  Newton,  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  blacksmith  in  that  place 
until  1848,  when  he  moved  to  Dover,  and  set- 
tled upon  the  farm  which  is  now  owned  by  his 
son.  The  rest  of  his  active  life  was  devoted 
to  agricultural  pursuits;  and  he  died  June  2, 
1892.  His  wife,  Abigail,  who  was  a  native  of 
Fitzwilliam,  N.H.,  became  the  mother  of 
seven  children,  as  follows:  Caroline  R.,  born 
November  30,  1842,  who  died  young;  Althea, 
born  March  2,  1S45,  who  died  March  31, 
1893;  Mary  Caroline,  born  September  4, 
1848,  who  died  May  8,  1891  ;  Benjamin,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Luella  Gertrude,  born 
July  19,  1S54,  who  died  December  7,  1875; 
Abbie  Ann,  born  March  8,  1857,  who  is  now 
residing  in  Dorchester,  Mass.  ;  and  Theodocia, 
born  June  23,  i860,  who  died  March  8,  1863. 
Mrs.  John  Kenrick  died  July  1,   1888. 

Benjamin  Kenrick  received  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  Dover.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  went  to  Lawrence,  Mass.,  and  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


325 


afterward  employed  in  the  woollen-mills  of 
that  city  for  twenty  years.  In  1S8S  he  re- 
turned to  Dover,  and  took  charge  of  the  home 
farm,  which  came  into  his  possession  after  his 
father's  death.  The  property  contains  one 
hundred  and  ten  acres  of  fertile  land,  with  new 
and  substantial  buildings.  The  land  is  mainly 
devoted  to  dairy  purposes. 

The  first  of  Mr.  Kenrick's  three  marriages 
was  contracted  on  February  9,  1 874,  with 
Evangeline  St.  Clair  Archer,  of  Lawrence. 
Born  in  Charlotte,  Me.,  daughter  of  Henry 
Archer,  who  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  she  died 
September  25,  1S76,  leaving  one  daughter. 
This  daughter,  Emma  May,  born  June  16, 
1876,  died  November  2,  1893.  Mr.  Ken- 
rick's second  wife,  Charlotte  Victoria,  was 
born  in  Maine,  daughter  of  Samuel  Scammon, 
wbd  was  a  lumberman  and  a  farmer.  They 
were  wedded  in  Lawrence,  June  30,  1881. 
She  died  September  25,  1887,  leaving  no  chil- 
dren. The  third  marriage,  which  was  per- 
formed September  9,  1893,  united  him  to  Mrs. 
Margaret  Maud  (Clark)  Webster,  who  was 
born  (in  Prince  Edward  Island,  May  5,  1859, 
daughter  of  William  and  Annie  (Ling)  Clark, 
both  now  deceased.  Her  father,  who  was  an 
Englishman,  and  who  emigrated  to  Prince  Ed- 
ward Island  when  young,  was  later  engaged 
in  the  shoe  business  and  farming.  By  her 
first  husband,  Charles  F.  Webster,  of  Law- 
rence, Mrs.  Kenrick  has  one  daughter — Helen 
Miriam,  born  January  16,  1885.  Mr.  Ken- 
rick's happy  faculty  for  adapting  himself  to 
circumstances  is  probably  the  secret  of  his  suc- 
cess in  life.  His  farm  occupies  a  desirable 
location,  within  easy  reach  of  the  Boston 
market.      In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 


NOCH  WAITE,  a  prosperous  manufact- 
urer of  Franklin,  Mass.,  one  of  the  sons 
of  the  late  Joseph  and  Anna  Waite, 
was  born  in  England  in  1835.  His  father  was 
a  manufacturer  of  felt  for  King  George  in 
England,  but  came  to  this  country  when  quite 
a  young  man  and  established  himself  in  the 
same  business.  He  was  the  first  felt  manu- 
facturer in  America;  and  when  he  had  estab- 
lished himself  he  sent  for  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren,   and    made   his   home    in    Massachusetts. 


He  died  in  1888,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven; 
and  his  wife,  Anna,  died  in  1892,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-one.      They  had  ten  children. 

After  a  brief  term  of  schooling  in  New- 
market, England,  Enoch  Waite  at  eight  years 
of  age  began  to  work  at  the  felting  trade.  He 
came  to  America  when  he  was  fifteen  years 
old,  and  first  found  employment  in  the  old  Bay 
State  Mills,  Lawrence,  Mass.  In  1S56  he 
went  to  Johnson,  R.I.,  and,  starting  a  mill  for 
Judge  Pitman's  son  for  the  manufacture  of  felt 
carpet,  remained  there  two  years.  Then  he 
removed  to  Lowell  and  worked  in  the  Middle- 
sex Mills  until  1861,  when  he  went  to  Win- 
chester and  started  a  mill  for  S.  M.  Allen, 
where  they  manufactured  fibrilla,  an  article 
made  from  tow  and  used  during  the  war  in  the 
place  of  cotton.  When  peace  was  declared, 
there  was  no  more  use  for  their  product,  and 
the  mill  was  closed.  Mr.  Waite  next  had 
charge  of  a  mill  in  Charlestown  for  the  manu- 
facture of  felt  carpets.  He  stayed  there  but 
two  years,  however,  and  then  went  to  Law- 
rence again  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
glove  linings.  After  a  short  time  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Wrentham,  where  he  managed  a  mill 
run  by  the  Elliot  Felting  Company  for  the 
manufacture  of  felt  table  and  piano  covers  as 
well  as  all  other  kinds  of  felt  goods. 

In  1874  Mr.  Waite  came  to  Franklin  and 
started  in  business  for  himself  again,  manu- 
facturing felt  cloth,  and  in  two  years  took  a 
partner  by  the  name  of  A.  H.  Morse.  They 
worked  together  until  1881,  when  the  partner- 
ship was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Waite  started 
what  is  now  known  as  the  City  Mills,  which 
he  managed  for  three  years.  He  next  started 
a  felt-mill  for  F.  B.  Ray,  called  the  Union 
Mill,  and  also  went  into  business  with  Mr. 
Bannigon,  known  as  the  "rubbejr  king,"  in 
Lawrence,  Mass.  They  ran  the  Lawrence 
Felting  Mills  together  until  1888,  when  Mr. 
Waite  sold  out  his  interest  to  his  partner,  and 
then  conducted  his  own  mill  exclusively,  fie 
also  bought  a  privilege  in  the  Rockville  .Mill 
from  Mr.  Richardson,  of  Medway.  He 
turned  this  into  a  felt-mill,  and  placed  his 
son  in  charge.  The  mill  is  running  at  pres- 
ent to  its  full  capacity.  Mr.  Waite  is  him- 
self president,  treasurer,  and  manager  of  the 
Waite   Felting   Company,  of   Franklin,  a  posi- 


326 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


tion  he  has  held  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
has  been  a  very  successful  man  in  his  busi- 
ness, and  is  counted  one  of  the  representative 
citizens  of  Franklin. 


SREDERICK  P.  DRAKE,  an  engineer 
and  prominent  citizen  of  Canton,  was 
born  here,  March  16,  185 1,  son  of  An- 
drew and  Lucy  (Gray)  Drake.  His  grand- 
father, Ziba  Drake,  was  the  first  one  of  the 
family  to  reside  in  the  town.  Andrew  Drake, 
a  native  of  Sharon,  was  in  the  coal  business 
for  many  years  in  Boston,  and  was  also  en- 
gaged in  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  politics  he 
was  a  Republican.  He  married  Lucy  T. 
Gray,  of  Sandwich,  and  they  had  five  children, 
as  follows:  Laura  ].,  Sarah  E.,  Harriett  A., 
Mary  E.,  and  Frederick  P.  Mary,  who  is 
now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  Fred  Belcher; 
Laura  J.  is  the  widow  of  James  L.  Shepard  ; 
Sarah  E.  is  the  widow  of  N.  H.  Lord;  and 
Harriett  A.  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  Capen.  The 
father  died  in  Canton  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years. 

Frederick  P.  Drake  received  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town  and 
at  the  private  school  of  Sanford  W.  Billings  in 
Sharon.  When  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age 
he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  has  fol- 
lowed it  since.  He  has  been  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Revere  Copper  Company  as  car- 
penter for  twenty-six  years.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican.  He  was  Constable  for  some 
years.  In  1886  he  formed  the  fire  company, 
and  has  been  chief  of  the  board  of  fire  en- 
gineers. He  has  been  Selectman  since  1892, 
when  he  was  first  elected  to  that  office.  On 
November  2,  1897,  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Court 
from  the  Fourth  Norfolk  District.  Mr.  Drake 
is  a  member  of  the  Blue  Hill  Lodge  of  Odd 
Fellows,  of  which  he  is  Past  Noble  Grand. 
He  is  also  Past  Chief  Patriarch  of  Mount  He- 
bron Encampment,  of  Stoughton ;  and  he  is 
also  connected  with  the  Knights  of  Honor, 
Richard  Gridley  Lodge,  having  passed  all  the 
chairs.  He  married  Ellen  Jones,  a  daughter 
of  David  Jones,  of  Stoughton.  They  have  no 
family.  Mr.  Drake  is  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 


fSAAC  HILLS  HAZELTON,  M.D.,  a 
highly  respected  physician  of  Wellesley, 
was  born  in  Boston,  May  17,  1838.  A 
son  of  Isaac  and  Susan  (Pickard)  Hazel- 
ton,  he  is  a  direct  descendant  of  the  Robert 
Hazelton  who,  with  his  brother  John,  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Rowley  in  'about 
1639.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  Hazelton, 
was  born  in  Chester,  N.H.,  in  1776,  and, 
having  spent  his  life  there  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, died  in  1847.  Thomas  married  Lucretia 
Hills  in  June,  1S00.  Their  son,  Isaac  Hills 
Hazelton,  Si\,  who  was  born  in  Chester, 
N.H.,  June  8,  1805,  and  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  builder,  married  Susan,  a  daughter  of 
Jere  Pickard,  of  Dresden,  Me.,  and  died  in 
September,  1863.  The  Pickard  family  came 
to  this  country  from  England  in  1630,  and 
settled  in  Massachusetts. 

_  Isaac   Hills    Hazelton,    the  subject  of    this 
biography,    received  his  elementary  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Boston.      He  was  sub- 
sequently a  member  of  the  class  of    i860  at 
Harvard  College.      He   left  college,    however, 
to  join  the  undergraduate  department  of  the 
Medical  School,  and  afterward,  in    1861,  grad- 
uated with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of   Medicine. 
In  April  of    the   same  year   he   was   appointed 
assistant   physician    at   the    Concord   Asylum. 
He  passed  the  examinations  for  admission   to 
the    navy    in    the    following    September,    and 
on  "the    17th     received    his    appointment    as 
assistant    surgeon    from   Gideon    Wells,    then 
the    Secretary    of    the    Navy.      This    position 
he    held     until     September     11,     1865,    when 
he    resigned.       In    December,     1861,    he    was 
sent    on    the    United    States    recruiting- ship 
"Ohio,"  and  in  January  of  1862   on  the  "Ver- 
mont."    He  sailed  for  Port  Royal,  S.C.,  Feb- 
ruary  24,   1S62,  and  arrived   April  16,    after  a 
perilous    voyage.       He    was    ordered     to    the 
"Paul  Jones"  on  December  31,  and   afterward 
took    part     in     several     expeditions     through 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and   Florida.      From 
July  10  to  July  18,   1S63,  he   was   engaged    in 
the  attack   on    Charleston.      He   was   with   the 
army  temporarily  during   the   bombardment   of 
Fort  Wagner  and  at   Beaufort,  S.C.,  where  he 
was  in  charge  of  three  hospitals  from  July  19 
to  August  19,   1863.      After  leaving   Beaufort, 
he  came   to   Boston,    but    was   ordered    to    the 


ISAAC    H.    HAZELTON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3  29 


Boston  yard  in  September,  and  to  the  Pacific 
Squadron  on  the  14th  of  December,  1864,  serv- 
ing on  the  United  States  flag-ship  "Lancas- 
ter." He  returned  East,  July  10,  1865.  On 
September  12,  1865,  after  resigning  from  the 
naval  service,  he  was  appointed  associate  phy- 
sician at  the  McLean  Asylum,  where  he  prac- 
tised for  two  years.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
the  Wellesley  Board  of  Health,  and  is  the 
local  medical  examiner  for  a  number  of  insur- 
ance companies.  For  many  years  he  has  been 
the  State  Medical  Examiner  of  Lunacy.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  So- 
ciety, Norfolk  County  Medical  Society,  of  the 
Loyal  Legion,  of  the  Charles  Ward  Grand 
Army  Post  of  Newton,  and  of  the  Kearsarge 
Association  of  Naval  Veterans,  and  of  the 
Regular  Army  and  Navy  Union,  of  which  he 
was  surgeon -general  on  the  staff  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican: and  he  served  on  the  Republican  Town 
Committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman  for  sev- 
eral years.  He  attends  the  Congregational 
church. 

Dr.  Hazelton  was  married  in  Newburyport, 
Mass.,  on  November  23,  1867,  to  Mary  Allen 
Brewster,  a  daughter  of  William  H.  Brewster, 
who  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Elder  Brews- 
ter. Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hazelton  have  had  four 
children:  Mary  Brewster,  born  in  November, 
[868;  Isaac  Brewster,  born  in  December, 
1870,  now  studying  at  the  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology; Olivia  B.,  born  in  January,  1873, 
now  at  home;  and  Margaret  P.,  born  in  March, 
1876,  also  living  at  home.  The  eldest  daugh- 
ter studied  at  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts,  where  she  has  been  a  teacher  for  the 
last  four  years.  She  took  the  Halgarten  prize 
in  1896,  the  first  time  it  was  ever  awarded  to 
a  woman. 


(AYMOND  S.  BYAM,  an  enterprising 
and  prosperous  business  man  of  Can- 
ton, was  born  November  15,  1839, 
in  Chelmsford,  Mass.,  son  of  Otis 
Byam.  The  family  was  first  represented  in 
America  by  the  traditional  three  brothers  from 
England,  one  of  whom  settled  in  Chelmsford, 
near  Robbins  Hill,  where  some  of  his  descend- 
ants have   since   lived.      Otis   Byam    was   born 


and  reared  on  the  old  home  farm  in  Chelms- 
ford. When  a  young  man  he  went  to  Boston, 
where  he  was  for  some  years  a  merchant,  and 
also  kept  the  old  hotel  called  the  Hanover 
House.  He  subsequently  returned  to  the 
scenes  of  his  childhood,  and,  purchasing  the 
Byam  homestead,  carried  on  general  farming 
until  his  death  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four  years.  He  was  a  man  of  unblemished 
character,  honest  and  upright,  and  a  strong 
Democrat  in  politics,  although  he  never  cared 
to  hold  office.  He  married  Miss  Lavina 
Boomer,  of  Keene,  N.H.  Of  their  four  chil- 
dren, George  O. ,  of  Chelmsford,  and  Ray- 
mond S.  are  living. 

Raymond  S.  Byam  was  an  attendant  of  the 
Chelmsford  common  schools  until  seventeen 
years  old.  Then  he  went  into  the  milk  busi- 
ness in  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  was  engaged  in  it 
for  two  years.  During  the  following  twelve 
months  he  conducted  a  livery  stable  on  the 
corner  of  Middlesex  and  Howard  Streets  in 
that  city.  In  July,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G  of  the  Sixteenth  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  known  as  the  Butler  Rifles,  and 
afterward  served  for  three  years  in  the  Civil 
War,  being  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Corporal 
of  the  color  guards,  and  assigned  to  the  pio- 
neer corps.  He  saw  much  of  the  roughest 
part  of  army  life,  and  was  an  active  partici- 
pant in  many  of  the  hardest  fought  battles  of 
the  war.  He  was  in  the  engagement  at  For- 
tress Monroe,  under  General  Wolf;  saw  the 
"Monitor"  sink  the  "Merrimac,"  March  9, 
1S62;  was  at  Gosport  Navy  Yard.  Having 
joined  General  Hooker  at  Fair  Oaks,  he  took 
part  in  the  Seven  Days'  Fight;  was  next  at 
Harrison's  Landing;  stood  beside  the  gallant 
General  Sickles  when  he  lost  his  leg  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg;  was  later  at  Hanover 
Court-house,  the  second  Bull  Run,  Peters- 
burg, and  Chancellorsville.  In  the  last- 
named  battle  he  received  a  slight  wound.  He 
completed  his  term  of  service  at  Petersburg  in 
July,  1864.  After  his  return  to  Chelmsford, 
Mr.  Byam  remained  at  home  for  a  short  time. 
In  the  fall  of  1864,  he  went  to  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  where  he  was  for  two  years  engaged 
in  driving  an  express  wagon  to  Boston.  In 
1866  he  came  to  Canton  as  messenger  for 
Crummett's     Express     Company,     a    position 


33° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


which  he  held  for  two  years.  In  1868  he  es- 
tablished his  present  express  business  between 
here  and  Boston,  forming  a  partnership  with 
his  brother,  S.  L.  Byam,  who  is  now  deceased. 
The  express  is  conducted  under  the  name  of 
Byam  &  Co.  He  also  deals  in  coal,  ice,  lime, 
cement,  drain  pipe,  hay,  and  other  merchan- 
dise; and  he  does  a  large  business  in  moving 
furniture,  employing  several  men  and  keeping 
twenty-seven  horses. 

Mr.  Byam  takes  a  genuine  interest  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  town's  welfare  and 
prosperity,  and  for  five  years  did  efficient  ser- 
vice as  Selectman  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor. 
In  politics  he  is  identified  with  the  Republi- 
can party.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Railroad  Agency  and  of  the  Boston  Ex- 
press League,  and  is  the  National  Color  Bearer 
in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany of  Boston.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  the 
Blue  Hill  Lodge;  and  he  belongs  to  Mount 
Zion  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  to  the  Joseph 
Warren  Commandery,  K.  T. ,  of  Roxbury. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  Revere  Post,  No.  94, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  has  been  chaplain  for 
some  time. 

On  November  6,  1867,  he  married  Miss 
Helen  S.  Bailey,  who,  born  and  reared  in 
Philadelphia,  died  May  8,  1S97.  Their  three 
children  are:  Ella  S.,  Harry  S. ,  and  Alice 
M.  Mr.  Byam  and  his  family  attend  the 
Universal ist  church. 


"  EORGE  V.  RICHARDSON, 
'•)  I  tired  business  man  of  Needham,  was 
born  in  1825  in  Canton,  Mass.,  son 
of  John  and  Sally  (Tufts)  Richardson.  The 
father,  who  was  born  in  Ouincy,  Mass.,  in 
1799,  and  was  a  hatter  by  trade,  died  in  1859. 
The  mother,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Tufts,  was 
born  in  1796,  and  died  in  1884. 

George  Richardson  was  eight  years  of  age 
when  he  was  withdrawn  from  the  common 
schools  and  sent  to  work  for  Joseph  Fisher,  a 
machinist.  He  lived  with  Mr.  Fisher  for  two 
years,  doing  chores  and  working  around  the 
house,  and  attending  school  in  winter  for  a  few 
weeks.  Subsequently  he  was  employed  in 
several  different  families  in  the  same  way 
until  1835,  when   he  went   to   Dedham   to   live 


with  Eben  Wight  and  his  sister.  After  stay- 
ing in  Dedham  two  years,  he  went  to  live  with 
Joseph  Briggs  on  Federal  Hill,  where  he  re- 
mained one  year.  In  1842  he  began  to  learn 
the  carpenter's  trade  with  William  Eaton. 
With  Mr.  Eaton  he  stayed  four  years,  and  then 
worked  at  the  trade  for  about  twenty-five  years. 
He  had  worked  in  his  brother's  sash  and  blind 
factory  in  Boston  for  three  years  when  his 
brother  sold  out.  Then  Mr.  Richardson  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  making  oil  tanks, 
forming  a  partnership  with  Edwin  Irvine, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Richardson  &  Irvine. 
After  four  years  he  bought  out  his  partner's 
interest,  and  continued  in  the  business  with 
his  son  as  partner,  under  the  name  of  Richard- 
son &  Son,  until  1891,  when  he  sold  out  and 
retired.  He  is  now  living  in  Needham.  In 
the  Baptist  Church  of  Needham  he  is  a 
Deacon,  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee 
and  of  most  of  the  other  committees.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Richardson  was  married  in  1850  to  Ann 
Jane,  daughter  of  John  Davis,  of  Needham, 
now  Wellesley.  She  died  in  1866.  They 
had  seven  children,  namely:  Ann  Elizabeth, 
who  married  Zadock  Bradford,  and  lives  in 
Somerville;  Emma  Louisa,  who  married 
Charles  Thorpe,  and  lives  at  Highlandville ; 
George  Davis,  who  died  aged  nine  years; 
Frank  Bowman,  who  married  Margaret  Mor- 
gan, of  Salem,  was  his  father's  partner,  and  is 
now  doing  business  in  Boston;  Eben  Henry, 
who  married  Carrie  L.  Tuttle,  of  Hyde  Park ; 
Clara  Veazie,  who  died  when  four  years  old; 
and  Mary  Frances,  who  married  Augustus 
Zimgiebel,  and  lives  in  Needham.  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson was  married  a  second  time  in  1878  to 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Moses  Alden,  of  Newton 
Upper  Falls.  Her  father  belongs  to  the  third 
generation  of  the  Aldens  who  have  lived  on 
the  old  estate  in  Needham,  and  is  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  John  Alden,  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony. 


ROF.  WILLIAM  RUSSELL  SMITH 
was  for  many  years   prominent   as  a 
musician  in  Medfield  and  the  adjoin- 
ing towns.     Born  here  September  1  i, 
1838,  he  was  a  son  of  Jeremiah   Russell    and 


WILLIAM    R.    SMITH. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


333 


Eliza  (Mason)  Smith,  both  natives  of  Med- 
field.  The  paternal  grandfather,  also  named 
Jeremiah,  settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
town  on  what  is  now  known  as  Nelson  farm, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  farming  for  many 
years.  The  father,  who  also  followed  agricult- 
ure here  for  a  time,  is  now  living  in  Provi- 
dence, R.I.,  with  his  daughter.  His  first 
wife,  Eliza,  died  at  the  age  of  thirty.  After 
her  death  he  married  Christiana  Bigelow,  of 
Charlton,  Mass.,  who  is  now  also  deceased. 
By  the  first  marriage  there  were  two  children 
—  William  R.  and  Eliza  M.  Mary  A.,  a 
child  of  the  second  wife,  is  now  the  wife  of 
Melvin  Willard,  of  Providence,  a  salesman  of 
carriages. 

William  Russell  Smith  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  for  the  usual  period.  Afterward 
he  was  sent  to  Reading  Academy  and  then  to 
Boston,  where  he  made  a  special  study  of 
music.  He  began  as  a  teacher  of  music  by 
instructing  pupils  in  Medfield,  Norwood, 
Mill  is,  Mansfield,  and  other  towns,  while  he 
resided  in  Medfield.  Subsequently,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  many  private  pupils,  he  had  charge 
of  the  music  training'  in  Dean  Academy.  In 
1872  he  came  to  the  farm  where  his  family 
now  reside.  Here  he  made  many  improve- 
ments, and  added  to. the  original  twenty-seven 
acres  by  the  purchase  of  woodlands.  His  time 
being  entirely  occupied  by  his  professional 
duties,  he  was  obliged  to  hire  a  foreman  to 
manage  the  farm  work;  but  all  work  done  upon 
the  place  has  been  carried  on  under  bis  instruc- 
tions. Plis  evenings  were  occupied  in  direct- 
ing classes,  bands,  or  orchestras,  or  in  conduct- 
ing sundry  choirs,  of  which  he  was  the  leader. 
For  fourteen  years  be  was  the  organist  and 
choir  leader  at  the  Unitarian  church  ;  and  for 
the  eight  years  preceding  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred on  April  25,  1896,  he  held  a  like  posi- 
tion in  the  Second  Congregational  Church. 
His  interest  in  this  department  of  his  work 
was  strong,  and  the  fine  discrimination  with 
which  the  anthems  or  hymns  were  selected  and 
rendered  clearly  betokened  his  musical  ability, 
knowledge,  and  taste.  His  patience  in  con- 
ducting rehearsals  was  remarkable.  Pie  was 
ever  ready  to  give  extra  time  when  needed,  and 
he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  keeping  the  mem- 
bers of  his  choir   in   harmonious   comradeship. 


He  was  an  expert  performer  on  the  piano, 
organ,  cornet,  and  various  stringed  instru- 
ments. While  possessed  in  so  full  a  degree 
with  the  artistic  temperament,  he  was  in  every 
respect  a  manly  man.  In  politics  he  voted  the 
Republican  ticket.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum  and  of  the  A.  O.  of  U.  W. 
of  Medfield.  None  knew  him  who  did  not 
grieve  for  his  loss  when  he  died. 

On  September  5,  1865,  Professor  Smith 
married  Julia  A.  Hamant,  of  Medfield,  who 
died  August  9,  1869.  On  June  30,  1872,  he 
married  Mary  Jane  Hamant,  a  sister  of  the 
fust  Mrs.  Smith.  By  the  second  marriage 
there  were  three  children  :  Ellis  Russell,  born 
May  2,  1873,  who  died  April  5,  1874;  Will- 
iam Bernard,  born  December  28,  1874,  who 
died  July  15,  1892;  and  Bertram  Hamant, 
born  February  10,  1879,  now  attending  school. 
William  B.  Smith  was  a  most  promising  young 
man  and  a  talented  musician.  With  his  nat- 
ural ability  and  the  early  instruction  given 
him  by  his  father,  a  brilliant  career  seemed 
before  him.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Med- 
field Utopian  Club  and  a  great  favorite 
throughout  the  town.  His  early  death  was 
greatly  lamented,  and  his  parents  had  the  sym- 
pathy of  a  wide  circle  of  friends. 


bfRANCIS  H.  COWING,  formerly  for 
p]  many  years  railroad  station  agent  in 
Weymouth  and  a  member  of  the  present 
Board  of  Assessors,  was  born  in  this  town  De- 
cember 17,  1S34,  son  of  Joshua  B.  and  Deb- 
orah (Cusbing)  Cowing.  He  is  a  descendant 
on  both  sides  of  well-known  Weymouth  fami- 
lies. His  great-uncle,  Joshua  Bates,  a  native 
of  Boston,  but  long  a  resident  of  London  and  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  the  Messrs.  Baring  of 
that  city,  in  1852  founded  the  Boston  Public 
Library  by  donating  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
the  erection  of  a  suitable  building,  subse- 
quently increasing  his  benefactions  by  a  like 
sum  for  the  purchase  of  books.  This  was  the 
building  on  Boylston  Street,  near  Tremont 
Street,  which  continued  in  use  for  library  pur- 
poses until  1895.  Donations  of  money  and 
books  for  the  purpose  had  previous!)  been 
made,  beginning  in  [843,  when  M.  Vatteniare 
secured  a  gift  of  books  from  the  city  of  Paris; 


334 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


but  Mr.  Bates  was  the  one  who  made  the 
library  an  accomplished  fact.  His  name  was 
given  to  the  main  hall  in  commemoration  of 
his  munificence,  and  has  been  perpetuated  in 
the  main  hall  of  the  present  magnificent 
structure  in  Copley  Square.  Joshua  B.  Cow- 
ing, father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
a  lifelong  resident  of  Weymouth  and  for  many 
years  a  custom  boot  and  shoe  maker  by  trade. 
He  died  in  1885.  Seven  of  his  children  now 
survive,  and  of  these  Francis  H.  is  the  eldest. 
Francis  H.  Cowing  acquired  a  common- 
school  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
obtained  employment  as  clerk  in  a  general 
store,  in  which  capacity  he  served  some  five 
years,  on  June  1,  1857,  being  appointed  sta- 
tion agent  of  the  old  South  Shore  Railway. 
He  also  ably  and  faithfully  discharged  the 
duties  of  telegraph  operator  for  thirty-three 
years,  or  until  1890,  when  he  resigned.  Hav- 
ing invested  his  savings  to  good  advantage,  he 
is  at  the  present  time  in  easy  circumstances. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  a  trustee 
of  the  Weymouth  Savings  Bank.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Assessors  since  1895. 
His  long  service  as  station  agent  gained  for 
him  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, and  he  is  respected  and  esteemed  by  all 
who  know  him. 


ANIEL  WARREN,  a  prosperous 
merchant  of  Wellesley,  born  in 
1826,  is  a  native  of  Cork  County, 
Ireland,  which  has  been  the  birth- 
place of  nine  generations  of  his  family  ;  for  the 
Warrens  are  an  old  and  prominent  family  in 
Ireland.  Daniel  Warren  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  in  Cork  County.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  went  to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade. 
He  worked  at  his  trade  for  three  years,  after 
which  he  spent  one  year  at  home.  Another 
year  was  passed  in  working  at  his  trade,  and 
then,  having  made  up  his  mind  to  come  to 
America,  he  set  to  work  to  earn  the  money 
for  his  passage.  He  came  to  this  country  in 
the  year  1852,  landing  in  New  York  with  one 
dollar  and  twelve  cents  in  his  pocket.  By  the 
time  he  reached  Hartford,  Conn.,  he  had  but 
twelve  cents   left.      However,    he    soon    found 


employment  with  a  contractor,  building 
bridges.  After  working  for  him  one  year,  he 
spent  another  in  the  employment  of  Collins  & 
dishing  at  the  same  business,  and  then  came 
to  that  part  of  Needham  which  is  now  Welles- 
ley,  and  worked  in  a  machine  shop  for  thir- 
teen years.  In  1869  he  went  into  the  coal 
business,  and  has  been  engaged  in  it  ever 
since.  He  has  increased  his  business  each 
year;  and  he  now  has  an  extensive  trade  in 
coal,  hay,  grain,  etc.  Mr.  Warren  is  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  has  been  in  many  public 
positions.  He  was  a  member  of  the-  board  of 
Town  Assessors,  and  he  was  serving  on  the 
Town  Committee  when  Wellesley  was  set  off 
from  Needham.  He  was  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Improvement  Societv,  and  was 
the  first  Irishman  from  Needham  to  sit  upon  a 
jury.  That  was  over  'thirty  years  ago,  and 
since  then  he  has  served  many  times,  and  also 
on  the  grand  jury.  Mr.  Warren  is  a  member 
of  the  Newton  branch  of  the  Irish  Land 
League.  In  religious  belief  he  is  a  Roman 
Catholic  and  an  earnest  supporter  of  his 
church.  He  bought  the  land  where  the  church 
now  stands,  and  had  charge  of  the  construction 
of  the  building.  He  has  always  done  a  great 
deal  toward  building  up  church  property  and 
making  improvements  generally. 

Mr.  Warren  was  married  in  Watertown  in 
1856  to  Ann  Reynolds,  who  was  born  in 
Leitrim  County,  Ireland,  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1848.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  have 
had  six  children,  namely:  Margaret,  born  in 
1857,  who  married  James  Caley,  and  is  now 
living  in  Canada;  Fannie,  born  in  1859,  who 
was  educated  at  Notre  Dame  Academy,  Rox- 
burv,  and  at  Boston  University,  and  is  now  the 
principal  of  the  Wellesley  North  School; 
Jeremiah,  bom  in  1861,  who  died  in  1862; 
Mary,  living  at  home;  Daniel,  born  in  1867, 
now  in  the  express  business  at  Wellesley 
Lower  Falls;  and  John,  bom  in  1S73,  with 
his  father  in  the  coal  business. 


|BEN  HIGGINS,  the  proprietor  of  Elm- 
wood  Farm,  Dover,  was  born  in 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  March  31,  1845, 
son  of  Eben  and  Lydia-  (Tucker)  Higgins. 
His    grandparents,    Eben    and    Susan    (Sears) 


FREDERICK    H.    KINGSBURY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


337 


Higgins,  both  natives  of  Brewster,  Mass., 
spent  their  last  years  in  Newtonville. 

Eben  Higgins  (second),  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  of  Brews- 
ter. At  an  early  age  he  went  to  sea,  and 
eventually  became  master  of  a  vessel.  After 
acquiring  considerable  wealth  he  retired  from 
active  occupation.  For  several  years  he  re- 
sided in  Gloucester.  In  1866  he  settled  upon 
a  farm  in  Dover,  where  he  resided  for  seven 
years.  Then  he  moved  to  Newtonville,  where 
he  passed  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  in 
1880.  His  wife,  Lydia,  whose  father  was  a 
native  of  Gloucester,  became  the  mother  of 
five  children — Lydia  Ann,  Eben,  Willard 
Sears,  Susan  Abbey,  and  Howard  Holbrook. 
Lydia,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  Abram 
Bigelow,  of  Dover,  who  is  now  residing  in 
Wellesley,  Mass.  Willard  Sears  is  now  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Higgins  &  Ntckerson, 
carpenters  and  builders  of  Newtonville.  He 
wedded  Maria  James,  of  Gloucester,  who  died 
some  time  ago.  Susan  Abbey  married  Roger 
Bartelle,  a  native  of  Dover.  She  is  dead,  and 
her  husband  is  now  in  California.  Howard 
Holbrook  died  at  the  age  of  three  months. 
The  mother  resides  in  Newtonville. 

Eben  Higgins,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  educated  in  the  common  and  high  schools 
of  Gloucester.  Subsequently  he  went  to  sea 
a  year  with  his  father,  and  then  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade  in  Watertown,  Mass.  Hav- 
ing spent  two  years  in  Watertown,  he  worked 
in  Dover  for  a  time.  After  his  marriage  he 
went  to  Newtonville,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
the  building  business  until  1877,  when  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  relinquish  laborious 
employment.  The  Elmwood  Farm  was  pur- 
chased by  him  later.  This  property,  which 
consists  of  twenty-seven  acres,  he  has  greatly 
improved  by  the  erection  of  new  buildings; 
and  he  continues  to  cultivate  it.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  he  is  engaged  at  his  trade  of  car- 
penter. Politically,  he  is  an  active  supporter 
of  the  Republican  party.  He  has  served  as 
Town  Treasurer  since  1889,  has  been  Town 
Clerk  since  1890,  was  an  Assessor  for  four 
years,  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  he  is 
secretary  of  the  Republican  Town  Committee. 

On  September  15,  186S,  Mr.  Higgins  was 
joined  in   marriage  with   Sarah   A.    Goulding. 


She  was  born  in  Garland,  Me.,  daughter  of 
Lewis  and  Maria  (Holbrook)  Goulding.  Her 
father,  who  was  a  native  of  Worcester,  Mass., 
settled  upon  a  farm  in  Garland,  and  resided 
there  until  his  death.  His  widow,  now  also 
deceased,  came  to  Dover  and  married  losiah 
Battelle.  After  Mr.  Battelle's  death  she 
wedded  Caleb  Haskell,  who  has  since  died. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins  have  three  children, 
namely :  Eben  Edward,  born  November  2, 
1 87 1  ;  Charles  Herbert,  born  February  23, 
1875;  and  Lydia  A.,  born  January  27,  1884. 
Eben  E.  is  now  a  machinist  in  Boston,  Mass. 
Charles  Herbert,  D.V.  S. ,  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  and 
of  the  Magi]]  University,  Montreal.  He  has 
already  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  a  veteri- 
nary surgeon,  and  is  now  practising  in  Dover, 
with  headquarters  at  Elmwood  Farm.  Lydia 
A.  is  residing  at  home.  Mr.  Higgins  is  con- 
nected with  Medfield  Lodge,  No.  116, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  Natick  Council,  No.  126,  Royal 
Arcanum;  John  Elliott  Lodge,  No.  149,  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen,  of  West 
Newton  ;  the  Dover  Grange,  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry ;  and  with  the  Wildey  Casualty  Com- 
pany. Both  he  and  Mrs.  Higgins  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  church,  and  take 
an  active  interest  in  religious  work. 


TSmTei 


REDERICK     H.      KINGSBURY,     the 

popular  Town  Clerk  and  Collector  of 
Taxes  of  Wellesley,  was  born  in  Need- 
ham,  now  Wellesley,  in  1854.  A  son  of  Dex- 
ter and  Mary  Ann  (Dewing)  Kingsbury,  he 
belongs  to  an  old  and  highly  respected  family 
of  the  county.  His  grandfather,  Luther  Kings- 
bury, a  native  of  Needham,  and  a  farmer  and 
large  land-owner,  married  Elmira  Morse,  of 
Natick.  Their  son,  Dexter,  who  was  born 
May  11,  1814,  became  a  farmer.  Dexter  was 
the  foreman  of  the  Bussey  farm,  Jamaica 
Plain,  for  eight  years;  the  warden  of  the 
Wellesley  town  farm  for  the  same  length  of 
time,  and  at  a  later  date  the  foreman  of  the 
Dr.  Morton  farm  in  this  town.  He  died  in 
1892.  His  wife,  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Seth 
and  Olive  (Haven)  Dewing,  late  of  Needham, 
is  still  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
The  early  life  of  Frederick   II.    Kingsbury 


33§ 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


was  spent  at  home,  and  he  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  and  later  the  high  school.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  became  a  clerk  in  the 
grocery  store  of  Mansfield  &  Bigelow,  where 
he  remained  for  four  years.  During  this  time 
also  he  was  Deputy  Postmaster.  Subse- 
quently, until  1882,  he  was  associated  with  his 
father  in  farming.  Then  he  was  elected  Col- 
lector of  Taxes  for  the  town  of  Wellesley, 
which  office  he  has  held  for  every  term  since 
except  one.  He  has  been  Town  Clerk  since 
1888,  discharging  the  duties  of  that  office  also 
in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  all  concerned.  He 
is  the  administrator  of  his  father's  estate,  is 
the  secretary  of  the  Wellesley  Land  Improve- 
ment Association,  and  is  still  engaged  in 
farming. 

In  1885  Mr.  Kingsbury  married  Edith  A., 
daughter  of  George  and  Catherine  Nelson,  of 
Milford,  N.H.  He  has  two  children:  Dexter 
Nelson,  born  in  March,  1887;  and  Elizabeth 
Louise,  born  September  15,  1890.  Both  chil- 
dren are  attending  school.  In  politics  Mr. 
Kingsbury  is  a  zealous  Republican.  He  is  a 
Past  Grand  of  Sincerity  Lodge,  No.  173, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  a  member  of  Welcome  Lodge, 
Daughters  of  Rebecca,  at  Natick  ;  and  the  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  of  Wrellesley  Grange,  Pa- 
trons of  Husbandry. 


lALVIN  FAIRBANKS,  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  and  mill-owners  of 
Caryville,  Bellingham,  Mass.,  the 
son  of  Elijah  and  Nancy  (Adams) 
Fairbanks,  was  born  in  the  house  where  he 
now  lives,  October  25,  1825.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Joseph  Fairbanks,  who  was  the 
first  of  the  family  to  own  and  occupy  the  home- 
stead, was  an  extensive  farmer  and  the  owner 
of  a  great  deal  of  mill  property.  He  married 
Mary  Metcalf,  by  whom  he  had  four  children 
—  Elijah,  Jonas  M.,  Emery,  and  Lucy. 

Their  son  Elijah  followed  his  father's  busi- 
ness. He  was  a  prominent  and  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  filled  most  of  the  town 
offices  at  different  times.  He  died  in  1871, 
aged  eighty-three."  His  wife  was  Nancy 
Adams,  of  Medway.  They  had  eight  children, 
as  follows:  Rufus,  who  died  in  March,  1838, 
at   the  age  of   twenty-four;   Edwin,    deceased; 


William;  George,  born  December  29,  1819, 
who  died  February  1,  i860;  Joseph,  born  No- 
vember 25,  1823,  now  dead;  Calvin,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  sketch;  Jemima,  bom  April  9, 
1829,  now  the  widow  of  Asa  Patridge,  living 
in  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.  ;  and  Nancy,  born 
January  8,   1835,  who  died  when  a  young  girl. 

Calvin  Fairbanks  obtained  his  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Bellingham, 
pursued  more  advanced  studies  at  the  high 
school  in  Medway,  where  he  was  graduated, 
and  afterward  attended  the  academy  at  Warren, 
Mass.,  while  teaching  school  evenings.  With 
the  exception  of  three  years  that  were  passed 
in  Kennebunk,  Me.,  where  he  and  his  brother 
owned  a  saw-mill,  his  active  life  has  been 
spent  in  his  native  town.  After  returning 
from  Maine,  he  and  his  brother  went  into  the 
shoe  business  together,  and  were  very  success- 
ful in  the  undertaking.  In  1879  Mr.  Fair- 
banks came  to  the  farm  where  he  now  lives 
engaged  in  general  farming  and  dairying. 
The  estate  contains  about  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres,  and  is  well  managed. 

A  man  of  good  judgment  and  practical  abil- 
ity, fair-minded  and  honorable,  Mr.  Fairbanks 
enjoys  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  towns- 
people. He  has  held  the  office  of  Tax  Collec- 
tor for  twelve  years,  and  has  also  served  as 
Assessor,  besides  filling  other  minor  offices. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Congregational  church  in 
West  Medway  for  a  number  of  years. 

He  was  first  married  in  i860  to  Almira 
Storer,  of  Kennebunk,  Me.,  who  died  leaving 
no  children.  He  was  again  married  in  1861 
to  Jane  E.,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Eudotia 
(Hall)  Young,  of  Orwell,  Vt.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fairbanks  have  one  son  —  Highland  C,  born 
January  5,  1867,  now  living  at  home  with  his 
parents. 


§OSEPH  TAILBY,  the  well-known  florist 
and  horticulturist  of  Wellesley',  was 
born  in  Leicestershire,  England,  and 
received  his  early  education  from  the 
free  schools  of  that  county.  When  only  thir- 
teen years  of  age  he  began  to  work  in  a  nursery 
and  greenhouse;  and  five  years  later  he  became 
foreman    in   a   private  greenhouse   in    Knowle, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


34i 


near  Birmingham,  England.  For  two  ami  one- 
half  years  he  remained  in  this  position,  and 
then  became  special  gardener  and  steward  for 
William  D.  Dowler,  a  prominent  manufact- 
urer of  the  same  town.  At  the  end  of  another 
two  and  one-half  years  he  went  to  work  in  a 
similar  position  for  Carter  &  Co.,  of  London; 
and  in  1865  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  landed 
at  New  York  City.  He  came  to  South  Fram- 
ingham  to  take  charge  of  the  nursery  and 
greenhouses  of  E.  J.  Powers,  and  had  re- 
mained with  him  some  two  years  and  a  half 
when  he  settled  in  Wellesley  and  established  a 
business  for  himself  in  a  small  way  near  where 
he  is  at  present  located.  His  buildings  now 
cover  sixteen  thousand,  five  hundred  square 
feet  of  land. 

Mr.  Tailby  and  his  son,  who  is  in  partner- 
ship with  him,  make  a  specialty  of  hybridizing 
and  producing  new  varieties  of  plants  and 
[rowers,  and  also  do  a  large  retail  business  in 
cut  flowers  and  plants.  Mr.  Tailby  is  the 
originator  of  the  American  types  of  carnations. 
In  1880  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  So- 
ciety gave  him  the  prospective  prize  of  forty 
dollars  for  the  best  seedling  carnation.  He 
was  obliged  to  compete  for  three  years  against 
all  comers,  but  finally  carried  off  the  prize,  and 
is  the  only  person  to  whom  it  has  ever  been 
awarded.  The  variety  of  carnation  that  won 
this  proud  honor  was  known  as  the  "Grace 
Wilder."  In  1895  Mr.  Tailby  received  the 
silver  medal  from  the  Massachusetts  Horticult- 
ural Society  for  a  yellow  calla  lily,  the 
"Elliotana."  He  is  now  producing  hybrids 
between  the  Elliotana  and  the  common  Arum, 
or  Jack-in-the-pulpit,  that  quaintest  of  flowers, 
which  grows  wild  in  New  England  and  is 
known  to  every  school  boy  and  school  girl. 
Mr.  Tailby  has  taken  many  medals  and  certifi- 
cates of  merit  from  the  Massachusetts  and 
New  York  Horticultural  Societies,  and  is  the 
originator  of  the  Tailby  hybrid  cucumber,  of 
which  the  seed  sold  the  first  year  for  eighty 
dollars  per  pound.  This  was  also  awarded  a 
silver  medal.  When  the  Bruse  seedling  pota- 
toes were  first  introduced,  Mr.  Tailby  propa- 
gated them  in  the  hot-house  from  clippings, 
and  sold  the  plants  at  eighteen  dollars  per 
dozen,  realizing  over  five  hundred  dollars. 

He    married,    in    1865,    Eliza,    daughter    of 


James  Allen,  of  Birmingham,  England,  and 
has  two  sons  —  Joseph  A.  and  William  W. 
Joseph  A.  Tailby  was  born  in  1866.  He  was 
educated  in  the  grammar  school  of  Wellesley, 
in  Chauncy  Hall  School,  Boston,  and  at  the 
College  of  Pharmacy  in  that  city.  He  worked 
as  an  assistant  at  Clark  University  in  Worces- 
ter for  two  years,  and  then  became  teacher  of 
chemistry  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy  from 
which  he  had  been  graduated.  He  now  has 
charge  for  Conner  &  Co.,  manufacturing  chem- 
ists, Boston.  The  younger  son,  William  W., 
was  instrumental  in  organizing  the  New  Eng- 
land Flower  Growers'  Association,  of  which  he 
has  been  from  the  beginning  secretary  and 
treasurer.  He  is  a  prominent  Mason,  having 
taken  the  Knight  Templar  degree. 

Mr.  Tailby  is  a  communicant  of  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  belongs  to  the  parish  here  in 
Wellesley,  at  the  organization  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  original  signers.  Fraternally,  he 
is  a  member  of  Sincerity  Lodge,  No.  173, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  is  now  its  treasurer,  as  he  has 
been  for  twelve  years,  and  has  passed  all  the 
chairs  in  both  the  subordinate  lodge  and  en- 
campment. He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
R.  A.,  of  Natick  ;  member  and  secretary  of  the 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society;  member 
of  the  Florists'  Club-of  Boston  and  of  the 
American  Florists'  Society.  At  the  time  of 
the  great  Peace  Jubilee  in  Boston  in  1872,  Mr. 
Tailby  was  delegated  as  a  committee  of  one 
from  British  subjects  in  Boston,  to  wait  on 
Colonel  Flugier,  of  the  British  Grenadiers,  to 
solicit  his  permission  for  the  famous  Grenadier 
Guards  Band  to  play  outside  the  building,  it 
having  been  announced,  authoritatively  or  not, 
that  they  would  play  only  in  the  Coliseum. 
Mr.  Tailby,  assisted  by  the  Horticultural  Fra- 
ternity, presented  each  member  of  the  band, 
also  each  member  of  Gilmore's  Band,  with  a 
hand  bouquet,  a  button  hole  bouquet  of  moss 
roses,  and  a  rosette  of  red,  white,  and  blue 
ribbons. 


§OHN   F.    WALL,  the  chairman   of  Nor- 
folk's Board  of  Selectmen,  and   an   en- 
terprising paper  manufacturer,  was  born 
in  Dover,  Mass.,  September    II,   1854. 
His   parents,  Patrick   and    Eliza  (Nash)  Wall, 


342 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


were  natives  of  Killarney,  Ireland.  The 
father,  who  emigrated  to  the  United  States  at 
the  age  of  twenty  years,  settled  upon  a  farm 
in  Dover,  and  there- followed  agriculture  with 
prosperity  for  many  years.  His  last  days  were 
spent  in  Boston,  where  he  died  in  February, 
1893.  He  served  in  the  Civil  War  with  the 
Twenty-eighth  Massachusetts  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, sustaining  the  loss  of  a  limb.  His 
widow,  who  is  now  residing  in  Boston,  has 
been  the  mother  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom 
William  H.,  John  F.,  Joseph  J.,  James  E., 
Lizzie  E.,  Francis,  and  Philip  are  living. 
James  E.  is  a  stock-broker  in  Boston;  Joseph 
J.  is  in  the  provision  business  in  South  Bos- 
ton;  William  H.,  Francis,  and  Philip  follow 
the  same  business. in  other  parts  of  that  city; 
and  Lizzie  E.  is  a  book-keeper.  The  others 
were:  Martin,  Edward,  and  Mary,  who  reached 
maturity;    and  three  who  died  in  infancy. 

John  F.  Wall  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Dover.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he 
went  to  work  as  a  farm  assistant  for  a  Mr. 
Otis,  and  was  later  advanced  to  the  position 
of  foreman.  After  his  marriage  he  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  paper  with  his  father-in- 
law,  the  late  William  Hill,  of  Dover;  and 
some  five  or  six  years  later  he  established 
himself  in  the  same  business  in  Norfolk.  He 
manufactures  several  kinds  of  paper,  which 
find  a  ready  market  in  Boston  and  other 
places,  and  has  a  thriving  business.  His 
factory,  the  Campbell  Mill,  located  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town,  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  December  28,  1896,  causing  him  con- 
siderable loss.  He  resides  upon  a  good  farm 
of  sixty  acres,  which  he  has  greatly  improved, 
and  is  now  devoting  his  spare  time  to  its 
cultivation. 

Mr.  Wall  was  elected  as  a  Democrat  to  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  three  years  ago,  and  he 
has  been  its  chairman  for  the  past  two  years. 
At  one  time  he  served  as  Constable.  As  an 
able  and  industrious  business  man  he  has 
gained  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-townsmen, 
and  the  efficiency  he  displays  in  public  office 
is  heartily  appreciated.  He  is  a  member  of 
King  David  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  of  Wonewok 
Tribe,  No.  83,  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men, 
of  Franklin;  and  of  the  Sons  of  Veterans  of 
Franklin,    Mass.       On    January  28,    1872,   he 


was  united  in  marriage  with  Jennie  C.  Hill, 
daughter  of  William  and  Kittie  (Chamless) 
Hill,  late  of  Dover.  Mrs.  Wall  is  the  mother 
of  two  children  —  Kittie  C.  and  Ayana  L. — 
both  of  whom  are  residing  at  home. 


Wi 


LLARD  W.  TURNER,  an  es- 
teemed and  highly  respected  citizen 
of  Foxboro,  was  born  in  this  town, 
January  30,  1839,  son  °f  tne  ^ate  Willard  P. 
Turner.  His  father,  who  was  born  in  Stough- 
ton,  this  county,  was  educated  in  Foxboro, 
having  come  here  when  a  little  lad  to  make 
his  home  with  his  uncle,  the  Rev.  Willard 
Pierce.  Willard  P.  Turner  learned  the  tail- 
or's trade  in  Foxboro,  afterward  working  here 
for  some  years.  He  was  also  for  a  time  con- 
nected with  the  straw  shops,  and  largely  in- 
terested in  their  improvements.  From  the 
organization  of  the  party,  in  1856,  he  was  a 
loyal  Republican  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred October  18,  1896,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  years.  For  two  years  he  was  Selectman 
of  the  town,  serving  faithfully  and  ably.  He 
married  Miss  Catherine  Bird,  a  daughter  of 
Warren  and  Esther  (Belcher)  Bird,  and  with 
her  reared  two  children  —  Kate  and  Willard 
W.  Kate  is  now  the  widow  of  the  late  Cal- 
vin French.  She  kept  house  for  her  father  in 
his  declining  years. 

Willard  W.  Turner  completed  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Foxboro.  Subse- 
quently he  worked  in  the  shops  of  the  Union 
Straw  Company  for  some  years.  In  April, 
1 861,  he  enlisted  with  a  company  of  three 
months'  men  in  the  Fourth  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  afterward  at  the 
battle  of  Big  Bethel.  On  returning  to  Fox- 
boro, Mr.  Turner  resumed  work  in  the  straw 
shops,  where  he  was  employed  until  he  re- 
tired in  1S85.  He  has  since  devoted  a  good 
deal  of  time  and  attention  to  the  raising  of 
cranberries  for  the  market,  having  been  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  in  this  industry  for 
many  years,  his  average  annual  crop  being 
from  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  barrels. 
He  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and 
voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  i860,  that  being 
his  first  Presidential  vote.  He  was  a  Tax 
Collector  for  a  year. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


343 


Mr.  Turner's  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Annie  Barker,  was  born  in  New  Bedford. 
She  died  a  few  years  after  her  marriage,  leav- 
ing one  child,  Mabel  F.,  who  resides  with  her 
aunt,  Mrs.  French.  Mr.  Turner  subsequently 
married  Miss  Jane  A.  Locke,  of  Lexington, 
Mass.  They  have  three  children  —  Roy  L., 
Henry  W.,  and  Anne  W.  Mr.  Turner  is 
much  interested  in  Masonry,  and  is  a  member 
of  St.  Alban's  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  and  of 
Keystone  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  Both  he  and 
Mrs.  Turner  are  Universalists. 


LLEN  COLBURN,  a  well-to-do  farmer 
and  dairyman,  who  has  contributed  his 
full  share  toward  advancing  the 
agricultural  interests  of  Norfolk 
County,  was  born  October  28,  1832,  in  West 
Dedham,  in  the  house  in  which  he  now  re- 
sides. He  is  a  son  of  the  late  Thatcher  Col- 
burn,  and  is  descended  from  a  pioneer  family 
of  this  part  of  Massachusetts. 

Nathaniel  Colburn  emigrated  from  England, 
August  11,  1637,  and  received  a  grant  of  land 
in  the  town  of  Dedham.  He  married  Pris- 
cilla  Clark  in  1639.  The  line  of  descent  is 
as  follows:  Samuel,  son  of  Nathaniel,  born 
January  25,  1 654—5 ;  Ephraim,  born  Novem- 
ber 6,  1687;  Ephraim,  born  December  31, 
1716;  Ichabod,  born  February  26,  1754;  and 
Thatcher,  born  February  20,   1787. 

Thatcher  Colburn  was  brought  up  on  the 
home  farm  that  afterward  came  into  his  pos- 
session. He  was  an  energetic,  industrious 
man,  and  in  the  course  of  his  seventy-eight 
years  of  life  made  excellent  improvements  on 
his  place.  He  married  Hitty  Cleveland,  who 
was  born  in  Dover,  this  county,  and  died  at 
the  old  homestead,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-eight  years.  They  reared  a  family  of 
five  children,  of  whom  Allen,  above  named, 
and  Howard,  Deputy  Sheriff  of  Norfolk 
County,  are  the  only  survivors.  The  eldest 
son,  Waldo  Colburn,  who  was  graduated  from 
Phillips  Academy  at  Andover  and  from  the 
Harvard  Law  School,  and  became  one  of  the 
leading  lawyers  of  the  State,  was  for  a  time  a 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  and  later  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  was  prominent  in  local 
affairs,  serving  as  Selectman   of  the  town  for 


many  years.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty 
years. 

Allen  Colburn  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  under  the  tuition  of  his 
father  became  as  familiar  with  the  theory  and 
practice  of  agriculture  as  with  the  contents  of 
his  text-books.  Choosing  the  free  and  inde- 
pendent occupation  to  which  he  was  trained  as 
his  life  work,  he  remained  with  his  parents, 
and  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  farm. 
He  has  fifty  acres  of  arable  land,  on  which  he 
carries  on  general  farming  with  success,  and 
makes  somewhat  of  a  specialty  of  dairying, 
selling  the  milk  from  his  twenty  cows  in  the 
Dedham  markets. 

Mr.  Colburn  was  married  December  18, 
1856,  to  Miss  Nancy  Colburn,  daughter  of 
Walter  Colburn,  of  this  town,  a  well-known 
farmer  and  butcher.  Mrs.  Colburn  lived  but 
a  short  time  after  their  union,  dying  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  leaving  one  child, 
Nancy  E.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  character, 
highly  respected,  and  was  a  regular  attendant 
of  the  Unitarian  church.  Mr.  Colburn  is  a 
decided  Republican,  but  takes  no  active  part 
in  political  affairs.  He  well  sustains  the  rep- 
utation of  his  ancestors  for  sterling  traits  of 
character  and  useful  citizenship.  He  is  an 
attendant  of  the  Baptist  church  and  a  liberal 
contributor  toward  its  support. 


(5 THOMAS  A.  GEORGE,  a  merchant  of 
4  I  Wrentham,  was  born  here,  July  23, 
1815,  son  of  Artemus  and  Annie 
(Grant)  George.  The  great-grandfather, 
Richard  George,  who  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  town,  married  Jerusha  Hancock  on 
February  9,  1738.  His  children  were:  Han- 
nah, born  November  30,  1738;  Jerusha,  born 
May  8,  1740;  Thomas,  born  December  12, 
1742;  John,  born  October  28,  1744;  Sarah, 
born  July  15.  1746;  and  Elizabeth,  born  Au- 
gust 15,  1748.  Thomas  George,  the  grand- 
father of  Thomas  A.,  resided  all  his  lifetime 
in  his  native  town,  and  served  as  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  married  Han- 
nah Brastow,  and  they  had  thirteen  children. 
His  son  Artemus,  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  carried  on  general  farming,  living 
on  the  old  homestead  during  the  whole   of   his 


344 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


life.  Artemus  married  Annie  Grant,  of 
Rhode  Island;  and  they  had  six  children  — 
Artemus  A.,  Thomas  A.,  William  H.,  Sarah 
Ann,  Hannah  M.,  and  Eleanor  S. 

After  receiving  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  the  town  and  at  Day's  Academy, 
Thomas  A.  George  taught  school  in  different 
districts  for  about  seven  years.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  straw  goods  in 
his  native  town,  and  later  opened  a  dry-goods 
store,  which  he  has  since  carried  on,  a  period 
of  about  thirty-eight  years.  His  political 
views  are  those  of  the  Republicans,  and  he 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  the  Whig 
candidate  in  1S36.  Mr.  George  has  never 
married. 


KREDERICK  HARRISON  WIGHT,  a 
prosperous  farmer  and  marketman  of 
Dover,  was  born  in  this  town,  Decem- 
ber 4,  1827,  son  of  Asa  and  Sibyl  (Holbrook) 
Wight.  His  grandfather,  Seth  Wight,  who 
came  here  from  Medfield,  Mass.,  was  engaged 
in  farming  and  sheep-raising  for  the  rest  of 
his  life. 

Asa  Wight,  born  in  Dover,  was  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  succeeded  to  his 
father's  farm,  which  he  cultivated  during  his 
active  years.  A  profitable  business  in  wood 
and  charcoal  was  also  carried  on  by  him.  He 
died  December  13,  1869.  Sibyl  Holbrook, 
who  became  his  wife,  was  a  native  of  Sherman, 
Mass.  Their  children  were:  James  H.,  born 
July  21,  1816;  Harrison,  born  April  5,  1818, 
who  died  September  15,  1825;  Henry,  born 
November  24,  1819,  who  died  September  28, 
1825;  Frederick,  born  July  13,  182 1,  who 
died  September  10,  1825;  Sibyl  Augusta, 
born  June  13,  1823,  who  died  October  2, 
1825;  and  Frederick  H.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  James  H.  Wight,  who  married  Caro- 
line Whitney,  died  in  May,  1896.  His  wife 
is  now  residing  in  Newton  Highlands,  Mass. 
Mrs.  Sibyl  Wight  died  in  May,   1871. 

Frederick  Harrison  Wight  attended  the 
common  schools.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
began  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade.  He 
continued  to  reside  at  home,  and  worked  at  his 
trade  until  1851,  at  which  time  he  engaged  in 
farming  at  the  homestead,  and  began  to  run  a 


market  wagon  through  Dover,  Needham, 
Brighton,  and  Boston.  In  1871  he  moved  to 
the  village,  where  he  has  since  carried  on 
business  as  a  marketman.  He  owns  a  well- 
improved  farm,  containing  twenty-six  acres; 
and  he  still  continues  to  till  the  soil  with  ac- 
tivity. 

On  June  3,  185 1,  Mr.  Wight  married  Susan 
E.  Ware.  She  was  born  in  Wrentham,  Mass., 
September  18,  1829,  daughter  of  Herman  and 
Ruth  (Whiting)  Ware,  both  natives  of 
Wrentham,  Mass.  Herman  Ware  settled  in 
Medfield  in  1843,  and  was  engaged  in  farming 
and  butchering  there  for  many  years.  He 
died  in  Dover,  July  7,  1883,  aged  eighty-two 
years;  and  his  wife  died  June  15,  1871.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wight  have  three  children,  namely: 
Ellen  Augusta,  born  January  14,  1858;  Ade- 
laide Evora,  born  June  28,  1863;  and  Fred- 
erick Leslie,  born  May  5,  1869.  Ellen 
Augusta  married  Lewis  W.  Chandler,  a  car- 
penter and  contractor  of  Needham,  Mass. 
Adelaide  Evora  is  the  wife  of  George  H. 
Thompson,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  New  Brain- 
tree,  Mass.  Frederick  Leslie,  who  is  in  the 
antique  furniture  business  in  Washington, 
D.C.,  married  Lottie  Louise  Bacon,  of  New 
Braintree.  Mr.  Wight  supports  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  has  never  aspired  to  public 
office.  He  takes  much  interest  in  all  meas- 
ures calculated  to  advance  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Wight  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church. 


RVILLE  C.  RHODES,  a  Selectman 
of  Bellingham  township  and  a  promi- 
nent farmer  there,  was  born  Novem- 
ber 1,  1843,  son  of  William  O.  and 
Waity  (Cooke)  Rhodes,  both  natives  of  Bell- 
ingham. John  Rhodes,  the  paternal  grand- 
father, a  native  of  Bristol,  R. I.,  was  the 
first  of  the  family  to  come  to  Bellingham, 
where  he  and  his  sister  resided  all  their  lives. 
William  O.  Rhodes,  son  of  John,  is  a  boot- 
maker by  trade.  The  greater  part  of  Will- 
iam's life,  however,  has  been  devoted  to  agri- 
culture on  his  farm  on  Blackstone  Street, 
where  he  still  resides,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one.  His  wife  died  in  1886,  leaving  three 
children.      These  are:    Mary   J.,    the  wife  of 


FREDERICK    II.    WIGHT. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


347 


George  H.  Thayer,  of  Bellingham  village; 
Irvin  O.,  who  married  Etta  Talcott,  and  re- 
sides in  Mendon,  Mass.,  where  he  is  a  suc- 
cessful butcher;  and  Orville  C.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

Mr.  Rhodes  received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation, and  remained  at  home  until  twenty- 
four  years  of  age.  In  1865  he  moved  to  the 
farm  of  seven  acres  on  which  he  now  lives. 
He  has  much  enhanced  the  value  of  the  place 
by  erecting  new  buildings  and  making  other 
improvements.  Here  he  raises  poultry  exten- 
sively for  the  market.  His  is  chiefly  occu- 
pied as  a  meat  dealer,  doing  his  own  butcher- 
ing, and  running  a  retail  cart  through  Belling- 
ham and  Mendon,  where  he  has  a  large  trade. 
Mr.  Rhodes  is  much  interested  in  the  public 
affairs  of  the  town,  and  votes  the  Independent 
ticket.  He  was  Assessor  for  about  ten  years, 
and  he  has  been  Selectman  for  the  past  three 
years.  In  the  Bellingham  Grange,  No.  190, 
P.  H.,  he  is  Master. 

His  wife,  in  maidenhood  Charlotte  M. 
Cook,  was  born  May  10,  1840,  in  Wrentham, 
this  county,  daughter  of  Avery  and  Charlotte 
(Barney)  Cook.  Her  mother  was  a  native  of 
Rhode  Island;  and  her  father  was  born  in 
Wrentham,  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rhodes  have  two  children: 
Clara  A.,  born  November  29,  1868,  who  re- 
sides at  home;  and  Frederick  M.,  born  Janu- 
ary 13,  1874,  who  married  Lottie  Clarke,  and 
resides  with  his  wife  and  parents  at  the  old 
farm.  Mr.  Rhodes  has  earned  his  success  in 
life  by  close  application  to  work  and  by  mak- 
ing a  constant  endeavor  to  please  his  cus- 
tomers. He  is  well  known  and  liked  through- 
out  the  town  and  county. 


§AMES  WILLARD  DANIELS,  one  of 
the  prosperous  farmers  of  Millis,  was 
born  in  this  town  when  it  was  a  part  of 
Medway,  April  2,  1817.  Also  natives 
of  the  place  were  his  parents,  James  and 
Rhoda  (Richardson)  Daniels;  his  paternal 
grandparents,  Lemuel  and  Priscilla  (Penni- 
man)  Daniels;  and  his  maternal  grandparents, 
Simeon  and  Elizabeth  (Jones)  Richardson. 
Lemuel  Daniels,  who  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  settled  upon  the  farm  where  his  grand- 


son now  resides,  and  occupied  it  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  He  was  the  father  of  two  children 
—  Jasper  and  James — both  now  deceased. 
Jasper  wedded  Mehitable  Partridge,  and  re- 
sided in  Rockville. 

James  Daniels  settled  at  the  homestead 
after  his  marriage,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
farming  until  October  2,  18 16,  when  the  acci- 
dental discharge  of  a  gun  totally  destroyed 
the  sight  of  both  eyes.  He  died  July  29, 
1882,  aged  eighty-eight  years,  and  his  wife 
on  February  24  of  the  same  year.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  James  W.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Rhoda  R.,  born  August  31,  1821, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  ten  years;  and  Abigail 
P.,  born  March  16,  1829,  who  died   December 

3,  1831- 

James  Willard  Daniels  acquired  a  common- 
school  education,  and  was  reared  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits  at  the  homestead.  He  has  al- 
ways resided  here,  and  since  1842  has  man- 
aged the  farm,  which  he  inherited  after  his 
father's  death.  On  the  property,  containing 
ninety  acres,  twenty  acres  of  which  is  wood- 
land, he  has  made  various  improvements. 
Prior  to  1887  he  was  for  many  years  engaged 
in  driving  a  team  between  this  town  and  Bos- 
ton. He  has  been  a  Republican  since  the  for- 
mation of  his  party,  and  he  cast  his  first  Pres- 
idential ballot  for  William  Henry  Harrison. 
Valuable  public  services  were  rendered  by 
him  in  the  capacity  of  Road  Surveyor. 

On  February  24,  1842,  Mr.  Daniels  married 
for  his  first  wife  Marion  Adams.  Her  par- 
ents, Aaron  and  Catherine  Adams,  both  now 
deceased,  were  prosperous  farming  people  of 
West  Medway.  She  died  March  24,  1849, 
leaving  two  children:  Rhoda  A.,  born  Decem- 
ber 4,  1842,  who  died  April  2,  i860;  and 
Marion  Jane,  born  February  23,  1849,  who 
married  Sewell  H.  Bullard,  and  lives  in 
Florida.  On  October  30,  1850,  Mr.  Daniels 
wedded  Mrs.  Mary  (Morse)  Bullard.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  (Metcalf) 
Morse,  who  were  natives  respectively  of  Sher- 
born,  Mass.,  and  Franklin,  and  resided  upon  a 
farm  in  the  district  now  called  Millis.  The 
father  died  here  at  the  age  of  ninety-four,  and 
the  mother  at  that  of  eighty-seven.  By  her 
union  with  her  first  husband,  Sylvanus  Bul- 
lard, who  died  here  in  1836,  Mrs.  Daniels  had 


34« 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


one  son,  Frederick  Francis,  who,  born  Novem- 
ber 30,  1836,  died  September  15,  183S.  By 
her  second  marriage  she  had  one  daughter, 
Mary  Abbott,  born  October  1,  185  1,  who  died 
February  21,  1856.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  church. 


DENYS  ZIRNGIEBEL,  a  leading 
florist  of  Massachusetts,  was  born 
in  Neufchatel,  one  of  the  French- 
speaking  cantons  of  Switzerland,  in 
the  year  1829.  He  was  educated  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Neufchatel,  under  Professor  Louis 
Agassiz,  graduating  in  1848,  and  then  becom- 
ing an  apprentice  in  the  Neufchatel  Botanical 
Gardens,  where  he  remained  for  three  years. 
The  next  eight  years  he  spent  in  Paris,  en- 
gaged in  the  floral  business.  He  then  took 
charge  of  the  Gardens  of  Shadau  in  Thun, 
Switzerland,  for  three  years:  and  in  1854  he 
came  to  America,  landing  at  New  Orleans. 
He  was  in  Louisiana  for  two  years;  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time  he  came  to  Cambridge,  Mass., 
and  took  charge  of  the  Harvard  Botanic 
Gardens.  In  this  position  as  curator  he  re- 
mained for  twelve  years,  associated  with  Pro- 
fessor Asa  Gray,  the  distinguished  botanist 
and  author.  In  1864  Mr.  Zirngiebel  came  to 
Needham,  and  purchased  the  property  where 
he  is  now  extensively  engaged  in  floriculture, 
raising  many  plants  and  flowers  for  the  Boston 
markets.  At  present  he  has  about  thirty-five 
thousand  feet  under  glass  and  about  eight 
acres  devoted  to  the  raising  of  flowers.  He 
makes  a  specialty  of  producing  new  varieties 
of  plants,  flowers,  and  seeds,  particularly  of 
pansies,  and  in  this  respect  has  a  national  rep- 
utation, having  originated  many  new  and 
choice  varieties.  He  also  does  a  large  busi- 
ness in  ornamental  and  landscape  gardening, 
and  is  greatly  interested  in  the  subject  of 
heating  greenhouses.  He  has  made  a  study 
of  this  important  question,  and  is  the  origina- 
tor and  introducer  of  the  system  of  heating  by 
under  pressure  of  hot  water.  For  this  he  re- 
ceived the  first  prize  offered  for  the  best  essay 
on  heating,  there  being  fifty-eight  competitors 
from  different  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada. 

In     1854,     shortly    before    coming    to    the 


United  States,  Mr.  Zirngiebel  was  married  in 
Switzerland  to  Henriette  Zeller.  The  three 
children  born  of  this  union  are:  Denys,  Jr., 
Hattie,  and  Augustus.  Denys,  Jr.,  born  in 
Switzerland  in  1855,  is  now  living  in  Need- 
ham.  He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  the  high  school  of  this  town,  and 
learned  the  electrical  business  with  Blodgett 
Brothers,  of  Boston.  Hattie  was  born  in 
Cambridge  in  1859,  and  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Needham,  including  the.high 
school.  She  married  Mr.  A.  N.  Wyeth,  of 
Cambridge,  and  lives  in  Needham.  Augus- 
tus, who  was  born  in  1862,  and  is  now  en- 
gaged in  business  with  his  father,  married 
Mary  Richardson.  In  politics  Mr.  Zirngiebel 
is  a  Republican,  and  he  is  a  faithful  supporter 
of  Republican  principles  and  American  insti- 
tutions. 


ORACE  BAXTER  SPEAR,  a  prom- 
inent and  highly  esteemed  citizen  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  where  he  is  now 
living  retired  from  active  pursuits, 
was  born  in  this  town,  October  7,  1822.  His 
father,  Elijah  Spear,  was  born  here,  January 
27>  1 775-  He  was  a  son  of  Seth  and  Judith 
(Adams)  Spear,  and  a  descendant  of  old  Nor- 
folk County  families.  Seth  Spear  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Revolution,  and  later  was  known 
as  Lieutenant  Spear.  He,  son  of  John  Spear, 
was  born  in  1742  in  this  town,  then  a  part  of 
old  Braintree,  and  died  here,  August  26,  1S1S. 
That  he  was  active  in  local  affairs  is  evinced 
by  the  mention  of  his  name  as  a  town  officer  in 
the  early  records  of  Quincy.  He  was  three 
times  married.  Judith  Adams,  of  Milton,  to 
whom  he  was  united  in  1764,  died  Jul)'  10, 
1787,  aged  forty  years.  In  1788  he  married 
Abigail  Marsh,  and  after  her  death  he  married 
Fanny  Nightingale. 

Elijah  Spear  learned  the  currier's  trade  in 
his  early  days,  but,  instead  of  following  it  after 
becoming  of  age,  turned  his  attention  then  to 
freighting  stone  on  sloops  from  Quincy  to 
Boston.  In  this  occupation  he  saved  consid- 
erable money,  which  he  invested  in  land  ;  and 
during  his  later  years  he  was  prosperously 
engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  his 
death  occurring  in    1833.      He  served  as  Se- 


HORACE    B.    SPEAR 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3S1 


lectman  of  the  town  two  years,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee  for  some 
time.  In  the  first  year  of  the  present  century 
he  married  Susanna  Baxter  (born  1780,  died 
1863),  daughter  of  Jonathan  Baxter,  of 
Quincy.  They  reared  eight  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Seth,  born  January  9,  1S01,  died  in 
April,  1888;  Susanna,  born  August  31,  1802, 
who  married  Thomas  M.  Marsh,  and  died  in 
1891  ;  Elizabeth,  born  January  4,  1805,  now 
the  widow  of  Seth  Jillson,  formerly  of  Willi- 
mantic,  but  later  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  where 
she  is  now  spending  her  declining  years;  Abi- 
gail, born  April  29,  1807,  died  unmarried  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years;  Judith,  born  Jan- 
uary 24,  181 2,  now  residing  in  Quincy; 
Elijah,  born  in  1813,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years,  unmarried;  Lucy,  born 
March  31,  1817,  who  married  Charles  Marsh, 
and  died  in  1862;  and  Horace  Baxter,  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  parents 
were  active  members  of  the  First  Church  of 
Quincy  (Unitarian),  whose  house  of  worship 
is  the  Stone  Temple,  sometimes  called  the 
"Adams  Temple,"  built  at  the  request  of  ex- 
President  John  Adams,  mostly  of  stone  from  a 
quarry  presented  by  him  late  in  his  life  to  the 
town. 

Horace  Baxter  Spear  completed  his  educa- 
tion at  Derby  Academy  in  Hingham,  Mass., 
and  was  then  employed  for  several  years  as 
clerk  by  Josiah  Brigham  &  Co.,  in  a  general 
country  store- in  Quincy.  Subsequently,  form- 
ing a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Charles  Marsh,  under  the  name  of  Marsh  & 
Spear,  he  was  engaged  in  the  wholesale  leather 
trade  in  Boston  for  ten  years.  The  following 
three  years  he  had  no  permanent  business,  but 
in  1868  he  was'  appointed  cashier  of  the 
National  Granite  Bank  and  treasurer  of  the 
Quincy  Savings  Bank.  These  positions  he 
resigned  in  1871,  when  he  became  cashier  of 
the  National  Mount  Wollaston  Bank.  In 
1887,  after  sixteen  years  of  efficient  service,  he 
resigned  his  position  as  cashier  of  the  last 
named  bank,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Horace  Frederick.  Since  then  Mr.  Spear  has 
not  been  confined  to  any  active  business.  Pie 
is  a  director  of  the  National  Mount  Wollaston 
Bank  and  a  trustee  of  the  Quincy  Savings 
Bank,  where  he  served  for  several  years  on  the 


board  of  investment,  and  also  as  vice-president 
and  president.  For  seventeen  years  he  was 
Town  Treasurer  of  Quincy,  and  he  served  in 
the  same  capacity  the  first  year  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  city  charter.  He  has  served  for 
about  thirty  years  as  the  local  agent  of  the 
Norfolk  and  Dedham  Insurance  Companies, 
and  this  position  he  still  retains.  In  politics 
he  is  a  straight  Republican.  He  holds  a 
commission  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  having 
received  his  first  appointment  from  Governor 
Claflin. 

Mr.  Spear  was  married  October  25,  i860, 
to  Mary  Maria,  daughter  of  Eleazer  and  Mary 
(Gould)  Frederick,  of  Quincy.  The  three 
children  born  of  their  union  are  :  Horace  Fred- 
erick, cashier  of  the  National  Mount  Wollas- 
ton Bank;  Lucy  Maria;  and  Joseph  Gould. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spear  are  members  of  the  First 
Congregational  Society  (Unitarian),  of  which 
he  has  been  treasurer  and  also  one  of  the  Parish 
Committee.  His  more  than  ordinary  capacity 
as  a  business  man  and  financier,  as  exemplified 
in  his  career  as  a  banker  and  in  his  public 
service  as  Town  Treasurer,  is  recognized  by 
his  fellow-townsmen ;  and  he  is  rightly  re- 
garded as  one  who  has  done  his  full  share  in 
promoting  the  best  interests  of  the  town.  He 
and  his  wife  and  family  form  a  part  of  the  best 
social  element  of  Quincy. 


EV.  DWIGHT  M.  HODGE  was  born 
in  Salisbury,  Herkimer  County, 
N.Y.,  about  fifty  years  ago.  While 
young,  his  parents  removed  to 
Northern  New  'York,  settling  in  Adams 
Centre,  Jefferson  County.  Mr.  Hodge  was 
educated  in  the  public  and  private  schools, 
Lowville  Academy,  and  St.  Lawrence  Univer- 
sity. He  attributes  the  better  part  of  his  ed- 
ucation, however,  to  his  tutoring  by  an  ex- 
professor  of  Oxford,  who  served  as  an  officer 
in  the  rebel  army,  and  remained  in  this  coun- 
try some  years  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
Leaving  college,  Mr.  Hodge  settled  in  North 
Adams.  After  a  pastorate  of  two  years,  he 
continued  the  study  of  medicine,  which  he  had 
taken  up  before  entering  college.  During  the 
interval  between  his  years  of  study  at  Low- 
ville and  his  entering  college  he  also   taught 


3S2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


school,    holding  the  position    of    principal    of 
the  village  school  in  Rodman,  N.  Y. 

After  his  completion  of  his  course  of  medi- 
cal study  he  was  settled  for  ten  years  in  Dan- 
bury,  Conn. :  and  for  nine  of  those  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in 
that  city.  During  this  time  a  committee,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Pennsylvania  legislature  to  re- 
vise the  school  system  of  that  State,  took 
counsel  of  leading  educators,  and  were  referred 
by  the  Connecticut  State  Board  of  Education 
to  Mr.  Hodge  as  one  of  the  persons  most  com- 
petent to  advise  them  in  their  work.  Most  of 
his  suggestions  were  embodied  in  the  com- 
mittee's report.  During  his  residence  in 
Danbury  Mr.  Hodge  also  became  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  in  William  H.  Barnum's 
district.  Of  course,  the  contest  was  a  hope- 
less one  in  Mr.  Barnum's  time.  Neverthless, 
Mr.  Hodge's  vote  was  one  of  which  he  has  no 
reason  to  be  ashamed.  He  had  the  support  of 
independent  newspapers,  the  Springfield  Re- 
publican, though  outside  the  State,  advising 
voters  desiring  better  political  conditions  to 
vote  for  Mr.  Hodge.  In  1880  Mr.  Hodge  was 
invited  to  become  pastor  of  the  Second  Uni- 
versalist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
accepted,  remaining  in  New  York  ten  years, 
accepting  a  call  to  his  present  charge  in 
Franklin  in  1891 . 

Mr.  Hodge  travelled  in  Europe  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1886  and  again  in  the  summer  of  1890, 
visiting  nearly  all  the  continental  countries 
except  Russia.  As  a  writer  Mr.  Hodge  has 
achieved  some  distinction,  and  especially  as  a 
writer  of  poetry.  It  is  felt  that,  were  he  to 
live  a  less  busy  and  more  contemplative  life, 
he  would  make  a  mark  in  literature.  He  has 
contributed  poetry  and  prose  to  the  Univer- 
salist  Quarterly,  Christian  Leader,  the  Inde- 
pendent, and  various  other  periodicals.  Mr. 
Hodge's  tastes,  however,  incline  him  to  an 
active  life;  and  he  holds  various  positions  of 
influence  in  his  denomination,  being  at  the 
present  time  a  trustee  of  the  Universalist 
Publishing  House,  a  trustee  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Universalist  Convention,  and  a  member 
of  its  Advisory  Committee. 

Mr.  Hodge  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Harlem  Club,  New  York  City,  and  was  for 
two  terms  president  of  the  Universalist  Club 


of  New  York  City.  While  visiting  Europe  in 
1890,  Mr.  Hodge  received  the  freedom  of  the 
royal  castle  of  Nuremberg  through  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  Regent  of  Bavaria.  He  was  also  a 
guest  of  the  Carlton  Club,  one  of  the  most 
exclusive  clubs  of  London. 


RTHUR  W.  STETSON,  printer,  son 
of  the  late  David  Brainard  Stetson,  of 
Quincy,  is  a  lineal  descendant,  in 
the  eighth  generation,  of  Robert 
Stetson,  who  in  1658  was  cornet  of  the  first 
troop  of  horsemen  raised  in  Plymouth  Colony. 
Cornet  Robert  Stetson  was  bom  in  16 13  and 
died  February  1,  1703.  From  him  the  line  of 
descent  is  as  follows:  Joseph,  born  June,  1639, 
who  resided  in  Scituate,  and  died  in  1724; 
Robert,  born  December  9,  1670,  who  married 
Mary  Collamore,  of  Scituate;  Amos,  who  was 
born  June  18,  1703,  married  Margaret  Thayer, 
of  Braintree,  May  9,  1727,  and  died  in  Brain- 
tree  in  1777;  Rufus,  bom  December  8,  1735; 
Jeremiah,  born  September  1,  1776,  who  mar- 
ried Hannah  White,  December  1,  1803,  died 
October  20,  1862;  and  David  Brainard,  who 
was  born  in  Weymouth,  Mass.,  February  1, 
1 81 7. 

Two  of  Mr.  Stetson's  near  kinsmen  were 
soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  namely : 
Amos  Stetson,  his  father's  great-uncle,  who 
died  of  sickness  soon  after  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne;  and  Gideon  Stetson,  his  grand- 
father's cousin,  who  enlisted  when  but  four- 
teen years  old. 

David  Brainard  Stetson  on  attaining  his 
majority  came  to  Quincy  to  work  as  a  clerk  in 
Fitz's  store.  He  subsequently  applied  him- 
self for  a  few  years  to  the  trade  of  a  shoe- 
maker, which  he  had  previously  learned,  fol- 
lowing that  occupation  until  1848.  Going 
then  to  North  Weymouth,  he  had  charge  of 
the  store  of  Henry  Newton  for  about  eigh- 
teen months,  when  he  returned  to  Quincy  to 
assume  the  management  of  the  Union  Store, 
Division  No.  179,  a  style  of  mercantile  busi- 
ness quite  prominent  in  many  parts  of  the 
State  at  that  time.  He  was  successful  in  this 
undertaking,  and,  investing  his  earnings  in 
shares  of  the  corporation,  soon  had  a  control- 
ling interest  in  its  stock,  the  store,  which  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


353 


one  of  general  merchandise,  eventually  falling 
into  his  hands.  After  carrying  it  on  for  a 
brief  period,  he  closed  out  all  departments 
excepting  that  of  shoes,  to  which  he  afterward 
devoted  his  attention,  becoming  one  of  the 
foremost  boot  and  shoe  dealers  of  the  town. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  from  a  shock  of 
paralysis  received  four  days  before,  which 
occurred  August  17,  1S94,  he  was  the  oldest 
merchant  as  regards  actual  engagement  in 
trade  of  any  in  Ouincy.  This  long-estab- 
lished business,  which  is  still  in  a  flourishing 
condition,  is  continued  by  his  daughter,  Miss 
Ella  L.  Stetson. 

In  his  earlier  years  Mr.  David  B.  Stetson 
was  connected  with  the  Free  Soil  party,  and 
was  a  strong  anti-slavery  worker,  being  a 
faithful  friend  and  follower  of  Garrison  and 
Phillips.  He  was  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  the  Republican  party,  was  an  earnest 
advocate  of  the  temperance  cause,  and  he  took 
a  deep  interest  in  local  and  national  politics, 
but  never  aspired  to  public  office.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
each  Sunday  found  him  in  his  accustomed 
pew.  His  remains  are  laid  to  rest  in  the  cem- 
etery at  Mount  Wollaston,  where  a  beautiful 
sarcophagus  has  been  erected  to  his  memory 
by  his  loving  children. 

On  April  25,  1841,  he  married  Abigail 
Spear,  daughter  of  Jedediah  Spear,  of  Ouincy. 
She  died  December  10,  1864,  having  borne 
him  five  children  —  Warren  B.,  Abbie  E., 
Lorin  A.,  Ella  L.,  and  Arthur  W.  His  sec- 
ond wife,  Mrs.  H.  B.  D.  Fitz,  died  Septem- 
ber 27,  1887.  Warren  B.  Stetson,  the  eldest 
son,  born  September  26,  1842,  is  a  shoe  man- 
ufacturer in  Middleboro,  Mass.  ;  Abbie  E., 
burn  in  Ouincy,  P'ebruary  14,  1844,  married 
Henry  O.  Studley;  Lorin  A.,  born  April  11, 
1847,  died  October  11,  1851;  Ella  L.  Stetson 
was  born  November  4,  1853.  Mrs.  Studley, 
Ella  L.,  and  Arthur  W.  live  at  the  old  home- 
stead in  Quincy. 

While  still  a  pupil  in  the  public  schools 
Arthur  W.  Stetson  laid  the  foundation  for  his 
present  prosperous  enterprise  by  printing  visit- 
ing and  business  cards  with  a  small  hand-press. 
In  his  earlier  mature  years  he  worked  for  a 
while  in  his  father's  store;  but  as  his  printing 
activities    increased    he    decided    to    turn    his 


entire  energies  in  this  direction,  the  result 
being  that  by  his  artistic  and  superior  work- 
manship, combined  with  a  close  and  prompt 
attention  to  the  wants  of  his  customers,  he  has 
built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  business. 

Mr.  Stetson  is  a  Mason  of  prominence  in 
Eastern  Massachusetts,  being  a  member  of  the 
following  organizations  of  that  order:  Rural 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  St.  Stephen's  Chap- 
ter, R.  A.  M.,  of  Quincy,  of  which  he  is 
High  Priest;  South  Shore  Commandery,  K.T., 
of  East  Weymouth;  Boston  Council  of  Royal 
and  Select  Masters;  Boston  Lafayette  Lodge 
of  Perfection;  Giles  F.  Yates  Council, 
Princes  of  Jerusalem;  Mount  Olivet  Chap- 
ter, Rose  Croix;  Massachusetts  Consistory, 
Thirty-second  Degree;  and  Aleppo  Temple, 
A.  A.  O.  N.  M.  S.,  of  Boston.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  board  of  Grand  Officers  of  the 
Grand  Encampment  of  Odd  Fellows  in  1894, 
1895,  and  1896,  and  is  a  member  of  the  fol- 
lowing bodies  belonging  to  that  order:  Mount 
Wollaston  Lodge,  No.  80,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of 
which  he  is  P.  G.  ;  Manet  Encampment,  No. 
75,  of  Ouincy,  of  which  he  is  P.  C.  P.  ;  Grand 
Canton  Shawmut,  No.  1,  of  Boston,  of  which 
he  is  Past  Captain;  and  of  Amana  Rebekah 
Lodge,  No.  96,  of   South  Braintree. 


jfSjrON.     FRANCIS    W.    DARLING,    of 

V—A       Hyde    Park,    Mass.,    dealer    in    wood 

I  lg>  I  and   coal,    was    born    in    Boston    on 

— '  December     16,     1852.      His    father 

George   Darling,  and   his  grandfather,  Samuel 

Darling,  were  both  natives  of  that   city.      The 

latter  was  a  lumber  dealer,  and  had  a  wharf  at 

Charles  Street.      He  accumulated  considerable 

property,  and  died  a  wealthy  man. 

George  Darling  was  one  of  a  number  of 
children  born  to  his  parents,  and  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  including  the 
high  school.  He  early  went  into  the  grocery 
business,  at  first  as  clerk  and  later  for  himself, 
and  was  in  the  wholesale  trade  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  active  life.  He  was  a 
well-known  man  in  Boston,  and  enjoyed  wide- 
spread confidence.  His  wife,  whose  name  be- 
fore marriage  was  Eliza  A.  Duncan,  and  who 
also  was  of  Boston,  bore  him  four  children, 
of  whom  two  lived  to  reach  adult  age.      George 


354 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Darling,  Jr.,  who  was  in  the  drug  business  in 
Boston,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 
Mrs.  Darling  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 
Both  parents  for  a  time  were  connected  with 
the  Bowdoin  Square  Baptist  Church,  and  later 
were  Unitarians.  Mr.  George  Darling  was  a 
Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow.  He  had  charge  of 
his  sister's  estate  for  some  years,  acting  as 
guardian. 

Francis  W.  Darling  spent  his  early  life  in 
Boston.  After  his  graduation  from  the  Eng- 
lish High  School  he  entered  the  grocery  store 
of  Stedman,  Thayer  &  Co.,  one  of  the  best 
known  firms  in  the  city,  as  clerk,  and  was  with 
them  for  four  years.  He  then  began  the  study 
of  law  in  the  Boston  University  Law  School, 
but  before  completing  the  course  was  obliged 
to  give  it  up  on  account  of  failing  health. 
He  next  went  into  the  employ  of  the  Cobb 
Lime  Company  with  their  Boston  agent,  and 
becoming  intimately  associated  with  Governor 
Bodwell,  of  Maine,  and  the  Hon.  Francis 
Cobb,  of  Rockland,  Me.,  men  of  much  promi- 
nence, was  with  them  until  1878,  when  he 
formed  the  company  of  Darling  &  Stebbins, 
and  controlled  two  wharves  in  Boston,  doing 
a  retail  business.  Later  this  firm  dissolved; 
and  in  1890  Mr.  Darling  established  the  busi- 
ness now  conducted  under  the  name  of  F.  W. 
Darling  &  Co.  in  Hyde  Park,  with  a  Boston 
office  at  17  Exchange  Place. 

In  1S79  Mr.  Darling  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Anna  E.  Keene,  of  Rockland,  Me., 
daughter  of  Horatio  N.  Keene,  a  boot  and  shoe 
dealer  of  that  city.  Two  children  have  been 
born  to  them  —  Harold  D.  and  Laura  K. 

In  politics  Mr.  Darling  is  a  Republican, 
and  in  1892  he  was  elected  to  represent  the 
town  of  Hyde  Park  in  the  State  legislature. 
He  was  re-elected  in  1893  by  three  times  the 
majority  received  in  1892,  and  in  1894  he  was 
unanimously  nominated  from  the  First  Norfolk 
District  as  the  Republican  candidate  for  Sen- 
ator. He  carried  the  election  by  five  times 
the  majority  ever  before  given,  and  was  re- 
elected to  the  Senate  in  1895  by  a  still  greater 
majority.  In  1896  he  sent  a  letter  to  the  con- 
vention refusing,  although  strongly  urged,  to 
be  a  candidate  for  a  third  term.  Mr.  Darling 
was  brought  into  prominence  by  his  advocacy 
of  the  anti-stock-watering  bills  passed  in  1893 


and  1894,  and  by  his  demand  for  a  statement 
of  the  American  Sugar  Refining  Trust,  which 
had  diligently  evaded  the  law  for  several  years. 
He  was  prominent  in  the  Senate  by  bis  work 
in  getting  through  the  Metropolitan  Sewer 
Construction  Bill  for  the  Neponset  valley. 
During  his  last  year  in  the  House  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  speakership,  and  during  his 
second  year  in  the  Senate  he  was  a  prominent 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  He  has  always 
taken  an  active  interest  in  the  public  affairs  of 
the  town,  and  has  delivered  patriotic  and  other 
addresses  upon  many  occasions,  notably  one  on 
May  30,  1896,  at  Hyde  Park.  He  is  the  only 
Senator  ever  sent  from  Hyde  Park.  Mr.  Dar- 
ling is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  of 
Hyde  Park,  also  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  is  vice- 
president  of  the  First  Unitarian  Society  of 
this  place;  and  was  a  member  of  the  Hyde 
Park  Club,  of  which  he  was  an  organizer  and 
the  first  president. 


AMUEL  R.  MOSELEY,  of  Hyde 
Park,  the  publisher  of  the  Norfolk 
County  Gazette,  was  born  in  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  November  6,  1846,  son 
of  Thomas  W.  H.  and  Mary  A.  (Beckner) 
Moseley.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Daniel 
P.  Moseley,  who  was  born  near  Culpeper 
Court-house,  Va. ,  owned  the  farm  where  the 
battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  was  fought.  A  law- 
yer with  an  extensive  practice  in  Eastern 
Kentucky,  he  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  dis- 
trict. He  died  near  Greenup,  Ky. ,  at  the  age 
of  seventy  years. 

Thomas  W.  H.  Moseley,  born  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  Kentucky ;  one  of  the  many 
children  of  Daniel,  became  a  civil  engineer, 
and  built  many  bridges,  which  are  monuments 
to  his  skill.  He  came  to  Massachusetts  in 
1 86 1  and  settled  in  Roxbury.  Two  years 
later  he  removed  to  Hyde  Park.  During  the 
period  of  the  Mexican  War  he  was  Adjutant- 
general  in  Ohio.  His  work  in  Massachusetts 
was  principally  upon  iron  bridges  and  iron 
buildings.  He  died  in  Scranton,  Pa.,  in 
i88o,while  there  upon  a  business  engagement. 
Many  inventions  of  his  are  in  the  Patent 
Office  at  Washington  and  in  use  throughout 
the  country.      He   married  Mary  A.  Beckner, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3SS 


who  was  born  in  Bath  County,  Kentucky, 
daughter  of  Jacob  L.  Beckner  by  his  wife 
Nancy  West  (Lancaster)  Beckner.  She  was 
a  descendant  of  Benjamin  West,  the  great 
American  landscape  painter.  Of  her  four 
children,  a  son  died  young.  The  others  are: 
Randolph  P.,  Anna  M.  L. ,  and  Samuel  R. 
Both  parents  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  The  father  was  one  of  Hyde  Park's 
most  esteemed  residents. 

Samuel  R.  Moseley  came  to  Hyde  Park  in 
1863,  and  became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the 
iron  works  there  until  the  company  dissolved. 
In  1873  he  and  Randolph  C.  Getcbell  became 
the  publishers  of  the  Norfolk  County  Gazette. 
In  1876  he  bought  out  his  partner's  inter- 
est, and  since  that  time  has  conducted  the 
paper  alone.  The  Gazette  is  the  oldest  paper 
in  the  county.  Started  at  Dedham  in  18 13,  it 
was  brought  in  1868  to  Hyde  Park,  where  it 
has  since  been  published.  Mr.  Moseley  has 
made  it  one  of  the  finest  papers  in  the  State. 
It  is  highly  prized  by  its  subscribers  as  a  pub- 
lication full  of  the  latest  local  news  and  al- 
ways abreast  of  the  times.  Its  circulation, 
which  is  large  and  influential,  extends  to 
many  prominent  business  men  of  the  county 
as  regular  subscribers.  Besides  publishing 
his  paper,  Mr.  Moseley  does  a  large  business 
in  job  printing,  for  which  he  has  a  complete 
plant. 

On  June  6,  1870,  Mr.  Moseley  married 
Caroline  M.  Brown,  of  Andover,  Mass.,  a 
daughter  of  John  D.  Brown,  who  was  a  drug- 
gist in  Andover  for  forty  years.  He  is  a 
member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  P.  &  A.  M.  ; 
of  Norfolk  Royal  Arch  Chapter;  of  Hyde  Park 
Council  ;  of  Neponset  Tribe,  No.  26,  of  the 
Hyde  Park  Red  Men;  of  Forest  Lodge,  No. 
148,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  of  the  Riverside  Lodge, 
No.  33,  A.  O.  U.  W.  ;  of  the  Waverly  Club; 
and  a  charter  member  of  the  Hyde  Park  Social 
Club.  In  politics  he  has  figured  prominently 
as  one  of  the  active  Republicans  of  the  town. 
For  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  party's  town  committee,  and  for 
the  last  two  years  he  has  been  the  chairman  of 
its  county  committee.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  auditors  of  accounts  of  the  town.  A 
member  of  the  legislature  in  1885-87,  he 
served  on  the  committee  appointed  to  investi- 


gate the  question  of  child  labor  in  factories; 
and  during  both  years  he  was  on  the  Railroad 
Committee.  He  was  also  the  Postmaster  of 
the  town  during  Harrison's  administration. 
A  public  spirited  man,  he  has  taken  a  constant 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  town  and  favored 
every  measure  likely  to  benefit  it.  Both  he 
and  Mrs.  Moseley  are  connected  with  the 
Episcopal  church. 


EV.  GEORGE  HILL,  who  was  a 
prominent  Universalist  minister  of 
Norwood,  was  born  July  8,  1825, 
in  Meredith,  N.H.  His  grand- 
father served  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  for  inde- 
pendence. His  father,  Parmenas  Hill,  was 
for  many  years  employed  in  the  paper-mills  of 
Meredith.  Parmenas  Hill  had  a  family  of 
eight  children,  namely:  Charles,  a  resident 
of  Haverhill,  Mass.  ;  Dr.  Hiram  Hill,  of  Man- 
chester, N.H.;  Mrs.  Hugh  McLeod,  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.  ;  Dr.  Esther  Hawkes,  of  Lynn, 
Mass.;  W.  S.  Hill,  of  Hyde  Park,  Mass.; 
E.  O.  Hill,  of  Ansonia,  Conn.  ;  Sylvanus, 
who  is  residing  in  Lynn;  and  George  Hill, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  died  before 
any  of  his  children  reached  maturity,  thus 
leaving  them  to  shape  their  own  course  in  life; 
but  the  struggle  for  existence  and  education 
was  bravely  won,  and  all  became  worthy  mem- 
bers of  society. 

George  Hill  pursued  his  elementary  studies 
in  Meredith,  where  his  boyhood  was  spent. 
Being  ambitious  to  acquire  a  liberal  education, 
he  labored  diligently  upon  farms  and  in  cot- 
ton-mills, with  a  view  of  accomplishing  that 
laudable  purpose.  By  practising  the  most 
rigid  economy  he  succeeded  in  saving  a  sum 
sufficient  to  pay  his  expenses  at  the  Pembroke 
Academy;  and  he  afterward  taught  school  in 
New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  His 
theological  studies  were  commenced  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Rev.  Uriah  Clark,  and 
when  twenty-six  years  old  he  was  ordained  a 
Universalist  preacher.  His  first  pastorate 
was  at  Arlington,  Mass.,  where  he  remained 
eleven  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time 
he  was  called  to  Milford,  Mass.  After  resid- 
ing there  for  five  years,  he  was  in  1867  in- 
stalled pastor  of  the  church  in  South  Dedham, 


356 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


now  Norwood.  His  pastoral  labors  in  this 
town  were  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the  gen- 
eral community.  In  1884  he  relinquished  the 
arduous  duties  of  a  regular  pastorate,  but  con- 
tinued to  retain  his  connection  with  the  min- 
istry, and  frequently  supplied  the  pulpits  in 
East  Walpole,  Mansfield,  Foxboro,  and 
Methuen.  Much  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
Norwood,  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Business  Men's  Association  and  the  Board  of 
Trade,  was  the  secretary  of  the  latter  organi- 
zation, was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
and  a  trustee  of  the  public  library.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  individuality  and  superior 
mental  force,  whose  advice  was  always  sound 
and  judicious.  His  noble,  unselfish  charac- 
ter and  kindly  disposition  are  still  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances, 
who  may  be  said  to  include  the  entire  com- 
munity. He  was  chaplain  of  Orient  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.  ;  and  he  was  officiating  in  the 
same  capacity  at  the  Norfolk  County  jail, 
when  he  died  at  his  home  in  Norwood,  Janu- 
ary 22,   1896. 

Mr.  Hill  married  Georgianna  Brown,  a 
daughter  of  David  Brown,  of  Sutton,  N.H. 
He  left  four  daughters;  namely,  Florence, 
Alice  G.,  Jessie  K.,  and  Mary  Grace.  Jessie 
K.  is  the  wife  of  H.  F.  Walker,  of  Norwood; 
Mary  Grace  married  Joseph  Foss,  of  this 
town;  Florence  is  a  school  teacher,  and  re- 
sides in  Norwood. 


jHARLES  F.  KIMBALL,  submaster 
of  the  Rice  Training  School  of  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  and  one  of  the  most 
valued  teachers  of  that  city,  has 
been  a  resident  of  Walnut  Hill,  Dedham,  for 
the  past  thirty  years.  A  man  of  scholarly 
attainments,  keenly  alive  to  the  progressive 
methods  of  instruction  now  in  vogue  in 
schools  of  all  grades,  he  has  made  his  influ- 
ence felt  in  educational  circles,  and  has  wor- 
thily contributed  his  full  share  in  maintaining 
the  high  standard  of  the  special  school  with 
which  he  is  connected.  He  was  born  Decem- 
ber 3,  1830,  in  Temple,  Hillsboro  County, 
N.H.  His  paternal  ancestors  for  at  least 
three  generations  back  were  natives  of  the 
Granite    State,    and    each    bore    the    name    of 


Isaac.  The  last  years  of  his  great-grandfather 
Kimball,  who  was  a  farmer,  and  who  attained 
a  venerable  age,  were  passed  in  the  town  of 
Temple.  Isaac  Kimball,  second,  was  like- 
wise a  sturdy  and  industrious  tiller  of  the 
soil,  pursuing  his  occupation  throughout  his 
active  years  either  in  Vermont  or  New  Hamp- 
shire, a  part  of  his  life  being  spent  in  each 
State. 

Isaac  Kimball,  third,  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  New  Ipswich, 
N.  H.,  April  19,  1789,  just  eleven  days  prior 
to  the  inauguration  of  George  Washington  as 
the  first  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
early  learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  and, 
settling  in  Mason  village,  N. H.,  lived  there 
until  1829.  During  that  year  he  removed  to 
the  neighboring  town  of  Temple,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  in  conjunction  with  his 
trade,  making  his  home  there  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
two  years.  He  was  a  skilful  and  thorough- 
going farmer,  familiar  with  all  branches  of 
agriculture.  He  was  held  in  high  regard  as  a 
man  of  intelligence,  integrity,  and  honor,  and 
wielded  strong  influence  in  local  affairs,  serv- 
ing in  different  town  offices,  and  in  1846,  1847, 
and  1848  as  a  Representative  to  the  New 
Hampshire  legislature.  In  his  early  years  he 
was  a  Whig,  although  in  1844  he  cast  his  vote 
for  James  G.  Birney,  the  anti-slavery  candidate 
for  president.  On  the  formation  of  the  Re- 
publican party  he  joined  its  ranks,  and  until 
the  day  of  his  death  he  was  a  stanch  supporter 
of  its  principles.  He  retained  both  his  physi- 
cal and  mental  vigor  to  within  two  years  of 
the  end  of  his  life,  when  he  met  with  an 
accident  which  caused  him  thereafter  to  be 
bed-ridden.  But  a  short  time  before  the 
accident  he  had  picked  the  apples  from  his 
orchard  by  hand,  climbing  to  the  tops  of  the 
highest  trees.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Lucinda  Tenney,  was  born  in  Hollis, 
N.H.,  the  daughter  of  William  Tenney,  a 
prominent  farmer.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years,  having  borne  him  twelve  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  four 
being  yet  alive,  namely  :  Charles  F.  ;  Sarah  F. , 
widow  of  Luther  C.  Clement;  Henry  H.  ;  and 
Mrs.  Hattie  M.  Haynes.  Both  parents  united 
with    the   Congregational   church    while    living 


ROBERT    W.    CARPENTER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3S9 


in  Mason  village,  and  the  father  was  for 
some  years  a  Deacon  in  the  church. 

Charles  F.  Kimball  was  brought  up  on  the 
home  farm  in  Temple,  obtaining  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education  in  the  district  school, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  was  preparing  to 
enter  college;  but  his  eyes  failing  him  he  was 
forced  to  relinquish  the  design.  He  taught 
school  in  the  years  1849,  1850,  185 1,  and 
1S52,  afterward  remaining  on  the  farm  four 
years.  In  1857  he  resumed  his  professional 
labors,  teaching  in  Townsend,  Fitchburg,  and 
Attleboro,  being  principal  of  grammar  schools 
in  the  two  last  named  towns,  and  continuing 
as  principal  in  different  schools  until  1863. 
Going  then  to  West  Dedham,  Mr.  Kimball 
taught  there  three  years,  and  afterward  had 
charge  of  the  Avery  School  in  Dedham  two 
years.  In  1868  he  was  elected  usher  in  the 
Rice  School,  Boston;  and  in  1878,  two  years 
after  it  was  made  a  training-school  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Boston  Normal  School  for  Girls, 
he  was  made  submaster  of  the  school,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  has  since  held.  Mr.  Kimball 
has  a  long  and  honorable  record  as  an  instruc- 
tor, having  first  taught  in  New  Hampshire  in 
1849,  and  for  the  past  twenty-nine  years  hav- 
ing been  connected  with  the  Rice  Training 
School,  being  now  the  oldest  teacher  in  the 
building.  He  served  one  term  as  a  member 
of  the  School  Board  of  Attleboro,  Mass.,  and 
for  nine  years  was  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Dedham  School  Board.  In  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Republican. 

Mr.  Kimball  was  married  August  25,  1859, 
to  Juliet  A.  Stanley,  of  Attleboro,  a  daughter 
of  Deacon  Seneca  M.  Stanley,  a  man  of  high 
character  and  standing  in  the  town.  Mr,  and 
Mrs.  Kimball  are  the  parents  of  six  children, 
two  of  whom  have  passed  away:  Elsie  M.,  the 
eldest,  having  died  June  7,  1885;  and  Mabel 
F.,  the  third  child,  on  May  29,  1887.  Their 
natural  gifts  and  eminent  Christian  virtues 
had  led  their  friends  to  anticipate  for  them  a 
career  of  great  usefulness.  The  four  now 
living  are:  Evelyn  S.,  a  graduate  of  the  Ded- 
ham High  School,  who  is  at  present  at  home; 
Anna  M.,  who  is  attending  the  Massachusetts 
Normal  Art  School;  Charles  H.  J.,  who  is  in 
the  insurance  business  in  Boston;  and  Frank 
W. ,  who  is  a  graduate  of   Boston   University, 


1894,  and  now  the  principal  of  the  high 
school  and  director  of  music  in  all  the  schools 
of  Hardwick,  Mass.  All  of  the  family  are 
greatly  interested  in  music,  and  Mr.  Kimball 
has  been  chorister  in  various  churches  much  of 
the  time  since  twenty  years  of  age.  Both  of 
the  sons  are  now  occupying  similar  positions. 
The  family  are  all  members  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Dedham,  except 
Frank  W. ,  who  has  transferred  his  church 
relations  to  Hardwick.  They  are  active  in  all 
departments  of  church  work,  the  youngest 
daughter  being  primary  superintendent  in  the 
Sunday-school,  of  which  the  elder  of  her 
brothers  is  superintendent.  The  son  Charles 
is  likewise  active  in  town  affairs,  and  he  has 
for  the  last  two  years  been  president  of  the 
Dedham  No-license  League. 


IT1 


,OBERT  WINTHROP  CARPENTER, 
of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  a  lawyer  with  a 
large  and  important  practice,  and  an 
extensive  dealer  in  real  estate  and 
mortgages,  was  born  June  4,  1853,  in  South 
Walpole,  Norfolk  County,  a  son  of  James  E. 
Carpenter.  In  his  veins  is  mingled  the  blood 
of  several  of  the  ancient  and  honored  families 
of  New  England,  including  the  Carpenters, 
Sweets,  and  Boydens.  The  emigrant  ancestor 
on  the  paternal  side  was  William  Carpenter, 
who  was  born  in  England  in  1576,  and  died  in 
Weymouth,  Mass.,  in  1659.  His  son  Will- 
iam, born  in  1606,  was  the  next  progenitor, 
the  line  of  descent  being  continued  through 
William,  third,  born  in  1631;  Obadiah,  Sr., 
born  March  12,  1678;  Obadiah,  Jr.,  born 
February  16,  1707;  Nehemiah,  born  October 
20,  1731;  Peter,  born  September  24,  1 77 1 , 
and  his  son  Edson,  born  December  5,  1802,  in 
Foxboro,  who  was  the  father  of  James  E.  Car- 
penter. 

Nehemiah  Carpenter,  of  the  sixth  genera- 
tion, was  the  very  first  settler  of  Foxboro  vil- 
lage, coming  here  from  Attleboro  in  1749. 
On  a  ledge  near  the  centre  of  the  town  he 
built  a  rude  cabin  on  the  site  of  the  present 
residence  of  John  T.  Carpenter;  and  the  land 
of  which  he  took  possession  has  since  been 
owned  by  his  descendants,  who  have  preserved 
the   building  spot    in    its    original    state.      In 


360 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1750  he  erected  a  frame  house,  which  for  sev- 
eral generations  was  known  as  the  Carpenter 
Tavern.  This  building  stood  until  1880, 
when  it  was  taken  down  and  the  frame  re- 
moved to  Carpenter  Street,  where  it  was  in- 
corporated into  the  lumber  shed  of  Joseph 
W.  Carpenter.  Nehemiah  Carpenter  married 
Elizabeth  Sweet,  a  member  of  a  noted  family, 
whose  genealogy  may  be  found  in  the  histori- 
cal novel,  "One  Thousand  and  One,"  recently 
published. 

James  E.  Carpenter  was  born  and  reared  in 
Foxboro;  and  there  he  died,  the  date  of  his 
birth  being  January  30,  1829,  and  that  of  his 
death  January  30,  1S80.  He  obtained  the 
rudiments  of  his  education  in  the  district 
schools,  later  attending  Day's  Academy  at 
Wrentham  and  the  old  Pierce  Academy  in 
Middleboro.  He  subsequently  read  law  with 
the  late  Judge  Maine,  and  after  his  admission 
to  the  bar,  in  1857,  was  successfully  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  this  town 
with  offices  in  Washington,  New  York,  and 
Boston.  He  married  Miss  Rowena  A.  Boy- 
den,  the  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Boyden,  the 
representative  of  an  old  Medfield  family  of 
prominence,  which  originated  in  the  north  of 
England.  They  reared  four  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Robert  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Charles  E. ,  a  resident  of  Campello,  a  suburb 
of  Brockton;  Eugene  M.,  who  died  May  13, 
1886,  aged  twenty-seven  years;  and  Anna 
Isabel,  wife  of  Edwin  A.  Booth,  of  Mansfield, 
Mass. 

Robert  W.  Carpenter  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  completing  his  course  of  study 
in  the  high  school,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
entered  his  father's  office  as  a  law  student. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts  on  the  twenty- 
first  anniversary  of  his  birth,  June  4,  1874, 
and,  going  into  law  partnership  with  his 
father,  the  firm  being  James  E.  Carpenter  & 
Son,  with  offices  in  Foxboro  and  Boston,  prac- 
tised law  with  him  until  December,  1877, 
when  the  firm  was  dissolved.  Mr.  Carpenter 
is  a  man  of  superior  abilities,  natural  and  ac- 
quired, and  has  often  been  called  to  serve  in 
official  positions.  He  has  been  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  Commissioner  of  Insolvency  for  the 
county  of    Norfolk;    presiding    officer    of    the 


local  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows  Lodges, 
town  council  ;  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men ;  chief  engineer  of  the  Fire  Department; 
and  clerk  of  several  fund  and  building  associa- 
tions. He  was  clerk  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Foxboro  Centennial  Celebration, 
and  published  a  record  of  the  same  in  1879. 
He  compiled  the  town  history,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1890;  and  he  was  also  editor,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  of  the  Foxboro  Journal,  Courier, 
Gazette,  and  Times.  In  recent  years  he  has 
been  one  of  the  foremost  in  securing  the  loca- 
tion of  business  industries  in  the  town.  He 
also  takes  a  leading  part  in  town  and  county 
politics.  At  present  he  holds  the  offices  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Notary  Public. 

Mr.  Carpenter  and  Miss  Etta  M.  Chandler, 
of  Foxboro,  daughter  of  Isaac  G.  Chandler, 
a  veteran  of  the  late  war,  and  Amelia  A. 
(Ells)  Chandler,  were  united  in  marriage  on 
June  10,  1877.  They  have  one  son — Frank 
C,  born  May  9,  1878,  now  in  the  employ  of  a 
local  electric  light  company  of   Foxboro. 

In  religious  belief  Mr.  Carpenter  is  liberal. 
He  is  actively  identified  with  the  Republican 
party,  having  been  secretary  of  the  Norfolk . 
County  Republican  Convention  a  number  of 
years,  and  in  1896  its  chairman.  He  is  a 
member  of  St.  Alban's  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  Keystone  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  both  of 
Foxboro ;  Bristol  Commanderv,  K.  T. ,  of 
North  Attleboro,  Mass.,  in  which  he  has  held 
the  office  of  Senior  Warden ;  and  he  also 
belongs  to  Excelsior  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and 
Victory  Lodge,  K.  of  H.,  both  of  Foxboro. 
He  is  an  active  and  able  business  man,  and  at 
the  present  time  is  secretary  of  the  Foxboro 
Board  of  Trade. 


§  WALTER  BRADLEE,  of  Milton,  an 
auctioneer  and  a  dealer  in  real  estate 
and  mortgages,  was  born  here,  January 
27,  1867.  A  son  of  J.  Walter  and 
Nellie  M.  (Morse)  Bradlee,  he  comes  of  Eng- 
lish origin.  On  the  paternal  side  he  is  a  de- 
scendant in  the  seventh  generation  of  Captain 
John  Bradlee,  who  commanded  a  Dorchester 
regiment  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  From 
Captain    John     the     line    of    descent     comes 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


361 


through  Stephen  Bradlee,  of  Dorchester; 
Stephen's  son  John,  the  first  of  the  family 
born  in  Milton;  and  John's  son,  John  D., 
who  also  was  a  native  of  Milton.  John  D. 
Bradlee  was  an  auctioneer  and  nurseryman. 
In  1858  he  founded  the  business  now  managed 
by  his  grandson,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Fair- 
mount  Land  and  Improvement  Company,  the 
promoters  of  the  town  of  Hyde  Park,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  was  Deputy  Sheriff  of  Nor- 
folk County. 

J.  Walter  Bradlee,  Sr.,  was  a  lifelong  resi- 
dent of  Milton.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  this  town  and  at  Milton  Acad- 
emy. Subsequently,  taken  into  partnership 
by  his  father,  he  was  for  some  time  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  J.  D.  Bradlee  &  Co.  In  1881 
he  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  business, 
which  since  that  time  has  been  conducted 
under  the  name  of  J.  Walter  Bradlee.  A 
prominent  resident  of  Milton  and  a  stanch 
Republican,  he  held  a  number  of  important 
offices.  He  was  Deputy  Sheriff  of  Norfolk 
County  for  ten  years,  chairman  of  the  Milton 
School  Committee  for  the  same  length  of  time, 
and  chairman  of  the  Selectmen  for  thirteen 
years.  He  represented  Milton  and  Canton  in 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  two  terms. 
In  the  Civil  War  he  served  for  nine  months  as 
Corporal  in  Company  I,  Thirty-eighth  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  with  General 
Banks's  division.  He  died  in  December, 
1892.  His  wife,  who  is  also  a  native  of 
Milton,  is  still  residing  in  this  town.  Of 
their  children  six  are  living;  namely,  J. 
Walter,  Charles,  N.  Marion,  Eva  M.,  Leonard 
M.,  and  Roger  W. 

J.  Walter  Bradlee,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  attended  the  public  schools  of  Milton, 
and  graduated  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Com- 
mercial College,  Boston.  For  some  six 
years  he  was  employed  as  travelling  salesman 
for  Hosmer,  Codding  &  Co.,  wholesale  boot 
and  shoe  jobbers  of  Boston.  His  connection 
with  this  firm  ended  when  he  accepted  the 
position  of  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Police 
in  Milton.  This  office  he  held  for  a  number 
of  years.  At  the  death  of  his  father  he  took 
charge  of  the  real  estate  business,  and  the  en- 
terprise started  in  1858  still  continues  to  pros- 


per. Mr.  Bradlee  deals  in  city  and  suburban 
property,  negotiates  mortgages,  and  takes  full 
charge  of  estates  when  desired.  His  office  is 
Room  201,  Adams  Building,  23  Court  Street, 
Boston. 

Mr.  Bradlee  was  married  in  1S88  to  Miss 
Clara  F.  Lyons,  of  Milton.  They  have  a 
family  of  three  children — -John  B.,  Robert 
S.,  and  Ernest  A.  Like  his  father,  Mr. 
Bradlee  is  a  Republican.  He  served  for'three 
years  as  Assessor  of  Milton;  and  in  March, 
1897,  he  was  elected  Selectman. 


(STyli 


YLER  THAYER,  a  retired  builder  of 
4 1  Norwood  and  an  ex-member  of  the 
Massachusetts  legislature,  was  born  in 
Mendon,  Mass.,  October  2,  1822,  son  of  Otis 
Wales  and  Sena  (Thayer)  Thayer.  A  repre- 
sentative of  an  old  Norfolk  County  family,  he 
is  a  direct  descendant  of  Fernando  Thayer, 
who  settled  in  Mendon  in  1698.  His  great- 
grandparents  were  Benjamin  and  Sarah 
Thayer;  and  his  grandparents  were  Amos  and 
Millie  Thayer,  all  residents  of  Mendon.  Otis 
Wales  Thayer  was  a  native  of  Mendon. 
When  a  young  man  he  engaged  in  farming  and 
butchering  in  Medfield,  Mass.  His  wife, 
Sena,  whom  he  married  in  1820,  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Dexter  and  Esther  Thayer,  of  Mendon. 
She  became  the  mother  of  six  children; 
namely,  Emily  M.,  Tyler,  Emeline,  Harri- 
son,   Sena  E.,  and  Esther  H. 

Tyler  Thayer  was  two  years  old  when  his 
parents  moved  from  Mendon  to  Medfield,  and 
he  acquired  a  common-school  education  in  the 
last-named  town.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
began  to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  serving 
about  half  of  his  apprenticeship  in  Medfield 
and  the  remainder  in  Boston,  to  which  city 
he  went  when  eighteen  years  old.  In  1847 
he  commenced  business  as  a  carpenter  and 
builder  in  West  Dedham  (now  Westwood). 
In  1855  he  removed  to  South  Dedham.  For 
over  thirty  years  he  was  the  principal  builder 
in  this  town.  He  erected  many  of  its  finest 
edifices,  including  the  Everett  school,  the 
Baptist  church,  and  the  Universalist  church, 
that  was  afterward  destroyed  by  fire.  In 
1886,  he  sold  his  business,  and  retired  from 
active  pursuits.      In    1872,  when   the   town    of 


362 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIF.W 


Norwood  was  incorporated,  its  name  was 
adopted  by  the  committee  at  Mr.  Thayer's 
suggestion.  He  was  Selectman  for  thirteen 
years,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Assessors 
for  sixteen  years,  and  he  represented  the 
town  in  the  legislature  in  1879  and  1885. 
His  public  services  have  been  very  beneficial 
to  the  community.  During  his  last  term  in 
the  legislature  the  charter  for  the  Norwood 
Water  Works  was  obtained.  For  eight  years 
he  was  a  director  of  the  Norwood  Co-operative 
Bank  and  the  chairman  of  its  Security  Com- 
mittee, and  he  acts  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
Since  his  first  vote  was  cast  for  General  Fre- 
mont, he  has  been  an  active  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party. 

Mr.  Thayer  has  been  twice  married.  The 
first  marriage  was  contracted  in  1S47  with 
Nancy  L.  Shattuck,  who  died  in  1851,  leaving 
no  children.  His  present  wife,  Lucy  E. 
Adams,  a  daughter  of  John  Adams,  of  An- 
dover,  Vt.,  has  had  six  children,  three  of 
whom  are  living.  These  are:  Alice  E.,  the 
wife  of  James  A.  Hartshorn ;  Norman  A. 
Thayer,  of  Norwood;  and  Nettie,  the  wife  of 
Donald  B.  Smith,  of  Provincetown,  Mass. 


§OSEPH  SMITH,  a  retired  farmer  living 
at  Unionville,  in  the  town  of  Franklin, 
Mass.,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Ann 
(Wallace)  Smith,  was  born  in  Smith- 
field,  now  Lincoln,  R.I.,  January  5,   1830. 

Edwin  Smith,  progenitor  of  this  branch  of 
the  Smith  family,  was  a  member  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Colony;  and  his  son  Benjamin  was 
born  in  Smithfield.  Benjamin  Smith,  Sr., 
had  four  children,  namely:  Sarah,  born  April 
9,  1743,  who  died  February  23,  1 7 5 1  ;  Ben- 
jamin, Jr.,  born  October  14,  1744;  Ruth, 
born  September  7,  1746;  and  Amy,  born  Sep- 
tember 7,  1748.  The  son  was  the  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

He  was  married  in  1 77 1  to  Mary,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Colonel  Daniel  Tillinghast.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  brief  record  of  their  thirteen  chil- 
dren:  Sarah,  born  in  1773,  died  in  1778; 
George,  born  September  20,  1775,  died 
April  29,  1859;  Daniel,  born  August  10, 
1777,  died  in  Cuba,  November  25,  1805; 
Benjamin,    born    August    2,    1779,    died    Au- 


gust 8,  1806;  Joseph,  born  June  n,  1781,  died 
on  his  sixty-sixth  birthday;  Annie,  born  Jan- 
uary 3,  1783,  died  February  9,  1855;  Stephen 
Hopkins,  born  August  30,  1784,  died  May 
28,  1858;  Hopkins,  born  August  4,  1786, 
died  October  13,  1 791  ;  Amy,  born  August 
17,  1788,  died  January  28,  1S02;  Robert, 
born  April  6,  1 791 ,  died  March  22,  1871; 
Lydia,  born  December  22,  1792,  died  April 
17,  1806;  William,  born  December  6,  1793, 
died  in  1893;  and  Mary,  born  September  19, 
1795,  died  in  March,   1888. 

Joseph  Smith,  Sr. ,  the  fourth  son  of  Ben- 
jamin, Jr.,  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and  one  of 
the  prominent  men  of  Smithfield.  He  served 
in  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  in  his  later  years 
a  Quaker  preacher.  His  wife,  Mary  Ann, 
daughter  of  Matthew  Wallace,  was  bom  in 
Ireland,  April  30,  1 79 1 ,  and  was  a  descendant 
of  William  Wallace.  By  her  first  husband,  a 
Mr.  Lannon,  she  had  four  children,  of  whom 
the  only  one  now  living  is  Margaret,  the 
widow  of  James  Pilkington,  of  California. 
The  others  were:  Mary  A.,  who  married  a 
Mr.  McDonald;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Dan- 
iel McDonald;  and  John,  who  married  Mar- 
garet Veitch.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Smith,  Sr. , 
had  four  children  :  Mary  Ann,  born  June  6, 
1824,  who  died  October  iS,  1855;  Benjamin, 
born  September  12,  1826;  Ruth  Hopkins, 
born  February  2,  1828,  now  dead;  and 
Joseph,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  further  be- 
low. Mrs.  Smith  died  on  the  ninetieth  anni- 
versary of   her  husband's  birthday. 

Joseph  Smith,  the  youngest-born,  received 
but  a  limited  education,  attending  a  select 
school  for  a  short  time,  as  did  also  his 
brothers  and  sisters.  He  was  brought  up  as  a 
Quaker;  and  he  lived  at  the  parental  home 
until  his  father's  death,  when  he  went  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  remained  ten  years.  In  1857 
he  went  to  Indiana,  and  worked  as  baggage- 
master  on  a  railroad  for  two  years.  Then  he 
removed  to  Northern  Missouri,  where  he  car- 
ried on  farming,  and  taught  school  at  the  same 
time.  When  the  war  broke  out,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  H  of  the  Second  Missouri  Cavalry, 
and  for  one  year  had  charge  of  a  drug  store, 
was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal's office,  and  was  detailed  to  enroll  the 
militia.      Being    then    taken    sick,    for   three 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


363 


years  he  was  unfit  for  work.  On  his  recovery 
from  his  illness  he  bought  a  sorghum-mill, 
and  carried  it  on  while  working  at  harness- 
making.  After  a  few  years  his  health  broke 
down  again;  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his 
work  in  Missouri,  and  turn  his  attention  to 
fanning.  Going  to  Kansas  in  1.S71,  he  took 
up  a  homestead  at  White  Rock,  which  he  car- 
ried on  for  seven  years.  While  there  he  held 
the  positions  of  Town  Assessor  and  Justice  of 
the  Peace;  but  early  in  1878,  finding  his 
health  much  improved,  he  sold  out,  and  re- 
turned to  his  native  town  of  Lincoln,  R.I., 
where  he  was  married  June  2,   1878. 

After  his  marriage  he  bought  his  present 
homestead  at  Unionville,  known  as  the  "Ind- 
ian Island  Farm,"  formerly  owned  by  Charles 
Rowell.  Being  a  progressive  man  and  an  in- 
telligent farmer,  Mr.  Smith  has  made  many 
improvements  on  his  place,  which  now  con- 
tains one  hundred  acres  of  good  land.  He  was 
the  first  Postmaster  and  station  agent  at 
Unionville;  and  he  still  holds  the  former  po- 
sition, although  he  is  retired  from  outdoor 
labor,  and  rents  his  farm.  Mr.  Smith  has 
been  a  successful  man  in  business,  and  owns 
considerable  property  in  real  estate,  includ- 
ing several  buildings  in  Cary  village.  He  is 
a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  been 
a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  is  a  man  of 
quiet  and  studious  habits,  and  is  somewhat  of 
an  antiquary,  being  the  owner  of  many  rare 
and  valuable  relics. 

Mr.  Smith's  wife  was  before  marriage  Eliz- 
abeth H.  Meader.  Her  father,  Ephraim 
Meader,  a  farmer  and  blacksmith  of  Sandwich, 
N.H.,  died  there,  April  21,  1871  ;  and  her 
mother,  Hannah  Cook  Meader,  died  May  21, 
1878.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  member  of  the 
Friends'  Meeting  of  Providence,  R.I.,  and 
Mr.  Smith  is  liberal  in  religious  belief. 


"ON.  JAMES  H.  FLINT,  the  present 
Senator  for  the  First  Norfolk  Dis- 
trict, is  a  native  of  Middleton, 
Essex  County,  born  June  25,  1852. 
He  is  a  descendant  of  Thomas  Flint,  who 
came  from  England  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  settled  in  Essex  County.  James 
Flint,  his  father,  who  was  a  native  of   Middle- 


ton,  and  an  agriculturist  by  occupation,  mar- 
ried Almira  Batchelder,  of  North  Reading, 
Mass. 

After  attending  the  common  schools  for  the 
usual  period,  James  H.  Flint  in  1S72  gradu- 
ated from  Phillips  Academy  at  Andover, 
Mass.,  carrying  off  the  highest  honors  of  his 
class.  Then  he  entered  Harvard  University, 
from  which  he  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  class  of  1876.  He 
was  at  once  appointed  principal  of  the  Marble- 
head  High  School,  where  he  remained  for 
nearly  four  years.  Subsequently  he  spent  six 
months  in  the  office  of  Charles  L.  Flint,  then 
the  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agricult- 
ure. In  1 88 1  he  received  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Laws  from  the  Boston  University  Law 
School;  and,  going  to  New  York  City,  he 
spent  one  year  in  the  office  of  Stanley,  Clarke 
&  Smith,  a  prominent  law  firm  of  that  city. 
Returning  to  Boston,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Suffolk  County  bar  in  1882,  and  began  his  law 
practice  in  Boston,  subsequently  opening  an 
office  in  Weymouth,  Mass.  In  1889  he  was 
appointed  by  Governor  Brackett  Special  Jus- 
tice of  the  District  Court  of  Fastern  Norfolk 
held  at  Quincy,  in  which  capacity  he  offici- 
ated for  several  years.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  he  is  now  serving  his  third  term 
as  chairman  of  the  Republican  Town  Commit- 
tee of  Weymouth.  In  1887  and  1888  he  was 
the  secretary  of  the  Republican  League  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts.  During  the  legislat- 
ures of  1894,  1895,  and  1896  he  served  as 
Representative  from  the  Fifth  Norfolk  Dis- 
trict, comprising  Weymouth  and  Quincy,  and 
during  these  three  years  was  a  member  of  the 
Probate  and  Insolvency  Committee,  the  Com- 
mittee on  Street  Railways:  and  he  was  House 
chairman.  In  the  fall  of  1896  he  was  elected 
State  Senator  from  the  First  Norfolk  District 
by  a  majority  of  forty-five  hundred  votes.  At 
the  present  time  he  is  chairman  of  the  Insur- 
ance Committee  and  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Ways  and  Means,  and  on  Probate 
and    Insolvency. 

Mr.  Flint  is  a  trustee  of  the  Weymouth 
Savings  Bank  and  a  director  of  the  South 
Shore  Co-operative  Bank.  He  belongs  to  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa,  one  of  the  leading  secret  so- 
cieties of  Harvard  University;  to  the  Masonic 


364 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


order;  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  in  which  he 
was  the  State  Grand  Chancellor  in  1895  and 
1896;  and  to  the  New  England  Order  of  Pro- 
tection. An  able  writer,  he  is  the  author  of 
the  book  entitled  "The  Law  of  Trusts  and 
Trustees,"  and  was  the  editor  of  the  well- 
known  American  edition  of  "Lewin  on 
Trusts,"  in  two  volumes.  Mr.  Flint  has  also 
been  engaged  in  literary  work  unconnected 
with  law.  In  1889  he  married  Abbie  E. 
Pratt,  of  Ouincy,  Mass. 


Boy den. 


\ORTER  S.  BOYDEN,  a  well-known 
and  prosperous  carpenter  and  builder 
of  Walpole,  was  born  in  this  town, 
September  21,  1838,  son  of  Maynard 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Harvey 
Boyden,  who  was  born  in  the  southern  part  of 
Walpole  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  181 2,  al- 
though no  definite  record  of  his  service  therein 
has  been  preserved. 

Maynard  Boyden  was  born  in  Walpole  in 
1 810.  In  his  earlier  years  he  was  employed 
as  a  carder  and  spinner  in  this  and  neighbor- 
ing towns.  Afterward  he  worked  at  the  trades 
of  carpenter  and  millwright  in  Walpole  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1885,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five  years.  A  man  of  sound  judg- 
ment, honorable  and  upright  in  all  his  trans- 
actions, he  became  one  of  the  foremost  men  of 
the  place,  and  took  an  active  part  in  town 
matters.  For  six  years  he  was  Selectman, 
being  elected  on  the  Republican  ticket,  which 
he  invariably  supported.  By  his  wife,  Mary, 
who  was  born  in  Bedford,  N.H.,  he  became 
the  father  of  four  children,  of  whom  Porter  S. 
and  Susan  E.  are  living. 

Porter  S.  Boyden  received  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  Walpole,  in  which  he 
was  a  pupil  until  nearly  seventeen  years  old. 
He  then  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  of  his 
father,  with  whom  he  worked  for  five  years. 
Afterward  he  spent  an  equal  length  of  time 
with  the  firm  of  Willard,  Everett  &  Co., 
cabinet-makers  of  Norwood.  In  1867  he  re- 
turned to  Walpole  to  begin  carpentering  on 
his  own  account;  and  he  has  since  continued 
here,  having  for  the  past  thirty  years  assisted 
in  erecting  some  of  the  largest  and  finest  resi- 


dences and  business  buildings  of  the  vicinity. 
A  strong  Republican  in  politics,  he  is  much 
interested  in  local  affairs,  and  has  served  his 
fellow-townsmen  as  Assessor  for  six  years. 

Mr.  Boyden  was  married  December  30, 
1866,  to  Julia,  daughter  of  Asa  Hartshorn,  of 
this  town.  She  died  after  a  comparatively 
brief  wedded  life,  leaving  one  daughter, 
Bertha  E.  Boyden.  On  July  22,  1875,  Mr. 
Boyden  married  Miss  Julia  Ella  Hale,  of 
Lowell,  Mass.,  who  has  borne  him  three  chil- 
dren—  Maynard  H.,  Ella  B.,  and  Dana  E. 
He  is  a  member  of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  of  Norwood,  in  which  he  was  Junior 
Warden  for  two  years ;  of  Keystone  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.,  of  Foxboro;  and  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Unitarian  parish, 
of  which  he  was  the  treasurer  for  twelve 
years,  taking  a  great  interest  in  the  work  of 
that  denomination.  His  family  also  attend 
the  Unitarian  church,  and  are  active  workers 
therein  and  faithful  contributors  toward  its 
support. 


TT^HARLES  G.  CHICK,  •  attorney-at- 
I  y'  law,  having  his  office  at  28  State 
^^Hs  Street,  Boston,  and  his  residence  at 

Hyde  Park,  was  born  June  7,  1846, 
in  Lebanon,  York  County,  Me.  His  father 
was  Simon  F.  Chick;  and  his  ancestry  is 
traced  back  to  Thomas  Chick,  who  probably 
came  from  England  as  early  as  1652. 

Prior  to  1674  Thomas  Chick  married  Eliza- 
beth Spenser,  grand-daughter  of  William 
Chadbourne,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  La- 
conia  Company's  settlement  at  Newichawanick, 
now  Berwick,  Me.  Thomas  Chick,  Jr.,  father 
of  Aaron  Chick,  first,  was  a  son  of  this  mar- 
riage. He  held  lands  at  Kittery  in  1703,  and 
afterward  in  Berwick.  Aaron  Chick,  first, 
was  settled  at  Berwick  as  early  as  1733  on 
lands  formerly  of  his  father  Thomas.  His 
wife  was  Elizabeth  Clark,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Clark,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  She  became  a 
member  of  the  Berwick  church  in  1755. 
Aaron  Chick,  second,  who  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  of  his  time,  was  born  in  Berwick 
in  1742.  He  served  in  the  war  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  as  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Fifth  Berwick  Company  of  the  Second   York 


CHARLES    G.    CHICK. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


367 


County  Regiment.  In  1763  he  married  Mary 
Keays,  of  Salmon  Falls,  N.  H.  Among  their 
children  was  Aaron  Chick,  third,  grandfather 
of  Charles  G.  Chick. 

He  was  born  in  Berwick,  and  there  grew  to 
man's  estate.  In  1791  he  took  up  a  tract  of 
wild  land  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Lebanon, 
and,  clearing  a  space  in  the  forest,  erected  a 
log  cabin  for  himself  and  little  family,  and 
began  the  pioneer  labor  of  redeeming  a  farm 
from  the  wilderness.  He  bore  all  the  priva- 
tions and  hardships  of  his  rough  life  with 
brave  fortitude,  and  in  course  of  years  had  a 
well  -  improved  and  comfortable  homestead, 
and  was  surrounded  with  pleasant  and  pros- 
perous neighbors.  He  with  others  erected  a 
mill,  and  in  addition  to  general  farming  was 
for  some  years  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
lumber,  continuing  in  active  pursuits  until  a 
short  time  prior  to  his  death,  which  occurred 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  He  reared 
eight  children,  Simon  F.  being  the  next  in 
line  of  descent. 

Simon  F.  Chick  was  born  in  Lebanon,  prob- 
ably in  the  log  house  in  which  his  parents 
began  housekeeping,  and  spent  his  long  and 
busy  life  on  the  homestead,  dying  in  1862,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He  succeeded  to 
the  ownership  of  the  parental  acres  and  to  his 
father's  occupation,  carrying  on  lumbering 
and  farming  successfully.  His  second  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Ann  B.  Pray,  was 
born  in  Lebanon  in  1S10,  a  daughter  of  Chad- 
bourne  Pray,  a  farmer,  who  died  in  that  town 
when  Ann  was  about  six  years  of  age.  She 
became  the  mother  of  five  children,  of  whom 
three  sons  are  still  living,  namely:  Ansel; 
Almon  H.,  who  owns  and  occupies  the  old 
homestead  in  Lebanon;  and  Charles  G. ,  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  mother,  a 
woman  of  strong  Christian  character  and  an 
active  member  of  the  Free  Will  Baptist 
church,  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 
The  father  was  for  many  years  a  town  official, 
serving  as  Selectman  and  Tax  Collector. 

Charles  G.  Chick  was  brought  up  on  the 
home  farm,  and  until  eighteen  years  old 
attended  the  winter  terms  of  the  district 
school.  He  then  worked  for  a  time  at  the 
carpenter's  trade  with  his  brother  Freeman 
(now  deceased),  but  at  the  end   of   two  years 


gave  it  up,  and,  entering  the  Farmington  Nor- 
mal School,  pursued  the  course  of  study  and 
was  graduated  in  1868.  He  was  then  engaged 
for  two  years  in  teaching  and  reading  law,  and 
it  was  during  this  time  that  he  established  and 
opened  the  East  Lebanon  Academy,  which  he 
conducted  for  a  year.  Going  thence  to 
Somersworth,  X.I  I.,  for  two  terms  he  had 
charge  of  the  grammar  school  there,  at  the 
same  time  being  a  student  in  the  law  office  of 
Wells  &  Eastman,  with  which  office  he  be- 
came connected  in  1869,  and  also  working  as 
he  found  leisure  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  Mr. 
Chick  subsequently  pursued  his  studies  at  the 
Harvard  Law  School  in  Cambridge  until  May, 
1 87 1,  when  he  entered  the  office  of  Judge 
Charles  Levi  Woodbury,  of  Boston,  with  whom 
he  read  law  until  admitted  to  the  bar  in  De- 
cember, 1871,  and  since  that  time  has  been 
associated  with  the  Judge,  who  is  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession. Mr.  Chick  has  been  connected  with 
a  great  many  corporation  cases  since  he  began 
practising,  and  has  done  a  good  deal  of  Probate 
work.  He  has  been  the  attorney  in  the  set- 
tling of  many  extensive  estates,  among  others 
worthy  of  note  being  the  estate  of  Thomas  W. 
Peirce,  who  left  over  ten  million  dollars'  worth 
of  property,  and  the  million  and  a  quarter 
estate  of  the  late  Harvey  D.  Parker.  In  187 1 
Air.  Chick  removed  to  Hyde  Park,  and  has 
since  been  actively  identified  with  the  highest 
and  best  interests  of  this  town. 

He  has  been  one  of  the  warmest  supporters 
of  the  various  beneficial  enterprises  inaugu- 
rated in  the  town,  and  has  served  as  one  of  the 
committee  in  nearly  every  movement  of  note 
for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  often  being 
chairman  or  secretary.  For  nine  years  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  School  Committee 
and  its  secretary  four  years,  and  during  the 
period  of  his  seventeen  years  of  consecutive 
service  was  absent  from  but  four  regular  meet- 
ings, a  record  scarcely  equalled  in  any  city  or 
town  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  has  often 
been  called  to  serve  as  Moderator  of  town 
meetings.  He  assisted  in  organizing  the 
Hyde  Park  Historical  Society,  of  which  he  is 
curator,  and  has  for  eight  years  been  its  presi- 
dent. This  is  a  rapidly  growing  society,  hav- 
ing now   a    library   of    fifteen    hundred    books 


368 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  a  membership  of  over  two  hundred.  Mr. 
Chick  is  a  member  of  various  fraternal  organi- 
zations, including  the  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.  ;  Norfolk  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  ;  Hyde 
Park  Council;  Cypress  Commandery,  K.  T.  ; 
Allon  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F  ;  Knights  of  Honor, 
in  whose  lodge  he  has  passed  all  the  chairs; 
and  the  Society  of  Good  Fellows,  of  Boston. 

On  December  16,  1874,  Mr.  Chick  married 
Miss  Eliza  A.,  daughter  of  Edward  and  Eliza 
A.  (Mayo)  Marshall.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Milton,  Mass.,  and  lived  there  until  1840, 
when  he  removed  to  Dedham,  where  his  death 
occurred  in  1895,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
years.  Mrs.  Marshall  was  born  in  Dorchester. 
Her  daughter,  Eliza  A.,  was  born  in  Dedham, 
May  7,  1848,  and  was  there  reared  and  edu- 
cated. After  her  graduation  from  the  high 
school  Miss  Marshall  taught  in  Hyde  Park 
seven  years,  resigning  the  principalship  of  one 
of  the  largest  schools  of  the  town  to  become 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Chick.  Of  the  two  children 
born  to  them,  but  one  is  now  living;  namely, 
Francis  Marshall. 

Mrs.  Chick  is  a  working  member  of  the 
Congregational  church,  being  actively  engaged 
in  missionary  and  Sunday-school  work.  Mr. 
Chick,  though  not  a  member  of  this  church, 
takes  an  active  interest  in  its  welfare,  and  is 
a  regular  attendant  at  its  services. 

The  attractive  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chick 
is  ever  open  to  receive  their  many  friends,  who 
are  welcomed  with  a  generous  and  genial  hos- 
pitality. 


smb 


EORGE  FREDERICK  BAGLEY,  a 
\\s>  I  successful  contractor  and  builder  of 
Norwood,  and  a  Civil  War  veteran, 
was  born  in  Boston,  July  29,  1843.  His 
father,  Perkins  H.  Bagley,  a  native  of  Belfast, 
Me.,  and  a  carpenter  by  trade,  spent  his  last 
years  in  Boston,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three.  Mr.  Bagley's  maternal  grand- 
mother was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Maine,  at- 
taining the  age  of  nearly  one  hundred  years. 

George  Frederick  Bagley  acquired  his  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Boston.  When 
his  studies  were  completed,  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade.  On  May  25,  1861,  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  Company  E,  First  Regi- 


ment, Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry. 
The  regiment  arrived  at  Georgetown,  D.C.,  on 
July  15  following,  and  participated  in  the  first 
battle  of  Bull  Run.  Afterward  Mr.  Bagley 
was  at  the  battle  of  Williamsburg,  through  the 
Peninsular  Campaign,  in  the  battle  of  Fair 
Oaks,  the  Seven  Days'  Fight,  second  Bull 
Run,  and  Chantilly,  and,  having  arrived  at 
Gettysburg  on  the  night  of  July  1,  1863,  par- 
ticipated in  the  memorable  struggle  that  en- 
sued on  the  following  clay.  From  July  to 
September  his  regiment  was  on  duty  in  New 
York  City  to  quell  disturbances  caused  by  the 
draft.  In  the  spring  of  1864  the  First  Mas- 
sachusetts joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
under  General  Grant,  passed  through  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness,  and  followed  Gen- 
eral Lee  until  after  the  battle  of  Spottsyl- 
vania,  when,  on  account  of  the  expiration  of 
its  term  of  service,  it  was  ordered  to  Massa- 
chusetts, and  mustered  out  on  Boston  Com- 
mon, May  25,  1864.  Mr.  Bagley  followed 
his  trade  in  Boston  until  May  9,  1872,  when 
he  came  to  Norwood.  Here,  after  acting  as 
foreman  in  the  employment  of  a  Mr.  Robbins 
for  a  time,  he  was  engaged  by  Tyler  Thayer, 
for  whom  he  worked  during  the  ensuing  four- 
teen years.  For  nearly  ten  years  he  has  very 
successfully  conducted  business  as  a  contractor 
and  builder  upon  his  own  account.  In  1889 
he  erected  a  pleasantly  located  residence  for 
his  own  occupancy,  and  his  shop  is  situated 
upon  an  adjoining  lot. 

In  1866  Mr.  Bagley  married  Lydia  L.' De- 
Luce,  a  daughter  of  Reuben  G.  DeLuce,  of 
South  Boston.  Of  his  six  children,  George 
F.,  Jr.,  Cora,  and  Lottie  Frances  are  living. 
Cora  is  the  wife  of  Lee  Warren;  and  Lottie 
Frances  is  the  wife  of  J.  E.  May,  Jr.  Mr. 
Bagley  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  and  he  attends  the  Universalis! 
church. 


ATTS  H.  BOWKER,  a  prominent 
lilder  and  contractor  of  Norfolk 
County,  residing  at  224  Aspinwall 
Avenue,  Brookline,  was  born  December  29, 
1826,  in  Machias,  Me.,  which  was  also  the 
birthplace  of  his  father,  Watts  Bowker. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


369 


The  emigrant  ancestor  came  to  Massachu- 
setts in  Colonial  days,  locating  not  far  from 
the  coast.  A  James  Bowker  was  living  in 
Scituate  in  16S0.  Levi  Bowker,  the  grand- 
father of  Watts  H.,  was  born  and  brought  up 
in  Scituate,  and  served  as  Major  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  He  subsequently  removed  to 
Machias,  Me.,  where  he  carried  on  a  success- 
ful business  as  carpenter  and  joiner  for  many 
years,  living  there  until  his  death,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight.  He  married  Betsey  Watts, 
whose  sister  Hannah  assisted  in  the  first  naval 
engagement  of  the  Revolution  by  carrying 
ammunition  to  the  soldiers  when  all  others  re- 
fused the  perilous  undertaking,  and  later  re- 
ceived a  pension  from  the  government  for  her 
brave  services.  Hannah  Watts  married  Levi 
Weston,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  two  years.  The  grandparents  reared  five 
daughters  and  three  sons.  Both  were  firm  be- 
lievers in  the  doctrines  of  Universalism ;  and 
both  lived  to  be  quite  old,  the  grandfather 
passing  away  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
and  took  an  active  interest  in  the  lodge  to 
which  he  belonged. 

Watts  Bowker  spent  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life  in  Machias,  where  for  a  good  many 
years  he  was  extensively  engaged  as  a  lumber 
dealer  and  manufacturer.  Afterward  remov- 
ing to  Nova  Scotia,  he  died  there  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Lydia  L.  Stickney,  was  born  and 
reared  in  St.  John,  N.B.  She  survived  him, 
living  to  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-four 
years,  retaining  to  a  notable  degree  her  mental 
and  physical  vigor.  Of  her  six  children,  all 
of  whom  lived  to  be  more  than  sixty  years  of 
age,  Watts  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is 
now  the  only  survivor. 

Watts  H.  Bowker  worked  at  the  carpenter's 
trade  with  his  brother  from  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  until  he  was  twenty-one,  and  then  was 
employed  as  a  journeyman  a  year  or  so. 
From  1858  until  1861  he  carried  on  business 
for  himself  in  Machias,  giving  it  up  when  he 
became  a  member  of  Company  C,  Sixth  Maine 
Volunteer  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  as  a 
private  a  short  time.  He  subsequently  joined 
the  band  of  the  Sixth  Maine  Regiment,  with 
which  he  was  connected  two  years,  being  hon- 


orably discharged  at  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  enlistment.  Resuming  work  at  his  trade, 
he  was  engaged  as  a  carpenter  in  Machias 
until  1869,  when  he  came  to  Massachusetts. 
After  spending  a  few  months  in  Boston,  he 
settled  in  Brookline,  then  a  village  of  six 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  has  since  built  up 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  business  in  this 
vicinity.  He  has  erected  a  large  number  of 
dwelling-houses  in  Brookline,  Newton,  Ja- 
maica Plain,  and  Boston,  and  many  of  the 
large  public  buildings,  including  school- 
houses,  a  portion  of  the  public  library  of  this 
town,  the  Harvard  Veterinary  College  in  Bos- 
ton, Keith's  palatial  residence,  and  the 
Charles  Williams  Building  in  Brookline,  also 
the  fine  plant  of  the  Brookline  Gas  Company. 

Mr.  Bowker  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and  takes  an  active  part  in  the  management  of 
town  and  county  affairs,  rendering  efficient 
service  to  the  public.  He  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  in  1889,  re- 
elected the  following  three  years,  and  in  1894 
was  elected  County  Commissioner  for  a  term 
of  three  years.  While  he  was  Commissioner, 
the  beautiful  county  court-house  in  Dedham, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  buildings  of  the 
kind  in  New  England,  was  ei_ected  under  his 
supervision  at  a  cost  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  Mr.  Bowker  is  a  member  of  the 
Brookline  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Charitable  Mechanic  Association; 
and  Post  No.   143,  G.  A.  R. 

In  1856  Mr.  Bowker  married  Miss  Julia  M. 
Lyon,  who  was  born  in  Machias,  Me.,  a 
daughter  of  James  Lyon,  a  well-known  lum- 
berman of  that  place.  Her  grandfather, 
James  Lyon,  who  was  known  as  Parson  Lyon, 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Of  the  six 
children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bowker,  two 
died  in  infancy,  and  the  eldest  son,  Philip,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  The  three  living 
are:  Edwin  P.,  Arthur,  and  Everett.  Edwin 
P.,  who  is  in  business  with  his  father,  mar- 
ried Miss  Caroline  Howe.  Their  only  child 
died  when  young.  Arthur,  a  druggist  in 
Brookline,  married  Edna  Crane,  of  Machias, 
and  they  have  two  children  —  Elizabeth  and 
Julia.  Everett,  a  prosperous  physician  in  this 
town,  married  Miss  Lulu,  daughter  of  William 
J.    Griggs,    of   whom   a    brief    sketch    appears 


37° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Their  only  child, 
William  Henry  Bowker,  was  graduated  from 
the  Harvard  Medical  College,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  four 
years.  Mrs.  Bowker  attends  the  Baptist 
church. 


SULIUS  GUILD,  a  prosperous  and  well- 
known  farmer  and  dairyman  of  Wal- 
pole,  was  born  in  this  town,  March  30, 
1850.  A  son  of  Samuel  Guild,  he  is  a 
grandson  of  Aaron  Guild  and  a  descendant  of 
John  Guild,  the  first  member  of  the  family  to 
locate  in  this  section  of  Norfolk  County. 
Reared  to  agricultural  pursuits,  Samuel  Guild 
spent  his  active  life  in  farming  and  dairying. 
In  his  later  years  he  lived  in  retirement,  and 
died  on  the  old  homestead  in  1892,  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-six  years.  He  was  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  for  some  years  served  as 
Highway  Surveyor.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Orra  Fisher,  was  born  in  Walpole. 
She  bore  him  six  children,  of  whom  five  are 
living,  as  follows:  Samuel  E.,  residing  in 
Walpole;  William,  of  Medfield;  Mary  J.,  the 
wife  of  George  H.  Ware;  Frederick,  a  resi- 
dent of  Walpole;  and  Julius,  the  subject  of 
this  biography. 

Julius  Guild  grew  to  manhood  on  the  old 
home  farm,  acquiring  a  good  common-school 
education,  and  becoming  familiar  with  agri- 
culture. He  received  the  entire  management 
of  the  farm  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 
On  the  property,  which  contains  one  hundred 
acres  of  land,  he  has  since  carried  on  general 
farming,  making  a  specialty  of  dairying.  His 
regular  crops  include  oats  and  hay.  That  of 
the  latter  averages  about  forty  tons.  While 
keeping  fifteen  cows,  he  collects  milk  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  sells  it,  together  with  the 
product  of  his  own  dairy,  by  wholesale  in  Bos- 
ton. For  three  years  he  was  engaged  in  the 
ice  business,  but  gave  that  up,  preferring  to 
attend  to  his  dairying. 

In  politics  Mr.  Guild  is  an  adherent  of  the 
Republican  party  and  an  active  worker  in 
local  affairs.  His  first  town  office  was  that  of 
Superintendent  of  the  Streets,  after  which  he 
was   Selectman    for    eight    years,    serving   as 


chairman  of  the  board  for  two  years.  At  the 
present  time  he  is  a  member  of  the  Walpole 
School  Board.  He  is  a  member  of  Reliance 
Lodge  and  King  Mount  Encampment, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ;  of  the  Royal  Arcanum,  Spring 
Brook  Council,  No.  732,  in  which  he  has 
passed  all  the  chairs,  and  is  now  chaplain;  of 
the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  in  which  he  has  filled  all 
the  offices;  and  of  the  Walpole  Grange, 
P.  of  H.,  of  which  he  is  Master.  In  each  of 
these  organizations  he  is  a  helpful  brother, 
and  contributes  much  to  the  advancement  of 
their  interests.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational church,  of  which  he  and  his  fam- 
ily are  regular  attendants.  On  September  9, 
1875,  he  married  Mary  Ella  Pillsbury,  of 
Nashua,  N.H.  They  have  two  sons  —  Henry 
E.  and  Waldo  J. 


descent. 


AVID  PERKINS  was  born  at  Hamp- 
ton, N.  H.,  December  27,  1827,  son 
of  David  and  Asenath  (Batchelder) 
Perkins.  The  family  is  of  English 
The  first  Abraham  was  in  Hampton 
in  1640  at  the  first  division  of  land  of  that 
town.  He  was  noted  for  his  fine  penmanship, 
and  was  employed  on  public  documents.  The 
maternal  ancestors  were  direct  descendants  of 
the  Rev.  Stephen  Bachiler,  the  first  settled 
minister  in  Hampton,  and  the  Rev.  Seaborn 
Cotton,  the  fourth  minister  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Perkins,  having  acquired  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Hampton  and  at 
Hampton  Academy,  came  to  Massachusetts  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  and  learned  the  carpen- 
ter's trade  in  Boston.  He  went  into  business 
in  1854,  and  remained  a  contractor  until  1886, 
when  he  retired  on  account  of  poor  health. 
In  1865  he  moved  to  Hyde  Park,  where  he 
still  resides. 

He  was  an  active  member  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Society  for  many  years,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Building  Committee  for  the 
parsonage  and  church.  He  has  been  a  trustee 
and  one  of  the  Board  of  Investment  of  the 
Hyde  Park  Savings  Bank  since  1873.  He 
served  on  the  Board  of  Selectmen  two  years, 
the  Board  of  Assessors  three  years,  and  on  the 
Board  of  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners,  also 
serving  on   many  other  important  committees 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


371 


of  the  town.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the 
Water  Board  since  its  organization,  and  at 
present  he  is  serving  as  one  of  the  Sewer  Com- 
missioners. 

He  has  been  a  member  of  Mount  Lebanon 
Lodge  of  Masons  of  Boston  since  1862,  was  a 
member  of  Siloam  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows  for 
many  years,  and  is  now  a  member  of  Forrest 
Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows  of  Hyde  Park.  When 
engaged  in  business,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Mechanics'  Exchange  and  Master  Builders' 
Association  of  Boston. 

He  married  in  1858  Hannah  S.  Dunn,  of 
Dixfield,  Me.,  and  has  had  four  children,  three 
of  whom  are  now  living:  Dr.  John  Walter 
Perkins,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.  ;  Sarah  J.  John- 
son, of  Hyde  Park;  and  William  D.  Perkins, 
of  Seattle,  Wash. 


/STfTo 


FORGE  H.  WIGHT,  a  well-known 
%    «jT     farmer  and  an   esteemed   resident   of 

— ■*"  Medfield,  was  born  here,  June  18, 
1832,  son  of  Orin  and  Charlotte  (Adams) 
Wight.  The  father,  who  was  also  born  in 
Medfield,  always  made  his  home  in  this  town, 
carrying  on  the  farm  that  his  father  settled  in 
1760.  He  was  a  man  of  influence,  and  he 
served  his  town  as  Selectman  and  in  other 
offices.  He  died  in  1869.  The  mother  died 
in  1879.  They  had  thirteen  children,  of 
whom  eight  are  living  in  Massachusetts. 
These  are:  Mary  J.,  the  widow  of  William 
H.  Colburn,  in  Newton;  Eliza,  the  widow  of 
Emery  A.  Wheeler,  in  Worcester;  George 
H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Margaret,  the 
widow  of  William  B.  Hewins,  in  Medfield; 
Sarah,  also  in  Medfield;  Jonathan  G.,  now  in 
Medfield;  Harriet  H.,  in  Wayland ;  and  Fred- 
erick, in  Natick.  Some  of  the  children  were 
educated  in  the  schools  of  Bridgewater,  Mass. 

George  H.  Wight  attended  the  common 
schools  of  Medfield.  He  lived  at  home  for 
several  years  after  coming  of  age,  and  worked 
with  his  father.  In  August,  1S62,  he  enlisted 
for  one  year  in  Company  D,  Forty-second 
Regiment,  Roxbury  City  Guards.  He  was 
captured  in  the  engagement  at  Galveston, 
Tex.,  and  kept  in  prison  for  two  months. 
After  his  discharge,  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term   of   enlistment    in    August,    1863,    he   re- 


turned to  Medfield.  In  the  following  year  he 
took  charge  of  the  homestead  farm,  which  is 
still  his  home.  Besides  this  place,  which 
contains  about  eighty  acres,  he  owns  other 
land.  He  carries  on  general  farming  with 
success.  For  several  years  he  was  employed 
as  a  land  surveyor. 

On  January  11,  1866,  Mr.  Wight  was 
joined  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  R.  Adams, 
of  Millis,  Mass.  She  was  born  October  24, 
1838,  daughter  of  Edward  and  Keziah  L. 
(Clark)  Adams.  Mr.  Adams,  who  was  born 
in  Millis,  and  died  September  23,  1870,  fol- 
lowed farming  as  an  occupation.  Mrs.  Adams, 
who  was  born  in  Milford,  Mass.,  died  January 
15,  1 89 1 .  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wight  have  one 
child,  Anna  M.,  living  at  home.  They  are 
attendants  of  the  Unitarian  church.  Mr. 
Wight  has  always  voted  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  belongs  to  Moses  Ellis  Post,  No.  117, 
G.  A.  R. 


KRANCIS  EUGENE  EVERETT,  an 
enterprising  provision  dealer  in  Nor- 
wood, was  born  in  Walpole,  Mass., 
January  24,  1855,  son  of  Charles  Francis  and 
Hannah  Maria  (Pierce)  Everett.  He  traces 
his  descent  through  a  long  line  of  ancestors  to 
the  first  of  them,  who  arrived  in  Massachu- 
setts at  a  remote  date  in  the  Colonial  period. 
His  grandfather,  Charles  Everett,  who  was  a 
native  of  Walpole,  was  engaged  in  teaming 
and  farming. 

Charles  Francis  Everett,  Francis  E.  Ever- 
ett's father,  was  born  in  Walpole.  In  his 
earlier  years  he  followed  the  trade  of  an  iron 
moulder.  Subsequently  he  carried  on  a  pro- 
vision business  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  he  was  fifty-eight  years  old. 
His  first  wife,  Hannah  Maria  Everett,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Amos  Pierce,  of  Fitchburg, 
Mass.,  became  the  mother  of  three  children, 
namely:  Minnie,  who  died  young;  Ida  Jo- 
sephine, now  a  professor  of  rhetoric  and  liter- 
ature in  Oakland,  Cal. ;  and  Francis  E.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  The  second  wife, 
Eldora  Frances  (Adams)  Everett,  bore  him 
two  sons  —  Henry  Irving  and  Herbert  Perry. 

Francis  Eugene  Everett  was  reared  and  ed- 
ucated in  Walpole,  and  at  an  early  age  began 


372 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


to  assist  his  father  in  the  provision  store. 
After  the  death  of  the  latter  he  succeeded  to 
the  business.  In  1878  he  moved  to  Norwood, 
where  he  has  since  carried  on  the  same  busi- 
ness very  prosperously.  He  is  active  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  in  politics  is  a  Republican. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Business  Men's  Asso- 
ciation; is  a  Past  Master  of  Orient  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.;  is  connected  with  Hebron  Chap- 
ter, Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  Cyprus  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templar;  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Tiot  Lodge,  No.  50,  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  and 
he  belongs  to  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen.  He  married  Agnes  M.  Pratt,  a 
daughter  of  Elias  E.  Pratt,  of  Norwood,  and 
has  one  son,  Eldon  Francis. 


DVVIN  P.  LINFIELD,  M.D.,  of  Avon, 
physician  and  surgeon,  is  a  native  of 
Randolph,  Mass.,  born  January  7, 
1856.  A  son  of  John  P.  and  Louisa  (Fisher) 
Linfield,  he  is  of  English  ancestry.  John  P. 
Linfield,  who  also  was  born  in  Randolph,  was 
a  farmer.  He  died  December  18,  1891.  His 
wife,  a  native  of  Walpole,  Mass.,  died  January 
29,  1 87 1. 

Edwin  P.  Linfield  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Randolph,  remaining  on  the  home 
farm  until  his  mother's  death,  which  occurred 
when  he  was  fifteen  years  old.  Ambitious  and 
energetic,  he  was  not  afraid  to  work  for  his  ed- 
ucation. While  further  acquiring  it  in  a  gram- 
mar school  and  an  academy  of  Rochester,  N.Y., 
for  a  period  of  three  years,  he  acted  as  janitor 
of  the  school  building.  In  his  eighteenth 
year  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  locating  in 
East  Stoughton  (now  Avon),  and  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  S.  S.  Gifford. 
After  spending  three  years  with  Dr.  Gifford, 
he  took  his  medical  lectures  at  Dartmouth 
College,  graduating  in  November,  1875.  He 
worked  also  to  pay  his  college  fees.  Immedi- 
ately after  receiving  his  degree,  he  began  to 
practise  in  Avon,  which  has  now  been  his  field 
of  labor  for  nearly  twenty  years.  An  able  and 
popular  physician,  he  has  a  large  practice  in 
Avon  and  the  adjoining  towns.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 

On  December  12,  1880,  he  was  married  to 
Miss   Lucy  Griffith,   of  Carver,    Mass.,  whose 


only  child  is  George  G.  Dr.  Linfield  served 
for  a  year  on  the  Republican  Town  Commit- 
tee of  Avon.  Although  he  was  for  a  year  a 
member  of  the  town  Board  of  Registrars,  he 
is  not  considered  an  aspirant  to  office.  A 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  he  has  served 
as  treasurer  of  the  society  and  as  a  member 
of  its  Prudential  Committee. 


(S>TLBERT  E.  MILLER,  M.D.,  one  of 
h^\  the  representative  professional  men  of 
yd  [A  Norfolk  County,  Massachusetts,  re- 
— '  siding  in  Needham,  was  bom  in  the 
town  of  Covert,  Seneca  County,  N.Y.,  July  7, 
1833,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Polly  (Hogaboom) 
Miller.  He  is  a  descendant  of  the  old  New 
England  family  of  Miller,  among  whom  are 
a  number  of  noted  physicians  and  surgeons. 
His  grandfathers  were  both  soldiers  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  his  father  was  in  the 
War  of  1812. 

He  attended  the  schools  of  his  native  town, 
spent  a  year  at  Cortland  Academy;  and  then, 
being  selected  by  the  superintendent  of  schools 
to  receive  the  benefit  of  the  State  Normal  De- 
partment at  Homer  Academy,  he  spent  three 
years  in  that  institution.  When  about  nine- 
teen years  of  age  he  began  the  study  of  law 
with  Judge  Duel  in  Cortland,  N.Y.  Taking 
up  the  study  of  medicine  a  year  later,  he  was 
graduated  from  the  Syracuse  Medical  College 
in  1855,  and  in  1864  from  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  private 
student  of  H.  H.  Smith,  M.D.,  professor  of 
surgery  in  the  University,  and  also  of  the 
celebrated  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  M.D.  At  an 
early  period  in  his  professional  career  he 
began  to  lecture  on  public  health  ;  and  he  has 
travelled  extensively,  delivering  lectures  in 
the  principal  cities  and  towns  throughout  the 
country.  His  lectures  to  pupils  of  public  and 
normal  schools  have  been  especially  popular. 
He  has  the  finest  apparatus  in  this  country 
with  which  to  illustrate  these  discourses,  con- 
sisting of  four  beautiful  French  manikins, 
thirteen  skeletons,  and  a  great  variety  of 
models,  plates,  and  drawings.  For  several 
years  he  has  lectured  regularly  before  the  New 
England  Chautauqua  Assembly.  He  is  pro- 
fessor of  physiology  and  hygiene  in  the  Col- 


ALBERT    E.    MILLER. 


VESTA    D.    MILLER.    M.D. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


377 


lege  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Boston,  and 
medical  examiner  of  the  Pennsylvania  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company  of  Philadelphia.  The 
Doctor  is  still  in  active  practice,  having  an 
office  at  his  residence  in  Needham,  and  also 
one  at  1 10  Tremont  Street,  Boston. 

As  a  resident  of  Needham  he  is  actively 
interested  in  all  questions  concerning  the  wel- 
fare and  progress  of  the  town.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Public 
Library,  and  has  been  one  of  the  officers  since 
its  organization.  He  has  been  president  of 
the  Needham  Co-operative  Bank  since  it  was 
chartered.  He  was  one  of  the  foremost  in 
starting  the  Village  Improvement  Society,  and 
was  its  first  president.  He  has  beautified  and 
rendered  fertile  a  portion  of  the  town  re- 
claimed from  waste  land,  and  built  twenty-five 
fine  houses.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in 
obtaining  from  the  legislature  the  act  allowing 
the  town  of  Needham  to  supply  its  inhabitants 
with  pure  water,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
Water  Committee.  He  has  been  superintend- 
ent of  the  First  Parish  Sunday-school  for 
twelve  years.  Active  in  the  temperance 
cause,  he  has  been  president  of  the  Union 
Temperance  Band  for  three  years,  and  is  vice- 
president  of  the  Massachusetts  Total  Absti- 
nence Society.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree 
Mason,  is  on  the  medical  staff  of  the  De  Molay 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  is  Past 
Master  of  Norfolk  Lodge,  and  member  of  the 
Eastern  Star.  He  is  also  Past  Grand  of 
Elliot  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts;  and  has  sev- 
eral times  held  the  office  of  D.  D.  G.  M. 

He  is  also  connected  with  various  medical 
societies,  notably  with  the  Gynaecological 
Society  of  Boston,  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation, and  the  Internationa]  Medical  Con- 
gress. He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua Literary  Scientific  Circle. 

In  politics  Dr.  Miller  is  a  Republican.  In 
1888  and  1889  he  represented  the  Ninth  Nor- 
folk District  in  the  legislature,  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Public  Health.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Home  Market, 
Norfolk,  and  Massachusetts  Republican  Clubs, 
and  also  of  the  Edward  Everett  Hale  Club,  of 
which  he  is  president. 

Dr.  Miller  was  married  November  25,  1866, 


to  Miss  Vesta  Delphene  Freeman,  of  Newark 
Valley,  N.Y.  In  1890  Dr.  Miller,  in  com- 
pany with  his  wife,  attended  the  International 
Medical  Congress  at  Berlin,  after  which  they 
travelled  extensively  through  Germany,  Hol- 
land, Switzerland,  France,  and  England. 


ESTA  DELPHENE  MILLER,  M.D., 
fe>  daughter  of  Alonzo  and  Vesta  K. 
Freeman,  was  born  in  Ketchumville, 
town  of  Newark,  Tioga  County,  N.Y.  Her  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  the  Rev.  Ithamar  Ketchum, 
a  noted  divine,  and  the  Rev.  Seneca  Ketchum, 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Cortland, 
N.Y.,  where  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born.  The  Rev.  Ithamar  Ketchum 
with  his  family  subsequently  removed  to  Tioga 
County,  and  there  founded  the  village  of 
Ketchumville  and  built  a  church,  in  which  he 
preached  for  many  years.  Her  paternal  grand- 
father, Bicknel  Freeman,  who  came  from 
Taunton,  Mass.,  was  a  teacher.  Her  father, 
Alonzo  Freeman,  was  also  a  celebrated 
teacher.  Among  the  Freemans  are  many 
noted  physicians  and  surgeons. 

Dr.  Vesta  D.  Miller's  brother,  Dr.  Alonzo 
Rudolph  Freeman,  was  a  private  student  of  Dr. 
Hamilton,  the  noted  surgeon;  and,  after  grad- 
uating from  Long  Island  Medical  College,  he 
settled  in  New  London,  Wis.  He  was  surgeon 
of  the  Green  Bay  &  Winona  Railroad  and  Mil- 
waukee &  Lake  Shore  Railroad,  and  was  the 
founder  of  the  North-western  Medical  Society. 
A  half-brother,  Dr.  E.  F.  Eldridge,  is 
located  at  Grand  Junction,  Colorado.  Their 
mother,  the  Rev.  V.  K.  F.  Eldridge,  possess- 
ing in  a  high  degree  the  mental  and  moral  fac- 
ulties that  made  her  father  a  leader  among 
men,  and  eminently  fitted  her  for  a  preacher, 
was  ordained  an  Elder  in  the  Reformed  Meth- 
odist Church,  Springfield,  Vt.  Her  labors  in 
the  temperance  field  were  extended  as  far 
West  as  the  Mississippi  River. 

As  a  child  Dr.  Miller  was  noted  for  decision 
nf  character  and  retentive  memory.  At  the 
age  of  ten  years  she  could  give  the  names, 
capitals,  and  government  of  all  the  countries 
in  the  world,  the  rivers  of  note  and  their 
length,  the  mountains  and  their  heights.  She 
was  well  versed  in  the  history  of  the   United 


378 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


States,  knew  the  names  of  all  the  Presidents, 
the  native  States  of  all  the  great  men,  the 
square  miles  of  the  lakes,  the  number  of  in- 
habitants of  each  State,  and  the  government  of 
each.  In  her  girlhood  she  pursued  a  course  of 
study  at  Susquehanna  Seminary,  Binghamton, 
N.Y.,  and  later  graduated  from  Dr.  Dio 
Lewis's  Normal  Institute,  Boston,  and  from 
the  School  of  Oratory.  Beginning  to  teach  at 
sixteen,  during  vacations  she  taught  a  private 
school  for  girls.  She  was  also  a  very  success- 
ful teacher  in  the  public  schools. 

She  attended  her  first  course  of  medical 
lectures  at  the  New  England  Female  Medical 
College  in  Boston  in  1S65;  she  also  attended 
the  medical  college  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Her 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  received 
from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
Boston,  and  from  the  Post-graduate  School 
in  New  York  City.  She  had  the  benefit  of 
special  instruction  in  surgery  and  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases  of  women  in  the  hospitals 
of  New  York.  In  1890  she  made  the  tour  of 
England,  France,  and  Germany,  during  which 
she  visited  the  principal  hospitals. 

Dr.  Vesta  D.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the 
International  Medical  Congress,  the  American 
Medical  Association,  and  of  the  Gynaecologi- 
cal Society  of  Boston.  She  has  been  pro- 
fessor of  gynaecology  and  pediatrics  in  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  since 
1893,  and  gave  the  address  to  the  graduating 
class  two  years,  in  1895  and  1S96.  She  is 
a  graduate  of  the  Chautauqua  Literary  Scien- 
tific Circle,  class  of  1888,  and  was  one  of  the 
committee  to  get  up  the  class  banner;  is 
prominent  also  in  temperance  work;  and  has 
been  president  of  the  Needham  W.  C.  T.  U. 
since  its  organization.  She  has  given  lectures 
at  the  county  and  State  conventions  in  the 
different  towns  and  cities  of  the  State  on  food, 
dress,  heredity,  effect  of  alcohol  upon  the 
human  system,  and  kindred  subjects.  She  is 
president  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the 
New  England  Baptist  Hospital,  is  vice-presi- 
dent of  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Hospital, 
member  of  the  King's  Daughters  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  is  connected  with  a  number  of 
other  charities.  She  is  a  member  of  the  East- 
ern Star,  having  been  the  first  to  join  this 
order  in  Massachusetts. 


Dr.  Vesta  D.  Miller  has  contributed  to 
medical  literature.  A  paper  read  by  her 
before  the  Boston  Gynaecological  Society  on 
dysmenorrhoea  was  published  by  the  society  in 
the  New  York  Medical  Examiner.  She  has 
an  extensive  practice  in  Needham  and  an 
office  at  110  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  where 
she  devotes  two  days  of  each  week  to  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases  of  women. 

She  was  married  to  Dr.  Albert  E.  Miller, 
November  25,  1866. 


ERBERT  LINCOLN  BROWN,  a 
prosperous  general  merchant  and  the 
Postmaster  of  Beech  wood,  was  born 
in  Cohasset,  Mass.,  November  9, 
1855,  son  of  Ezra  and  Harriet  Sanford  (Lin- 
coln) Brown.  His  grandfather,  Timothy 
Brown,  removed  from  Barnstable  County  to 
Cohasset,  where  he  followed  the  occupation  of 
a  fisherman  and  a  farmer  for  the  rest  of  his 
active  period.  The  maiden  name  of  Timo- 
thy's wife  was  Mary  Wood. 

Ezra  Brown,  who  was  born  in  Cohasset,  in 
early  life  followed  the  carpenter's  trade  in  this 
town.  He  established  the  business  in  Beech- 
wood  now  carried  on  by  his  son,  and  after 
conducting  it  for  some  years  resumed  his 
trade.  P"or  about  two  years  he  worked  in  a 
casket  factory  at  Whitman,  Mass.  ;  and  he  was 
employed  in  Quincy  for  a  year.  Then  he 
returned  to  this  town,  and  was  engaged  in 
business  with  his  son  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  ■  seven  years. 
When  the  post-office  was  established  here,  he 
was  appointed  the  first  Postmaster.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  for  some 
time.  In  politics  he  supported  the  Republi- 
can party  from  the  time  of  its  formation.  His 
wife,  Harriet,  was  born  in  Cohasset,  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Almira  (Marble)  Lincoln. 
She  is  a  descendant  of  Daniel,  or  Sergeant, 
Lincoln,  who  was  a  resident  of  Hingharri  in 
1644  or  1645,  who  was  one  of  the  proprietors 
among  whom  the  public  lands  were  divided, 
and  who  served  as  a  Selectman.  The  death  of 
this  ancestor  occurred  in  1699.  His  son, 
Ephraim,  the  next  in  line,  who  married  Mary 
Nichols,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Whis- 
ton)    Nichols,    resided    upon    a    farm    at    Fort 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3)9 


Hill.  Ephraim  Lincoln  (second)  settled  on 
the  Jerusalem  Road,  reclaimed  a  farm,  and 
resided  thereon  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
married  Lydia  Marshall,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Lydia  (dishing)  Marshall,  and  whose  ma- 
ternal grandfather  was  the  proprietor  of  the 
estate  in  Hingham  known  as  "The  Big  Elm." 
Urbana  Lincoln,  son  of  Ephraim  (second), 
and  the  maternal  great-grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  settled  on  Beech  wood 
Street  in  Cohasset,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
fishing  and  farming  during  his  active  years. 
Twice  married,  his  second  wife,  Mary,  was  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Silence  (Tower)  Wheel- 
wright. Thomas  Lincoln,  Herbert  L.  Brown's 
maternal  grandfather,  in  his  younger  days  was 
a  fisherman  and  later  a  farmer.  He  married 
Almira  Marble,  (if  this  town,  daughter  of 
Ephraim  and  Hannah  (Pincin)  Marble.  Their 
children  were:  Priscilla  J.,  Levi,  Harriet 
Sanford,  and  Thomas  Lincoln.  Priscilla  J. 
and  her  two  brothers  occupy  the  old  Lincoln 
homestead,  and  Mrs.  Ezra  Brown  resides  at 
Beechwood.  She  has  reared  two  children — 
Herbert  L.  and  Marion  S. 

Herbert  Lincoln  Brown  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Cohasset.  At  an  early  age 
he  began  to  assist  his  father  in  the  store. 
About  the  year  1880  he  became  the  proprietor 
of  the  business.  He  also  succeeded  his  father 
in  the  office  of  Postmaster,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  short  interval,  has  conducted  both 
the  store  and  post-office  since  that  time.  In 
politics  he  acts  with  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  connected  with  Konohasset  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  and  with  Cohasset  Lodge,  No.  192, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  He  married  Flora  Edith  Wood, 
of  Cohasset,  a  daughter  of  Charles  B.  and 
Ellen  G.  (Litchfield)  Wood.  Mrs.  Brown  is 
the  mother  of  three  children  ;  namely,  Ethel 
Marion,  Nellie  Edith,  and  Ezra  Harold  Brown. 


ENJAMIN  F.  BAKER,  a  well- 
known  and  honored  citizen  of 
Brookline,  Norfolk  County,  Mass., 
is  in  length  of  service  the  senior 
Town  Clerk  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  has 
been  identified  with  the  leading  interests  of 
the  town  of  Brookline  for  more  than  half  a 
century,   taking  an  active   part   in   the  estab- 


lishment of  its  educational  and  literary  insti- 
tutions and  fraternal  organizations.  He  was 
born  August  28,  1820,  in  Kennebunk,  Me., 
being  a  son  of  John  Baker,  Jr.,  and  grandson 
of  a  hero  of  the  Revolution,  John  Baker,  Sr., 
who  spent  the  larger  part  of  his  active  life  in 
York,  Me. 

John  Baker,  Jr.,  was  born  and  reared  in 
York,  Me.  In  the  town  of  Kittery  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  shipwright,  which  he 
subsequently  followed  for  a  time  in  Kenne- 
bunk. He  afterward  engaged  in  business  on 
his  own  account  as  a  boat-builder,  continuing 
in  this  employment  until  his  death  in  1825,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  To  him  and  his 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Lydia  Towne, 
nine  children  were  born,  of  whom  Benjamin 
F.  is  the  only  survivor.  The  mother  outlived 
her  husband  many  years,  passing  away  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-eight.  Both  parents 
were  members  of  the  Congregational  church. 

Benjamin  F.  Baker  was  but  five  years  of 
age  when  his  father  died.  He  remained  with 
his  widowed  mother  three  years,  but  the  fol- 
lowing five  years  he  lived  with  a  neighboring 
farmer.  From  the  age  of  thirteen  until  at- 
taining his  majority,  he  served  an  apprentice- 
ship, after  which  he  worked  two  years  as  a 
journeyman.  Leaving  the  scenes  of  his  child- 
hood, he  came  to  Massachusetts,  and  in  1843 
settled  as  a  painter  in  Brookline,  purchasing  a 
business  that  had  been  established  in  181  5,  and 
which  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  in  this  part  of 
the  State.  His  selection  of  a  permanent  loca- 
tion proved  very  advantageous  in  every  sense, 
Brookline  having  each  succeeding  year  made 
rapid  strides  in  regard  to  improvements  and 
growth  in  both  population  and  valuation. 
When  he  became  a  resident,  the  number  of  in- 
habitants was  placed  at  twelve  hundred,  a 
small  per  cent,  of  the  seventeen  thousand  re- 
vealed by  the  last  census.  Much  of  the  land 
was  devoted  to  agricultural  purposes,  two 
tanneries  represented  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests of  the  town,  and  two  stores  only  were  to 
be  found  within  its  limits.  Communication 
with  Boston  was  by  an  omnibus,  which  ran 
twice  a  day,  making  the  round  trip  morning 
and  afternoon. 

Politically,  Mr.  Baker  was  formerly  a 
Whig,  but  has  been   one  of  the  strongest  ad- 


38o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


herents  of  the  Republican  party  since  its  for- 
mation. In  1884  he  represented  the  town  in 
the  State  legislature;  and  in  1852  he  was 
elected  Town  Clerk,  a  position  to  which  he 
has  been  re-elected  each  year  since,  giving 
him  a  record  of  continuous  service  equalled  by 
no  one  in  the  State.  For  forty-six  consecu- 
tive years  he  has  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  during  the  late  Rebellion  he  was 
active  in  recruiting  soldiers  for  the  army.  In 
the  various  contests  arising  from  the  attempt 
to  annex  Brookline  to  Boston  he  was  one  of 
the  most  sturdy  opponents  of  the  movement, 
the  anti-annexationists  being  victorious  in 
each  instance,  for  which  the  town  is  duly 
thankful.  He  has  been  an  earnest  supporter 
and  oftentimes  the  originator  of  various  bene- 
ficial enterprises,  and  was  the  promoter  and 
earnest  advocate  of  the  Brookline  Public  Li- 
brary, which  is  the  very  first  established  by 
the  people  known  in  the  United  States.  This 
library  has  now  forty-eight  thousand,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  well-selected  books,  that  for 
general  reading  and  reference  are  highly  ap- 
preciated, as  proved  by  their  large  circulation. 
Of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mr.  Baker  has  been 
a  member  from  the  beginning,  excepting  one 
term,  and  is  now  secretary,  a  position  which 
he  has  held  seventeen  years.  He  was  also 
much  interested  in  the  formation  of  the  Brook- 
line Historical  Society. 

Fraternally,  he  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to 
Beth-horon  Lodge,  of  which  he  is  a  charter 
member;  and  has  been  Master  of  Mount  Ver- 
non Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  St.  Omar  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T. ,  of  South  Boston.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  Sagamore  Council,  Royal  Arca- 
num. He  was  a  charter  member  of  the  old 
society  known  as  the  Master  Painters'  Asso- 
ciation, and  also  of  the  new  Master  Painters' 
and  Decorators'  Association,  of  which  he  has 
been  president.  He  is  likewise  a  trustee  of 
the  Brookline  Savings  Bank.  In  May,  1842, 
he  united  with  the  Baptist  church,  of  which 
he  has  been  clerk  eighteen  years,  besides 
serving  sixteen  years  as  secretary  of  the  so- 
ciety. He  has  ever  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  Sunday-school,  for  sixteen 
years  being  one  of  its  teachers. 

In  1844  Mr.  Baker  married  Miss  Lovina 
Libby,  who  was  born   in   Limerick,   Me.,  one 


of  the  six  children  of  Nathaniel  Libby,  the 
representative  of  a  prominent  family  of  that 
State.  Six  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Baker,  and  three  are  now  living; 
namely,  Anna  L,  Harriet  Moore,  and  Edward 
W.  Anna  I.  married  the  late  Harry  H. 
Adams,  who  was  wounded  while  fighting  for 
his  country  at  Petersburg,  Va.,  and  after  the 
close  of  the  war  was  for  some  years  an  officer 
in  the  custom-house.  Harriet  Moore  Baker 
married  Aaron  D.  Whitney,  and  has  one 
child,  Harry  H.  Whitney.  Edward  W.,  for- 
merly a  purchasing  agent  of  the  Mexican 
Central  Railway  Company,  is  now  private  sec- 
retary for  the  Hon.  Charles  F.  Sprague,  Rep- 
resentative in  Congress.  He  married  Miss 
Alice  Souther,  and  has  one  child,  Dorothy 
Baker. 


ARON  E.  TUCKER,  a  retired  mer- 
chant of  Canton,  Mass.,  was  bom  in 
this  town  in  1 8 1 3,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Caty  (McKendry)  Tucker.  His 
father  was  the  third  in  direct  line  to  bear 
the  name  Samuel.  His  great-grandfather, 
Samuel  Tucker,  first,  who  was  of  the  fourth 
generation  in  descent  from  Robert  Tucker,  of 
Weymouth  and  Milton,  settled  in  Canton  in 
1752,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
(See  Tucker  Genealogy.)  Samuel  Tucker, 
third,  son  of  Samuel,  second,  and  grandson  of 
the  first  Samuel,  was  bom  in  Canton.  For 
the  greater  part  of  his  active  life  he  carried  on 
the  trade  of  carpenter,  being  also  a  contractor 
to  some  extent.  In  his  politics  he  was  a 
Whig,  but  never  held  public  office.  He  mar- 
ried Caty  McKendry,  and  had  nine  children. 
A  very  hard-working  man,  he  died  at  the  age 
of  fifty-five  years. 

Aaron  E.  Tucker,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
and  the  only  one  living  of  the  nine  children 
mentioned  above,  received  his  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  town  and  at  Mid- 
dleboro  Academy,  which  he  attended  two 
years.  In  his  early  manhood  he  taught  school 
for  two  years  in  the  town  of  Carver  and  later 
for  two  years  in  Canton.  He  afterward  went 
into  business  with  his  cousin,  Mr.  Darius 
Tucker,  carrying  on  for  a  year  a  general  store 
in    connection    with    tailoring.       In     1841    he 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


started  for  himself,  opening  a  store  for  the 
sale  of  general  merchandise.  This  business 
he  continued  with  gratifying  success  until 
1880.  While  thus  engaged  he  built  a  large 
block  on  the  main  street  of  the  town,  also  the 
house  in  which  he  now  lives,  and  several  other 
dwellings.  After  he  retired  from  active  mer- 
cantile life  he  built  other  houses  and  blocks, 
thus  adding  to  his  real  estate  interests. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Water  Board  when  the  water- 
works were  first  laid  out  through  the  town,  but 
aside  from  this  he  has  never  accepted  public 
office.  For  twenty-five  years  he  has  been  an 
active  and  influential  member  of  the  Baptist 
church   and   for  a  number  of  years  a  Deacon. 

Mr.  Tucker  has  been  twice  married,  and  by 
his  first  wife,  Eliza  A.  Taber,  of  Randolph, 
he  has  four  children,  as  follows:  Annie  E. , 
married  to  W.  F.  Colby;  Lucius  E.,  who  mar- 
ried Etta  P.  Ropes,  of  Danvers ;  Addie  A., 
the  wife  of  S.  H.  Capen ;  and  Isabel,  who 
married  A.  E.  De  Normandie.  Mrs.  Eliza 
A.  Tucker  died  in  1863.  By  his  second  wife, 
Ellen  Kenrick,  of  Canton,  he  has  no  children. 
Though  at  an  advanced  age,  Mr.  Tucker  is 
still  hale  and  hearty.  He  has  been  a  good 
citizen  of  the  town,  is  widely  known,  and 
enjoys  the  respect  of  all. 

Among  the  many  interesting  experiences 
that  have  enriched  his  long  life  and  helped  to 
mould  and  strengthen  his  character,  may  be 
mentioned  two  that  stand  out  in  his  recollec- 
tion with  peculiar  vividness. 

When  he  was  at  Middleboro  Academy  he 
had  a  rare  treat  in  listening  to  the  far-famed 
Daniel  Webster,  who  delivered  an  address  on 
the  court-house  steps  in  Plymouth,  the  hall 
being  too  small  to  accommodate  the  large 
gathering.  The  subject  was  "The  Currency 
of  the  United  States."  It  was  a  masterly 
effort,  and  did  much  in  putting  him  on  the 
right  track,  as  that  was  the  year  his  name  was 
added  to  the  voting  list. 

In  the  year  1861,  when  the  Rebellion  had 
become  a  fearful  reality  and  the  rebels  were 
preparing  to  capture  Washington,  he  joined 
a  party  of  twelve  of  the  prominent  men  of  Can- 
ton to  visit  Washington,  learn  more  of  the 
situation,  and  see  the  fortifications  and  other 
preparations  to    meet    and    repel    the    enemy. 


On  July  16,  1861,  the  war  party,  so  called, 
left  Canton;  and,  arriving  in  Washington, 
they  were  escorted  to  the  White  House  by 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Representative  in 
Congress,  who  introduced  the  party  individ- 
ually to  President  Abraham  Lincoln.  They 
also  had  an  interview  with  General  Scott,  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army  at  that  time, 
General  Mansfield  being  commander  of  the 
forces  at  Washington,  D.C.  Each  one  of  the 
party  had  a  permit  to  visit  the  public  build- 
ings, and  also  the  fortifications  on  Arlington 
Heights.  They  were  there  during  the  clay  of 
the  Bull  Run  battle,  leaving  for  home  that 
evening.  On  their  arrival  at  New  York  that 
night,  a  despatch  was  there  ahead  of  them  say- 
ing the  rebels  had  been  brought  to  a  standstill 
by  our  forces  and  fortifications,  and  our  na- 
tional capital  was  safe  beyond  their  reach. 
The  party  were  loud  in  their  acclamations  of 
joy  at  the  result,  and  renewed  their  journey 
for  Canton  with  a  deep-down  determination  to 
do  all  in  their  power  to  prosecute  the  war  and 
subdue  the  rebels. 

Mr.  Tucker  has  enjoyed  the  sea-breeze  to 
its  full  extent,  having  visited  the  glades  at 
Cohasset  during  the  fall  months  for  duck- 
shooting  and  fishing,  and  passed  the  summer 
months  at  Cottage  City,  Martha's  Vineyard, 
in  his  snug  cottage,  each  year  for  the  past 
thirty  years  or  more. 


UGENE  DREW,  the  well-known  grocer 
of  Avon,  was  born  in  East  Stoughton 
(now  Avon),  March  6,  1S45.  His 
parents  were  John  and  Eliza  A.  (Haynes) 
Drew,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Canton,  Mass.,  and  the  latter  of  the  locality 
now  called  Holbrook.  John  Drew  settled  in 
East  Stoughton  some  fifty  years  ago,  and  for  a 
time  was  employed  as  a  cutter  in  a  shoe  fac- 
tory. Later  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  boots  upon  his  own  account,  and  had  a 
thriving  business  for  a  number  of  years.  lie 
died  January  1,  1888.  A  man  of  strict  integ- 
rity, whose  judgment  and  advice  were  highly 
valued,  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to 
settled  estates.  In  politics  he  was  Republi- 
can, and  he  figured  prominently  in  the  public 
affairs  of  Stoughton. 


3^2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Eugene  Drew  was  reared  and  educated  in 
East  Stoughtnn.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
began  to  work  for  wages  in  a  shoe  factory. 
In  time  he  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the 
business.  He  was  one  of  the  first  persons  to 
operate  a  McKay  sewing-machine.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  was  foreman  of  the  stitching- 
room  in  the  factory  of  Charles  Smith;  and  for 
three  years  he  was  associated  with  his  father  in 
the  manufacture. of  boots,  under  the  firm  name 
of  John  Drew  &  Son.  He  relinquished  manu- 
facturing to  enter  the  grocery  business.  After 
conducting  stores  in  East  Stoughton  and 
Brockton  for  a  number  of  years,  he  retired 
from  active  business  for  a  time.  In  January, 
1895,  he  again  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness in  Avon,  and  is  now  carrying  on  a  flour- 
ishing trade.  In  politics  he  acts  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  is  in  favor  of  all  measures 
likely  to  benefit  the  town. 

Mr.  Drew  married  Anna  K.  Hawes,  of 
Brockton,  and  now  has  one  daughter,  Clara  H. 
One  of  Avon's  most  energetic  and  progressive 
men,  he  has  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the 
community. 


§AMES  MACKINTOSH,  market  gar- 
dener, a  prominent  citizen  of  Needham, 
the  son  of  Ebenezer  VV.  and  Hannah 
(Pratt)  Mackintosh,  was  born  in  Need- 
ham,  Mass.,  April  9,  1838.  His  great-grand- 
father, William  Mackintosh,  was  a  commis- 
sioned officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
bearing  the  title  Colonel.  The  family  have 
in  their  possession  a  letter  written  by  General 
Washington,  in  which  Colonel  Mackintosh  is 
ordered  to  move  his  regiment  to  support  Wash- 
ington at  the  battle  of  Yorktown.  One  of  the 
Colonel's  sons,  Ebenezer  Mackintosh,  was 
born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  and  was  a  hotel - 
keeper.  His  son,  Ebenezer  W. ,  born  in  Need- 
ham  in  1798,  was  a  farmer,  and  was  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Committee 
of  the  town.  He  died  in  1878.  His  wife, 
Hannah,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Paul  Pratt, 
of  Weston,  was  sixty-three  years  old  at  the 
time  of  her  death  in  1876. 

James  Mackintosh,  their  son  and  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of   Needham.      He  worked 


with  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  when  he  bought  the 
place  where  he  now  lives.  He  makes  a  spe- 
cialty of  market  gardening,  selling  his  produce 
in  Brookline  and  Boston;  and  he  also  deals  in 
wood,  which  he  sells  principally  in  Brookline 
and  Boston.  Mr.  Mackintosh  is  a  public- 
spirited  man,  and  has  served  the  town  in  jnany 
different  offices.  In  1866  he  was  elected  one 
of  the  four  Superintendents  of  Streets,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  held  for  twelve  years.  In  1871 
he  was  made  Selectman,  and  served  one  year; 
and,  being  re-elected  in  1874,  he  served  four 
more  years.  He  was  chairman  of  the  board 
one  year,  but  declined  a  re-election.  In  1881, 
when  the  town  of  Wellesley  was  set  off  from 
the  town  of  Needham,  Mr.  Mackintosh  was 
again  Selectman,  and  helped  decide  the  ques- 
tions that  arose  concerning  this  important 
step.  Since  1882  he  has  served  as  Selectman 
four  years.  He  was  chosen  to  represent  the 
Ninth  Norfolk  District  in  the  legislature  in 
1876,  and  was  re-elected  in  1877  and  in  1880. 
During  the  first  term  he  served  on  the  Com- 
mittee upon  Agriculture;  during  the  second 
term  he  was  chairman  of  the  same  committee 
and  a  member  of  the  committee  on  the  question 
of  woman  suffrage;  and  during  the  third  term 
he  was  on  the  Committee  of  Agriculture  and 
on  the  Committee  of  Public  Service.  During 
the  session  of  1881,  when  the  question  of  the 
division  of  the  town  of  Needham  came  up,  Mr. 
Mackintosh  secured  the  passage  of  an  amend- 
ment to  the  bill,  by  the  terms  of  which  the 
old  town  of  Needham  obtained  a  large  appro- 
priation under  the  school  laws  to  be  paid  by 
the  new  town  of  Wellesley.  Elected  Water 
Commissioner  in  1890,  he  served  in  this  ca- 
pacity for  six  years,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
board  during  the  construction  of  the  water- 
works. Mr.  Mackintosh  is  an  Independent  in 
politics.  He  attends  the  First  Congregational 
Church. 

He  was  married  in  1864  to  Lizzie,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  B.  Hall,  of  Boston.  She  died  in 
1885,  leaving  two  children:  Herbert  B.,  born 
in  1874;  and  Wendell  Phillips,  born  in  1879. 
Both  of  the  sons  acquired  their  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Needham, 
and,  fitting  for  college  and  entering  Harvard, 
were  graduated    in    the    class    of    1897.      Mr. 


SIDNEY    C.    PUTNAM. 


T3FOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


38s 


Mackintosh    was    married    a    second    time     in 
1888,  to  Mary  E.   Wales,  of  Newton. 


IDNEY  CALEB  PUTNAM,  late 
general  freight  agent  of  the  Old 
Colony  Railroad,  who  died  June  26, 
1892,  at  his  home  in  Hyde  Park, 
December  22,  1828,  in  Calais,  Vt. 
the  son  of  Caleb  S.  and  Elvira 
Putnam,  and  was  of  the  ninth 
descent  from  John  Putnam,  who 
came  from  England  with  his  wife  Priscilla  and 
their  children,  including  three  sons  —  Thomas, 
Nathaniel,  and  John  —  about  the  year  1634, 
and  settled  at  Salem  village,  now  Danvers, 
Mass.  The  line  is  as  follows:  John,1 
Thomas,2  Edward,3  Edward,4  Edward,5  Caleb,6 
Caleb/  Caleb  S.,s  Sidney  Caleb.9 

Thomas  Putnam,  son  of  John,  born  in  Eng- 
land, married  first,  in  1643,  Ann  Holyoke,  by 
whom  he  had  eight  children,  the  fifth  being 
the  first  Edward  named  above.  His  wife,  Ann, 
died  in  1665  ;  and  he  married  in  1666  Mrs. 
Mary  Veren.  Joseph  Putnam,  the  only  child 
born  of  this  union,  was  the  father  of  General 
Israel  Putnam  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Dea- 
con Edward  Putnam,  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann, 
born  in  1654,  married  Mary  Hale,  and  had  ten 
children,  the  eldest,  Deacon  Edward,  Jr., 
being  born  in  1682,  whose  son,  Edward/ 
born  in  1711,  married  Ruth  Fuller,  of  Mid- 
dleton,  and  shortly  removed  to  Sutton,  Mass., 
where  he  died  in  1800.  His  son  Caleb,  born 
in  Sutton  in  1754,  married  Judith  Sibley,  of 
that  town,  in  1776,  and  removed  to  Croydon, 
N.  H.  Their  son,  Caleb,  Jr.,  who  was  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire,  removed  thence  to 
Vermont,  where  he  followed  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith  in  connection  with  farming.  He 
lived   to  an  advanced  age. 

Caleb  Sibley  Putnam,  son  of  Caleb  Putnam, 
Jr.,  and  father  of  Sidney  Caleb  Putnam,  was 
born  in  Vermont,  and  resided  there  for  many 
years.  He  finally  removed  to  Canaan,  N.H., 
occupied  the  position  of  railroad  station  agent 
for  upward  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  died 
there  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His  wife,  Elvira, 
was  born  in  Calais,  Vt.,  where  her  father  was  a 
hotel-keeper  for  many  years.  She  became  the 
mother  of  eight  children;    and  Sidney  Caleb, 


the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  second- 
born.  Mrs.  Elvira  Wheelock  Putnam  died  in 
Manchester,  N.H.,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one 
years.  She  was  a  Universalist  in  religious 
faith. 

Sidney  C.  Putnam  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  for  some  time  after  complet- 
ing his  course  of  study  was  employed  as  a 
clerk  in  a  stove  and  tinware  store  in  South 
Reading,  Mass.  He  later  drove  a  stage,  but 
relinquished  that  occupation  to  become  assist- 
ant to  his  father  at  the  railroad  office  in 
Canaan,  and  still  later  was  made  receiving 
clerk  at  the  Lowell  Railroad  station  in  Bos- 
ton, where  he  remained  over  eight  years.  He 
was  next  employed  by  the  Vermont  Central 
Road  to  look  up  lost  property,  and  while  en- 
gaged in  that  work  he  travelled  about  one 
thousand  miles  per  week.  He  was  general 
freight  agent  of  the  New  York  &  New  ling- 
land  Railroad  for  four  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  became  connected  with  the  Old 
Colony  Railroad  in  a  similar  capacity,  and 
for  twenty-two  years  had  charge  of  the  entire 
freight  department,  including  the  Fall  River 
Line.  About  the  year  1867  he  settled  in 
Hyde  Park,  and  during  the  rest  of  his  life  he 
was  actively  identified  with  the  town  and  its 
institutions.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  savings 
bank  and  a  director  of  the  water  board.  Sid- 
ney C.  Putnam  was  respected  for  his  many 
estimable  qualities  as  a  man  and  a  citizen  ;  and 
his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  sixty- 
three  years  old,  was  sincerely  regretted  by  his 
fellow-townsmen  and  his  large  number  of 
acquaintances  in  business  circles. 

On  December  14,  1S51,  Mr.  Putnam  mar- 
ried Hannah  A.  Morse,  who  survives  him. 
She  was  born  in  Croydon,  N.H.,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Chloe  C.  (Carroll)  Morse,  the 
former  of  whom  was  a  native  of  Dublin,  N.  H., 
and  the  latter  of  Croydon.  Her  great-grand- 
father, Thomas  Morse,  went  from  Sherborn, 
Mass.,  to  Dublin  as  a  pioneer,  and  resided 
there  the  rest  of  his  life.  John  Morse,  Mrs. 
Putnam's  paternal  grandfather,  inherited  the 
homestead  which  his  father  Thomas  had 
cleared  from  the  wilderness,  and  passed  his 
entire  life  there.  He  was  the  father  of  six- 
children.  Samuel  Morse,  Mis.  Putnam's 
father,  was  a  graduate-  of  Dartmouth  College, 


386 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  practised  law  in  Croydon  for  fifty  years, 
being  a  well-known  and  influential  man  of  that 
region  in  his  clay.  He  lived  to  be  eighty-one 
years  old.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Chloe  C.  Carroll 
Morse,  now  at  the  age  of  ninety-four  years,  is 
residing  with  her  daughter  in  Hyde  Park. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  as  was  also  her  husband.  Mrs.  Put- 
nam has  one  daughter  —  Alma  H.,  wife  of 
Henry  Stone,  a  clerk  in  the  New  York  &  New 
England  Railway  Company's  service. 

(An  interesting  account  of  the  early  genera- 
tions of  the  Danvers  family  of  Putnams,  with 
copious  notes  in  regard  to  distant  English  kin, 
may  be  found  in  Volume  I.  of  the  Putnam 
Genealogy,  now  in  course  of  publication  by 
Eben  Putnam,  of  Salem,  Mass.) 


BNER  ALDEN,  one  of  the  oldest  ex- 
employees  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railway  Com- 
pany, was  born  in  Dedham,  his 
present  place  of  residence,  January  29,  1821. 
He  is  a  son  of  Francis  and  Sarah  (Crehore) 
Alden,  and  claims  to  be  a  lineal  descendant 
of  John  Alden,  of  "Mayflower"  and  Plymouth 
Colony  fame.  Mr.  Alden's  father  and  grand- 
father were  born  in  New  Hampshire.  Fran- 
cis Alden,  his  father,  for  some  years  kept  a 
hotel  in  Dedham,  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
county.  He  was  married  on  June  7,  181 8,  to 
Sarah  Crehore.  By  this  union  he  had  eleven 
children;  namely,  Emily,  Abner,  Clarissa, 
Maria,  Francis,  Henry  C,  Sarah  Jane,  Elisha, 
Amasa,  and  two  who  died  in  early  childhood. 
Francis  Alden  died  in  1876,  aged  eighty-two 
years. 

Abner  Alden  acquired  his  education  in  the 
Dedham  schools,  and  also  in  his  youth  made 
himself  useful  by  assisting  in  his  father's 
hotel.  In  April,  1840,  when  he  was  about 
nineteen  years  old,  he  was  appointed  conductor 
on  the  Dedham  branch  of  the  Boston  &  Provi- 
dence Railroad.  This  road  was  a  primitive 
affair  with  wooden  rails,  the  cars  drawn  by 
horses  as  far  as  Readville,  where  they  were 
connected  with  the  steam-cars  running  to  Bos- 
ton. Mr.  Alden  had  charge  of  three  trains 
per  day,  carrying  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to 
two  hundred  passengers.      He  was  employed  in 


this  way  until  1843,  when  he  was  made  rail- 
road station  agent  at  Dedham;  and  he  was  in 
office  there  continuously  until  December, 
1895.  In  the  fifty-five  years  of  his  service  he 
saw  many  improvements  in  locomotives  and 
cars,  and  witnessed  the  development  of  the 
enormous  system  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad. 

Mr.  Alden  was  married  in  1855  to  Miss 
Maria  Blodgett,  a  native  of  Saco,  Me.,  where 
her  father  was  a  ship-carpenter.  She  died 
leaving  one  son,  William  Herbert,  born  in 
1857,  who  is  now  a  conductor  in  the  employ  of 
the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Rail- 
road. He  married  Hattie  Coombs,  and  has  a 
son  and  a  daughter.  Mr.  Abner  Alden  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage  October  11,  1881, 
with  Miss  Adeline  Blake,  daughter  of  Henry 
Blake,  a  carpenter  of  Deering,  Me.  Her 
mother  was  before  marriage  Nancy  Barber; 
and  she,  too,  was  a  native  of  Deering.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Blake  had  a  family  of  nine  children 
—  Almira,  Alexander,  Charles,  Jason,  Ed- 
ward, Martha,  Elizabeth,  George,  and  Ade- 
line. Mr.  Alden  has  no  children  by  his  sec- 
ond marriage.  Politically,  he  favors  the 
Democratic  side.  In  religious  belief  and 
affiliation  he  is  a  Unitarian. 


^  jICHARD  HOWARD,  who  died  at  his 
home  in  Canton,  Mass.,  January  31, 
1895,  left  to  his  family  the  ines- 
timable inheritance  of  a  good  name. 
A  man  of  unusual  steadfastness  of  character 
and  purpose,  industrious,  capable,  and  trust- 
worthy, for  fifty-seven  consecutive  years  he 
was  connected  with  one  of  the  manufacturing 
establishments  of  Canton,  filling  successively 
various  positions,  working  his  way  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  in  each  being  faithful  to 
the  duties  thereof.  He  was  born  February  12, 
1816,  in  England,  and  was  a  son  of  William 
Howard. 

In  1828  William  Howard  sailed  from  Eng- 
land with  his  wife  and  children,  and  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  Massachusetts  settled  in  Canton, 
being  the  first  member  of  his  immediate  fam- 
ily to  cross  the  ocean.  He  had  been  a  gar- 
dener by  occupation  while  in  his  native  land; 
but  on  coming  here  he  sought  other  labor,  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


387 


for  some  years  worked  for  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the 
Revere  Copper  Works,  remaining  there  until 
his  death  in  1850,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 
To  him  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Susan  Beaumont,  fourteen  children  were  born, 
of  whom  but  one,  George  Howard,  of  Califor- 
nia, now  lives. 

Richard  Howard  obtained  his  early  educa- 
tion in  England,  and  coming  to  this  country 
when  a  boy  of  twelve  years  was  afforded  the 
privilege  of  two  years'  attendance  at  the  Can- 
ton schools.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  began 
working  in  a  woollen-mill,  but  being  dissatis- 
fied with  the  labor  stayed  there  two  months 
only.  He  then  began  working  in  the  Revere 
Copper  Works  in  a  subordinate  capacity,  and, 
having  served  a  full  apprenticeship,  was  pro- 
moted from  one  department  to  another,  finally 
being  appointed  superintendent  of  the  works, 
serving  in  this  high  position  for  forty  years. 
In  politics  he  uniformly  supported  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Republican  party. 

Oh  October  8,  1841,  Mr.  Howard  married 
Miss  Mary  A.  Crane,  who  was  born  in  Milton, 
Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Susan  (Brooks) 
Crane.  Of  the  six  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Howard,  three  have  passed  to  the  life 
immortal,  namely:  Mary  T. ,  who  married 
Henry  Merrill,  and  died  in  1896;  Grace  A., 
who  died  in  childhood;  and  Amelia  F.,  who 
died  in  infancy.  The  survivors  are:  Susan 
VV. ,  the  first-born,  living  with  her  widowed 
mother;  William;  and  George  E.  The  sons 
are  highly  esteemed  residents  of  Canton,  and 
are  both  employed  in  the  Revere  Copper 
Works,  with  which  their  father  was  so  long 
associated,  and  in  which  their  grandfather  was 
also  an  employee.  Fraternally,  Mr.  Howard 
was  a  member  of  the  Blue  Hill  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  in  which  he  had  passed  all  the 
chairs;  and  of  the  Rebeccas.  For  many  years 
he  was  an  active  member  and  the  treasurer  of 
the  Congregational  church,  to  which  Mrs. 
Howard  likewise  belongs. 


AVID    H.    BLANCHARD,   a   prom- 
inent  resident   of  Avon   and   an   ex- 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature   from    the     Seventh    Norfolk 
District,    was    born    in    East    Stoughton    (now 


Avon),  May  28,  1834,  son  of  Henry  and  Su- 
sannah (Packard)  Blanchard.  His  grand- 
father, Isaac  G.  Blanchard,  was  a  prosperous 
merchant  of  East  Stoughton.  The  family  is 
an  old  and  highly  reputable  one  in  this  local- 
ity. Henry  Blanchard  was  a  lifelong  resident 
of  East  Stoughton,  and  for  many  years  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  boots.  After  a 
successful  business  career  he  died  January  20, 
1874.  His  wife,  Susannah,  was  a  native  of 
what  is  now  Brockton. 

David  H.  Blanchard  began  his  education  in 
East  Stoughton,  later  attending  academies  in 
Brockton  and  Woburn,  Mass.,  and  completing 
his  studies  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  was  associated  in  his  father's 
factory,  finally  becoming  a  partner  under  the 
firm  name  of  H.  &  D.  H.  Blanchard.  When 
the  senior  partner  retired,  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother,  Hiram  Blanchard. 
The  firm  of  D.  H.  &  H.  Blanchard  dissolved 
in  1870,  after  which  David  H.  was  for  a  time 
associated  in  business  with  Bradford  Blanch- 
ard. He  was  subsequently  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  boot  and  shoe  trade  in  Boston  until 
his  place  of  business  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
He  has  dealt  quite  extensively  in  real  estate. 
His  homestead  and  the  surrounding  grounds 
are  worthy  of  comparison  with  some  of  the 
finest  rural  estates  in  this  county.  Politically, 
he  is  a  Republican;  and  his  public  services 
have  been  very  beneficial  to  the  community. 
He  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  in  Stoughton  ;  was  active  in  secur- 
ing the  setting  off  and  incorporation  of  the 
town  of  Avon  ;  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
in  1882  ;  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Water  Commissioners  since  its  organization, 
and  is  now  the  chairman  of  that  body.  In  re- 
ligious belief  he  is  an  Episcopalian.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Commercial  Club  of  Brockton. 
He  married  Sarah  F.  Lawton,  of  Taunton, 
Mass.,  and  has  one  son,  Henry  L. ,  who  is  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  University  and  now  a 
student  at  the   Harvard   Law   School. 

Hiram  Blanchard,  formerly  associated  in 
business  with  his  brother,  David  II.,  was  born 
in  East  Stoughton,  November  12;  1840. 
After  reaching  his  majority  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  D.  II.  &  Hiram  Blanchard; 
and    when   that  concern   dissolved  he  was    for 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


four  years  engaged  in  the  furniture  and  carpet 
business  in  Boston,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Swan,  Basford  &  Co.  He  was  a  Selectman  in 
Stoughton  from  1879  to  1889;  and,  excluding 
the  year  of  1896,  since  the  incorporation  of 
Avon  he  has  served  in  the  same  capacity  up 
to  the  present  time,  having  been  the  chairman 
of  the  board  for  several  years.  He  also  served 
as  Tax  Collector  and  as  a  member  of  the 
School  Board  in  Stoughton,  and  he  is  the 
present  Superintendent  of  Streets  in  Avon. 
In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican  party. 
He  wedded  Mary  E.  Demuth,  of  Chelsea, 
Mass.,  and  has  had  three  children  —  Wallace; 
Mary  F.  ;  and  Gertrude.  Gertrude  died  in 
infancy.  Mr.  Blanchard  was  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  the  Knights  of  Honor.  He  is  widely 
and  favorably  known  both  as  a  business  man 
and  a  public  official,  and  is  highly  esteemed 
for  his  many  commendable  qualities. 


I  APT.  DAVIS  GRANT  McINTOSH, 
eldest  son  of  the  late  Charles  Mcin- 
tosh, of  Needham,  Norfolk  County, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town  in 
and  died  at  Shanghai,  China,  on  Octo- 
ber 13,  1897.  On  the  paternal  side  he  was 
of  Scottish  descent.  His  father,  Charles 
Mcintosh,  by  occupation  a  farmer,  was  born 
in  Needham  in  1829,  and  died  here  in  1893. 
His  wife  was  Frances  Elizabeth  Mills.  They 
reared  a  family  of  five  children,  namely: 
Davis  Grant,  above  named ;  Theodore  and 
Charles  Otis,  both  married  and  living  in  Need- 
ham ;  Mabel  Frances,  a  teacher  of  shorthand 
in  Comer's  Commercial  College,  Boston,  liv- 
ing at  the  parental  home  in  Needham ;  and 
Carleton  G.,  now  in  Comer's  Commercial  Col- 
lege. 

Davis  Grant  Mcintosh  in  his  boyhood  at- 
tended the  public  schools  of  the  town,  gradu- 
ating from  the  high  school  in  1881.  A  year 
later,  yielding  to  his  desire  for  a  seafaring 
life,  he  set  sail  from  Philadelphia  as  a  cabin 
boy  on  the  ship  "Henry  Failing,"  commanded 
by  Captain  Merriman  and  bound  for  Tacoma 
by  way  of  Cape  Horn.  From  Tacoma  he 
sailed  to  San  Pedro,  Cal.,  then  went  on  three 
voyages  as  able  seaman,  and  afterward  sailed 
to  Liverpool,  where  he  was  made  third  mate. 


Returning  to  San  Francisco,  he  went  back  to 
Liverpool  with  another  load  of  wheat,  and  was 
promoted  to  the  position  of  second  mate. 
When  the  "Henry  Failing"  again  reached 
San  Francisco,  Second  Mate  Mcintosh  took  the 
opportunity  to  make  a  visit  home,  journeying 
overland  to  Needham.  He  rejoined  his  vessel 
in  Liverpool;  and,  coming  on  her  to  Philadel- 
phia, he  was  raised  to  the  position  of  first 
mate.  From  Philadelphia  the  "Henry  Fail- 
ing" sailed  to  Japan,  back  to  Tacoma,  from 
there  to  San  Francisco,  and  then  to  Australia, 
where  she  took  on  a  cargo  of  coal  for  San 
Pedro.  From  that  port  she  sailed  for  Tacoma, 
where  she  loaded  up  with  wheat  for  Havre, 
France,  and,  having  delivered  the  wheat,  took 
on  a  cargo  for  Cardiff,  Wales.  From  Wales 
she  sailed  to  Rio  Janeiro,  thence  to  Philadel- 
phia, from  there  to  Japan,  from  Japan  to  the 
Philippine  Islands,  and  back  to  Philadelphia. 
She  then  sailed  for  Liverpool  with  a  load  of 
oil ;  from  there  to  San  Francisco,  where  she 
was  loaded  with  wheat  for  Liverpool,  and  back 
to  Philadelphia,  where  First  Mate  Mcintosh 
was  made  master  of  the  vessel. 

It  was  in  1892  that  he  made  his  first  voyage 
as  captain,  going  from  Philadelphia  to  Japan 
with  a  cargo  of  oil,  from  there  to  Manila,  and 
back  to  New  York  with  sugar  and  hemp.  In 
New  York  he  left  the  "Henry  Failing  "  ;  and 
at  Portland,  Ore.,  he  took  command  of  the 
bark  "Western  Belle,"  owned  by  the  same 
company,  and  returned  with  a  cargo  of  spars 
and  lumber  to  New  York.  He  next  went  as 
navigator  on  the  yacht  "Alaska,"  owned  by 
John  A.  Brooks,  of  New  York,  bound  for 
Glasgow,  Scotland.  On  his  return  to  New 
York  he  went  overland  to  California,  and 
there,  taking  command  of  the  ship  "St.  Nich- 
olas," sailed  to  Yokohama,  to  Hiogo,  again  to 
New  York,  from  there  to  San  Francisco  with 
a  general  cargo,  back  to  New  York,  and  then 
to  San  Francisco,  where  the  vessel  was  sold, 
Captain  Mcintosh  returning  home  overland. 

His  last  voyage  was  on  the  "St.  Kather- 
ine, "  with  a  cargo  of  lumber  from  British 
Columbia  to  Shanghai,  China,  where  he  was 
attacked  with  acute  dysentery,  which  caused 
his  death,  as  announced  by  cable,  on  October 
l3,  i897.  at  tne  early  age  of  thirty-three 
years.      He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  M.  Fran- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3S9 


ces,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1894,  she 
afterward  accompanying  him  on  several  voy- 
ages, and  two  children:  Marjorie  F.,  born  in 
1895;  and  Helen  Dorothy,  born  in  1896. 
Mrs.  Mcintosh  is  a  daughter  of  Adam  Murray, 
of  Gault,  Ont. 


ILLIAM  E.  LINCOLN,  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  Brookline  and 
the  treasurer  of  the  Brookline  Sav- 
ings Bank,  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  July 
17,  1842,  son  of  William  Lincoln.  He  comes 
of  ancient  and  honored  stock.  Through  the 
various  branches  of  the  paternal  or  maternal 
family  he  is  lineally  descended  from  Pastor 
John  Robinson,  who  so  kindly  taught  and 
ministered  to  the  Pilgrim  company  during 
their  stay  in  Leyden ;  from  James  Otis,  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  of  New  England;  and 
from  the  emigrant  ancestor  of  the  Crocker  fam- 
ily, which  has  been  prominent  in  Massachu- 
setts history  for  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
years.  The  Rev.  Henry  Lincoln,  the  grand- 
father of  William  E.,  was  born  in  Hingham, 
Mass.  Having  graduated  from  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, he  entered  the  ministry,  and  was  sub- 
sequently settled  over  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Falmouth,  Mass.,  for  a  period  of 
thirty  consecutive  years.  After  resigning 
that  pastorate,  he  supplied  various  pulpits  as 
his  services  were  needed,  and  spent  his  last 
days  at  Nantucket,  where  he  died  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  ninety-two  years.  He  married 
Susannah  Crocker,  who  was  born  in  Fal- 
mouth, Mass.  Of  their  seven  children,  Will- 
iam Lincoln  is  the  sole  survivor. 

William  Lincoln  was  born  and  brought  up 
in  Falmouth,  Mass.,  receiving  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  and  in  the  Derby 
Academy  at  Hingham.  In  his  youth  he 
worked  for  a  time  at  printing,  and  was  later  a 
clerk  in  a  general  store.  On  reaching  his 
majority,  he  embarked  in  the  oil  business, 
which  engrossed  his  attention  for  some  years. 
Then  he  purchased  an  interest  in  a  line  of 
vessels  running  to  New  Orleans,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  commercial  pursuits  for  a  long  time. 
Subsequently  he  returned  to  the  oil  business: 
and,  after  carrying  it  on  in  Boston  until  1854, 
he  removed  to  Brookline,  where  he  is  now  liv- 


ing, a  hale  and  hearty  man  of  eighty-nine 
years.  He  was  also  for  many  years  engaged 
in  the  real  estate  business,  which  of  late  he 
has  left  to  the  management  of  his  son.  Will- 
iam E. ,  whom  he  admitted  to  partnership 
some  years  ago.  While  living  in  Boston  and 
for  some  time  after  coming  to  this  town,  he 
was  a  director  of  several  Boston  banks;  and 
for  several  years  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the 
Brookline  Savings  Bank.  He  is  a  steadfast 
Republican  in  politics,  and  has  ever  taken  an 
active  interest  in  local  matters.  For  some 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Brookline  Board 
of  Assessors,  a  large  part  of  the  time  being 
chairman  of  the  board.  He  married  Mary 
Francis,  who  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  a 
daughter  of  David  Francis,  of  the  firm  Mun- 
roe  &  Francis.  She  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
six  years,  having  borne  him  seven  children. 
Of  these  four  are  now  living,  namely:  Dr. 
D.  F.  Lincoln;  William  E. ;  the  Rev.  James 
O.,  of  California;  and  Walter  H.,  a  clerk  in 
the  Brookline  Savings  Bank.  The  father  is 
senior  Deacon  in  the  Congregational  church, 
to  which  the  mother  also  belonged. 

William  E.  Lincoln  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Boston  until  twelve  years  old. 
Then  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Brookline, 
where  in  the  high  school  he  completed  his  ed- 
ucation. He  began  his  active  career  as  a 
clerk  in  his  father's  office,  a  capacity  in  which 
he  was  employed  until  taken  into  partnership. 
He  has  now  the  exclusive  control  of  the  busi- 
ness, the  offices  being  at  27  State  Street,  Bos- 
ton, and  at  the  Savings  Bank  in  Brookline. 
In  addition  to  dealing  in  real  estate,  this  en- 
terprising firm  also  carries  on  a  large  business 
in  insurance,  representing  many  of  the  promi- 
nent companies  in  this  part  of  the  United 
States.  In  1880  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected 
treasurer  of  the  Savings  Bank,  an  important 
position,  which  he  has  filled  satisfactorily  to 
all  concerned. 

Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
for  fifteen  years  has  served  as  Town  Auditor. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Honor,  the 
only  fraternal  society  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected. In  October,  1880,  he  married  Miss 
Caroline  A.  Brett,  daughter  of  C.  F.  Brett,  a 
clothing  merchant  of  Boston.  She  was  born 
in  North  Bridgewater,  but  was  bred  and   edu- 


39° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


cated  in  Brookline,  having  come  here  with 
her  parents  when  a  child.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln have  two  children  — ■  William  Otis  and 
Helen  A.  Both  parents  are  members  of  the 
Congregational  church. 


"ON.  ERASTUS  P.  CARPENTER, 
of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  has  been  the 
leading  spirit  in  the  establishment 
of  the  many  important  and  valuable 
industrial  enterprises,  educational  institutions, 
and  other  works  of  improvement  that  have  con- 
tributed to  the  growth  and  prosperity,  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  elevation,  of  this  beauti- 
ful New  England  village,  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  manufacturing  centres  of  Norfolk 
County.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Ezra  Car- 
penter, was  an  officer  of  the  Revolutionary 
army.  His  father,  Daniels  Carpenter,  who 
was  an  extensive  and  successful  manufacturer, 
died  in  1880,  leaving  a  handsome  property, 
which  he  had  accumulated  by  industrious  toil 
and  good  business  tact.  His  mother,  who 
before  her  marriage  with  Daniels  Carpenter 
was  Abigail  Payson,  was  the  daughter  of 
Phillips  Payson,  of  Foxboro. 

Erastus  Payson  Carpenter,  born  in  Foxboro, 
November  23,  1822,  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Foxboro,  Tolman's  Private 
School,  Day's  Academy  at  VVrentham,  and 
under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Mortimer  Blake. 
Relinquishing  the  idea  of  entering  upon  a 
professional  career,  however,  he  gave  up  the 
proposed  course  at  college,  for  which  he  was 
fitted,  and  in  February,  1842,  secured  a 
situation  with  his  cousin,  Oliver  Carpenter, 
who  was  a  straw  manufacturer  on  a  modest 
scale,  agreeing  to  work  for  him  a  year  for  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars, 
serving  as  general  factotum,  his  duties  rang- 
ing from  the  work  of  book-keeper  to  that  of 
hostler.  In  July  he  was  released  from  his 
contract,  and,  entering  the  employ  of  Warren 
Carpenter,  a  brother  of  Oliver,  was  shortly 
sent  South  to  sell  the  straw  goods,  his  head- 
quarters being  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1843,  he  became  a  partner  of  his  cousin 
Warren,  and  assumed  the  charge  of  a  branch 
store  in  Richmond,  Va. 

While  there  he  conceived  the  brilliant  idea 


of  uniting  the  different  straw  factories  of  Fox- 
boro and  erecting  a  large  factory,  in  which  all 
the  work  could  be  much  better  and  quicker 
accomplished.  With  this  end  in  view,  he  re- 
turned to  this  town,  and  with  his  partner  pur- 
chased a  large  tract  of  land,  on  which  the 
"great  bonnet  shop,"  now  the  Verandah 
House,  was  built  and  put  in  operation,  the 
Hamlet  House  being  afterward  built  as  an 
annex.  The  business  grew  rapidly,  increasing 
far  beyond  the  expectations  of  the  promoters, 
assuming  such  proportions  that  extensive  addi- 
tions to  the  plant  were  made,  the  shop  being 
enlarged  and  the  manufacture  of  straw  goods 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  introduction  of 
steam-power,  which  was  thus  used  for  the  first 
time.  In  1852  the  demand  for  straw  goods 
could  not  be  met  under  the  conditions  then 
existing;  and  Mr.  E.  P.  Carpenter  with  shrewd 
foresight  and  calculation  planned  and  built  the 
Union  Straw  Works,  the  largest  of  the  kind  in 
the  world,  and  soon  had  six  thousand  people 
busily  employed. 

In  September,  1861,  owing  to  the  loss  of 
the  Southern  trade,  a  change  was  necessitated, 
and  Mr.  Carpenter  went  to  Lofidon,  England, 
and,  selling  the  property  to  Vyse  &  Co.,  con- 
tinued to  manage  the  business  for  the  new 
owners,  and  in  the  first  five  months  cleared  a 
sufficient  sum  to  cover  the  entire  purchase 
money.  He  remained  connected  with  the 
works  as  superintendent  and  partner  until 
1870,  when  other  interests  demanded  his 
attention  ;  and  during  the  entire  time  none  but 
feelings  of  harmony  obtained  between  himself 
and  the  employees.  He  was  the  first  to  inau- 
gurate the  system  of  sharing  the  profits  with 
them,  and  never  had  a  strike  in  his  factory. 

During  the  late  Rebellion,  Mr.  Carpenter 
assiduously  befriended  the  gallant  soldiers  and 
their  families,  and  in  May,  1861,  visited  For- 
tress Monroe  and  Newport  News,  under  a  com- 
mission from  the  town,  as  "  a  bearer  of  kind 
messages  and  remembrance  from  friends  at 
home,  and  to  provide  for  the  needs  and  com- 
forts "  of  the  Foxboro  men.  On  returning 
home  he  organized  and  was  made  captain  of  a 
company  which  the  town  equipped  with  Sharp's 
rifles  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand  dollars;  but, 
as  rifles  had  not  then  taken  the  place  of  mus- 
kets, the  government  did  not  accept  the  com- 


ERASTUS    P.    CARPENTER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


393 


pany.  He  was  subsequently  chairman  of  the 
committee  having  charge  of  expending  the  ten 
thousand  dollars  raised  for  the  relief  of  volun- 
teers and  their  families  by  the  town.  His 
home  work  was  so  highly  appreciated  that, 
when  the  local  post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  was  organized,  the  veterans  commem- 
orated his  services  and  honored  him  by  naming 
it  the  E.  P.  Carpenter  Post. 

Mr.  Carpenter  has  stood  steadfastly  for  mod- 
ern improvements  since  he  was  a  young  man, 
having  been  one  of  the  founders  and  generous 
supporters  of  the  Sylvan  Association,  which 
transformed  a  wild  waste  of  land,  covered  with 
weeds,  brambles,  and  uncouth  shrubs,  into  a 
beautiful  park,  known  as  Foxboro  Common. 
In  1853  he  established  the  first  printing  house 
in  this  village.  In  1857  he  financially  aided 
the  Home  Library,  a  struggling  newspaper 
published  here.  The  same  year  saw  the  com- 
pletion of  the  handsome  town  house,  which 
was  built  largely  through  his  efforts,  he  hav- 
ing given  valuable  aid  as  chairman  of  the 
Building  Committee,  and  afterward  cleared  it 
from  debt  by  paying  from  his  own  pocket  the 
few  hundred  dollars  used  in  its  erection  beyond 
the  sum  appropriated  by  the  town.  In  1858  he 
rented  its  first  floor  for  the  use  of  the  Foxboro 
English  and  Classical  School,  which  he  estab- 
lished, with  J.  L.  Stone,  A.M.,  as  principal; 
and  for  several  years,  or  until  it  was  merged 
into  the  Foxboro  High  School,  he  paid  all  de- 
ficiencies arising  in  its  management.  Could 
one  but  half  remember  them,  space  would 
scarce  permit  mention  of  the  many  important 
enterprises  enhancing  the  town's  prosperity  and 
attractions  with  which  Mr.  Carpenter  has  been 
identified,  either  as  a  supporter  or  as  sole 
promoter;  but  among  the  most  notable  are  the 
following :  — 

Rock  Hill  Cemetery,  purchased  and  im- 
proved through  his  personal  influence;  the 
beautiful  Memorial  Hall — occupied  by  the 
Free  Public  Library  —  built  of  pebble-stone 
and  granite,  which  was  erected  to  the  memory 
of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  this  town  upon 
recommendations  of  a  committee,  of  which  he 
was  chairman,  and  to  the  finishing  and  adorn- 
ing of  which  he  has  contributed  munificently; 
the  library  itself,  to  which  has  been  added  the 
Union  Straw  Works  Library,  gathered  by  the 


employees  through  the  inducements  of  Mr. 
Carpenter,  who  gave  them  liberal  offers  for 
overwork  in  times  when  there  were  extra  de- 
mands for  straw  goods;  the  Foxboro  Fire  De- 
partment, which  was  organized  in  1850,  and 
equipped  with  a  hand-engine  manned  by  a  vol- 
unteer company,  of  which  he  was  foreman; 
the  Foxboro  Loan  Fund  and  Building  Associa- 
tion, founded  in  1854,  with  Mr.  Carpenter  as 
its  president,  which  laid  out  Leonard  Street 
and  built  up  the  village  known  as  New  Jerusa- 
lem ;  the  erection  of  the  Orthodox  Congrega- 
tional church,  toward  which  he  was  a  large 
moneyed  contributor,  and  to  the  furnishing  of 
which  he  gave  the  beautiful  rosewood  pulpit; 
and  his  more  recent  efforts  in  having  a  boot 
factory  and  also  the  Van  Choate  Electrical 
Company  and  the  Massachusetts  Inebriate 
Hospital  located  here. 

In  1855  Mr.  Carpenter  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  Foxboro  Savings  Bank.  He 
was  a  large  stockholder  in  the  local  telegraph 
company  that  built  and  operated  a  line  be- 
tween here  and  Mansfield  in  1S59.  He  was 
the  first  president,  and  one  of  the  promoters, 
of  the  Mansfield  &  Framingham  Railway, 
of  the  Framingham  &  Lowell  Railway,  and 
was  president  of  the  M.  V.  Railway.  In  1873 
and  1874  he  was  a  State  director  of  the  Boston 
&  Albany  Railroad. 

In  1872,  1873,  and  1874  Mr.  Carpenter  was 
State  Senator;  and  for  two  years  of  that  time 
he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Rail- 
roads. He  delivered  a  very  able  argument  on 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  question,  the  Senate  order- 
ing ten  thousand  copies  printed  for  distribu- 
tion. He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives in  1 891,  and  father  of  the  move- 
ment which  resulted  in  the  enactment  of  a  State 
highway  law.  In  1878  he  was  chosen  Select- 
man and  Highway  Surveyor  of  Foxboro;  and 
through  his  strenuous  efforts  the  town's  ac- 
counts, which  were  in  a  strangely  muddled 
condition,  were  straightened,  unpaid  taxes  col- 
lected, the  debt  funded  on  long-time  coupon 
bonds,  and  the  public  business  reduced  to  a 
safe  and  simple  system.  In  1891  he  was 
elected  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Water  Com- 
missioners of  Foxboro,  a  position  that  he  still 
holds. 

In    1865    Mr.    Carpenter's     residence     was 


394 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


destroyed  by  fire.  The  old  Payson  homestead, 
which  he  bought  a  few  years  later  and  on  which 
he  made  substantial  improvements,  is  now  oc- 
cupied as  the  Massachusetts  Inebriate  Asy- 
lum. He  remodelled  and  rebuilt  the  house 
in  which  he  now  resides.  He  laid  out  and 
built  Maple  Avenue,  and  superintended  the 
erection  of  several  fine  residences  on  this  and 
other  prominent  streets  of  the  town.  He  has 
improved  his  father's  old  homestead,  render- 
ing it  one  of  the  most  attractive  country  seats 
in  all  New  England. 

In  1865  Mr.  Carpenter  attended  the  Meth- 
odist camp  meeting  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  and, 
not  being  able  to  find  suitable  accommoda- 
tions in  which  to  tarry  for  a  few  days,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  establishing  a  summer 
resort  in  that  charming  locality.  Inducing 
five  other  far-seeing  business  men  to  assist 
him,  he  purchased  a  tract  of  wild  land,  organ- 
ized the  Oak  Bluffs  Land  and  Wharf  Com- 
pany in  1868,  and  the  next  year  was  elected 
its  president.  Thus  through  his  well-timed 
efforts  the  Cottage  City  of  to-day  has  been 
evolved.  The  wharf  and  Sea  View  House 
were  built  by  the  company  under  his  super- 
vision ;  and  he  has  assisted  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Katama,  where  he  built  Matakesett 
Lodge,  a  wharf,  and  several  cottages.  He  has 
also  been  largely  interested  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  summer  resort  on  Shelter  Island 
known  as  Shelter  Island  Park. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Carpenter  built  a  straw 
shop  at  Nantucket,  in  which  he  employed 
hundreds  of  women.  In  1887  he  planned  and 
superintended  the  construction  of  the  famed 
Sea  Cliff  Inn.  A  long  time  ago  he  estab- 
lished a  straw  factory  in  Medfield;  and  under 
the  will  of  the  late  Mr.  Chenery,  Medfield's 
generous  benefactor,  he  planned  and  erected  the 
first  town  house  of  that  place,  Chenery  Hall. 

Mr.  Carpenter  can  look  back  upon  a  long- 
period  of  useful  activity  and  highly  appre- 
ciated public  service.  The  town  in  which  he 
was  born  and  reared,  and  which  he  has  always 
called  "home,"  is  justly  proud  of  him,  plac- 
ing him  in  a  high  position  among  her  honored 
children,  and  earnestly  desiring  that  his  life 
may  be  prolonged  for  many  years  to  come,  that 
he  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  beneficent 
labors. 


LBERT  F.  FISHER,  a  prominent  and 
highly  esteemed  resident  of  Dedbam, 
is  carrying  on  an  extensive  and  lu- 
crative business  as  a  wholesale  flour 
broker  and  dealer  in  Boston,  his  office  being  in 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  building.  He  was 
born  October  25,  1854,  in  Cohasset,  Mass., 
and  is  the  last  representative  of  his  line.  His 
father,  Albert  Fisher,  was  a  native  of  Bolton, 
this  State.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Samuel 
Fisher,  was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Massachu- 
setts and  the  descendant  of  one  of  its  earliest 
settlers.  Mrs.  Ann  Fisher,  wife  of  Samuel 
Fisher,  long  surviving  her  husband,  lived  to 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety-nine  years,  retain- 
ing her  faculties,  including  her  remarkable 
memory,  to  the  last.  She  reared  a  family  of 
six  children,  training  them  to  habits  of  indus- 
try and  usefulness. 

Albert  Fisher  learned  the  machinist's  trade 
in  the  shops  of  the  Old  Colony  Railway  Com- 
pany, was  later  an  engineer  on  that  road,  and 
for  a  time  served  the  company  as  master  me- 
chanic. He  was  subsequently  employed  as  an 
engineer  on  various  railroads ;  and  in  1863,  at 
the  time  of  Morgan's  raid,  when  he  was  run- 
ning an  engine  through  Kentucky,  he  was 
arrested  and  confined  for  a  while  in  a  fort. 
On  being  paroled  he  returned  North.  At  one 
time,  when  running  through  Pennsylvania  in 
charge  of  an  engine  attached  to  a  passenger 
train,  he  saw  a  freight  train  coming  down  the 
grade  he  was  ascending.  Cool-headed  and 
fearless,  he  reversed  his  engine,  and  by  his 
heroic  efforts  avoided  what  would  have  been  a 
serious  wreck.  As  a  tribute  to  his  courage 
and  presence  of  mind,  the  grateful  passengers 
gave  him  a  handsome  present.  He  was  after- 
ward employed  as  master  mechanic  on  the 
Lynchburg  &  West  Virginia  Railroad.  On 
his  retirement  he  purchased  a  large  place  on 
Federal  Hill,  Dedham,  where  he  spent  his 
remaining  years,  dying  June  13,  1887,  aged 
seventy-five. 

His  wife,  Arabella  Gray,  was  a  daughter  of 
John  Gray,  who  was  one  of  three  men  that 
walked  through  the  Maine  woods  and  founded 
Paris  Hill.  She  was  brought  up  and  educated 
in  Maine,  one  of  her  instructors  being  Hanni- 
bal Hamlin,  later  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  and  one  of  our  most  distinguished  states- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


395 


men.  Her  parents  reared  a  large  family,  con- 
sisting of  four  daughters  and  eleven  sons;  and, 
as  some  of  the  elder  children  were  away  from 
home  earning  their  own  living  before  the 
arrival  of  the  younger  members  of  the  house- 
hold, they  had  but  little  acquaintance  with 
them,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  eldest  son  never 
saw  his  youngest  brother  until  he  met  him  at 
his  mother's  funeral.  The  Gray  family  were 
numbered  among  the  pioneers  of  that  part  of 
Maine,  living  there  at  a  time  when  bears,  pan- 
thers, and  wolves  were  still  prowling  about, 
and  the  red  men  were  not  always  peaceful. 
Of  the  four  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Albert  Fisher,  but  two  grew  to  adult  age;  and 
but  one,  Albert  F.,  is  now  living.  The 
mother  passed  to  the  life  immortal  at  the  age 
of  seventy-nine  years. 

Albert  F.  Fisher  came  with  his  parents  to 
Dedham  when  but  five  years  old,  and  was  here 
educated,  being  graduated  from  the  Dedham 
High  School.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  en- 
tered an  importing  house  as  a  clerk,  a  position 
which  he  filled  for  a  year,  receiving  a  salary 
of  two  dollars  per  week.  During  the  time  he 
studied  book-keeping;  and  he  soon  secured  a 
situation  where  he  was  given  twelve  dollars 
a  week  as  a  book-keeper,  and  in  addition  made 
twice  as  much  as  salesman.  When  very 
young  Mr.  Fisher  started  in  business  with 
E.  S.  Morse,  of  this  town,  and,  though  they 
had  but  a  limited  capital,  carried  on  a  thriving 
trade.  They  afterward  invested  in  forty  thou- 
sand acres  of  timber  land  in  Maine,  but,  this 
proving  an  unwise  movement  on  their  part, 
Mr.  Fisher  returned  to  his  position  as  sales- 
man with  his  former  employer;  and  when  the 
firm  went  out  of  business,  a  year  later,  he  en- 
gaged as  a  travelling  salesman  for  J.  F.  Bran- 
son, remaining  with  him  twelve  months.  He 
then  started  in  business  on  his  own  account  as 
a  flour  broker,  in  which  he  met  with  excellent 
success,  making  money  surely  and  rapidly.  In 
1882  he  formed  a  partnership  with  F.  W. 
Wise,  under  the  name  of  Fisher  &  Wise;  and 
this  enterprising  firm  holds  a  leading  position 
among  the  largest  operators  in  New  England, 
representing  several  mills,  among  them  being 
one  in  Superior,  Wis.,  which  has  an  output  of 
five  thousand  barrels  a  day. 

In  1886  Mr.  Fisher  married   Miss  Anna  W. 


Morse,  who  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  Her 
father,  William  Morse,  was  a  prominent  car- 
penter and  builder  during  his  life,  which  was 
brought  to  a  close  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of 
his  age.  Mr.  Morse  was  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen,  being  a  member  of  the 
Common  Council  both  before  and  after  the  an- 
nexation of  Roxbury  to  Boston,  and  serving  as 
a  Representative  to  the  State  legislature. 
Kind-hearted,  benevolent,  and  hospitable,  he 
was  noted  for  his  deeds  of  charity.  He  was 
for  some  years  a  member  of  the  Roxbury  City 
Guards,  a  well-known  military  company.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Phoebe  A. 
Spofford,  was  a  descendant  of  John  Spofford, 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Rowley,  Mass., 
and  belonged  to  a  family  whose  ancestry  in 
England  is  traced  back  to  the  time  of  William 
the  Conqueror.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse  reared 
three  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Fisher  is  the 
only  one  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  have 
three  daughters,  namely:  Adele  M.,  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1899  in  Smith  College;  Ella 
F.  ;  and  Grace  M. 

In  politics  Mr.  Fisher  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can. He  is  very  prominent  and  active  in 
many  secret  and  social  organizations,  in- 
cluding the  following:  Constellation  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Dedham;  Norfolk  Lodge, 
R.  A.  M.,  of  Hyde  Park;  De  Molay  Command- 
ery,  K.  T. ,  of  Boston;  Aleppo  Shrine,  of  Bos- 
ton; the  Royal  Arcanum;  Royal  Orders;  So- 
ciety of  Good  Fellows;  Knights  of  Honor; 
A.  O.  U.  W.  ;  Boston  Athletic  Club;  the 
Fisher  Ames  Club;  and  he  was  at  one  time  a 
member  of  the  Boston  Cadets.  He  is  a  de- 
voted and  active  member  of  the  Orthodox, 
or  Trinitarian  Congregational,  Church,  in 
which  he  has  always  taken  a  great  interest; 
and  he  instituted  the  envelope  system,  by 
which  it  was  freed  from  debt. 


§OHN  T.  PITMAN,  book-keeper  for 
R.  S.  Byam  &  Co.,  of  Canton,  Mass., 
is  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  eminently 
trustworthy,  and  well  merits  the  high 
esteem  and  respect  in  which  he  is  universally 
held.  He  was  born  July  10,  1837,  in  Con- 
cord, Mass.,  a  town  rich  in  historical  remi- 
niscences, and  held  in  reverence  as  the  birth- 


396 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


place  or  residence   of    distinguished    thinkers 
and  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Pitman  family  was  represented  in 
America  during  the  Colonial  period  by  differ- 
ent emigrants  from  England.  Captain  John 
Pitman  was  living  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  in 
1690.  A  Nathaniel  is  spoken  of  as  in  Salem 
in  1639,  but  usually  named  Pickman.  Thomas 
was  in  Marblehead  in  1639.  Captain  Benja- 
min Pitman  settled  first  in  Gloucester,  Mass. 
He  subsequently  removed  to  Ossipee,  N.  H., 
making  that  place  his  permanent  home,  and 
there  rearing  his  children.  John  Pitman,  the 
grandfather  of  John  T.,  was  born,  lived,  and 
died  in  Ossipee.  Among  his  children  were: 
Joseph,  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812;  and 
William,  father  of  John  T. 

William  Pitman  was  born  and  educated  in 
Ossipee;  but  when  a  young  man  he  went  to 
Concord,  Mass.,  where  he  was  married,  and 
where  he  spent  a  few  years,  removing  then  to 
Maiden.  In  1844  he  returned  to  Ossipee,  and 
worked  at  the  blacksmith's  trade  through  his 
years  of  activity,  eventually  going  thence  to 
Brookfield,  N.H.,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years.  In  politics  he  was  a 
steadfast  Whig.  His  wife  was  formerly  Miss 
Patience  S.  Stiles,  of  Concord,  Mass.  They 
were  the  parents  of  five  children,  as  follows: 
Elizabeth,  now  living  in  Canton;  Frank  F.  ; 
Willard  F.  ;  Lucy;  and  John  T. 

John  T.  Pitman  was  but  seven  years  of  age 
when  his  parents  removed  from  Maiden,  Mass., 
to  Ossipee,  N.H.,  where  he  completed  his 
education  and  was  for  a  short  time  engaged  in 
teaching.  He  subsequently  worked  at  the  tin- 
smith's trade  two  years;  but,  not  satisfied  with 
this  handicraft  for  a  life  work,  he  went  to 
Chelsea,  Mass.,  and  found  employment  as  a 
book-keeper.  Very  soon  after,  in  September, 
1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  M,  First  Mas- 
sachusetts Volunteer  Cavalry,  going  directly  to 
the  scene  of  conflict;  but,  being  taken  sick,  he 
was  sent  home  in  a  short  time.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1862,  he  again  offered  his  services  to  his 
country,  enlisting  in  the  Forty-third  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  and  being  ap- 
pointed a  Corporal  in  Company  H.  He  served 
until  the  expiration  of  his  nine  months'  term 
of  enlistment,  taking  an  active  part  in  the 
battles   of    Kingston,    Whitehall,    and    Golds- 


boro.  Resuming  his  work  as  a  book-keeper 
in  Chelsea,  he  remained  there  until  January  3, 
1873,  when  he  accepted  a  similar  position 
with  the  well-known  firm  of  Byam  &  Co.,  ex- 
pressmen, of  Canton,  continuing  with  them 
twelve  years.  Afterward,  in  the  same  ca- 
pacity, he  worked  for  the  American  Net  and 
Twine  Company  for  three  years;  but  for  the 
past  nine  years  he  has  been  book-keeper  for 
his  former  employer,  R.  S.  Byam.  Mr.  Pit- 
man is  a  sound  Republican  in  politics,  and, 
though  not  an  office-seeker,  is  now  serving  a 
two  years'  term  as  Town  Auditor,  having  been 
elected  in  the  present  year,  1897. 

On  September  7,  1862,  Mr.  Pitman  married 
Miss  Mary  O.  Sinclair,  who  was  born  and  bred 
in  Ossipee,  N.H.  They  have  one  child, 
Marion  E.  Mr.  Pitman  was  made  a  Mason  in 
the  Blue  Hill  Lodge,  in  which  he  has  been 
secretary,  Marshal,  and  Tyler.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  Revere  Post,  No.  94,  G.  A.  R., 
and  has  held  several  of  the  offices  in  that  or- 
ganization, having  been  Commander  of  the 
post  two  years.  While  living  in  Chelsea  he 
united  with  the  Universalist  church,  and  he 
is  now  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Canton 
church   of  that  denomination. 


ILLIAM  BARNAS  SEARS,  a 
prominent  resident  of  Brookline, 
doing  business  in  Boston,  was  born 
in  Hamilton,  Madison  County,  N.Y.,  June 
11,  1832,  son  of  Barnas  Sears,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
and  Elizabeth  Griggs  Corey  Sears.  His 
father,  who  was  a  native  of  Sandisfield, 
Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  was  a  graduate  of 
Brown  University  and  Newton  Theological 
Seminary;  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
Hartford,  Conn. ;  professor  in  Madison  Col- 
lege, Hamilton,  N.Y. ;  graduate  of  Berlin 
University,  Germany;  professor  and  president 
of  Newton  Theological  Seminary;  secretary  of 
the  State  Board  of  Education,  successor  to 
Horace  Mann  ;  president  of  Brown  University, 
succeeding  Dr.  Wayland ;  agent  for  the  Pea- 
body  Educational  Fund  for  the  South,  ap- 
pointed by  George  Peabody,  London  banker. 
He  died  at  Saratoga  Springs,  July  4,  1880, 
and  was  buried  in  the  Corey  tomb,  Walnut 
Street  Cemetery,  Brookline.     His  mother  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


397 


a  daughter  of  Deacon  Elijah  Corey,  of  Corey 
Hill,  Brookline,  and  grand-daughter  of  Cap- 
tain Timothy  Corey,  who  was  on  duty  at  the 
battle  of  Lexington. 

The  family  removed  to  Brookline  when 
William  Barnas  was  a  year  old.  Me  received 
his  education  at  the  private  school  of  Eben- 
ezer  Woodward  and  the  classical  German 
school  of  Dr.  Carl  Siedhof  in  Newton  Centre, 
finishing  under  Professor  William  Russell, 
President  Ebenezer  Dodge,  D.D. ,  and  Presi- 
dent Alvah  Hovey,  D.D.  He  was  instructor 
in  German,  Latin,  and  mathematics  at  Pierce 
Academy,  Middleboro,  and  then  entered  the 
store  of  Gardner  Colby  on  Milk  Street,  Bos- 
ton, and  served  his  apprenticeship  three  and 
one-half  years,  from  185,1  to  1854.  After  a 
year  at  Alton,  111.,  and  at  New  Orleans,  he 
entered  the  employ  of  Lyman  Sears  &  Co., 
jobbers  of  boots  and  shoes,  12  Barclay  Street, 
New  York.  Later  on  he  was  with  Paton  & 
Co.,  importers,  Park  Place,  New  York,  and 
for  three  years  prior  to  the  Civil  War  in  the 
silk  house  of  Bowen,  McNamee  &  Co.,  112 
Broadway,  New  York. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  he  was  commis- 
sioned (June  6,  1861),  by  Governor  William 
Sprague,  of  Rhode  Island,  First  Lieutenant 
in  Company  F,  Second  Rhode  Island  Regi- 
ment, Volunteer  Infantry,  for  three  years; 
and  he  served  to  the  expiration  of  the  term, 
making  a  brilliant  and  honorable  record. 
His  regiment  opened  the  battle  of  first  Bull 
Run  at  Sudley  Church  on  Sunday,  July  21, 
1861,  at  9  a.m.;  and,  Captain  Levi  Tower  of 
his  company  being  one  of  the  first  to  be 
killed,  the  command  devolved  upon  Lieuten- 
ant Sears.  In  this  engagement  the  Colonel, 
Major,  two  Captains,  and  one  hundred  and 
forty  men  of  the  regiment  were  killed, 
wounded,  or  captured.  On  the  28th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1 861 ,  Lieutenant  Sears  was  commis- 
sioned Captain,  and  thereafter  was  present 
with  his  command  at  Warwick  Court-house, 
Lee's  Mills,  Yorktown,  Williamsburg,  West 
Point,  Slatersville,  New  Kent  Court-house, 
Mechanicsville,  Hanover  Court-house,  Savage 
Station,  Seven  Pines,  Turkey  Bend,  Malvern 
Hill,  second  Bull  Run,  Chantilly,  South 
Mountain,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  Marye's 
Heights,    Salem    Church,    Gettysburg,    South 


Anna  River,  and  Cold  Harbor,  June,  1864. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  at  Providence, 
R.I.,  June  17,  1864,  the  term  of  service  of 
the  regiment  having  expired ;  and  he  subse- 
quently received  from  Governors  Sprague,  of 
Rhode  Island,  Buckingham,  of  Connecticut, 
and  Andrew,  of  Massachusetts,  written  com- 
mendation for  active  services  at  the  front. 
He  was  wounded  at  first  Bull  Run,  at  Seven 
Pines,  and  at  Hamilton's  Crossing,  Freder- 
icksburg. 

Captain  Sears  was  one  of  the  early  members 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  on  the 
17th  of  October,  1867,  joining  Post  No.  26  of 
Roxbury.  In  1871  he  was  elected  Senior 
Vice-Commander.  In  September,  1874,  he 
was  transferred  to  Post  No.  143  of  Brookline, 
and  in  1875  and  again  in  1876  was  elected 
Commander  of  that  post.  He  served  one  year 
on  the  staff  of  General  William  Cogswell, 
Commander  of  the  Department  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  one  year  on  that  of  Myron  P. 
Walker,  and  has  had  the  exceptional  record  of 
six  years'  service  on  the  national  staff  of 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand  Army,  hav- 
ing been  first  appointed  in  1877  on  the  staff  of 
Governor  Lucius  Fairfield,  of  Wisconsin; 
next,  in  1889,  on  General  Rea's  staff;  in 
1892  on  that  of  General  A.  G.  Weissert,  of 
Wisconsin;  in  1893  on  that  of  Captain  John 
G.  B.  Adams,  of  Massachusetts;  in  1895,  on 
the  staff  of  Colonel  Thomas  G.  Lawler;  and 
in  1896  on  that  of  Clarkson.  In  1874  he 
was  admitted  to  membership  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Commandery,  Military  Order  of  the 
Loyal  Legion.  He  served  in  the  State  militia 
as  member  of  Company  D,  Massachusetts 
Cavalry,  Roxbury  Horse  Guards,  from  1865  to 
1872,  when  he  was  commissioned  by  Governor 
Claflin  Captain  of  Company  C,  First  Regi- 
ment, Infantry;  and  on  October  2,  1867,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and 
Honorable  Artillery  Company,  General  Banks 
at  that  time  Commander.  He  is  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Clinch  Rifles  of  Augusta,  Ga. , 
having  received  his  certificate  of  election  in 
August,  1875,  and  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Mexican  War  Veterans'  Association  (elected 
in  1880).  In  1870  he  was  appointed  commis- 
sioner of  the  Commonwealth  for  disabled 
soldiers  of  the  war. 


39« 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Captain  Sears  turned  his  attention  to  insur- 
ance matters  soon  after  the  war,  and  began  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  his  fire  insurance  agency 
at  45  Kilby  Street,  the  insurance  centre  of 
Boston,  in  September,  1865.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Boston  agent  for  the  Norwich  Fire 
Insurance  Company  in  1867;  and  appointment 
followed  as  agent  for  the  Roger  Williams,  the 
Commerce,  the  Firemen's  Fund,  and  Union 
Companies  of  California,  the  Hoffman,  Fair- 
field,  Enterprise,  German  American,  the 
North  British  and  Mercantile  of  London,  and 
the  Guardian  Assurance  Company  of  London. 
He  has  built  up  a  first-class  business,  and 
enjoys  the  confidence  alike  of  underwriters 
and  assured.  He  was  a  charter  member  of 
the  Boston  Protective  Department  in  1872,  a 
director  in  1873,  vice-president  in  1874,  and 
president  in  1875.  In  Brookline  he  served  by 
appointment  of  the  Selectmen  as  assistant  en- 
gineer in  1876  and  chief  engineer  in  1877  of 
the  Brookline  Fire  Department,  and  while 
chief  he  reorganized  the  department  on  a 
basis  to  harmonize  with  the  system  of  the  city 
of  Boston. 

He  is  prominent  in  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
being  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Lodge, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Boston;  of  the 
Roxbury  Council,  Royal  and  Select  Masters; 
of  Mount  Vernon  Royal  Arch  Chapter;  of  Jo- 
seph Warren  Commandery,  Knights  Templar; 
and  a  life  member  of  Lafayette  Lodge  Perfec- 
tion, of  Giles  F.  Yates  Council,  Princes  Jeru- 
salem, of  Mount  Olivet  Chapter,  Rose  Croix, 
and  of  Massachusetts  Consistory,  thirty-sec- 
ond degree.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  having  joined  the  church  at  Newton 
Centre,  the  Rev.  S.  F.  Smith,  D.D.,  pastor, 
in  1851;  the  church  at  Alton,  111.,  in  1854; 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  New  York  in 
i860;  the  Dudley  Street  Baptist  Church,  Rox- 
bury District,  Boston,  1865;  and  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Brookline,  1874.  In  1868  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Boston  Baptist  So- 
cial Union,  representing  sixty-four  Baptist 
churches,  served  as  director  two  terms,  was 
elected  vice-president  in  1888  and  president 
1889.  During  his  term  as  president  the  or- 
ganization took  a  new  lease  of  life  as  a  result 
of  his  energetic  efforts  in  its  behalf.  In  1880 
he  was  elected  a  life  member  of  the  trustees 


of  Tremont  Temple,  Boston.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1870,  Notary 
Public  in  1872,  and  Commissioner  for  New 
Hampshire  (appointed  by  Governor  Weston) 
in  1S76.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Brookline  Thursday  Club  since  1874,  and 
member  of  the  Trade  Club,  Boston,  for  seven 
years,  elected  treasurer  of  the  latter  in  1891. 

Captain  Sears  was  married  in  February, 
1863,  at  Roxbury,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rollin  II. 
Neale,  to  Miss  Emily  A.  Faunce,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Rebecca  W.  (Langley)  Faunce. 
By  this  marriage  were  four  sons:  William  B., 
Jr.,  born  in  Roxbury  district;  Langley  B., 
Roxbury  district;  Harry  Bovvers,  Roxbury 
district;  and  Stephen  Faunce  Sears,  Brook- 
line. His  second  marriage  was  on  October 
24,  1 88 1,  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Montague,  of 
Providence,  R.I.,  to  Miss  Sadie  A.  Hunt, 
daughter  of  Joshua  and  Anne  (Pearce)  Hunt. 
By  this  is  one  son,  Edward  H.  Sears,  born 
September  25,  1885,  at  Brookline.  His  pres- 
ent place  of  business  is  at  45  Kilby  Street, 
Boston,  and  his  residence,  Prospect  Street, 
Brookline. 


Tt^NEUBEN     S.     SWAN,    cashier    of    the 
I  <^F      Brookline    National    Bank,    is    a   pro- 
|b\         gressive    and    thorough-going    busi- 
^"""'^  ness  man,  possessing  great  financial 
and  executive   ability.      He  was   born   January 
7,   1850,  in  Dorchester,  then    included  in  Nor- 
folk County,  Massachussetts,  and   is   a   son   of 
the  late  William  H.  Swan.      The  Swan  family 
is  one  of  the  oldest  in   this  part  of   Massachu- 
setts,   the    emigrant    ancestor    having    settled 
in   Cambridge,    Middlesex   County,    in    or    be- 
fore 1640. 

Reuben  Swan,  grandfather  of  Reuben  S., 
was  born  in  that  part  of  Cambridge  now 
known  as  Arlington;  but  soon  after  his  mar- 
riage he  removed  to  Dorchester,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  business  as  a  grain  dealer  until  his 
decease,  which  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Ruth  Teele.  She  was  born  and  brought 
up  in  West  Cambridge,  being  the  descendant 
of  a  family  prominent  in  the  early  history  of 
New  England,  and  which  is  still  represented 
in  that  town.      She  bore  her  husband  ten  chil- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


399 


dren,  two  of  whom  are  still  living,  both  resi- 
dents of  Dorchester,  one  being  cashier  of  the 
New  England  Bank  of  Boston.  Mrs.  Ruth  T. 
Swan  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  Both 
she  and  her  husband  were  members  of  the 
Congregational  church. 

Their  son,  William  H.  Swan,  was  born  in 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  March  17,  1806.  Having 
completed  his  education  in  the  academy  at  Mil- 
ton, he  began  his  career  as  a  teacher  in  the 
Dorchester  schools,  and  continued  in  this  pro- 
fession for  a  long  time,  for  nearly  a  score  of 
years  being  submaster  in  the  Wells  School, 
Boston.  Resigning  his  position  there,  he  be- 
came connected  with  the  New  England  Bank 
as  book-keeper,  and  remained  in  that  capacity 
until  1893,  when  he  retired  from  active  pur- 
suits. He  departed  this  life  on  January  9, 
1896,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  a  sound  Republican,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  town  affairs.  Eor  eight  years  he 
served  as  Selectman  of  Dorchester,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  board  when  the  town  was  an- 
nexed to  the  city.  For  thirty  years  and  up 
to  the  time  of  his  demise  he  was  a  director  in 
the  Dorchester  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany. He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Old 
School-boys'  Association.  In  1842  he  married 
Mary  E.  Bronsdon,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Bronsdon,  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Milton;  and 
in  1892  they  celebrated  the  golden  anniver- 
sary of  their  union.  Of  the  eight  children 
born  into  their  household  six  are  now  living, 
as  follows:  Mary  R.,  wife  of  Frederick  A. 
O'Connor;  Walter  E. ;  Reuben  S. ;  Allen 
W.,  a  well-known  musician,  residing  in  New 
Bedford,  Mass.;  Joseph  W. ;  and  Edith,  wife 
of  Joseph  F.  Burtch.  Both  parents  united 
with  the  Unitarian  church  when  young,  and 
always  took  an  active  interest  in  its  growth 
and  prosperity. 

After  his  graduation  from  the  Dorchester 
High  School,  Reuben  S.  Swan  was  engaged  as 
clerk  for  a  year  in  a  woollen  jobbing  store,  and 
was  then  employed  for  a  short  time  in  a 
leather  importing  house.  The  following  year 
he  was  an  assistant  surveyor,  but  gave  up  his 
position  to  enter  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Boston  as  a  messenger.  He  was  connected 
with  that  institution  for  sixteen  consecutive 
years,  being  among  its  most  faithful  and  able 


employees.  He  rapidly  rose  from  the  subor- 
dinate position  first  assigned  him  to  that  of 
clerk,  and  at  the  date  of  his  resignation  had 
been  collection  clerk  for  some  time.  In 
1886,  when  the  Brook] ine  National  Bank  was 
established,  Mr.  Swan  accepted  the  cashier- 
ship,  a  position  which  his  previous  experience 
had  particularly  qualified  him  to  hold;  and  he 
has  since  been  largely  instrumental  in  build- 
ing up  the  business  of  this  institution.  The 
official  force  has  been  increased  from  one  to 
three  members,  four  clerks  being  at  times  re- 
quired to  do  the  work.  Mr.  Swan  is  also  one 
of  the  directors  of  this  bank,  and  has  much 
to  do  with  the  management  of  each  of  its 
departments. 

He  is  very  influential  in  Masonic  circles, 
being  the  present  Master  of  Beth-Horon 
Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Brookline;  a  mem- 
ber of  Roxbury  Council ;  of  St.  Paul's  Chap- 
ter, R.  A.  M.,  of  Boston;  and  of  De  Molay 
Commandery,  K.  T. ,  of  Boston.  He  also  be- 
longs to  the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  and  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  League  of  American  Wheel- 
men. In  the  latter  he  has  held  various 
offices:  for  three  years  he  was  chairman  of  the 
Finance  Committee,  and  for  several  years  he 
has  been  a  delegate  to  the  national  conven- 
tions of  this  body  and  to  the  National  Assem- 
bly. He  is  likewise  a  member  of  the  Norfolk 
Club  of  Boston.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  served  in  the  Common 
Council  of  Boston.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church. 

On  October  8,  1873,  Mr.  Swan  married 
Miss  Emma  A.  Melville,  daughter  of  William 
Melville,  a  piano  manufacturer  in  Dorchester. 
They  have  one  child,  Clifford  Melville. 


TTAHARLES  H.  HARTSHORN,  a  re- 
I  \y  tired  business  man  of  Walpole,  was 
^yjs^  born  here,  March  25,  1840,  in  this 
town.  A  son  of  the  late  Charles 
Hartshorn,  he  belongs  to  one  of  the  town's 
old  families.  His  grandfather,  Richard 
Hartshorn,  was  a  prominent  man  here.  The 
father,  who  was  born  in  Walpole  in  1S05, 
spent  here  the  larger  part  of  his  fourscore 
years  of  life,  dying  in  1885.  Prior  to  the  era 
of  railways  in    Massachusetts  he  was   the   pro- 


4oo 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


prietor  of  a  freight  line  running  from  Boston 
to  Providence  through  Walpole  and  employ- 
ing a  large  number  of  horses.  A  leading 
Democrat  in  this  part  of  the  county,  he  served 
as  Selectman  and  Assessor  of  Walpole  for 
many  years.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  Fales, 
of  Wrentham,  and  they  reared  two  children; 
namely,  Charles  H.  and  Josephine.  Jo- 
sephine is  now  the  widow  of  Colonel  Moore, 
late  of  Walpole. 

Charles  H.  Hartshorn  attended  the  district 
schools  of  Walpole  until  about  sixteen  years 
old.  Then  he  began  driving  one  of  his 
father's  teams  between  here  and  Boston.  In 
1 86 1  he  opened  a  meat  market,  later  adding 
to  his  stock  general  groceries  and  provisions. 
As  the  town  grew,  his  trade  increased  in  pro- 
portion, and  eventually  became  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  lucrative  of  any  in  this  vicin- 
ity. In  1892  he  retired  from  active  pursuits, 
turning  his  business  over  to  his  sons,  who 
are  shrewd,  honest  young  men,  of  good  busi- 
ness ability.  He  has  been  identified  with  the 
Republican  party  for  many  years,  and  has  ever 
shown  a  warm  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his 
native  town.  He  has  filled  various  offices 
within  the  gift  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  having 
been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  and 
its  chairman  for  a  number  of  terms;  Assessor 
and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  five  years;  and 
in  1S94  the  Representative  to  the  General 
Court,  being  the  first  sent  from  Walpole  Cen- 
tre for  many  years.  He  is  also  a  director  of 
the  Co-operative  Bank  of  Foxboro,  Mass. 

Mr.  Hartshorn  was  married  January  1, 
1862,  to  Miss  Rebecca  S.  Hayden,  daughter 
of  Charles  D.  Hayden,  of  Braintree,  Mass. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartshorn  have  five  children  — 
Charles  F.,  Elizabeth  J.,  Robert  H.,  Sadie, 
and  Rebecca.  Elizabeth  J.  is  the  wife  of  Dr. 
Bigelow,  of  Norwood,  this  county.  Robert 
and  Charles  carry  on  the  business  lately 
owned  by  their  father.  Mr.  Hartshorn  is 
connected  with  many  secret  organizations,  in- 
cluding Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Nor- 
wood; Hebron  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Nor- 
wood; Cyprus  Commandery  of  Hyde  Park; 
Reliance  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Walpole; 
and  the  King  Mount  Encampment.  He  is 
also  connected  with  the  A.  O.  U.  W. ,  of 
which  he  has  been  the  treasurer  and  collector; 


and  with  the  Spring  Brook  Council  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum.  In  the  Unitarian  church  he 
is  an  active  worker  and  one  of  its  most  valued 
members. 


PHRAIM  WILSON,  a  prominent  farmer 
of  Dover  and  the  representative  of  one 
of  the  oldest  families  in  the  State, 
was  born  on  the  Wilson  homestead,  May  5, 
1825,  son  of  Ephraim  and  Lucy  (Capen)  Wil- 
son. The  first  of  the  family  to  settle  in 
Dover  was  Henry  Wilson,  who  came  from 
Kent,  England,  in  1637,  with  Mary  Medcalf, 
his  future  wife,  and  settled  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  His  first 
child  was  born  here  in  1646.  Every  descend- 
ant of  his  who  has  since  occupied  the  place  has 
been  an  Ephraim  Wilson.  Grandfather  Wil- 
son was  a  farmer  throughout  his  life,  and 
always  made  his  home  on  the  old  homestead. 
He  was  very  prominent  in  the  town,  and  his 
advice  and  opinions  were  much  sought.  Both 
he  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Bill- 
iard, died  in  Dover.  Their  children  were: 
Ephraim,  born  December  2,  1775;  and  Na- 
thaniel, born  August  25,  1779,  who  married, 
and  spent  his  active  life  as  a  farmer  in  Dover. 

Ephraim  Wilson,  the  father  of  the  present 
bearer  of  the  name,  was  born  December  2, 
'775-  The  owner  of  a  team,  he  was  employed 
by  the  United  States  government  during  the 
War  of  i8r2  in  carting  supplies  between  Bos- 
ton and  Philadelphia.  His  son  and  namesake 
has  in  his  possession  a  chain  used  on  his  team. 
He  conducted  the  Wilson  farm,  and  was  an 
influential  man  and  a  popular  candidate  for 
public  office.  After  serving  in  all  the  town 
offices  except  those  of  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  he 
died  May  16,  1847.  The  first  of  his  two  mar- 
riages was  contracted  with  Sally  Richards, 
who  bore  him  five  children  —  Eleazer,  Isaac, 
Sarah,  Sybil,  and  Lucy.  The  second  mar- 
riage was  with  Lucy  Capen,  of  Dedham, 
Mass.,  whose  children  were  Ephraim  and 
Edwin.  Edwin,  born  September  1,  1827, 
first  married  Margaret  Gould,  of  Walpole, 
Mass.  After  her  death  he  married  Miss  Rox- 
ana  Knight,  and  is  now  living  near  Lake  City, 
Minn.,  engaged  in  farming. 

After  receiving    his   education    in   the   com- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIF.W 


mon  schools,  the  present  Ephraim  Wilson  took 
up  the  study  of  surveying.  Beginning  when 
nineteen  years  of  age,  he  was  engaged  more  or 
less  in  surveyor's  work  up  to  about  two  years 
ago.  Many  of  the  roads  in  Dover  were  laid  out 
by  him.  He  has  also  done  considerable  con- 
tracting work.  The  first  contract  undertaken 
by  him  was  in  connection  with  the  old  Odd 
Fellows  Building  of  Needham.  He  was  one 
of  the  Building  Committee,  and  served  as  its 
treasurer  until  the  building  was  destroyed  by 
fire.  Besides  this  Mr.  Wilson  carries  on  gen- 
eral farming  on  the  homestead,  which  com- 
prises two  hundred  acres  in  Dover  and  fifty  in 
Dedham  and  other  outlands.  He  has  made 
many  improvements,  and  has  now  one  of  the 
finest  farms  and  pleasantest  houses  in  Dover. 
Until  two  years  ago  he  took  an  active  part  in 
politics,  voting  the  Republican  ticket.  He 
has  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years,  and  he  has  served  the  town 
as  Selectman  and  in  other  public  positions. 
An  esteemed  Odd  Fellow,  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Elliott  Lodge,  No.  58,  at  Needham,  and 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.  Having  started  in  life 
when  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars,  it  is  greatly  to  his  credit  that 
he  is  now  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  re- 
spected men  in  Dover.  Mr.  Wilson  is  a  re- 
markably active  and  well  preserved  man,  and 
the  autograph  attached  to  his  steel-engraved 
portrait  which  accompanies  this  sketch  was 
written  by  him  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years 
and  six  months. 

On  May  ii,  185 1,  Mr.  Wilson  married 
Mary  Baker  Soule,  who  was  born  in  Dover, 
February  11,  1831,  daughter  of  Alexander  and 
Hannah  (Draper)  Soule.  Her  father,  who 
was  a  native  of  Oxford,  Me.,  enlisted  from 
that  town  for  service  in  the  War  of  1812.  By 
trade  he  was  a  stone-mason,  and  he  helped  in 
building  many  of  the  best  bridges  in  Norfolk 
County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  have  had  six 
children,  namely  :  Nancy,  who  was  born  Au- 
gust 15,  1852,  and  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years;  Ephraim  Henry,  born  October  30, 
1854,  who  married  Martha  Mills,  and  lives  in 
Allston,  Mass.,  where  he  has  worked  in  the 
car  shops  for  fifteen  years;  Herbert  S.,  born 
January  18,  1857,  who  married  Miss  Jessie 
Sawyer,  and  is  employed   in  the  paper-mill   at 


Pepperell,  Mass.;  Edwin  F. ,  born  January 
30,  1859,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen; 
James  A.,  born  September  10,  1861,  who 
died  in  infancy;  and  Lillian  M.  E.,  born  Jan- 
uary 18,  1872,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Richard  H. 
Bond,  and  has  one  child,  Esther  F.  Mr. 
Bond,  together  with  his  family,  resides  with 
Mr.  Wilson  and  assists  in  the  management  of 
the  farm. 

[As  the  above  sketch  was  going  to  press,  new-  \\,is 
received  of  Mr.  Wilson's  death,  which  occurred  sud- 
denly at  his  residence,  on  Tuesday.  January   11,  [898,] 


RANCIS  D.  DUNBAR,  a  well-known 
business  man  of  Canton,  was  born  in 
that  town,  January  1,  1842,  son  of  Na- 
thaniel and  Frances  Ann  (Draper)  Dunbar. 
His  grandfather,  great-grandfather,  and  great- 
great-grandfather  on  the  father's  side  were 
residents  of  Canton.  Samuel  Dunbar,  the 
last-named  ancestor,  was  settled  over  the  first 
Congregational  Parish  as  pastor  for  fifty-five 
years.  His  father,  John  Dunbar,  emigrated 
from  Scotland  about  the  year  1700,  and  soon 
after  settled  in  Boston.  The  paternal  great- 
grandfather was  named  Elijah,  and  the  grand- 
father, Thomas. 

Nathaniel  Dunbar  learned  the  cabinet- 
maker's trade  in  Boston.  Here  he  married 
Miss  J.  A.  C.  Chase,  who  soon  died,  leaving 
no  children.  He  subsequently  married  Miss 
Frances  Ann  Draper,  of  Medfield,  of  whose 
six  children  by  him  Francis  D.,  Louisa,  Na- 
thaniel W.,  and  Anna  L.  outlived  childhood. 
A  third  marriage  united  him  to  Miss  Lucinda 
Draper,  a  sister  of  the  second  wife,  whom  he 
had  survived  some  years  when  he  died  very 
suddenly  in  1883,  in  his  seventy-seventh  year. 
He  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  piano- 
forte keys,  and  later  of  paper  boxes  in  Canton. 
He  was  originally  a  Whig  in  political  belief; 
but,  when  the  Republican  party  came  into 
existence,  he  affiliated  therewith,  and  after- 
ward supported  its  candidates. 

Francis  D.  Dunbar  was  educated  in  the 
public  school  of  District  No.  7  of  Canton.  In 
January,  1S59,  he  went  into  the  employ  of 
J.  B.  Glover  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  where  he  re- 
mained till  January,  1865.  Then  he  went  to 
Chicago,    and    in    October,    1866,    entered   the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


local  freight  office  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  as  clerk,  and  was  afterward  cashier. 
In  November,  1871,  he  went  to  Paxton,  111., 
to  take  charge  of  that  station,  and  remained 
there  until  July,  1875.  He  left  Paxton  to 
come  back  to  Canton  and  take  charge  of  the 
box  business  for  his  father,  where  he  has  re- 
mained. 

On  January  24,  1866,  Mr.  Dunbar  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Francesca  V.  Trask,  of  Maine. 
They  have  had  four  children,  namely:  Mil- 
dred M. ,  who  is  now  at  home;  Francis  W. ,  a 
graduate  of  the  Institute  of  Technology,  class 
of  1890,  and  now  an  electrical  engineer  at 
Chicago;  Florence  A.,  a  graduate  of  P"raming- 
ham  Normal  School,  who  is  now  a  teacher  in 
the  Hancock  School,  Boston;  and  Donald  N., 
who  is  attending  school.  A  Mason  of  high 
standing,  he  has  been  District  Deputy  Grand 
Master  for  the  Twenty-second  District;  in 
1888-89  was  Worshipful  Master  of  Blue  Hill 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is  a  member; 
and  he  was  High  Priest  of  Mount  Zion  R.  A. 
Chapter  in  1890-91.  His  family  are  mem- 
bers of  and  attend  the  Evangelical  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  he  was  chairman  of  the  Selectmen 
in  1894  and  1896.  He  is  also  a  trustee  of 
Canton  Institution  for  Savings,  and  one  of  its 
Investment  Committee. 


ENJAMIN  N.  SAWIN,  an  enter- 
prising farmer  of  Dover,  was  born  in 
South  Xatick,  Mass.,  February  9, 
1823,  son  of  Calvin  and  Hannah 
(Felch)  Sawin.  The  father,  who  was  born  in 
Princeton,  Mass.,  March  25,  1789,  went  to 
Xatick  when  a  young  man,  and  settled  upon  a 
farm  located  south  of  the  village.  Here  he 
became  prominent  in  public  affairs,  serving  as 
Constable  and  Collector  of  Taxes,  and  resid- 
ing there  until  1833.  Then  he  moved  to 
Dover,  where  he  followed  agriculture  through- 
out the  rest  of  his  life,  and  died  December 
24,  1847,  aged  fifty-eight  years.  His  wife, 
Hannah,  who  was  born  in  Natick,  August  31, 
1789,  became  the  mother  of  three  children, 
namely:  Calvin  H.,  born  December  13,  1820; 
Benjamin  N.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Warren,     born     July    17,     1825.      Calvin     H. 


married  for  his  first  wife  Edith  Gilmore,  of 
Sherman,  Mass.,  who  died  in  1848.  P"or  his 
second  wife  he  married  Mrs.  Sally  Small 
Rogers,  of  Orleans,  Mass.,  then  the  widow  of 
David  Rogers,  and  now  living  in  Natick. 
Calvin  H.  died  June  16,  1886.  Warren  mar- 
ried Mary  Ann  Pierce,  of  Needham,  Mass., 
who  is  now  deceased,  and  died  March  21, 
1 88 1.  After  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs. 
Calvin  Sawin  continued  to  reside  at  the  home- 
stead in  Dover;  and  she  died  March  4,  1880, 
aged  over  ninety  years. 

Benjamin  N.  Sawin  acquired  a  common- 
school  education,  and  at  an  early  age  began 
to  assist  in  carrying  on  the  farm.  When  a 
young  man  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade, 
which  he  followed  for  about  twenty  years  in 
connection  with  farming.  Since  the  death 
of  his  father  he  has  managed  the  homestead 
property.  On  the  estate,  which  contains 
seventy  acres  of  excellent  tillage  land,  he  has 
erected  new  and  substantial  buildings.  For 
some  years  he  has  devoted  his  spare  time  to 
the  fire  insurance  business,  and  he  is  the  local 
agent  for  several  reliable  companies.  Politi- 
cally, he  is  a  Democrat;  and  he  has  long  been 
identified  with  public  affairs.  He  has  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  and 
Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  at  the  present  time 
is  Park  Commissioner. 

Mr.  Sawin  has  been  twice  married.  On 
October  20,  1864,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  J.  Bacon,  who  was  born  in  Lin- 
coln, Mass.,  in  1837.  Her  parents,  Aaron 
and  Mary  (Brooks)  Bacon,  were  born  respec- 
tively in  Natick  and  Lincoln.  Aaron  set- 
tled in  Dover,  and  followed  agriculture  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  July,  1895,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  Mrs.  Bacon  is 
still  living.  Mr.  Sawin's  first  wife  died  Sep- 
tember 6,  1888;  and  on  October  12,  1S93,  he 
wedded  Sarah  Eudora  Shumway.  She  was 
born  in  Dover,  October  21,  1841,  daughter  of 
John  and  Abigail  (Wight)  Shumway.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Thompson,  Conn.,  Decem- 
ber 4,  1787,  and  her  mother,  in  Medfield, 
Mass.,  December  21,  1792.  John  Shumway 
settled  upon  a  farm  in  the  western  part  of 
Dover  when  he  was  twenty  years  old,  and  was 
extensively  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.      He  died  February  21,   1844; 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


405 


and  his  wife  died  February  21,  1875.  They 
were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  as  follows: 
Abigail  Wight,  born  September  24,  1814, 
who  died  March  5,  1844;  Elizabeth  Morse, 
born  September  4,  1S16,  who  died  January 
14,  1S47;  Amos  Wight,  born  May  13,  1 8 1 9, 
who  died  in  February,  1893;  John  Worthing- 
ton,  born  March  24,  1821,  who  died  August 
13,  1889;  Benjamin  F.,  born  March  23,  1823; 
George  Howard,  born  February  11,  1825; 
William  Frederick,  born  January  16,  1828, 
who  died  January  25,  1849;  Elbridge  Eu- 
gene, born  February  9,  1830;  Hannah 
Louisa,  born  April  16,  1832,  who  died  August 
27,  1848;  and  Sarah  Eudora,  who  is  now  Mrs. 
Sawin.  Benjamin  F.  married  Lucy  Ann  Cut- 
ler, of  Medfield,  and  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
that  town.  George  Howard  married  for  his 
first  wife  Mary  S.  Bickford,  who  died;  and 
tor  his  second  wife  Mary  Rogers,  of  New 
Hampshire.  He  is  a  wheelwright  by  trade, 
and  lives  in  Medfield.  Elbridge  Eugene, 
who  is  a  carpenter  and  machinist,  married 
Amanda  F.  Wales,  and  resides  in  Norwood, 
Mass. 

Mr.  Sawin's  children  by  his  first  union 
were:  Mary  Nellie,  born  in  1865,  who  died  in 
1874;  and  George  Nelson,  born  in  October, 
1868,  who  also  died  in  1874.  Mr.  Sawin  is 
widely  and  favorably  known  throughout  this 
section  of  the  county.  By  his  industry  he  has 
attained  a  comfortable  prosperity.  He  is  a 
practical  and  progressive  farmer,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  in 
Dover.  Mrs.  Sawin  is  a  member  of  the  Uni- 
tarian church. 


EORGE    E.   POST,  one  of  the  propri- 
etors of  Powissett   Farm,  Dover,  was 


18,  1864,  son  of  Bernhard  and  Barbara 
(Understella)  Post.  His  parents,  who  are  na- 
tives of  Germany,  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  in  1855,  and  first  settled  in  Boston. 
Bernhard  Post  first  found  employment  in  a 
book  bindery,  where  he  remained  two  years. 
Then  he  engaged  in  dairy  farming  in  Brook- 
line.  Four  years  later  he  moved  to  Needham, 
where  he  conducted  a  farm  for  about  nine  years: 
and    in    1869    he    settled    upon    the    farm    in 


Dover  now  carried  on  by  his  sons.  He  and 
his  wife  are  still  residing  here.  They  have 
reared  ten  children  —  Bernhard  F.,  Margaret, 
Carrie,  Peter,  Anthony  C,  John  Henry, 
George  E.,  Mary,  Etta  B.,  and  Josephine. 
Bernhard  F.,  who  is  in  the  milk  business  in 
Jamaica  Plain,  married  Barbara  Schaffner. 
Margaret,  who  married  John  Heil,  of  Jamaica 
Plain,  is  no  longer  living.  Carrie  is  the  wife 
of  Mathias  Volk,  and  lives  in  Weymouth, 
Mass.  Peter  married  Hannah  Volk,  and  is  a 
milk  dealer  at  Jamaica  Plain.  Anthony  C, 
also  in  the  milk  business  at  Jamaica  Plain, 
first  married  Lena  Heim,  who  is  now  de- 
ceased. The  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife 
was  Amelia  Zimmerman.  John  Henry  is  en- 
gaged with  his  brother  in  carrying  on  the 
farm  in  Dover.  Mary,  who  has  joined  a  re- 
ligious order,  is  now  teaching  in  a  convent 
school  in  Boston.  Etta  B.  and  Josephine  are 
residing  at  home. 

George  E.  Post  acquired  a  good  education 
in  the  Boston  and  Dover  schools.  Since  com- 
pleting his  studies  he  has  given  his  chief 
attention  to  farming.  He  assisted  his 
father  in  attending  to  the  farm  duties  until 
1895,  when,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
John  Henry,  he  took  the  management  of  the 
property:  and  they  are  now  the  proprietors. 
Powissett  Farm  contains  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  acres  of  excellent  land  especially 
adapted  for  pasturage  and  the  raising  of  hay. 
As  a  dairy  farm  its  equal  cannot  be  found  in 
this  locality.  The  Post  brothers  keep  an 
average  of  sixty  cows.  They  are  the  most  ex- 
tensive milk  producers  in  Dover,  and  their 
product  is  shipped  to  Jamaica  Plain.  George 
E.  Post  is  now  serving  his  fifth  year  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen.  He  is 
also  Overseer  of  the  Poor  and  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Health.  In  politics  he  is  an  active 
supporter  of  the  Democratic  party.  His 
brother,  John  Henry,  is  now  acting  as  Con- 
stable. 

On  November  12,  1895,  Mr.  Post  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Margaret  L.  Ouinn. 
She  was  born  in  Charles  River  Village,  Au- 
gust 24,  1870,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
(Hill)  Ouinn,  both  of  whom  are  natives  of 
Dublin,  Ireland.  Mrs.  Post's  parents  emi- 
grated to  the   United   States    in    1870,  and  are 


406 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


now  residing  upon  a  farm  in  Dover.  Mr. 
Post  is  connected  with  the  Dover  Grange,  Pa- 
trons of  Husbandry.  The  family  are  all 
Roman  Catholics,  and  attend  church  at  South 
Natick. 


T^JRASTUS  WORTH INGTON,  a  leading 
f*l  citizen  of  Dedham  and  for  thirty  years 
~^-  —  ■"  Clerk  of  Courts  for  Norfolk  County, 
was  born  in  Dedham  on  November  25,  1828, 
and  is  the  youngest  and  only  surviving  mem- 
ber of  a  family  of  three  sons,  his  parents 
being  Erastus  and  Sally  (Ellis)  Worthington. 
The  family,  which  has  produced  men  of  abil- 
ity and  of  personal  worth,  was  first  repre- 
sented in  this  country  by  Nicholas  Worth- 
ington, Englishman,  who  landed  at  Saybrook, 
Conn.,  in  1640,  and  subsequently  settled  in 
Hartford. 

Erastus  Worthington,  first,  father  of  the  ex- 
clerk,  was  a  native  of  Belchertown,  Mass., 
and  a  graduate  of  Williams  College  in  the 
class  of  1804.  He  practised  law  in  Dedham 
for  many  years ;  and  in  1825,  having  been  ac- 
tive in  the  formation  of  the  Norfolk  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company,  he  became  its  first 
secretary.  This  office  he  held  until  1840. 
In  1814  and  1815  he  represented  Dedham  in 
the  General  Court.  He  was  the  author  of 
"An  Essay  on  the  Establishment  of  a  Chan- 
cery Jurisdiction  in  Massachusetts,"  published 
in  1 810,  and  of  the  History  of  Dedham, 
published  in  1827.  He  died  on  June  27, 
1842,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  His  wife,  who 
was  born  in  Dedham,  one  of  a  family  of  three 
children,  was  the  daughter  of  Abner  Ellis,  a 
cabinet-maker  and  manufacturer  of  chairs. 
Mrs.  Sally  E.  Worthington  and  her  husband 
were  both  communicants  of  the  Episcopal 
church. 

Their  son  Erastus,  the  father's  namesake, 
attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native  town 
in  his  early  years,  and  subsequently  fitted  for 
college  in  an  academy  at  Attleboro.  Enter- 
ing Brown  University  in  1846,  he  pursued  the 
four  years'  course,  and  shortly  after  his  gradu- 
ation went  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  entering  the 
office  of  his  brother,  Ellis  Worthington,  at 
that  time  a  practising  lawyer.  In  the  au- 
tumn   of    the   following  year    he   entered    the 


Harvard  Law  School  at  Cambridge;  but  after 
being  there  for  one  term  he  withdrew,  in  order 
to  teach  in  the  Dedham  High  School,  keeping 
up  at  the  same  time  his  legal  studies.  He 
subsequently  returned  to  the  Law  School,  and 
in  1853  received  from  that  institution  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Laws.  In  February,  1854, 
at  a  term  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Norfolk  County  bar. 

Mr.  Worthington  opened  an  office  in  Bos- 
ton for  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
after  a  few  months  formed  a  partnership  with 
the  Hon.  David  A.  Simmons,  of  Roxbury. 
Two  years  after  beginning  the  practice  of  law 
he  was  elected  to  the  position  of  Register  of 
the  Court  of  Insolvency.  This  office  being 
abolished  the  following  year,  Mr.  Worthing- 
ton resigned  his  position,  and  opened  a  law 
office  in  Dedham.  In  1858  he  was  commis- 
sioned by  Governor  Banks  as  Trial  Justice,  in 
which  office  he  continued  for  eight  years.  In 
1866  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  Courts  for  a 
term  of  five  years,  and  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  that  office  in  January,  1867.  He  was  suc- 
cessively re-elected,  and  held  the  office  in  all 
for  six  terms,  up  to  January,  1897.  This  is, 
with  two  or  three  exceptions,  the  longest 
period  of  service  ever  given  by  any  clerk  to 
the  Commonwealth.  Besides  attending  to  the 
duties  strictly  pertaining  to  his  office,  Mr. 
Worthington  has  been  frequently  selected  by 
members  of  the  bar  and  appointed  by  the 
court  as  Auditor  and  Master  to  hear  cases 
pending  in  the  courts.  He  has  also  been  the 
public  administrator  of  the  county  since  1882. 

Mr.  Worthington  has  been  warmly  inter- 
ested in  the  public  affairs  of  Dedham,  and  has 
shown  his  interest  in  an  active  and  practical 
manner.  For  eight  years  he  served  on  the 
School  Board,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first 
members  of  the  Dedham  Historical  Society. 
Deeply  interested  in  antiquarian  research,  he 
has  given  special  attention  to  local  history, 
and  has  written  a  number  of  valuable  papers 
relating  thereto,  which  have  been  printed,  and 
are  now  preserved  among  the  records  of  the 
society.  Mr.  Worthington  was  for  many 
years  curator  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  is 
now  vice-president.  He  is  the  author  of  a 
short  history  of  Dedham  published  in  the 
History    of    Norfolk    County    in    1884.       At 


WILLIAM    M.    COMEY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


409 


the  dedication  of  Memorial  Hall  on  Septem- 
ber 19,  1868,  Mr.  Worthington  delivered  the 
address;  and  he  also  delivered  the  historical 
address  at  the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of 
the  town  of  Dedham,  on  September  21,  1886. 
Both  of  these  addresses  have  been  printed. 

Mr.  Worthington  was  married  on  November 
25,  1861,  to  Elizabeth  Foster,  one  of  the  five 
children  of  Robert  Briggs,  a  Boston  merchant, 
dealer  in  crockery  and  porcelains.  Mrs. 
Worthington  is  the  mother  of  one  daughter 
and  five  sons,  as  follows:  Caroline  Morton; 
Erastus,  Jr.,  a  civil  engineer,  whose  sketch 
may  be  found  on  another  page  of  this  work; 
Robert  Briggs,  who  is  Assistant  Clerk  of 
Courts  for  Norfolk  County;  Alvan  Fisher, 
who  is  in  the  office  of  the  New  England  Tele- 
phone Company ;  Arthur  Morton,  a  graduate 
of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, 
1893,  and  of  Harvard  Medical  School,  1S96, 
and  now  house  physician  at  the  Boston  City 
Hospital;  and  John  Winthrop  Worthington,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1895,  and  now 
a  student  in  the  Harvard  Law  School. 
Robert  Worthington  married  Veluette  Cheney, 
of  Dedham,  in  November,   1896. 

In  politics  Mr.  Worthington  is  a  Republi- 
can, having  been  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party  since  its  formation.  He  is  one  of  the 
Wardens  of  St.  Paul's  (Episcopal)  Church  at 
Dedham. 


ILLIAM  M.  COMEY,  a  well- 
known  wire  manufacturer  of  Citv 
Mills,  in  the  town  of  Norfolk,  and 
a  Civil  War  veteran,  was  born  in  Wrentham, 
Mass.,  February  18,  1840,  son  of  Albert  and 
Celinda  (Barton)  Comey.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Hopkinton,  Mass.  ;  and  his  mother 
was  born  in  Wrentham.  Albert  Comey  set- 
tled in  Wrentham  after  his  marriage,  and  re- 
sided there  until  1849.  Then  he  went  to 
California,  where  he  remained  until  i860. 
After  his  return  he  settled  in  Pawtucket,  R.I., 
where  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  pattern-maker 
for  several  years.  His  last  days  were  passed 
in  retirement.  His  first  wife,  Celinda,  who 
died  April  8,  1840,  had  five  children,  namely: 
Albert  B. ,  who  wedded   Miranda  Temple,  and 


is  living  in  retirement  at  South  Framing- 
ham,  Mass.;  George  R.,  who  died  from  the 
effects  of  a  wound  received  in  the  battle  of 
Pittsburg  Landing  during  the  Civil  War; 
Eliza  A.,  who  is  the  wife  of  George  W.  Tem- 
ple, a  shoemaker  of  Hopkinton;  Marietta  C, 
who  married  Henry  Stearns,  a  farmer  of  Hop- 
kinton, and  is  no  longer  living;  and  William 
M.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Albert 
Comey's  second  wife,  who  is  a  native  of  Attle- 
boro,  Mass.,  and  is  now  residing  in  Pawtucket, 
became  the  mother  of  two  children.  These 
are:  Charles,  who  married  Ella  Scott,  and  is 
now  a  druggist  in  Pawtucket ;  and  Frank  Eu- 
gene, who  married  Emma  Whipple,  and  is  now 
living  in  retirement  near  Providence,  R.I. 

His  mother  having  died  when  he  was  an 
infant,  William  M.  Comey  was  reared  by  his 
grandparents.  His  education  was  obtained  in 
the  common  schools  and  at  a  business  college. 
On  January  24,  1861,  he  enlisted  for  three 
years  as  a  private  in  Company  B  of  the  Fourth 
United  States  Artillery.  In  the  following 
December  he  was  transferred  to  Company  E, 
Second  United  States  Infantry,  and  after  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg  to  Company  C  of  the 
same  regiment.  He  participated  in  the  battles 
of  Wilson's  Creek,  Gaines's  Mill,  Mechan- 
icsville,  Malvern  Hill,  Fredericksburg,  Chan- 
cellorsville,  Gettysburg,  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  and  fifteen  other  engagements.  At 
Wilson's  Creek  he  was  wounded  in  the  right 
knee.  This  confined  him  in  Benton  Hospital, 
St.  Louis,  from  August  1,  1861,  until  Novem- 
ber 1,  1 86 1.  At  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run  he  received  five  wounds  in  his  left  arm 
and  hand,  causing  his  detention  at  the  hospital 
in  Philadelphia  for  three  months.  Discharged 
from  the  service  in  Virginia,  January  24, 
1864,  he  spent  a  few  months  in  Norfolk,  and 
then  re-enlisted  in  Company  E,  Second  Mas- 
sachusetts Artillery.  On  February  1,  1865,  he 
was  transferred  to  Company  F,  Seventeenth 
Massachusetts  Infantry;  and  he  was  mustered 
out  on  June  30  of  the  same  year.  After  his 
return  to  civil  life  he  settled  upon  the  farm 
which  he  now  occupies.  Later  he  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  wire  for  straw  hats,  which 
he  sells  to  manufacturers  throughout  the  State, 
his  factory  being  located  near  his  residence. 
He  has  made  some   wise  investments  in   real 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


estate,  and  owns,  besides  his  mill  property, 
about  forty  acres  of  fertile  land  in  Norfolk, 
several  tenement-houses  in  the  village,  and 
others  in  Franklin,  all  of  which  yield  a  good 
income.  Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat;  and 
he  takes  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs. 
Pie  is  now  serving  as  Second  Selectman,  is 
secretary  of  the  School  Board,  a  fire  warden, 
sexton  of  the  City  Mills  Cemetery,  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  a  Notary  Public,  chairman  of 
the  Board  of  Health  and  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Overseers  of  the  Poor. 

On  December  7,  1865,  Mr.  Comey  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Ophelia  H.  Scott. 
She  was  born  in  Franklin,  Mass.,  June  30, 
1842,  daughter  of  Colonel  Saul  B.  and  Susan 
P.  (Daniels)  Scott,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Bellingham,  Mass.,  in  1804,  and  the 
latter  in  Mendon,  Mass.,  in  1809.  Colonel 
Scott,  who  in  early  life  was  a  machinist,  later 
became  a  merchant  and  manufacturer.  His 
last  days  were  spent  in  retirement  in  Norfolk. 
His  wife  died  in  1886.  She  was  the  mother 
of  four  children,  namely:  Maroline  S.,  the 
wife  of  O.  M.  Bassett,  a  retired  straw  manufact- 
urer of  Franklin;  Samantha  S. ,  now  deceased, 
who  married  Joseph  Daniels,  of  Frank- 
lin; Elizabeth  R.  ;  and  Ophelia  H.  Eliza- 
beth R.  Scott  married  for  her  first  husband 
Stephen  S.  Benson,  and  for  her  second  Lindley 
Sykes.  She  is  now  residing  in  Norfolk  vil- 
lage. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Comey  have  had  two 
children,  namely:  Ethel  O.,  born  November 
29,  1877,  who  died  on  December  7  following; 
and  Frank  Roy,  born  January  2,  1880,  now  a 
student  at  Boston  University,  which  he  en- 
tered at  the  age  of  sixteen.  Mr.  Comey  is 
Commander  of  Franklin  Post,  No.  60, 
G.  A.  R.,  with  which  he  has  been  promi- 
nently identified  since  its  formation.  Both  he 
and  Mrs.  Comey  attend  the  Baptist  church. 


ALTER  H.  RIPLEY,  who  manu- 
factures granite  tools  in  Ouincy, 
was  born  October  8,  185  1,  in  North 
Carver,  Mass.,  son  of  William  Ripley.  His 
great-grandfather,  Abner  Ripley,  was  born 
and  reared  in  Duxbury,  Mass.  The  grand- 
father, Captain  William  Ripley,  a  native  of 
Plymouth,    Mass.,    the  greater  part  of    whose 


active  life  was  spent  in  seafaring,  commanded 
a  vessel  for  thirty  years,  and  visited  all  the 
important  ports  of  the  world,  meeting  with 
some  rough  experiences.  In  the  War  of  181 2 
on  two  occasions  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
English  privateers,  and  once  he  was  captured 
by  pirates,  who  scuttled  his  ship. 

William  Ripley,  who  was  also  born  in 
Plymouth,  having  but  limited  opportunities 
for  attending  school,  acquired  his  education 
mainly  by  solitary  study.  Having  had  a  quick 
mind  and  a  retentive  memory,  he  became  one 
of  the  best  informed  men  of  his  times.  He 
learned  the  blacksmith's  trade,  and  worked  at 
it  in  Milton  and  North  Carver,  Mass.,  contin- 
uing in  active  business  until  within  three 
years  of  his  death,  which  occurred  October 
17,  1880.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  also  belonged  to  Rural  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.  He  married  Roxana,  daughter 
of  Cyrus  and  Phebe  (Gordon)  Corliss.  Of  his 
five  children,  George,  who  died  April  1,  1876, 
and  Walter  H.  attained  maturity. 

Walter  H.  Ripley  obtained  his  first  knowl- 
edge of  books  in  the  public  schools  of  Ouincy. 
Then  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith, 
for  which  he  had  a  natural  aptitude.  He  sub- 
sequently worked  on  the  Boston  post-office,  on 
the  buildings  connected  with  the  State,  War, 
and  Navy  Departments  at  Washington  (the 
work  for  them  being  done  in  Richmond,  Va. ), 
and  on  the  St.  Louis  custom-house.  After 
this  he  was  for  ten  months  engaged  as  a  trav- 
elling salesman  for  the  wholesale  boot  and 
shoe  firm  of  C.  J.  Hibbard  &  Co.,  of  New- 
port, Vt.  Resuming  his  trade  again,  he 
started  in  business  for  himself  in  Ouincy  in 
1885,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  all  kinds  of  granite  tools,  doing  all 
the  blacksmith  work  pertaining  to  that  busi- 
ness at  his  shop,  and  keeping  five  men  busily 
employed. 

In  politics  Mr.  Ripley  is  a  decided  Repub- 
lican, and  he  takes  an  earnest  interest  in  local 
affairs.  Under  the  town  government  he 
served  for  seven  years  as  Constable,  for  two 
years  as  Selectman,  and  for  five  years  was 
chief  engineer  of  the  fire  department.  He  is 
a  member  of  Francaise  Lodge,  No.  53,  A.  & 
A.  M.,  of  Richmond,  Va.  ;■  of  Mount  Wollas- 
ton  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  which  he  is  Vice- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Grand;  and  of  the  Salome  Encampment  of 
Dorchester,  Mass.  On  January  I,  1879,  ne 
was  married  to  Amanda  S.  Davis,  daughter 
of  Alonzo  G.  and  Mary  A.  (Badger)  Davis, 
of  this  city.  They  have  had  six  children,  of 
whom  George  W.,  Mabel  H.,  and  Chloe  G. 
are  living. 


{  STeORGE  NELSON,  son  of  William 
\  '•>  I  C.  and  Sarah  (Chapin)  Nelson,  and 
^—  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Bel- 
lingham,  was  born  in  Lyme,  N.H.,  November 
7,  1829.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Captain 
John  Nelson,  who  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lution, removed  from  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  his 
birthplace,  to  Lyme,  N.  H.,  where  he  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life.  He  married  Rachel 
Eranklin,  of  Rehoboth,  and  was  the  father  of 
eight  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead. 
Their  son,  William  C.  Nelson,  was  a  farmer 
of  Lyme,  where  he  spent  all  his  life,  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  town,  and 
holding  many  positions  of  trust.  A  zealous 
church  worker,  he  was  one  of  the  prominent 
members  of  the  Congregational  Society  in 
Lyme.  He  married  Sarah  Chapin,  of  Lyme. 
His  children  by  her  were:  Sarah,  now  living 
in  Lyme:  Harriette,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty  years;  John,  who  married  Clara  Fox,  and 
resides  in  Lyme;  George,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Jane,  the  widow  of  James  M.  Wells, 
late  of  Lyme;  William  C,  Jr.,  now  deceased; 
and  Charles,  who  died  at  Hanover,  N.  H. 

George  Nelson  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Lyme.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
left  home  and  went  to  Hanover,  N.H.,  to 
learn  the  blacksmith's  trade.  After  working 
there  for  three  years,  he  was  employed  at  his 
trade  on  the  railroad  for  one  year.  Then  he 
returned  to  Hanover,  where  he  bought  out  a 
shop,  and  went  into  business  with  a  partner. 
In  1850  he  paid  a  short  visit  to  an  uncle  in 
Bellingham,  a  Dr.  George  Nelson,  who  was  at 
that  time  one  of  the  leading  physicians  there. 
Mr.  Nelson  then  went  to  Douglas,  and  there 
worked  at  axe-making  for  several  years. 
After  that  he  moved  to  Columbus,  Ohio, 
where  he  helped  to  build  a  railroad.  Subse- 
quently he  came  to  the  farm  where  he  now 
lives,  known  as  the  Bates  place,  and  engaged 


in  blacksmith  work  and  farming.  Mr.  Nel- 
son has  been  a  hard-working  man.  His  health 
being  now  poor,  he  is  about  to  retire  from 
business. 

Mr.  Nelson  has  been  very  active  in  politics 
as  a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he 
was  an  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  many  years. 
He  married  Eliza  Jane,  daughter  of  John  and 
Celia  Ann  Smith,  of  Bellingham.  He  and 
his  wife  have  had  two  children:  Ida  Bell,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  eight  years;  and  Carrie, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  five.  Both  he  and 
Mrs.  Nelson  worship  at  the  Baptist  church  of 
Bellingham. 


ILAS  EVERETT  FALES,  Town 
Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  Norfolk, 
Mass.,  and  a  Civil  War  veteran, 
was  born  August  10,  1828,  in  Wal- 
pole,  Mass.,  of  which  Norfolk  was  formerly  a 
part.  His  parents,  Silas  and  Maria  (Fisher) 
Fales,  were  born  in  the  same  town;  and  his 
grandparents,  Aaron  Clark  and  Hephzibah 
(Everett)  Fales,  were  respectively  natives  of 
Walpole  and  Dedham.  Aaron  Clark  Fales 
belonged  to  the  militia,  and  was  out  with  his 
company  three  times  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  He  died  in  1826,  his  last  days  being 
spent  on  a  farm.  The  old  saw-mill  that  was  a 
part  of  his  property  in  Walpole  is  still  owned 
by  his  lineal  descendants.  His  wife  lived  to 
be  ninety  years  old,  and  died  in  1850. 

Silas  Fales  followed  the  carpenter's  trade 
for  some  time  in  his  early  manhood,  and  culti- 
vated the  homestead  farm  during  the  rest  of 
his  active  years,  his  death  occurring  in  1887. 
By  his  first  wife,  Maria  Fisher,  who  died  in 
1834,  he  had  five  children,  namely:  Lewis; 
Charles;  Joel;  Silas  Everett;  and  Maria  Har- 
riet, who  died  in  infancy.  Lewis,  who  is  no 
longer  living,  was  an  architect,  and  resided  in 
Milford,  Mass.  He  served  as  Trial  Justice, 
and  was  Town  Clerk  for  twenty-two  years. 
Charles,  who  is  a  machinist  and  lives  in  Wal- 
pole, married  Elizabeth  Wiggins,  of  Dedham. 
Joel,  who  was  in  early  life  a  schoolmaster, 
and  afterward  superintendent  of  mills  in  Wal- 
pole, died  in  1883.  Silas  Fales  married  for 
his  second  wife  Roxa  Perigo,  of  Wrentham, 
Mass.,  now  deceased.      She  was  the  mother  of 


4I2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


five  children,  as  follows:  Henry  E.  Fales,  an 
attorney,  who  died  in  Boston  in  i8g6;  Maria 
Alice,  who  married  Charles  P.  Lowell  (both 
deceased)  ;  Milton  E.,  a  cabinet-maker  of 
West  Medway,  Mass. ;  Harriet  Anna,  wife  of 
William  A.  Addison,  a  carpenter  of  Walpole; 
and  Sarah  P.,  who  married  Monroe  Boyden,  a 
cabinet-maker  of  Norwood,  Mass. 

Silas  Everett,  the  fourth  son,  whose  course 
in  life  is  the  subject  of  the  present  sketch,  ac- 
quired a  common-school  education  in  his  na- 
tive town.  With  the  view  of  fitting  himself 
for  professional  life,  he  pursued  a  medical 
course  of  study  in  New  York  City;  but,  giv- 
ing up  the  idea  later,  he  returned  to  Walpole, 
and  in  company  with  his  brother  bought  the 
farm  which  he  now  occupies.  They  erected 
the  present  dwelling;  and,  after  carrying  on 
the  farm  together  for  a  time,  Silas  E.  Fales 
bought  his  brother's  interest  in  the  property. 
On  August  3,  1862,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  B,  I7orty-second  Regiment,  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  under  Colonel 
Isaac  S.  Burrill  and  Captain,  afterward  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel,  Joseph  Stedman.  He  served 
a  little  over  a  year,  most  of  the  time  being 
stationed  in  New  Orleans,  where  his  health 
became  seriously  impaired;  and  he  was  honor- 
ably discharged  September  14,  1863.  Since 
his  return  from  the  South  he  has  devoted  his 
time  and  energy  to  general  farming  and  dairy- 
ing, his  property  consisting  of  twenty-three 
acres  of  well-improved  land. 

In  1870,  when  the  town  of  Norfolk  was  in- 
corporated, his  farm  was  included  within  its 
limits;  and  he  was  elected  the  first  Town 
Clerk,  an  office  which  he  has  since  held.  He 
has  been  Town  Treasurer  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  was  a  member  of  the  School  Board  six 
years,  an  Assessor  one  year,  has  been  Sealer 
of  Weights  and  Measures,  a  trustee  of  the 
public  library,  and  has  acted  as  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  since  1S76.  He  has  ably  presided 
over  the  Republican  Town  Committee  for 
about  five  years,  and  his  public  services  are 
highly  appreciated  by  his  party  associates 
and  his  fellow-townsmen  in  general.  He  is 
a  comrade  of  Franklin  Post,  No.  60,  G.  A.  R., 
and  a  member  of  Norfolk  Grange,  No.  135, 
Patrons  of  Husbandry. 

On  April  23,  1857,  Mr.  Fales  was  joined  in 


marriage  with  Sarah  A.  Ware,  daughter  of 
Captain  Nathan  and  Eunice  (Smith)  Ware,  of 
Walpole.  She  died  July  2,  1858,  leaving  one 
daughter,  Sarah  W.,  born  June  4,  1858,  who 
became  the  wife  of  George  Lewis,  of  Reading, 
Mass.  Mr.  Fales  wedded  July  3,  i860,  Mary 
S.  Gary,  who  is  a  native  of  Boston.  Her 
father,  Samuel  Gary,  a  native  of  Alfred,  Me., 
and  a  stone-mason  by  trade,  died  when  she 
was  quite  young.  Mrs.  Fales  is  the  mother  of 
two  children,  namely:  Bertha,  born  June  12, 
1867,  now  a  governess  in  a  physician's  family 
in  Pennsylvania;  and  John  Everett,  born  in 
1869,  who  married  Alice  M.  Bullard,  and  re- 
sides at  home  with  his  parents. 

Mr.  Fales  has  been  a  tireless  worker,  and 
his  industry  has  been  well  rewarded.  He  has 
always  been  a  total  abstainer  from  the  use  of 
stimulants,  and  is  one  of  the  few  who  have 
never  cultivated  the  tobacco  habit. 


rm 


EORGE  W.  CHAPMAN,  who  has 
\  '*>  I  been  Assessor  and  Overseer  of  the 
Poor  in  Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  for  many 
years,  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
highly  esteemed  citizens  of  the  town.  He 
was  born  October  3,  1850,  in  Wiscasset,  Lin- 
coln County,  Me.,  a  son  of  the  late  George  W. 
Chapman.  This  branch  of  the  Chapman  fam- 
ily, which  originated  in  England,  was  first 
represented  in  America  by  Edward  Chapman, 
who  "is  supposed  to  have  landed  in  Boston  in 
1639."  In  Rowley,  Mass.,  in  1642,  he  mar- 
ried Mary  Symonds.  In  1644  he  had  a  grant 
of  land  in  Ipswich,  Mass.,  where  he  and  his 
descendants  for  several  generations  were  en- 
gaged in  tilling  the  soil. 

George  W.  Chapman,  first,  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Saco, 
Me.,  where  his  father  was  an  early  settler. 
He  was  a  shoe  manufacturer  in  his  early  days, 
but  later  retired  to  a  farm  in  Limerick,  Me., 
a  neighboring  town,  and  there  spent  his  de- 
clining years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Burnham,  was  born  in  Scarboro, 
Cumberland  County,  Me.  She  bore  him 
eight  children. 

George  W.  Chapman,  second,  was  born  dur- 
ing the  residence  of  his  parents  in  Saco, 
where    he    received   his   early  education.     At 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


4-3 


the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  left  school  to  go 
to  sea,  shipping  as  a  cabin  boy  on  a  vessel 
engaged  in  the  West  India  trade.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  was  made  master  of  a  vessel, 
and  continued  in  seafaring  pursuits  for  about 
forty  years.  He  died  in  Hyde  Park,  May  26, 
1868.  His  wife,  formerly  Lucy  A.  Trask, 
was  born  in  VViscasset,  Me.,  a  daughter  of 
Captain  John  and  Hannah  Trask.  Her 
father,  who  was  master  of  a  coasting-vessel, 
died  in  1849,  aged  fifty  years.  Three  chil- 
dren were  born  to  George  W.  and  Lucy  A. 
(Trask)  Chapman,  of  whom  George  W.,  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  is  the  only 
one  now  living.  The  mother  survived  her 
husband,  dying  in  1884,  aged  sixty-one  years. 
Both  parents  were  sincere  Christians,  belong- 
ing to  the  Orthodox  church. 

George  W.  Chapman  lived  in  Wiscasset 
until  twelve  years  old,  obtaining  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education  in  the  public  schools. 
Coming  to  Hyde  Park  in  1863,  he  here  con- 
tinued his  studies  for  a  few  terms;  and  in 
1865  and  1866  he  was  a  student  at  Phillips 
Academy  in  Andover,  Mass.  He  subse- 
quently entered  a  broker's  office  in  Boston,  in 
which  he  was  employed  three  years. 

Mr.  Chapman  was  first  elected  on  the  Town 
Board  of  Assessors  in  1885,  and  served  three 
years,  being  chairman  one  year  and  clerk  of 
the  board  two  years.  He  was  re-elected  to 
the  same  office  in  1893,  1894,  1895,  '896, 
and  1897,  and  at  each  term  served  as  clerk. 
He  has  also  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Overseers  since  1889,  during  the  entire  period 
acting  as  clerk  of  the  board;  and  for  several 
years  he  had  been  Town  Auditor.  He  is  a 
straight  Republican  in  politics  and  a  leader 
in  his  party. 

On  December  6,  1877,  Mr.  Chapman  mar- 
ried Miss  Anna  S.  Phillips,  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  William  and  Roxanna  (Edmunds)  Phil- 
lips. She  was  born,  bred,  and  educated  in 
Providence,  R.I.,  where  her  father  was  settled 
over  a  Baptist  society  for  many  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  intelligence,  much  es- 
teemed as  a  citizen  and  as  a  pastor;  and  at  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  he 
was  the  oldest  trustee  of  Brown  University. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  have  one  child,  a  son, 
Richard  E.      Mr.  Chapman  attends  the  Ortho- 


dox  church,    having   never   swerved    from    the 
faith  in  which  he  was  reared. 


RVILLE  M.  ROGERS,  a  leading 
business  man  of  South  Braintree,  was 
born  at  Eastham,  Cape  Cod,  Mass., 
March  31,  1857.  A  son  of  Zelotes 
and  Louisa  (Crosby)  Rogers,  both  natives  of 
Cape  Cod,  he  comes  of  English  extraction. 
The  father,  known  as  Captain  Zelotes  Rogers, 
was  a  skipper  for  many  years.  The  last  years 
of  his  life  were  spent  on  shore,  and  he  died  in 
1894.      His  widow  resides  at  Orleans,  Mass. 

Orville  M.  Rogers,  the  only  surviving  child 
of  his  parents,  went  with  them  to  Orleans  at 
the  age  of  three,  and  there  resided  until  he 
was  eighteen  years  of  age.  After  he  was  thir- 
teen he  was  engaged  in  mackerel  fishing  dur- 
ing the  summer  season,  attending  school  only 
in  the  winter.  At  eighteen  he  went  to 
Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.,  where  he  served  a  three 
years'  apprenticeship  with  Thomas  Mayo  & 
Co.,  in  the  plumbing  and  heating  business, 
and  afterward  worked  for  them  as  a  journey- 
man for  a  short  time.  He  worked  at  his  trade 
in  South  Boston  for  about  a  year,  again  lo- 
cated in  Jamaica  Plain,  and  finally  settled 
permanently  in  South  Braintree  in  1SS1 .  In 
February,  1881,  he  bought  the  business  of 
A.  A.  Linnell,  dealers  in  stoves,  ranges,  and 
kitchen  furnishing  goods,  and  has  successfully 
conducted  it  since. 

Mr.  Rogers  married  Addie  M.  Rogers,  of 
Orleans,  Mass.,  and  has  two  children —  Ethel 
M.  and  Wilfred  S.  The  latter  is  now  de- 
ceased. Mr.  Rogers  is  a  member  of  the 
South  Congregational  Church,  which  he  serves 
in  the  capacity  of  Deacon  as  well  as  a  faithful 
worker  in  the  Sunday-school.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican;  and  he  is  fraternally  con- 
nected with  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  the  U.  O. 
of  the  Golden  Cross  at  Ouincy,  Mass. 


LIVER  EVERETT,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Wrentham,  Mass.,  was  born 
in  this  town,  December  6,  18 17,  son 
of  George  and  Nancy  (Whiting) 
Everett.  His  grandfather,  John  Everett,  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of   Mansfield,  Mass. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


His  father,  George  Everett,  was  born  in 
Mansfield,  and  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade, 
which  he  carried  on  for  many  years  in 
Wrentham  and  subsequently  at  Wampum, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death.  George 
Everett  was  a  director  of  the  bank  in 
Wrentham  for  a  number  of  years.  He  mar- 
ried Nancy  Whiting,  and  lived  to  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  seventy-nine  years.  His  chil- 
dren were  George  W.  and  Oliver.  George 
W.  is  now  deceased.  He  was  married,  and 
left  a  son,  George  F.,  who  married  a  Miss 
Northrup,  and  resides  in  Pawtucket,  R.I. 
They  have  two  sons  —  George  O.  and 
Charles  W. 

Oliver  Everett,  after  receiving  his  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools,  learned  the  wheel- 
wright's trade,  at  which  he  served  an  appren- 
ticeship of  four  years.  He  then  went  to 
Walpole,  and  afterward  to  Lowell,  where  he 
worked  for  a  time.  Subsequently  removing 
to  Attleboro,  he  there  carried  on  business  for 
three  years,  when  he  sold  out,  and  went  to 
Pawtucket,  R.I.,  where  he  remained  nine 
years.  In  1864  he  returned  home,  and  has 
since  resided  in  this  town.  He  carries  on 
general  farming,  does  some  teaming,  and  also 
has  a  fair  business  in  lumber.  In  his  politics 
Mr.  Everett  is  a  Republican,  and  cast  his  first 
Presidential  vote  for  W.  H.  Harrison  in  1840. 
He  has  served  the  town  as  Surveyor  of  High- 
ways.    He  has  never  married. 


A  RON  PRATT,  attorney,  collector, 
and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  was  born  on 
March  22,  1822,  in  Beech  wood, 
Mass.,  where  he  has  been  a  lifelong 
resident.  His  parents  were  Major  John  and 
Zoa  (Whitcomb)  Pratt,  both  natives  of  this 
place  and  of  I^nglish  extraction.  Phineas 
Pratt,  his  earliest  American  ancestor,  came  to 
this  country  in  the  ship  "Swallow"  in  1622, 
lived  for  a  short  time  at  what  is  now  Wey- 
mouth, received  a  share  in  the  division  of  land 
at  Plymouth  in  1624,  and  finally  made  his 
home  in  Charlestown,  where  he  died  in  1680. 
His  son,  Aaron,  first,  settled  in  what  is  now 
Beechwood;  and  from  him  the  Pratts  of  this 
vicinity  are  descended.  A  later  Aaron  Pratt, 
of  Beechwood,  was  the  father  of  John  Pratt,  of 


the  same  place,  and  grandfather  of  Major  John, 
who  rose  from  the  ranks  in  the  militia,  was  a 
citizen  of  wealth  and  influence,  and  served  as 
Selectman  and  in  other  offices  in  Cohasset. 
Major  Pratt  died  in  1824.  He  and  his  wife 
Zoa  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  three  are 
living  —  John,  Aaron,  and  George.  Mrs. 
Zoa  Whitcomb  Pratt  died  in  1880,  aged 
ninety-nine  years,  less  ten  days. 

An  Ephraim  Pratt,  of  Sudbury,  is  said  to 
have  attained  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  six- 
teen years.  Mr.  Savage,  the  genealogist, 
however,  discredits  the  "marvellous  tale  of 
longevity"  told  in  Dwight's  travels;  namely, 
"that  he  was  born  in  November,  1687,  and 
died  in  May,  1804,  having  been  'able  to  mow 
a  good  swath  one  hundred  years  in  succes- 
sion. ' 

Aaron  Pratt  acquired  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Hanover  and  Cohasset,  fin- 
ishing his  course  with  the  high  school.  His 
father  died  when  Aaron  was  a  child,  and  the 
boy  practically  began  to  earn  a  living  when 
he  was  fifteen  years  old.  He  worked  at  what- 
ever offered,  and  eventually  engaged  in  busi- 
ness with  his  brother  John,  under  the  firm 
name  of  J.  &  A.  Pratt.  The  brothers  estab- 
lished a  general  store  in  Beechwood,  selling 
drugs,  groceries,  and  dry  goods,  and  manufact- 
uring various  kinds  of  medicines.  Aaron 
Pratt  was  in  this  business  some  eight  years. 
In  the  meantime  he  had  taken  up  official  work 
of  various  kinds,  to  which  he  finally  gave  his 
whole  attention. 

Appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace  more  than 
forty  years  ago,  he  has  presided  as  judge 
before  district  court  in  force  on  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  cases,  brought  by  the  late  W. 
Colburn,  Governor  Gaston,  the  Hon.  E. 
Avery,  Judge  Humphrey,  the  Hon.  P.  Sim- 
mons, and  others.  In  1862  he  was  appointed, 
by  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Treasury,  Assistant  Collector  of  Inter- 
nal Revenue  for  the  Twenty-second  Division 
of  the  Second  Collection  District  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  in  1876  was  appointed  Justice  of  the 
Quorum.  Power  of  attorney  having  been  con- 
ferred upon  him,  he  is  now  "designated  and 
commissioned  to  issue  warrants  in  criminal 
cases,  returnable  to  the  district  court  of  East 
Norfolk,  and  to  take  bail  therein  "  ;  is  "attor- 


AARON     PRATT. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


4i7 


ney  and  correspondent  of  Reed's  Collection 
and  Mercantile  Agency,  20  Devonshire  Street, 
Boston,  Mass.  ;  agent  for  North  American 
Attorneys'  and  Tradesmen's  Protective  Union 
Company,  206  Broadway,  New  York";  and 
pays  "particular  attention  to  collection  of 
claims  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  insol- 
vency, probate,  abstract  titles,  legal  matters, 
wills  and  deeds,  auction  sales,  and  appraising 
real  and  personal  estate."  Mr.  Pratt  gives 
legal  advice  free  of  charge.  He  has  made  a 
reputation  as  an  attorney,  and  has  the  confi- 
dence and  highest  respect  of  his  clients.  He 
is  also  agent  for  the  Cohasset  Mutual  Insur- 
ance Company. 

In  politics  Mr.  Pratt  is  a  Republican.  He 
has  served  as  Selectman  and  Assessor  of  Co- 
hasset, and  has  been  a  member  of  various  com- 
mittees. Gifted  with  a  natural  talent  for 
music,  and  at  some  former  time  engaged  in 
teaching  singing-school,  he  is  always  inter- 
ested in  musical  matters  and  in  assisting  the 
young  in  various  ways. 


ORUS  FRANKLIN  HOWARD, 
principal  of  the  Avery  School  in 
Dedham,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  is 
a  teacher  of  superior  qualification, 
well  versed  in  educational  principles  and 
methods,  and  is  meeting  with  eminent  success 
in  his  calling.  He  was  born  August  24, 
1844,  in  East  Hardwick,  Vt.,  where  his 
father,  Erastus  Howard,  is  still  a  resident. 

As  his  great -grandfather  Howard,  whose 
name  was  Isaiah,  is  known  to  have  lived  in 
Lyme,  Conn.,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Connect- 
icut River,  one  hundred  years  ago  and  more, 
he  may  have  been  a  descendant  of  "  Henry 
Howard  or  Hayward,"  who  married  in  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  in  1648,  Sarah  Stone,  and  whose 
children,  it  is  said,  spelled  the  name,  as  here 
first  given,  with  "ow"  instead  of  "ay." 
Among  the  other  early  emigrants  of  this  sur- 
name was  John,  of  Bridgewater,  who  married 
Martha  Hayward. 

Isaiah  Howard,  Sr.,  moved  from  Lyme, 
Conn.,  to  Lyme,  N.H.,  where  he  died  in 
1820.  His  family  consisted  of  two  sons  and 
five  daughters.  His  son  Isaiah,  Jr.,  a  farmer, 
born  in  Lyme  in   1785,  was  married   in  1809 


to  Elizabeth  Cutting,  and  died  at  Bradford, 
Vt.,  in  1858,  his  wife  having  died  in  1843. 
They  had  eight  children,  three  daughters  and 
five  sons. 

Erastus  Howard,  son  of  Isaiah,  Jr.,  was 
born  in  Lyme,  Grafton  County,  N.H.,  in  the 
very  early  part  of  the  present  century,  being 
the  second  of  the  eight  children  above  men- 
tioned. He  remained  on  the  home  farm  until 
attaining  his  majority,  when  he  engaged  in 
boating  on  the  Connecticut  River,  running 
down  as  far  as  Hartford,  Conn.  After  follow- 
ing this  occupation  some  years,  he  settled  on 
a  farm  in  East  Hardwick,  Caledonia  County, 
Vt.,  and  was  there  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil 
until  1892,  when  he  gave  up  active  pursuits, 
and  removed  into  the  village  near  by,  where 
he  still  makes  his  home,  being  now  eighty-five 
years  of  age.  His  wife,  Calista,  who  was 
born  in  New  Hampshire,  a  daughter  of 
Horace  Larrabee,  passed  to  the  life  immortal 
May  18,  1882,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years, 
leaving  two  children:  Erdix  T.,  of  Oakland, 
Cal. ;  and  Dorus  Franklin.  Both  parents 
many  years  ago  united  with  the  Congrega- 
tional  Church  of   East   Hardwick. 

Dorus  F.  Howard  spent  his  early  years  on 
the  Vermont  farm,  attending  the  district 
schools  every  term  after  he  was  admitted 
until  ten  years  old:  and  from  that  time  on- 
ward, his  services  being  needed  at  home  dur- 
ing seed-time  and  harvest,  he  was  a  pupil 
during  the  winter  sessions  only.  He  subse- 
quently pursued  his  studies  at  a  select  school 
in  the  village  and  at  the  Peacham  Academy. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began  teaching  in 
the  district  schools  of  his  native  county  in  the 
winter  season;  and  in  the  fall  term  he  at- 
tended the  Barre  (Vt. )  Academy.  He  after- 
ward taught  with  good  success  in  the  schools 
of  Barre  and  East  Montpelier,  Vt.,  six  years, 
also  in  South  Scituate,  Mass.,  for  a  while, 
and  then  took  a  course  of  study  at  the  Bridge- 
water  Normal  School.  After  his  graduation 
from  the  Normal,  Mr.  Howard  had  charge  of 
a  grammar  school  in  Bridgewater  two  years 
and  then  of  the  Maple  Street  Grammar  School 
in  Danvers,  Mass.,  for  a  term. 

In  September,  1880,  he  accepted  the  prin- 
cipalship  of  the  Avery'  School  in  Dedham, 
where  he  has  since  been  continuously  engaged, 


blOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


a  record  of  service  unequalled  by  that  of  any 
other  principal  in  Dedhani  and  with  but  two 
exceptions  by  that  of  any  other  teacher.  In 
1895  Mr.  Howard,  with  his  assistants,  moved 
into  the  present  beautiful  new  school  build- 
ing, which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  county, 
with  accommodations  for  four  hundred  pupils. 
The  school  is  constantly  increasing  in  size, 
the  present  number  being  three  hundred  and 
fifty,  next  to  the  largest  number  in  any  school 
in  Dedham,  and  ninety  more  than  when  he 
first  came  here. 

Mr.  Howard  was  married  February  3,  1874, 
to  Miss  Georgia  Lander,  who  was  born  in 
Bangor,  Me.,  where  her  father,  Artemas 
Lander,  carried  on  an  extensive  business  as  a 
contractor,  keeping  a  large  force  of  men  em- 
ployed in  the  lumber  regions  of  that  State. 
Her  parents  reared  three  children,  of  whom 
she  is  the  only  one  now  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Howard  have  one  child,  Ethel  S.,  who  is  now 
attending  Boston  University.  Mr.  Howard  is 
a  member  of  Constellation  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  and  is  president  of  the  Norfolk 
County  Teachers'   Association. 


f®T> 


FORGE  H.  JOHNSON,  who  is  car- 
%  •)  I  rying  on  a  large  and  prosperous  busi- 
^-^~  ness  in  Brookline  as  a  carpenter  and 
builder,  was  born  August  18,  1851,  in  Litch- 
field, Litchfield  County,  Me.,  son  of  George 
F.  Johnson.  The  latter,  who  was  born  in 
Freeport,  Me.,  during  the  earlier  years  of  his 
life  was  engaged  in  ship-building.  In  1856 
he  came  to  Brookline,  where  he  was  employed 
at  carpenter's  work  for  some  time.  He  subse- 
quently served  for  a  number  of  years  on  the 
police  force,  after  which  he  resumed  his  trade, 
becoming  foreman  of  the  shop  established  by 
his  son,  George  H.  He  is  a  strong  supporter 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  for  some  time 
has  been  Constable  of  the  town.  By  his 
wife,  Frances,  who  is  a  daughter  of  James 
Chase,  of  Litchfield,  Me.,  he  became  the 
father  of  three  children,  namely:  George  H., 
the  special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Rosa,  the 
wife  of  Matthew  Burns ;  and  Frank,  a  member 
of  the  police  force.  _Both  parents  attend  the 
Baptist  church. 

George   H.   Johnson  having    been    but    five 


years  old  when  his  parents  removed  to  Brook- 
line, he  was  here  educated,  attending  both  the 
common  and  high  schools.  He  had  a  natural 
aptitude  for  mechanics  from  his  youth.  Hav- 
ing learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  he  worked 
as  a  journeyman  for  thirteen  years.  In  1882 
he  embarked  in  business  on  his  own  account. 
Besides  making  a  specialty  of  jobbing,  he  does 
considerable  building  in  this  locality.  In 
1884  he  was  elected  to  the  Board  of  Water 
Commissioners  of  Brookline  for  a  term  of 
three  years;  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1887, 
1890,  1893,  and  1896.  In  these  years  the 
water-works  and  sewer  system  were  greatly 
improved,  and  are  now  the  equal  of  those  in 
any  other  New  England  town.  In  1876  Mr. 
Johnson  was  appointed  on  the  Board  of  En- 
gineers connected  with  the  fire  department, 
and  in  the  following  year  he  was  made  chief 
of  the  department,  a  very  important  position, 
which  he  has  since  very  efficiently  filled.  He 
has  been  connected  with  the  department,  with 
the  exception  of  two  years,  since  1869;  and, 
with  but  two  exceptions,  he  is  the  oldest  fire- 
man on  the  entire  force  in  point  of  service. 
In  the  past  twenty  years  the  equipments  and 
force  of  the  department  have  been  increased 
from  one  hand  engine  and  two  companies  to 
two  large  steamers  and  six  companies;  and  a 
fine  alarm  system  has  been  established.  On 
three  occasions  the  department  promptly  re- 
sponded to  alarms  from  Boston,  and  there 
gave  valuable  aid  in  extinguishing  fires. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  a  member  in  high  standing 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  Beth- 
Horon  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Brookline; 
to  St.  Paul  R.  A.  Chapter  of  Boston;  and  to 
De  Molay  Commandery,  K.  T.,  of  Boston. 
He  is  likewise  a  prominent  member  of  Laomia 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  which  he  was  for  a 
number  of  years  the  treasurer;  of  the  Knights 
of  Honor  of  this  town;  of  the  Massachusetts 
Charitable  Association  of  Boston ;  of  the 
State  Association  of  Fire  Chiefs;  and  of  the 
Fireman's  Relief  Association,  of  which  he 
has  been  the  president  since  its  organization. 
In  December,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Calista 
Longfellow,  one  of  the  nine  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gates  Longfellow.  Mrs.  Johnson, 
who  was  born  and  reared  on  a  farm  in  Ma- 
chias,  Me.,  where  her  father  was  engaged   in 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


i  "i 


agricultural  pursuits,  is  an  active  worker  in 
religious  circles  and  a  member  of  the  Uni- 
versalis! church. 


KRANK  H.  RADFORD,  a  foreman  in 
the  machine  shop  of  the  American 
Tool  and  Machine  Company  of  Hyde 
Park,  was  born  June  29,  1859,  in  Roxbury, 
Mass.  His  parents,  Benjamin  F.  and  Anna 
M.  (Hale)  Radford,  had  ten  children,  of 
whom  J.  Edward,  William  F.,  Frank  H.,  and 
Paul  R.,  are  living.  J.  Edward  is  the  super- 
intendent of  the  foundry  in  Hyde  Park.  The 
father,  a  machinist  by  trade,  possessed  con- 
siderable ability.  He  worked  for  some  years 
in  Roxbury  and  Dorchester.  Subsequently 
he  organized  the  American  Tool  and  Machine 
Company,  with  its  shops  located  in  Boston. 
The  plant  was  afterward  removed  to  Hyde 
Park;  and  in  1894,  a  few  years  prior  to  his 
death,  he  sold  his  interests  in  it  to  the  present 
owners. 

Frank  H.  Radford  was  but  seven  years  of 
age  when  his  parents  removed  to  Dorchester, 
and  but  nine  years  old  when,  in  1868,  they 
settled  in  Hyde  Park.  He  attended  the  pub- 
lic schools,  completing  his  education  in  the 
high  school  of  this  town,  and  then  began 
working  at  the  machinist's  trade  under  the  in- 
struction of  his  father,  becoming  a  most  skil- 
ful and  thorough  workman.  After  the  plant 
was  transferred  to  Hyde  Park,  his  father  placed 
him  in  charge  of  a  small  part  of  the  works. 
When  his  father  sold  out,  his  services  were  re- 
tained by  the  new  company  in  his  former  capac- 
ity until  1894,  when  he  was  made  foreman  of 
the  entire  lower  floor  of  the  shop,  having  the 
charge  of  thirty-five  men.  In  this  responsible 
position  he  has  performed  his  duties  in  a  most 
satisfactory  manner,  both  to  his  employers 
and  to  the  employees  under  him.  He  is  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  details  of  the  busi- 
ness, having  been  connected  with  the  factory 
for  twenty  consecutive  years,  and  is  held  in 
high  esteem  by  the  company,  who  recognize 
his  fidelity  and  ability. 

On  October  12,  1892,  Mr.  Radford  married 
Miss  Katherine  Victoria  Lockhart,  who  was 
born  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick, 
where  her  father,  William   Lockhart,  was  en- 


gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  politics 
Mr.  Radford  votes  for  the  candidates  who  in 
his  opinion  are  best  qualified  for  the  office. 
He  takes  great  interest  in  the  town's  welfare, 
encouraging  and  aiding  all  movements  for  its 
benefit.  In  1896  he  was  elected  to  the  Board 
of  Selectmen,  polling  one  thousand  and  seven 
votes,  the  largest  number,  with  one  exception, 
cast  for  any  candidate.  In  1897  he  was  re- 
elected to  the  same  office  by  an  increased  vote. 
An  esteemed  Odd  Fellow,  he  belongs  to 
Forest  Lodge,  No.  148,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  this 
town,  and  to  Monterey  Encampment.  He  at- 
tends the  Methodist  church,  of  which  .Mrs. 
Radford   is  a  member. 


§AMES  KEITH,  who  was  for  a  number 
of  years  Postmaster  of  East  Stoughton 
(now  Avon),  was  born  in  this  town, 
October  23,  1827.  He  is  a  son  of 
Clifford  and  Arethusa  (Harris)  Keith,  and  a 
direct  descendant  of  the  Rev.  James  Keith,  a 
Scotch  Presbyterian  clergyman,  said  to  have 
been  the  first  preacher  to  locate  in  old  Bridge- 
water,  Mass.  Clifford  Keith  was  a  general 
merchant  of  the  former  town  of  Stoughton, 
and  was  also  for  some  time  engaged  in  boot 
manufacturing  there.  A  prominent  citizen, 
he  was  for  many  years  a  Selectman  of  the 
town;  and  he  served  for  a  number  of  years  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  died  in  1878,  in 
his  seventy-seventh  year. 

James  Keith  received  his  early  education  in 
his  native  town,  and  later  attended  the  acad- 
emy in  East  Bridgewater.  He  then  obtained 
a  position  as  clerk  in  a  wholesale  shoe  store  in 
Philadelphia.  After  remaining  there  for  a 
time,  he  was  employed  as  clerk  in  general 
merchandise  stores  in  Stoughton  and  Ran- 
dolph successively.  He  subsequently  found 
employment  in  shoe  factories  in  East  Stough- 
ton, performing  manual  labor,  and  also  acting 
as  book-keeper.  He  was  afterward  engaged  in 
the  sale  of  stationery,  periodicals,  and  gentle- 
men's furnishing  goods  in  East  Stoughton. 
Mr.  Keith,  who  is  a  Republican  politically, 
was  appointed  Postmaster  of  East  Stoughton 
in  1867,  and  capably  performed  the  duties  of 
the  office  for  seventeen  consecutive  years. 
For    two   years    he    was    Town    Treasurer   of 


420 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Avon,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he  has  served 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

He  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Eliza  A.  Packard,  of  Randolph,  Mass.,  left 
one  daughter,  Emma  F.,  who  is  the  wife  of 
E.  Lawrence  Paine,  of  Randolph.  His  sec- 
ond wife,  who  was  in  maidenhood  Miss  Lucy 
S.  Baker,  of  Bingham,  Me.,  bore  him  one 
son,  J.  Frank,  who  is  now  deceased.  Mr. 
Keith  is  a  member  of  Rising  Star  Lodge, 
I.'O.  O.  F.,  of  Randolph.  He  is  well  known 
in  Avon  and  the  vicinity,  and  is  a  very  popu- 
lar citizen. 


APTAIN  JOEL  F.  SHEPPARD, 
senior  partner  of  the  firm  of  J.  F. 
Sheppard  &  Sons,  coal,  wood,  hay, 
and  ice  dealers,  of  East  Braintree, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  Cumberland  County,  New 
Jersey,  November  20,  1835,  son  of  William 
K.  and  Sarah  (Fithian)  Sheppard.  His  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  who  was  of  Scotch  ances- 
try, was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  The 
Fithians  are  said  to  be  of  Irish  descent. 

Captain  Sheppard  was  educated  in  the  acad- 
emy at  Salem,  N.J.,  and  resided  upon  his 
father's  farm  until  sixteen  years  old.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  ship-building  at  Bridge- 
ton,  N.J.,  serving  a  three  years'  apprentice- 
ship; and  he  subsequently  followed  a  sailor's 
life  in  trading-vessels  which  plied  up  and 
down  the  coast.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he 
became  master  of  a  vessel,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  coasting  trade  until  1869.  He  then  came 
to  East  Braintree,  and  established  himself  in 
business  as  a  dealer  in  coal,  wood,  and  hay,  in 
1875  adding  ice  to  his  stock  in  trade.  In 
1882  he  established  at  Quincy  Point  a  depot 
for  receiving  coal  by  the  cargo,  and  also 
opened  an  office  at  Quincy.  His  subsequent 
success  proves  him  to  be  a  man  of  energy  and 
ability.  He  married  Hannah  Wallen,  of 
Cumberland  County,  New  Jersey,  and  has  four 
children:  Charles  G. ;  Eben  W.  ;  Ida  E.,  wife 
of  B.  H.  Davidson;  and  Ella  W. 

Captain  Sheppard  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  takes  an  active  part  in  town  affairs. 
In  i88o*he  represented  the  towns  of  Braintree 
and  Holbrook  in  the  State  legislature.  He 
is  at  the  present  time  the  vice-president  of  the 


South  Shore  Co-operative  Bank  at  Weymouth, 
of  which  his  son  Charles  is  secretary  and 
treasurer.  He  is  a  master  Mason,  and  belongs 
to  the  chapter  and  commandery.  He  attends 
the  Union  Congregational  Church. 


§AMES  ALBERT  HARTSHORN, 
president  of  the  Norwood  Business 
Men's  Association  and  an  ex-member 
of  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  was 
born  in  Walpole,  Mass.,  February  24,  1856. 
His  parents  were  George  and  Elizabeth  (Pay- 
son)  Hartshorn,  the  father  being  a  successful 
provision  dealer  in  Walpole.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  attended  the  common  and  high 
schools  of  his  native  town  for  the  usual 
period,  and  subsequently  took  a  business 
course  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Commercial 
College,  Boston.  He  then  engaged  in  the 
provision  business  with  his  uncle,  Warren 
Hartshorn,  in  Walpole,  and  in  1880  bought 
the  routes  in  East  Walpole  and  Canton.  In 
1 88 1  he  located  in  Norwood,  where  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  provision  business,  and 
has  since  conducted  a  thriving  trade.  In 
1 89 1  and  1892  he  represented  the  First  Nor- 
folk District  in  the  legislature,  serving  as 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Roads  and 
Bridges  during  his  last  term.  He  was  elected 
Town  Auditor  in  1895,  and  is  still  serving  in 
that  capacity.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 
As  president  of  the  Business  Men's  Associa- 
tion and  Board  of  Trade,  which  is  an  auxiliary 
body  to  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Trade,  he 
is  developing  to  the  utmost  the  possible  re- 
sources of  Norwood;  and  his  labors  in  behalf 
of  the  town's  interest  are  widely  recognized 
and  appreciated.  Mr.  Hartshorn  is  a  member 
of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  which  he 
served  three  years  as  Worshipful  Master;  a 
member  of  Hebron  Chapter,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  and  of  Cyprus  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar;  a  charter  member  of  Tiot  Lodge, 
No.  50,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  and  he  also  belongs  to 
Neponset  Tribe,  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men, 
and  to  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen. 
He  married  Alia  E.  Thayer,  daughter  of  Tyler 
Thayer,  of  Norwood,  and  has  three  children- — • 
Helen  E. ,  Maud  P.,  and  George  Tyler.  The 
family  attend  the  Universalist  church. 


DAVID    S.    COOLIDGE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


423 


-|73)TENRY     S.     COOLIDGE,    real    estate 

I       I       dealer,   gardener,    and   the  proprietor 

\\s  I  of  a   large   livery   stable    in    Brook- 

^*—^  line,  Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town, 

January  6,   1842,   a   son   of   the   late   David   S. 

Coolidge. 

He  comes  of  early  Colonial  ancestry,  being 
a  lineal  descendant  in  the  eighth  generation 
of  John  Coolidge,  an  early  English  immi- 
grant, who  was  made  a  freeman  at  VVatertown, 
Middlesex  County,  this  State,  in  1636. 
Simon  Coolidge,  son  of  John,  was  the  father 
of  Obadiah  and  the  grandfather  of  Joseph 
Coolidge,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington, April  19,  1775.  The  next  in  line 
was  Joseph's  son,  Joshua  Coolidge,  born  in 
1759,  who  likewise  spent  his  life  in  Water- 
town,  where  his  son  David,  the  grandfather  of 
Henry  S.,  was  born  and  brought  up,  the  date 
of  his  birth  being  March  23,   17S9. 

David  Coolidge  was  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  throughout  his  long  life  of  eighty- 
seven  years,  having  settled  first  in  Roxbury 
and  then  in  Brookline,  coming  here  at  a  time 
when  the  larger  portion  of  the  people  were 
tillers  of  the  soil.  He  bought  a  large  tract  of 
land,  which  he  devoted  principally  to  garden- 
ing purposes,  raising  early  vegetables  and 
fruits.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Susan  Griggs,  was  born  in  Brookline,  Septem- 
ber 2,  1793,  and  died  here  at  an  advanced  age. 
She  reared  a  family  of  eight  children. 

David  S.  Coolidge  was  born  during  the  resi- 
dence of  his  parents  in  Roxbury,  but,  having 
been  a  small  child  when  they  removed  to  this 
town,  was  here  reared  and  educated.  He 
chose  farming  as  his  life  occupation,  and, 
coming  into  possession  of  the  ancestral  home- 
stead after  the  death  of  his  parents,  carried  on 
general  husbandry  until  his  death,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-one  years.  He  was  identified  with 
the  Whigs  in  his  early  manhood,  but  later 
was  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  was  quite  influen- 
tial in  local  affairs,  and  served  a  number  of 
years  as  Selectman.  He  married  Caroline 
Griggs,  who  was  born  in  this  town,  being  one 
of  the  seven  children  of  Deacon  Thomas  and 
Hannah  (Fuller)  Griggs.  Her  mother  was  a 
native  of  Needham,  Mass.,  and  a  daughter 
of   Captain  Jonathan    Fuller.      Deacon   Griggs 


was  for  many  years  one  of  the  most  extensive 
land-owners  of  Brookline,  and  besides  serving 
as  Selectman  of  the  town  was  its  Representa- 
tive in  the  State  legislature  several  terms. 
He  was  an  Ensign  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  for 
his  services  therein  received  a  pension  and  a 
large  tract  of  land.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  in  which 
he  was  Deacon.  Further  ancestral  history 
may  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume  in  con- 
nection with  the  sketch  of  William  J.  Griggs. 
To  David  S.  Coolidge  and  his  wife  four  chil- 
dren were  born,  as  follows:  Henry  S.,  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Walter  G. ; 
Harriet  M. ;  and  Ellen  G.  The  mother  is 
still  living,  her  home  adjoining  that  of  her 
son,  Henry  S.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  to  which  her  husband  also  be- 
longed. 

Henry  S.  Coolidge  was  educated  in  Brook- 
line, receiving  his  diploma  at  the  high  school. 
Embarking  in  the  produce  business  in  Boston, 
he  carried  it  on  successfully  until  after  the 
death  of  his  father.  His  entire  time  has 
since  been  needed  to  look  after  his  interests 
in  Brookline,  and  he  has  confined  his  atten- 
tion mostly  to  matters  connected  with  his  real 
estate  of  this  place.  He  has  built  and  sold  a 
large  number  of  houses,  his  transactions  in 
this  line  being  quite  extensive,  and  is  num- 
bered among  the  enterprising  and  progressive 
citizens  of  the  town.  He  is  a  sound  Repub- 
lican in  his  political  affiliations,  and  he  and 
his  family  are  regular  attendants  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 

In  1872  Mr.  Coolidge  married  Miss  Hattie 
Russell,  one  of  the  seven  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jeremiah  Russell,  of  VVatertown,  where 
her  father  is  a  well-known  ice  dealer.  They 
have  two  children  —  Linda  G.  and  Russell. 


§EDEDIAH  W.  HIGGINS,  the  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  of 
Dover,  was  born  in  Truro,  Mass., 
April  4,  1857,  son  of  Joseph  and  Han- 
nah (Paine)  Higgins.  His  grandfather,  Jede- 
diah  Higgins,  who  was  born  June  3,  1784, 
settled  in  Truro,  where  he  afterward  resided 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  June  23, 
1865.      Jedediah  married   Huldah   Paine,  who, 


4H 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


born  August  10,  1788,  died  August  3,  1840. 
Jedediah  and  Huldah  Higgins  were  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  namely:  Keziah,  born 
March  28,  1809,  who  died  January  9,  1862; 
Daniel  P.,  born  June  19,  181 1,  who  died 
March  15,  1886;  Huldah  P.,  born  June  10, 
1 82 1,  who  died  February  26,  1839;  and  Jo- 
seph, who  was  born  December  24,   1822. 

Joseph  Higgins  from  an  early  age  followed 
the  sea  steadily  for  some  time.  Then  for 
several  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  sea- 
faring life.  He  retired  some  years  since,  and 
is  now  residing  in  Truro.  His  wife,  Hannah, 
who  is  a  native  of  that  town,  has  had  six  chil- 
dren, namely:  Joseph,  who  died  in  infancy; 
Joseph  A.,  who  is  now  farming  in  Truro; 
Martha  P.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  five  years; 
Delia  E.,  of  whom  there  is  no  special  record; 
Jedediah  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Richard  P.  Delia  E.  married  for  her  first 
husband  S.  T.  Davis.  Her  second  husband 
was  James  W.  Luther.  She  died  in  1893; 
and  her  husband  is  now  residing  in  Attleboro, 
Mass.  Richard  P.,  who  is  a  carriage  painter 
in  Truro,  wedded  Maud  McClellan. 

Jedediah  W.  Higgins  acquired  a  common- 
school  education,  and  remained  at  home  until 
twenty-one  years  old.  He  then  came  to 
Dover;  and,  after  working  as  a  farm  assistant 
for  three  years,  he  entered  the  employ  of  a 
Mr.  Paine,  who  carried  on  a  country  store  in 
the  village.  A  year  later  he  was  hired  as  a 
clerk  by  T.  C.  Norton,  and  about  eighteen 
months  later  he  bought  his  employer  out. 
Since  engaging,  in  mercantile  pursuits  he  has 
displayed  a  natural  talent  for  business;  and, 
as  he  is  now  the  only  merchant  in  the  village, 
he  necessarily  has  a  large  patronage.  In  pol- 
itics he  supports  the  candidates  whom  he  con- 
siders best  qualified  for  the  office.  He  served 
as  an  Assessor  for  three  years.  In  1890  he 
was  elected  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men, over  whose  deliberations  he  has  since 
presided  with  marked  ability.  On  March  2, 
1897,  he  was  elected  trustee  of  the  Dover 
Public  Library. 

On  June  23,  1887,  Mr.  Higgins  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Amy  H.  Sullivan.  She  was 
born  in  Dover,  March  16,  1854,  daughter  of 
Cornelius  and   Charlotte   Sullivan.      The  for- 


mer was  a  prosperous  farmer  of  this  town. 
Both  her  parents  are  still  residing  here.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Higgins  are  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, namely:  Eveline  Dolly,  born  May  26, 
1889;  Helen  Bernice,  born  January  1,  1891, 
who  died  November  5,  1897;  Jedediah  Rus- 
sell, born  July  4,  1893;  and  Elliot  Wight, 
born  December  11,  1895.  Mr.  Higgins  is 
connected  with  John  Elliot  Lodge,  No.  149, 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  of  West 
Newton,  Mass.  The  family  attend  the  Con- 
gregational church,  of  which  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Higgins  are  members.  On  November  7, 
1886,  Mr.  Higgins  was  one  of  those  who 
organized  the  Haven  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  of  which  he  was  the  first  president, 
and  in  which  he  is  still  an  active  worker. 


IRA  B.  PRATT,  of  Beechwood,  a  well- 
known  local  historian,  familiar  with  the 
annals  of  Cohasset  and  vicinity,  was 
born  in  Cohasset,  August  18,  1839. 
He  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Stoddard) 
Pratt.  Benjamin  Pratt,  who  was  a  native  and 
a  lifelong  resident  of  Cohasset,  died  in  1881. 
His  wife,  who  was  born  in  Hingham,  Mass., 
died  May  2,  1892.  Three  children  survive 
them,  namely:  Catherine  L.,  the  wife  of 
Abner  Robbins,  residing  in  Oregon;  Sarah 
E.,  the  wife  of  John  D.  Nutting,  of  Ouincy, 
Mass.;  and  Ira  B. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
(Further  particulars  regarding  the  Pratt  fam- 
ily may  be  found  in  the  biography  of  Aaron 
Pratt,  of  Beechwood.) 

Ira  B.  Pratt  was  reared  to  man's  estate  in 
Cohasset,  and  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  town's  public  schools.  Familiar  with 
farm  work  since  his  boyhood,  he  was  the  first 
man  in  Cohasset  to  engage  in  market  garden- 
ing for  the  Boston  markets,  a  business  which 
he  followed  for  fifteen  years.  His  produce  is 
now  sold  to  the  local  market.  He  owns  about 
eighty  acres  of  land.  Gifted  naturally  with 
mechanical  skill,  he  also  works  in  wood,  iron, 
and  leather,  repairing  his  own  vehicles  and 
harness,  and  doing  work  of  the  same  nature 
for  his  neighbors.  He  has  been  a  zealous 
student  of  local  history,  and  is  a  recognized 
authority  on  matters  relating  to  the  annals  of 
this  part  of  Norfolk  County. 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


425 


On  March  2,  1 861 ,  Mr.  Pratt  was  married 
to  Mary  N.  Curtis,  a  member  of  one  of  the 
oldest  families  of  Scituate,  Mass.  His  chil- 
dren are:  Mary  C,  the  wife  of  Spencer  H. 
Stoughton,  of  Cohasset ;  Sarah  L. ,  the  wife  of 
William  O.  Clapp,  Jr.,  of  Scituate;  and  Ira 
N.,  a  resident  of  Cohasset.  A  Republican  in 
politics,  Mr.  Pratt  was  at  one  time  a  member 
of  the  Republican  Town  Committee,  and  he 
has  served  as  Constable  of  Cohasset.  He 
takes  much  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  na- 
tive town.  While  liberal  in  his  views  on  re- 
ligious subjects,  he  attends  service  at  the 
Beechwood  Congregational  Church. 


§OHN  H.  BURDAKIN,  of  Dedham,  son 
of  John  C.  and  Catharine  E.  Burdakin, 
was  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Novem- 
ber 3,  1S40.  He  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Cambridge  and  Boston.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  office  of  Will- 
iam V.  Thompson,  a  conveyancer  in  Boston, 
with  whom  he  remained  about  three  years. 
He  then  went  into  the  Middlesex  Registry  of 
Deeds  at  East  Cambridge.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  while  on  a  visit 
in  New  York  City,  he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty- 
second  Regiment,  New  York  National  Guard, 
and  served  subsequently  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
Winchester,  and  elsewhere  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  After  his  discharge  from  the  army 
he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  in  1863  was 
employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  Norfolk  County 
Registry  of  Deeds,  under  James  Foord,  Esq., 
Registrar.  Early  in  1873,  upon  the  passage 
of  a  legislative  act  authorizing  the  registrar  to 
appoint  an  assistant,  Mr.  Burdakin  received 
the  appointment.  At  the  election  in  1873, 
Mr.  Foord  having  declined  a  re-election,  Mr. 
Burdakin  was  elected  his  successor,  and  has 
since  held  the  office  by  successive  elections, 
being  nominated  by  the  Republican  and  Dem- 
ocratic parties  at  each  election.  This  contin- 
ued support  is  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  fit- 
ness for  the  position. 

Mr.  Burdakin  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  of  the  New  England 
Historic  Genealogical  Society,  a  curator  and 
librarian  of  the  Dedham  Historical  Society, 
and  a  trustee  of  the  Dedham  Public  Library. 


He  was  married  November  18,  1S74,  to 
Ella  L.,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Smith.  Of 
this  union  are  two  children:  Leslie  R.,  born 
September  16,  1884;  and  Lillian  Burdakin, 
born  August  5,   1887. 


T^HARLES  L.  POTTLE,  a  successful 
I  V'  strawberry  grower  and  market  gar- 
^jHs  ,  dener  of  Medway,  was  born  in 
Pittsfield,  Me.,  March  24,  1854, 
son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Campbell)  Pottle. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  Richmond,  Me.; 
and  his  father  was  in  early  life  a  sailor. 
Isaac  Pottle  abandoned  the  sea  in  order  to  en- 
gage in  agriculture,  and  settled  upon  a  farm 
in  Pittsfield,  where  he  and  his  wife  still  re- 
side. They  have  had  nine  children,  three  of 
whom  are  living,  namely:  Charles  L.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  ;  James,  who  resides  in 
Oxford,  Mass. ;  and  Cora,  who  married 
Charles  Horn,  a  hotel-keeper  at  Forks,  Somer- 
set County,  Me.  Those  deceased  are:  Au- 
rilla,    Adelia,    Amanda,  Ella,  Frank,  and  Ida. 

Charles  L.  Pottle  acquired  a  common-school 
education  in  his  native  town.  When  seven- 
teen years  old  he  went  to  Tyngsboro,  Mass., 
where  he  was  engaged  one  year  as  a  farm  as- 
sistant. Previous  to  locating  in  Medway,  lie 
followed  agricultural  pursuits  in  Newton  for 
about  four  years,  and  was  similarly  engaged 
in  Burlington,  Mass.,  for  about  two  years. 
In  April,  1880,  he  bought  the  Adams  farm  of 
fifty-five  acres  in  Medway,  which  he  has 
greatly  improved;  and  he  has  since  been  iden- 
tified with  the  prosperous  farmers  of  this 
town.  He  pays  special  attention  to  the  rais- 
ing of  strawberries  and  other  garden  products, 
and  finds  this  branch  of  agriculture  to  be 
quite  profitable. 

On  March  27,  1878,  Mr.  Pottle  married 
P'mma  A.  Sanderson,  who  was  born  in  Spring- 
field, Vt.,  December  21,  1854,  daughter  of 
Stillman  and  Sarah  (Keys)  Sanderson.  Mrs. 
Pottle's  father,  who  was  for  many  years  en- 
gaged in  tilling  the  soil  in  Springfield,  is 
now  residing  with  his  daughter.  Mrs.  San- 
derson is  no  longer  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pottle  have  one  daughter,  Alice  G. ,  born  No- 
vember 17,   1886. 

Politically,    Mr.     Pottle    is    a    Republican. 


426 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


He  is  connected  with  Lodge  No.  42,  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen,  of  Medway.  He 
and  Mrs.  Pottle  arc  members  of  the  Baptist 
church. 


fOSEPHUS  SAMPSON,  of  Braintree, 
wholesale  and  retail  dealer  in  choice 
meats  and  provisions,  was  born  in 
Middleboro,  Mass.,  April  29,  1837, 
son  of  Ichabod  and  Hannah  (Morse)  Sampson. 
He  is  of  old  Plymouth  Colony  stock,  being  of 
the  eighth  generation  in  descent  from  Abra- 
ham Sampson,  who  came  over  from  England 
about  1629  or  1630,  and  settled  in  Duxbury, 
and  numbering  also  among  his  ancestors, 
through  his  paternal  grandmother,  Mrs.  Leo- 
nice  Magoun  Sampson,  George  Soule,  of  the 
"Mayflower"  company,  signer  of  the  com- 
pact, and  John  Magoun,  who  came  from  Scot- 
land in  1655,  and,  settling  first  in  Hingham, 
removed  thence  to  Pembroke,  Mass.  Abra- 
ham Sampson,  it  may  be  mentioned,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  brother  of  Henry,  a 
minor  who  came  in  1620  with  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  Abraham  Sampson  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  Nash,  and  had  three  sons: 
Samuel,  born  1646,  who  married  Esther 
— ;  Abraham,  Jr.,  born  1658;  and  Isaac, 
born  1660,  the  last  two  of  whom  married 
daughters  of  Alexander  and  Sarah  (Alden) 
Standish. 

The  following  ancestral  line  prepared 
partlyfrom  fragmentary  records  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Sampson,  and  partly  from  incom- 
plete and  sometimes  faulty  genealogical  notes 
elsewhere  printed,  is  thought  to  be  correct: 
Abraham';  Samuel-;  Samuel,3  born  in  1670, 
who  married  Mercy  Eddy;  Ichabod,4  who  mar- 
ried Mercy  (or  Mary)  Savery;  Ichabod,5  born 
in  1742;  Joseph,6  who  married  Leonice 
Magoun,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Mary 
(Church)  Magoun  and  grand -daughter  of 
David  and  Rachel  (Soule)  Magoun;  Ichabod,7 
who  married  Hannah  Morse,  daughter  of  Levi 
Morse  and  Ruth  (Savery)  Morse,  and  had  a 
daughter  Ruth  and  two  sons — ■  Josephus8  and 
Thomas. 

Joseph  Sampson  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 
of  1 81 2,  and  in  his  old  age  drew  a  pension 
from   the   government.      He    had    six    sons  — 


Luther,  Aaron,  Thomas,  Joseph,  Samuel,  and 
Ichabod  —  and  a  daughter  Mary. 

Josephus  Sampson  was  brought  up  on  his 
father's  farm  at  Middleboro,  obtaining  his 
early  education  in  the  district  school,  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  attending  Pierce  Academy 
eleven  weeks  only.  Between  the  school  terms 
and  after  his  school  days  were  over,  he  worked 
on  the  farm,  his  father's  death  in  1856  throw- 
ing him  upon  his  own  resources.  He  re- 
mained at  the  old  homestead  until  1858,  when 
he  came  to  Braintree  to  engage  in  the 
butcher's  business,  at  which  he  worked  by  the 
month  for  nearly  four  years.  In  1862  he  went 
into  business  for  himself  near  his  present 
stand.  Since  that  time  he  has  purchased 
land,  and  engaged  in  farming  to  some  extent 
in  connection  with  his  other  business. 

He  married  first  January  25,  1868,  Ruth  A. 
French,  daughter  of  the  late  Waldo  French, 
of  Braintree;  and  of  this  union  was  born  one 
son,  Everett  F.,  who  died  September  14, 
1869,  at  the  age  of  four  months  and  twenty- 
six  days.  His  wife,  Ruth  A.,  died  May  7, 
1869;  and  he  remained  single  until  February 
23,  1875,  when  he  married  Mary  E.  French, 
by  whom  he  has  one  daughter,  Ruth  G. 

On  June  4,  1882,  Mr.  Sampson  joined  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  South  Brain- 
tree, and  became  a  regular  attendant  at  all  its 
services.  Connected  with  this  church  at  that 
time  was  a  small  society  at  East  Braintree, 
formed  by  a  few  Christian  people  who  had 
come  from  the  town  of  Carver,  Mass.  In 
this  branch  society  he  also  took  a  deep  inter- 
est. Connected  with  it  was  a  Sunday-school, 
of  which  he  was  elected  superintendent,  June 
18,  1882;  and  he  has  held  this  office  until  the 
present  time  (January,  1898).  On  November 
17,  1883,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
South  Braintree  (formerly  the  Baptist  church 
of  South  Braintree)  was  destroyed  by  fire;  and 
in  the  following  year  a  new  church  edifice  was 
erected  upon  the  same  site,  being  dedicated 
October  12,  1884.  In  this  work  Mr.  Samp- 
son took  an  active  part,  and  was  the  largest 
contributor  to  the  building  fund.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  society  at  East  Braintree,  al- 
ready alluded  to,  had  continued  to  flourish; 
and  in  1891,  under  the  direction  of  the  Pre- 
siding Elder,  S.  O.  Benton,  a  new  church  was 


JOSEPHUS    SAMPSON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


429 


formed  at  East  Braintree.  Mr.  Sampson  then 
withdrew  from  the  church  at  South  Brain- 
tree,  and,  joining  the  new  church,  assisted  in 
erecting  a  church  building,  toward  which  he 
was  again  the  largest  contributor;  and  he  has 
since  remained  connected  with  this  church. 

Mr.  Sampson  is  a  member  of  Delta  Lodge, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Weymouth,  having  belonged 
to  this  order  nearly  twenty-five  years  and 
taken  a  deep  interest  and  an  active  part  in  its 
offices.  He  is  also  connected  with  Puritan 
Lodge,  No.  179,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Braintree. 
In  his  political  views  and  affiliations  he  has 
been  a  Republican  from  the  beginning.  In 
the  affairs  of  the  town  in  which  he  lives  he 
has  always  been  interested,  but  has  never 
taken  a  prominent  part.  He  served  as  one  of 
the  committee  of  five  for  the  erection  of  the 
Braintree  high  and  grammar  school  build- 
ing, on  the  same  committee  for  the  building 
of  the  Perkins  School  at  East  Braintree,  and 
on  the  committee  for  the  remodelling  of  the 
Union  School  building  and  the  Pond  School 
building,  all  of  Braintree.  In  connection 
with  his  provision  business,  he  deals  in  pure 
milk  from  cows  kept  on  his  farm.  He  is  also 
a  grower  of  Cape  cranberries  of  a  fine  quality, 
which  he  supplies  both  wholesale  and  retail, 
and  in  which  he  does  a  good  business.  In- 
dustrious from  his  boyhood  up,  Mr.  Sampson 
is  a  man  who  has  been  willing  to  work  early 
and  late  to  obtain  an  honest  livelihood  and  to 
honorably  discharge  his  duties  as  a  citizen 
and  neighbor. 


§AMES  A.  GALE,  M.D.,  a  physician 
of  West  Medway  and  a  Civil  War  vet- 
eran, was  born  in  Amherst,  N.H.,  Oc- 
tober 3,  1837,  son  of  Amory  and 
Martha  (Leland)  Gale.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Winchester,  N.H.,  a  graduate  of 
Brown  University,  Providence,  R.I.,  and  be- 
came a  Unitarian  minister.  Like  many  of 
his  profession  of  the  past  generation,  he  was 
both  a  pastor  and  a  physician,  and  exercised 
his  double  calling  in  various  places  in  New 
Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts, 
finally  settling  at  East  Medway,  where  he 
practised  medicine  in  connection  with  farm- 
ing.     He  died  in  1873;  and  his  wife,  a  native 


of  Holliston,  Mass.,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Martha  Leland,  died  in  1882.  They  had  five 
children,  namely:  Caroline  R. ;  Martha  Le- 
land; Mary  Kendall;  James  A.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  and  Anna  Harding.  Caroline 
R.  is  the  widow  of  Alfred  James,  and  she  and 
her  sister  Martha  are  living  in  Millis.  Mary 
Kendall  Gale  Warren,  M.D.,  the  widow  of 
Dr.  Warren,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  resides  in 
that  city.  Anna  Harding,  who  was  the  wife 
of  the  late  Lyman  Adams,  died  in  1894,  leav- 
ing two  children :  Jane,  wife  of  Frank  Cook, 
of  Millis;  and  Carrie,  wife  of  Hobart  Down- 
ing, a  student  in  Delaware,  Ohio. 

James  A.  Gale  began  his  education  in  the 
common  and  high  schools  of  Woonsocket, 
R.I.,  and  advanced  by  attending  academies  in 
Rhode  Island  and  Vermont.  His  professional 
studies  were  pursued  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  and  the  Western  Homoeopathic  Col- 
lege, Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  was  graduated 
in  1861.  In  the  same  year  he  settled  for 
practice  in  West  Medway.  In  February, 
1864,  he  joined  the  Sixteenth  Massachusetts 
Battery,  under  Captain  Scott,  and  was  in 
charge  of  Fort  Lyon  Hospital  part  of  the  time 
until  his  discharge  in  June,  1865.  LTpon  his 
return  to  West  Medway  he  resumed  his  medi- 
cal practice,  and  continued  it  successfully 
until  1889,  when  his  health  failed.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican,  and  has  served  with 
ability  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

On  October  16,  1861,  Dr  Gale  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Jemima  A.  Wheeler.  She 
was  born  August  24,  1S39,  in  what  is  now 
Millis,  where  her  parents,  Abijah  and  Jemima 
(Adams)  Wheeler,  who  are  no  longer  living, 
were  prosperous  farming  people.  Mrs.  Gale 
is  the  mother  of  three  children,  as  follows: 
Leland  Amory  Lewis,  born  October  20,  1862; 
Anna  Adams,  born  July  16,  1866;  and 
Hattie  Wheeler,  born  November  17,  1870. 
Leland  A.  L.  Gale  is  a  travelling  salesman 
for  Manning  Brothers,  boot  and  shoe  dealers 
of  Boston;  and  he  resides  in  Orange,  Mass. 
On  August  3,  1887,  he  married  Anna  M. 
Reed.  On  January  11,  1890,  Anna  Adams 
Gale  married  Alton  W.  Ide,  who  is  in  the 
provision  business  in  Cranston,  R.I.,  and  has 
one  son,  Leland  Alton,  born  July  2,  [893. 
Hattie  Wheeler  Gale  resides  at  the    parental 


43° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


home,    and    is     a     kindergarten    and    primary 
school  teacher. 

Dr.  Gale  has  been  a  skilful  physician,  and 
is  sincerely  esteemed  both  for  his  professional 
ability  and  high  standing  as  a  citizen.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  to  join  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic  when  that  organization  was 
established.  Mrs.  Gale  and  her  daughters  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church. 


APTAIN      MILTON      HERBERT 
REAMY,   principal  keeper  of   Minot 


\~ls  Light-house,    was   born    in    Roches- 

ter, Plymouth  County,  Mass.,  June 
30,  1S51,  son  of  Milton  Harvey  and  Fanny 
(Sampson)  Reamy.  His  paternal  grandpar- 
ents were  William  and  Elizabeth  Reamy,  the 
former  a  planter,  and  both,  so  far  as  known, 
lifelong  residents  of  Westmoreland  County, 
Virginia.  The  emigrant  ancestor  of  the  fam- 
ily is  said  to  have  been  a  French  Huguenot, 
who  settled  in  Virginia  at  an  early  date. 

Milton  Harvey  Reamy  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia,  and 
in  young  manhood  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade.  After  his  marriage  he  came  to  Massa- 
chusetts, and  followed  his  trade  for  a  number 
of  years,  settling  first  in  Plymouth,  removing 
thence  to  Rochester,  and  finally  returning  to 
Plymouth,  where  for  a  time  he  followed  farm- 
ing, and  later  engaged  in  the  shoe  business. 
He  continued  his  residence  in  Plymouth  till 
his  death,  January  9,  1887.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Fanny  Sampson.  She 
was  born  in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  daughter  of 
Sylvanus  and  Nancy  (De  Atley)  Sampson,  her 
father  a  native  of  Plymouth,  and  her  mother  of 
Virginia.     Mrs.  Reamy  died  January  8,   1896. 

Milton  Herbert  Reamy  was  the  fifth-born 
of  a  family  of  ten  children;  namely,  Joseph, 
Annie,  Octavius,  Robert,  Milton  H.,  Syl- 
vanus, Annie,  Christopher,  Frances,  and 
Addie.  He  received  his  early  mental  training 
in  the  public  schools  of  Rochester  and  in 
Plymouth,  and  began  to  acquire  habits  of  in- 
dustry by  acting  as  assistant  to  his  father. 
When  seventeen  years  of  age  he  made  the  first 
of  four  successive  annual  fishing  trips  to  the 
Banks;  and  later  he  sailed  in  the  merchant 
service,  mostly  in  the  coasting  trade,  continu- 


ing till  1878,  when  he  was  appointed  assistant 
keeper  of  Plymouth  Light.  In  1878  he  was 
appointed  principal  keeper  of  Plymouth  Inner 
Light,  called  the  Duxbury  Pier  Light,  and  re- 
mained there  two  years.  He  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  Plymouth  (Garnet)  Light,  where  he 
remained  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  was  transferred  to  Minot's  Ledge  Light, 
taking  up  his  residence  on  the  Gulf  Island,  a 
beautiful  spot  owned  by  the  government.  In 
1897  he  went  to  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at 
Nashville,  Term.,  to  explain  the  government 
light  exhibit. 

Captain  Reamy  was  married  in  March, 
1875,  to  Harriet  Leland  Manter,  a  native  of 
Plymouth,  daughter  of  George  and  Ruth 
Manter.  Four  children  born  to  Captain  and 
Mrs.  Reamy  are  living;  namely,  Octavius, 
George  M.,  Harriet  Ethel,  and  Evelyn  Mil- 
dred. Evelyn  May,  the  third  child,  died  aged 
ten  years.  Captain  Reamy  is  a -member  of 
Cohasset  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Mayflower 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Plymouth,  and  is  also 
affiliated  with  the  L.  A.  W. 


MERY  B.  GIBBS,  a  Boston  lawyer  and 
one  of  the  representative  young  men 
of  Brook] ine,  was  born  in  Oxford 
County,  Maine,  October  23,  1862,  son  of 
Phineas  S.  and  Mary  C.  (Meserve)  Gibbs. 
John  Gibbs,  his  paternal  grandfather,  was 
born  in  Massachusetts;  but  at  an  early  age, 
soon  after  the  Revolution,  he  went  to  Liver- 
more,  Me.  Later  he  married  Polly  Stearns, 
who  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  daugh- 
ter of  Phineas  Stearns,  one  of  the  famous 
Boston  Tea  Party.  John  and  Polly  (Stearns) 
Gibbs  were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children. 
Phineas  S.  Gibbs,  above  named,  one  of  this 
large  household  group,  still  follows  the  voca- 
tion of  farming  in  his  native  town  of  Liver- 
more.  His  wife,  Mary  C. ,  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four  years,  leaving  the  following  chil- 
dren :  Ellen  M.,  who  married  William  Hyde; 
Joseph  M.  ;  Annie  C,  who  married  Isaac 
J.  Lothrop;  and  Emery  B. ,  whose  name  heads 
the  present  sketch,  and  whose  personal  history 
is  outlined  below.  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Meserve 
Gibbs  was  a  member  of  the  Calvinistic  Bap- 
tist church,  to  which  Mr.  Gibbs  belongs. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


43i 


Emery  B.  Gibbs  spent  his  earliest  years  in 
the  town  of  Livermore,  where  he  obtained  his 
elementary  education  in  the  common  schools. 
Afterward  he  attended  Hebron  Academy  and 
the  Coburn  Classical  Institute  of  Waterville, 
graduating  from  the  latter  school  in  the  class 
of  1884.  He  was  graduated  at  Colby  Univer- 
sity in  1888,  and  received  his  degree  from 
Boston  University  Law  School  in  1891,  since 
which  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Boston,  being  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Suffolk  County  bar.  Mr.  Gibbs 
worked  his  way  through  school  and  college, 
paying  the  entire  cost   with  his  own  earnings. 

He  married  January  13,  1892,  Jennie  Bar- 
bour, who  is  one  of  three  children  of  Henry 
N.  Barbour,  an  iron  foundry  owner  and  lat- 
terly a  farmer  of  Yarmouth,  Me.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gibbs  have  two  children  :  Elisabeth, 
born  August  12,  1893;  and  Mary  Karolen, 
born  September  21,  1897. 

Mr.  Gibbs  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
was  elected  to  represent  the  town  of  Brook- 
line  in  the  legislature  in  1S97.  He  is  the 
attorney  and  one  of  the  auditors  of  the  Brook- 
line  Co-operative  Bank,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Educational  Society  of  Brookline.  He 
has  served  for  four  years  on  the  "Committee 
of  Twenty  "  to  consider  the  appropriations  to 
be  made  at  the  annual  town  meeting.  He  is 
a  member  of  different  college  fraternities,  and 
is  connected  with  the  Beth-horon  Lodge,  F. 
&  A.  M.  A  member  of  the  Baptist  church, 
he  has  long  been  active  in  the  Sunday-school 
of  that  society,  of  which  he  is  now  superin- 
tendent ;  and  he  also  holds  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  England  Baptist  Hospital. 


,EV.  HENRY  FITCH  JENKS,  the 
pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Parish  (Unitarian)  of  Canton, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  Boston,  October 
17,  1842,  son  of  John  Henry  Jenks.  The 
Jenks  family  is  of  English  origin.  Its 
founder  was  Joseph  Jenks,  who  came  to  this 
country  from  Hammersmith,  near  London,  in 
1643,  settling  first  in  Lynn,  Mass.  He  was 
an  iron  worker  of  more  than  average  skill 
and  an  inventor  of  some  note.  The  first 
patent    issued   in   America,   according    to    the 


copy  of  the  document  published  in  the  Cleve- 
land Plain  Dealer  of  November  12,  1895,  was 
granted  to  said  Joseph  Jenks,  under  date  of 
May  6,  1646.  In  1652  he  cut  the  dies  for  the 
pine  tree  coinage,  and  in  1654  he  invented  an 
improved  scythe.  He  was  the  maker  of  the 
first  fire-engine  used  in  Boston. 

Samuel  Jenks,  the  great-grandfather  of  the 
Rev.  Henry  F.  Jenks,  was  the  youngest  cap- 
tain in  the  provincial  army,  and  took  part  in 
the  Canadian  campaign  in  1760.  The  grand- 
father, Rev.  William  Jenks,  D.D.,  was  the 
pastor  of  Green  Street  Church  for  many  years. 
John  Henry  Jenks  was  a  well-known  publisher 
of  Boston.  He  married  Miss  Mary  R.,  daugh- 
ter of  Jeremiah  Fitch,  a  leading  dry-goods 
merchant  of  Boston.  The  oldest  of  their 
children  is  Henry  Fitch  Jenks. 

When  graduating  from  the  Boston  Latin 
School  in  1859,  Henry  F.  Jenks  received  a 
Franklin  medal.  In  1863  he  graduated  from 
Harvard  College  and  in  1866  from  the  Har- 
vard Divinity  School.  In  April,  1S67,  he  was 
ordained  as  pastor  of  the  First  Parish  of 
Fitchburg,  Mass.  From  there  he  went  to 
Charleston,  S.C.,  where  he  had  charge  of  the 
Archdale  Street  Church  until  1875.  He  sub- 
sequently preached  in  Revere,  Mass.,  going 
thence  to  Lawrence,  Mass.,  to  take  charge  of 
the  First  Unitarian  Church.  In  1885  he  was 
installed  over  the  First  Congregational  Par- 
ish of  Canton. 

On  March  1,  1881,  Mr.  Jenks  was  married 
to  Miss  Lavinia  H.,  daughter  of  Oakes 
Angier,  of  Belfast,  Me.  They  have  three 
sons — Henry  A.,  Charles  F.,  and  Frederic  A. 

Mr.  Jenks  is  connected  with  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society,  the  American  His- 
torical Society,  the  Bostonian  Society,  the 
New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Society,  the  American  Oriental  Society, 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  the 
Society  of  Colonial  Wars.  He  is  a  director 
of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association; 
the  treasurer  of  the  Massachusetts  Convention 
of  Congregational  Ministers;  the  secretary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Congregational  Charitable 
Society;  the  vice-president  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Infant  Asylum  ;  a  director  of  the  Boston 
Latin  School  Association,  of  which  school  he 
wrote    a    history    in    18S6;    a   trustee    of    the 


432 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Derby  Academy  at  Hingham,  Mass.  ;  the  sec- 
retary of  the  Prince  Society  of  Boston;  has 
been  a  trustee  of  the  Canton  Public  Library 
since  1889;  and  for  one  year  was  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Canton  Historical  Society. 


TT^HARLES  H.  STEARNS,  a  prosper- 
I  Ks  ous  and  progressive  agriculturist  of 
\%>^,  the  town  of  Brookline,  Norfolk 
County,  Mass.,  a  son  of  Charles 
Stearns,  Jr.,  was  born  April  28,  1S37,  in  the 
house  in  which  he  now  resides.  The  family 
to  which  he  belongs  is  of  English  origin,  and 
in  early  times  spelled  the  surname  "Sterns," 
leaving  out  the  "a."  His  grandfather, 
Charles  Stearns,  Sr. ,  was  a  native  of  Waltham, 
Mass.,  the  home  of  his  ancestors  for  several 
generations.  He  removed  from  there  to 
Brookline  in  1806,  and  in  1820  purchased 
about  sixty  acres  of  land,  which  included  the 
site  of  the  present  homestead.  Here  he 
erected  a  substantial  house,  and  in  addition  to 
general  farming  made  a  specialty  of  vegetable 
gardening,  a  profitable  branch  of  husbandry. 
His  wife,  Nancy  Flagg,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  Massachusetts,  bore  him  seven  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  grew  to  years  of  maturity. 
Grandmother  Stearns  passed  to  the  life  im- 
mortal at  the  advanced  age  of  fourscore  years, 
while  the  grandfather  attained  on  earth  the 
age  of  ninety-three  years.  Both  were  attend- 
ants of  the  First  Parish  Congregational 
Church,  known  as  Christ  Church  of  Brook- 
line. 

Charles  Stearns,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Waltham, 
Mass.,  but  having  been  very  young  when  his 
parents  came  to  Brookline  was  here  reared  and 
educated.  He  obtained  a  practical  knowledge 
of  agriculture  on  the  home  farm ;  and  after 
the  death  of  his  parents  he  and  one  of  his 
brothers  carried  on  the  homestead  in  partner- 
ship for  a  time,  but  he  afterward  managed  it 
alone.  He  also  engaged  in  the  real  estate 
business  to  some  extent,  building  twenty-five 
or  more  houses  in  this  vicinity;  and  he  was 
likewise  quite  active  in  local  public  affairs, 
rendering  the  town  efficient  service  as  Select- 
man, Assessor,  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  as  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee,  filling  each 
office   with    commendable   fidelity.      He,    too, 


lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  passing  away  when 
eighty-five  years  old.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Whig  until  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party,  when  he  became  one  of  its  strongest  ad- 
herents. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Hannah  C.  Pierce,  was  born  in  Brookline,  a 
daughter  of  James  Pierce,  a  shoemaker,  and 
the  representative  of  one  of  the  earliest  fami- 
lies of  the  town.  They  became  the  parents  of 
two  children:  Charles  H.,  the  special  subject 
of  this  sketch;  and  James  P.,  who  was  a  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  late  Civil  War,  and  is  now  pres- 
ident of  the  Shawmut  Bank  in  Boston  and  a 
resident  of  Brookline.  The  mother  died  at 
the  comparatively  early  age  of  fifty-four  years. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  First  Parish  Church; 
and  the  father  was  a  member  of  the  Building 
Committee  when  the  new  house  of  worship 
was  built,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  forward- 
ing the  work. 

Charles  H.  Stearns  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Brookline  and  the  Chauncy 
Hall  School,  Boston;  and  after  completing 
his  course  of  study  he  assisted  in  the  labors  of 
the  home  farm.  On  the  death  of  his  father  he 
assumed  the  entire  management  of  the  prop- 
erty, and  for  some  years  engaged  in  the  nurs- 
ery business.  He  subsequently  divided  the 
farm  into  building  lots,  which  met  with  a 
ready  sale,  each  lot  being  a  desirable  location 
for  building  purposes.  Retaining  for  his  own 
use  the  house  in  which  he  was  born,  he  has 
made  many  changes  and  improvements,  render- 
ing it  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  con- 
veniently arranged  Colonial  residences  of  this 
vicinity.  Since  the  remembrance  of  Mr. 
Stearns,  Brookline  has  grown  at  an  astonish- 
ing pace,  the  population  having  increased  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  seventeen  thousand,  and  its 
valuation  in  a  similar  ratio.  He  has  always 
evinced  a  warm  interest  in  public  affairs,  and 
has  contributed  freely  of  his  time  and  money 
toward  the  inauguration  of  beneficial  enter- 
prises. In  1892  he  was  elected  Assessor,  and 
to  this  important  office  he  has  since  been  re- 
elected each  succeeding  year.  He  is  a  trustee 
of  the  Brookline  cemetery  and  one  of  the 
vice-presidents  of  the  Brookline  Savings 
Bank,  with  which  he  has  been  officially  con- 
nected many  years. 

On   October  23,   1862,  Mr.  Stearns  married 


JOSHUA    BRITTON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


435 


Anna  M.  Mellen,  a  daughter  of  the  late 
Michael  and  Sarah  Mellen,  of  this  town. 
Her  father  was  for  some  time  a  merchant  in 
Boston,  but  spent  his  last  years  in  Brookline, 
where  Mrs.  Stearns  was  born.  Mrs.  Mellen, 
who  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  Boston's  old  and 
honored  families,  is  still  living,  being  now 
ninety-four  years  of  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stearns  have  two  children  —  Anna  and  Mar- 
ion. Anna  Stearns  married  Alexander  S. 
Jenney,  an  architect  of  Boston,  and  has  two 
children — Paul  and  Marion.  Mr.  Stearns 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  First 
Parish  Unitarian  Church,  of  which  he  is  a 
Deacon.  He  is  also  one  of  the  Parish  Com- 
mittee, and  was  a  member  of  the  Building 
Committee  intrusted  with  the  erection  of  the 
present  church  edifice. 


§OSHUA  BRITTON,  a  retired  manufact- 
urer of  Stoughton,  was  born  in  Easton, 
Bristol  County,  Mass.,  November  27, 
1 8 19,  son  of  Joshua  and  Nancy  (Field) 
Britton.  His  grandfather,  Joshua  Britton, 
first,  who  resided  in  Easton,  was  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  settled  many  estates.  He  mar- 
ried Cynthia  White,  of  Mansfield,  Mass.,  and 
had  a  family  of  nine  children;  namely,  Joshua, 
Keziah,  Thomas,  James,  P"anny,  Cynthia  and 
Lucinda  (twins),  Phcebe,  and  Charles. 

Joshua  Britton,  second,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Easton  ;  and  when  a 
young  man  he  there  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith.  For  some  time  he  worked  for 
General  Leach  in  his  native  town,  but  later 
engaged  in  burning  charcoal,  and  still  later 
was  employed  in  teaming  and  in  other  occupa- 
tions. In  1827  he  moved  to  Sharon,  Mass. 
His  last  years  were  spent  in  Stoughton,  where 
he  died  November  6,  1866.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Nancy  Field,  was  a  native  of 
Mansfield.  She  was  the  mother  of  seven  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Nancy,  who  married  Horace 
Weld,  of  Livermore,  Me.  (both  deceased)  ; 
Richard  W. ,  who  died  in  1840,  aged  twenty- 
four  years;  Joshua,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Gilbert,  who  died  young;  Lucy  J.,  who  mar- 
ried Edward  Holmes  for  her  first  husband  and 
Hosea  Y.  Fuller  for  her  second,  and  is  now 
living  in    Somerville,  Mass.  ;  Phcebe  and  An- 


drew J.,  both  of  whom  died  young.  Mrs. 
Nancy  Field  Britton  died  July  18,   1872. 

Joshua,  the  second  son,  named  for  his  father 
and  grandfather,  was  bound  out  at  the  age  of 
nine  years  to  Consider  A.  and  Amasa  South - 
worth,  cotton  thread  manufacturers,  of  Stough- 
ton, for  the  term  of  seven  years,  during  which 
time  he  attended  school  three  months  in  each 
year.  He  then  worked  one  year  for  them  for 
wages  and  subsequently  was  employed  in  the 
Canton  Hardware  Factory  for  two  years.  He 
then  worked  at  North  Easton  for  the  John 
Ames  Knife  Factory  for  a  few  months.  Re- 
turning to  Stoughton  in  1838  he  worked  for 
Elijah  Holmes  in  the  Fisher  Gay  shop,  at  the 
manufacture  of  shoe  tools,  for  about  seven 
years.  About  1848  he  began  business  on  his 
own  account  at  the  Fisher  Gay  water  privilege 
in  Stoughton,  which  in  1855  he  purchased. 
He  continued  extensively  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  tools  upon  his  own  account  for 
forty  years,  or  until  failing  health  caused  him 
to  abandon  active  business;  and  since  1888  he 
has  lived  in  retirement.  He  gained  a  wide 
reputation  as  a  maker  of  awls. 

On  October  21,  1839,  Mr.  Britton  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Olive  F.  White. 
She  was  born  in  Sharon,  August  24,  1820, 
daughter  of  John  and  Sally  (Mitchell)  White, 
the  former  of  whom  was  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  lifelong  resident  of  Sharon,  and  the  latter 
a  native  of  Easton.  To  this  union  were  born 
eleven  children;  namely,  Grenville  C,  Ma- 
tilda L.,  Melissa  I..,  Warren  F.,  Henry  W., 
Ellen,  Horace  Edward,  Ellis  F.,  Clinton  E., 
Leander  G. ,  and  Walter  A.  Grenville  C. 
Britton  died  at  twenty-two  years;  Matilda  L. , 
Warren  F.,  and  Ellen  died  at  the  age  of  two 
years;  and  Walter  A.  at  twenty-one.  Me- 
lissa L.  is  the  wife  of  Warren  T.  Morse,  a 
native  of  Sharon,  and  now  lives  in  West  Med- 
ford,  Mass.,  and  has  one  daughter,  Marion 
T.  Morse.  Henry  W. ,  who  is  a  banker  in 
Stoughton,  married  Emma  K.  Corbett. 
Horace  E.  Britton  is  now  manager  of  his 
father's  factory;  in  July,  1875,  he  wedded 
Alary  Mellison,  a  native  of  Indianna.  Ellis 
F.,  who  is  engaged  in  mining  at  Cripple 
Creek,  Col.,  married  Affa  Linfield,  and  has 
two  sons — Thornton  E.  and  Warren  L.  Brit- 
ton.      Clinton    E.     Britton    is    engaged    in    the 


436 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


livery  and  blacksmithing  business  in  Canton. 
He  married  Lizzie  Cobb,  and  has  had  two 
children — Marjorie  O.  and  an  infant  deceased. 
Leander  G.  Britton,  who  is  proprietor  of  a 
large  sale  stable  in  West  Stoughton,  married 
Blanche  Bright. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Britton  is 
strongly  Republican,  and  in  his  religious  be- 
lief he  is  a  Universalist.  He  was  made  a 
Mason  in  Rising  Star  Lodge,  October  13, 
1864;  was  given  the  Royal  Arch  degree  in 
Mt.  Zion  Chapter,  May  12,  1866;  and  is  a 
member  of  Bay  State  Commandery  Knights 
Templars,  of  Brockton.  He  is  a  Bast  Master 
of  the  Blue  Lodge  and  a  Past  High  Priest  of 
the  Chapter. 


jATHAN  VV.  FISHER,  an  energetic, 
enterprising,  and  successful  agricult- 
urist of  Walpole  Centre,  Mass., 
was  born  in  Walpole,  February  9, 
1846,  and  is  the  descendant  of  a  well-known 
early  settled  family,  his  grandfather,  Daniel 
Fisher,  having  been  a  lifelong  resident  of  this 
town. 

Lewis  Fisher,  son  of  Daniel  and  father  of 
Nathan  W.,  was  born  and  reared  in  Walpole, 
and  here  spent  his  forty-two  years  of  earthly 
existence,  passing  to  the  life  beyond  in  1848. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  paying,  how- 
ever, especial  attention  to  raising  choice  nurs- 
ery stock,  in  which  he  was  very  skilful.  He 
uniformly  supported  the  Whig  platform,  but 
was  never  an  active  politician.  He  married 
Catherine  Bassett,  of  Eden,  Vt. ,  and  they  be- 
came the  parents  of  five  children,  namely: 
Martin  L.,  who  died  during  the  late  war; 
Simon  E.,  of  Worcester,  Mass.  ;  Nathan  W., 
special  subject  of  the  present  sketch;  and 
Lewis  H.  and  Laura  H.,  twins. 

Nathan  W.  Fisher  was  but  two  years  old 
when  his  father  died.  He  grew  to  man's 
estate  in  his  native  town,  attending  the  com- 
mon school  of  North  Walpole  until  fourteen 
years  old,  when  he  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  time.  In  1862 
he  enlisted  in  defence  of  the  Union,  becoming 
a  member  of  Company  K,  Forty-fourth  Mas- 
sachusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  sta- 
tioned   during    the    larger   part    of    his    nine 


months'  term  of  enlistment  at  Newbern,  N.C. 
He  fought  in  the  engagements  at  Kinston, 
N.C,  and  at  Whitehall,  after  which  he  re- 
turned home.  In  the  summer  of  1863  Mr. 
Fisher  resumed  carpentering,  but  a  year  later 
gave  it  up  to  re-enlist,  joining  Company  K, 
Forty-second  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, which  was  stationed  at  Alexandria,  Va., 
on  garrison  duty  until  the  term  of  enlistment 
had  expired  in  1864.  On  again  returning  to 
Walpole,  he  spent  a  year  recuperating,  his 
health  having  become  sadly  impaired  from  ex- 
posure and  hardships.  In  1866  he  purchased 
a  milk  route  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Nor- 
wood, and  he  carried  on  the  milk  business  for 
eighteen  years  in  conjunction  with  farming. 
Mr.  Fisher  now  devotes  his  attention  to  gen- 
eral farming,  including  stock-raising,  and  in 
winter  doing  also  an  extensive  business  in 
lumbering. 

In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  General 
Ulysses  S.  Grant.  By  President  Benjamin 
Harrison  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Wal- 
pole Centre,  an  office  which  he  filled  five 
years.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Wal- 
pole School  Committee  several  terms,  has 
served  as  Assessor  four  years,  and  was  a  can- 
didate for  Representative  to  the  General 
Court,  but  was  defeated.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
of  which  he  has  been  steward  and  treasurer 
twenty  years. 

Mr.  Fisher  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah  C. 
Baker,  was  an  army  nurse  during  the  late  Re- 
bellion, and  did  a  noble  work  in  relieving  the 
sufferings  of  the  wounded  soldiers  and  in 
caring  for  the  sick  and  dying.  In  1878  she 
died,  leaving  no  children.  Mr.  Fisher  and 
his  second  wife,  formerly  Miss  Alma  V. 
Winslow,  of  Walpole,  have  three  sons,  all  of 
whom  live  beneath  the  parental  roof-tree; 
namely,  Frederick  C. ,  Bernard  W. ,  and 
Daniel  W.  Fraternally,  Mr.  Fisher  is  a 
member  of  E.  B.  Piper  Post,  No.  157, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  has  been  Quartermaster 
ten  years  and  Commander  one  year;  of  the 
A.  O.  U.  W. ,  of  which  he  has  been  recorder 
six  years;  and  of  the  Walpole  Grange,  Pa- 
trons of  Husbandry. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


437 


§  LEWIS  SNOW,  who  owns  a  good 
farm  in  Millis,  and  is  extensively  en- 
gaged in  the  milk  business,  was  born 
in  Mansfield,  Conn.,  November  4, 
1847,  son  of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Stores)  Snow. 
The  father,  who  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Mansfield,  followed  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  August  16,  1854. 
His  wife,  Nancy  Stores  Snow,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  New  York  State,  became  the  mother 
of  seven  children,  as  follows:  William,  who 
died  in  infancy;  Emeline,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Frank  Barrett,  and  died  in  1868; 
Fidelia,  wife  of  Isaac  Farwell,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Mansfield;  Dwight,  who  died  in 
1866;  Fielder,  who  died  in  1859;  Lucy,  who 
died  in  1896;  and  J.  Lewis,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  The  mother  passed  away  Novem- 
ber 5,   1879. 

J.  Lewis  Snow,  at  the  early  age  of  seven 
years,  was  forced  by  the  death  of  his  father  to 
contribute  toward  his  own  support;  but  he  at- 
tended school  when  opportunity  permitted. 
When  a  young  man  he  worked  in  Newton 
Lower  Falls,  Mass.,  for  a  time,  and  was  subse- 
quently engaged  in  the  express  business  in 
Newton.  In  1895  he  bought  the  property 
in  Millis  known  as  the  Lyman  Adams  farm, 
upon  which  he  now  resides.  He  owns 
eighty-four  acres  of  well -located  land,  the  fer- 
tility of  which  he  has  greatly  increased;  and 
he  makes  a  specialty  of  dairy  farming  and  the 
sale  of  milk. 

On  April  22,  1875,  Mr.  Snow  married  Ella 
Daniels,  who  was  born  in  West  Medway, 
April  9,  1854,  daughter  of  Noah  and  Nancy 
(Hawes)  Daniels,  her  father  being  a  native  of 
Medfield,  and  her  mother  of  West  Medway. 
Noah  Daniels  followed  the  carpenter's  trade 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Millis  in 
1S93,  and  his  widow  is  now  residing  here. 
She  has  reared  seven  children,  as  follows: 
Ella,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Snow;  Abbie,  who  is 
now  Mrs.  Clough  ;  Alma  and  Alfred,  who  re- 
side in  Boston;  Ida,  who  married  George  Gil- 
man,  and  resides  in  Lynn,  Mass. ;  Percy,  a 
resident  of  Franklin ;  and  Jason,  who  lives  in 
Norwood,  Mass.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snow  have 
had  six  children,  namely:  Joseph,  born  Janu- 
ary 24,  1876;  Harry,  born  March  16,  1878; 
Howard,    born   January   31,    1880;   Cora,  born 


May  17,  1882;  Ernest,  born  July  13,  1885; 
and  Charles,  born  July  28,  1887.  The  last 
named  died  October  4,  in  the  year  of  his 
birth.  Harry  is  now  a  resident  of  Dover, 
Mass. ;  and  the  others  are  residing  at  home 
with  their  parents. 

Mr.  Snow  has  reached  a  degree  of  comfort- 
able prosperity  through  his  own  personal 
energy,  having  made  good  use  of  his  oppor- 
tunities. In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  but 
has  never  allowed  political  aspirations  to  in- 
terfere with  his  business  affairs.  Mrs.  Snow 
is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 


HARLES    BYRON     DEXTER,     a 

well-known  and  esteemed  citizen  of 
Norwood,  a  Civil  War  veteran,  was 
born  in  Mount  Vernon,  Me.,  Janu- 
ary 30,  1838,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Libby) 
Dexter.  His  father,  who  was  a  native  of 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  had  some  time  previously 
joined  a  party  of  pioneers  who  went  from  this 
State  to  Maine,  and  settled  upon  unimproved 
land.  He  resided  there  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years. 
He  was  twice  married,  and  by  his  second  wife, 
Sarah  Libby,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Jacob 
Libby,  he  had  six  children;  namely,  Edwin, 
Julia,  Henry,  Charlotte  Charles  B.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  and  Maria. 

Charles  Byron  Dexter  was  left  fatherless  at 
the  age  of  five  years.  He  resided  in  Mount 
Vernon  and  Vienna,  Me.,  until  he  was  ten 
years  old,  when  he  went  to  Portsmouth,  N.H., 
where  he  attended  school  until  he  was  four- 
teen. Subsequently  learning  the  book- 
binder's trade  in  Boston,  he  afterward  went  to 
Readfield,  Me.,  where  he  worked  in  the  lum- 
ber camps  for  a  time,  and  later  found  employ- 
ment in  an  oil-cloth  factory.  From  Readfield 
he  went  to  Biddeford,  Me.,  and  followed  the 
same  occupation  until  1859,  when  he  went  to 
Florida;  and  upon  his  return  he,  on  April  2j, 
1861,  enlisted  for  service  in  the  Civil  War. 
While  residing  in  Boston  he  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Fifth  Artillery,  Massachusetts  mi- 
litia, and  was  therefore  familiar  with  discipline 
and  army  regulations.  As  First  Sergeant  of 
his  company  he  participated  in  the  first  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  and  after  that   disastrous  engage- 


43§ 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


merit  he  remained  in  camp  until  the  spring  of 
1862.  He  took  part  in  the  Peninsular  Cam- 
paign and  the  Seven  Days'  Fight,  the  battles 
of  Gaines's  Mill,  Crampton  Pass,  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg  first  and  second,  Salem  Chapel, 
and  Gettysburg.  Sergeant  Dexter  had  been 
twice  promoted,  holding  the  rank  of  First  Lieu- 
tenant at  the  defence  of  Little  Round  Top;  and 
upon  the  return  of  his  corps  to  Virginia  he  was 
detailed  to  go  to  Maine  and  conduct  drafted 
men  to  the  front.  He  was  appointed  Quarter- 
master of  the  camp  at  Cape  Elizabeth,  where 
he  had  been  recruited ;  and  after  fulfilling  his 
duties  he  returned  to  the  army.  He  was  again 
in  action  at  the  battle  of  Brandy  Station,  and 
was  subsequently  placed  in  charge  of  the  am- 
bulance train,  consisting  of  fifty-two  horse 
ambulances,  two  large  medicine  wagons,  and 
eight  mule  teams.  He  continued  in  that  ser- 
vice under  General  Grant  until  July,  1864, 
when  he  was  ordered  to  Portland,  and  honor- 
ably discharged.  After  recovering  his  health, 
he,  on  December  31  of  the  same  year,  re-en- 
listed in  a  company  of  Post  Guards  organized 
at  Augusta,  and  was  stationed  at  Machias  Port, 
Cape  Elizabeth,  and  Fort  Popham,  where  he 
was  mustered  out  in  September,  1865.  In 
1866  he  came  to  South  Dedham  (now  Nor- 
wood), and  engaged  as  designer  and  cutter  for 
E.  F.  Talbot,  of  Norwood,  an  oil-cloth  manu- 
facturer, also  for  A.  A.  Folsom  &  Son,  and 
in  1882  established  himself  in  the  undertaking 
business,  with  which  he  has  since  been  identi- 
fied. Politically,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is 
a  Master  Mason,  a  comrade  of  Post  No.  169, 
G.  A.  R.,  and  is  connected  with  the  New 
England  Order  of  Proteccion. 

In  i860  Mr.  Dexter  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Carrie  E.  Clark,  daughter  of  Dow  and 
Sarah  Jane  Clark,  of  Gardiner,  Me.  Of  the 
six  children  born  of  this  union,  two  are  living; 
namely,  George  H.  and  Frank  C.  Mr.  Dexter 
and  family  are  members  of  the  Universalist 
Church  of  Norwood. 


Wi 


[LLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THAYER, 
of  Franklin,  the  author  of  numer- 
ous works  in  the  field  of  history 
and  biography,  was  born  where  he  now 
resides,    February    23,     1820.       His    parents, 


Davis  and  Betsey  Thayer,  were  natives  of 
Massachusetts.  The  father  was  a  well-known 
resident  of  Franklin  in  his  day. 

After  graduating  from  Brown  University  with 
the  class  of  1843,  William  M.  Thayer  studied 
theology  under  Dr.  Jacob  Ide,  of  Medway, 
Mass.,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1845.  In 
1848  he  was  installed  as  pastor  of  a  church 
in  Ashland,  Mass.,  where  he  labored  for 
eight  years,  when  failing  health  caused  him 
to  abandon  his  pulpit.  Drawn  thither  by  a 
natural  taste  and  capacity  for  belles-lettres,  he 
then  entered  the  field  of  literature.  Mr. 
Thayer's  subjects  were  chosen  carefully,  with 
a  view  of  instructing  as  well  as  interesting  his 
readers,  and  in  many  instances  are  widely 
different  from  those  of  his  contemporaries. 
Among  his  best  known  works  are  the  lives  of 
Amos  Lawrence,  Mary  Lyon,  General  N.  P. 
Banks,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  "The  White 
House  Series,"  including  lives  of  Washing- 
ton, Lincoln,  Grant,  and  Garfield.  The  most 
successful  from  a  financial  point  of  view  was 
the  last-named  work,  which  had  a  sale  of  over 
half  a  million  copies.  He  also  wrote  "The 
Youth's  History  of  the  Rebellion,"  "Tact, 
Push,  and  Principle"  and  "The  Marvels  of 
the  New  West."  These  were  followed  by 
"The  Ethics  of  Success,"  a  series  of  three 
readers  for  public  schools,  published  by  Sil- 
ver, Burdett  &  Co.,  of  Boston.  At  the  age 
of  seventy-six  he  commenced  to  write  a 
series  of  works  for  Nelson  &  Sons,  of  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  who  in  1896  issued  "Men 
who  Win"  and  "Women  who  Win"  and 
"Around  the  Hearthstone;  or,  Hints  for 
Home  Builders. "  Several  of  his  works  have 
been  translated  into  foreign  languages,  and 
a  million  and  a  half  volumes  of  them  have 
found  their  way  to  the  reading  public. 

In  1845  Mr.  Thayer  married  Rebecca  W. 
Richards,  of  Dover,  Mass.  Of  their  five  chil- 
dren two  are  living —  Eugene  R.  and  Addison 
Munroe.  Eugene  R.,  now  engaged  in  busi- 
ness in  Colorado,  is  married,  and  has  one  son, 
Harry  S.  Addison  M.,  who  is  a  teacher  of 
elocution,  married  Gertrude  E.  Smith,  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts,  and  has  three  children 
—  Rachel,  Robert,  and  Gertrude.  For  some 
years  previous  to  1876  Mr.  Thayer  was  en- 
gaged   in    lecturing  on   temperance,    and   ren- 


WILLIAM    M.    THAYER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dered  valuable  aid  to  the  cause.  He  occupies 
a  pleasant  home,  where  he  labors  undisturbed. 
Although  he  had  an  attack  of  illness  some 
time  since,  caused  by  overwork,  he  is  still 
among  the  active  writers  of  the  day. 


§OSEPH    ADDISON    ALLEN,    a    lead- 
ing  farmer   and    influential    citizen   of 
Medfield,    for  many  years  engaged    in 
educational  work,  belongs  to  one  of  the 
oldest    families    in    the     township.      He    was 
born  here,  April   25,  1819,  his  parents  being 
Ellis  and   Lucy  (Lane)  Allen. 

The  Medfield  branch  of  the  Allen  family  to 
which  he  belongs  is  descended  from  James 
Allen,'  Allin,  or  Alin  (as  the  name  was  vari- 
ously spelled  in  the  old  records),  who  came  to 
this  country  with  his  wife,  Anna,  in  1639 
(freeman  in  1647),  and  settled  in  Dedham,  of 
which  town  his  cousin,  John  Alin,  was  the 
first  minister.  Here  he  lived  about  ten  years; 
and  here,  December  4,  1639,  h's  eldest  son, 
John,  was  born.  James'  was  one  of  a  com- 
pany formed  in  1649  to  found  a  settlement  in 
the  western  part  of  Dedham  bordering  on  the 
Charles  River,  which  the  following  year  was 
incorporated  by  the  name  of  Medfield.  The 
company  consisted  of  fifty  persons,  each  of 
whom  was  to  have  a  house  lot  of  not  more  than 
twelve  acres  of  upland  and  as  many  of 
meadow.  Other  grants  were  subsequently 
made,  which,  together  with  purchases  from 
time  to  time,  constituted  the  Allen  farm, 
which  has  remained  in  the  family  more  than 
two  hundred  years,  and  is  now  in  the  posses- 
sion of  descendants  of  James  of  the  sixth  and 
seventh  generations.  James  Allen'  by  his 
wife,  Anna,  had  nine  children,  of  whom  the 
ninth  in  order  of  birth,  Joseph,2  born  June  24, 
1652,  was  next  in  line  of  descent.  Joseph2 
married  Hannah  Sabine,  of  Seekbnk,  by  whom 
he  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  Noah,3  born 
April  21,  1685,  was  fifth  in  order  of  birth. 
Noah3  married  Sarah  Gay,  of  Dedham,  and 
had  seven  children,  the  third-born  being 
Noah,4  who  was  baptized  November  8,  1719. 
Noah  Allen4  married  Miriam  Fisher  for  his 
first  wife,  by  whom  he  had  five  sons.  The 
mother  died  June  23,  1757,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren,   all    under   twelve   years    of   age.       On 


March  12,  1761,  Noah  Allen4  married  for  his 
second  wife  Abigail  Ellis,  by  whom  he  had 
two  children,  Miriam  and  Phineas,5  of  whom 
the  last  named  was  next  in  line  of  descent. 
The  mother  died  July  28,  1764,  when  Phineas 
was  only  three  months  old;  and  Noah  married 
for  his  third  wife  Sybil  Clark  Smith,  widow 
of  Elisha  Smith  and  sister  of  the  Rev.  Pitt 
Clark,  of  Norton.  Noah  Allen4  died  March 
23,  1804,  aged  eighty-five  years. 

Phineas  Allen,5  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  April  24,  1764.  He 
lived  with  his  father,  and  inherited  the  home- 
stead. In  1781,  when  only  seventeen  years 
old,  he  enlisted  in  the  Revolutionary  army 
and  was  in  active  service  in  the  Jerseys. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  he  reached  home 
in  a  pitiful  condition,  having  travelled  the 
whole  distance,  fully  three  hundred  miles,  on 
foot.  He  married  Ruth,  daughter  of  Asa 
Smith,  of  Walpole,  born  February  28,  1769, 
and  they  had  eight  children:  Abigail,  born 
November  12,  1788,  died  February  22,  1796; 
Joseph,  born  August  15,  1790,  married  Lucy 
Clarke  Ware,  of  Cambridge;  Ellis,  born  Sep- 
tember 10,  1792,  married  Lucy  Lane,  of  Scit- 
uate;  Silas  (who  subsequently  took  the  name 
of  William  Winthrop  Allen),  born  January 
25i  179S>  Asa  Smith,  born  June  21,  1797, 
married  Lydia  Kingsbury,  and  (second) 
Martha  J.  Camp;  Abigail,  born  October  5, 
1799,  married  Gershom  Adams;  Phineas,  born 
October  15,  1801,  married  Clarissa  Fiske,  of 
Medfield;  and  Noah,  born  April  22,  1807, 
married  Paulina  S.  Whiting,  of  Dover. 
Phineas  Allen,  the  father  of  these  children, 
died  August  13,  1836,  aged  seventy-two  years 
and  four  months.  Ruth,  the  mother,  died 
July  25,  1832,  aged  sixty-three.  After  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  Phineas  married  Miss 
Eliza  Turner,  of  Boston.  His  son  Noah 
(uncle  of  Joseph  A.)  is  now  (1897)  living  in 
Medfield,  past  ninety  years  of  age,  a  "real" 
Son  of  the  American  Revolution.  As  one 
has  well  said,  "The  Aliens  from  the  begin- 
ning have  been  progressive,  stanch  lovers  of 
freedom  in  Church  and  State." 

Ellis  Allen6  was  a  successful  farmer,  and 
spent  his  life  in  Medfield,  his  native  place. 
His  wife,  Lucy  Lane  Allen,  was  born  in 
Scituate,  Mass.     Both  met  death  by  accident, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


he  on  March  6,  1875,  and  she  on  June  I, 
1889,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six  years. 
They  had  eight  children,  as  follows:  William 
C,  living  in  Medfield,  whose  wife,  formerly 
Harriet  Coggin,  is  now  deceased;  George  E., 
deceased,  as  is  also  his  wife,  Susan  Treat 
Allen;  Joseph  A.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
Lucy  M.,  widow  of  James  Davis,  living  in 
West  Newton,  Mass.  ;  Nathaniel  T.,  princi- 
pal of  the  West  Newton  English  and  Classical 
School;  Fanny,  who  died  in  girlhood;  Abi- 
gail Ellis,  deceased,  wife  of  Charles  Davis, 
of  West  Newton;  and  James  T.,  associate 
principal  of  the  Allen  School  in  West 
Newton. 

Joseph  A.  Allen7  first  attended  the  common 
schools  of  Medfield,  and  later  studied  with  his 
uncle,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Allen,  in  North- 
boro,  Mass.  He  left  home  and  began  his 
career  as  a  teacher  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
teaching  music  and  clay  schools  in  Walpole 
and  Northboro,  Mass.,  four  years,  then  going 
to  Syracuse,  N.Y. ,  where  he  was  principal  of 
the  Syracuse  Academy  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  was  in  business  seven  years.  In  i860  he 
returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  took  charge  of 
the  State  Reform  School  at  Westboro.  After 
holding  that  position  seven  years,  he  went  to 
Fredonia,  N.Y.,  as  president  of  the  State 
Normal  School  there.  Later  he  became  asso- 
ciate principal  of  the  school  at  West  Newton, 
Mass.,  and  after  twelve  years  of  service  in  that 
capacity  was  called  back  to  the  State  Reform 
School,  of  which  he  had  charge  for  three 
years.  On  leaving  Westboro  the  second  time, 
he  settled  on  the  ancestral  farm  in  Medfield, 
and  opened  a  family  school  for  boys,  being 
assisted  by  his  daughters  and  by  his  son-in- 
law,  George  Washburn. 

While  living  in  Syracuse,  in  November, 
1845,  Mr.  Allen  married  Miss  Lucy  T.  Burt, 
who  was  born  in  Manlius,  N.Y.,  October  20, 
1823,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Lucy  (Burk) 
Burt.  Her  father,  who  was  a  railroad  contrac- 
tor, was  a  pioneer  in  Syracuse.  Mrs.  Allen 
died  March  19,  1875.  Three  children  blessed 
their  union,  namely:  Joseph  Burt,  born  Janu- 
ary 2,  1852,  who  died  February  17,  1855; 
Ellen  Burt,  born  December  19,  1855;  ar>d 
Rosa  Smith,  born  January  12,  1859.  Ellen 
B.  Allen  and  George  Washburn  (who  was  born 


in  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  April  23,  1850),  were 
married  on  February  18,  1886,  and  now  live 
with  her  father  and  sister  on  the  old  Allen 
farm  in  Medfield.  They  have  one  little 
daughter,  Lucy  Christiana,  born  August  26, 
1896,  who  is  the  ninth  in  descent  from  the 
pioneer  settler,  James  Allen,  the  original 
owner  and  occupant  of  the  homestead,  and 
represents  the  eighth  generation  to  claim  it  as 
a  birthplace. 

Mr.  Allen  has  always  been  independent  in 
politics,  voting  for  the  candidate  that  in  his 
judgment  was  best  fitted  to  discharge  official 
duties.  He  is  president  of  the  Historical  So- 
ciety of  Medfield.  He  has  been  chairman  of 
the  School  Committee  and  of  the  First  Parish 
(Unitarian)  Committee  several  years,  and  is 
still  interested  in  the  great  questions  of  the 
day. 


tICHARD  MORSE,  a  substantial  and 
successful  farmer  and  dairyman  of 
East  Walpole,  Mass.,  was  bom  in 
—^  this  town,  March  12,  1830,  a  son  of 
the  late  Chester  Morse.  He  comes  of  good 
old  English  Colonial  stock,  the  Morse  family 
having  been  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Norfolk  County.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Richard  Morse,  for  whom  he  was  named,  was 
born  and  reared  in  that  part  of  Dedham  now 
included  within  the  corporate  limits  of  Nor- 
wood, and  came  from  there  to  Walpole  in  the 
latter  part  of  last  century. 

Chester  Morse  was  brought  up  in  this  town, 
and  was  for  many  years  an  expressman  between 
Boston  and  Providence,  driving  across  the 
country  with  a  large  baggage  wagon.  He  was 
also  engaged  in  farming  to  some  extent,  own- 
ing a  homestead  in  Walpole,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  He  was  a  Whig  in 
politics;  but,  his  business  calling  him  away 
from  home  a  great  part  of  the  time,  he  had  but 
little  opportunity  to  devote  his  energies  to  the 
management  of  local  affairs.  He  married 
Hannah  Hewins,  the  descendant  of  an  old  and 
honored  family  of  Sharon,  Mass.,  where  she 
was  born  and  bred.  They  had  three  children, 
as  follows:  Warren,  a  resident  of  Walpole; 
Richard,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Chester,  who  died  in  1857. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


443 


Richard  Morse  attended  the  common  schools 
of  East  Walpole  until  fifteen  years  old,  work- 
ing in  the  meantime  during  his  leisure  hours 
and  in  the  long  vacations  on  the  paternal  farm, 
where  he  continues  to  make  his  home.  He 
pays  some  attention  to  dairying,  keeping  from 
ten  to  twelve  cows;  and,  although  now  unable 
to  do  any  of  the  manual  labor,  he  still  carries 
on  the  farm  by  the  aid  of  competent  help, 
superintending  the  work  in  a  most  efficient 
manner,  bringing  to  it  a  clear  head  and  excel- 
lent judgment,  as  in  his  younger  days,  and  oc- 
cupying a  position  among  the  foremost  agri- 
culturists of  this  locality.  In  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  but  has  never  been  an 
aspirant  for  official  honors,  preferring  to  devote 
his  time  to  his  private  interests. 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  June  16,  1886,  to 
Miss  Clara  Fulton,  who  was  born  in  one  of  the 
British  Provinces.      They  have  no  children. 


"ClRASTUS  WORTHINGTON,  Jr.,  one 
Pv  of  the  prominent  young  business  men  of 
~^^*  '  "  Dedham  and  a  well-known  civil  en- 
gineer, is  a  native  of  this  town.  Son  of 
l{rastus  and  Elizabeth  Foster  (Briggs)  Worth- 
ington,  he  was  born  on  December  12,  1863, 
and  is  descended  from  old  Colonial  stock  of 
English  origin.  His  first  ancestor  in  this 
country,  Nicholas  Worth ington,  landed  at  Say- 
brook,  Conn.,  in  1640,  and  subsequently  be- 
came a  resident  of  Hartford. 

Erastus  Worthington,  first,  grandfather  of 
Erastus,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Belchertown,  Mass., 
and  became  a  leading  lawyer  in  Dedham.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Norfolk  Mut- 
ual Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  in  1825  be- 
came secretary  of  the  company,  being  the  first 
to  hold  that  office  and  continuing  in  it  till 
1840.  His  wife,  Sally,  was  bom  in  Dedham, 
and  died  in  1856  at  the  age  of  sixty-five. 

Erastus  Worthington,  second,  son  of  the 
first  Erastus,  was  born  on  November  25,  1S28, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  highly  esteemed 
and  influential  citizens  of  this  town.  A 
sketch  of  his  life  may  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  issue  of  the  Biographical  Revii  w. 

Erastus  Worthington,  Jr.,  obtained  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
town,    including   the   high    school,    and    when 


twenty  years  of  age  entered  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston.  In  1885 
he  was  graduated  at  that  excellent  institution 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  Mr. 
Worthington  has  since  devoted  his  time  and 
energies  to  the  practice  of  the  profession  of 
civil  engineering,  and  has  had  charge  of  a 
large  number  of  important  engineering  works. 
Interested  from  the  first  in  the  construction  of 
public  water  supply  and  sewerage  systems,  he 
has  given  considerable  attention  to  studying 
important  questions  relating  thereto,  and  has 
been  engaged  in  the  construction  of  water- 
works at  Middleboro,  North  Easton,  Andover, 
Winchester,  and  Rockport,  in  Massachusetts; 
at  Dover,  N. H.  ;  and  at  Stamford,  Conn.  ;  and 
in  about  thirty  other  cities  and  towns  in  New 
England.  He  has  also  been  employed  as  en- 
gineer on  the  Norfolk  Central,  the  Norfolk 
Suburban,  and  the  Dedham,  Hyde  Park  & 
Norwood  Street  Railways.  For  so  young  a 
man  this  list  furnishes  a  satisfactory  testimo- 
nial of  successful  achievement.  Mr.  Worth- 
ington is  a  member  of  the  Boston  Society  of 
Civil  Engineers,  also  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Water  Works  Association.  He  is  a 
communicant  of  the  Episcopal  church.  In 
politics  he  is  in  accord  with  the  family  tradi- 
tions, and  is  a  stanch  Republican. 


ENRY  BLASDALE,  cashier  of  the 
National  Revere  Bank  of  Boston, 
and  a  well-known  and  respected  res- 
ident of  Hyde  Park,  was  born  June 
i.S,  1836.  His  parents,  William  and  Eliza- 
beth (Parr)  Blasdale,  were  born  and  spent 
their  early  days  in  the  pleasant  manufacturing 
town  of  Nottingham,  England,  where,  also, 
they  were  married.  Immediately  after  their 
marriage  they  went  to  Douai,  near  Paris, 
France,  where  they  remained  some  few  years, 
and  where  their  three  children  —  William, 
Henry,  and  Charles  —  were  born.  A  casual 
interview  in  Paris  between  the  father  of  the 
family  and  N.  P.  Ames,  the  founder  and  at 
that  time  the  active  manager  of  the  Ames 
Manufacturing  Company,  located  at  Cabot- 
ville,  now  the  city  of  Chicopee,  Mass.,  led  to 
the  removal  of  the  family  to  this  country  and 
its    location   at   Cabotville,    the    children,    re- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


spectively  five,  three,  and  two  years  of  age, 
growing  up  in  that  town  and  enjoying  the  ben- 
efits of  the  public  schools,  and,  as  they  grew 
older,  becoming  as  thoroughly  Americanized 
in  all  their  ideas,  sympathies,  and  feelings  as 
if  they  had  been  to  the  manor  born. 

Henry  Blasdale  at  the  age  of  fifteen  left  the 
high  school  to  enter  the  village  bank,  where, 
and  in  the  banks  of  the  neighboring  town  of 
Springfield,  he  spent  some  six  years.  In  the 
spring  of  1859  he  came  to  Boston,  entering  as 
a  clerk  the  Revere  Bank,  then  just  organized 
under  State  laws  and  since  reorganized  under 
national  law  as  The  National  Revere  Bank  of 
Boston.  In  1865  he  became  cashier  of  the 
bank,  which  position  he  still  holds,  having 
acted  as  cashier  for  a  continuous  term  of 
thirty-two  years  and  having  been  connected 
with  the  bank  in  all  for  more  than  thirty-eight 
years.  He  was  first  married  May  15,  i860,  to 
Miss  Annette  Frances  Dickinson,  daughter  of 
Porter  Dickinson,  of  Amherst,  Mass.  She 
died  November  15,  1862.  The  two  children 
of  this  marriage  died  in  infancy.  On  Febru- 
ary 13,  1868,  Mr.  Blasdale  married  for  his 
second  wife  Miss  Fannie  W.  Snow,  of  Boston. 
Of  their  five  children  two  have  passed  away. 
Those  now  living  are:  Frederick  W.,  Nettie 
F. ,  and  Eva  E. 

Mr.  Blasdale  has  a  pleasantly  located  home 
in  Hyde  Park,  where  he  has  resided  for 
twenty-eight  years,  and  is  a  firm  believer  in 
the  future  growth  of  the  town.  He  has  served 
several  years  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Sinking  Fund,  an  office  requiring  but  little 
expenditure  of  time,  and  for  that  reason  ac- 
cepted. 


'REDERICK  P.  GLOVER,  proprietor 
of  the  Bird's  Hill  Spring  Company  at 
Needham,  was  born  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  on  December  28,  1S25.  His  parents 
were  Elijah  and  Sarah  (Howe)  Glover. 

The  first  of  the  family  to  come  to  this  coun- 
try was  John,  one  of  the  sons  of  Thomas 
Glover,  of  England.  Nathaniel,  a  son  of 
John,  was  born  in  Dorchester  in  1630,  and 
died  there  in  1657.  His  son,  Nathaniel,  was 
born  in  1653,  and  was  married  to  Hannah 
Hinckley,  of  Braintree,  Mass.       They  had  a  son 


Thomas,  who  was  born  December  26,  1690, 
and  died  some  time  between  1755  and  1757. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Church.  His  son 
Thomas,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  September  1,  1723.  He 
served  in  the  army  in  a  company  which 
marched  from  Stoughton  when  the  alarm  for 
war  was  given,  and  was  a  Lieutenant  under 
Captain  Peter  Talbot  and  Colonel  Frederick 
Pope.  He  married  Rebecca  Pope,  of  Stoughton, 
in  1752.  Their  son  Elijah  was  bom  in  Stough- 
ton in  1770.  He  was  twice  married,  his  first 
wife  being  Martha  Pope,  of  Dorchester,  and  his 
second  wife  Sarah  Howe,  also  of  Dorchester. 

Their  son,  Frederick  P.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  attended  the  public  school  in  Stough- 
ton and  Brighton.  When  he  was  ten  years  of 
age  he  began  to  work  at  the  shoemaker's  trade; 
and  when  he  was  fifteen  years  old  he  went  to 
Brighton  to  work  in  a  market,  where  he  stayed 
about  four  years.  He  then  worked  five  years 
in  a  market  in  Boston,  and  when  he  was  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age  he  went  to  New  York 
and  started  from  there  for  California.  At  San 
Antonio,  Tex.,  he  joined  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  Surveying  Company.  The  party 
travelled  from  San  Antonio  to  El  Paso  with 
pack  mules,  from  there  to  Arizona,  thence  to 
Port  Umah,  to  San  Diego,  and  finally  to  San 
Francisco.  While  on  their  journey  they  were 
several  times  attacked  by  Indians;  and  once 
Mr.  Glover  shot  a  grizzly  bear,  which  fur- 
nished fresh  meat  for  himself  and  his  compan- 
ions for  some  time.  Mr.  Glover  remained  in 
California  five  years  engaged  in  mining,  and 
then  he  returned  to  Boston.  He  came  by  way 
of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  tarried  six  months,  and  thence  to 
Boston  by  steamer.  After  staying  a  short 
time  in  the  East,  however,  he  started  a  second 
time  for  California,  making  the  journey  by 
way  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  Carson  Valley.  In 
five  years  he  returned  to  Boston  once  more, 
travelling  by  the  way  of  Denver,  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.,  and  Washington,  D. C. ,  where  he  re- 
mained during  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  After 
engaging  in  his  former  business  in  Boston 
for  about  fifteen  years,  in  1878  he  came  to 
Needham  and  began  farming. 

He  is  now  engaged  in  bottling  and  shipping 
the  pure  natural  spring  water  from   the  Bird's 


FREDERICK    P.    GLOVER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


447 


Hill  Spring,  which  is  located  on  high  ground, 
in  a  section  free  from  building  and  everything 
that  would  be  liable  to  contaminate  it.  The 
water  comes  up  through  the  gravelly  bottom  of 
a  cemented  brick  cistern  at  a  temperature  of 
forty-five  degrees,  and  is  constantly  overflow- 
ing the  cistern.  It  is  believed  that  the  water 
comes  from  a  great  depth,  as  in  the  dryest  sea- 
son its  flow  is  not  diminished,  and  its  temper- 
ature remains  unchanged.  Soft,  colorless, 
and  pure,  clear  as  a  crystal,  and  delicious  to 
the  taste,  it  is  indorsed  and  recommended  by 
many  eminent  physicians.  Although  this 
water  has  been  on  sale  only  a  short  time,  its 
users  frequently  testify  to  its  efficacy  in  cases 
of  dyspepsia  and  other  disorders.  It  is  espe- 
cially desirable  for  elderly  and  middle-aged 
persons,  because  it  has  so  small  a  percentage 
of  lime.  A- report  of  its  analysis  by  the  State 
Board  of  Health,  showing  how  free  the  water 
is  from  organic  and  other  harmful  matter,  is 
given  in  the  circulars  issued  by  the  Bird's 
Hill    Spring   Company. 

Mr.  Glover  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He 
was  chosen  Selectman  of  the  town  in  1884, 
and  served  five  years  in  that  office.  He  at- 
tends the  First  Parish  Church.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1861  to  Emeline,  a  native  of  Boston 
and  daughter  of  Otis  Morton,  of  that  city. 
They  had  one  son,  Frederick  Morton,  who  was 
born  in  1862,  and  died  in  1867,  when  about 
four  and  a  half  years  old.  Mrs.  Glover  died 
at  her  home  October  28,  1897,  in  her  sixty- 
seventh  year,  after  a  short  illness  resulting 
from  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  She  was  a  good 
wife  and  mother,  and  possessed  many  sterling 
qualities  which  endeared  her  to  a  large  circle 
of  friends.  She  was  reared  and  educated  in 
the  city  of  her  birth,  and  came  to  Needham 
with  her  parents  when  about  twenty  years  of 
age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morton  resided  in  Need- 
ham  for  many  years,  and  died  here,  each  at  an 
advanced  age,  the  former  having  been  for  many 
years  a  Deacon  in  the  Universalist  church. 


iAPTAIN    RUFUS   GEORGE   FRED- 
ERICK     CANDAGE,     a     prominent 
and     highly     influential     citizen     of 
Brookline,  Mass.,  was  born  at  Blue 
Hill,    Me.,    July    28,     1826,    son    of    Samuel 


Roundy  and  Phebe  (Parker)  Candage.  This 
surname  was  originally  Cavendish,  derived 
from  the  Manor  of  Cavendish  Over  Hall,  Suf- 
folk, England,  and  was  sometimes  written  to 
agree  with  the  pronunciation,  Candish.  The 
family  has  been  in  America  more  than  two 
hundred  years.  In  1660  John  Candage  was 
a  ship-carpenter  and  landed  proprietor  of 
Charlestown,  Mass.  ;  and  this  surname  appears 
later  in  the  records  of  the  towns  of  Marble- 
head,  Salem,  and  Lynn.  At  Marblehead,  in 
1691,  Thomas  Candage  was  engaged  in  the 
fishery  business. 

Captain  Candage's  great-grandfather,  James 
Candage,  was  bom  in  Massachusetts  about 
1728,  was  married  about  1750,  and  went  from 
Beverly,  Mass.,  in  1766  to  Blue  Hill,  Me., 
which  had  been  settled  three  years  earlier  by 
Joseph  Wood  and  John  Roundy.  James  Can- 
dage was  a  man  of  enterprise,  a  typical  pioneer, 
and  soon  became  prominent  in  the  infant  set- 
tlement. He  erected  a  saw-mill,  and  engaged 
in  lumbering,  and  also  carried  on  farming. 
He  died  at  Blue  Hill,  Me.,  April  29,  17S8. 
His  wife,  Elizabeth,  died  on  December  20, 
1809,  having  been  the  mother  of  three  sons 
and  three  daughters. 

James  Candage,  Jr.,  who  was  born  May  9, 
'753,  and  died  at  Blue  Hill,  January  12, 
1 819,  followed  the  occupations  in  which  his 
father  bad  engaged.  His  wife  was  Hannah, 
the  daughter  of  John  Roundy,  above  men- 
tioned. Their  children  were:  Elizabeth,  born 
September  16,  1775;  Gideon,  born  March  17, 
1778,  who  died  October  26,  17S2;  Samuel 
Roundy,  bom  January  15,  1781,  who  died 
December  23,  1S52;  Gideon,  born  August  18, 
1783;  Sarah,  born  January  4,  1786;  James, 
born  April  30,  1788,  who  died  August  I, 
1798;  Azor,  born  April  8,  1791  ;  and  John, 
born  December  21,  1793,  who  died  December 
30,  1798.  Mrs.  Hannah  R.  Candage  died 
March  12,  185 1,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-eight  years. 

Samuel  Roundy  Candage,  the  second  son, 
was  of  a  frank  and  generous  character  and  a 
man  greatly  respected  by  all  his  associates. 
In  early  life  he  was  a  seaman,  but  he  subse- 
quently settled  at  Blue  Hill  and  engaged  in 
milling  and  farming.  His  wife  Phebe,  to 
whom  he  was  married   February  29,   18 16,  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  widow  of  William  Walker.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Simeon  and  Mary  (Perkins) 
Parker,  and  grand-daughter  of  the  Hon.  Oliver 
Parker,  of  Castine,  Me.,  who  was  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  from  1800  to  181 5. 
The  following  is  the  record  of  children  of 
Samuel  Roundy  and  Phebe  Candage  :  Simeon 
Parker,  born  November  21,  1816,  died  Decem- 
ber 31,  1842,  lost  at  sea;  John  Walker,  born 
March  15,  1818,  died  April  20,  1822;  James 
Roundy,  born  April  8,  1819,  died  at  Fortune 
Island,  one  of  the  Bahamas,  November  14, 
1856;  Samuel  Barker  Brooks,  bom  January 
25,  1821,  died  September  1,  1826;  Robert 
Parker,  born  October  26,  1822,  died  January 
30,  1878;  Dorothy  Perkins,  born  February 
16,  1825,  died  August  28,  1826;  Rufus 
George  Frederick,  born  July  28,  1826;  Sam- 
uel Franklin,  born  January  21,  1828,  died 
May  7,  1863,  at  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands; 
John  Brooks,  born  June  24,  1829,  died  July 
23,  1870,  in  Australia;  Mary  Perkins,  bom 
August  12,  1831,  died  September  4,  1831  ; 
Hannah  Roundy,  born  August  12,  1831,  died 
September  4,  1831  ;  and  Charles  Edward,  born 
April  20,  1833,  died  April  14,  1862,  at  Hono- 
lulu, Sandwich  Islands.  The  father  died  on 
December  23,  1852,  and  the  mother  on  Octo- 
ber 2,  1850.  Seven  of  the  sons  became  com- 
manders of  vessels  in  the  merchant  service. 

Rufus  G.  F. ,  the  sixth  son,  attended  school 
regularly  until  twelve  years  of  age,  when  he 
began  to  work  in  his  father's  saw-mill ;  and  for 
the  next  five  years  he  had  to  content  himself 
with  attending  the  winter  terms  of  three 
months  each.  He  subsequently  pursued  his 
studies  at  Blue  Hill  Academy  for  two  terms; 
and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  influenced  by 
the  example  of  his  brothers,  he  became  a 
sailor,  going  first  on  coasting-vessels  running 
between  Boston  and  points  on  the  Maine 
coast,  and  in  time  making  longer  voyages  and 
touching  the  more  important  ports  on  the  At- 
lantic seaboard.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four  he 
had  become  captain;  and  his  first  voyage  in 
this  position  was  from  Blue  Hill  to  Boston, 
carrying  a  cargo  of  paving-blocks.  Business 
men  of  his  native  town  built  for  him  the 
"Equator,"  and  he  subsequently  sailed  in 
much  larger  vessels,  including  the  sloops 
"Fame,"       "Pink,"      "Credit";      schooners 


"Passamaquoddy, "  "Edward,"  "Zodiac," 
and  "Zulette";  half-brigs  "Curacoa, " 
"Delhi,"  "Zavalla,"  and  "Equator"  ;  square- 
rigged  brig  "Pioneer";  bark  "Chesapeake"; 
ships  "Kentucky,"  "Java,"  "Iowa," 
"Hoogly, "  "Wizard,"  "Jamestown,"  "Elec- 
tric Spark,"  and  "National  Eagle."  He 
has  made  three  voyages  round  the  world,  has 
doubled  Cape  Horn  thirteen  times,  eight  times 
toward  the  West  and  five  times  toward  the 
East,  and  has  sailed  over  more  than  five  hun- 
dred thousand  miles.  He  has  visited  ports  in 
North  and  South  America  and  in  the  West 
Indies,  the  Mediterranean,  in  India,  China, 
and  Oceanica,  and  on  the  western  coast  of 
Europe.  The  last  voyage  of  Captain  Candage 
was  in  the  "National  Eagle,"  of  which  he  was 
part  owner;  and  in  May,  1867,  when  she 
made  her  home  port  of  Boston,  he  retired  from 
seafaring  life  and  settled  in  Brookline  as  his 
permanent  residence.  In  January  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  appointed  Marine  Surveyor 
by  the  American  Ship  Masters'  Association  of 
New  York  for  the  record  of  American  and  for- 
eign shipping,  and  in  the  same  year  was  ap- 
pointed surveyor  for  the  Boston  Board  of 
Underwriters.  In  1882  he  was  appointed 
surveyor  for  the  Bureau  Veritas  of  Paris, 
France. 

Captain  Candage  was  married  on  May  1, 
1853,  to  Elizabeth  Augusta,  daughter  of 
Elijah,  Jr.,  and  Mary  R.  Corey,  of  Brookline. 
She  died  on  November  iS,  187 1  ;  and  on  May 
22,  1873,  Captain  Candage  married  Ella 
Maria,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Hall) 
White,  of  Weymouth.  By  the  latter  marriage 
there  were  five  children;  namely,  George 
Frederick,  Ella  Augusta,  Phcebe  Theresa, 
Robert  Brooks,  and  Sarah  Caroline  Candage. 

In  1 86 1,  when  the  Ship  Masters'  Associa- 
tion of  New  York  was  formed,  Captain  Can- 
dage was  elected  its  thirteenth  member;  and  in 
1867  he  was  elected  member  of  the  Boston 
Marine  Society.  He  has  been  president  of 
the  last-named  society  and  a  member  of  its 
Board  of  Trustees  for  some  years.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  New  York  Marine  Society,  of 
the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  So- 
ciety, of  the  Bostonian  Society,  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution,  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
Association,  the  Pine  Tree  State  Club  (an  ex- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


449 


president),  the  Brookline  Thursday  Club,  Nor- 
folk Club,  Massachusetts  Republican  Club, 
and  the  Baptist  Social  Union.  He  is  a 
Mason,  being  a  member  and  Past  Master  of 
Beth-horen  Lodge;  and  he  is  a  member  and 
first  Regent  of  Sagamore  Council,  Royal  Ar- 
canum. He  has  served  the  town  of  Brookline 
in  many  positions,  having  been  a  member  of 
the  School  Board  for  five  years,  a  Trustee  of 
the  Public  Library  since  1 87 1  and  many  years 
treasurer  of  the  Board,  Selectman  from  18S0 
to  1883,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Asses- 
sors since  1883,  as  well  as  Moderator  of  the 
town  meetings  many  times.  He  has  also  been 
Representative  to  General  Court.  In  1881  he 
was  elected  treasurer  of  the  Seamen's  Baptist 
Bethel  and  president  of  the  Boston  Terra 
Cotta  Company,  holding  the  last  position  until 
1896,  when  the  business  was  closed.  He  is 
still  president  of  the  Boston  Fire  Brick  and 
Clay  Retort  Company,  having  been  connected 
with  it  since  1883,  and  is  vice-president  of  the 
Industrial  Home  on  Davis  Street.  The  Cap- 
tain is  a  man  of  wide  observation  and  exceed- 
ingly well-read,  having  collected  a  large  and 
valuable  private  library.  Always  keenly  in- 
terested in  historical  subjects,  and  especially 
in  the  early  history  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  he 
has  written  many  interesting  and  valuable 
papers  which  have  been  read  before  the  various 
societies  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  not  a 
few  of  which  have  been  published  in  historical 
magazines.  He  is  corresponding  member  of 
the  Maine  Historical  Society  and  honorary 
member  of  the  Dedham  Historical  Society. 
He  has  a  beautiful  home  in  Brookline,  but 
usually  spends  his  summers  on  the  Maine 
coast. 


lLARKE  STORER  GOULD,  M.D., 
a  successful  physician  of  Norwood,  was 
born  in  South  Boston,  Mass.,  Au- 
gust 2,  1864,  son  of  Dr.  Joseph  F. 
and  Lydia  R.  (Lawrence)  Gould.  He  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  William  Gould,  an  Eng- 
lishman, who  arrived  in  America  at  an  early 
date  in  the  Colonial  period  ;  and  he  is  a  grand- 
son of  Squire  John  Gould,  of  North  Leeds, 
Me.,  a  prominent  resident  and  for  some  years 
a  Trial  Justice  in  that  town. 


Joseph  F.  Gould  was  a  native  of  North 
Leeds,  Me.,  but  was  reared  in  Milton.  At  an 
early  age  he  conceived  a  desire  to  become  a 
physician,  and  after  struggling  courageously 
to  procure  a  medical  education  he  was  gradu- 
ated from  the  medical  department  of  Harvard 
University.  He  practised  his  profession  in 
South  Boston  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  War,  when  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teers, and  in  that  capacity  served  with  distinc- 
tion until  his  discharge.  Resuming  his  prac- 
tice in  South  Boston,  he  acquired  a  high  repu- 
tation as  a  physician  and  obstetrician,  and 
resided  there  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1887.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Lydia  R.  Lawrence,  is  a  daughter  of  Nathan 
and  Elizabeth  (Millet)  Lawrence.  She  is  a 
direct  descendant  of  John  Lawrence,  who  was 
born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  in  1636,  and  was 
the  first  native  American  of  the  Lawrence 
family.  John  was  a  son  of  John  Lawrence, 
Sr. ,  of  Wisset,  England,  who  arrived  on  board 
the  "Arabella"  in  1630;  and  the  family 
traces  its  ancestry  back  to  Sir  Robert  Law- 
rence, of  Ashton  Hall,  who  was  born  in  11  50. 
Four  children  were  born  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jo- 
seph F.  Gould,  as  follows:  Lawrence  M., 
M.D.,  a  physician  of  Hyde  Park,  Mass.; 
Junius  B. ,  of  South  Boston;  Ruth;  and  Clarke 
S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Clarke  Storer  Gould  was  educated  in  the 
common  and  high  schools  of  Boston  ;  and  while 
pursuing  his  general  studies  he  availed  himself 
of  every  opportunity  for  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  anatomy  and  physiology,  with  a  view  of  pre- 
paring himself  for  the  medical  profession. 
The  unexpected  death  in  1885,  of  his  father 
who  had  so  earnestly  shared  and  aided  his 
plans,  threw  him  somewhat  upon  his  own  re- 
sources. He  possessed  the  courage  and  per- 
sistence to  overcome  the  difficulties  which  now 
confronted  him,  and  finished  his  two  remaining 
years  at  the  Medical  School.  After  his  grad- 
uation from  the  Harvard  Medical  School  in 
1887,  he  practised  about  a  year  in  South  Bos- 
ton and  the  same  time  in  Maynard.  In  1889 
he  located  in  Norwood,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. By  closely  applying  himself  to  his 
profession,  which  absorbs  his  entire  interest, 
he  has  built  up  a  large  practice   in   this  local- 


45° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ity,  and  has  already  acquired  an  honorable 
rank  among  the  successful  physicians  of  Nor- 
folk County.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts State  and  District  Medical  Societies, 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Association.  He  is  connected  with  Orient 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen;  and  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
having  been  the  first  Regent  of  Hook  Council, 
and  being  Medical  Examiner  of  the  order  in 
this  town.  He  is  the  local  surgeon  for  the 
New  England  Railway  and  a  member  of  the 
International  Association  of  Railway  Sur- 
geons.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Dr.  Gould  married  Amanda  Evelyn  Vroom, 
daughter  of  William  V.  Vroom,  of  Clements- 
port,  N.S.,  and  has  two  children — Joseph  F. 
and  Hilda  P.  The  family  attend  the  Univer- 
salist  church. 

{  2)eORGE  FENEI.ON  WILLIAMS, 
\  '•>  I  of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  recently  elected 
Representative  to  the  State  legisla- 
ture from  the  Tenth  Norfolk  District,  was 
born  in  Foxboro,  in  the  house  in  which  he 
now  resides,  April  28,  1856,  being  the  only 
son  of  Francis  D.  and  Lydia  (Copeland)  Will- 
iams. On  the  paternal  side  he  is  lineally  de- 
scended from  Richard  Williams,  the  first  set- 
tler of  vvhat  is  now  Taunton,  Mass.  ;  and 
through  his  mother  he  is  a  direct  descendant, 
in  the  seventh  generation,  of  John  and  Pris- 
cilla  Alden,  of  the  Plymouth  Colony. 

Mr.  Williams  received  his  elementary  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  Foxboro,  and  was  sub- 
sequently graduated  with  high  honors,  after  a 
four  years'  course,  at  the  Chauncy  Hall 
School,  Boston,  where,  besides  gaining  dis- 
tinction in  his  class  studies,  he  received  a  gold 
medal  for  having  been  the  best  drilled  private 
in  the  battalion  for  two  years  in  succession. 
In  1875  he  entered  the  employ  of  his  father, 
who,  besides  the  large  coal  and  express  busi- 
ness that  he  conducted,  was  also  at  that  time 
station  master.  Here  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  per- 
form the  multifarious  duties  of  ticket  agent, 
express  agent,  baggage-master,  telegraph  oper- 
ator, and  station  agent,  besides  attending  in 
large  measure  to  the  business  in  coal,  hay, 
lime,  cement,  and  teaming,  all  of  which  he  ac- 


complished in  a  manner  that  left  no  doubt  of 
his  energy,  endurance,  and  rare  business  ca- 
pacity, and  proved  him  also  to  be  possessed  of 
an  exhaustless  stock  of  patience  and  good 
humor  under  trying  circumstances,  accom- 
panied by  a  never-failing  courtesy.  When  he 
resigned  the  position  two  or  three  years  ago, 
he  received  the  highest  commendations  from 
the  railroad  officials  for  the  efficiency  of  his 
service. 

It  was  while  occupied  as  above  narrated  that 
Mr.  Williams's  fellow-townsmen,  recognizing 
in  him  a  man  worthy  of  their  fullest  confi- 
dence, chose  him  to  fill  the  important  and  re- 
sponsible position  of  Town  Treasurer.  Dur- 
ing his  incumbency  of  this  office  he  introduced 
a  simpler,  clearer,  and  more  comprehensive 
system  of  book-keeping,  by  which  also  the 
town  was  credited  for  the  first  time  with  in- 
terest on  its  deposited  balances,  and  which  has 
since  been  continued.  Mr.  Williams  was  ap- 
pointed February  21,  1895,  by  the  late  Gov- 
ernor Greenhalge,  Notary  Public  and  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  still  holds  the  positions. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  indefatigable  workers 
for  the  introduction  of  conducted  water,  and 
was  made  clerk  of  the  Foxboro  Water  Supply 
District,  in  which  office  he  served  continu- 
ously until  1896.  In  the  report  of  the  Water 
Commissioners,  1878-93,  he  is  spoken  of  as 
follows:  "G.  F.  Williams  has  performed  the 
duties  of  his  office  since  the  first  meeting  in 
1879  to  the  present  time,  and  acted  as  clerk 
for  the  commissioners  and  as  corresponding 
secretary.  He  has  kept  neat  and  accurate  rec- 
ords, and  has,  in  short,  not  only  faithfully  and 
ably  performed  all  the  duties  of  his  office,  but 
many  others  that  have  been  demanded  of  him, 
all  in  a  most  commendable  manner.  He  de- 
clines to  receive  any  pay  for  his  services." 
He  filled  the  position  of  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Boyden  Library  for 
twelve  years,  and  long  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Town  Committee,  usually  acting  as  clerk. 
He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Foxboro  Savings 
Bank  since  1888  and  a  vice-president  since 
1S94. 

At  the  Republican  convention,  which  was 
held  in  Music  Hall,  Franklin,  on  Monday, 
October  11,  1897,  Mr.  Williams  was  nomi- 
nated as  Representative  to  the  General   Court 


<• 


f*32 


GEORGE    F.    WILLIAMS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


453 


from  the  Tenth  Norfolk  District,  the  nomina- 
tion being  practically  unanimous,  he  receiving 
the  total  number  of  votes  in  the  convention  ex- 
cept that  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Whitaker,  who,  being 
himself  a  candidate,  waived  his  right  to  vote. 
This  district,  which  comprises  the  towns  of 
Franklin,  Foxboro,  Medway,  Norfolk,  Wren- 
tham,  and  Bellingham,  is  entitled  to  two 
Representatives;  and  Mr.  Elbridge 'J.  Whit- 
aker, of  Wrentham,  was  chosen  on  the  ticket 
with  Mr.  Williams,  who  was  subsequently 
elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Mr. 
Williams  has  long  been  deeply  interested  in 
everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  his 
town  and  district;  and  to  the  duties  of  his  new 
position  he  brings  an  intelligent  and  well- 
trained  mind  and  an  honesty  of  purpose  that 
cannot  but  redound  to  the  credit  and  benefit  of 
his  constituency,  his  native  town,  and  his 
party. 


ENRY  S.  RUSSELL,  of  Milton, 
Fire  Commissioner  of  the  city  of 
Boston,  is  a  native  of  Dorchester, 
Mass.  He  was  born  June  21, 
1838,  son  of  George  Robert  and  Sarah  P. 
(Shaw)  Russell. 

Among  the  early  New  England  colonists 
were  several  bearing  this  well-known  English 
surname.  In  common  with  the  Russells  of 
Newport  and  Providence,  R.I.,  Colonel  Rus- 
sell is  descended  from  John  Russell,  of 
Charlestown,  1640,  who  became  one  of  the 
first- settlers  of  the  new  town  of  Woburn.  In 
Bartlett's  Genealogy  of  this  branch  of  the 
family  his  lineage  may  be  traced  as  follows: 
John,1  who  died  in  Woburn,  Mass.,  in  1676; 
John,2  who  was  ordained  to  the  charge  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston  in  1679,  and 
died  in  1680;  Joseph,3  who  died  in  Boston  in 
1 714;  Thomas,4  born  in  Boston  in  1705,  who 
died  in  1760,  and  whose  remains,  it  is  said, 
rest  with  those  of  his  father,  mother,  and 
grandfather,  in  King's  Chapel  burial-ground; 
Jonathan,5  who  for  a  number  of  years  was  a 
prosperous  merchant  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  but, 
some  time  after  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  removed  to  Mendon, 
Mass.,  where  he  died  in  1788;  Jonathan," 
born     in     Providence,    R.I.,     1 77 1 ,    who    was 


graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1791,  and 
died  in  1832;  George  Robert,7  born  in  Provi- 
dence, 1800,  who  died  in  1866;  Henry  Stur- 
gis.a 

Jonathan  Russell,  Sr.,  is  spoken  of  as  hav- 
ing been  Captain  of  a  company  of  militia 
known  as  the  Providence  Cadets,  which  at 
some  time  or  times  during  the  Revolution 
"was  called  into  active  service."  His  son, 
the  Hon.  Jonathan  Russell,  LL.D.,  was  edu- 
cated for  the  law.  Turning  his  attention  for 
a  while  to  commerce,  at  a  later  period  he  was 
for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  the  diplo- 
matic service,  being  Consul  to  France  in  the 
time  of  Napoleon,  one  of  the  five  commis- 
sioners who  in  1 8 14  negotiated  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent,  and  subsequently  United  States 
Minister  to  Sweden  and  Norway.  He  was  a 
member  of  Congress,   1821-23. 

George  Robert  Russell,  son  of  the  Hon. 
Jonathan  Russell  by  his  first  wife,  Sarah 
Ammidon,  was  graduated  at  Brown  University 
in  1821,  founding  the  commercial  house  of 
Russell  &  Sturgis,  and  engaged  in  trade  with 
China  and  Manila.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  the  eminent  Boston  merchant,  Robert 
Gould  Shaw,  first,  and  a  sister  of  Francis 
George  Shaw,  the  father  of  Colonel  Robert  G. 
Shaw,  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts,  to 
whose  honored  memory  the  beautiful  St. 
Gaudens  monument,  which  fronts  the  State 
House,  was  dedicated  in  May,  1897. 

The  following  paragraph  from  Mr.  Froth- 
ingham's  "Life  of  Theodore  Parker"  is  inter- 
esting reading  in  this  connection  :  "Of  Special 
value  was  the  society  he  found  at  West  Rox- 
bury,  a  small  but  choice  circle  of  elegant, 
graceful,  cultivated  people,  accomplished  in 
the  arts  of  life,  of  open  hearts  and,  better 
still,  of  humane  instincts,  who  lived  in  such 
near  neighborhood  that  a  path  from  Mr. 
Parker's  gate  led  directly  to  their  gardens  and 
welcoming  doors.  The  fine  grounds  of  Mr. 
George  R.  Russell  lay  adjacent  to  his  own 
modest  domain;  and  adjoining  those,  again, 
was  the  estate  of  Mr.  Francis  G.  Shaw.  In 
both  families  he  was  at  home  on  the  heartiest 
terms.  All  there  were  his  friends,  faithful, 
sympathetic. " 

The  Russells,  be  it  understood,  were  not 
Transcendental  ists,     but     were     strung     anti- 


454 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


slavery  people.  Henry  Sturgis  Russell,  the 
special  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch, 
was  the  second-born  of  a  family  of  seven 
children.  His  parents  removed  to  West  Rox- 
bury  when  he  was  a  little  child:  and  there  he 
was  reared  and  educated,  fitting  for  college. 
He  entered  Harvard  in  1856,  and  was  gradu- 
ated in  the  class  of  i860.  In  the  spring  of 
1 86 1,  shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Re- 
bellion, filled  with  patriotic  enthusiasm,  he 
offered  his  services  for  the  defence  of  the 
Union,  and  on  May  1  1  was  appointed  First 
Lieutenant  in  the  Second  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  the  first  new  regiment  to  be 
organized  in  the  State  for  three  years'  service. 
Six  months  later  Lieutenant  Russell  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Captain  in  the  same 
regiment,  and  he  was  subsequently  commis- 
sioned Colonel  of  the  Fifth  Massachusetts 
Cavalry.  He  was  in  the  army  nearly  four 
years,  in  active  service  most  of  the  time,  and 
was  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  in  South- 
eastern Virginia.  While  bearing  the  rank  of 
Captain,  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle 
of  Cedar  Mountain,  and  was  incarcerated  in 
Libby  Prison  for  two  months;  and  for  gallant 
conduct  at  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  dur- 
ing the  first  day  of  which  he  was  wounded,  he 
was  brevetted  Brigadier-general.  On  receiv- 
ing his  discharge,  he  returned  to  Milton. 
For  six  years  he  was  in  the  East  India  trade, 
as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  J.  M.  Forbes  & 
Co.  He  afterward  settled  on  a  farm  in  Mil- 
ton, and  for  thirty  years  was  engaged  in  stock 
farming.  Colonel  Russell's  summer  home  is 
now  in  Milton. 

In  1863  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mary  H.  Forbes,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John 
Murray  and  Sarah  S.  (Hathaway)  Forbes,  of 
Milton,  and  sister  of  the  late  Colonel  Will- 
iam Hathaway  Forbes.  The  Forbes  family, 
like  the  Shaw  family,  is  of  Scottish  origin, 
both  being  distinguished  for  patriotism,  pub- 
lic spirit,  and  philanthropy.  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Russell  have  a  promising  family  of  five 
children.  Colonel  Russell  was  Selectman  of 
the  town  of  Milton  six  years,  Assessor  seven 
years.  Overseer  of  the  Poor  six  years,  and  was 
on  the  School  Committee  two  years.  A  Re- 
publican politically,  he  was  a  member  of  Gov- 
ernor Bullock's  personal  staff  three  years.      In 


1878  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  first 
police  commission  organized  in  Boston,  and 
he  presided  over  that  body  two  years.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1895,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Board  of 
Fire  Commissioners  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
then  consisting  of  three  members;  anil  in  July 
following,  under  the  new  law,  he  was  made 
sole  Fire  Commissioner  of  the  city. 


^eJT^ARLLL  J.  WILLIS,  cashier  of  the 
Blue  Hill  National  Bank  of  Milton, 
was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  on 
September  11,  1830,  son  of  Solo- 
mon H.  and  Mary  A.  V.  (Cripps)  Willis. 
The  family  is  said  to  be  of  English  extrac- 
tion. Jedidiah  Willis,  grandfather  of  Sarell 
J.,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  181  2,  and  was 
for  a  time  stationed  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  He 
was  born  in  Easton,  Mass.,  as  was  also  his  son 
Solomon,  above  named. 

Solomon  H.  Willis  learned  his  trade  of  car- 
penter in  Milton  of  the  veteran  builder,  James 
Campbell,  serving  for  many  years,  as  was  the 
old-fashioned  custom,  and  mastering  every  de- 
tail of  the  business.  He  was  thorough  and 
precise,  and  many  of  the  buildings  put  up  by 
him  are  still  standing  in  excellent  preservation. 
For  several  years  he  was  employed  at  the  cus- 
tom-house in  Boston.  He  resided  for  some 
time  in  Dorchester  and  subsequently  in 
Somerville,  where  he  died  in  his  eighty-eighth 
year.  His  wife's  father,  James  Cripps,  who 
was  of  French  descent,  was  in  the  British 
Naval  Service  under  Admiral  Nelson,  and  was 
in  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  at  the  siege  of 
Naples,  the  bombardment  of  Copenhagen,  and 
the  battle  of  Cape  St.  Vincent,  and  at  Traf- 
algar, where  the  gallant  Nelson  fell,  and  was 
on  the  flag-ship  "Victory."  He  subsequently 
joined  the  American  navy,  and  fought  on  board 
the  "Constitution"  in  the  fight  with  the 
"Java,"  a  British  frigate  that  was  captured  off 
the  coast  of  Brazil.  After  leaving  the  service 
he  settled  at  Damariscotta,  Me.,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  small  farm.  He  died  there  at  about 
seventy-five  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  Han- 
nah Savery,  of  Marblehead,  descendant  of  an 
old  family. 

Sarell  J.  Willis  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Dorchester.      When   six- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


455 


teen  years  old  he  began  to  learn  the  tinsmith's 
trade  with  J.  P.  &  C.  P.  Tolman,  of  Dorches- 
ter, and  after  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  over 
four  years  was  employed  by  the  Tolmans  for  a 
short  time  as  journeyman.  In  1856  he  en- 
gaged in  business  for  himself  at  Dorchester  as 
a  worker  in  tinplate  and  sheet  iron;  but  after 
working  steadily  for  two  years  his  health  failed, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  business. 
Me  subsequently  followed  his  trade  in  Boston 
for  three  years.  In  1S61  he  returned  to  Dor- 
chester, and  engaged  as  journeyman  with  his 
former  employer,  J.  P.  Tolman,  who  had  dis- 
solved partnership  with  his  brother  and  had  lo- 
cated in  Harrison  Square.  Mr.  Willi.-  worked 
there  for  over  four  years,  covering  the  war 
[ieriod.  In  September,  1X65,  he  formed  an 
engagement  with  Jarrett  &  Palmer,  proprietors 
of  the  Boston  Theatre,  to  go  on  the  stage  as  an 
actor.  He  was  in  this  profession  for  six  sea- 
sons, playing  during  the  winters  in  the  large 
cities  of  New  England  and  in  New  York,  Al- 
bany, Troy,  and  elsewhere,  and  in  the  summer 
in  the  British  Provinces,  at  Halifax,  St. 
Johns,  and  Fredericton,  and  often  serving  as 
prompter  and  stage  manager.  In  May,  1870, 
Mr.  Willis  went  to  Dorchester  Lower  Mills 
and  took  a  position  as  book-keeper  in  a  lumber 
business  located  at  Harrison  Square,  remain- 
ing there  until  January,  1876.  On  March  1, 
1876,  he  entered  the  Blue  Hill  National  Bank, 
then  at  Dorchester,  Mass.,  as  cashier,  succeed- 
ing L.  J.  Bispham,  who  had  been  elected  pres- 
ident. In  1882  the  bank  was  removed  to 
Milton,  and  incorporated  as  the  Blue  Hill  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Milton. 

Mr.  Willis  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but 
is  somewhat  independent  in  his  views.  He  is 
a  well-known  and  public-spirited  citizen  of 
Milton,  interested  in  town  affairs  and  in  all 
matters  of  general  importance.  Many  years 
ago  he  served  as  assistant  engineer  in  the  Dor- 
chester Fire  Department. 

Mr.  Willis  married  Mary  \V. ,  daughter  of 
the  late  E.  J.  Bispham,  former  president  of 
the  Blue  Hill  National  Bank.  The  Bispham 
family  is  an  honored  one  in  this  section,  and 
is  said  to  be  of  English  extraction.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Willis  have  three  children,  namely,  Ben- 
jamin C.  ;  Howard  B.  ;  and  Mary  E.,  wife  of 
Dr.   Homer  Emerson,  dentist  at   Milton.      Mr. 


Willis  is  a  member  of  Union  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M. ,  at  Dorchester,  and  of  Uncattaquisett 
Tribe  of  Red  Men,  No.   53,  of  Dorchester. 


OVLBERT  SULLINGHAM  PAIGE,  In- 
f^\  spector  of  Police  in  Brookline,  Mass., 
_/J|A  has  been  connected  with  this  de- 
—  partment  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment for  more  than  two  decades,  being,  with 
but  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  oldest  man  in 
point  of  service  on  the  force.  He  was  born 
April  16,  1846,  in  Wellrleet,  Barnstable 
County,  this  State,  and  reckons  among  his  an- 
cestors three  of  the  prominent  early  families 
that  settled  at  Cape  Cod  —  the  Holbrooks,  the 
Lombards,  and  the  Bacons.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  John  Barnard  Paige,  spent  a  life- 
time of  sixty-five  years  in  Thornton,  X.H., 
where  he  was  a  successful  farmer.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah  Sullingham, 
lived  to  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten  years, 
and  was  the  mother  of  fourteen  children,  seven 
of  whom  are  now  living. 

John  Sullingham  Paige,  father  of  Albert  S. , 
was  born  in  Thornton,  N.IL,  where  he  lived 
until  eighteen  years  of  age.  Coming  then  to 
Boston,  he  worked  in  a  hotel  a  number  of  years, 
and  then  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  ac- 
count, continuing  active  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of  fifty- 
nine  years.  He  married  Hannah  Lombard, 
who  was  born  in  Wellfleet,  Mass.,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Ephraim  and  Eliza  (Holbrook)  Lom- 
bard. Her  grandfather,  Captain  Joseph  Hol- 
brook, was  one  of  the  early  and  well-known 
pilots  of  that  locality,  and  a  prominent  man  of 
his  times.  Mrs.  Hannah  L.  Paige  is  still  liv- 
ing, a  very  bright  and  active  woman  of  seventy- 
seven  years,  and  makes  her  home  with  Albert 
S.  Paige,  her  only  child.  Both  parents  be- 
came members  of  the  Universalist  church  in 
their  younger  days,  and  were  active  workers  in 
that  denomination.  Mrs.  A.  S.  Paige  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

Albert  S.  Paige  spent  the  greater  part  of 
the  first  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  Boston,  and 
obtained  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the 
Phillips  School  of  that  city,  completing  his 
studies  in  the  public  schools  of  Brookline. 
He  began  earning   his   living  as  a  clerk    in    a 


4S6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


provision  store,  and  was  afterward  engaged  in 
a  wholesale  business  some  years,  continuing  in 
the  latter  until  May,  1876,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed patrolman.  A  little  later  he  was  as- 
signed to  special  duty  with  the  rank  of  ser- 
geant;  and  in  1888  he  was  promoted  to  the 
office  of  inspector  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant, 
a  position  which  he  has  since  filled.  Besides 
his  work  as  a  detective  he  has  charge  of  all 
court  cases,  having  received  his  appointment 
as  court  officer  in  1882.  He  was  made  a 
Mason  in  Beth-Horon  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
of  Brook] ine,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Honor,  which  he  joined  in  1876. 

On  September  5,  1870,  Mr.  Paige  married 
Miss  Carrie  E.  Spencer,  who  was  born  in 
Eastport,  Me.,  being  one  of  the  three  children 
of  William  S.  and  Mary  A.  (Low)  Spencer. 
Mr.  Spencer  conducted  the  business  of  a  house 
painter  in  Eastport  for  several  years,  but  re- 
moved from  there  to  Brookline  when  Mrs. 
Paige  was  a  young  girl,  and  for  many  years 
was  employed  by  B.  F.  Baker,  of  whom  a  brief 
sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Spencer  was  interested  in  all  matters 
affecting  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  took  part 
in  the  movement  for  the  present  public  library 
building.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paige  have  one  child, 
a  son,  Walter  W.  Paige,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  business  in  Boston. 


Natick, 
(Morse) 


R.  SAMUEL  STILLMAN  WHIT- 
NEY, for  many  years  prominent  in 
Dedham  and  the  surrounding  towns 
as  a  leading  physician,  was  born  in 
Mass.,  son  of  George  and  Esther 
Whitney.  George  Whitney,  also  a 
native  of  Natick,  was  a  farmer  and  a  large 
landed  proprietor.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  His  wife,  who  was  a  daughter 
of  one  of  the  leading  families,  bore  him  eight 
children,  and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty. 

Samuel  Stillman  Whitney  passed  his  boy- 
hood in  Natick.  His  general  education  was 
received  in  the  common  schools  of  the  town, 
at  Leicester  Academy,  and  at  Amherst  Col- 
lege. He  had  been  in  college  two  years  when 
his  health  gave  way.  After  a  rest  he  began 
the  study  of  medicine,  reading  first  with  Mrs. 
Whitney's   father    in    South    Natick   and   later 


with  Dr.  John  Fisher,  of  Boston.  He  then 
matriculated  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School. 
After  duly  graduating  from  that  institution, 
he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Newton  Upper  Falls,  where  he  remained  for 
six  years.  He  then  spent  a  year  in  Europe 
studying  and  perfecting  himself  in  medical 
knowledge,  and  acquiring  practical  experience 
in  French  and  German  hospitals. 

Solicited  by  many  of  the  best  people  to  set- 
tle for  practice  in  Dedham,  he  came  here  in 
1844.  He  was  one  of  the  most  successful  phy- 
sicians in  this  section  of  the  State,  and  gained 
a  widespread  reputation  for  skill  and  ability. 
His  practice  covered  a  wide  area  and  absorbed 
his  whole  time.  He  owned  five  horses,  and 
was  kept  constantly  active.  His  death  at  the 
age  of  forty,  undoubtedly  hastened  by  his  de- 
votion to  his  profession,  was  deeply  lamented 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends.  His  rare  quali- 
ties of  mind  and  heart  made  him  the  most 
charming  comrade  at  all  times,  and  in  do- 
mestic life  an  ideal  character. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Spaulding  Whitney  was  not  only 
the  wife  but  the  daughter  of  a  physician. 
Born  in.  Littleton,  January  6,  1816,  she  comes 
of  a  family  that  was  among  the  earliest  to  set- 
tle in  Chelmsford.  Her  father,  Dr.  Spauld- 
ing, was  born  there,  and  was  graduated  from 
the  Boston  Medical  School.  He  practised  in 
Littleton  and  later  in  South  Natick,  where  he 
spent  the  last  part  of  his  life,  dying  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six.  Mrs.  Whitney's  mother,  Sally 
Whitney,  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Timothy 
Harrington,  a  practising  physician  of  Chelms- 
ford for  many  years.  She  was  one  of  two  chil- 
dren, and  had  only  one  child  of  her  own,  Mrs. 
Whitney.  Mrs.  Whitney  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Littleton  and  Natick,  and  in  a  pri- 
vate finishing  school  at  Cambridge.  She 
afterward  taught  school  in  Cambridge  and  in 
South  Natick  for  two  years  previous  to  her 
marriage,  which  took  place  in  1839.  She  re- 
moved with  her  husband  to  Dedham,  and  has 
since  resided  here.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitney 
lost  two  children  —  one  who  died  in  infancy; 
and  Stillman  Spaulding,  who  grew  to  matu- 
rity. The  latter  was  educated  in  the  common 
and  high  schools,  and  later  graduated  from  the 
Boston  Homceopathic  School  of  Medicine. 
He  settled   for  practice   in   Allston,  where  he 


CHARLES    II.    WHirri.l'. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


459 


remained,  worthily  representing  his  profession 
until  his  death  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years. 
Dr.  Samuel  S.  Whitney,  the  father,  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics.  He  was  a  devout  and 
consistent  member  of  the  Orthodox  church. 
To  keep  in  touch  with  the  times,  little  as  his 
leisure  was,  he  was  a  constant  student.  He 
also  wrote  a  number  of  valuable  papers,  some 
of  which  were  widely  copied  in  the  English 
medical  journals,  and  were  read  before  socie- 
ties of  physicians  and  surgeons. 


LLEN  C.  BATES,  proprietor  of  the 
stove  and  tinware  business  formerly 
carried  on  in  Cohasset  by  his 
father,  was  born  in  Boston,  Septem- 
ber 4,  1844,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Col- 
lier) Bates.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Co- 
hasset, as  was  also  his  grandfather,  Samuel 
Bates  (first),  who  was  a  prosperous  merchant. 
Samuel  Bates  (second)  established  the  stove 
business  here  in  1844,  and  continued  it  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1S88.  Natu- 
rally modest  and  unassuming,  he  preferred  to 
devote  his  entire  time  to  his  business,  and  as 
a  result  he  enjoyed  an  ample  degree  of  pros- 
perity. Politically,  he  supported  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  in  his  religious  views  he  was 
a  Unitarian.  Of  his  children  four  survive; 
namely,  Samuel  P.,  Allen  C,  Elizabeth  C, 
and  George  C.  Elizabeth  C.  is  a  resident  of 
this  town,  and  George  C.  resides  in  Boston. 
The  Bates  and  Collier  families  are  both  of 
Colonial  ancestry,  and  have  long  been  identi- 
fied with  Cohasset  and  the  vicinity. 

Allen  C.  Bates  grew  to  manhood  in  this 
town,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  and 
high  schools.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  began 
to  learn  the  tinsmith's  trade,  and  he  continued 
in  his  father's  employ  until  succeeding  to  the 
business  in  1888.  He  has  since  added  plumb- 
ing to  his  other  business,  and  also  carries  a 
large  stock  of  stoves,  furnaces,  tin  and  hard- 
ware, kitchen  furnishings,  glassware,  and 
other  household  requisites.  He  is  also  Sealer 
of  Weights  and  Measures.  He  is  a  member  of 
Konohasset  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  and  Nan- 
tasket  Lodge,  Knights  of  Honor.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.    Bates   married    Emily    L. ,    daughter   of 


the  late  Paul  Bates,  of  Cohasset,  and  has  three 
children  living — Paul  J.  and  Samuel  C. 
(twins),  and  Henry  B.  The  first-born  child, 
an  infant  named  Allen  C,  died  in  187-1. 


HARLES  H.  WHIPPLE,  one  of  the 
successful  farmers  of  Bellingham,  was 
born  here,  September  8,  1S45,  son 
of  James  R.  and  Caroline  C. 
(Cooper)  Whipple.  His  father,  a  stone- 
cutter by  trade,  and  in  later  years  a  farmer,  is 
now  eighty-four  years  of  age,  and  resides  on  a 
farm  in  Cumberland,  where  he  has  lived  all 
his  life.  The  mother,  who  was  a  native  of 
Rehoboth,  Mass.,  died  in  1879.  James  R. 
Whipple  subsequently  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Catherine  Gallagher,  a  native 
of  Ireland.  His  children,  all  by  his  first 
wife,  were:  Marcus  E.,  now  residing  in  Cum- 
berland; Artemus  L.,  a  farmer  of  Cum- 
berland; Augustus,  who  died  in  infancy; 
and  Charles  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
There  were  no  children  by  his  second  mar- 
riage. 

Charles  H.  Whipple  received  a  common- 
school  education.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  when 
the  Southern  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  ran  away 
from  home,  and  enlisted  in  Company  I, 
Fourth  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  under  Colo- 
nel J.  I.  McCarty  and  Captains  Lapham  and 
Morse.  With  his  regiment  he  fought  at  Roa- 
noke Island  and  Newbern;  participated  in  the 
siege  and  capture  of  Fort  Macon ;  was  at 
Blackwater  and  the  capture  of  Fort  Hill;  and 
fought  at  White  House  Landing,  South  Moun- 
tain, Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  second  Bull 
Run,  and  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness.  After 
the  last-named  battle  he  was  with  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  at  Petersburg.  In  the  battle 
of  Antietam  Mr.  Whipple  received  a  ball  in 
the  thigh.  At  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg 
he  was  wounded  by  a  shell  fragment,  which 
struck  him  on  the  head,  disabling  him  for  five 
weeks,  without  forcing  him  into  the  hospital. 
After  his  discharge  in  Providence,  R.I.,  in 
October,  1864,  he  re-enlisted  in  the  Second 
United  States  Veteran  Volunteers,  Company  G, 
and  was  finally  discharged  on  March  7,  1866. 
After  a  short  stay  at  home  he  went  to  Woon- 
socket,  and  was  engaged   in   teaming  there  for 


460 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


about  eight  years.  In  1877  he  removed  to 
Blackstone,  Worcester  County,  where  he  spent 
seven  years  employed  in  driving  a  butcher's 
wagon  through  the  country.  In  1884  he  re- 
moved to  his  present  place  of  residence  at 
Bellingham,  continuing  to  deal  in  meats  for 
about  two  years,  afterward  devoting  his  entire 
time  to  farming  and  teaming. 

In  September,  1869,  during  his  residence  in 
Woonsocket,  Mr.  Whipple  married  Miss 
Carrie  J.  Lapham,  who  was  born  in  1849, 
daughter  of  Lawton  and  Laura  (Darling) 
Lapham.  Her  father  was  a  machinist  by 
trade.  She  died  December  28,  1875,  leaving 
two  children:  Rupert  L.,  who  married  Nellie 
Webster,  resides  in  Providence,  and  is  a  fire- 
man on  the  railroad;  and  Ethel,  who  lives  at 
home  with  her  father.  Mr.  Whipple  married 
again  on  September  1,  1880,  Miss  Julia  M. 
Toomey,  of  Jefferson  County,  New  York,  who 
was  born  June  25,  1859,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Anna  M.  (Gilson)  Toomey.  Her  father 
was  a  shoemaker  of  Woonsocket.  The  present 
Mrs.  Whipple  has  had  seven  children  — 
Carrie  L. ,  Bertha  M.,  Clara,  Mabel,  Charles, 
Frederick,  and  Hazel.  Clara  and  Hazel  are 
dead.      The  others  reside  at  home. 

Mr.  Whipple  now  owns  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  of  land,  which  he  has  improved 
with  new  buildings,  etc.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  farmers  in  the  vicinity,  in 
addition  to  his  general  farming  carrying  on  a 
large  dairy  business  and  dealing  largely  in 
poultry.  He  runs  a  cart  daily  to  Woonsocket, 
and  has  an  extended  milk  route.  He  is  an  In- 
dependent in  politics.  A  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  he  belongs  to  Blackstone  River 
Lodge,  No.  4,  of  Blackstone,  Mass.  ;  to  the 
Knights  Templar  Commandery  of  Woon- 
socket ;  and  to  the  Royal  Arch  Chapter, 
No.  5. 


/T'SOLONEL  A.  C.  DRINKWATER, 
I  Vp  a  well-known  leather  manufacturer  of 
\%>  Braintree,    is   a  native  of  Topsham, 

Me.  Born  in  July,  1846,  son  of 
Joseph  S.  and  Mary  E.  (Alexander)  Drink- 
water,  both  natives  of  Maine,  his  paternal 
great-grandfather  was  a  naval  officer  in  the 
war  of    the    Revolution,    while    his    maternal 


grandfather  took  an  active  part  in  the  War  of 
18 1 2,  and  was  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg. 
The  father  manufactured  leather,  owning  a 
tannery  at  Brunswick,  Me.,  and  was  promi- 
nent and  active  in  the  politics  of  his  county. 

After  attending  the  high  school  of  Topsham 
for  a  time,  A.  C.  Drinkwater  finished  his 
early  education  at  the  Edward  Little  Institute 
in  Auburn,  Me.  In  1863  he  enlisted  for  ser- 
vice in  the  Civil  War  in  Company  K  of  the 
First  District  of  Columbia  Cavalry,  which  in 
1864  was  added  to  the  First  Maine  Cavalry. 
He  afterward  fought  in  the  Wilson  raid,  took 
part  in  the  action  before  Richmond  and  Peters- 
burg, and  assisted  in  the  capture  of  the 
Weldon  Road.  Taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy 
at  the  last-named  place  in  November,  1864, 
he  was  subsequently  confined  in  Libby  Prison 
until  March,  1865,  when  he  was  duly  ex- 
changed. Shortly  after  he  joined  his  regi- 
ment at  Annapolis,  and  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox.  He  was 
mustered  out  of  service  July  6,  1865,  and  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge.  After  spend- 
ing some  time  in  his  native  State,  he  came  to 
Braintree  in  1868,  and  established  the  busi- 
ness which  he  has  since  prosperously  carried 
on  in  this  town.  His  tannery  is  located  on 
the  Monatiquot  River,  which  is  well  adapted 
for  tanning  purposes.  Having  learned  the 
business  in  his  father's  factory,  he  thoroughly 
understands  every  branch  of  the  industry.  He 
tans  fine  sole  leather  after  the  method  known 
as  the  "Drinkwater  process." 

Colonel  Drinkwater  married  Susie  H. 
Brocklebank,  of  Bridgton,  Me.,  and  has  four 
children  now  living.  These  are:  Milard  F., 
Horace  R.,  Elsie  E.,  and  Helen  V.  Since 
1867  he  has  been  identified  with  the  Masonic 
order.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  State  Demo- 
cratic Convention  for  twenty  consecutive 
years,  and  during  that  time  he  served  as 
treasurer  and  chairman  of  the  State  Commit- 
tee. In  the  years  1880  and  1884  he  was  dele- 
gate to  the  National  Democratic  Convention, 
and  in  1883  he  served  as  Aide-de-camp,  with 
the  rank  of  Colonel,  on  the  staff  of  General 
Butler,  then  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 
He  has  served  on  various  committees  of  the 
town  of  Braintree,  is  a  Water  Commissioner,  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee,  and  a  mem- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


461 


bcr  at  large  of  the  Democratic  State  Central 
Committee. 


Wi 


ILLIAM  QUINCY  FISHER,  who 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  a 
tarmer  in  Medfield  for  many  years, 
was  born  here,  July  27,  1809,  son  of  Quincy 
and  Ame  (Allen)  Fisher,  both  of  whom  were 
descendants  of  old  families  here.  Quincy 
Fisher,  son  of  John,  was  a  man  of  much  me- 
chanical ability,  whose  principal  occupation 
was  that  of  carpenter.  He  died  in  Medfield  in 
1824,  aged  forty-eight  years.  His  wife  died 
in  1870.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, namely:  Ame,  born  in  1802,  who  died 
in  the  same  year;  William,  born  in  1803, 
died  in  1806;  and  Ame  (the  second  of  the 
name),  born  in  1807,  died  in  the  same  year; 
William  Quincy,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Ame  A.,  born  in  181 1,  who  married  John 
Ellis,  and  died  in  i860;  Miriam,  born  in 
1814,  who  died  in  1815;  Miriam  (second), 
born  in  1S17,  who  married  Henry  P.  Bruce, 
and  died  in  1895;  and  John,  born  in  1S20, 
who  died  in  1820. 

After  receiving  a  district  schooling,  Will- 
iam Quincy  Fisher  began  learning  the  carpen- 
ter's trade.  Subsequently  he  worked  with  his 
father  until  the  latter's  death.  Then  he  took 
charge  of  the  old  farm,  and  carried  it  on  for 
the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  here,  October 
15,  1886,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year.  His 
was  a  well-spent  life,  and  he  was  highly  re- 
spected by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  took  much  interest  in  politics,  supported 
the  Democratic  party,  and  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Andrew  Jackson  in  1832. 
He  served  the  town  in  the  capacity  of  Select- 
man for  a  number  of  years. 

On  February  4,  1841,  Mr.  Fisher  married 
Miss  Mary  L.  Harding.  She  was  born  in 
Medfield,  June  7,  1S17,  daughter  of  Oliver 
and  Sarah  (French)  Harding,  who  were  na- 
tives respectively  of  Medfield  and  Dedham. 
Her  father,  whose  chief  occupation  was 
marketing,  died  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
six.  The  mother  died  in  1877,  aged  ninety- 
six  years.  They  had  five  other  children, 
namely:  Nathan,  born  in  1809,  a  brush  manu- 
facturer,   who  married   Mary   Harmstead,   and 


died  in  1895;  Henry,  born  in  181 1,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  Russell,  and  died  in  1881;  Sarah, 
born  in  1812,  who  became  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Forbes,  and  died  November  2,  1896;  Jo- 
seph, born  in  18 14,  who  married  Ellen  Hast- 
ings, and  is  now  deceased;  and  Hannah,  born 
in  1820,  who  married  Amos  W.  Shumway,  of 
Dover,  and  now  lives  in  South  Natick.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Fisher  had  two  daughters:  Mary  E., 
born  December  24,  1841,  who  has  always  re- 
sided in  Medfield;  and  Sarah  H.,  born  Sep- 
tember 26,  1843,  who  married  George  W. 
Bruce  in  1876.  They  all  live  with  Mrs. 
Fisher.  Three  great-grandfathers  of  these 
ladies  fought  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Miss  Mary  E.  Fisher  is  a  member  of  the  Med- 
field Historical  Society,  in  which  she  takes 
great  interest.  Mrs.  Fisher  attends  the  Uni- 
tarian church  of  Medfield,  to  which  her  hus- 
band used  to  accompany  her  before  his 
decease. 


EV.  CHARLES  EDWARD  BEALS, 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
of  Stoneham,  Middlesex  County, 
Mass.,  is  a  native  of  Stoughton, 
Norfolk  County,  where  his  great-grandfather 
Beals  settled  seventy  years  ago  and  more,  and 
where  his  grandfather,  Jedediah  Beals,  is  now 
living,  a  venerable  octogenarian,  born  in  1813, 
he  being  of  the  seventh  generation  of  the  fam- 
ily in  New  England. 

An  examination  of  the  historical  data  rela- 
tive to  the  Beal  (or  Beals)  name  brings  us 
face  to  face  with  one  of  the  oldest  families  in 
America,  for  among  the  builders  of  the  west- 
ern republic  must  be  reckoned  the  Beal  pro- 
genitor and  his  offspring. 

The  early  home  of  the  Beals  was  England. 
Aside  from  tradition,  which  affirms  the  exist- 
ence of  the  name  in  the  days  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  aside  from  certain  facts  which 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  family  name  was 
contemporaneous  with,  if,  indeed,  it  did  not 
antedate  the  Norman  Conquest,  there  is  an 
abundance  of  authentic  historic  evidence  suffi- 
cient to  establish  indubitably  the  high  an- 
tiquity of  the  family.  We  find  traces  of  the 
name  in  some  of  the  oldest  public  and  official 
documents  extant  in  England.      But  it  is  with 


462 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  American  branch  that  we  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned here. 

Two  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago  William 
Stoughton,  afterwards  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  and  whose  name  this  town  now 
bears,  in  his  famous  election  sermon  of  1668 
said,  "God  sifted  a  whole  nation  that  he  might 
send  choice  grain  into  the  wilderness." 
Among  the  choice  spirits  of  his  day,  whom 
the  God  of  nations  had  called  to  leave  home 
and  native  land  to  battle  with  the  austerities 
of  bleak  New  England's  wilderness,  was  the 
venerable  John  Beal,  of  Hingham,  since 
famous  as  the  patriarch  of  an  almost  innumer- 
able tribe  which  has  overspread  America. 

The  fourth  town  clerk  of  Hingham,  Mass., 
Daniel  dishing,  left  on  record  the  following: 
"A  list  of  the  names  of  such  persons  as  came 
out  of  the  town  of  Hingham  and  towns  adja- 
cent in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  in  the  kingdom 
of  England,  into  New  England,  and  settled  in 
Hingham  in  New  England  .  .  .  1638.  John 
Beal,  shoemaker,  with  his  wife  and  five  sons 
and  three  daughters  and  two  servants,  came 
from  Old  Hingham,  and  settled  at  New  Hing- 
ham." (New  England  Historic  Genealog- 
ical Register,  vol.  xiv.  p.  26.  See  also 
History  of  Hingham.)  It  was  on  the  10th 
of  August,  1638,  that  the  ship  "Diligent,"  of 
which  John  Martin  was  master,  arrived  at  Bos- 
ton, having  on  board  the  above-named  persons. 

No  doubt  John  Beal  was  led  to  select 
Hingham  as  the  place  for  his  new  home,  by 
the  fact  that  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev. 
Peter  Hobart,  a  fearless  and  devout  man,  was 
located  there  as  pastor.  Soon  after  taking  up 
his  abode  there,  John  Beal  received  a  grant  of 
land  from  the  town,  and  on  March  13,  1639, 
took  the  "freeman's  oath"  and  was  admitted  to 
the  freedom  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  In 
1649  and  again  in  1659  John  Beal  represented 
the  town  of  Hingham  in  the  General  Court  of 
the  colony,  as  we  may  learn  from  the  public 
records  of  those  early  days. 

That  this  pioneer  sire  lived  to  a  ripened 
age  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  entry 
in  Judge  Samuel  Sewall's  well-known 
"Diary":  "April  1,  1688.  Father  Beal,  of 
Hingham,  dies,  at.  100";  and  under  the  same 
date  David  Hobart,  son  of  the  Rev.  Peter 
Hobart,   writes,  "My  uncle,    John   Beal,   died 


suddenly."  From  the  above,  it  would  appear 
that  John  Beal  was  born  in  England  about 
1588.  As  has  already  been  intimated,  he 
married  into  the  Hobart  family:  for  his  first 
wife,  who  was  the  mother  of  his  ten  children, 
was  Nazareth,  the  daughter  of  Edmund  and 
Margaret  (Dewey)  Hobart.  She  was  born  in 
England  about  1600,  and  died  in  Hingham, 
Mass.,  September  23,  1658.  For  his  second 
wife  John  Beal  married,  March  10,  1659,  Mrs. 
Mary  Jacob,  widow  of  Nicholas  Jacob. 

The  fourth  child  and  eldest  son  of  John  and 
Nazareth  (Hobart)  Beal  was  John  Beal,  Jr., 
who  was  born  in  England  about  1627.  He 
married,  first,  January  6,  1658-9,  Elizabeth 
— .     who     died    February     1,      1659-60. 


He  married,  secondly,  November  14,  1660, 
Mary  Gill,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Hannah 
(Otis)  Gill.  John  Beal,  Jr.,  died  September 
12,  1695,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  He  was  a 
carpenter  by  trade.  Eight  children  were  born 
to  John  Beal,  Jr.,  one  only  by  his  first  wife. 

Thomas  Beal,  the  youngest  son  of  John  and 
Mary  (Gill)  Beal,  was  born  in  Hingham, 
March  15,  1671-2.  His  wife,  whom  he  mar- 
ried June  13,  1 7 10,  was  Jael  Remington, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Remember  (Stowell) 
Remington.  About  1726  Thomas  Beal  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Newton,  where  he 
died  September  14,  175  1.  Old-time  families 
were  heroic  in  size.  That  of  Thomas  Beal 
was  no  exception.  An  even  dozen  of  children 
came  into  his  home,  nine  being  born  in 
Hingham. 

Israel  Beal,  the  ninth  child  and  third  son  of 
Thomas  and  Jael  (Remington)  Beal,  was  born 
in  Hingham,  April  25,  1726.  By  the  removal 
of  his  father  to  Newton  in  the  same  year,  he 
became  one  of  the  rising  young  inhabitants  of 
that  place.  In  1748  he  took  for  his  wife 
Eunice  Flagg.  It  is  said  that  Israel  Beal  at 
one  time  was  of  Waltham.  In  1770  we  find 
that  he  was  a  resident  of  Dorchester,  and  in 
1790  the  Braintree  records  narrate  the  fact  of 
his  being  "warned  from  town."  A  portion  of 
the  town  of  Braintree  was  incorporated  as  the 
town  of  Randolph  in  1793.  Israel  Beal  thus 
became  a  resident  of  the  new  town,  for  his 
home  was  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  town, 
near  the  Weymouth  line,  in  what  is  now 
known   as   the   town   of    Holbrook.      Here   he 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


463 


toiled  as  a  farmer.  Here,  too,  may  be  found 
his  gravestone,  erected  by  his  great-grandson, 
Colonel  Eleazer  Beal,  third,  of  Randolph, 
bearing  the  date  of  18 10  (though  Alden,  in 
his  Sketches  of  Randolph,  fixes  the  time  of  his 
death  a  year  later).  These  were  the  days  that 
"tried  men's  souls."  Israel  Beal  and  his  sons 
faithfully  shared  the  perils  and  privations  of 
the  Revolutionary  patriot's  lot;  and  their  hon- 
orable records  may  be  found  in  the  Massachu- 
setts archives  and  in  the  first  volume  of 
"Massachusetts  Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,"  recently  issued  by  the 
old  Bay  State. 

Eleazer  Beal,  the  second  son  and  fourth 
child  of  Israel  and  Eunice  (Flagg)  Beal,  was 
born  in  Newton,  July  9,  1758.  We  find  in 
the  official  documents  of  Dorchester  the  in- 
tention of  marriage  of  Eleazer  Beal  and 
Sarah  French  recorded  March  17,  1778.  Sarah 
French  was  the  daughter  of  Joshua  and  Esther 
French.  She  was  born  December  14,  1760, 
and  died  February  21,  1825.  Eleazer  Beal 
died  March  28,  1819.  During  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  he  lived  on  Main  Street,  Ran- 
dolph, in  the  Linfield  neighborhood.  By  oc- 
cupation he  was  a  farmer  and  shoemaker.  A 
perusal  of  the  official  Revolutionary  docu- 
ments previously  mentioned  reveals  the  fact 
that  Eleazer  Beals  was  in  most  active  service 
in  the  patriot  ranks  for  a  long  period  of  time. 
The  sacred  number  seven  represents  the  num- 
ber of  children  of  Eleazer  and  Sarah  Beal. 
Of  these  one  daughter  married  Isaac  Blanch- 
ard,  and  they  became  the  ancestors  of  the  well- 
known  Blanchard  family  of  Avon. 

With  the  children  of  Eleazer  Beal  comes 
the  introduction  of  the  name  into  Stoughton, 
and,  we  may  also  note,  the  additional  letter  in 
the  patronymic.  Isaac  Beals  born  in  Ran- 
dolph, December  7,  1783,  removed  to  Stough- 
ton, "and  was  the  first  man  to  introduce  the 
manufacture  of  boots  in  that  town,  which  busi- 
ness he  followed  a  number  of  years.  It  is 
now  largely  carried  on  at  the  present  day.  At 
the  introduction  of  the  manufacture  of  boots 
at  Sing  Sing  State  Prison,  N.  Y. ,  he  was 
called  to  take  charge  of  the  establishment, 
and  oversee  the  business.  He  continued  there 
until  ill  health  compelled  him  to  leave.  He 
served   in  the    War  of    1S12"    {New   England 


Historic  Genealogical  Register,  vol.  xiii.  p. 
1S1).  He  died  January  14,  1859.  He  was 
twice  married,  and  a  number  of  the  residents 
of  Stoughton  are  descended  from  him. 

Jedediah  Beals  (Eleazer,5  Israel,4  Thomas,3 
John,2  John'),  the  fifth  child  and  third  son  of 
Eleazer  and  Sarah  (French)  Beal,  first  saw  the 
light  of  day  in  Randolph,  March  17,  1787. 
He  settled,  perhaps  about  1825,  in  Stoughton. 
He  married  Phebe  Wales,  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Sally  (Porter)  Wales.  Jedediah  Beals 
was  a  shoemaker.  After  coming  to  Stough- 
ton, he  resided  first  in  the  "Light-house" 
neighborhood,  then  in  a  house  adjoining  what 
is  now  C.  A.  Brown's  fancy  and  dry-goods 
store.  Later  his  home  was  on  Prospect 
Street.  He  was  a  kind-hearted  gentleman, 
attaining  the  age  of  ninety-three  years  and  six 
months,  passing  away  September  17,  1880,  at 
the  home  of  his  son,  Jedediah  Beals,  Jr.,  on 
Prospect  Street,  where  his  declining  years 
had  been  spent  in  tranquillity.  His  wife  was 
born  June  21,  1793,  and  died  April  13,  1872. 
Jedediah  Beals  was  a  remarkable  old  man,  and 
after  he  was  ninety  years  old  delighted  in  the 
use  of  rod  and  gun,  putting  the  younger  Nim- 
rods  and  disciples  of  good  Isaac  Walton  to 
shame  by  bringing  down  rabbits  and  squirrels 
with  unerring  aim  and  invariably  securing 
the  largest  strings  of  fish.  In  his  younger 
days  he  "trained"  with  the  militia,  and  no 
doubt  covered  himself  with  glory  at  those 
famous  musters  of  ye  olden  time.  His  great- 
grandchild vividly  recalls  his  fascinating  tale 
of  the  excitement  in  1812.  The  alarm  being 
given,  as  the  people  were  assembled  in  church 
in  Randolph  on  the  quiet  Sabbath,  that  the 
British  were  about  to  land  at  Hingham,  this 
young  militia-man  responded  with  his  com- 
rades to  the  call  of  duty.  The  hasty  march  to 
Hingham  was  marked  with  tears  and  dough- 
nuts, for  the  women  along  the  route,  while 
feeding  the  gallant  heroes,  bemoaned  the 
fact  that  perhaps  they  should  never  behold 
them  again.  But  most  of  the  troubles  antic- 
ipated in  this  life  never  come  to  us,  and  it 
was  so  in  this  case;  for,  after  all,  the  redcoats 
deemed  discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of 
valor,  and  prudently  sailed  away. 

Jedediah  Beals,  Jr.,  son  of  Jedediah  and 
Phebe  (Wales)  Beals,  for  many  years  has  been 


4<H 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


a  well-known  and  respected  citizen  of  this 
town.  Born  in  Randolph,  January  26,  1813, 
he  early  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaking. 
The  removal  of  his  father  to  Stoughton 
brought  him  hither.  By  his  industry,  frugal- 
ity, and  unswerving  integrity  he  gathered  to- 
gether a  sum  sufficient  to  establish  himself  as 
a  manufacturer  of  boots  and  shoes.  He  also 
entered  the  dry-goods  and  grocery  business  in 
the  store  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Henry  Albert 
Drake  on  Pleasant  Street.  By  his  excellent 
business  sagacity,  his  sterling  honesty  and  un- 
flagging attention  to  the  needs  of  his  cus- 
tomers he  attained  a  competency,  and  retired 
from  business  about  1865.  He  built  the  large 
house  on  Prospect  Street  in  which  he  has 
made  his  home  for  more  than  thirty  years. 
In  1879  he  began  the  manufacture  of  knit 
goods,  which  business  he  carried  on  with  suc- 
cess until  recently,  when  he  retired  on  account 
of  advancing  years.  He  married  September 
16,  1838,  Laura  Ann  Gay,  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Susan  (Howard)  Gay.  She  died  June  8, 
i860. 

Of  the  seven  children  born  to  Jedediah  and 
Laura  Ann  Beals,  but  one  attained  to  years  of 
maturity.  This  was  Charles  Emery  Beals. 
He  was  born  in  Stoughton,  February  5,  1843. 
At  an  early  age  he  became  a  merchant,  enter- 
ing into  partnership  with  Mr.  Henry  Albert 
Drake.  He  married  July  30,  1865,  Miss 
Susan  Fisher,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary 
Tilden  (Upham)  Fisher.  Two  children  re- 
sulted from  this  union.  Charles  Emery  Beals 
died  May  23,  1869.  Mrs.  Susan  Beals,  sur- 
viving her  husband,  resides  in  the  home  of 
Mr.  Jedediah  Beals    on  Prospect  Street. 

Susie  Laura  Beals,  daughter  of  Charles 
Emery  and  Susan  (Fisher)  Beals,  was  born  in 
Stoughton,  September  23,  1866.  As  a  stu- 
dent in  the  public  schools  of  her  native  town, 
she  gave  unusual  promise,  easily  leading  her 
classes  and  commanding  alike  the  admiration 
of  her  classmates  and  the  love  of  her  teachers. 
She  was  the  valedictorian  of  the  class  of  1884, 
Stoughton  High  School.  She  also  graduated 
from  the  Girls'  High  School  of  Boston,  in 
which  school  she  likewise  pursued  a  post- 
graduate course.  She  married  April  20,  1890, 
William  Harvey  Clifford,  son  of  Kilborn  R. 
and  Arminda  (Eames)  Clifford,  of  Stoughton. 


One  child  was  the  fruit  of  this  marriage; 
namely,  Charles  William  Clifford,  born  in 
Stoughton,  December  22,  1893.  After  nearly 
three  years  of  suffering  from  pulmonary  tuber- 
culosis, from  which  relief  was  sought  in  vain 
by  a  Southern  trip,  she  passed  away  August 
16,  1897.  Hers  was  a  rare,  beautiful  char- 
acter, ripened  and  mellowed  by  the  months  of 
weary  agony.  During  her  protracted  illness 
her  thoughts  were  constantly  for  the  welfare  of 
others.  Many  were  the  helpful,  sympathetic, 
cheering  letters  which  emanated  from  her  sick- 
room, and  which  remain  to  testify  to  the  depth 
and  genuineness  of  her  Christian  character. 

Charles  Edward  Beals,  the  younger  child  of 
Charles  Emery  and  Susan  Beals,  was  born 
in  Stoughton,  July  15,  1869.  Educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Stoughton,  he  graduated 
from  the  high  school  in  1885  as  salutatorian. 
For  four  years  he  studied  mechanical  engineer- 
ing in  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technol- 
ogy, Boston.  He  was  graduated  from  Drew 
Theological     Seminary,     Madison,     N.J.,      in 

1892,  being  selected  as  one  of  the  commence- 
ment speakers.  During  the  summers  of  1889, 
1890,  and  1 89 1  he  supplied  the  Methodist 
churches  of  Washington,  R.I.,  Hingham, 
Mass.,  and  West  Abington,  Mass.,  respec- 
tively. Entering  the  New  England  Southern 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  April,  1892,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Em- 
manuel Church,  Mansfield,  Mass.,  which  pas- 
torate he  filled  for  four  years.  During  one  of 
these  years  he  also  served  as  pastor  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  Foxboro.  He 
was  ordained    Deacon   at    Plymouth    in   April, 

1893,  and  Elder  at  Brockton  in  April,  1894, 
passing  the  four  years'  examination  in  two 
years.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Providence 
District  Ministerial  Association  for  two  years. 
He  was  first  vice-president  of  the  Providence 
District  Epworth  League  for  one  year  and 
president  of  the  same  association  for  one  year. 
He  was  appointed  pastor  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Phenix,  R.I.,  in  April, 
1896.  In  July  of  the  same  year  he  resigned 
from  the  ministry  and  membership  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  on  account  of 
dissatisfaction  with  its  polity.  He  at  once 
accepted  the  pastorate  of  the  Maverick  Church 
Chapel,    East    Boston,    becoming   assistant    to 


STEPHEN    T.    ROCKWOOD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


467 


the  Rev.  Smith  Baker,  D.D.,  of  the  Maverick 
Congregational  Church  of  that  city.  In  July, 
1897,  receiving  a  unanimous  call  from  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Stoneham,  Mass., 
he  accepted,  assuming  the  pastorate  August  1, 
and  being  formally  installed  by  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal council,  September  16,  1897. 

Mr.  Beals  is  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Historic-Genealogical  Society  and  of  the 
Stoughton  Historical  Society.  He  married 
June  30,  1892,  Miss  Nellie  Vernon  Drake, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  H.  and  Phebe  S.  (Limn) 
Drake,  of  Stoughton.  They  have  two  chil- 
dren: Helen  Drake  Beals,  born  in  Mansfield, 
January  5,  1895;  and  Charles  Edward  Beals, 
Jr.,  born  in  East  Boston,  July  20,   1896. 


LBERT  HEDGES  and  CLIFEORD 
J.  HEDGES,  machinists  and  bicycle 
manufacturers,  are  among  the  most 
energetic  and  enterprising  young 
business  men  of  Foxboro.  Both  were  born  in 
the  town  of  West  Upton,  Worcester  County. 

James  Hedges,  the  father  of  these  gentle- 
men, was  born  and  reared  in  England.  He 
came  from  there  to  Massachusetts  when  about 
twenty-nine  years  old.  Locating  in  West 
Upton,  he  was  engaged  at  his  trade  of  machin- 
ist in  Knowlton's  straw  shop,  having  charge  of 
the  machines  and  the  general  supervision  of 
the  works  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1882  he 
went  to  Adrian,  Mich.,  becoming  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm  Royston  &  Hedges, 
workers  and  dealers  in  straw  goods.  Very 
prosperous  for  a  time,  this  firm,  which  was  one 
of  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  West,  eventually 
sunk  owing  to  the  methods  of  Mr.  Royston. 
James  Hedges  then  went  to  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
where  he  was  the  superintendent  of  the  large 
straw  works  of  Mr.  Slocum  for  about  a  year. 
Not  liking  the  place  very  well,  he  then  re- 
turned East,  coming  direct  to  Foxboro,  where 
he  has  since  been  employed  in  the  straw  man- 
ufactory of  Caton  Brothers  &  Bixby,  one  of 
the  leading  firms  of  the  county.  He  and  his 
family  are  stanch  Republicans,  and  he  belongs 
to  the  fraternities  of  Masons  and  Knights 
Templar.  On  July  23,  1859,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Mullings.  She  has  had 
seven     children;     namely,      Annie,     Jennie, 


Emma,  Albert,  Flora,  Clifford  J.,  and  James. 
James  is  deceased.  Annie  is  the  wife  of 
Henry  Drake,  and  lives  in  Winslow,  Ariz. 
Jennie  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Cleveland,  of 
Adrian,  Mich.,  and  has  one  son,  Oil ie.  Clif- 
ford J.  was  born  September  19,  1876.  The 
father  recently  erected  a  fine  residence  on 
Central  Street,  not  far  from  the  machine  shop 
of  his  sons. 

Albert  Hedges  married  Bessie  Butterworth, 
of  Foxboro,  and  has  one  child,  Barbara.  In 
1893  he  opened  this  shop  for  the  building  of 
bicycles.  Here  the  brothers  make  a  wheel 
known  as  the  "Hedges,"  which  has  found 
great  favor  in  the  market.  Besides  repairing 
they  execute  all  kinds  of  light  work,  and  have 
an  extensive  trade  in  custom-made  bicycles. 
Albert  was  one  of  the  swiftest  riders  in  the 
country  on  the  old  high  wheel.  In  Michigan 
he  was  the  champion  of  the  State,  and  he  has 
been  the  leading  rider  of  Norfolk  County. 
He  was  known  all  over  the  country  as  a  daring 
and  fearless  bicyclist;  and  at  one  time  he  beat 
the  world's  champion,  Zimmerman,  in  two 
races,  one  a  scratch  race  and  the  other  a 
handicap.  He  has  a  large  number  of  medals 
and  trophies  won  in  bicycle  races,  a  part  of 
them  having  been  gained  when  he  rode  in  the 
racing  circuit  for  the  Pope  Manufacturing 
Company. 


TEPHEN  T.  ROCKWOOD,  who 
owns  and  cultivates  a  productive 
farm  in  Norfolk,  was  born  in  this 
town,  January  18,  1841.  A  son  of 
Benjamin  and  Sarah  R.  (Pond)  Rockwood,  he 
belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  this 
section.  His  farm  was  formerly  a  part  of  that 
occupied  by  his  grandparents,  Benjamin  and 
Lucy  M.  (Ware)  Rockwood,  who  were  natives 
of  Wrentham.  The  former  served  as  an  As- 
sessor for  a  number  of  years. 

The  father  of  Stephen  T.  was  born  at  the 
homestead,  November  4,  181 2.  He  followed 
the  trade  of  carpenter  for  many  years,  and 
tilled  the  soil  of  the  home  farm,  which  he  pur- 
chased from  the  original  homestead.  He  died 
March  27,  1855.  Sarah  R.  Rockwood,  his 
wife,  who  was  born  in  Wrentham,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary   18,    1 81 5,    became  the  mother  of   seven 


468 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


children,  as  follows:  Benjamin  H.,  born  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1839;  Stephen  T.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Sarah  M.,  born  August  5,  1843; 
Nathan  H.,  born  March  22,  1846;  Eunice  A., 
born  October  27,  1848;  Elisha  W„  born 
March  16,  1851;  and  Elijah  C,  born  October 
9,  1853.  Benjamin,  who  is  a  box-maker,  and 
resides  in  Westboro,  Mass.,  wedded  Mary  D. 
Fuller;  Sarah,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of 
Horace  Briggs,  who  resides  in  California; 
Nathan,  who  successively  married  Sarah  E. 
Pond  and  Hattie  Louisa  Barden,  is  residing  in 
Norfolk;  Eunice  is  the  wife  of  James  T. 
Adams,  a  merchant  in  Medway  village, 
Mass.  ;  Elisha,  who  is  a  miller,  and  resides  in 
Norfolk,  married  Louisa  Clark;  Elijah  died 
March  2,  1858,  in  his  fifth  year.  The  mother, 
who  is  now  eighty-three  years  old,  resides  with 
her  son,  Stephen  T. 

Stephen  T.  Rockwood  attended  the  common 
schools.  He  has  not  been  absent  from  the 
homestead  for  any  length  of  time,  with  the 
exception  of  two  seasons  spent  as  a  farm  assist- 
ant in  his  younger  clays.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-two  he  took  charge  of  the  farm,  which 
eventually  came  into  his  possession.  He  has 
since  devoted  his  fourteen  acres  of  land  to 
dairy  purposes  and  the  raising  of  poultry. 
He  also  deals  in  fertilizers  and  agricultural 
implements,  acting  as  local  agent  for  several 
well-known  manufacturers. 

On  January  4,  1863,  Mr.  Rockwood  con- 
tracted his  first  marriage  with  Caroline  E. 
Hill.  She  was  a  daughter  of  William  A.  and 
Henrietta  (Lawrence)  Hill,  prosperous  farm- 
ing people,  both  of  whom  are  now  deceased. 
She  received  a  severe  shock  from  lightning, 
August  29,  1868,  from  the  effects  of  which 
she  died  April  7,  1869.  She  left  two  chil- 
dren —  Cora  F.  and  George  P.  Cora  F.  is  the 
wife  of  Harry  S.  Mason,  of  Medfield,  Mass., 
and  has  one  child,  Marguerite.  George  works 
in  a  straw  factory  in  Wrentham,  Mass.  Mr. 
Rockwood's  second  wife,  whom  he  wedded 
September  27,  1870,  was  Mary  E.,  daughter 
of  Russell  and  Adeline  E.  (Babcock)  Haynes, 
born  in  Acton,  Mass.,  November  27,  1848. 
Her  father  died  in  1859,  and  her  mother  on 
July  19,  1897.  To  this  union  were  born  three 
children,  namely:  Bernard  R.,  on  March  12, 
1872;    Harold  S.,    December    24,    1884,    who 


died  August  4,  1887;  and  Marion  S.,  on  Au- 
gust 6,  1892.  Bernard  R.,  who  is  a  book- 
keeper in  Franklin,  Mass.,  married  Ada  Law- 
rence. Their  children  are:  Mildred  L.,  born 
in  April  14,  1893;  Marjory  E.,  born  June  29, 
1895;  and  Arthur  L.,  born  June  5,  1897. 
Mr.  Rockwood  has  served  with  ability  as  an 
Assessor  and  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  con- 
nected with  Norfolk  Grange,  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry. Both  he  and  Mrs.  Rockwood  are 
active  members  of  the  Congregational   church. 


DWARD  L.  UNDERWOOD,  a  highly 
esteemed  resident  of  Canton,  Norfolk 
County,  is  one  of  the  corps  of  in- 
structors in  the  private  classical  school  of  J.  P. 
Hopkinson  on  Chestnut  Street,  Boston.  He 
was  born  in  that  city,  July  23,  1859,  being  a 
son  of  Edward  Dana  and  a  descendant,  in 
the  seventh  generation,  of  Richard  Dana,  who 
settled  in  Brighton,  Mass.,  in  1640. 

Edward  Dana,  a  son  of  Aaron  Dana,  was 
born  and  bred  in  Boston,  where,  until  his 
death  in  1866,  he  was  a  commission  merchant 
in  Quincy  Market.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Hopkins  Saunders,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Little  Saunders  and  Mehitable  Saunders,  the 
only  child  of  their  union  being  Edward  Liv- 
ingston, the  special  subject  of  this  brief  biog- 
raphy. The  father  was  a  Democrat  in  politics 
until  1859,  but  after  that  time  he  was  a  firm 
adherent  of  the  Republican  party. 

Edward  Livingston  Dana  was  adopted  a  few 
years  after  the  death  of  his  father,  by  Dr. 
William  E.  Underwood,  his  step-father,  a 
prominent  physician  and  active  politician  of 
Boston,  who  was  for  two  years  in  the  legislat- 
ure and  for  many  years  a  trusted  and  honored 
member  of  the  Boston  School  Board.  His 
name  was  at  that  time  legally  changed  to  Ed- 
ward Livingston  Underwood,  by  which  he  has 
since  been  known.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Boston,  the  primary,  grammar,  and 
Latin,  afterward  entering  Harvard  College, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1882.  The 
following  two  years  he  was  engaged  with  E. 
Allen  &  Co.,  jobbers  of  wool.  In  1884  he 
began    his    professional   career,    teaching  first 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


469 


for  a  term  of  three  months  at  Rockport,  going 
from  there  to  Bernardston,  Mass.,  as  a  teacher 
in  Powers  Institute,  in  which  he  remained 
until  1890.  Coming  then  to  Canton,  Mr. 
Underwood  was  principal  of  the  high  school 
of  that  town  two  years,  when  he  accepted  his 
present  position  with  Mr.  Hopkinson.  In 
addition  to  this  regular  work  he  is  actively 
engaged  in  private  tutoring  for  college  prepa- 
ration, in  which  occupation  he  has  been  emi- 
nently successful. 

Mr.  Underwood  has  been  identified  with  the 
Republican  party  since  attaining  his  majority, 
and  takes  genuine  interest  in  local  and  na- 
tional affairs.  In  the  advancement  of  educa- 
tional and  literary  matters  he  has  taken  an  ac- 
tive part,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Canton 
School  Board  and  a  trustee  of  the  public  li- 
brary. He  is  an  enthusiastic  worker  in  Ma- 
sonic circles,  being  secretary  of  Blue  Hill 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  a  member  of  St.  Matthew's 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Boston;  of  Hyde  Park 
Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Masters;  of  St. 
Omer  Commandery,  K.  T. ,  of  Boston;  and 
of  Aleppo  Temple,  A.  O.   M.   S.,  of  that  city. 

Mr.  Underwood  was.  married  July  23,  1885, 
to  Lucy  Merrill,  a  daughter  of  William  Whit- 
tle Merrill,  of  Roxbury.  They  have  three 
children;  namely,  Edward  Dana,  Helen  Dana, 
and  Robert  White  Dana.  Mrs.  Underwood  is 
a  direct  descendant  of  Peregrine  White,  dis- 
tinguished as  being  the  first  child  of  the  Pil- 
grims born  after  their  arrival  in  America,  his 
birth  having  occurred  on  board  the  "May- 
flower." Mr.  Underwood  and  his  family 
attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


"ON.  MILTON  METCALF  FISHER, 
the  eldest  son  of  Willis  Fisher,  Esq., 
and  Caroline  Fairbanks,  was  born 
at  South  Franklin,  Mass.,  January 
30,  181 1.  His  ancestry  on  both  sides  is 
purely  English,  and  is  traced  through  his 
grandparents,  Joseph  and  Susan,  both  Fishers, 
in  two  lines:  through  the  latter  and  her 
father,  the  Hon.  Jabez  Fisher,  to  Thomas 
Fisher,  a  native  of  Winston  in  Suffolk 
County,  England,  who  emigrated  to  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  with  wife  and  three  children  in 
1634;    and    through    the    former    to    Anthony 


Fisher,  of  Syleham  in  the  same  county,  who 
did  not  emigrate,  but  sent  his  son  Anthony, 
wife,  and  five  children,  with  three  young 
grandsons  —  Joshua,  Jr.,  John,  and  Daniel  — 
all  of  whom  came  to  Dedham  in  1637,  while 
Joshua,  Sr.,  and  wife  and  three  children,  com- 
ing in  1640,  settled  in  Medfield  in  1650. 
Thomas  and  his  family  removed  from  Cam- 
bridge to  Dedham;  but  their  exact  relation- 
ship to  the  Dedham  Fishers  is  not  yet  known, 
though  probably  it  was  not  very  remote. 

From  this  nucleus  of  nineteen  English- 
born  Fishers,  with  few  stray  exceptions  per- 
haps from  the  British  Provinces,  have 
descended  all  the  Fishers  of  the  Northern 
and  most  of  the  Western  States.  The  history 
of  Captain  Daniel  Fisher,  of  Dedham,  as 
Speaker  of  the  General  Court  and  Governor's 
Assistant,  and  of  his  son  Daniel  in  his  arrest 
of  the  famous  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  is  well 
known.  The  twenty  years'  public  service  of 
the  Hon.  Jabez  Fisher  as  Councillor,  member 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  Representative 
and  Senator,  are  matters  of  record  in  the 
archives  of  the  State. 

The  subject  of  this  article  was  fitted  for  col- 
lege at  Day's  Academy,  Wrentham,  Mass., 
and  in  1832,  with  a  view  to  the  ministry,  en- 
tered Amherst  in  a  large  class  with  the  future 
Governor  Bullock,  the  Hon.  E.  H.  Kellogg, 
Judge  Kellogg,  of  Vermont,  Dr.  Nathan 
Allen,  of  Lowell,  and  the  Hon.  and  Rev. 
Edmund  Dowse;  but  on  account  of  ill  health 
he  left  college  the  next  year.  He  began 
teaching  school  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  In 
1832  he  taught  the  first  classical  school  in 
Randolph,  preparing  in  part  some  twenty 
young  men  for  college,  many  of  whom  are 
leading  men  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
four  each  in  the  three  common  professions. 

In  1835  he  was  a  trader  in  Franklin.  Re- 
moving in  1836  to  Westboro,  he  continued  the 
business  there  and  in  West  Upton,  having 
married  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
Luther  Metcalf,  of  Medway,  in  1836.  In 
1838,  after  a  most  persistent  contest  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  an  abolitionist,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  of  Westboro.  Mr.  Fisher, 
having  voted  for  Van  Buren  in  1836,  and 
being  indorsed  by  the  Democratic  Committee 
and   others   as    "honest    and    capable,"    Amos 


470 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Kendall,  then  Postmaster-General,  for  once 
sadly  disappointed  the  proslavery  element. 
In  1840  Mr.  Fisher  removed  to  Medway,  and, 
establishing  the  manufacture  of  straw  goods, 
continued  the  same  until  1863.  He  was  the 
first  secretary  and  treasurer  —  and  for  many 
years  —  of  the  American  Straw  Goods  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  deputed  to  Washington  to  ad- 
just the  revenue  tax  upon  the  straw  goods 
business  with  Governor  Boutwell,  the  first 
Revenue  Tax  Commissioner,  in  1861. 

On  retiring  from  this  business,  he  estab- 
lished an  agency  for  insurance,  officially  rep- 
resenting the  leading  companies,  both  Ameri- 
can and  foreign,  and  controlled  the  largest 
risks  in  the  vicinity  for  many  years,  his  son, 
F.  L.  Fisher,  being  associated  with  him  since 
1878  to  the  present  time. 

In  1840  he  was  elected  a  Deacon  in  the  vil- 
lage church,  a  title  and  an  office  by  which  he 
has  been  familiarly  known  through  life.  As 
pupil,  teacher,  and  superintendent  he  has 
been  connected  with  the  Sunday-school  since 
1 8 19,  and  has  often  conducted  religious  ser- 
vices in  his  own  and  other  churches  as  a  lay- 
man. He  was  active  in  the  organization  of 
the  Washingtonian  Home,  and  director  for 
many  years.  He  was  connected,  in  some 
cases  officially,  with  the  leading  religious  and 
benevolent  organizations,  State  and  national, 
and  was  a  regular  contributor  to  their  support. 

In  Medway  he  served  upon  all  the  boards  of 
town  officers  for  several  years.  By  executive 
appointment  he  has  held  the  offices  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace  and  of  the  Quorum  for  all  the 
counties,  Notary  Public,  Commissioner  of  the 
New  York  &  Boston  Railroad,  and  commis- 
sioner for  the  division  of  the  old  town  of 
Danvers.  In  1848  he  was  a  county  delegate 
with  Charles  Francis  Adams  from  Norfolk 
County  to  the  Buffalo  Convention,  and  Free 
Soil  candidate  with  him  and  Judge  Wilkinson 
for  Senator  in  1850.  After  an  illness  of  sev- 
eral years  he  was  elected  Senator  for  the  West 
Norfolk  District  in  1859  and  i860.  In  both 
terms  he  resisted  as  a  specialty  the  annexation 
of  Roxbury  to  Boston,  with  so  much  enthusi- 
asm, as  charged  by  Mr.  Worthington  of  the 
Traveler  and  member  of  the  House,  as  to 
delay  the  measure  for  eight  years,  for  the 
benefit  of  Norfolk  County,  as  estimated  by  the 


County  Treasurer,  to  the  amount  of  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

He  was  elected  County  Commissioner  for 
Norfolk  from  1863  to  1872,  serving  three 
years  as  chairman  of  the  board.  Two  reports 
made  by  him,  involving  large  amounts  laying 
out  highways,  were  sharply  contested  in  the 
higher  courts;  and,  although  made  by  a  lay- 
man, both  reports  were  sustained  by  the  courts 
in  every  point.  In  one  case  Judge  Gray  de- 
cided that  it  was  very  proper  to  withhold  a 
payment  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  town  of 
Brookline,  in  case  the  town  had  been  annexed 
to  Boston  before  the  highway  was  completed. 
He  was  contemporary  with  the  earliest  in  the 
temperance  and  anti-slavery  causes. 

While  in  college,  in  1832-33,  he  was  the 
first  to  break  silence  in  the  chapel  by  an  orig- 
inal essay  upon  slavery,  and  was  called  from 
the  platform  by  the  professor  of  rhetoric,  but 
was  sustained  by  the  faculty;  and  the  college 
was  revolutionized  for  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
Though  failing  to  graduate  with  his  class,  he 
afterward  received  the  honorary  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  In  1834  he  attended  as  a 
delegate  the  first  anniversary  of  the  American 
Anti-slavery  Society.  In  1844  he  first  intro- 
duced the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
and  their  refusal  to  take  high  anti-slavery 
ground  led  to  the  new  organization  of  the 
great  American  Missionary  Association. 

Since  1830  he  has  been  a  frequent  and  often 
a  regular  contributor  upon  miscellaneous  sub- 
jects to  the  daily  and  weekly  press.  He  has 
delivered  lectures  upon  temperance,  slavery, 
and  other  subjects  upon  various  occasions. 
He  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  is  now  one  of 
the  oldest  of  the  pioneers  in  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  In  i860  he  obtained  a  charter  for 
the  Dean  Library  Association,  of  which  he 
was  president  for  many  years.  In  1861  he 
was  active  and  liberal  in  war  measures,  and 
he  has  been  present  with  ready  speech  to  the 
Grand  Army  every  Decoration  Day  from  the' 
beginning  to  the  latest.  Oakland  Cemetery, 
which  he  established  in  1865,  he  gave  in  1888 
to  the  Congregational  Society  of  Medway, 
with  some  provision  for  its  care.  He  was 
present  at  burials  for  thirty  years.  In  1872 
he    inaugurated    the    Medway    Savings    Bank, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


47i 


and  has  been  its  president  from  the  first.  In 
1875  he  was  prominent  in  the  erection  of 
Sanford  Hall,  and  in  1881  he  initiated  and 
promoted  the  erection  of  the  Sanford  Mills. 
These  and  the  Straw  Works  are  the  largest  of 
the  substantial  and  most  valuable  structures  in 
Medway.  Mr.  Fisher  has  held  many  important 
trusts  and  appointments  under  the  Probate 
Courts,  and  has  been  a  conveyancer  and  man- 
ager of  estates  for  many  years.  He  has  held  for 
himself  and  with  others  much  real  estate,  and 
has  erected  buildings  in  Medway  village,  which 
have  now  increased  more  than  fivefold  since 
his  residence  there.  His  name  appears  as 
grantor  in  the  Norfolk  Registry  upon  nearly 
one  hundred  conveyances  in  various  forms. 

Mr.  Fisher  married  Eleanor  Metcalf,  daugh- 
ter of  the  Hon.  Luther  Metcalf,  of  Medway. 
He  has  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  His  eld- 
est son,  Dr.  Theo.  W.  Fisher,  is  well  known 
in  Boston  as  a  late  superintendent  of  the  Lu- 
natic Hospital  and  in  other  official  and  private 
relations.  His  youngest  son,  Fred  L.  Fisher, 
late  treasurer  of  the  Medway  Savings  Bank, 
has  been  connected  with  him  many  years  in 
insurance  business,  having  an  office  in  Boston. 
His  eldest  daughter  was  formerly  a  private 
teacher  of  French  and  German,  and  his  young- 
est is  married,  and  lives  in  Tennessee. 

Mr.  Fisher  has  been  too  much  devoted  to 
business  and  secular  matters  of  a  miscellane- 
ous kind  to  attain  a  high  literary  position. 
He  was  chairman  of  the  Town  Committee  to 
prepare  a  town  history  of  Medway,  a  work 
which  the  town  voted  to  publish  upon  his  sug- 
gestion and  plan,  and  which  has  many  articles 
from  his  pen.  A  brief  sketch  of  him  may  be 
found  in  the  History  of  Franklin,  his  native 
town,  and  in  the  Histories  of  Medway  and  the 
County  of  Norfolk. 


iHAUNCEY  C.  CHURCHILL,  a  for- 
mer resident  of  Dedham,  who  was  for 
is  _  years  the  honored  Treasurer  of  Nor- 
folk County,  was  born  in  West 
Fairlee,  Vt.,  September  26,  181 5,  son  of 
William  L.  and  Eliza  (Lanphear)  Churchill. 
After  receiving  his  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  town,  he  taught  school 
for  four  years,  working  on   a  farm   during   his 


vacations.  In  the  winter  of  1839  he  went  to 
Salisbury,  Mass.,  where  he  was  employed  in 
the  Salisbury  mills.  He  remained  there  until 
1842,  when  he  came  to  Dedham,  and  entered 
the  employ  of  what  is  now  the  Merchant 
Woollen  Companies'  Mills,  where  he  worked 
for  thirteen  years.  His  absolute  trustworthi- 
ness had  become  duly  recognized,  as  also  his 
ability  to  administer  responsible  positions; 
and  in  1855  he  was  chosen  by  the  people  of 
Norfolk  County  as  County  Treasurer.  He 
was  successively  re-elected  fourteen  times, 
and  held  the  position  until  1889.  In  1864  he 
was  appointed  Deputy  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for  five 
years.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Dedham 
School  Committee  for  nine  years,  beginning 
in  1 87 1.  These  offices  he  filled  with  entire 
credit  to  himself  and  to  the  full  satisfaction 
of  his  constituency.  An  active  member  of 
the  Allen  Evangelical  Society  of  Dedham,  he 
served  it  as  treasurer  and  collector  for  many 
years.  On  June  7,  1842,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Permelia,  daughter  of  Deacon 
Benajah  Sabin,  of  Salisbury.  He  died  in 
1889,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  Mr. 
Churchill  was  always  ready  to  expend  personal 
effort  in  forwarding  any  movement  for  the 
welfare  of  his  townsmen.  The  efficient  way 
in  which  all  his  obligations  were  discharged, 
whether  public  or  private,  won  for  him  a  wide 
circle  of  friends. 

Mrs.  Churchill  is  descended  from  an  old 
and  esteemed  family.  Her  paternal  grand- 
father, John  Sabin,  was  a  farmer  and  a  promi- 
nent man  of  his  time.  Her  father,  Deacon 
Benajah,  was  Selectman  for  many  years,  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee,  and  a  val- 
ued officer  in  the  church.  He  had  a  family  of 
three  children,  of  whom  two  —  Betsey  and 
Permelia—  reached  maturity.  Mrs.  Churchill 
has  spent  her  life  in  Washington,  N.H.,  and 
Fairlee,  Vt.,  and  in  Dedham,  Mass.  Since 
1856  she  has  lived  in  the  house  built  by  Mr. 
Churchill.  Her  two  children  are:  Chauncey 
S.  and  Isadora  Maria.  Isadora  is  the  widow 
of  Charles  H.  Leland,  who  was  a  clerk  in  the 
Baker,  Hunnewell  Company,  a  prominent  man 
in  the  community,  and  belonged  to  one  of  the 
old  Dedham  families.  Chauncey  S.  Churchill 
is  one   of   the   prominent   dealers    in   coal   and 


47: 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


lumber  in  this  town,  and  has  been  in  business 
for  nineteen  years.  The  firm  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  Fisher  Churchill  Company,  who 
also  deal  extensively  in  ice,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  in  town.  He  has  three  children  — 
Ethel,  Marion  S.,  and  Carroll  C. 


fHOMAS  E.  FAUNCE,  president  of  the 
Co-operative  Bank  of  Hyde  Park,  Nor- 
folk County,  was  born  in  South  Boston, 
Mass.,  February  8,  1848,  a  son  of  Thomas 
Faunce.  He  is  the  representative  of  an  early 
and  prominent  family  of  Eastern  Massachu- 
setts, being  a  lineal  descendant  of  John 
Faunce,  who  came  over  in  the  "Ann,"  one  of 
the  forefather  ships,  in  1623,  and  settled  at 
Plymouth.  He  was  the  father  of  Elder 
Thomas  Faunce.  The  paternal  grandfather 
of  Mr.  Faunce,  of  Hyde  Park,  was  Thomas 
Faunce,  Sr.,  who  died  when  a  young  man, 
leaving  his  widow,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Sally  Savory,  with  but  one  child,  Thomas. 
Mrs.  Sally  S.  Faunce  survived  her  husband 
many  years,  living  to  the   age  of  seventy-six. 

Thomas  Faunce  was  born  and  educated  in 
Plymouth,  where  in  his  early  manhood  he 
worked  several  years  at  the  carpenter's  trade. 
He  subsequently  removed  to  Boston,  and  es- 
tablished a  broker's  office.  He  married  Mary 
A.  D.  Gerrish,  daughter  of  Thomas  Gerrish. 
They  became  the  parents  of  six  children,  two 
of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Arabella  A., 
wife  of  Wilmot  E.  Broad,  of  Chama,  N.M.; 
and  Thomas  E.,  the  special  subject  of  this 
sketch.  The  father  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
four  years,  and  the  mother  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine. 

Thomas  E.  Faunce  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Boston,  being  a  Franklin  Medal 
graduate,  and  also  a  graduate  of  Comer's  Com- 
mercial College.  At  seventeen  years  of  age 
he  entered  the  employ  of  William  H.  S.  Jor- 
dan, at  that  time  a  prominent  insurance  agent, 
with  whom  he  remained  ten  months.  He  was 
afterward  connected  with  the  Manufacturers' 
Insurance  Company  of  Boston  nineteen  years, 
most  of  the  time  being  at  the  head  of  his  de- 
partment. In  1883  he  established  himself  in 
business  on  his  own  account  as  an  insurance 
agent  and  real   estate  dealer,  and  three  years 


later  organized  the  bank  of  which  he  is  now 
president.  The  grand  success  of  this  organi- 
zation is  almost  entirely  clue  to  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  Faunce,  who  has  labored  with  untiring 
zeal  in  its  behalf.  He  is  also  agent  for  eight 
large  insurance  companies,  deals  extensively 
in  mortgages,  and  does  a  great  amount  of 
work  as  an  appraiser  of  real  estate,  of  the 
value  of  which  he  is  considered  an  excellent 
judge.  He  is  auditor  of  the  Norfolk  Subur- 
ban Street  Railway,  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Assessors,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Massachusetts  League  of  Co- 
operative Banks,  and  a  valued  member  of 
Forest  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows,  Monterey  En- 
campment, Royal  Society  of  Good  Fellows, 
and  Neponset  Tribe  of  Red  Men.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican.  He  has  been  a  resident 
of  Hyde  Park  for  more  than  thirty  years,  is 
one  of  the  active  business  men  of  the  town, 
and  has  a  host  of  friends. 

Mr.  Faunce  was  married  in  September, 
1870,  to  Miss  Josephine  Allen,  who  was  born 
in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  her  father,  Or- 
ville  Allen,  was  a  piano  maker,  removing 
to  Leominster,  Mass.,  when  a  child,  and  com- 
ing to  Hyde  Park  in  1S66. 


T^HARLES  A.  FAAS,  one  of  the  influ- 
I  V-'  ential  men  of  Wrentham,  Mass.,  was 
^ls  bom     in    Wiirtemberg,    South    Ger- 

many, April  6,  1827.  He  came  to 
this  country  in  a  sailing-vessel,  landing  in 
New  York  after  a  voyage  of  forty  days.  Here 
he  soon  found  employment  as  an  engraver  in 
the  jewelry  business.  After  working  in  New 
York  for  a  short  time,  he  moved  to  New 
Britain,  Conn.,  and  then  to  Newark,  N.  J., 
where  he  started  in  business  for  himself  at  die 
cutting.  He  had  been  three  years  in  New 
Jersey  when  he  moved  *to  Wickford,  R.I., 
whence,  soon  after,  he  went  to  Providence, 
R.I.  Subsequently  he  came  to  Wrentham, 
and  settled  in  the  village  of  Plainville,  where 
he  has  made  his  home  ever  since. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Faas  enlisted  in  the  Seventh 
Massachusetts  Regiment  as  a  private.  After- 
wards he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Fourth 
Sergeant.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks 
when  he  was  wounded  by  a  rifle  ball  and  taken 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


473 


to  the  rear,  where  his  right  leg  was  amputated. 
He  remained  on  the  battle-field  four  days,  and 
was  then  taken  to  the  hospital  at  Philadelphia, 
where  he  stayed  twenty-two  days,  after  which  he 
was  sent  home  to  Wrentham.  On  account  of 
his  good  nature  and  genial  spirits,  he  was  popu- 
lar in  his  company.  With  the  exception  of  four 
years,  which  were  spent  in  New  York,  Mr. 
Faas  has  lived  since  the  war  in  Plainville.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  was 
naturalized  in  1858. 

Mr.  Faas  first  married  Margaret  Neff,  a  na- 
tive of  Germany.  They  had  three  children, 
namely:  Charles  A.,  who  married  Addie 
Meeks,  of  Brooklyn;  Paulina,  who  married 
William  Gregory,  and  lives  in  Boise  City, 
Idaho;  and  F ranees,  who  died  leaving  a  hus- 
band and  seven  children.  Mr.  Faas  was  mar- 
ried a  second  time  to  Emma  Cheever,  and  they 
have  three  children  —  Edwin,  George,  and 
Florence.  Edwin  married  Eva  Anthony,  and 
has  one  daughter,  Josephine;  and  Florence  is 
the  wife  of  William  Greenhalge,  of  Phenix, 
R.I. 


'TEPHEN  B.  BALKAM  is  a  well- 
known  business  man  of  Hyde  Park, 
engaged  as  a  dealer  in  coal,  lumber, 
wood,  and  cement,  on  Pierce  Street, 
where  he  has  one  of  the  oldest  established  and 
largest  yards  in  this  section  of  the  State.  He 
was  born  October  4,  1842,  in  Robbinston, 
Washington  County,  Me.,  a  son  of  Gilbert 
Balkam,  who  was  born  in  the  same  town.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  John  Balkam,  removed 
to  that  State  from  Attleboro,  Mass.,  and  be- 
came prominent  as  a  Brigadier-general  of  the 
Maine  militia. 

Gilbert  Balkam,  one  of  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, was  brought  up  to  the  trade  of  a  carpen- 
ter, which  he  followed  for  some  years  in  his 
native  town.  While  yet  a  young  man  he 
spent  six  or  seven  years  in  Boston,  and  then 
returned  to  Maine,  and  was  there  engaged  as 
a  ship  builder  and  finisher  throughout  his  ac- 
tive years.  Coming  to  Massachusetts  after 
his  retirement,  he  spent  his  declining  days  at 
the  home  of  one  of  his  sons  in  Jamaica  Plain, 
dying  at  a  good  age.  He  married  Mrs.  Susan 
Brewer,  a  daughter  of  John  Dutch,  and  widow 


of  William  Brewer.  She  bore  him  eight  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Stephen  B.,  Henry,  Will- 
iam F.,  Sewell  D. ,  Mary,  Hannah  A.,  and  two 
that  died  at  an  early  age.  The  mother  is  still 
living,  being  now  eighty-two  years  old.  The 
father  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Stephen  B.  Balkam  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  eighteen  years  of  age,  acquiring  his 
early  education  in  the  district  schools.  Com- 
ing then  to  Boston,  he  obtained  employment 
with  the  firm  of  William  Pope  &  Sons,  lumber 
dealers,  with  whom  he  remained  as  a  clerk  five 
years.  On  the  1st  of  May,  1874,  he  located 
at  Hyde  Park  as  agent  for  a  lumber  company; 
and  three  years  later  he  embarked  in  the  coal 
business  on  his  own  account.  In  1883  he  took 
William  H.  Harlow,  his  present  partner,  into 
company  with  him,  enlarging  his  business  at 
the  same  time;  and  in  1885,  having  outgrown 
the  dimensions  of  their  former  yard,  this  firm 
removed  to  their  present  fine  location,  where 
they  have  built  up  an  extensive  trade  in  their 
line  of  merchandise.  Since  Mr.  Balkam  came 
here,  the  town  has  grown  with  surprising 
rapidity;  and  in  the  erection  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  buildings  he  has  furnished  his  full 
share  of  the  lumber,  of  which  he  carries  a  fine 
stock,  and  of  all  other  materials  used. 

Mr.  Balkam  was  married  May  11,  1868,  to 
Miss  Alice  B.  Crandon,  who  was  born  at  Co- 
lumbia Falls,  Me.,  where  her  father,  the  late 
Joseph  Crandon,  was  a  prosperous  ship- 
builder. Mr.  Crandon  was  twice  married, 
Mrs.  Balkam's  mother,  who  bore  him  three 
children,  having  been  his  second  wife.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Balkam  are  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom,  Marion  May,  died  at  the 
age  of  seven  years.  The  others  are  as  fol- 
lows: Elizabeth  G.,  who  married  William 
Flett,  a  foreman  in  the  Rand  Avery  Supply 
Company,  and  has  two  children — Alice  Ger- 
trude and  Helen  Hendry;  Charles  Herbert, 
who  is  in  the  lumber  business  with  W.  R. 
Chester;  Ralph  W.,  a  student  in  the  Harvard 
Veterinary  College;  Alice  C,  living  at  home, 
a  kindergarten  teacher  in  Boston;  Gilbert,  a 
Dartmouth  student;  and  Helen,  a  pupil  in  the 
Bridgewater  Normal  School. 

In  politics  Mr.  Balkam  is  an  earnest  sup- 
porter   of    the    principles    of    the    Republican 


474 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


party,  and  has  served  on  the  Hyde  Park  Board 
of  Selectmen  several  years.  He  was  made  a 
Mason  in  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  in 
which  he  has  been  Steward,  Warden,  and 
Master.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Norfolk 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  of  Cypress  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T.,  of  which  he  is  Past  Com- 
mander. He  takes  a  deep  interest  in  religious 
matters,  being  a  Deacon  in  the  Congre- 
gational church,  of  which  his  wife  and  their 
children  are  members,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Balkam 
being  also  teachers  in  the  Sunday-school.  In 
1882  he  built  his  handsome  house,  which  is  a 
centre  of  social  activity  and  the  abode  of  hos- 
pitality. 


LEV.  RUFUS  KENDRICK  HAR- 
LOW, the  pastor  of  the  Evangelical 
Congregational  church  at  Medway 
Village  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years,  was  born  in  Middleboro,  Mass.,  March 
28,  1834,  son  of  Major  Branch  and  Lurany 
(Keith)  Harlow.  The  father,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Halifax,  Mass.,  spent  his  early  years 
in  Pocasset,  and  later  settled  in  Middleboro, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
hollow  ware.  He  was  widely  and  favorably 
known  both  as  a  business  man  and  a  public 
official,  having  served  as  High  Sheriff  of 
Plymouth  County.  His  wife,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Middleboro,  became  the  mother  of 
twelve  children ;  namely,  Hope,  Bradford, 
Branch,  Ivory  (first),  Lurany,  Ivory  (second), 
Chester,  Elizabeth,  Foster,  Rufus  K.,  Louisa, 
and  Benjamin.  Of  these  Hope,  Bradford, 
Elizabeth,  Foster,  and  Rufus  K.  are  living. 
Major  Branch  Harlow  died  in  August,  1861; 
and  his  wife  died  in  May,   1878. 

Rufus  Kendrick  Harlow  prepared  for  his 
collegiate  course  at  the  Pierce  Academy, 
Middleboro,  and  was  graduated  from  Amherst 
College  with  the  class  of  1865.  His  theolog- 
ical studies  were  pursued  at  the  Bangor  (Me.) 
Theological  Seminary,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1868.  After  his  ordination  to 
the  ministry,  which  took  place  at  Middleboro 
in  October  of  that  year,  he  officiated  as  the 
pastor  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Street  Congrega- 
tional Church,  Portland,  Me.,  for  thirteen 
months.      He  next  occupied  the  pulpit   of  the 


Congregational  church  in  Belfast,  Me.,  for 
the  same  length  of  time.  His  call  from  the 
Congregational  Society  in  Medway  village 
was  received  in  October,  1871  ;  and  he  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  February  13,  1872.  The 
Village  Evangelical  Congregational  church  was 
erected  in  1838,  on  land  donated  to  the  society 
by  David  Whiting,  a  resident  of  New  York 
and  a  native  of  Medway.  On  October  3  of 
that  year  the  Rev.  David  Sanford,  Mr.  Har- 
low's predecessor,  was  installed  as  its  first 
pastor.  The  church  has  a  total  membership 
of  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight.  The 
Deacons  are  M.  M.  Fisher  and  James  F. 
Adams;  its  Standing  Committee  is  composed 
of  James  T.  Adams,  Sumner  H.  Clark,  and 
Alvin  Clough;  the  Parish  Committee  are: 
Frank  Cummings,  J.  P.  Plummer,  Alvin 
Clough,  and  the  pastor.  The  officers  of  the 
Ladies'  Benevolent  Society  are  Mrs.  J.  P. 
Plummer,  president;  Mrs.  Mary  Fisher,  sec- 
retary; and  Mrs.  J.  F.  Adams,  treasurer. 
Charles  R.  Adams  is  the  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday-school.  On  September  7,  1888, 
the  society  fittingly  observed  its  fiftieth 
anniversary. 

Mr.  Harlow  is  unmarried.  During  the 
quarter  of  a  century  that  has  elapsed  since  his 
installation  he  has  labored  zealously  and  suc- 
cessfully for  the  moral  welfare  of  the  commu- 
nity, gaining  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  a 
large  number  of  people  outside  of  his  own  con- 
gregation. He  is  deeply  attached  to  his 
church,  takes  special  pride  in  the  decoration 
of  its  grounds,  and  is  exceedingly  partial  to 
flowers.  On  February  17,  1897,  as  more 
convenient  than  the  13th,  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  installation  was  cele- 
brated by  a  public  service;  and  on  the  occa- 
sion he  was  presented  with  a  loving-cup  of 
solid  silver  appropriately  engraved. 


§OHN  EMORY  HOAR,  an  ex-master 
of  the  Brookline  High  School,  was 
born  in  Poultney,  Vt.,  November  22, 
1828.  A  son  of  Hiram  and  Sarah 
(Smith)  Hoar,  he  belongs  to  the  ninth  genera- 
tion of  his  family  in  this  country.  The  first 
generation  was  the  family  of  Charles,  son  of 
Charles   Hoar,   of  Gloucester,  England.      The 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


475 


second  Charles,  who  was  Sheriff  of  Gloucester, 
died  in  his  native  country.  His  widow,  with 
her  five  children,  sailed  for  America  in  1640, 
and  landed  in  Boston.  From  Boston  she 
moved  to  Braintree;  and  in  1660  she  was  liv- 
ing in  Concord,  Mass.,  where  several  genera- 
tion- of  the  family  were  born.  The  name 
Hoar  has  been  borne  by  several  men  of  note, 
including  senators,  judges,  and  prominent 
lawyers.  The  line  of  descent  is  traced 
through  John  Hoar,  son  of  Charles  (second)  ; 
Daniel,  bom  in  Scituate,  Mass.,  in  1650; 
John,  born  in  Concord,  Mass.,  in  1678;  Jo- 
siah,  born  in  Sudbury  in  1717;  Jonathan, 
born  in  Sudbury  in  1747;  and  David,  born  in 
Sudbury  in  1773.  Jonathan  Hoar,  who  was 
John  E.  Hoar's  great-grandfather,  commanded 
a  company  of  minute-men  at  Concord  when  the 
Revolutionary  War  began.  The  greater  part 
of  his  life  was  devoted  to  farming  in  Sudbury, 
where  he  died  in  181 3.  David  Hoar,  the 
grandfather,  who  was  born  in  1773,  passed  his 
early  years  in  Sudbury  and  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  in  Poultney,  Vt.  He  died  in  1862. 
He  married  Miss  Angelette  Pierce,  who,  born 
in  1782,  died  in  1846.  She  was  a  native  of 
Holliston,  Mass.,  and  a  member  of  one  of  the 
old  families  of  that  town.  The  pioneer  of  her 
family  in  this  country,  John  Pierce,  came 
from  Norwich,  England,  in  1637,  with  his 
wife  and  four  children,  and  settled  in  Water- 
town,  Mass.  From  him  the  descent  of  Mrs. 
Angelette  Hoar  is  traced  through  Anthony, 
Joseph,  John,  John  (second),  Seth,  and  Na- 
thaniel, the  last  named  being  her  father.  Her 
children  were:  Hiram,  Sarah,  Eliza,  and  Lu- 
cius Augustus,  all  of  whom  have  passed  away. 
Hiram  Hoar  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  re- 
ceived a  common-school  education.  After- 
ward he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Poultney,  Vt., 
near  his  birthplace,  and  there  was  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  during  a  great  part  of  his 
life,  retiring  when  he  began  to  feel  the  infirm- 
ities of  age.  In  politics  he  was  a  Jacksonian 
Democrat.  He  was  interested  in  town 
matters,  and  served  in  some  town  offices. 
His  death  occurred  on  October  2^  1886,  in 
Pawlet,  Rutland  County,  Vt.,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three.  His  wife,  a  native  of  Sudbury, 
Mass.,  was  a  daughter  of  Josiah  Smith,  whose 
English    ancestors   settled    in    New    Ipswich. 


The  Smith  family  originated  with  Richard 
Smith,  who  came  from  Shropham,  Norfolk 
County,  England,  to  this  country  about  1639 
or  1640.  The  generations  succeeding  him 
were  represented  by  Richard,  Joseph, 
Ephraim,  and  Josiah,  the  last  named  being 
Mrs.  Sarah  Hoar's  father.  Josiah  Smith,  who 
was  a  farmer  of  Sudbury,  reared  three  other 
children  —  Mary,  Ephraim,  and  Elbridge. 
Sarah  Hoar  died  March  18,  1872,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five.  Her  children,  all  living,  are: 
John  Emory,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Sarah 
A.,  the  wife  of  Walton  Blakely;  and  Richard 
R.,  a  shoe  dealer  of  Sudbury.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  church. 

John  P^mory  Hoar  passed  his  early  years  on 
the  farm,  attending  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  town.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered 
Castleton  (Vt. )  Seminary,  where  he  took 
the  college  preparatory  course;  and  he  took  a 
year's  course  in  Middlebury  College,  then  en- 
tering Harvard.  From  Harvard  he  graduated 
in  1852.  He  began  work  as  a  teacher  in  the 
district  school  of  his  native  town,  and  taught 
for  a  while  in  Castleton  Seminary.  After 
finishing  his  course  of  study  at  Harvard,  he 
was  submaster  in  the  Cambridge  High  School 
for  two  years.  In  1854  he  was  appointed 
master  of  the  Brookline  High  School.  In 
this  reponsible  position,  the  duties  of  which 
he  ably  discharged  for  thirty-five  years,  he 
saw  one  whole  generation  pass  away  and 
another  grow  up ;  and  he  trained  many  brill- 
iant scholars  and  prominent  men.  Since  his 
resignation  in  18S8  he  has  lived  in  retire- 
ment. 

In  1854  Mr.  Hoar  was  married  to  Ann  Bor- 
rodaile  Blakely,  who  was  born  in  Pawlet, 
Vt.,  daughter  of  David  Blakely.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-seven,  leaving  one  child, 
David  B.,  now  living.  A  graduate  of  Har- 
vard, David  B.  Hoar  has  been  practising  law 
in  Boston  since  1879,  making  his  home  with 
his  father.  The  latter's  second  wife  was  Lucy 
A.,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Elijah  Demond,  of 
Newbury,  Mass.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
severity;  and  Mr.  Hoar  subsequently  married 
Mary  Tuck  Jones,  of  Baltimore,  born  in 
Prince  George  County,  Maryland,  daughter  of 
Henry  Jones.  In  politics  Mr.  Hoar  is  inde- 
pendent.    He  is  a  member  of  the  Brookline 


476 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


School  Board,  and  has  been  on  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  public  library  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  has  held  all  the  offices  of  the  Nor- 
folk County  Teachers'  Association.  He  -also 
belongs  to  the  American  Institute  of  Instruc- 
tion and  the  Brookline  Historical  Publishing 
Society;  to  the  Thursday  Club  since  its  organ- 
ization—  some  twenty-six  years —  in  which  he 
has  held  all  the  offices;  and  to  the  Union  Club 
of  Boston.  He  is  a  member  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Brookline. 


LIVER  DEAN,  M.D.,  formerly  a 
well-known  physician  and  prominent 
citizen  of  Franklin,  Mass.,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Franklin,  Mass.,  Feb- 
ruary iS,  1783,  and  died  December  5,  1871, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-nine  years.  He 
was  the  son  of  Seth  and  Edna  (Pond)  Dean. 
The  father,  Seth  Dean,  who  was  born  in 
Franklin  in  1761,  was  a  member  of  one  of  the 
oldest  families  of  that  town.  He  died  in 
1834,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years.  His 
wife,  Edna,  survived  him,  dying  in  1852, 
aged  eighty-eight  years.  They  had  three 
children,  of  whom  Oliver  was  the  eldest. 
The  others  were:  Sylvester  and  Edna.  The 
latter  died  in  early  womanhood. 

Oliver  Dean,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
began  his  education  in  the  district  schools  of 
his  native  town,  and  also  attended  different 
academies  in  the  vicinity.  He  subsequently 
studied  medicine  in  the  offices  of  Dr.  Mann, 
of  Wrentham,  and  Dr.  Ingalls,  of  Boston. 
He  first  started  in  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Medway,  where  he  remained  until  forty  years 
of  age,  and  was  very  successful,  but  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health  was  obliged  to  give  up  his 
profession.  He  then  became  interested  in  a 
manufacturing  business  at  Manchester,  N.  H., 
to  which  place  he  removed  before  it  was 
known  by  its  present  name,  and  when  it  con- 
tained very  few  inhabitants.  He  remained 
there  for  some  time,  bought  real  estate, 
erected  mills,  and  carried  on  similar  enter- 
prises to  such  an  extent  as  to  become  known  as 
the  "Father  of  Manchester."  Later  in  life  he 
removed  to  Boston  and  thence  to  Franklin, 
where  he  founded  the  well-known  preparatory 
school     (Dean     Academy)     which     bears    his 


name.  Dr.  Dean  was  twice  married,  his  first 
wife  being  Caroline  Francour,  the  daughter  of 
a  French  gentleman  who  had  to  fly  from  his 
native  country  during  the  French  Revolution. 
She  died  leaving  no  children.  He  married 
for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Louisa  Cobb 
Hawes,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sally  C. 
(Jillson)  Cobb,  of  Wrentham  and  Attleboro 
respectively.  By  this  marriage  there  were  no 
children.  Mrs.  Dean  still  survives  her  hus- 
band, and  is  a  much  respected  resident  of  this 
town.  Dr.  Dean  was  a  useful,  enterprising, 
and  philanthropic  citizen,  and,  though  long 
passed  away,  has  a  lasting  memorial  in  the 
school  which  he  founded. 


1819. 


OHN  MORTON  HARRIS,  for  many 
years  a  well-known  civil  engineer  of 
Norfolk  County,  residing  in  Needham, 
•  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  in 
He  was  the  eldest  son  of  John  and 
Eliza  (Whittemore)  Harris,  and  was  a  lineal 
descendant  in  the  eighth  generation  of  Thomas 
Harris,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  at  Charles- 
town,  Mass.  The  second  in  this  line  was 
John  Harris,  who  married  Amy  Hills;  the 
third,  their  son  Thomas,  who  married  Hepzi- 
bah  Croswell;  the  fourth,  Thomas,  third,  who 
married  in  1708  Mary  Dowse;  the  fifth, 
John,  second,  who  married  in  1740  Melli- 
cent  Rand;  the  sixth,  Thomas,  fourth,  who 
married  Mary  Frothingham  in  1776,  and  died 
in  1 8 14 ;  the  seventh,  John,  born  in  1781, 
who  married  Eliza  Whittemore.  (See 
"Charlestown  Genealogies  and  Estates.") 

John  Harris,  above  named,  son  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  (Frothingham)  Harris,  born  in 
Charlestown,  February  17,  1 78  r ,  was  a  mer- 
chant, sea  captain,  and  ship-owner.  He  mar- 
ried Eliza,  the  daughter  of  Nathan  Whitte- 
more, and  had  a  family  of  six  children,  as 
follows:  John  M.,  Helen  E.,  Harriet  B.,  Will- 
iam B. ,  Charles  S.,  and  Henry  C.  Of  these 
only  one  son  and  a  daughter  are  living.  Har- 
riet B.  was  born  in  1823,  and  was  educated  in 
Charlestown  and  in  Boston.  She  married  in 
1853  the  Rev.  James  F.  Hicks,  then  pastor 
of  the  First  Parish  Church  of  Needham,  and 
had  one  son,  Charles  Atherton  Hicks,  born 
December  21,  1853. 


GEORGE    E.   WHITING. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


479 


John  Morton  Harris  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Charlestown  and  in  pri- 
vate schools,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
went  into  the  office  of  Mr.  Samuel  Felton,  a 
civil  engineer  of  Charlestown,  where  he  re- 
mained, learning  the  profession.  Henry  D. 
Thoreau,  of  Concord,  friend  of  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  was  a  student  in  Mr.  Felton's  office 
at  the  same  time.  While  Mr.  Harris  was  in 
Mr.  Felton's  office,  much  of  the  work  upon 
the  designs  for  the  construction  of  Bunker 
Hill  Monument  was  done  there,  Mr.  Felton 
being  one  of  the  engineers  having  charge  of 
the  building.  After  finishing  his  studies  with 
Mr.  Felton,  Mr.  Harris  entered  the  employ  of 
the  Fitchburg  Railroad  as  assistant  engineer, 
and  was  in  that  position  for  a  number  of 
years,  having  charge  during  that  time  of  the 
construction  of  a  branch  of  the  Fitchburg 
system.  He  built  what  was  known  as  the 
air-line  road  from  Brookline  to  Woonsocket  by 
way  of  Needham.  In  1849  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  Needham;  and  he  subsequently 
did  much  engineering  in  Norfolk  County, 
building  roads,  laying  out  public  lands,  and 
constructing  bridges,  etc.  In  1866  he  was 
employed  on  the  Vanderbilt  system,  and  had 
charge  of  the  building  of  the  second  track  of 
the  Hudson  River  Railroad. 

In  1872  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  dis- 
trict in  the  Massachusetts  General  Court,  and 
while  there  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Railroads.  Mr.  Harris  was  Town  Treas- 
urer of  Needham  for  one  year,  and  for  several 
years  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  He  was 
not  a  politician,  but  was  always  interested  in 
any  movement  for  the  public  good  or  conven- 
ience. Naturally  of  an  exact  and  scientific 
mind,  he  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  astron- 
omy and  natural  history.  As  a  civil  engineer 
he  was  thoroughly  skilled,  and  was  widely 
known  for  his  ability  and  efficiency  in  his 
chosen  field  of  work.  When  he  first  came  to 
Needham,  Mr.  Harris  lived  in  the  south  part 
of  the  town  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  the 
Sutton  family;  and  after  his  return  from  New 
York  he  built  the  dwelling  on  Great  Plain 
Avenue  and  Webster  Street,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death  in  1884. 

Mr.  Harris  was  married  in  1864  to  Adeline 
E.,  daughter  of  William  Eaton,  of  Needham. 


Two  children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  but 
both  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Charles  Atherton  Hicks,  above  named, 
the  nephew  of  Mr.  Harris  and  his  successor  in 
business,  was  educated  in  the  Needham 
schools  and  at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.  He  was  in  business  for  a  while 
in  Newton  Centre,  under  the  name  of  Cleve- 
land &  Hicks,  later  was  assistant  engineer  of 
the  Holyoke  Water  Power  Company  for  five 
years;  and  prior  to  that  he  was  in  the  United 
States  Coast  Survey,  working  on  the  Gulf 
Stream  between  Cape  Cod  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  was  shipwrecked  while  on  board 
the  schooner  "Drift."  Upon  taking  charge 
of  Mr.  Harris's  business,  Mr.  Hicks  settled  in 
Needham;  and  he  now  carries  on  general  work 
in  this  and  the  surrounding  counties.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Engi- 
neers, and  the  accuracy  and  value  of  his  work 
are  too  well  known  to  require  any  words  of 
commendation  here. 

Mr.  Hicks  married  in  1882  Alice  E., 
daughter  of  Mr.  J.  F.  J.  Mayo,  of  Needham, 
and  niece  of  Mrs.  Harris.  Mr.  Hicks's 
grandfather,  John  F.  Hicks,  of  Sutton,  Mass., 
took  his  family  to  Western  New  York,  and 
cut  the  trees  from  the  land  where  the  city  of 
Syracuse  now  stands,  and  was  the  owner  of 
the  Onondaga  County  Salt  Springs.  He  mar- 
ried Margaret  Kaus,  and  had  a  family  of 
eight  children. 


SWTo 


FORGE  EDWIN  WHITING,  a  re- 
\  •)  I  tired  resident  of  Hyde  Park,  was 
born  in  Dedham,  Mass.,  December 
25,  1836,  son  of  Edwin  and  Rebecca  (Dean) 
Whiting,  and  comes  of  an  old  Norfolk  County 
family,  his  father  having  been  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Nathaniel  Whiting,  who  emi- 
grated more  than  'two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  and  settled  in  Dedham,  and  who  was  also 
the  ancestor  of  his  paternal  grandmother. 

Nathaniel  Whiting  was  admitted  to  the 
church  in  Dedham  in  1641.  He  died  in  1682; 
and  his  wife,  Hannah,  died  in  1714.  They 
had  fourteen  children.  The  sixth  child,  Na- 
thaniel, Jr.,  born  November  5,  1653,  had 
eight  children  by  his  wife,  Sarah;  and  the 
sixth  of  this  group,  the  third  Nathaniel,  mar- 


480 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ried  Johanna  Ellice,  their  offspring  also  being 
eight  in  number.  Joshua,  their  youngest 
child,  born  June  14,  1729,  married  February 
12,  1756,  Mary  Fuller;  and  Abner  Whiting, 
born  in  1 760,  third  son  of  this  couple,  mar- 
ried Loacada  Whiting,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children,  one  being  Edwin,  above  named, 
father  of  Mr.  George  E.  Whiting. 

Loacada  Whiting  was  of  the  fifth  genera- 
tion in  descent  from  the  first  Nathaniel, 
through  his  son  Samuel,  fourth  child,  born 
October  20,  1649,  wn0  married  Sarah  Metcalf, 
and  had  nine  children,  the  third  a  son,  Jere- 
miah, born  April  12,  1695.  He  married 
Ruth  Wells;  and  Joshua,  born  September  11, 
1729,  their  sixth  child,  married  August  5, 
1756,  Elizabeth  Pond,  who  became  the  mother 
of  eight  children,  the  fifth  the  daughter  Loa- 
cada, born  October  27,  1766.  The  grand- 
father, Abner  Whiting,  was  a  farmer.  He 
spent  his  life  in  Dedham,  and  died  there  May 
20,  1838.  His  wife,  Loacada,  whom  he  mar- 
ried January  25,  1785-6,  died  August  28,  1852, 
at  the  age  of  eighty -five  years,  ten  months. 
Their  son,  Edwin  Whiting,  was  brought  up  on 
the  home  farm,  and  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Dedham.  Later  he  took  the 
homestead  at  Green  Lodge,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  attaining  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  He  married  Rebecca  Dean,  the 
daughter  of  Jesse  Dean,  of  Dedham,  and  had 
two  children  —  Frances  and  George  E.  Whit- 
ing. The  mother  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two.  Both  parents  attended  the  Unitarian 
church. 

George  E.  Whiting  obtained  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  and  at  the  Green  Moun- 
tain Liberal  Institute  at  South  Woodstock, 
Vt.  Having  completed  his  course  of  study, 
he  returned  to  the  home  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1886,  diligently  engaged  in  the 
management  of  its  one  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  bringing  his  broad  fields  to  a  high  state 
of  cultivation.  He  then  came  to  Hyde  Park, 
and  built  his  present  beautiful  dwelling, 
which  is  the  finest  in  the  town  and  most 
pleasantly  located. 

Mr.  Whiting  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
He  was  elected  to  serve  on  the  Board  of  Se- 
lectmen in  1893,  and  was  re-elected  in  1894 
and    in    1895.      He  was    appointed    Cemetery 


Commissioner  in  November,  1892,  and  is  now 
superintendent  of  the  Fairview  Cemetery, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  this  section.  He 
is  also  president  of  the  Hyde  Park  Electric 
Light   Company. 

Mrs.  Whiting,  whose  maiden  name  was  Isa- 
bell  H.  Hoadley,  is  the  daughter  of  Henry 
C.  Hoadley,  of  South  Woodstock,  Vt. 
Thomas  Hoadly,  her  great-grandfather,  born 
in  England  in  1737,  came  to  Boston  and  set- 
tled near  that  city.  He  paid  taxes  in  Brook- 
line  in  1771-75,  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  and  drew  a  pension  from  April 
20,  18 18,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
January  20,  1829,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two. 
Mr.  Henry  C.  Hoadley's  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  made  his  home  in  Tewksbury  during  the 
first  part  of  his  life,  removing  later  to  Hart- 
land,  Vt.,  where  he  settled  on  an  unbroken 
tract  of  three  hundred  acres,  which  he  cleared 
for  a  farm.  He  died  there  in  February,  1843, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  By  his  first  wife, 
Sarah  French,  born  in  Hartland,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty-nine,  he  had  six  children; 
and  by  his  second  wife,  Mrs.  Mehitable  Marcy 
Whitney,  he  had  one  daughter,  Lucy  Whit- 
ney. Mr.  Henry  C.  Hoadley  purchased  a 
farm  of  his  own  when  he  grew  to  maturity, 
and  spent  his  life  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, in  which  he  was  very  successful. 
Three  children  were  born  to  him  and  his  wife, 
Lucy  Whitney,  a  native  of  Hartland,  and  two 
of  them  are  living,  namely:  Mrs.  Whiting; 
and  James  H.,  in  South  Woodstock  on  the  old 
homestead. 

Mrs.  Whiting  spent  her  life  in  South 
Woodstock  until  her  marriage,  which  took 
place  on  November  24,  1858.  She  is  the 
mother  of  four  children,  as  follows:  Sadie 
Frances,  who  is  married  to  Joseph  W.  Wat- 
tles, Jr.,  of  the  firm  of  L.  R.  Wattles  &  Co., 
manufacturers  of  "Dressene"  in  Canton,  and 
has  two  children  — Joseph,  third,  and  Shirley; 
Annie  R.,  who  married  Fred  W.  Fenno,  New 
England  agent  for  the  Royal  Baking  Powder 
Company;  George  H.,  who  is  in  Boston,  a 
cotton  broker,  married  Bessie  Blanche  Bleakie, 
daughter  of  the  well-known  and  extensive 
woollen  manufacturer,  Robert  Bleakie;  and 
Edwin,  the  youngest,  who  is  a  book-keeper  in 
Boston,  resides  at  home  with  his  parents. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


/T%  ELBERT  HOWARD,  a  prominent 
I  \y  business  man  of  Sharon,  son  of  Charles 
^Hs  "  T.  and  S.  Josephine  (Cobb)  How- 
ard, was  born  upon  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides,  September  18,  1854.  He  is  a 
great-grandson  of  Oliver  Howard,  formerly  of 
Easton,  Mass.,  and  a  grandson  of  George  and 
Abigail  (Henshaw)  Howard,  natives  of  that 
town. 

George  Howard  was  the  first  of  the  family 
to  locate  in  Sharon,  and  he  settled  on  the  farm 
that  is  now  owned  by  his  grandson.  He  died 
in  1864,  and  his  wife  died  about  two  years 
later.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  children 
—  Rebecca,  Angeline,  George  F.,  Charles  T., 
Abigail,  and  Newland  F.  Rebecca  Howard 
married  Charles  Johnson,  of  Sharon,  and  has 
had  two  children;  namely,  one  that  died  in 
infancy  and  Annie  M.  Angeline  married 
William  B.  King,  and  her  children  are:  Jo- 
sephine and  George  B.  George  F.  Howard 
married  Lavania  Wyman.  Abigail  married 
for  her  first  husband  Sumner  T.  Palmer,  and 
for  her  second  husband  Edward  Tisdale,  of 
West  Bridgewater,  Mass.  Newland  F.  How- 
ard, who  married  Irene  Morrison,  was  for 
man\-  years  a  manufacturer  of  hat  blocks  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  is  now  retired  from  busi- 
ness. 

Charles  T.  Howard,  father  of  C.  Elbert, 
was  born  in  Sharon,  October  2,  1822.  He 
grew  to  manhood  at  the  homestead,  and  suc- 
ceeding to  its  ownership  he  carried  on  general 
farming  with  success.  He  also  dealt  quite  ex- 
tensively in  wood  and  charcoal.  He  was  a  Se- 
lectman for  a  number  of  years,  and  represented 
this  town  in  the  legislature  during  the  years 
[854  and  1855.  He  died  September  17, 
18S5.  S.  Josephine  Cobb,  his  wife,  was  born 
in  East  Mansfield,  Mass.,  in  1827.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Lyntha  (Leach) 
Cobb,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Wrentham,  and  the  latter  of  Raynham,  Mass. 
James  Cobb  was  a  prominent  cotton  manufact- 
urer of  his  day.  He  died  in  1859,  and  his 
wife  died  in  1866.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  T. 
Howard  had  five  children,  as  follows:  C.  El- 
bert, the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Ella  J.; 
Walter  M.,  born  April  10,  1S59,  who  died 
September  17,  1885;  Aimee  J.,  born  July  30, 
1 861  ;  and  Clarence  P.,  who  was   born   August 


20,  1864,  and  died  August  25,  1885.  Ella  J. 
Howard  is  the  wife  of  A.  W.  Draper,  D.  D.  S., 
of  Foxboro,  and  has  three  children  —  Alice 
E.,  Howard  W. ,  and  Aimee  F.  Draper. 
Aimee  J.  Howard,  who  was  for  fifteen  years  a 
school  teacher,  is  now  residing  at  the  ancestral 
home  in  Sharon. 

C.  Elbert  Howard  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  has  always  resided  at  the 
homestead.  He  does  general  teaming,  carries 
on  the  farm,  deals  in  wood.  Politically,  he  is 
independent,  and  votes  for  the  candidates  whom 
he  considers  most  capable  of  holding  office. 
He  is  connected  with  St.  Albans  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.  ;  Keystone  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons; Excelsior  Lodge,  No.  87,  I.  O.  O.  F. , 
of  Foxboro;  and  with  the  grange  in  Sharon. 
Mr.   Howard  is  unmarried. 


ILLIAM  H.  NORRIS,  of  the  in- 
surance firm  of  William  H.  Norris 
&  Son,  of  Boston,  was  born  at  Rum- 
ney,  N.H.,  September  24,  1838,  son  of  John 
and  Mira  (Holden)  Norris.  He  comes  of  old 
English  and  early  Colonial  stock,  being  a  lin- 
eal descendant  of  Nicholas  Norris,  who  is 
said  to  have  arrived  in  this  country  about 
1650,  and  who  was  married  at  Hampton, 
N.H.,  in  1664,  to  Sarah  Coxe.  (See  History 
of  Hampton;  also  Norris  Genealogy,  by 
L.  A.  Morrison.)  A  few  years  later  he  re- 
moved to  Exeter,  where  he  was  a  soldier  in 
the  garrison  in  1696,  under  Captain  Hall. 
He  was  living  in  Exeter  as  late  as  1721. 
John  Norris,  Sr. ,  father  of  John  above  named, 
and  a  representative  of  the  fifth  generation  of 
the  family  in  New  England,  was  a  first  settler 
at  Effingham,  N.H.  He  was  a  surveyor  and 
on  the  staff  of  surveyors  of  General  Whilton, 
whom  he  assisted  in  surveying  upper  Ver- 
mont. He  settled  on  a  farm  in  Chelsea,  Vt., 
and  later  bought  an  estate  at  Groton,  N.  H., 
where  he  lived  until  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  had  eleven  children  and  forty-eight  grand- 
children. 

His  son  John  was  born  in  Chelsea,  Yt., 
September  22,  1794,  and  lived  upon  the  home 
farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
taught  the  district  school  for  a  time,  and  then 
went  to  Boston,  where  he  learned  and  fallowed 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  carpenter's  and  builder's  trade.  Later  re- 
moving to  Plymouth,  N.H.,  he  resided  there 
four  or  five  years.  He  then  removed  to  Rum- 
ney,  Grafton  County,  N.H.,  where  he  built 
the  Baptist  church.  Finally  settling  in  Gro- 
ton,  N.H.,  he  lived  there  until  1870,  when  he 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  His 
wife,  Mira,  was  a  daughter  of  David  Holden, 
a  farmer  of  Groton,  where  she  was  born  No- 
vember 28,  1S00.  They  had  thirteen  chil- 
dren, twelve  of  whom  attained  adult  age,  and 
eight  are  now  living;  namely,  David,  Mira 
Ann,  Ann  Maria,  Sarah  F.,  William  H., 
Marietta  L.,  John  A.,  and  Harriet  J.  Mrs. 
Norris  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  Both 
parents  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church;  and  the  father,  who  was  an  ac- 
complished musician  and  played  on  a  variety 
of  instruments,  was  the  musical  director  of 
the  choir  for  many  years.  He  was  a  Free 
Mason  and  Master  of  the  local  lodge  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

Until  twenty-one  years  of  age  William  H. 
Norris  lived  at  home  with  his  parents,  obtain- 
ing his  education  in  the  public  and  private 
schools  of  his  native  town,  and  assisting  his 
father  upon  the  farm  and  at  the  trade  of  car- 
pentering. Upon  reaching  his  majority,  he 
became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  a  life  and  fire 
insurance  company  in  Boston,  and  there  con- 
tinued until  1 861.  In  October  of  that  year  he 
enlisted  in  Company  C,  Thirty-second  Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts  Volunteers;  and  he 
served  until  July  17,  1865.  He  was  on  duty 
in  the  brigade  quartermaster's  department, 
and  had  charge  of  supplies,  passing  through 
all  the  battles  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  re-entered  the  in- 
surance business,  and  some  years  later  took  in 
partnership  Mr.  J.  K.  Corthell,  with  whom  he 
was  associated  until  1892,  when  Mr.  Corthell 
retired,  and  his  son,  Harry  A.  Norris,  became 
his  partner.  The  firm  of  William  H.  Norris 
&  Son,  well  known  as  one  of  the  oldest 
agencies  in  the  city,  represent  eighteen  com- 
panies, and  do  a  very  large  business,  making 
a  specialty  of  fire  insurance. 

Mr.  Norris  married  in  1861  Calista  M. 
Jeffers,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Lucy  A. 
Jeffers,  of  Rumney,  N.H.,  where  her  father 
was  a  shoemaker.      She  was  one  of  two  chil- 


dren. Her  brother  was  lost  in  the  war.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Norris  have  two  sons  —  Clarence  G. 
and  Harry  A.  Their  only  daughter,  Wilhel- 
mina  C,  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six.  Clarence  G.  Norris  married  Grace  H. 
Harshbarger.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  depart- 
ment of  civil  engineering  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology,  was  employed 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  for 
four  years,  and  now  resides  in  Hyde  Park. 
Harry  Adams  Norris,  who  is  in  partnership 
with  his  father,  married  Nettie  B.  House,  and 
has  one  son,  Bradford  Faunce. 

Mr.  Norris  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  is  a  prominent  member  of  various 
fraternities,  namely:  the  Hyde  Park  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.;  Norfolk  Chapter,  R.  A.  M. ; 
Hyde  Park  Council;  Cyprus  Commandery, 
K.  T. ;  and  Timothy  Ingraham  Post,  G.  A.  R. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  since  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
has  been  treasurer  of  the  society  for  twenty 
years,  and  he  served  on  the  Board  of  Trustees 
and  Stewards  as  secretary  and  treasurer  for 
many  years.  He  has  always  taken  an  active 
interest  in  church  matters,  and  has  been  espe- 
cially attached  to  the  Sunday-school,  where 
he  has  been  a  teacher  for  a  long  period.  His 
son  Clarence  is  the  superintendent,  and  his 
second  son  is  also  active  in  the  Sunday-school 
and  church  work. 


7TAHARLKS  CASPER  HENRY,  editor 
I  V/      of    the    Wellesley   Review,    was    born 

VlJ*.  November  1,  1852,  in  Brooklyn, 
N.Y.  His  father,  Nicholas  Henry, 
a  native  of  Kaiserslautern,  Germany,  came  to 
this  country  when  a  young  man,  and  settled  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  engaged  in  business 
as  a  merchant  tailor.  Enlisting  in  Company 
H,  Fifty-second  New  York  Volunteers,  in 
1 86 1,  he  went  to  the  front,  was  with  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  two  years,  and  was  wounded  at 
Antietam.  After  serving  some  time  in  the 
ranks,  he  received  a  commission  as  Second 
Lieutenant  of  Company  F  in  the  same  regi- 
ment; and  a  little  later,  for  gallant  conduct 
and  meritorious  services,  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant  of  that  company. 
He  received  his  discharge   in    1864,  and  then 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


483 


went  to  Washington,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  until  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1866.  His  wife,  Ann  Catharine  Schaffer, 
who  came  to  this  country  with  her  parents  in 
183 1,  was  a  native  of  Hesse-Cassel,  Germany. 
They  were  married  in  1842  in  New  York,  and 
had  nine  children — -Mary,  Conrad,  William, 
Amelia,  Charles  Casper,  Edward,  Kate, 
Annie,  and  Louise  —  four  of  whom,  namely, 
Mary,  Catharine,  Annie,  and  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  are  now  living. 

Charles  Casper  Henry  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  and  at  Co- 
lumbia Institute,  Washington,  D.C.  After 
leaving  school,  he  returned  to  Brooklyn;  and 
in  1870  he  came  to  Massachusetts,  and  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  pursuits.  In  1881  he  be- 
came clerk  for  the  Boston  &  Albany  Railroad 
at  Natick,  and  continued  to  serve  in  that  ca- 
pacity until  1884,  when  he  was  appointed  rail- 
way station  agent  at  Wellesley.  Hills,  and  at 
about  the  same  time  assumed  the  editorship  of 
the  Wellesley  Courant.  In  1893  he  resigned 
the  charge  of  the  Courant,  and  in  the  next 
year  became  editor  of  the  Wellesley  Review, 
a  position  which  he  now  holds.  The  Welles- 
ley Review  is  independent  in  politics,  and  is 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  town.  Mr. 
Henry  is  also  a  correspondent  of  the  Boston 
press. 

In  politics  he  is  a  liberal  Republican.  He 
was  for  six  years  secretary  of  the  Norfolk 
County  Republican  Committee,  also  a  member 
of  the  Republican  Town  Committee,  and  for 
seven  years  Town  Auditor  of  Wellesley.  Mr. 
Henry  belongs  to  the  Norfolk  County  Club. 
He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Meridian  Lodge,  Na- 
tick, Mass.,  where  he  held  the  position  of 
Master  during  the  years  1886  and  1887,  and  was 
District  Deputy  Grand  Master  in  1896  and 
1897.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Parker  Royal 
Arch  Chapter,  was  its  High  Priest  in  1891-92 
and  District  Deputy  Grand  High  Priest  in 
1894,  1895,  and  1896,  and  is  a  permanent  mem- 
ber of  the  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  the  Massachusetts  Convention  of 
the  Holy  Order  of  High  Priesthood.  He  is 
a  member  of  Natick  Commandery,  K.  T., 
being  its  present  Recorder,  and  is  also  a 
member  of  Aleppo  Temple,  Mystic  Shrine, 
of    Boston.      Mr.    Henry    served    as    chairman 


of  the  committee  that  compiled  the  history 
of  Meridian  Lodge,  from  1797  to  1892  which 
was  published  in  1892. 

Mr.  Henry  was  married  in  1874  to  Adeline 
Sylvia,  a  daughter  of  Malachi  Babcock,  of 
Natick.  They  have  two  children:  Edward, 
born  in  1876,  who  was  graduated  from  the 
Harvard  Dental  College  in  the  class  of  1897; 
and  Grace  Gertrude,  who  was  born  in  1878, 
and  is  now  studying  at  the-  State  Normal 
School  at  South  Framingham. 


ft" 


V.  PATRICK  H.  CALLANAN, 
A.M.,  the  faithful,  efficient,  and  be- 
loved pastor  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Newton  Lower  Falls,  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  February  4,  1856.  His  par- 
ents, Michael  and  Catherine  (Jervois)  Cal- 
lanan,  are  natives  of  County  Cork,  Ireland. 
Michael  Callanan  was  born  in  1824,  and  came 
to  this  country  in  1845,  landing  in  New  York 
City,  where  he  made  his  home  for  some  time. 
He  now  lives  in  Boston,  and  follows  his  for- 
mer occupation,  that  of  turner.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  New  York  City  in  1850  to  Catherine, 
daughter  of  Sampson  and  Ellen  Jervois.  She 
was  born  in  1826,  and  came  to  this  country  in 
1850.  Six  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Callanan.  The  eldest,  Ellen  C,  born 
in  New  York  City  in  1852,  is  with  her  father. 
Maria  A.,  the  second  child,  born  in  the  same 
place  in  1854,  was  educated  in  Boston,  attend- 
ing the  Girls'  High  and  the  Normal  School, 
and  is  now  a  teacher  in  the  Ouincy  Primary 
School  in  that  city.  Mary  and  Katie  died 
young.  Sampson  A.  Callanan,  born  at  Port 
Jervis,  N.  Y. ,  in  1861,  took  the  degrees  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  and  Master  of  Arts  at  Boston 
College,  and  later  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School. 
He  is  now  a  practising  physician,  with  office 
at  82  Warren  Street,  Roxbury.  Dr.  Calla- 
nan married  Miss  Mary  Harkins,  and  has 
three  children  —  Paul,  Frank,  and  Charlotte 
—  the  eldest  six  years  old. 

P.  H.  Callanan  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  New  York.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1870,  he  entered  Boston  College, 
graduating  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts  in  June,  1877,  and  two  years  later  receiv- 


484 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ing  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  the 
same  institution.  In  September,  1877,  he 
entered  St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  Troy,  N.Y., 
and  was  appointed  "Master  of  Choir"  and  in- 
structor of  music  the  following  September. 
He  received  Ecclesiastical  .Tonsure  from 
Bishop  Mclnerney,  of  Albany,  December  21, 
1878;  received  Minor  Orders  from  Bishop 
VVadhams,  of  Ogdensburg,  June  7,  1879;  re- 
ceived the  Subdeaconship  from  Bishop  Mc- 
lnerney, December  20,  1879;  the  Deaconship 
from  Bishop  Healy,  of  Portland,  May  22, 
1880;  and  was  ordained  Priest  by  Bishop  Mc- 
lnerney, December  18,  1880.  On  January  1, 
1 88 1 ,  he  was  appointed  by  Archbishop  Will- 
iams curate  at  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
East  Cambridge.  There  he  labored  three 
years.  Early  in  18S4  he  was  transferred  to 
West  Newton  to  take  charge  of  that  parish 
during  the  illness  of  the  Rev.  Father  Mc- 
Grath,  and  a  few  months  later  was  appointed 
pastor  of  Foxboro,  Wrentham,  and  Medfield. 
November  27,  1890,  he  was  appointed  pastor 
of  Newton  Lower  Falls. 

Father  Callanan  gave  evidence  of  a  brill- 
iant future  early  in  his  college  life.  He  was 
Captain  of  the  College  Baseball  Club,  Prefect 
of  the  Sodality,  President  of  the  Debating  So- 
ciety, and  Major  of  the  Military  Battalion. 
In  1886  he  was  appointed  paid  military  in- 
structor to  his  fellow-collegians  by  the  late 
Father  Fulton.  He  won  many  honors,  and 
every  purse  of  gold  granted  for  excellence  in 
special  branches  of  study,  a  feat  performed 
by  no  other  student  since  the  college  was 
founded.  Possessed  of  natural  histrionic 
talent,  he  won  laurels  before  the  footlights. 
Edwin  Booth  attended  one  of  the  rehearsals  of 
"Richelieu,"  which  the  college  students  were 
preparing  for  presentation  on  the  stage,  and 
was  much  impressed  with  the  ability  of  the 
young  student.  The  stage  held  out  to  him 
promises  of  a  distinguished  future,  but  after 
completing  his  college  course  he  betook  him- 
self to  a  theological  seminary  to  equip  himself 
for  the  highest  and  noblest  work  of  man. 
When  he  entered  on  his  pastorate  in  Foxboro, 
the  parish  was  in  a  very  unfavorable  condi- 
tion. The  parishioners  were  at  odds,  the 
parish  was  heavily  involved  in  debt,  having 
lost  two  churches  by  fire,  and  the  society  was 


discontented  and  discouraged.  Father  Calla- 
nan went  to  work  in  earnest;  and,  his  spirit 
being  soon  emulated  by  the  people,  they  be- 
came reunited,  and  prosperity  smiled  upon 
them.  He  at  first  beautified  the  old  church 
and  improved  the  grounds,  then  built  another 
church  at  a  cost  of  several  thousand  dollars, 
which  was  out  of  debt  at  the  close  of  his  six 
years'  pastorate,  there  being  a  surplus  in  the 
treasury  besides.  In  November,  1890,  he 
took  charge  of  St.  John's  Parish  at  Newton 
Lower  Falls,  where  he  found  the  conditions 
almost  similar  to  what  they  had  been  in  Fox- 
boro when  he  went  there.  With  the  same 
spirit  he  had  displayed  elsewhere,  taking  as 
his  motto,  "With  bigotry  for  none  and  charity 
for  all,"  he  went  to  work;  and  his  efforts  re- 
sulted in  a  new  and  handsome  parochial  resi- 
dence, new  stable,  a  practically  new  church, 
the  old  one  being  repaired  and  embellished, 
and  the  grounds  about  the  church  property 
graded  and  beautified.  The  spirit  of  the 
pastor  magnetized  the  flock.  The  church  at- 
tendance was  largely  increased;  and  on  De- 
cember 18,  1S95,  the  entire  property  was  de- 
clared free  from  debt.  That  date  was  the 
fifteenth  anniversary  of  his  ordination  to  the 
priesthood;  and  his  parishioners  and  many  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  the  place  met  in  St. 
John's  Parish  Hall  to  tender  their  congratula- 
tions, to  express  in  a  series  of  resolutions 
their  appreciation  of  his  services,  and  to  pre- 
sent him  with  a  generous  token  of  esteem  and 
gratitude,  a  purse  of  eleven  hundred  dollars. 
The  occasion  was  one  of  heartfelt  interest  and 
rejoicing.  Addresses  were  made  by  members 
of  the  parish  and  visiting  friends,  Catholic 
and  non-Catholic,  speaking  of  the  spiritual 
growth  of  the  parish,  the  work  of  Father  Cal- 
lanan in  behalf  of  good  citizenship  and  his 
public  spirit ;  and  congratulatory  letters  were 
read  from  Archbishop  Williams,  the  Hon. 
E.    P.  Carpenter,    and  others. 

Father  Callanan  is  a  tireless  worker  for  the 
cause  of  total  abstinence;  and  that  may  be  the 
reason  why,  as  one  of  the  Selectmen  stated  at 
the  anniversary  testimonial,  there  were  no 
paupers  in  Newton  Lower  Falls. 

His  influence  is  not  confined  to  his  own 
church,  but  extends  to  town  affairs.  In  Fox- 
boro he  found  the  streets  about  his  church   in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


485 


a  deplorable  condition.  He  induced  the  town 
to  widen  the  street  on  which  his  church  stood, 
and  concrete  the  sidewalks;  and  he  was  influ- 
ential in  calling  a  special  town  meeting  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  and  grading  new 
streets.  His  efforts,  united  with  those  of 
other  progressive  citizens,  secured  the  con- 
struction of  one  of  the  best  water -works  sys- 
tems in  the  Commonwealth.  Father  Callanan 
is  thoroughly  American  in  sentiment.  His 
patriotism  was  alluded  to  by  one  of  the 
speakers  at  the  anniversary  testimonial  on 
December  18,  1895  (Mr.  H.  J.  Jaquith),  who 
gave  the  following  incident:  "Mr.  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  ex-vice-president  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, was  visiting  Mr.  Jaquith;  and  the  latter 
took  him  to  Father  Callanan's  church  on  Sun- 
day. The  priest  had  just  been  elected  to  the 
Grand  Army,  and  the  post  attended  in  a  body 
to  listen  to  his  sermon.  His  discourse  was  a 
thrilling  and  eloquent  one  on  the  patriotism 
of  the  North,  and  naturally  did  not  suit  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  asked,  'Why  did  you  bring  me 
to  hear  that?'1'  Father  Callanan  bears  the 
good  will  of  the  entire  community,  and  with- 
out doubt  has  done  a  great  deal  of  good  in  his 
seven  years'  pastorate  at  Lower  Falls  in  ele- 
vating the  moral  and  social  standing  of  his 
people. 


KYING  C.  WEBSTER,  an  enterprising 
HI  leather  merchant  of  Boston  and  a  resi- 
(JJ_  dent  of  Hyde  Park,  was  born  in  Cam- 
bridgeport,  Mass.,  November  3,  1857, 
son  of  the  Rev.  Amos  and  Adeline  E.  (Con- 
verse) Webster.  His  great-grandfather  Web- 
ster was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Bennington; 
and  his  grandfather,  Amos  Webster,  who  was 
born  May  10,  1773,  and  who  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  Rumney,  N.  H.,  died 
there  July  10,  1854,  aged  eighty-one  years, 
having  outlived  his  three  wives.  His  first 
wife,  Mary  Hall,  whom  he  married  on  Febru- 
ary 19,  1797,  was  born  on  February  15,  1775, 
and  died  May  9,  1836.  She  was  the  mother 
of  nine  children,  among  whom  was  the  Rev. 
Amos  Webster,  father  of  Irving  C.  His  sec- 
ond wife,  Lydia  Sanborn,  died  July  4,  1846; 
and  Dorothy  Bagley,  his  third  wife,  died 
April  29,   1853. 


The  Rev.  Amos  Webster  was  born  in  Rum- 
ney, June  23,  18 1 7.  His  early  education  was 
obtained  in  the  district  schools;  and  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  went  to  Ouincy,  Mass.,  where 
he  was  for  a  time  employed  in  a  granite 
quarry.  He  later  taught  school,  and  by  dili- 
gence and  perseverance  acquired  means  to 
complete  his  education.  After  graduating 
from  the  New  Hampton  (N.H.)  Theological 
Institute,  he  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Newton  Upper  Falls,  Mass.  ;  and 
he  also  supplied  pulpits  in  other  parts  of  the 
State.  In  i860  he  settled  in  Hyde  Park;  and, 
besides  supplying  the  pulpit  here  at  times,  he 
edited  the  Christian  lira  for  eighteen  years. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Hyde  Park,  with  which  he  was  ac- 
tively connected  for  the  rest  of  his  life;  and  he 
was  also  interested  in  educational  affairs,  serv- 
ing upon  the  School  Committee  for  eighteen 
years.  The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  Colby  University,  Water- 
ville,  Me.,  and  that  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  by 
Columbia  College. 

The  Rev.  Amos  Webster  passed  his  declin- 
ing years  in  retirement  with  his  son  Irving  C, 
and  died  February  14,  1894.  His  wife,  Ade- 
line E.  Converse,  was  born  in  Boston,  May 
30,  1828,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Adeline 
B.  (Battell)  Converse.  Her  father  was  born 
in  Connecticut,  February  2,  1795;  and  her 
mother  was  born   in   Dover,  Mass.,  September 

14,  1801.  The  Converse  family  is  traceable 
to  one  Roger  de  Coigneviese,  who  accom- 
panied William  the  Conqueror  from  Normandy 
and  fought  in  the  battle  of  Hastings.  The 
American  ancestor  emigrated  in  1630,  settling 
in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  and  established  the 
first  ferry  between  that  place  and  Boston. 
The  Genealogy  of  the  family  was  issued  in 
1887.  Benjamin  Converse  was  for  many  years 
a  provision  dealer;  and  his  last  days  were 
spent   in    Cambridgeport,  where   he   died   May 

15,  1874.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church.  His  wife,  Adeline  Battell,  whom  he 
married  July  30,  1821,  died  November  29, 
1884.  She  was  the  mother  of  three  children, 
all  of  whom  are  still  living:  namely,  two  sons 
ami  Mrs.  Webster.  Five  children  were  born 
to  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Amos  Webster,  and 
three  of  them   are   living,  namely:   Ella,  wife 


486 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


of  S.  S.  Knowles;  Irving  C,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  and  Florence,  wife  of  Samuel 
Albee.  Mr.  Webster's  mother  resides  with 
him. 

Irving  C.  Webster  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  Hyde  Park,  and  when 
nineteen  years  old  he  entered  the  leather  busi- 
ness in  Boston  as  a  clerk  for  Proctor,  Hunt  & 
Haskell.  After  remaining  with  that  concern 
five  years,  he  became  a  travelling  salesman  in 
the  same  line,  continuing  upon  the  road  until 
1894,  since  which  time  he  has  been  in  busi- 
ness for  himself  at  118  Summer  Street,  Bos- 
ton. He  is  actively  interested  in  the  progress 
and  improvement  of  Hyde  Park,  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  this  town,  serving  as  its  first 
secretary,  was  formerly  vice-president,  and  is 
at  the  present  time  a  director.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Baptist 
church,  with  which  he  has  been  officially  con- 
nected since  early  manhood,  and  for  several 
years  acted  as  assistant  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republi- 
can. He  is  a  member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M. ;  a  charter  member  of  Allon  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  was  formerly  secretary  of  the 
encampment,  is  a  past  officer  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum;  and  is  a  member  of  the  Leather  Trade 
Club  of  Boston. 

On  November  20,  1879,  Mr.  Webster  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Mary  E.  Allen.  She 
was  born  in  Chipman,  N.B.,  April  13,  1858, 
daughter  of  John  and  Jennie  Allen,  who  were 
the  parents  of  a  large  family.  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Webster  died  December  17,  1893,  leaving  two 
children — -Edith  L.  and  Chester  C.  Mr. 
Webster  was  married  a  second  time,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1897,  to  Miss  E.  Theresa  Gaffney,  of 
Killingly,  Conn.,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Emily  T. 
Gaffney. 


,HARLES  H.  SMITH,  an  esteemed 
resident  of  Dedham  and  the  Treas- 
urer of  Norfolk  County,  was  born  in 
Dover,  Mass.,  April  5,  1850.  A 
son  of  Abner  L.  Smith,  he  is  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this 
part  of  Massachusetts.  His  great-grand- 
father, John  Williams,  was  a  lifelong  resident 


of  Norfolk  County,  and  had  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  to  have  his  name  inscribed  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Constellation  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  The 
paternal  grandfather,  Ebenezer  Smith,  was 
born  and  reared  in  Dover.  After  a  few  years 
spent  in  Connecticut,  where  he  owned  and 
operated  a  mill,  he  resided  in  his  native  town 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  died 
there  at  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten  years. 
He  was  a  millwright  and  carpenter,  and  often 
walked  the  seventeen  miles  intervening  be- 
tween Dover  and  Boston,  when  his  work  was 
in  that  city. 

Abner  L.  Smith  was  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  old  Eliot 
School  at  Jamaica  Plain.  On  attaining  man's 
estate,  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Dover,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  death,  when  but  fifty-five  years  old.  He 
was  prominently  identified  with  the  leading 
interests  of  the  town,  serving  as  Overseer  of 
the  Poor,  Assessor,  and  Town  Clerk  for  up- 
ward of  twenty  years,  and  for  a  long  time  as 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen.  He 
married  Mary  W.  Howe,  one  of  the  seven 
children  of  Isaac  and  Betsey  Howe,  of  Dover. 
Though  now  seventy  years  old,  she  is  still 
active,  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Unitarian 
church,  as  was  her  husband,  and  takes  part  in 
the  church  work. 

Charles  H.  Smith  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  seventeen  years  of  age,  receiving  a 
good  common-school  education.  Then  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  machinist,  for  which  he 
had  a  natural  aptitude.  He  soon  became  an 
expert  in  the  handling  of  engines,  and  for 
some  time  ran  locomotive  engines  on  their 
trial  trips  for  the  Grant  Locomotive  Works 
at  Paterson,  N.J.  He  superintended  the 
setting  up  the  engine  that  won  the  gold 
medal  at  the  Paris  Exposition  for  this  com- 
pany. He  put  the  first  steam  air  brake  used 
in  this  country  on  a  Rogers  locomotive,  and 
helped  build  the  first  traction  engine  seen  in 
the  United  States.  After  continuing  in  this 
line  of  work  for  seven  years,  he  returned  to  his 
native  town,  and  was  there  engaged  in  general 
farming  for  six  years.  He  served  for  twelve 
years  as  Town  Clerk,  and  was  Selectman  for 
nine  years,  being  chairman  of  the  board  dur- 
ing the  last  three  years  of    that  period.      He 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


487 


was  also  an  Overseer  of  the  Poor  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Health.  He  has  been 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many  years,  having 
been  appointed  by  Governor  John  U.  Long; 
and  in  1889  he  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Ames  as  one  of  a  Board  of  Commissioners  to 
administer  oaths  to  county  officers.  In  1889 
Mr.  Smith  was  elected  to  his  present  respon- 
sible position  as  County  Treasurer.  Since 
then  he  has  been  re-elected  four  times,  receiv- 
ing the  nomination  and  hearty  support  of 
both  parties,  a  noteworthy  proof  of  his  popu- 
larity. In  1890  he  removed  to  Dedham, 
which  he  has  since  made  his  home. 

On  November  14,  1876,  Mr.  Smith  married 
Miss  Mary  H.  Humphrey,  one  of  the  five  chil- 
dren of  Captain  and  Mrs.  John  Humphrey. 
Her  father  was  formerly  a  sea  captain  and  for 
many  years  was  engaged  in  the  tea  trade  in 
China.  He  was  afterward  placed  in  charge 
of  the  United  States  war  vessel  "Swatara," 
during  the  late  Rebellion,  and  is  now  secre- 
tary of  the  Boston  Marine  Society.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smith  have  six  children;  namely,  Bessie 
M.,  Maud  C,  Abner  IL,  Edith  H.,  Anson 
C,  and  Celia  M.  In  politics  Mr.  Smith  is  a 
tried  and  true  Republican.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Norfolk  Club  of  Boston, 
and  is  now  its  vice-president.  A  Master 
Mason,  he  belongs  to  Constellation  Lodge,  as 
did  his  grandfather  and  great-grandfather. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Dedham  Histori- 
cal Society  and  an  ardent  lover  of  the  rod 
and  gun.  He  is  the  president  of  the  Dedham 
Sportsman's  Club,  one  of  the  largest  organ- 
izations of  the  kind  in  New  England.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  are  members  of  the  Uni- 
tarian Church  of  Dedham,  and  are  active  in 
religious  work.  They  were  formerly  con- 
nected with  the  church  of  that  denomination 
in  Dover,  he  having  been  also  one  of  the 
Parish  Committee. 


UGENE  C.  PLIMPTON,  of  Sharon,  a 
highly  successful  cranberry  grower  was 
born  in  this  town,  February  26, 
1845,  son  of  Lyman  and  Louisa  (Capen) 
Plimpton.  His  farm  is  the  one  on  which 
Ziba  Plimpton,  Sr.,  his  great-grandfather,  set- 
tled  in    1 78 1.     Ziba   Plimpton,  Sr.,  was  born 


in  South  Walpole,  Mass.,  in  1 75  1 .  He  was  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Sharon  in  his  day.  He 
died  in  1821. 

Ziba  Plimpton,  Jr.,  son  of  the  elder  Ziba, 
was  born  in  South  Walpole  in  1780.  He  was 
six  months  old  when  his  parents  moved  to 
Sharon;  and  he  resided  in  the  old  Plimpton 
house  until  1807,  when  he  built  the  dwelling 
now  occupied  by  his  grandson,  Eugene  C. 
His  children,  named  respectively  George, 
Jeremiah,  Harriet,  and  Lyman,  were  reared 
there;  and  he  continued  to  occupy  it  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1870,  at  the  age  of 
ninety  years. 

Lyman  Plimpton,  the  youngest  son,  was 
born  in  West  Sharon,  July  26,  181 3.  He  re- 
sided in  the  house  built  by  his  father  until 
after  his  marriage,  when  he  repaired  the  old 
Ziba  Plimpton  house  opposite,  and  occupied 
that  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  His  ac- 
tive years  were  spent  in  tilling  the  soil  of  the 
farm  which  he  inherited,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  useful  and  highly  respected  citizens  of  his 
day.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Louisa  Capen,  was  born  in  Stoughton,  Mass., 
in  1 817.  She  became  the  mother  of  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Lyman  M.  ;  Louisa  A.  ;  Eu- 
gene C,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Lewis  F.; 
and  Harriet  May.  Lyman  M.  resides  in  Col- 
orado. Louisa  A.  married  Henry  Cutler,  a 
merchant  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  has  had 
two  children:  Martha  H.  ;  and  Louisa  S., 
who  is  no  longer  living.  Lewis  F.,  who  is 
carrying  on  mercantile  business  in  Northamp- 
ton, married  Chiara  Curtis,  of  Amherst, 
Mass.,  and  has  two  children  —  Emily  and 
Fanny.  Harriet  May  is  now  residing  in 
West  Sharon. 

For  several  years  previous  to  his  death  it 
had  been  the  custom  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyman 
Plimpton  to  spend  their  winters  with  their 
daughter  in  Northampton,  and  return  to  the 
old  homestead  in  the  spring.  Being  ill  in 
the  spring  of  1896,  he  did  not  undertake  the 
journey  home  until  July;  and  the  end  came  on 
August  1,  1896,  in  the  presence  of  most  of  his 
family.  The  funeral  services  were  conducted 
by  Sanford  Waters  Billings,  of  Sharon,  who 
referred  touchingly  to  the  honorable  career 
and  upright  character  of  the  departed  and  the 
four   surviving    grandchildren    rendered    some 


488 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


of  the  favorite  hymns  which  they  had  fre- 
quently sung  for  their  grandfather  while  in 
life. 

Eugene  C.  Plimpton,  the  third  child  and 
second  son  of  Lyman  and  Louisa  C.  Plimpton, 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools;  and  after 
finishing  his  studies  he  began  to  learn  the  ma- 
chinist's trade  in  Northampton.  In  June, 
1863,  he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Navy 
at  Charlestown,  Mass.  ;  but,  after  serving  in 
the  North  Atlantic  Squadron  for  a  short 
time,  he  went  to  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  en- 
tered the  Howe  Sewing  Machine  factory.  He 
remained  with  that  concern  until  1877  as  con- 
tractor, and  was  quite  successful  in  that  line. 
Later  for  a  time  he  was  extensively  engaged 
in  raising  sheep  in  Southern  Colorado;  and, 
selling  out  in  1880,  he  went  to  the  mining 
districts  of  Leadville.  In  1882  he  went  to 
Orange  County,  California,  where  he  was  in 
the  fruit-raising  business  a  year  and  a  half; 
and  in  1884  he  returned  to  the  homestead  in 
Sharon.  He  has  fifty  acres  of  well-improved 
land,  including  eight  acres  of  meadow,  which 
he  uses  for  raising  cranberries,  doing  a  large 
business  in  that  line,  selling  exclusively  in 
the  wholesale  market.  His  crop  for  1897  was 
nearly  one  thousand  barrels. 

In  November,  1875,  Mr.  Plimpton  married 
Helen  Louise  Blinn,  of  Hartford,  Conn.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  George  H.  and  Louise  M. 
(Eno)  Blinn,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
New  Jersey,  and  the  latter  in  Hartford.  Mr. 
Blinn  is  now  residing  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Mrs.  Blinn  died  in  1883.  Mrs.  Plimpton  is 
an  Episcopalian. 

Politically,  Mr.  Plimpton  acts  with  the  Re- 
publican party;  and  while  residing  in  Bridge- 
port he  was  a  member  of  the  Common  Coun- 
cil. He  is  well  advanced  in  Masonry,  being 
a  member  of  St.  John  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ; 
Jerusalem  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons ;  and 
Hamilton  Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  of 
Bridgeport.  The  Plimpton  family  is  widely 
and  favorably  known  in  this  vicinity.  Mrs. 
Louisa  Capen  Plimpton  and  her  daughter  re- 
side in  the  old  Ziba  Plimpton  house.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  that  the  golden  anniversaries 
of  the  weddings  of  three  children  of  Ziba 
Plimpton,  Jr.  —  namely,  Jeremiah,  Lyman, 
and  Mrs.  Joseph   Swan  —  were  celebrated  the 


same  year;  and   it   is  exceedingly  doubtful   if 
this  coincidence  can  be  paralleled. 


fHOMAS  JEFFERSON  DANIELS,  a 
prominent  farmer  of  Franklin  and  rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  old  families, 
was  born  here,  April  10,  1826,  only  son  of 
Nathan  and  Roxana  (Thayer)  Daniels.  His 
grandfather,  Nathan  Daniels,  second,  and  his 
grandfather's  brother,  Adams  Daniels,  came 
to  Franklin  with  their  parents,  Nathan  and 
Mary  (Adams)  Daniels  (formerly  spelled 
Daniell),  from  East  Medway  in  1767. 
Adams  Daniels  later  settled  in  Medfield. 

Nathan  Daniels,  second,  who  was  born  in 
1748,  and  who  fought  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution in  1775,  was  a  farmer  by  occupation. 
He  was  also  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  a 
Judge,  and  he  settled  many  estates.  He  died 
in  1 84 1.  He  had  been  twice  married,  and 
had  reared  seven  children;  namely,  Cyrus, 
Ezra,  Luke,  Nathan  (third),  Dorcas,  Sallie, 
and  Olive.  The  third  Nathan,  father  of 
Thomas  ).,  was  a  farmer  through  life,  and  al- 
ways lived  at  the  old  homestead.  He  died  in 
1872.  His  wife,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Nahum  Thayer,  an  auger  maker  of  Medway, 
was  born  in  Sherborn.  They  had  three 
children — -Thomas  Jefferson,  Lucy  Gilbert, 
and  Harriet  Adeline.  Lucy  Daniels  is  the 
widow  of  William  A.  Baldwin,  and  lives  in 
West  Medway.  Adeline  is  Mrs.  William  A. 
Bartlett,  of  this  town. 

Mr.  Thomas  J.  Daniels,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  having  obtained  his  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  Franklin,  remained  at 
home  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he 
went  into  a  shoe  shop  in  Sherborn,  where  he 
worked  for  two  months.  He  then  worked  in  a 
machine  shop  in  West  Medway  for  four 
months,  and  later  at  Caryville  in  the  cotton 
manufactory  for  three  months.  Then,  being 
sick,  he  came  home.  Upon  regaining  his 
health,  he  went  into  the  lumber  business,  and 
carried  on  farming  on  the  old  farm.  lie  came 
to  his  present  farm  in  1865.  He  now  owns 
about  three  hundred  acres,  and  still  continues 
in  the  wood  business,  sawing  and  splitting 
wood,  and  selling  it.  He  has  held  the  office 
of   Highway  Surveyor  for  about   thirty   years, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


489 


and  has  been  Forest  Fire  Warden  for  ten 
years.      In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

In  October,  1853,  Mr.  Daniels  was  married 
to  Celia  Ann  Hicks,  of  Swansea,  Mass., 
daughter  of  Jacob  Hicks.  She  died  in  1857, 
leaving  one  child,  Nathan  A.,  now  living  in 
Franklin,  and  engaged  in  the  wood  and  lum- 
ber business.  He  married  Emma  Ackley, 
and  has  four  children;  namely,  Emery 
Nathan,  Frank  Jefferson,  Bertha  Elizabeth, 
and  Eva  Celia. 

On  November  12,  i860,  Mr.  Daniels  mar- 
ried his  second  wife,  Miss  Mary  E.  Billings, 
a  native  of  Sharon,  Mass.,  born  August  22, 
1838,  daughter  of  Dudley  and  Achsah 
(Thayer)  Billings.  Her  father,  who  was  a 
native  of  Foxboro,  was  a  farmer,  and  lived 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Canton 
and  Sharon.  He  died  in  Canton  in  May, 
1S56:  and  his  wife,  a  native  of  Easton,  died 
December  10,  1S61.  Their  children  were: 
Spencer,  who  was  born  January  4,  1820,  and 
died  in  1882;  Angeline,  born  in  1822;  Ach- 
sah, born  in  1824;  Warren,  born  in  1827; 
Ruhama,  born  in  1830:  and  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Daniels,  who  is  the  only  one  now  living. 
Mrs.  Daniels's  maternal  grandfather,  Na- 
thaniel Thayer,  lived  in  Easton.  His  wife, 
Phoebe  Thayer,  died  in  Medway. 

There  have  been  six  children  by  Mr. 
Daniels's  second  marriage;  namely,  Nahum 
Ellsworth,  Oscar  Jefferson,  Cyrus  Weston, 
Carrie  Alice,  Dora  Elizabeth,  and  Ella 
Ruhama.  Nahum  Ellsworth  Daniels,  who 
was  born  October  20,  1861,  married  Almira 
Amanda  Roberts,  and  is  now  living  in  Perry, 
la.  He  is  a  freight  conductor  on  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  having  been 
an  employee  for  the  past  fourteen  years.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood  Railroad 
Trainmen's  Lodge,  and  holds  the  office  of 
Financier. 

For  the  past  ten  years  he  has  represented 
this  lodge  at  the  annual  convention,  it  being 
held  in  1897  at  Toronto,  Canada,  where  he 
acted  as  delegate.  He  has  three  children; 
namely,  Mabel  Elizabeth,  Ella  May,  and 
Warren  Ellsworth.  Mr.  Nahum  E.  Daniels 
is  also  an  active  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows 
Lodge  and  the  Order  of  Red  Men.  Oscar, 
who   was    born    November   4,     1869,    lives    at 


Franklin,  and  is  in  the  bicycle  store.  Cyrus, 
born  February  6,  1874,  died  at  the  age  of  one 
year  and  seven  months.  Carrie,  born  in  Jan- 
uary, 1876,  and  Ella,  born  February  7,  1883, 
are  at  home.  Dora,  who  was  born  in  Septem- 
ber, 1879,  died  at  the  age  of  one  year,  eleven 
months,  and  five  days. 


lOSES  BOYD,  the  oldest  railroad 
conductor  in  point  of  service  in 
:he  United  States,  is  a  resident 
of  Dedham,  Norfolk  County, 
Mass.,  where  he  was  born  October  29,  181 5. 
His  father,  David  Boyd,  was  born  in  Dedham; 
but  his  grandfather,  Robert  Boyd,  coming 
from  thrifty  Scottish  ancestry,  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire. 

David  Boyd  was  left  an  orphan  when  but 
seven  years  of  age;  and  from  that  time  until 
attaining  his  majority  he  lived  on  a  farm  in 
West  Dedham,  obtaining  his  education  in  the 
district  schools.  After  his  marriage  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  that  locality,  and  for  several 
years  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture. 
He  subsequently  sold  his  farming  property, 
and  spent  his  declining  days  at  the  home  of  his 
son  Moses,  passing  away  at  the  venerable  age 
of  ninety-three  years.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
traits  of  character,  generous  and  just  in  his  es- 
timates of  his  fellow-men,  and  was  held  in 
high  regard  throughout  the  community.  He 
took  great  interest  in  the  Unitarian  church,  of 
which  both  he  and  his  good  wife  were  active 
members.  Of  their  five  children  two  are  still 
living,  namely:  Mrs.  Mary  Spear;  and  Moses, 
the  special  subject  of  this  brief  biographical 
sketch.  Mrs.  Boyd,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Polly  French,  was  born  in  West  Dedham,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  French.  She 
lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years. 

Moses  Boyd  remained  beneath  the  parental 
roof  until  eighteen  years  old,  when  he  went 
into  the  cabinet  shop  of  Russell  &  Baker  at 
the  "Upper  Village  "  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
cabinet-maker;  and  for  some  ten  years  there- 
after he  followed  that  branch  of  the  business 
known  as  wood-turning.  In  1843  Mr.  Boyd 
entered  the  employ  of  the  railroad  company, 
and,  as  conductor,  brakeman,  and  baggage- 
master,    took    entire    charge    of    the    railway 


49° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


train,  which  made  two  daily  trips  between 
Dedham  and  Boston.  At  that  early  day  there 
were  but  two  stations  between  Dedham  and 
Forest  Hills;  and  at  Hyde  Park,  where  only 
two  families  patronized  the  road,  if  a  member 
of  either  desired  to  ride  into  Boston  on  the 
train  he  signified  his  intention  by  standing 
beside  the  track,  and  the  engineer,  who  was 
on  the  lookout  for  passengers,  stopped  for 
him.  Under  the  most  favorable  conditions 
forty-five  minutes  were  consumed  in  those 
clays  in  the  passage  to  and  from  Boston ;  and 
on  several  occasions  in  the  winter  season  Mr. 
Boyd  was  obliged  to  leave  his  train  stuck  fast 
in  the  snow,  while  he  and  the  passengers 
walked  to  their  destination.  Since  he  became 
connected  with  the  road,  fifty-four  years  ago, 
all  of  the  earlier  officials  have  passed  away; 
and  he  has  lived  to  see  the  wonderful  improve- 
ments and  the  greatly  increased  facilities  of 
transportation  throughout  the  country.  Two 
railroads,  representing  two  great  railway  sys- 
tems, now  pass  through  Dedham;  and  the 
number  of  trains  between  here  and  Boston 
has  been  increased  to  fifty  per  day.  For 
fifty-three  years  Mr.  Boyd  served  as  conduc- 
tor, resigning  his  position  in  1896,  although 
he  still  acts  as  assistant,  going  into  Boston 
three  times  each  day.  He  has  ever  been  a 
faithful  official  of  the  company  which  he  has 
served  for  so  many  years,  and  is  well  known 
along  the  entire  length  of  the  road,  being  one 
of  the  most  popular  and  respected  conductors 
in   the   service. 

On  December  25,  1840,  Mr.  Boyd  mar- 
ried Miss  Olive  Guild,  who  was  born  in  West 
Dedham,  being  one  of  the  nine  children  of 
Reuben  A.  Guild,  a  prosperous  blacksmith 
and  wheelwright  of  that  part  of  the  town. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd  are  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  six  of  whom  are  yet  living;  namely, 
Maria  L.,  Moses  Gardner,  Frank  R.,  Ella  E., 
Charles  M.,  and  Fred  W.  Maria  L.  Boyd  is 
the  wife  of  Cornelius  A.  Taft,  paying  teller  in 
the  Webster  Bank,  Boston,  and  has  one  child, 
Ella  L.  Moses  Gardner  Boyd,  who  married 
Harriet  T.  Wolcott,  has  three  children  — 
Gardner,  Robert  St.  Barbe,  and  Margaret. 
Frank  R.  Boyd  married  Julia  Thorpe,  and  has 
one  child,  Walter.  Ella  E.  Boyd  is  the  wife 
of  Jeremiah  Williams,  and  has  three  children 


—  Mildred,  Gardner,  and  Malcolm.  Charles 
M.,  who  married  Jennie  Parker,  has  three 
children  —  Charles  Parker,  Olive,  and  Elea- 
nor. Fred  W.  Boyd  married  Ella  Neale,  of 
Hyde  Park,  and  has  three  daughters  —  Flor- 
ence N.,  Marion,  and  Helen. 

In  politics  Mr.  Boyd,  who  was  for  many 
years  a  Democrat,  is  independent,  having  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  and  voting  for  the 
best  men  and  best  measures  irrespective  of 
party  affiliations.  He  is  of  the  liberal  type 
in  religion  and  an  attendant  of  the  Unitarian 
church.      Mrs.  Boyd  died  January  10,  1884. 


HARLES  RICE,  a  retired  fruit-grower 
of  Wellesley,  the  son  of  Charles  and 
js  ^  Maria  (Jennings)  Rice,  was  born  in 
Needham,  now  Wellesley  Falls,  Oc- 
tober 10,  1X23.  His  paternal  grandfather 
came  to  Massachusetts  from  Wales,  and,  set- 
tling in  Brighton,  was  there  engaged  as  a 
butcher  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Charles  Rice,  Sr. ,  son  of  the  immigrant, 
was  born  in  Brighton  in  1787.  He  engaged 
in  the  paper  manufacturing  business  at  Need- 
ham  Lower  Falls,  and  became  a  prominent 
man  in  the  town,  where  he  held  the  office 
of  Selectman  a  number  of  times,  was  the 
Representative  of  his  district  to  the  General 
Court,  and  also  filled  other  positions  of  public 
trust.  He  was  a  member  of  Meridian  Lodge, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Needham  Lower  Falls, 
also  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arch  Chapter  and 
of  the  commandery,  Knights  Templar.  He 
was  married  twice.  His  first  wife  was  Lucy 
Mann,  of  Needham  ;  and  his  second  wife  was 
Maria  Jennings,  of  Natick. 

Charles  Rice,  son  of  Charles,  Sr. ,  and  Maria 
J.  Rice,  acquired  his  general  education  in  the 
Wellesley  public  school,  Marshall's  private 
school  at  Newton  Centre,  at  Seth  Davis  Acad- 
emy at  West  Newton,  and  at  Holliston  Acad- 
emy. After  leaving  the  academy,  he  took  a 
course  at  Comer's  Commercial  College  in  Bos- 
ton, and  then  went  into  a  real  estate  office  in 
that  city  with  Samuel  Rice.  He  next  ac- 
cepted a  position  with  a  merchant  by  the  name 
of  Turner,  to  settle  up  accounts,  but  soon  left 
to  take  charge  of  affairs  at  home.  In  1850  he 
went    into   the   lumber    business    at    Needham 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


491 


Lower  Falls,  in   which   he  was  engaged   until 

1862.  During  the  war  he  was  in  the  custom- 
house in  Boston  under  Collector  Hannibal 
Hamlin.  He  held  this  position  for  nineteen 
months,  and  was  the  only  inspector  of  lumber 
in  vessels  in  the  ports  of  Boston,  Brighton, 
Cambridge,  Medford,  Charlestown,  Neponset, 
and  Dorchester.  He  had  to  inspect  all  the 
lumber  imported,  and  deliver  a  written  report 
to  the  appraiser,  Mr.  Frost.  After  this  he 
went  into  the  coal  business  at  Needham  for  a 
short  time.  When  his  father  died,  he  bought 
out  the  heirs  in  part;  and  since  that  time  he 
has  lived  in  a  residence  of  his  own  near  the 
old  homestead,  engaged  until  1895  in  growing 
fruit  for  the  market.  In  tha't  year  he  sold  a 
large  part  of  his  estate  and  retired  from  busi- 
ness.     In  politics  Mr.   Rice  is  a  Democrat. 

He  was  married  in  1850  to  Harriet  M.,  a 
daughter  of  Charles  Brigham,  of  Lexington, 
this  State.  She  died  June  7,  i860.  Her 
children  were:  Herbert  Francis,  who  was  born 
in  1852,  and  died  in  1883;  Llattie  Brigham, 
bom  in  1857,  who  married  Frank  Crowell,  and 
died  in  1880;  and  Lizzie  and  Mary,  who  both 
died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Rice  was  married  again 
in  1861  to  Ellen,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Charles  F. 
Hartwell,  of  Boston.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rice 
have  three   children  —  Charles   Irving,  born  in 

1863,  doing  business  in  Boston;  Clifford 
Hartwell,  born  in  1870,  who  married  Mabelle 
Camille  Haskins,  and  is  general  manager  for 
the  New  England  States  of  the  Niagara  Fire 
Insurance  Company  of- New  York;  and  Cath- 
arine Shepherd,  born  in  1877,  living  at  home. 


|HARLES  T.  CRANE,  for  the  past 
eighteen  years  treasurer  of  the  Wey- 
mouth Savings  Bank,  was  born  in 
Bra  in  tree,  Mass.,  September  19, 
[843,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Nash) 
Crane.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  John 
Crane,  an  agriculturist,  and  the  first  ancestor 
in  this  country  one  Henry  Crane,  an  early 
settler  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  and  of  English 
origin.  John  Crane  (second),  during  the  last- 
thirty  years  of  his  life,  carried  on  a  retail  boot 
and  shoe  store  in  Weymouth.  He  died  in  Oc- 
tober, 1892,  his  widow  and  three  children  sur- 
viving him,  namely:  Eliza  N.,  wife  of  Nathan 


O.  Smith,  of  Weymouth;  Charles  T.  ;  and  S. 
Augusta. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  man's  es- 
tate in  the  town  of  Braintree.  He  received  a 
common-school  education,  which  he  has  since 
supplemented  by  general  reading  and  practical 
business  experience.  At  the  age  of  nineteen 
he  went  to  work  as  a  clerk  in  his  father's 
store.  Two  years  later  he  became  a  member 
of  the  firm,  and  carried  on  the  business  in 
company  with  his  father  until  1874,  when  he 
retired,  in  order  to  become  book-keeper  for  the 
Hall  Safe  and  Lock  Company,  of  Boston.  He 
subsequently  spent  a  year  in  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota,  in  1878  returning  to  Weymouth  to 
enter  the  Savings  Bank,  of  which  institution 
he  was  made  treasurer  in  1879,  and  with  which 
he  has  since  remained  connected.  Mr.  Crane 
married  Lavonne  E.  Walbridge,  of  Boston. 
They  have  no  children.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  but  with  Independent  proclivities. 
He  has  for  many  years  been  a  Deacon  in  the 
Union  Congregational  Church  of  Weymouth, 
and  for  several  years  served  as  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  Weymouth  Chapter,  Royal  Arcanum. 


RANCIS  F.  BULLOCK,  a  well-known 
contractor  and  builder  of  South  Wey- 
mouth, was  born  in  Stanstead,  P. Q. , 
Canada,  September  24,  1840,  son  of  Noble 
and  Annis  (Abbott)  Bullock.  His  father,  son 
of  an  early  settler  of  Stanstead  County,  was 
in  early  life  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
there,  but  afterward  turned  his  attention  to 
farming.  He  died  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of 
his  age. 

Francis  F.  Bullock  was  brought  up  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  county.  He  then  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  a  carpenter  and  builder.  In 
November,  1861,  he  came  to  South  Wey- 
mouth, and  for  several  years  was  employed 
here  as  a  mechanic  in  a  box  factory  owned  by 
E.  and  C.  Sherman.  Subsequently  he  re- 
turned to  Stanstead  to  engage  in  general  mer- 
cantile business  with  his  brother,  A.  Fenton 
Bullock,  under  the  firm  name  of  A.  F.  Bullock 
&  Co.  Still  later  he  returned  to  South  Wey- 
mouth, and  worked  here  for  a  while  at  his  trade 


49 2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


of  carpenter.  He  then  tried  farming  for  two 
years  in  Cloud  County,  Kansas.  There  he  had 
also  some  experience  in  building;  and,  finally 
returning  to  South  Weymouth,  he  established 
himself  here  as  a  contractor  and  builder,  and 
has  since  been  quite  successful.  By  the  reli- 
able quality  of  his  work  he  has  gained  the  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  the  business  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Bullock  married  C.  Fannie  Curtis,  a 
native  of  this  town.  They  have  one  adopted 
daughter,  E.  Helen.  Mr.  Bullock  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Wildey  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  organizers.  He  is  also  a  di- 
rector in  the  South  Weymouth  Co-operative 
Bank,  of  which  he  has  been  a  stockholder 
since  its  organization.  He  is  independent  in 
politics,  and  is  interested  in  town  affairs  and 
all  movements  for  the  improvement  of  the 
town  or  county.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Uni- 
versalis! Church  Society,  of  which  he  is  also 
treasurer. 


§OSEPH  ST.  JOHN,  who  carries  on  a 
thriving  general  mercantile  business  in 
Cohasset,  was  bom  in  St.  John's,  N.F., 
October  15,  1844,  son  of  James  and 
Anastasia  (Powers)  St.  John,  the  father  being 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  the  mother  of  New- 
foundland. James  St.  John,  who  was  a  tailor 
by  trade,  moved  from  Newfoundland  to  East 
Boston,  where  he  remained  some  four  years, 
and  then  located  in  Cohasset.  He  followed 
his  trade  in  this  town  for  over  thirty  years, 
and  resided  here  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1893,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 
He  was  the  father  of  four  children  —  Mar- 
garet, Joseph,  William,  and  John. 

Joseph  St.  John  was  about  ten  years  old 
when  his  parents  left  Newfoundland,  and  he 
has  resided  in  Cohasset  since  he  was  fourteen. 
He  acquired  a  common-school  education,  and 
for  some  time  after  completing  his  studies  was 
employed  as  a  fisherman.  He  later  followed 
the  sea  in  the  merchant  service,  visiting  the 
principal  ports  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  South 
America;  and  during  the  last  two  years  of  his 
seafaring  life  he  was  second  mate  of  the  ship 
"Mary,"  owned  by  John  Bates,  and  com- 
manded by  Captain  James  Hall,  of  this  town. 


Subsequently  abandoning  the  sea,  he  followed 
shoemaking  in  North  Scituate,  Mass.,  for  fif- 
teen years;  and  since  1886  he  has  kept  a  gen- 
eral store,  which  has  been  well  patronized. 
In  politics  Mr.  St.  John  is  a  Democrat.  He 
served  as  Postmaster  under  President  Cleve- 
land's administration,  occupying  the  office,  in 
all,  about  eight  years;  and  he  has  also  been 
Constable.  In  religion  he  is  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic. 

Mr.  St.  John  married  Catherine  Roche, 
daughter  of  John  Roche,  of  Cohasset,  and  has 
five  children  —  Anastasia,  James  T. ,  Celia 
R.,  Theresa,  and  Charles  J.  C. 


§'OHN  W.  PERRY,  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Boston  police  force,  and 
now  living  in  retirement  in  Dedham, 
was  born  in  Natick,  Middlesex  County, 
July  22,  1821,  son  of  John  W.  and  Harriet 
(Rice)  Perry.  His  grandfather,  Samuel 
Perry,  who  conducted  a  farm  in  Natick  for 
many  years,  married  a  lady  of  Welsh  extrac- 
tion. Their  children  were  Samuel,  William, 
Elijah,  Sally,  and  John  W.  Grandfather 
Perry  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-one,  and  his 
wife  also  lived  to  an  advanced  age. 

John  W.  Perry,  Sr. ,  born  in  Natick  in 
1789,  died  there  February  12,  1S25,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-six,  having  spent  his  mature  years  in 
the  pursuit  of  agriculture.  He  first  married 
Sally  Rice,  of  Walpole,  Mass.,  by  whom  he 
had  one  child,  John  W.,  who  died  in  infancy. 
By  his  second  wife,  Harriet,  who  was  a  twin 
sister  of  his  first  wife,  he  had  two  sons, 
namely:  John  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Andrew  J.,  who  was  born  June  14,  1824, 
and  died  in  April,  1842,  in  his  eighteenth 
year.  After  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Perry 
married  Alfred  Bacon,  and  resided  in  Natick, 
where  she  and  her  second  husband  passed  their 
last  years. 

John  W.  Perry,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  nine  years  old  when  he  went  with  his 
mother  to  Dover.  There  he  attended  Straw- 
berry Hill  School  until  he  was  fourteen  years 
old.  He  lived  with  his  mother  till  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he  began  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  John  Davis,  of  Sherborn, 
Mass.,  to  learn  blacksmithing.      After  he  had 


GEORGE    IS.    SHERMAN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


495 


learned  his  trade,  he  worked  as  journeyman  in 
Medvvay,  Holliston,  and  other  places  until 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  Afterward  a  severe 
injury  received  while  shoeing  a  young  horse 
obliged  him  to  give  up  his  trade.  He  then 
bought  out  the  bakery  of  Wesley  P.  Balch,  of 
Medfield.  Selling  out  the  shop  at  the  end  of 
five  years  of  successful  business,  he  returned 
to  Natick,  there  established  another  bakeshop, 
and  continued  in  the  business  three  years 
more.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  sold  out 
and  went  to  Boston,  accepting  a  position  with 
A.  H.  Allen,  a  furniture  dealer  in  Dock 
Square.  After  working  in  this  employment 
until  1859,  he  went  on  the  Boston  police 
force,  and  was  connected  therewith  till  April, 
1882,  when  he  was  pensioned  for  disability, 
having  suffered  prostration  from  heat,  while  on 
duty  on  Boston  Common.  Several  others  were 
prostrated  at  the  same  time,  two  of  whom 
died.  In  November,  1882,  he  bought  an  ele- 
gant house  in  Dedham,  and  has  since  resided 
here.  He  is  a  Republican  in  political  affil- 
iation. 

Mr.  Perry  was  married  in  1846  to  Miss 
Sarah  D.  Breck,  daughter  of  Joseph  Breck,  of 
Medfield,  Mass.  Her  brother,  Joseph  L. 
Breck,  is  now  deceased.  Her  sisters  are  Jo- 
sephine and  Cynthia  Ann.  The  latter  is  the 
wife  of  Thomas  J.  Baker,  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Dedham.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perry  have  had  no 
children. 


/©To 


EORGE  B.  SHERMAN,  a  late  resi- 
\  fa  I  dent  of  Plainville,  Norfolk  County, 
and  an  artist  of  considerable  note, 
was  born  in  Fall  River,  Mass.,  June  29,  1825, 
son  of  the  Rev.  Eleazer  and  Hannah  Brightman 
Sherman.  He  received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation, and  early  in  life  followed  the  example 
of  many  other  adventurous  New  England 
youths,  and  went  to  sea.  Beginning  on  the 
lowest  round  of  the  ladder,  he  served  some 
years  before  the  mast  as  a  common  sailor,  but 
made  such  good  use  of  his  scanty  opportunities 
for  advancement  that,  while  still  a  compara- 
tively young  man,  he  became  commander  of  a 
vessel.  In  1S49  he  joined  the  vast  army  of 
fortune  hunters  on  their  way  to  the  newly  dis- 
covered gold-fields  of   California,  making    the 


journey  in  the  sailing-vessel  "Argonaut." 
Pie  remained  in  California,  however,  but  a 
little  more  than  a  year,  when,  because  of  fail- 
ing health,  he  returned  to  his  native  town, 
where  for  the  next  twelve  years  he  remained. 
In  1863  he  removed  to  Norfolk  County,  and 
for  a  time  followed  the  comparatively  obscure 
calling  of  a  stationary  engineer,  removing  to 
Plainville  in  1873  to  a  permanent  home.  The 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  his  health,  how- 
ever, obliged  him  once  more  to  seek  a  new  em- 
ployment;  and  the  force  of  circumstances  this 
time  conduced  to  happy  results,  directing  him 
to  that  sphere  of  life  in  which  he  was  best 
qualified  to  succeed.  Gifted  by  nature  with  a 
fine  artistic  temperament  and  a  keen  eye  for 
form  and  color,  he  had  already  improved  these 
talents  to  some  extent  by  practice  in  spare 
moments  and  by  an  intelligent  study  of  nat- 
ure and  also  of  the  works  of  famous  artists,  so 
far  as  they  had  come  under  his  observation. 
He,  therefore,  now  turned  his  attention  to 
landscape  painting,  to  which  occupation  the 
last  twenty  years  of  his  life,  which  closed  Au- 
gust 28,  1897,  were  mostly  given.  Among 
the  pictures  which  contributed  in  largest 
measure  to  establish  and  fix  his  reputation  as  a 
landscape  painter  of  marked  power  are  "The 
Battle-field  of  Gettysburg  from  Little  Round 
Top  Mountain,"  "The  Old  Man  of  the  Moun- 
tain" (a  natural,  rocky  projection  bearing  the 
aspect  of  a  man's  head,  in  the  White  Moun- 
tains of  New  Hampshire),  "Echo  Lake," 
"Franconia  Notch,"  and  several  paintings  of 
Green  Mountain  scenery. 

In  estimating  his  work,  it  may  be  said  that 
Mr.  Sherman  was  not  only  imbued  with  an  in- 
tense love  of  Nature  in  all  her  ever-varying 
moods  and  aspects,  but  also  had  a  thorough 
command  of  the  technique  of  his  art.  His 
canvases  evince  the  careful  study  and  intelli- 
gent treatment  that  distinguish  the  work  of  a 
master  from  that  of  a  tyro;  while  to  these 
essential  qualities  were  added  others  partaking 
more  of  his  own  individuality,  though  free 
from  anything  like  mannerism.  Though  his 
art  career  was  begun  comparatively  late  in 
life,  he  achieved  for  himself  a  recognized 
place  among  New  England  painters  that  might 
be  envied  by  many  a  one  starting  earlier  and 
with  better  advantages.      Mr.  Sherman  was  es- 


49  6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


sentially  a  manly  man  and  a  true  gentleman 
in  all  the  relations  of  life.  Of  more  than 
common  intelligence,  he  kept  himself  well 
informed  upon  subjects  of  current  interest  out- 
side of  his  profession ;  and  it  may  be  said  of 
him  that  his  life  from  childhood  was  one  con- 
tinued effort  at  self-improvement.  The  record 
of  his  success  is  of  use  as  an  example  of 
energy  and  perseverance  to  the  younger  gener- 
ation. 

In  October,  185 1,  Mr.  Sherman  married 
Miss  Sarah  J.  Gifford,  of  North  Bridgewater 
(now  Brockton),  Mass.  ;  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  three  .children,  of  whom  but  one  at- 
tained maturity,  namely:  Elizabeth  N.,  who 
became  the  wife  of  William  H.  Wade,  of 
Wrentham,  Mass.  Mrs.  Sherman,  who  sur- 
vives her  husband,  resides  in  Plainville,  and  is 
a  lady  widely  known  and  equally  respected  for 
her  amiable  and  true  womanly  character. 


/^TuRDON  SOUTHWORTH,  chairman 
\  '3  I  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen,  Stough- 
ton,  was  born  in  this  town,  March 
27,  1846,  son  of  Luther  and  Sarah  A.  (Rich- 
ards) Southworth.  His  grandfather,  Jedediah 
Southworth,  who  was  an  early  settler  in 
Stoughton,  married  Sarah  Hewett;  and  of  that 
union  eight  children  were  born  —  Apollos, 
Luther,  Albert,  Marcus,  Sally,  Lucy,  Martha, 
and  Mary. 

Luther  Southworth,  Gurdon  Southworth's 
father,  was  born  in  Stoughton,  December  13, 
1799.  In  early  manhood  he  was  a  manufact- 
urer of  cotton  thread  and  twine,  but  his  later 
years  were  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  was  widely  and  favorably  known  as  an  up- 
right, conscientious  citizen,  who  fully  merited 
the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  He  lived 
to  be  ninety-two  years  old,  dying  in  Decem- 
ber, 1 89 1.  His  wife,  Sarah,  who  was  born 
in  Sharon  in  1810,  became  the  mother  of  two 
children — -Luther,  born  in  December,  1843, 
who  married  Emma  Ward,  and  is  residing  in 
West  Stoughton ;  and  Gurdon,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.      The  mother  died  in  1875. 

Gurdon  Southworth  acquired  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  town. 
When  a  young  man  he  worked  in  the  woollen 
factories,  and  also  in  boot  and  shoe  factories. 


In  1873  he  became  associated  with  his  brother 
in  the  manufacture  of  screws  at  West  Stough- 
ton, in  which  business  he  was  engaged  for 
nearly  ten  years.  In  1882  he,  in  company 
with  Charles  M.  Staples,  bought  a  bakery  in 
this  town;  and,  giving  up  the  screw  manufact- 
uring business,  he  continued  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  Staples  until  the  latter's  death  in 
1889,  since  which  time  he  has  carried  on  the 
enterprise  alone.  He  conducts  a  very  profit- 
able business,  and  two  teams  are  kept  busy 
supplying  bread  and  pastry  to  his  numerous 
patrons  in  Stoughton,  Sharon,  Canton,  and 
Avon. 

On  November  7,  1868,  Mr.  Southworth 
married  Sarah  B.  Staples,  who  was  born  in 
Stoughton,  January  30,  1852,  daughter  of 
Algernon  and  Docena  (Harlow)  Staples.  Her 
mother  died  in  1852;  and  her  father,  who  is  a 
shoemaker  by  trade,  is  now  residing  in  Chase's 
Mills,  Me.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Southworth  have 
one  son  —  Ernest  B. ,  born  April  18,  1872, 
who  is  now  assistant  superintendent  of  the 
Stoughton  Rubber  Company's  works  in  this 
town. 

In  politics  Mr.  Southworth  is  a  Republican, 
and  he  is  capably  filling  the  position  of 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen.  He 
is  treasurer  of  Rising  Star  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  Secretary  of  Mount  Zion  Royal  Arch 
Chapter,  a  member  of  Bay  State  Commandery, 
Knights  Templar,  of  Brockton,  and  a  member 
of  Aleppo  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  in 
Boston.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Lodge  No. 
172,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  an  associate  member  of 
A.  St.  John  Chambre  Post,  No.  72,  of 
Stoughton. 


,ILTON  HARRINGTON  HOW- 
ARD, a  contractor  and  builder 
of  Norwood,  was  born  in  West 
Bridgewater,  Mass.,  September 
8,  1 85 1,  son  of  Lewis  G.  and  Abigail  (Cope- 
land)  Howard.  The  family  is  of  English 
origin,  and  traces  its  descent  from  one  of  the 
Dukes  of  Norfolk.  Zephaniah  Howard,  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  an  ar- 
chitect and  builder,  and  framed  the  dome  of 
the  State  House  in  Boston. 

Lewis  G.  Howard  was  born  in  West  Bridge- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


497 


water  in  1810.  He  first  became  a  shoemaker, 
and  later  followed  the  carpenter's  trade  in  his 
native  town.  His  wife,  Abigail,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Martin  Copeland,  of  Foxboro, 
Mass.,  became  the  mother  of  two  sons — Mil- 
ton H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Somers. 

Milton  Harrington  Howard  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  and  at  Bridgewater  Acad- 
emy. After  completing  his  studies,  he  began 
to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  was  later 
engaged  in  setting  up  machinery  in  furniture 
factories  in  and  around  Boston;  and  about  the 
year  1874  he  established  himself  as  a  builder 
in  Norwood,  in  which  business  he  has  since 
continued.  He  has  satisfactorily  filled  many 
large  contracts  in  this  locality,  among  them 
those  for  the  building  of  the  Universalist  and 
Congregational  churches,  the  North,  East, 
West,  and  Guild  schools,  and  the  extension  to 
the  high-school  building;  also  several  factories 
and  much  general  work  in  Norwood,  Read- 
ville,  and  Walpole,  including  the  erection  of 
many  fine  residences.  He  is  a  member  of 
Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  Hebron  Royal 
Arch  Chapter,  in  which  he  has  occupied  some 
of  the  chairs;  the  New  England  Order  of  Pro- 
tection, in  which  he  has  held  offices;  and  the 
Ancient  Oder  of  United  Workmen,  in  which, 
also,  he  has  filled  various  offices,  for  several 
years  having  been  Deputy  Grand  Master.  Po- 
litically, he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  at  the 
present  time  serving  upon  the  School  Board. 

In  1872  Mr.  Howard  married  for  his  first 
wife  Mary  Elizabeth  Cottle,  daughter  of 
George  and  Sophia  Cottle,  of  Boston.  She 
died  in  September,  1874.  In  1876  he  wedded 
for  his  second  wife  Ella  A.  Capen,  by  whom 
he  has  four  children;  namely,  Carrie  Ethel, 
Maud  Stanley,  Herman  Capen,  and  Marion 
Wilder.  The  family  attend  the  Congrega- 
tional church. 


ISAAC  BEALS,  a  much  respected  citizen 
of     Avon     and     the     superintendent    of 
Highland  Park,  was  born  in  East  Stough- 
ton,    Mass.,    December   17,  1836,  son  of 
Isaac  and  Submit  (Monk)  Beals.      His  grand- 
father was  Eleazer  Beals,  of  Randolph,  which 
town    was    the    birthplace    of    his    father,    his 


mother  being  a  native  of  Stoughton.  Isaac 
Beals,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and 
afterward  settled  in  East  Stoughton.  He  was 
the  first  one  in  Stoughton  to  engage  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  for  commercial 
purposes. 

Isaac  Beals,  Jr.,  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  he 
began  work  in  a  boot  manufactory.  He  later 
engaged  in  business  for  himself  under  the  firm 
name  of  Isaac  Beals  &  Co.,  and  carried  on  a 
flourishing  enterprise,  both  in  this  town  and 
in  Brockton,  for  a  number  of  years.  He  did 
much  to  develop  the  boot  and  shoe  manufact- 
uring industry  of  both  places,  and  his  business 
ability  and  progressive  tendencies  proved  very 
beneficial  to  the  community.  As  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  he  has  taken  an  active  interest 
in  promoting  improvements  in  the  direction  of 
public  works.  He  was  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  extension  of  the  Brockton  Street  Rail- 
way through  Avon,  and  as  superintendent  of 
Highland  Park  he  has  clone  much  to  increase 
the  beauty  of  this  fine  public  reservation.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.    Beals  married    Marcia  A.    Packard,    of 
this  town,    by    whom    he   has   two   children  — 
Alice  G. ,  wife  of  Frank  Mellendy;  and  Wal 
lace  M. 


/^TeORGE  D.  WILLIS,  junior  partner 
\    •>  I       of  the  firm  of   Stevens  &  Willis,  nail 

—  and  tack  manufacturers  of  South 
Braintree,  was  born  in  Braintree,  June  25, 
1844,  son  of  George  W.  and  Almira  (Arnold) 
Willis.  On  his  father's  side  he  belongs  to 
one  of  the  oldest  families  of  Bridgewater ;  and 
on  his  mother's  side  he  is  descended  from  the 
Arnolds  of  old  Braintree,  who  were  well  repre- 
sented in  the  Revolutionary  War.  George  W. 
Willis  came  to  Braintree  when  young,  and  be- 
came a  boot  manufacturer  here,  also  carrying 
on  a  jobbing  business  in  Boston.  He  died  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-eight  years. 

Mr.  George  D.  Willis,  after  attending  the 
high  school  at  Braintree  and  pursuing  a  subse- 
quent course  of  study  at  Comer's  Business 
College,  entered  the  employ  of  Blake  &  Alden, 
furniture  dealers  of  Boston,  with  whom  he  re- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


mained  as  salesman  for  ten  years.  In  1868  he 
began  the  manufacture  of  tacks  and  shoe  nails 
in  South  Braintree,  in  partnership  with  Mr. 
Stevens,  they  being  the  founders  of  this  in- 
dustry. 

The  first  wife  of  Mr.  Willis  was  Mary  E. 
Barrett,  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  Fiske  Bar- 
rett, of  South  Braintree;  and  by  her  he  had 
one  daughter  —  Annie  M.,  now  deceased.  He 
married,  second,  Ella  S.  Hobart,  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  F.  A.  Hobart,  of  South  Braintree, 
and  by  this  union  has  one  son — George  D.,  Jr. 

Mr.  Willis  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
politics.  He  has  served  as  Town  Clerk, 
Town  Auditor,  and  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Committee.  In  1890  he  represented  the  towns 
of  Braintree  and  Holbrook  in  the  State  legis- 
lature. In  July,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany I,  Forty-second  Massachusetts  Volunteer 
Infantry,  doing  duty  in  Maryland  in  guarding 
railways  and  supply  trains.  He  was  dis- 
charged in  November  of  the  same  year,  and 
returned  to  South  Braintree.  He  has  for  sev- 
eral terms  been  Commander  of  General  Syl- 
vanus  Thayer  Post,  No.  87,  of  which  he  is  a 
charter  member;  and  he  has  also  served  on  the 
staff  of  Department  Commanders  Adams  and 
Churchill  of  the  G.  A.  R.  He  is  a  member 
of  Rural  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Ouincy, 
and  of  the  Bay  State  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  at  Brockton.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Braintree  Savings  Bank  as  a  vice-presi- 
dent, trustee,  and  auditor. 


,HARLES  S.  MANN,  treasurer  and 
manager  of  the  New  England  Awl  and 
Needle  Company,  West  Medway, 
was  born  in  Brockton,  Mass.,  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1847,  son  of  Lemuel  and  Lucy  (Ball) 
Mann.  The  father,  who  was  a  native  of 
Wrentham,  Mass.,  followed  the  wheelwright's 
trade  for  many  years,  and  was  employed  at 
different  times  in  Wrentham,  Easton,  Brock- 
ton, and  Stoughton.  He  is  now  residing  with 
his  son  in  West  Medway.  His  wife,  Lucy, 
who  was  a  native  of  Northboro,  Mass.,  became 
the  mother  of  two  children,  namely:  Lucy, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years;  and 
Charles  S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The 
mother  died  in  1869. 


Charles  S.  Mann,  after  completing  his 
school  education  at  Newbury,  Vt. ,  learned 
the  trade  of  a  machinist.  Pie  was  employed 
for  some  time  in  Stoughton  and  Brockton,  suc- 
cessively; and  in  1866  he  began  the  manufact- 
ure of  awls  upon  his  own  account  in  Brockton. 
Three  years  later  he  became  connected  with 
the  firm  of  Fenn  &  Daniels,  as  superintendent 
of  their  factory ;  and  the  present  building  was 
erected  under  his  supervision.  He  was  soon 
afterward  admitted  to  the  firm,  which,  under 
the  style  of  Fenn,  Daniels  &  Mann,  carried  on 
business  until  1871,  when  the  New  England 
Awl  and  Needle  Company  was  incorporated, 
with  Mr.  Mann  as  treasurer  and  general  man- 
ager. This  concern  manufactures  awls, 
needles,  button-hooks,  and  wire  novelties,  and 
employs  a  large  force  of  men  and  women. 
They  ship  their  products  to  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  and  also  to  Canada  and  Europe, 
and  have  acquired  a  high  reputation.  For 
over  twenty-five  years  the  present  manager  has 
devoted  his  efforts  to  the  development  of  this 
enterprise,  and  the  success  attained  is  in  a 
great  measure  due  to  his  energy  and  business 
ability. 

Mr.  Mann  wedded  Lizzie  M.  Ide,  a  native 
of  Upton,  Mass.,  and  daughter  of  Timothy  and 
Sarah  Ide,  who  now  reside  in  West  Medway, 
where  the  father  is  following  the  blacksmith 
and  wheelwright's  trade. 

Politically,  Mr.  Mann  is  an  earnest  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party;  and  he  has 
been  chairman  of  the  Town  Committee.  He 
is  now  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Registration. 
He  is  connected  with  Charles  River  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Norfolk 
Club  of  Boston.  He  is  one  of  the  most  active 
business  men  of  West  Medway,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  for  his  personal  worth  and  his  use- 
fulness to  the  community. 


RTHUR  N.  CRAM,  a  prominent  and 
valued  citizen  of  Walpole,  Mass.,  has 
been  for  many  years  identified  with 
the  manufacturing  interests  of  this 
town,  although  he  is  now  partly  retired  from 
active  pursuits.  He  was  born  August  1,  1852, 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  son  of  Jerome  B.  Cram,  a 
former    highly  esteemed   citizen    of    Walpole. 


ARTHUR    N.    CRAM. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5°i 


His  paternal  grandfather,  Levi  Cram,  was  a 
finely  educated  man  and  for  several  years  a 
noted  teacher  of  Lowell,    Mass. 

Jerome  13.  Cram  was  engaged  in  manufactur- 
ing during  a  large  part  of  his  life,  being  a 
member  of  the  enterprising  firm  of  Manning, 
Glover  &  Co.,  of  Boston.  He  made  his  home 
in  Walpole,  and  assisted  in  advancing  the  edu- 
cational status  of  the  town  by  his  faithful  and 
efficient  services  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Committee.  He  was  a  strong  Republican  in 
his  political  affiliations.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Lucy  Norton,  was  born  in 
Boston,  where  her  father  was  superintendent  of 
the  old  stage  line  running  from  that  city  to 
Providence,  R.I.  Mrs.  Cram  died  in  early 
womanhood,  leaving  but  one  child  —  Arthur 
N. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  then  but  a 
month  old. 

Arthur  N.  Cram  received  his  elementary  ed- 
ucation in  the  common  schools  of  Walpole, 
was  fitted  for  college  at  St.  Mark's  Boarding 
School,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  with  the 
class  of  1874.  He  soon  went  into  his  father's 
factory  to  learn  the  business  of  manufacturing 
curled  horse-hair,  and,  having  remained  with 
the  firm  until  its  dissolution,  was  from  that 
time  until  1889  engaged  to  some  extent  in 
manufacturing.  For  the  past  few  years  he  has 
lived  somewhat  retired. 

He  has  never  swerved  from  the  political 
faith  in  which  he  was  brought  up,  being  a 
steadfast  Republican.  Well  known  as  a  man 
of  progressive  enterprise  and  energy,  wide- 
awake to  the  necessities  of  his  growing  town, 
he  has  worked  unceasingly  in  its  interests 
while  serving  in  the  various  town  and  county 
offices  to  which  he  has  been  elected.  He  has 
been  Town  Auditor,  a  trustee  of  the  public 
library,  a  Selectman  six  years,  chairman  of 
the  board  four  years,  and  is  now  serving  a  two 
years'  term,  to  which  he  was  recently  elected. 
It  was  largely  through  his  efforts  that  the  fine 
system  of  water- works  was  introduced  into 
Walpole  in  1895,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the 
first  Board  of  Water  Commissioners.  For 
twelve  years  he  has  been  Secretary  of  the  Re- 
publican Town  Committee.  He  has  served  on 
the  County  Committee,  is  chairman  of  the 
Representative  District  Committee,  and  a 
member  of  the  Norfolk  District  Committee. 


Mr.  Cram  was  married  November  15,  1882, 
to  Miss  Carrie  E.  Stone,  a  daughter  of  J.  Ed- 
ward Stone,  of  this  town,  and  a  grand-daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  E.  Stone.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cram 
have  five  children;  namely,  Warner  S.,  Mar- 
jorie,  Edward  S. ,  Chauncey  J.,  and  Frances 
C.  In  the  order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Mr.  Cram 
has  held  all  the  offices  of  Reliance  Lodge  and 
of  King  Mountain  Encampment.  He  has  also 
passed  all  the  chairs  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W. ,  and 
has  held  most  of  the  offices  in  the  Spring 
Brook  Council,  Royal  Arcanum.  Liberal  in 
his  religious  belief,  he  is  a  regular  attendant, 
with  his  family,  of  the  Unitarian  church,  and 
an  active  member  of  the  Parish  Committee. 


2EWIS  E.  GRAY,  the  proprietor  of  a 
periodical  and  variety  store  in  Fox- 
^  boro,  was  born  January  20,  1842,  in 
Easton,  Mass.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Lewis  Gray  (first),  spent  the  larger 
part  of  his  long  life  in  Cambridgeport,  Mass., 
where  his  death  occurred  at  the  venerable  age 
of  ninety  years.  An  upright  and  trustworthy 
man,  this  Lewis  was  for  many  years  the  con- 
fidential servant  of  Judge  Dana,  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Supreme  Court. 

Lewis  Gray  (second),  the  father  of  Lewis  E. , 
was  born  in  Cambridgeport.  After  reaching 
man's  estate,  he  removed  to  Easton,  Bristol 
County,  and  was  there  engaged  as  a  harness- 
maker  for  several  years.  In  1849  he  located 
in  Foxboro,  where  he  afterward  resided  until 
his  demise,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
He  married  Louisa  Packard,  who  bore  him  five 
children,  namely:  Francis  D.,  who  died  in 
1849,  aged  twenty-six  years;  Sibyl  E.,  an  un- 
married lady,  living  in  Foxboro ;  Davis  P., 
now  a  resident  of  Northbridge,  Mass.,  who 
married  Louisa  Winters,  and  has  two  daugh- 
ters—  Lilla  and  Clara;  Mary  E. ,  who  has 
never  married,  and  lives  in  this  town;  and 
Lewis  E.,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 
Lilla  Gray  is  now  the  wife  of  James  Alex- 
ander, of  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  has  two  chil- 
dren—  Clara  and  Robert.  Clara  Gray  mar- 
ried Henry  Dolliver,  of  Grafton,  Mass.,  and 
has  three  children — Maud,  Jessie,  and  Harold. 

Lewis  E.  Gray  obtained  a  good  business  ed- 
ucation  in   the  public  schools  of    Easton  and 


502 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Foxboro.  Afterward  he  learned  the  trade  of 
box-maker,  and  worked  for  several  years  in  the 
factory  of  V.  S.  Pond,  having  charge  of  the 
paper-box  department  for  a  large  portion  of  the 
time.  In  1884  he  resigned  his  position  there, 
to  open  the  periodical  and  variety  store,  which 
has  since  acquired  an  extensive  and  lucrative 
trade.  He  carries  a  fine  stock  of  fancy  goods, 
and  furnishes  the  reading  public  with  the  lead- 
ing papers,  magazines,  and  periodicals  of  the 
day,  keeping  a  good  supply  on  hand. 

On  July  16,  1S65,  Mr.  Gray  married  Miss 
Sarah  Curtis.  They  have  reared  two  children 
—  Harrie  F.  and  Hattie  C.  The  latter  assists 
her  father  in  the  store.  Mr.  Gray  cast  his 
first  Presidential  vote  in  1864,  for  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Since  then  he  has  voted  for  the  can- 
didates whom  he  thought  best  qualified  for 
the  office.  He  served  for  ten  years,  from  1886 
to  1896,  as  Town  Clerk.  Fraternally,  he  is  a 
member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W. 


|UEL  F.  THAYER,  a  prominent  resi- 
dent of  Bellingham,  and  the  only  son 
of  Luther  and  Urana  (Hill)  Thayer, 
was  born  here  January  25,  1826. 
His  grandfather,  Luther,  was  the  first  of  the 
family  to  settle  on  the  old  homestead,  where 
the  subject  of  our  sketch  now  lives.  Grand- 
father Luther,  who  carried  on  a  large  farm  ac- 
cording to  the  best  methods  of  his  time,  died 
in  1804;  and  his  wife,  Mary,  died  six  years 
after.  They  had  two  children  —  Ellery  and 
Luther.  Ellery,  born  in  1796,  married  Abi- 
gail Pickering.  Luther  was  born  in  Belling- 
ham in  the  year  1800.  He  spent  his  life 
here,  chiefly  engaged  in  farming.  He  was  ac- 
tive in  politics,  interested  in  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  town,  and  held  many  offices 
of  trust.  At  his  death  he  was  eighty-seven 
years  old.  His  wife,  Urana,  who  came  from 
Mendon,  Mass.,  died  in  1879,  at  the. age  of 
seventy-eight.  Their  only  child  is  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

Ruel  F.  Thayer  was  first  sent  to  the  public 
schools  in  Bellingham,  and  afterward  attended 
more  advanced  schools  outside  the  town. 
When  quite  a  young  man  he  left  home,  and 
went  to  Milford,  Mass.,  where  he  found  em- 
ployment as  clerk  in  a  store.      After  remaining 


there  two  years,  he  returned  to  Bellingham, 
and  opened  a  general  store.  After  carrying  on 
this  for  fourteen  years,  he  sold  out,  and  took 
charge  of  the  old  homestead,  which  he  has 
since  managed.  To  public  questions,  which 
have  long  interested  him,  he  has  been  able  to 
give  more  attention  since  he  sold  his  business. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  a  stanch 
upholder  of  his  party's  principles.  Since 
1857,  excepting  one  year,  he  has  served  on  the 
Board  of  Selectmen.  He  has  been  Town 
Treasurer  since  1877.  He  has  also  been 
Town  Assessor,  and  he  was  Overseer  of  the 
Poor  for  three  years.  In  1868  he  was  the 
town's  Representative  in  the  State  legislature. 
He  has  done  a  great  deal  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  Bellingham,  takes  a  leading  part 
in  all  movements  designed  for  its  benefit,  and 
gives  much  attention  to  its  educational  inter- 
ests. 

Mr.  Thayer  was  married  in  March,  1862, 
to  Lizzie  Darling,  of  Mansfield,  Conn.  He 
has  one  son  —  L.  Francis,  born  August  12, 
1863.  The  latter  married  Anna  Scott,  daugh- 
ter of  Edgar  Scott,  a  farmer  of  Bellingham, 
and  has  one  son,  Ruel  Scott  Thayer,  who  was 
born  April  11,  1893.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ruel  Thayer  attend  the  Baptist  church. 


§OHN  PULCIFER,  a  retired  business 
man  living  in  Wellesley,  and  a  son  of 
Eps  and  Betsey  Pulcifer,  was  born  in 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  1824.  The 
Pulcifers  came  originally  from  Scotland.  Mr. 
Pulcifer' s  grandfather  was  a  farmer.  The 
father  was  born  in  Gloucester,  followed  the 
trade  of  carpenter  in  that  town,  and  died  in 
1872.      His  wife's  death  occurred  in  1891. 

John  Pulcifer  was  withdrawn  from  the  pub- 
lic school  in  Gloucester  when  he  was  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  sent  to  work  on  a  farm  for 
Deacon  Rice,  in  North  Brighton.  He  was 
with  Deacon  Rice  for  two  years,  "doing  a 
man's  work  and  receiving  a  boy's  wages." 
After  working  two  years  longer  at  farming, 
this  time  in  Newton  Lower  Falls,  he  began  to 
learn  the  trade  of  wheelwright  with  Anson 
Fisher.  He  worked  with  him  for  five  years, 
and  then  did  joiner's  work  for  Jonathan  Calk- 
ins for  two  years.      He  then  bought  out  Mr. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


5°3 


Calkins,  and  continued  the  business  in  his  own 
name,  in  connection  with  blacksmithing  and 
carriage-painting.  After  spending  thirty-five 
years  in  this  business,  he  retired  in  1892,  and 
has  lived  very  quietly  at  his  home  in  Welles- 
ley  ever  since.  Although  a  public-spirited 
citizen  and  anxious  to  promote  the  interests 
of  the  town,  he  does  not  care  for  public  life, 
and  he  has  never  held  office.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican.  A  member  of  St.  Mary's 
Episcopal  Church  of  Newton  for  forty  years, 
he  has  been  Warden  for  eight  years,  and  Ves- 
tryman for  seventeen  years. 

The  first  of  Mr.  Pulcifer's  two  marriages 
was  contracted  with  Eliza  Boyd,  whose  two 
children  by  him  died  in  infancy.  On  the 
second  occasion  he  was  united  to  Susan, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Greenwood,  of  Waltham, 
Mass.  They  have  had  four  children  —  Susan 
G.,  born  in  1859,  living  at  home;  Carrie, 
born  in  1865,  who  married  William  P.  Shaw, 
and  lives  in  Bath,  Me.  ;  Mary,  living  with  her 
parents;  and  Ella  G. ,  born  in  1867,  who 
graduated  from  the  State  Normal  School  in 
1895,  and  is  now  a  teacher  at  Revere,  Mass. 


SAHEL  F.  LOVELL,  an  enterprising- 
dairyman  of  Millis,  was  born  upon  the 
farm  he  now  occupies,  December 
28,  1836,  son  of  Asahel  P.  and 
Eliza  (Stedman)  Lovell.  The  first  ancestor 
of  the  family  to  settle  in  Norfolk  County  was 
Alexander  Lovell,  who  moved  from  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  and  located  in  Medfield.  Zachariah 
Lovell,  the  grandfather  of  Asahel  F. ,  resided 
in  the  place  now  called  Millis  village  for 
some  years,  and  then  moved  to  the  farm  now 
owned  by  his  grandson.  He  resided  here  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  February  24,  1875. 
His  first  marriage  was  made  with  Sibyl  Plimp- 
ton, who  was  Asahel  F.  Lovell's  grandmother. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife  was  Abi- 
gail Thayer. 

Asahel  P.  Lovell,  who  was  born  in  the 
place  now  called  Millis,  was  brought  up  a 
farmer.  After  his  marriage  he  took  charge  of 
the  homestead  property,  which  he  improved  to 
a  considerable  extent.  He  died  in  1892. 
His  wife,  Eliza,  who  was  a  native  of  Sherborn, 
Mass.,  became  the  mother  of  Sibyl  P.,  Abbie 


R.,  Asahel  F.,  and  Fred  S.  Steadman.  Sibyl 
P.  was  the  wife  of  Daniel  G.  Stevens.  Abbie 
R.  was  the  wife  of  Willard  Clark,  who  resides 
in  Millis;  and  Fred  S.  Steadman  Lovell  died 
in  infancy.  Mrs.  Eliza  Lovell  died  April  12, 
1875. 

Asahel  F.  Lovell  attended  school  in  his  na- 
tive town,  and  at  an  early  age  began  to  assist 
his  father  upon  the  farm.  When  thirty-five 
years  old  he  took  the  management  of  the 
property,  which  eventually  came  into  his  pos- 
session ;  and  he  cared  for  his  parents  during 
their  declining  years.  He  now  owns  two  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  acres  of  fertile  land,  keeps 
an  average  of  twenty-two  cows,  and  daily 
sends  a  large  quantity  of  milk  to  Boston.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  has  served 
upon  the  Board  of  Assessors  for  the  past  two 
years.  He  is  connected  with  the  Home  Circle 
and  the  grange  in  Millis,  and  is  much  inter- 
ested in  agricultural  progress  and  the  general 
welfare  of  the  community. 

On  June  9,  1861,  Mr.  Lovell  married  Olive 
A.  Hartshorn,  who  was  born  in  Franklin, 
Mass.,  July  16,  1839.  Her  parents,  Edmund 
and  Susan  N.  (Ware)  Hartshorn,  both  now  de- 
ceased, were  prosperous  farming  people.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lovell  were  born  as 
follows:  Edmund  Francis,  December  25, 
1862;  Mary  Eliza,  March  1,  1864;  Winifred 
Jeanette  and  Wallace  Dean,  twins,  April  14, 
1868;  Susan  Ware,  February  10,  1873;  and 
Freddie  Steadman,  July  1,  1877,  who  died 
July  24  of  the  same  year.  Edmund  Francis, 
who  married  Hester  Richardson,  is  a  painter 
by  trade,  and  resides  in  Millis.  Mary  Eliza 
married  Putnam  Clark,  a  resident  of  this  town, 
and  a  pipe-maker  in  Boston.  Winifred  Jean- 
ette is  the  widow  of  William  Knowles,  and  re- 
sides with  her  father.  Wallace  Dean  died 
September  14,  1869.  Susan  Ware  is  the  wife 
of  Harry  Alden,  a  clothier  of  Norwood,  Mass. 
Mrs.  Asahel  F.  Lovell  died  May  19,  1890. 


'TEPHEN  B.  SIMONS,  formerly  a 
well-known  merchant  of  Boston, 
was  born  April  20,  1836,  in  Hol- 
liston,  Mass.,  son  of  James  F.  and 
Cina  Marble  (Blanchard)  Simons.  His  grand- 
father, who  was  born  in  England,  came  to  this 


S°4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


country  when  a  young  man.  The  father  was 
born  in  Boston  on  May  n,  1809.  He  was  a 
tailor  by  trade,  and  did  business  in  Holliston. 
He  married  Cina  Marble  Blanchard,  who  was 
born  in  Millbury,  Mass.,  April  20,  181 2. 
They  had  two  sons — James  F.,  Jr.,  and 
Stephen  Blanchard,  who  followed  the  same 
business,  and  at  one  time  were  in  partnership. 
The  mother  died  in  1853,  and  the  father  in 
August,  1877. 

Stephen  B.  Simons  obtained  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  and  at  the  academy  of  Hol- 
liston. At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  went  to 
work  in  a  gentlemen's  furnishing  store  on  Elm 
Street,  Boston.  He  had  been  two  years  in 
this  place  when  he  left  to  accept  the  position 
of  manager  in  John  Gove's  store  on  Mer- 
chants Row.  In  two  years  more  he  purchased 
the  gentlemen's  furnishing  department  in  this 
store,  and  went  into  business  for  himself. 
His  trade  was  mostly  retail.  He  continued 
in  the  business  he  had  chosen  for  himself  with 
increasing  prosperity,  and  founded  at  different 
times  the  firms  of  Simons  Brothers,  Whitten 
&  Co.,  and  Simons,  Hatch  &  Whitten.  In 
the  great  Boston  fire  of  1872  he  suffered  heavy 
losses;  but  soon  after  he  went  to  work  in  the 
same  business,  under  the  firm  name  of  Simons, 
Whitten  &  Co.,  and  in  a  comparatively  short 
time  was  able  to  meet  his  debts.  Then  he 
gave  a  dinner  to  all  his  creditors,  each  of 
whom,  on  that  occasion,  found  under  his  plate 
a  check  for  the  amount  due  to  him.  After 
this  he  remained  in  the  same  firm,  continuing 
to  increase  the  business,  which  was  now 
wholesale.  He  was  located  at  different  times 
on  Essex  Street,  Franklin  Street,  and  Win- 
throp  Square.  Mr.  Simons  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Boston  Merchants'  Association, 
of  the  Algonquin,  Central,  and  Suffolk  Clubs, 
of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery,  which 
he  joined  in  1868,  of  the  Wellesley  Managers' 
Club,  which  received  its  first  entrance  fee 
from  him.  He  was  also  a  lifelong  member  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  His  religious  creed  was 
that  of  the  Unitarians,  and  he  attended  Dr. 
Minot  Savage's  church  in  Boston  and  the  Uni- 
tarian church  at  Wellesley  Hills.  In  politics 
Mr.  Simons  was  a  Democrat.  That  he  was 
highly  esteemed  is  shown  by  the  memorial  res- 
olutions adopted  and  put  upon  record  by  sun- 


dry organizations  after  his  death,  on   February 
9,  1897. 

In  1856  Mr.  Simons  was  married  to  Almira 
N. ,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Ann  (McNear) 
Mason,  of  Boston.  Mr.  Mason,  who  was  born 
in  Sandwich,  N.  H.,  and  did  a  brokerage  busi- 
ness in  Boston,  died  in  August,  1877.  His 
wife's  death  occurred  in  December,  1895. 
Mrs.  Simons  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  in  Boston  until  she  was  fourteen  years 
old.  Afterward  she  attended  a  private  school 
on  West  Street. 


LBERT  A.  BRACKETT,  of  Milton, 
was  born  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  December 
5,  1850,  son  of  Charles  C.  and 
Sarah  (Peabody)  Brackett.  His 
lineage  we  are  unable  to  give,  the  only  ances- 
tral names  with  which  we  have  been  favored 
being  those  of  James  and  Benning  Brackett, 
said  to  have  been  brothers  living  at  a  remote 
period  in  the  old  town  of  Braintree,  of  which 
Quincy  was  formerly  a  part.  A  Richard 
Brackett,  it  may  be  mentioned,  was  living  in 
Boston  in  1632;  and  in  1642,  it  is  said,  he 
and  his  wife  Alice  were  dismissed  to  the 
church  in  Braintree.  Their  son  James  re- 
moved to  Braintree  in  1675. 

Charles  C.  Brackett,  who  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire,  was  a  contractor  and  builder. 
Coming  to  Massachusetts,  he  lived  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  in  Quincy,  where  he  erected  a 
number  of  buildings.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Republican.  He  resided  for  some  time  in 
Topsfield,  Mass.,  and  while  there  was  sent 
as  representative  to  the  State  legislature.  He 
died  April  5,  18S5.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Sarah  P. 
Brackett,  who  was  a  native  of  Essex  County, 
Massachusetts,  died  in  May,  1885. 

Albert  A.  Brackett  acquired  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Quincy.  Leaving 
the  high  school  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  en- 
tered the  Mount  Wollaston  National  Bank  as 
clerk;  and  he  was  subsequently  employed  as 
clerk  in  the  wholesale  leather  house  of  E.  B. 
Pratt  &  Co.  He  was  connected  with  this 
house  about  twelve  years,  a  portion  of  the  time 
as  partner.  In  1878  he  started  in  business  for 
himself,  opening  a  wholesale  leather  house  at 
90  High  Street,  Boston.      Some  time  later  he 


ALBERT    A.    BRACKET!'. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S°7 


removed  to  his  present  location,  64  South 
Street,  Boston.  He  was  the  first  tenant  in 
this  building.  Since  1874  Mr.  Krackett  has 
been  a  resident  of  East  Milton,  and  a  street  in 
this  town  is  named  for  him. 

He  married  Miss  Lavinia  H.  Bunton,  of 
Milton,  Mass.  ;  and  they  have  two  children  — 
Albert  E.  and  Vina  B.  In  the  eighties  Mr. 
Brackett,  who  is  a  Republican,  was  four  years 
Selectman  of  Milton;  and  in  March  of  the 
present  year  (1897)  he  was  again  elected  a 
member  of  the  board.  During  the  session  of 
1888  he  represented  the  Fourth  Norfolk  Dis- 
trict in  the  State  legislature.  He  is  Past 
Master  of  Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a 
member  of  Joseph  Warren  Commandery,  K.T., 
of  Boston.  Mr.  Brackett  is  practically  a  self- 
made  man,  having  worked  his  way  up  to  his 
present  position  in  the  business  world. 


KRED  HOMER  WILLIAMS,  one  of 
Boston's  rising  lawyers  and  a  well- 
known  resident  of  Brookline,  was  born 
in  Foxboro,  Norfolk  County,  January  7,  1857, 
son  of  Virgil  Homer  and  Nancy  R.  (Briggs) 
Williams.  He  is  descended  from  Richard 
Williams,  who  settled  in  Taunton  in  1637. 
Lewis  Williams,  father  of  Virgil  H.,  was  born 
in  Easton,  Mass.,  and  spent  his  life  in  farm- 
ing in  that  town,  a  prominent  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen.  He  met  his  death  by  an  acci- 
dent, in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

Virgil  Homer  Williams,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  on  the 
grandfather's  farm.  He  was  a  painter  by 
trade,  and  was  also  employed  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  straw  goods.  At  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years  he  is  now  retired,  and  is  residing  with 
his  son.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Wheaton 
Briggs,  a  wheelwright  of  Attleboro.  Mrs. 
Williams  died  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  in  Foxboro. 

Fred  Homer  Williams,  the  only  child  of  his 
parents,  lived  in  P'oxboro  until  sixteen  years 
of  age,  when  he  entered  Brown  University, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1877. 
He  was  principal  of  the  high  school  at  East 
Medway,  now  M  ill  is,  Norfolk  County,  for  two 
years,  and   then   began   the   study  of   law   with 


Judge  W.  H.  Fox,  of  Taunton,  Mass.  Before 
he  had  completed  his  law  studies,  his  health 
failed;  and  he  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in  Min- 
nesota. Recovering,  he  continued  his  studies 
with  Judge  Fox  and  at  the  Boston  University 
Law  School,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1882.  After  a  period  of  two  years  spent  in 
the  practice  of  law  in  Foxboro,  he  opened  an 
office  in  Boston,  and  has  long  been  associated 
with  Mr.  Frank  M.  Copeland,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Williams  &  Copeland. 

He  married  July  19,  1881,  Julia  Annette 
Blake,  who  was  born  in  Whitman,  then  called 
South  Abington,  the  daughter  of  Samuel 
Blake,  a  shoe  manufacturer  of  that  place. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  have  one  child —  Har- 
old P.,  born  October  2,  1882.  Mr.  Williams 
has  always  resided  in  this  county,  and  has 
made  his  home  in  Brookline  since  1890,  hav- 
ing, also,  a  large  farm  at  M  ill  is,  where  he 
spends  the  summer  months.  He  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  served  in  the  Massachusetts  House  of 
Representatives  in  1883-84,  and  has  recently 
taken  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  State  Senate 
for  1898. 

He  was  secretary  of  the  Norfolk  Club  for  a 
period  of  five  years,  between  1884  and  1889. 
He  is  also  secretary  of  the  Association  of  the 
Sons  of  Brown,  composed  of  graduates  of 
Brown  University  residing  in  Boston  and 
vicinity.  Formerly  a  member  of  the  St.  Al- 
bans Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Excelsior 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Foxboro,  he  is  now  a 
member  of  the  Beth-horon  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
Lomia  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Brookline,  and 
of  the  East  Medway  Grange,  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry. 

Mr.  Williams  has  long  been  a  member  of 
the  Curtis  Club,  composed  of  Boston  lawyers. 
Socially,  he  is  connected  with  the  University 
and  Exchange  Clubs  in  Boston  and  with  the 
Riverdale  Casino,  of  Brookline.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Williams  attend  the  Harvard  Congrega- 
tional Church. 


HITMAN  COOK,  a  farmer  and  man- 
ufacturer of  Bellingham,  Mass.,  son 
of  Emory  B.  and  Laura  A.  (How- 
ard) Cook,  was  born  in  Bellingham,  March  16, 
1853.      His  grandfather  Cook  was  the   first   of 


So8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  family  to  come  to  Bellingham,  and  he  took 
up  the  farm  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  family. 

Emory  B.  Cook  was  a  mechanic  and  machin- 
ist, and  worked  at  his  trade  in  West  Med  way, 
Southboro,  and  Marlboro,  but  finally  settled  in 
Bellingham.  He  began  to  manufacture  the 
Cook's  patent  cupola  windmill  about  the  year 
1879;  and  it  was  patented  August  3,  1880. 
On  account  of  the  cheapness  of  other  mills, 
however,  he  made  but  about  seventy-five  of  the 
cupola  mills;  but  he  continued  making  chisel 
handles  until  his  death,  which  occurred  May 
12,  1897.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  for- 
merly Laura  A.  Howard,  of  Bellingham,  and 
their  two  children  —  Whitman,  of  Belling- 
ham; and  Frank  A.,  now  living  in  Newton- 
ville,  where  he  is  engaged  in  the  carpentering 
business.  Mrs.  Cook  spends  her  time  partly 
in  Newtonville  with  her  son  Frank  and  partly 
in  Bellingham  with  the  subject  of  our  sketch. 

Whitman  Cook  received  but  a  common- 
school  education.  When  he  was  a  young  man, 
he  went  to  Fryeburg,  Me.,  where  he  worked  at 
the  carpenter's  trade  for  about  twelve  years, 
and  then  returned  to  Bellingham  in  March, 
1890,  to  take  charge  of  the  old  homestead  and 
of  his  father's  business.  He  now  owns  a 
small  farm,  but  spends  the  greater  part  of  his 
time  at  his  trade.  He  is  soon  to  take  charge 
of  his  father's  business,  and  carry  on  the  man- 
ufacture of  chisel -handles.  Mr.  Cook  is  a 
Republican  in  politics,  and  has  served  on  the 
School  Board  for  three  years.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Junior  Order  of  American  Me- 
chanics of  Bellingham. 

He  was  married  in  January,  1S73,  to  Alice 
B. ,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Alice  Harriman,  of 
Fryeburg,  Me.  Mrs.  Cook's  father,  who  was 
a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  who  also  carried  on 
a  farm,  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years. 
Mrs.  Cook's  mother  has  also  departed  this 
life. 


ILLIAM  FISHER  GUILD,  the 
chairman  of  the  Medfield  Board  of 
Selectmen,  and  a  leading  farmer  of 
that  town,  was  born  in  Walpole,  Norfolk 
County,  November  20,  1839,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Orra  (Fisher)  Guild.      His  paternal  grand- 


parents were  Aaron  and  Cynthia  (Smith) 
Guild,  who  spent  their  lives  in  Walpole;  and 
his  maternal  grandparents  were  William  and 
Nabby  (Capen)  Fisher. 

Samuel  Guild,  who  was  born  in  Walpole, 
February  12,  1806,  lived  on  the  old  homestead 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  In 
his  early  years  he  did  teaming  to  Boston,  and 
subsequently  he  was  engaged  in  butchering 
and  farming.  He  died  in  May,  1893,  aged 
eighty-seven  years.  His  wife,  Orra,  whose 
birth  occurred  May  4,  1812,  died  May  20, 
1864,  aged  fifty-two  years.  They  had  six- 
children,  namely:  Orra  Elizabeth,  born  April 
4,  1834,  who  married  Lyman  D.  Ware,  now 
residing  in  Walpole,  and  died  December  10, 
1863;  Samuel  Elbridge,  born  April  20,  1835, 
who  was  successively  a  machinist  and  card- 
maker,  served  in  the  late  war  in  the  capacity 
of  naval  assistant  engineer,  and  on  April  7, 
1859,  married  Jane  Earle,  of  Hollis,  Me., 
with  whom  he  now  lives  in  Walpole;  Mary 
Jane,  born  August  24,  1837,  now  residing  in 
Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.,  with  her  son,  George 
H.  Ware,  being  the  widow  of  George  Henry 
Ware,  who  died  in  1863;  William  Fisher,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Frederick,  born  No- 
vember 15,  1843,  now  employed  in  the  card 
factory  at  Walpole,  who  married  Phcebe  Wil- 
mot;  Julius,  born  March  30,  1850,  now  resid- 
ing on  the  old  Guild  homestead  in  Walpole, 
who  married  Mary  Ella  Pillsbury. 

The  special  subject  of  this  sketch,  William 
Fisher  Guild,  received  a  good  common-school 
education.  At  the  age  of  eight  years  he  went 
to  live  with  an  uncle,  with  whom  he  remained 
two  years,  receiving  his  board  and  clothing. 
Returning  home  then,  he  remained  with  his 
parents  until  about  sixteen  years  old,  when  he 
went  to  work  in  a  card  factory  and  grist-mill, 
afterward  following  the  two  occupations  for 
about  five  years.  On  September  12,  1862,  he 
enlisted  for  nine  months'  service  in  the  Union 
army,  joining  Company  K,  Forty-fourth  Mas- 
sachusetts Infantry,  under  Colonel-  Francis  L. 
Lee  and  Captains  Frank  W.  Reynolds  and 
Richard  H.  Weld.  The  regiment  lost  ten 
men  in  its  first  skirmish,  which  occurred  at 
Ravvles  Mill,  N.C.  After  passing  without  in- 
jury through  many  others,  Mr.  Guild  was  dis- 
charged at   Readville,  Mass.,   June   18,    1S63. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5°9 


After  his  return  home  he  bought  a  farm  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  town  of  Medfield, 
which  he  carried  on  up  to  1881.  He  then  re- 
moved to  his  present  farm,  the  old  Plympton 
homestead,  which  was  first  settled  by  Henry 
Plympton  about  the  year  1705.  Mr.  Guild 
also  owns  property  in  the  north-west  part  of 
Medfield.  Besides  carrying  on  general  farm- 
ing, he  keeps  a  dairy  of  fifteen  cows,  and  ships 
milk  to  Boston. 

On  May  15,  1862,  Mr.  Guild  was  married  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Plympton,  who  was  born  in 
Medfield,  May  23,  1841,  daughter  of  David 
and  Eunice  M.  (Ware)  Plympton.  Her 
father,  who  was  a  lifelong  farmer,  belonged  to 
the  fourth  generation  of  Plymptons  who  occu- 
pied the  farm.  Pier  mother  was  born  in  Wal- 
pole.  Both  parents  have  passed  away.  Mr. 
anil  Mrs.  Guild  have  had  seven  children, 
namely:  Louis,  born  September  15,  1864, 
now  living  in  Medfield;  Arthur,  born  in  1866; 
Orra  E.,  who  married  Walter  H.  Webb,  on 
August  25,  1897,  and  now  resides  in  Provi- 
dence, R.I.  ;  Annie,  of  whom  there  is  no 
special  record;  Samuel  D.,  a  clerk  in  Boston, 
Mass.;  Edward  A.,  who  died  in  December, 
1895  ;  and  Mabel,  now  attending  school.  The 
Republican  party  has  had  a  constant  adherent 
in  Mr.  Guild.  He  was  first  elected  to  the 
office  of  Selectman  in  1879,  and  he  served  in 
that  capacity  until  1SS1.  In  1S94  he  was 
elected  chairman  of  the  board,  and  he  has 
since  presided  at  the  board  meetings  for  two 
years.  Since  1877  he  has  been  on  the  Board 
of  Assessors.  He  belongs  to  Moses  Ellis 
Post,  No.  117,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Medfield.  Both 
he  and  Mrs.  Guild  are  members  of  the  Unita- 
rian church,  and  he  is  on  the  Parish  Committee. 


"ENRY  C.  AUSTIN,  of  Medway,  the 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Assessors, 
was  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn., 
April  16,  1S37.  His  parents,  Eli 
B.  and  Grace  M.  (Beecher)  Austin,  were  na- 
tives of  that  city.  The  father  carried  on  a 
wholesale  grocery  business  in  New  Haven 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1842.  The 
mother  died  in  Medway  in  1886.  They  had 
seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Mary  A.,  who  is  the  widow  of  W.  C. 


Kain,  and  resides  in  Milford,  Mass.  ;  Eliza- 
beth B.,  who  is  a  resident  of  the  same  town; 
and  Henry  C,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
is  the  youngest.  The  others  were  Benjamin 
B.,  Charlie,  Sarah,  and  William  E. 

Henry  C.  Austin  was  educated  in  private 
schools  of  New  Haven.  On  reaching  the  age 
of  eighteen  years,  he  went  to  Knoxville, 
Tenn.,  and  five  years  later  to  Douglas  County, 
Missouri.  .  A  few  years  after  he  engaged  in 
farming  in  Litchfield,  111.  In  1869  he  came 
East,  and  carried  on  general  farming  near 
West  Medway  for  a  time.  He  next  con- 
ducted a  general  store  for  about  five  years. 
Then  he  worked  for  a  while  as  a  book-keeper, 
after  which  he  retired  from  active  business 
pursuits.  He  now  occupies  a  pleasant  country 
residence,  and  has  four  acres  of  land,  which  he 
cultivates.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
he  has  served  with  ability  as  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Assessors  for  the  past  six  years.  Pie 
is  a  member  of  Charles  River  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.,  of  Medway,  of  the  Knights  of  Honor, 
of  Holliston,  Mass.,  and  of  Medway  Lodge, 
No.   163,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Medway. 

On  October  2,  1862,  Mr.  Austin  married 
Leah  Martha  Huddlestun,  who  was  born  in 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  December  11,  1842.  Her 
parents,  Thomas  and  Martha  (Simms)  Hud- 
dlestun, in  1856,  moved  to  Missouri,  where 
her  father  followed  contracting  and  building 
for  a  time.  Later  they  went  to  Kansas,  and 
there  spent  the  rest  of  their  lives.  .Mrs. 
Austin  has  had  six  children,  four  of  whom  are 
living.  These  are  :  Charles  Henry,  the  super- 
intendent of  a  box  manufactory  at  West  Med- 
way; Francis  Beecher,  of  Milford,  Mass.  ;  Al- 
bert Elmer,  of  Amherst,  Mass.  ;  and  Grace 
May,  who  resides  at  home.  The  others  were 
Thomas  Jasper,  the  first-born,  and  Roswell 
C,  the  fourch.  Mr.  Austin  is  warden  of 
Christ's  Episcopal  Church,  which  was  organ- 
ized December  24,  1881,  by  Rev.  John  S. 
Beers,  and  now  has  a  membership  of  forty. 


SEWIS     DUDLEY     METCALF,    a    re- 
tired   business    man    of    Norfolk,    was 
^  born    in   Franklin,    Mass.,    February 
26,  1834,  son  of  Lewis  L.  and  Sibyl 
D.  (Dudley)  Metcalf.      His  grandfather,  Lewis 


5" 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Metcalf,  who  was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Wren- 
tham,  Mass.,  followed  the  carpenter's  trade  in 
early  life,  and  in  his  later  years  was  a  farmer. 

Lewis  L.  Metcalf,  born  in  Wrentham,  was 
for  some  years  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
wicking  and  batting.  In  i860  he  moved  to 
Hamilton,  Greenwood  County,  Kan.,  where 
he  bought  a  farm.  Here  the  long  droughts 
and  destructive  grasshoppers  proved  serious 
drawbacks  to  his  farming.  He  died  there  in 
1886.  His  first  wife,  Sibyl,  who  was  a  native 
of  Needham,  Mass.,  died  in  1834.  His  sec- 
ond wife,  who  was  before  marriage  Rachel 
Glidden,  of  VViscasset,  Me.,  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1892.  He  was  the  father  of  seven  chil- 
dren, all  by  his  first  union,  namely:  Spencer, 
who  married  Anna  Arnold,  and  is  now  en- 
gaged in  the  dairy  business  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  ; 
Fanny,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Beals,  and  resides  in 
Hamilton,  Kan.  ;  Lewis  D.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Sibyl  Dudley,  who  married 
Oscar  Grover,  and  died  in  Kansas  in  1878; 
Hartley  G. ,  who  is  now  connected  with  the 
St.  Louis  water-works;  Casandana,  the  wife  of 
Elijah  Leonard,  a  retired  resident  of  Franklin, 
Mass.  ;  and  Theodore,  a  farmer  of  Morrisville, 
Kan. 

Lewis  Dudley  Metcalf,  after  attending  the 
common  schools  for  a  period,  began  work  in 
a  cotton-mill  at  an  early  age.  When  fourteen 
years  old  he  went  to  Med  way,  Mass. ,  where 
he  was  employed  in  a  batting  factory  for  a 
time.  Then  he  was  employed  in  a  straw  shop 
for  two  years.  He  learned  the  trade  of  bleach- 
ing straw  goods  in  Boston.  Later,  going  to 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  he  followed  his  trade,  and  car- 
ried on  a  laundry  in  that  city  for  eleven  years. 
In  1865  he  returned  East,  and  for  eleven  years 
was  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business  in  Bos- 
ton as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Nason  &  Met- 
calf. Retiring  from  active  business  then,  he 
erected  a  house  in  Franklin,  Mass.,  lived  in 
it  for  a  short  time,  and  then  removed  to  his 
present  farm  in  Norfolk,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  Besides  his  homestead  property  of 
seventeen  acres,  he  owns  several  other  estates 
in  this  town.  His  time  is  chiefly  devoted  to 
the  care  of  his  investments.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Democrat.  He  has  served  for  one  year  as 
Assessor  and  Collector,  and  he  has  been  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  for  the  past  fourteen  years. 


In  i860  Mr.  Metcalf  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Myrtilla  F.  Miller,  a  native  of  Franklin, 
Mass.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Whipple  and 
Betsey  Miller,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  na- 
tive of  Wrentham  and  a  boat-builder  by  trade. 
Mrs.  Metcalf's  parents  are  no  longer  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Metcalf  have  had  two  children, 
namely:  Fred  D.,  who  is  now  in  the  grocery 
business  in  this  State;  and  Bessie  D. ,  who 
died  in  January,  1876,  aged  five  years.  Mr. 
Metcalf  has  had  a  busy  as  well  as  a  successful 
career,  and  he  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  rest  and 
recreation  he  now  enjoys. 


March 


AMUEL  H.  CAPEN,  Deputy  Sheriff 
of  Norfolk  County,  Massachusetts, 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Canton, 
where  he  remains  a  resident,  on 
12,  1848.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late 
George  Capen,  of  Canton,  and  comes  of  early 
and  honored  American  ancestry,  being  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Barnard  Capen,  an  English  emi- 
grant, who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the 
old  town  of  Dorchester,  Mass.  His  great- 
grandfather, Samuel  Capen,  Sr. ,  was  born  in 
Dorchester,  but  removed  from  there  to  Canton 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  being  the  founder  of 
the  family  in  this  vicinity.  His  son,  Samuel, 
Jr.,  the  next  in  this  line,  was  a  lifelong  resi- 
dent of  Canton. 

George  Capen,  son  of  Samuel  Capen,  Jr., 
also  spent  his  life  in  Canton,  dying  in  1863, 
at  the  age  of  forty-five  years.  He  was  a  nat- 
ural mechanic,  and  made  good  use  of  his  talent 
as  a  manufacturer  of  machinery.  A  man  of 
unusual  ability  and  intelligence,  eminently 
trustworthy,  he  was  prominent  in  local  affairs, 
serving  many  years  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Committee  and  as  Town  Treasurer,  and  in 
1855  representing  Canton  in  the  General 
Court.  Prior  to  the  war  he  was  a  Democrat  in 
politics.  He  married  Clara  Boyden,  of  Dor- 
chester, and  was  the  father  of  seven  children. 
Five  of  the  family  are  now  living,  namely: 
Samuel  H.,  Oscar  D.,  and  Edwin  A.,  all  of 
this  town;  Eliza  M.,  wife  of  George  H.  Chap- 
man, formerly  of  Canton,  but  now  residing  at 
Evanston,  Wyo.  ;  and  George  H.,  of  Canton. 

Samuel  H.  Capen  received  his  early  educa- 
tion    in    the    public    schools    and    in    private 


SAMUEL    II.    CAPEN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5i3 


schools  of  Canton,  completing  his  studies,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  years,  in  the  Stoughton 
Institute  at  Sharon,  Mass.  He  was  subse- 
quently employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  general 
store  of  E.  Capen  for  three  years;  and  in  1869 
he  accepted  a  similar  position  in  the  clothing 
house  of  George  Fenno  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  re- 
maining with  that  firm  four  years.  Mr.  Capen 
then  bought  out  the  entire  business  of  Mr. 
A.  E.  Tucker,  of  Canton,  and  for  fifteen  years 
carried  on  a  prosperous  trade  in  general  mer- 
chandise. In  1877  he  was  appointed  to  his 
present  responsible  office  by  Rufus  C.  Wood, 
the  High  Sheriff;  and  in  1886  he  succeeded 
William  Mansfield  as  general  insurance 
agent.  In  politics  he  is  a  strong  and  able  ad- 
vocate of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  with  which  during  his  entire  business 
life  he  has  been  actively  identified.  Two 
years  he  has  served  as  Selectman.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  Board  of  Engineers  of  the 
Canton  fire  department,  and  for  a  number  of 
terms  he  filled  the  office  of  Constable.  He 
was  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Canton  Institution  for  Savings. 

Mr.  Capen  and  Miss  Adelaide  A.  Tucker, 
daughter  of  A.  E.  Tucker,  were  married  on 
October  24,  1871.  They  have  two  children  — 
Samuel  H.,  Jr.  ;  and  Harold  T.  Mr.  Capen 
is  a  Mason  of  high  standing,  belonging  to  Blue 
Hill  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is 
Past  Master,  to  Mt.  Zion  Chapter,  R.  A.  M., 
and  to  Cypress  Commandery,  K.T. ,  of  Hyde 
Park.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Blue  Hill 
Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows.  Mr.  Capen  and  his 
family  are  regular  attendants  of  the  Unitarian 
church. 


|EV.  ALBERT  BUEL  VORSE,  of 
Wellesley  Hills,  son  of  Dr.  Isaac  and 
Elizabeth  (Reber)  Vorse,  was  born 
in  Lewisburg,  Union  County,  Pa. 
His  grandfather  was  a  farmer  in  Windham, 
N.  Y.  The  father,  Dr.  Isaac  Shepard  Vorse, 
who  was  born  in  Connecticut,  and  educated  in 
Pennsylvania,  followed  the  medical  profession 
in  the  latter  State  until  his  death  in  1838. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John 
Reber,  of  Lewisburg,  Pa. 

After  attending  the  public  schools  of  his  na- 


tive town  for  the  usual  period,  Albert  Buel 
Vorse  fitted  for  college,  entered  Bucknell  in 
1848,  and  graduated  therefrom  in  185 1.  He 
then  read  law  in  the  office  of  James  F.  Linn 
for  one  year,  after  which  he  entered  the  law 
school  at  Eaton,  Pa.  Here  he  studied  for  two 
years,  and  was  then  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1853.  He  opened  a  law  office  in  Lewisburg, 
and  practised  there  until  1857.  Then  he  was 
a  student  in  the  Meadville  Theological  School 
for  two  years.  He  was  ordained  while  at  the 
Divinity  School,  and  took  his  first  church  in 
i860  at  Lewisburg.  There  he  stayed  but  one 
year,  however,  and  then  accepted  a  call  to  the 
Unitarian  church  in  Sandwich,  Mass.,  where 
he  remained  for  the  ensuing  year.  His  next 
call  was  to  Littleton,  Mass.,  where  he  served 
seven  years.  He  then  went  to  Needham,  and 
officiated  at  the  church  there,  and  also  at 
Wellesley  Hills.  In  1871  he  came  to  Welles- 
ley  Hills,  then  Grantville,  and  was  installed 
as  the  regular  minister,  a  position  he  still 
fills.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Norfolk  Minis- 
ters' Association,  a  life  member  of  the  Unita- 
rian Association  of  Boston,  a  life  member  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  U.  of  Boston,  a  member  of  the 
Wellesley  Club ;  and  he  has  been  for  a  long 
period  identified  with  the  temperance  move- 
ment.     In  politics  he  is  a  strong  Republican. 

Mr.  Vorse  was  married  in  1 S62  to  Harriet 
Ellen,  a  daughter  of  Mason  White,  who  was 
for  many  years  Selectman  of  Sandwich,  Mass., 
and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  They  have  one 
son,  Albert  White,  born  in  1865.  Albert's 
early  education  was  obtained  in  the  public 
schools  of  Wellesley,  at  the  Aliens'  School  in 
Newton,  and  at  Chauncy  Hall  School  and  the 
Berkeley  School  in  Boston.  He  then  entered 
Harvard  College,  where  he  was  graduated  with 
the  class  of  1889.  Now  he  is  a  journalist  in 
New  York.  He  was  one  of  those  who  went 
with  the  Peary  relief  expedition,  which  was 
gone  about  four  months. 


§AMES      THAYER      PENNIMAN,      a 
manufacturer    of    shoddy     leather    and 
inner-soles   in  the  city  of  Quincy,  was 
born  June  5,  1819,  in  Braintree,  Mass., 
which  was  also  the  place  of  birth   of  his  father 
and  grandfather,    both   of    whom    were    named 


5'4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Stephen  Penniman.  Stephen  Penniman,  Sr., 
was  a  schoolmaster  of  renown  in  Colonial 
times,  and  commanded  a  company  of  Brain- 
tree  men  in  the  war  for  independence.  A  man 
of  much  ability  and  familiar  with  town  affairs, 
he  served  in  nearly  every  local  office  of  im- 
portance. 

Stephen  Penniman,  Jr.,  who  obtained  a  good 
education  in  his  youth,  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  farmer,  and  was  highly  esteemed 
throughout  his  life.  He  died  in  1849.  He 
married  Miss  Relief  Thayer,  and  became  the 
father  of  nine  children,  six  of  whom  attained 
maturity.  These  were:  Thomas  O. ,  de- 
ceased; Sarah,  who  married  Thomas  New- 
cnmb,  of  Quincy;  Stephen  and  Luther,  both 
deceased;  Eliza  Ann,  the  wife  of  Arthur 
Hayden,  of  this  city;  and  James  Thayer,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Adhering  to  the  relig- 
ious faith  in  which  they  were  reared,  both  par- 
ents were  active  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  North  Braintree. 

After  completing  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  his  native  town,  James  T.  Pen- 
niman learned  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and  fol- 
lowed it  for  some  years.  Beginning  in  1842, 
he  manufactured  boots  of  the  finest  grade, 
doing  custom  work  almost  entirely,  and  acquir- 
ing a  substantial  business.  In  1876  he  and 
his  son  James  embarked  in  the  manufacture  of 
inner-soles  and  shoddy  leather.  One  of  the 
largest  of  its  kind  in  this  section  of  New  Eng- 
land, this  firm  handles  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  stock  each  year,  employing  about 
twenty-five  hands  in  their  factory,  and  profit- 
ably disposing  of  the  product  to  shoe  manu- 
facturers. 

In  politics  Mr.  Penniman  is  a  firm  supporter 
of  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party.  On 
December  13,  1844,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Maria  Augusta,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Brooks,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.  Eight  chil- 
dren were  born  of  their  union,  of  whom  Har- 
riet, Mary  Eliza,  Ada,  and  James  H.  grew  to 
maturity.  Harriet  has  been  twice  married. 
Her  first  husband  was  the  late  Charles  Curtis, 
of  Quincy,  and  her  second,  Albert  A.  Dolli- 
ver.  Mary  Eliza,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife 
of  John  R.  Graham.  James  Henry  Penniman, 
born  December  13,  1858,  received  his  educa- 
tion    in     the    common    and     high    schools    of 


Quincy.  He  began  his  business  career  as  a 
clerk  in  the  store  of  E.  B.  Pratt,  a  leather 
dealer  in  Boston,  and  there  obtained  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  the  leather  trade.  Subse- 
quently for  some  years  he  was  engaged  in  the 
leather  business  with  Albert  A.  Brackett  as 
junior  member  of  the  firm  of  A.  A.  Brackett  & 
Co.  Then,  selling  out  his  interest,  he  was 
engaged  in  business  alone  for  some  time.  In 
1887  he  formed  a  partnership  with  J.  Fayer- 
weather,  and,  uniting  with  his  father,  who  had 
previously  established  the  factory,  began  busi- 
ness under  their  present  firm  name,  and  has 
since  been  quite  successful.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Honor;  and  he  stands  high 
in  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  Rural 
Lodge,  St.  Stephen's  Chapter,  and  to  South 
Shore  Commandery.  He  married  Mary  Blair, 
of  Laconia,  N.  H.  ;  and  they  have  two  children 
—  Howard  and  Ruth. 


LBRIDGE  L.  MANN,  a  prominent  res- 
ident of  Dover  and  a  veteran  of  the 
Civil  War,  was  born  in  this  town, 
May  14,  1834,  son  of  Ellis  and  Betsey 
(Wight)  Mann.  The  first  of  the  family  to 
settle  in  Dover  was  James  Mann,  great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Simeon 
Mann,  the  grandfather,  married  Persis  Leland, 
of  Sherborn,  Mass.,  and  was  one  of  the  stir- 
ring farmers  of  Dover  in  his  day. 

Ellis  Mann,  who  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Dover,  cultivated  a  farm  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  town  from  early  manhood  until  he  was 
fifty  years  old.  He  then  moved  to  the  farm 
which  his  son  now  occupies,  and  resided  here 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  August  23, 
1873.  His  wife  Betsey,  who  was  a  native 
of  Dover,  became  the  mother  of  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  Mary,  born  May  20,  1831  ; 
Elbridge  L.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
George  PL,  born  August  7,  1S40.  Mary  be- 
came the  wife  of  Alfred  Cutler,  of  Holliston, 
Mass.,  who  is  now  deceased,  and  died  Decem- 
ber 16,  1857.  George  H.,  who  is  a  travel- 
ling salesman  for  a  Boston  grocery  firm,  mar- 
ried Ruth  Coolidge,  and  resides  in  Maiden, 
Mass.      The  mother  died  August  9,  1870. 

Elbridge  L.  Mann  was  educated  in  the 
common    schools    of    Dover.      When    a    young 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


5*5 


man  he  was  employed  as  a  farmer  and  gar- 
dener in  this  locality.  On  September  13, 
1862,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  B, 
Forty-second  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  under  Captain  Joseph  Stedman 
and  Colonel  Isaac  Burrell,  of  Boston.  He 
saw  considerable  active  service  in  the  Civil 
War,  but  escaped  uninjured,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  Readville,  Mass.,  August  20,  1863. 
After  his  return  from  the  army  he  engaged 
in  farming  at  the  homestead,  and  succeeded 
to  its  ownership  after  his  father's  death.  He 
devotes  his  farm  of  sixty-six  and  one-half 
acres  to  the  raising  of  hay,  corn,  and  potatoes; 
and  he  also  carries  on  a  dairy. 

On  November  27,  1864,  Mr.  Mann  was 
joined  in  marriage  with  Adeline  B.  Gould- 
ing.  She  was  bom  in  Garland,  Me.,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1843,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Maria 
(Holbrook)  Goulding.  Her  father  died  when 
she  was  five  years  old,  and  she  accompanied 
her  mother  to  Dover.  Mrs.  Mann  died  July 
31,  1886,  leaving  five  children.  These  were : 
Lillian  J.,  born  May  31,  1866;  Maurice  W., 
born  January  19,  1868,  who  is  now  a  carpen- 
ter;  George  E.,  born  November  25,  1871  ; 
Elsie  M.,  born  October  10,  1873,  who  died 
January  29,  1896;  and  Sara  A.,  who  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Emerson  College  of  Oratory, 
and  resides  at  home.  In  politics  Mr.  Mann 
acts  with  the  Republican  party.  He  served 
the  town  faithfully  as  an  Assessor  for  nine 
years,  and  he  has  also  been  a  member  of  the 
School  Board.  He  is  connected  with  King 
Philip  Lodge,  No.  1147,  Knights  of  Honor, 
and  is  a  comrade  of  General  Wadsworth  Post, 
No.  63,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  Natick.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  active  farmers  and  prominent  citizens 
of  Dover,  and  is  highly  respected  by  the  en- 
tire community.  The  family  attend  the  Or- 
thodox church. 


,ICHARD  CUNNINGHAM,  an  influ- 
ential resident  of  Wellesley,  who  is 
engaged  in  business  in  Boston,  was 
born  in  Needham,  now  Wellesley, 
in  1854,  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Hurley) 
Cunningham.  The  father,  who  was  born  in 
Ireland  in  181 2,  came  to  America  in  1830, 
and  for  a  time  was  a  farmer.      Later  he  was 


appointed  first  station  agent  at  Grantville, 
now  Wellesley  Hills,  on  the  Boston  &  Al- 
bany Railroad.  While  discharging  the  duties 
of  this  position,  he  also  did  a  considerable 
business  in  wood  and  flour.  Of  the  genial, 
warm-hearted  nature  so  common  to  his  coun- 
trymen, he  was  a  favorite  with  all  who  knew 
him.  He  died  in  1856.  His  wife,  Mary,  a 
native  of  Cork,  Ireland,  who  was  born  in 
1823,  daughter  of  Patrick  Hurley,  of  Cork, 
came  with  her  father  to  this  country  in  1829. 
Of  her  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  one  daughter  is  deceased.  James, 
one  of  the  sons,  is  the  general  ticket  agent  of 
the  Boston  &  Albany  Railroad  at  Worcester. 
The  surviving  daughters  are:  Ellen,  now  Mrs. 
Pease,  who  lives  in  Boston;  and  Alice,  who 
also  resides  in  Boston. 

Richard  Cunningham  received  his  education 
in  the  common  and  high  schools  of  Needham. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  went  to  Bos- 
ton, and  obtained  employment  in  the  leather 
business.  He  was  with  Davis  Brothers  for 
six  years  and  with  William  Ouirin  &  Co. 
until  1883.  Then  he  was  in  partnership  with 
George  Emerson,  under  the  firm  name  of  G. 
Emerson  &  Co.,  for  ten  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  bought  out  his  partner's  interest 
in  the  business,  which  he  has  since  carried  on 
alone.  His  place  of  business  is  at  153  Sum- 
mer Street,  Boston,  where  he  first  went  to 
work  for  Mr.  Ouirin.  Dealing  largely  in 
supplies  for  shoe  manufacturers,  his  trade  is 
entirely  wholesale.  When  Mr.  Cunningham 
started  in  his  business  life,  he  was  paid  just 
three  dollars  a  week,  and  at  the  end  of  his 
first  year  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in 
debt  to  his  landlady.  In  the  second  year  he 
received  five  dollars  a  week,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  year  was  presented  with  fifty  dollars 
extra.  In  those  early  days  he  boarded  at  a 
house  distant  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
station,  which  he  had  to  reach  every  morning 
in  time  to  catch  the  six  o'clock  train:  and  he 
was  on  time  every  day  for  three  years.  By 
application  and  energy  he  has  since  acquired  a 
prosperous  business. 

Mr.  Cunningham  is  much  interested  in  the 
town  affairs  of  Wellesley,  and  takes  an  im- 
portant part  in  directing  them.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Board    of    Selectmen    since 


5i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1890,  and  he  was  the  chairman  of  that  body 
for  one  year.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Maugus  Club  of  Wellesley  Hills  and  of 
the  Unitarian  church,  being  a  member  of  the 
church  Standing  Committee.  In  politics  he 
is  a  loyal  Democrat,  and  he  has  been  the 
chairman  of  the  Democratic  Town  Committee 
for  thirteen  years.  In  1S83  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Hattie  Louise,  a  daughter  of 
James  H.  Beck,  of  Wellesley,  formerly  of 
Boston.  His  four  children  were  born  as  fol- 
lows: Shirley  Beck,  August  27,  1884;  Rich- 
ard Beck,  December  4,  1885;  Dorothy,  in 
April,  1891  ;  and  Phyllis,  in  November,   1893. 


/STfTo 


EORGE  EUGENE  BELKNAP,  Rear 
\  '•)  I  Admiral,  United  States  Navy,  now 
retired  after  forty-seven  years  of 
honorable  and  distinguished  service  on  the  ac- 
tive list  in  war  and  peace,  and  residing  in 
Brookline,  Mass.,  is  a  native  of  Newport, 
N.H.  Born  January  22,  1832,  son  of  Sawyer 
and  Martha  (Aiken)  Belknap,  he  is  of  old 
Colonial  stock,  on  the  paternal  side  English 
Puritan  and  on  the  maternal  mainly  Scotch 
Presbyterian. 

His  first  American  ancestor,  Abraham  Bel- 
knap, came  from  Warwickshire,  England,  in 
1637,  settled  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  died  in 
1643.  Among  Abraham's  posterity  may  be 
named  Dr.  Jeremy  Belknap,  historian  (Har- 
vard College,  1762);  General  William  G. 
Belknap,  United  States  Army;  and  General 
William  Worth  Belknap,  ex-Secretary  of 
War.  From  the  emigrant  to  the  Admiral, 
the  line  is  as  follows:  Abraham,'  Samuel,2 
Ebenezer,3  Moses,4  Lieutenant  Ezekiel,5 
Moses,6  Sawyer,7  George  E. s 

Ebenezer,  born  1670,  obiit  1765,  saw  ser- 
vice in  the  Colonial  wars;  and  his  son  Moses, 
born  1704,  obiit  1803,  was  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  Association  Test  in  1776.  Lieutenant 
Ezekiel  Belknap,  who  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Saratoga  and  was  present  at  the  surrender 
of  Burgoyne,  1777,  was  born  at  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  in  November,  1735  (O.  S.),  and  died 
at  Atkinson,  N.  H.,  where  he  was  a  farmer,  in 
January,  1837.  The  family  records  show 
other  remarkable  instances  of  longevity  than 
those  above  given :   Hannah,  wife  of  Ebenezer 


Belknap,  died  in  1779,  at  the  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  six  years  and  eleven  months.  Her 
son  John  lived  to  reach  his  one  hundred  and 
first  year,  and  four  of  her  daughters  each 
exceeded  the  age  of  one  hundred  years. 

Moses,  son  of  Ezekiel,  born  1781,  obiit 
181 8,  was  Captain  of  a  New  Hampshire 
company  of  artillery  at  Fort  Constitution  in 
the  War  of  181 2;  and  Sawyer  Belknap,  born 
1805,  obiit  1882,  held  several  town  offices  at 
Newport,  N.  H.;  was  Postmaster  under  Presi- 
dents Pierce  and  Buchanan;  and  was  Adju- 
tant, Thirty-first  Regiment,  New  Hampshire 
militia. 

The  wife  of  Captain  Moses  and  mother  of 
the  late  Mr.  Sawyer  Belknap  was  Esther, 
daughter  of  Stephen  Webster.  Her  father 
was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  in  service  at  the 
battle  of  Saratoga,  and  a  witness  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender.  He  was  a  descendant  of 
John  Webster,  an  English  emigrant,  who  is 
said  to  have  settled  in  New  Hampshire  in 
1642. 

Admiral  Belknap's  mother,  Martha  Aiken 
Belknap,  a  native  of  Bedford,  N.  H.,  was  the 
daughter  of  Andrew  and  Martha  (McAllister) 
Aiken,  and  grand-daughter  of  William  and 
Jerusha  (Spofford)  McAllister.  Her  paternal 
grandfather,  Captain  James  Aiken,  raised  and 
served  with  the  company  of  Revolutionary 
soldiers  that  went  from  the  town  of  Bedford, 
N.H.  The  Riddles,  Spoffords,  and  McAllis- 
ters of  the  company  were  his  kinsmen.  Mrs. 
Belknap's  grandfather  McAllister  fought  at 
Blinker  Hill.  His  wife  was  a  descendant  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Scott)  Spofford,  who 
came  from  Yorkshire,  England,  and  settled  at 
Rowley,  Mass.,  in  1638.  Several  kinsmen  in 
this  line  served  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolu- 
tionary Wars. 

The  eldest-born  of  six  sons,  George  Eugene 
Belknap  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  on  Oc- 
tober 7,  1847,  'n  h's  sixteenth  year,  received  a 
flattering  recognition  of  his  merits  and  abili- 
ties as  a  "lad  o'  pairts,"  the  unsolicited  ap- 
pointment of  naval  cadet  from  New  Hamp- 
shire. After  a  few  weeks'  instruction  at  the 
Naval  Academy  he  was  ordered,  December, 
1847,  to  the  brig  "Porpoise,"  on  cruise  to 
west  coast  of  Africa,  and  arrived  back  at  Nor- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5i7 


folk,  April,  1850.  On  the  frigate  " Rari- 
tan,"  fifty  guns,  Pacific  Squadron,  1850-53, 
he  was  with  the  force  landed  from  this  ship  at 
Valparaiso,  Chili,  1851,  for  the  protection  of 
American  citizens  during  a  revolution  there. 
At  the  Naval  Academy,  1853-54,  he  was 
graduated  as  passed  midshipman,  June,  1854, 
and  ordered  to  the  United  States  Coast  Sur- 
vey steamer  "Corwin."  Acting  master  sloop 
"Falmouth,"  1854-55,  he  was  commissioned 
Lieutenant,  September  16,  1855,  and  ordered 
to  receiving-ship  "Ohio,"  Boston;  was  on 
sloop  "Portsmouth,"  Asiatic  Station,  1856 
-58,  being  on  patrol  duty  several  weeks  at 
Canton,  guarding  American  consulate  from 
threatened  attack  of  Chinese,  October  and  No- 
vember, 1856.  He  commanded  a  launch  with 
twelve-pound  howitzer  and  thirty-five  men  at 
capture  and  razing  to  the  ground  of  the  Bar- 
rier Forts,  Canton  River,  1856.  The  four 
forts  mounted,  in  the  aggregate,  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  guns,  one  a  brass  piece,  eight- 
inch  calibre  and  twenty-three  feet  in  length. 
Three  men  were  killed  and  eight  wounded 
of  his  party  during  these  operations.  He 
visited  Japan,  September,  1857,  the  "Ports- 
mouth" being  the  second  ship  to  call  there 
after  Perry's  treaty.  The  "Portsmouth"  car- 
ried to  Minister  Townsend  Harris  the  first 
mail  he  had  received  in  fourteen  months. 

He  served  on  the  "Ohio,"  1858,  and  the  St. 
Louis  Home  Squadron,  1859-61;  commanded 
"St.  Louis"  boats  at  both  re-enforcements  of 
Fort  Pickens,  April,  1861  ;  piloted  General 
Harvey  Brown  and  Captain  M.  C.  Meigs, 
United  States  engineers,  into  the  fort;  was 
executive  officer  of  gunboat  "Huron,"  S.  A.  B. 
Squadron,  1861-62;  in  expedition  against 
Fernandina,  St.  John's,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Augus- 
tine, in  March,  1862;  and  captured  English 
steamer  "Cumbria,"  loaded  with  arms,  cloth- 
ing, and  medicines,  off  Charleston,  May, 
1862.  Said  the  Captain  when  boarded,  "This 
is  a  bonus  of  two  thousand  dollars  out  of  my 
pocket."  Taking  the  prize  to  Philadelphia 
for  adjudication,  he  was  commissioned  Lieu- 
tenant Commander,  July  16,  1862.  He  was 
executive  officer  of  the  iron-clad  frigate  "New 
Ironsides,"  of  eighteen  guns,  fourteen  eleven- 
inch  Dahlgren,  and  two  Parrott  two  hundred- 
pounders  on  gun  deck,  and  two  fifty-pounders 


Dahlgren  rifles  on  spar  deck.  The  guns  of 
main  battery  had  crews  of  thirty-five  men,  ten 
of  them  for  the  handling  of  the  heavy  port 
shutters.  The  shutters  were  seldom  closed 
after  the  enemy  had  been  quieted  by  two  or 
three  broadsides.  After  being  on  special 
duty  at  Newport  News,  November  and  De- 
cember,   1862,  he  proceeded  to  Port  Royal. 

At  that  port  the  ship  was  stripped  of  masts 
and  yards,  and  then  stationed  off  Charleston. 
Twenty-seven  engagements  ensued  with  de- 
fences of  that  city,  comprising  the  attack  of 
the  7th  of  April,  1863,  and  subsequent  bom- 
bardments of  Fort  Wagner,  P'orts  Sumter  and 
Moultrie,  and  Batteries  Bee,  Beauregard,  and 
Johnston.  Total  number  of  shells  fired  from 
broadside  of  eight  guns  during  siege  was  four 
thousand,  four  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  with 
aggregate  weight  of  two  hundred  eighty-eight 
and  one-half  tons.  Most  rapid  fire  in  action 
was  at  the  rate  of  1.74  per  shot.  On  one 
occasion  four  hundred  and  ninety  shells  were 
delivered  in  continuous  round,  at  rate  of 
2.86  per  fire.  Smoke  often  retarded  the 
pointing  and  firing.  At  fight  of  the  7th  of 
April  the  spar  deck  was  covered  with  bags  of 
sand  overlaid  with  rawhides,  and  the  shill- 
ing sides  of  the  four-inch  armor  were  plastered 
with  grease  an  inch  thick  to  better  resist  the 
enemy's  fire.  After  that  day  the  sand-bags 
alone  were  retained  for  protection  against 
plunging  fire,  the  value  of  such  protection 
being  fully  demonstrated.  The  ten-inch  .solid 
shot  from  forts  would  scoop  off  the  bags 
struck,  but  leave  the  deck  plank  practically 
uninjured.  The  one-inch  iron  plate  under- 
neath, however,  would  be  invariably  shattered. 
A  rebel  torpedo  boat  of  Davis  pattern  suc- 
ceeded in  exploding  a  heavy  torpedo  under 
starboard  bilge  amidships  on  evening  of  Octo- 
ber 5,  1863.  Happily  the  ship  received  no 
serious  damage,  but  Acting  Master  Howard 
was  mortally  shot  as  he  stood  in  the  gangway 
hailing  the  "David."  For  service  in  "Iron- 
sides," Officer  Belknap  received  commendation 
from  her  respective  commanders,  Commodores 
Turner  and  Rowan,  and  from  Admiral  DuPont. 

He  was  next  ordered  to  command  gunboat 
"Seneca,"  September,  1864;  transferred  to 
command  of  monitor  "Canonicus,"  off  City 
Point,    James    River,     November,     1864;     en- 


5*8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


gaged  Howlett's  House  Battery,  December  5 
and  6,  1864;  subsequently  proceeded  to  Beau- 
fort, N.  C,  as  one  of  Porter's  fleet.  In  both 
fights  at  Fort  Fisher,  December,  1864,  and 
January,  1865,  engaged  the  enemy  at  closest 
quarters;  ship  aground  at  times,  received 
many  hits;  men  knocked  clown  inside  of  turret 
by  impact  of  shot;  one  officer  wounded  by 
grape  shot  from  fort  during  assault;  flag  shot 
away  twice;  boats  and  smoke-stack  riddled; 
guy  and  davits  shot  away,  and  much  other 
damage  received.  He  directed  movements 
and  firing  of  vessel  from  outside  of  the  turret 
and  pilot-house,  commended  by  Commodore 
Radford  and  Admiral  Porter.  After  capture 
of  Fort  Fisher,  ordered  to  proceed  with 
"Canonicus"  to  Charleston;  was  on  advanced 
picket  duty  the  night  the  enemy  evacuated  the 
city,  and  fired  the  last  shot  at  its  defences; 
also  received  the  last  shot  from  the  enemy  di- 
rected at  the  fleet,  an  eight-inch  rifle  shell 
from  Moultrie,  February  4,  1863;  accom- 
panied Admiral  Dahlgren  to  the  city  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  evacuation.  That  evening, 
by  a  ruse,  in  concert  with  the  late  Commodore 
Barrett,  he  assisted  in  the  capture  of  the  Eng- 
lish steamer  "Deer"  attempting  to  enter  the 
port.  He  commanded  the  "Canonicus"  in 
Admiral  Godon's  special  squadron  to  Havana 
in  quest  of  the  rebel  iron-clad  "Stonewall," 
and  found  her  surrendered  to  the  Spanish 
authorities;  put  the  "Canonicus"  out  of  com- 
mission at  Philadelphia,  June,  1865;  ordered 
to  Naval  Academy,  July,  1865;  detached  at 
own  request,  August,  1865;.  was  executive 
officer  of  the  "Shenandoah,"  sailing  for  Asi- 
atic Station  via  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  Indian 
ports,  December,  1865.  Promoted  to  Com- 
mander for  war  service  on  the  way  out,  he  was 
assigned  to  command  of  flag-ship  "Hartford" 
on  arrival  at  Hong-Kong,  February,  1867; 
commanded  squadron  expedition  against  In- 
dians, southern  coast  Formosa,  June,  1867, 
many  being  stricken  with  sunstroke,  one 
officer  shot  by  enemy;  participated  in  cere- 
monies incident  to  the  opening  of  the  ports  of 
Osaka  and  Kobe,  inland  sea  of  Japan,  Janu- 
ary, 1868;  put  "Hartford"  out  of  commission 
at  New  York,  August,  1868;  ordered  to  Naval 
Academy,  September,  1868;  detached  at  own 
request,     October,      1868;     rendezvous     duty, 


New  York,  winter  of  1868-69;  navigation 
officer,  navy-yard,  Boston,  1869-72.  Ordered 
to  command  the  "Tuscarora, "  May,  1872,  he 
sailed  for  the  Pacific,  via  Straits  of  Magellan, 
the  following  month;  ordered  January  1, 
1873,  to  take  Commander  Selfridge  aboard  at 
Panama,  and  co-operate  in  a  survey  for  an 
inter-oceanic  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien;  landed  seamen  and  marines  at  Pan- 
ama, April,  1873,  to  protect  the  transit  across 
the  Isthmus  during  a  revolution  there. 

Assigned  May,  1873,  to  special  duty  on 
board  the  "Tuscarora,"  having  been  selected 
by  the  department  to  make  deep-sea  soundings 
between  the  western  coasts  of  the  United 
States  and  the  shores  of  Japan,  to  determine 
the  practicability  of  laying  a  submarine  cable 
on  the  bed  of  the  North  Pacific,  he  fitted  the 
ship  for  the  work  at  Mare  Island,  and  began 
operations  off  San  Francisco  the  following 
September;  was  supplied  with  apparatus  for 
sounding  of  both  rope  and  wire,  but  soon  dis- 
carded the  use  of  the  former  altogether,  and 
used  the  Sir  William  Thomson  machine  for 
sounding  with  pianoforte  wire  of  gauge  No. 
22.  The  machine  was  new  and  comparatively 
untried;  improved  upon  the  details  of  its  con- 
struction, and  prosecuted  the  work  with  great 
success,  working  an  entire  revolution  in  the 
methods  of  deep-sea  sounding,  getting  more 
accurate  results  than  had  hitherto  been  ob- 
tained, with  a  corresponding  economy  of  time 
and  labor.  The  "Challenger"  had  been  sup- 
plied with  the  Thomson  machine,  but  would 
not  attempt  its  use.  The  superintendent  of 
the  coast  survey  also  discouraged  its  adoption; 
but  Admiral  Ammen,  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau 
of  Navigation,  Navy  Department,  determined 
it  should  be  tried  on  board  the  "Tuscarora"; 
and  the  result  amply  sustained  his  prescient 
decision.  He  ascertained  the  "True  Conti- 
nental Outline"  from  Cape  Flattery  to  San 
Diego,  ran  lines  of  sounding  from  San  Diego 
to  Yokohama  via  the  Hawaiian  and  Bouin 
Islands  and  the  Aleutian  group,  and  found  off 
the  east  coast  of  Japan  the  deepest  and  most 
extended  trough  yet  discovered  in  the  bed  of 
the  great  oceans,  the  deepest  cast  being  four 
thousand,  six  hundred  and  fifty-five  fathoms, 
or  more  than  five  and  a  quarter  statute  miles. 
He  invented  three  different  cylinders,  or  cups, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5  '9 


for  bringing  up  specimens  of  the  bottom, 
which  are  now  in  use  in  the  navy.  The  cup 
No.  2,  slightly  altered,  has  been  adopted  by 
the  Coast  Survey,  under  the  name  of  the 
"Sigsbee  Cup. " 

The  progress  and  results  of  the  "Tusca- 
rora's"  survey  excited  great  interest  both  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe.  In  an  address 
before  the  Mathematical  and  Physical  Section 
of  the  British  Association  at  Glasgow,  Sep- 
tember, 1876,  Sir  William  Thomson  (now 
Lord  Kelvin)  spoke  of  the  work  in  terms  of 
high  compliment.  Sir  Wyville  Thomson,  of 
the  "Challenger"  expedition,  also  commended 
the  methods  and  achievements  of  the  "Tusca- 
rora's"  survey  in  his  address  before  the  Asi- 
atic Society  of  Japan  at  Yokohama  in  Febru- 
ary, 1875,  acknowledging  the  great  advance 
that  had  been  made  in  deep-sea  work  by  the 
use  of  the  Sir  William  Thomson  machine. 

Senior  officer  present  at  Honolulu  when 
riot  occurred  at  the  election  of  David  Ka- 
lakaua  as  king  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1874,  Commodore  Belknap  landed 
companies  of  blue-jackets  and  marines  from 
the  "Tuscarora"  and  the  "Portsmouth,"  re- 
stored order  and  occupied  the  town  six  days  at 
the  request  of  the  king,  when,  the  new  govern- 
ment, being  firmly  established,  he  withdrew 
the  force  to  the  ships.  He  received  there- 
for the  thanks  of  the  king,  the  legislative 
assembly,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the 
consular  corps.  Detached  from  the  "Tusca- 
rora," October,  1874,  he  was  ordered  as  Hy- 
drographic  Inspector,  United  States  Coast 
Survey,  December,  1874;  asked  for  other 
orders,  and  received  orders  to  command  receiv- 
ing-ship "Ohio,"  Boston,  January,  1875. 
Commissioned  Captain,  January  25,  1875,  and 
obliged  to  go  South  two  months  later  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health,  due  to  exposure  while 
doing  deep-sea  work,  he  went  to  Pensacola 
Station  as  Captain  of  the  yard.  He  was  on 
the  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  Naval  Academy, 
June,  1875,  and  on  the  Board  of  Examiners  at 
same  place,  October,  1875;  detached  from 
Pensacola  yard,  May,  1876,  and  put  on  special 
duty  with  reference  to  deep-sea  sounding;  De- 
cember 1,  1876,  ordered  back  to  Pensacola 
yard  as  Commandant;  remained  in  command 
there  until  January  15,   1 88 1 . 


March  11,  1881,  he  assumed  command  of 
the  "Alaska"  at  Panama.  Senior  officer  pres- 
ent for  greater  part  of  the  time  on  Pacific 
coast  of  Peru  and  Chili,  he  made  a  number  of 
deep-sea  soundings  off  the  coast  of  Peru,  the 
deepest  in  three  thousand,  three  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  fathoms,  one  hundred  miles  west 
of  Callao  Bay.  Was  on  special  duty  at  Hono- 
lulu with  the  "Alaska"  from  August  to  latter 
part  of  November,  1882.  November  21, 
1882,  he  received  from  King  Kalakaua  a  com- 
mission and  decoration  as  Knight  Commander 
of  the  Royal  Order  of  Kamehameha,  which  are 
now  in  the  custody  of  the  Department  of  State 
at  Washington.  Having  put  the  "Alaska" 
out  of  commission  at  Mare  Island  navy-yard, 
February,  1883,  he  was  ordered  to  Norfolk  as 
Captain  of  the  yard,  June,    1883. 

He  was  president  of  the  Naval  Torpedo 
Board,  1883-84,  senior  member  "Dolphin" 
Examining  Board,  1885,  commissioned  as 
Commodore,  June  2,  1885,  and  ordered  to 
Washington  as  superintendent  of  the  Naval 
Observatory.  Detached  from  Observatory  a 
year  later,  and  ordered  June  15,  1886,  to  as- 
sume command  of  the  navy-yard,  Mare  Island, 
California,  he  was  commissioned  as  Rear  Ad- 
miral, February  12,  1889,  and  March  9  de- 
tached from  command  of  the  yard  and  ordered 
to  proceed  to  Yokohama,  Japan,  and  assume 
command  of  the  naval  force  of  the  Asiatic  Sta- 
tion. He  assumed  such  command,  April  4, 
1889,  and  retained  it  until  February  20,  [892, 
when  he  was  detached  and  ordered  home;  was 
ordered  as  president  of  Board  of  Inspection 
and  Survey,  April  17,  1892;  and  was  ordered 
to  Chicago,  October,  1892,  to  represent  the 
Naval  Service  at  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  of 
the  grounds  and  buildings  of  the  Exposition. 
In  April,  1893,  Admiral  Belknap  was  ordered, 
in  conjunction  with  Major-general  Schofield, 
United  States  Army,  as  special  escort  to 
Vice-Admiral,  the  Duke  de  Veragua,  at  the 
Naval  Review,  New  York  Harbor.  He  sub- 
sequently supervised  the  speed  trials  of  the 
new  cruisers,  the  "Detroit,"  "Machias,"  "New 
York,"  "Columbia,"  and  "Marblehead  "  ;  also 
the  final  examination  and  trial  of  the  "De- 
troit" and  "New  York."  He  was  retired  from 
active  service  under  the  age  limit  prescribed 
by  statutes,  January  22,   1894.     Total  sea  ser- 


520 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


vice,  twenty-four  years,  four  months;  shore 
duty,  eighteen  years,  three  months;  unem- 
ployed, three  years,  nine  months. 

Admiral  Belknap  was  for  a  time  connected 
with  the  American  Geographical  Society,  but 
withdrew  from  its  membership  some  years 
ago.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Historic  Genealogical  Society,  Boston;  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  Concord, 
N.H.;  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  of  the  United  States;  of  the  Naval 
Order  of  the  United  States;  and  of  the  Colo- 
nial and  Foreign  Wars  Orders.  He  is  also 
Knight  Commander  of  the  Royal  Order  of 
Kammehameha  of  the  Hawaiian  kingdom. 

He  is  a  frequent  contributor  to  magazines 
and  newspapers.  A  notable  paper  from  his 
pen,  "Reminiscent  of  the  'New  Ironsides  '  off 
Charleston,"  appears  in  the  United  Service  for 
February,  1896,  reprinted  by  request  from  the 
old  series  of  that  monthly  review  of  military 
and  naval  affairs,  a  fact  which  testifies  to  its 
absorbing  interest  and  value.  It  is  a  graphic 
account  of  hotly  contested  actions  and  weari- 
some, anxious  months  and  years  of  blockade 
duty. 

Admiral  Belknap  received  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  1894.  He  is  now  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Nautical  Training  School,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  National 
Sailors'  Home  at  Ouincy,  Mass. 


ILLIAM  HOLTHAM,  ex-chief  en- 
gineer of  the  fire  department  of 
Hyde  Park  and  one  of  the  rising 
business  men  of  -the  town,  was  born  in  Ports- 
mouth, England,  October  17,  1852.  His 
father,  Henry  Holtham,  son  of  Henry,  was 
born  in  London,  England,  in  1806,  and  was  for 
a  number  of  years  a  provision  dealer,  grocer, 
and  baker  of  Portsmouth.  Coming  thence  to 
Massachusetts,  he  settled  in  Dedham,  and  car- 
ried on  his  business  there  from  1855  until  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1880.  His  wife  was 
Elizabeth  Ticknor,  a  native  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  They  had  ten  children,  namely: 
Ellen;  William,   deceased;  Henry   S.,    in  the 


milk  business  in  Hyde  Park;  Emma,  de- 
ceased; Sarah;  Joseph;  Alfred;  Lizzie; 
William  W.  ;  and  Gershom  Edward.  The 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years,  in 
the  year  1879.  Both  parents  were  members 
of  the  Baptist  church. 

William  Holtham  went  to  school  in  Dedham 
until  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  entered 
his  father's  store,  where  he  was  employed 
until  his  twenty-first  year.  He  then  went  to 
Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  and  was  in  a  machine  fac- 
tory for  a  short  time.  Later  he  came  to  Hyde 
Park,  and  served  as  a  clerk  in  his  brother's 
provision  store  for  ten  years.  After  a  brief 
period  in  the  employ  of  John  P.  Squires,  a 
pork-packer  of  Boston,  he  became  associated 
with  the  firm  of  Christopher  &  Woods,  pro- 
vision dealers  of  Hyde  Park;  and,  when  this 
firm  was  burned  out,  he  bought  the  business 
in  partnership  with  John  H.  Weatherbee,  of 
Hyde  Park,  with  whom  he  continued  for  four 
years.  Having  established  himself  at  his 
present  place  of  business  in  1893,  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  one  of  the  finest  markets  in 
Hyde  Park,  carries  a  full  line  of  meats  and 
provisions,  and  numbers  among  his  customers 
most  of  the  best  families  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Holtham  is,  with  two  exceptions,  the 
oldest  member  of  the  fire  department,  having 
been  associated  with  that  body  for  the  past 
twenty-one  years.  Beginning  at  the  lowest 
round  of  the  ladder,  he  was  gradually  pro- 
moted, and  in  1895  was  elected  chief  en- 
gineer, which  position  he  held  until  May, 
1897.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Chief  Engi- 
neers' Association  of  Boston,  and  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Relief  Association  of  the  Hyde 
Park  Fire  Department. 

He  was  married  in  1871  to  Miss  Adella  F. 
Trask,  daughter  of  Warren  H.  Trask,  of 
Stoughton.  They  have  two  children — Will- 
iam E.,  who  is  with  the  Swift  Beef  Company 
of  Allegheny  City;  and  Helen  F.  Mr.  Holt- 
ham is  a  member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F. 
&  A.  M.  ;  Norfolk  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  ;  Hyde 
Park  Council  and  Cyprus  Commandery,  K.  T. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  Forest  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  of  which  he  was  treasurer  for 
many  years,  and  a  charter  member  of  the  Mon- 
terea  Encampment ;  and  he  likewise  belongs 
to   the   Legion   of   Honor,  and  has  held  many 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S2I 


offices.      Both   Mr.  and   Mrs.  Holtham  are  at- 
tendants of  the  Baptist  church. 


m 


[LLIAM  F.  KING,  a  prominent 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Franklin  and 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  was 
born  in  Wrentham,  September  5,  1839,  son  of 
David  and  Lucy  (Maker)  King.  The  father 
was  born  in  Paisley,  Scotland,  July  4,  1800, 
and  came  to  America  in  18 19,  sojourning  at 
St.  John,  N.  B.  Removing  thence  to  New 
Hampshire,  he  stayed  there  a  year  as  a  farm 
laborer;  but,  being  a  weaver  by  trade,  and 
preferring  that  occupation,  he  came  to  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  this  State  and  in  Rhode  Isl- 
and set  up  eighteen  different  mills,  and  was 
superintendent  of  the  weaving  department  in 
these  mills.  He  worked,  also,  in  "the  Old 
Steam  Mill"  at  Providence,  R.I.,  and  re- 
mained in  that  city  until  his  son  William  F. 
was  two  years  old.  From  Providence  he  re- 
moved to  the  village  of  City  Mills,  Norfolk 
County,  and  worked  there  until  he  came  to  the 
farm  where  William  F.  now  resides.  Here 
he  died  on  September  30,   1865. 

David  King  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Lucy  Maker,  above  named,  a  native 
of  East  Hrewster,  Mass.  She  died  November 
25,  1842,  having  been  .  the  mother  (if  nine 
children,  the  eldest  of  whom,  named  William, 
died  in  infancy.  The  second,  Emmeline  S. , 
born  September  17,  1825,  now  living  in  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  is  the  widow  of  Charles  A.  John- 
son, who  died  in  California.  Warren  N. 
King,  who  lives  in  P'ranklin,  near  William 
F.,  married,  first,  Louisa  Richards,  and,  sec- 
ond, Julia  A.  Blake,  both  now  deceased. 
John  King  lives  in  Rockville,  Mass.  His 
wife,  who  was  Ann  Eliza  Maker,  is  now  de- 
ceased. Margaret  died  at  the  age  of  three 
years.  Chloe  M.  King  lives  with  her  brother, 
William  F.  The  other  two  children  died  in 
infancy.  The  second  wife  of  David  King  was 
Lucy  Eisher,  of  this  town,  who  died  in  1875. 
She  had  one  child  —  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  five  years.  All  the  King 
children  were  educated  in  the  common  schools. 

After  leaving  school,  William  P.  King 
remained  (in  the  home  farm  until  he  enlisted, 
on  December   17,  1S63,  in   Company  I  of  the 


Eighteenth  Massachusetts  Infantry,  under 
Colonel  Hayes  and  Lieutenant  Hemmingway, 
and  went  to  the  front  as  a  defender  of  the 
Union.  On  October  21,  1864,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Company  G  of  the  Thirty-second 
Regiment.  He  was  in  the  following  engage- 
ments during  the  war:  May  5  to  7,  1864,  in 
the  battle  of  the  Wilderness;  on  May  8,  at 
Laurel  Hill;  May  10  to  May  18,  at  Spottsyl- 
vania;  May  23-27,  at  North  Anna;  on  May  30, 
at  Shady  Grove  Road;  from  June  1  to  June 
12,  at  Cold  Harbor;  June  20  to  July  20,  at 
Petersburg;  August  21,  at  Weldon  Railroad; 
September  30,  at  Preble's  Farm;  October  27, 

1864,  and  February  5-7,  1865,  at  Hatcher's 
Run;  March  25,  1865,  at  Fort  Stedman ; 
March  30,  at  Boydton  Road,  where  he,  un- 
aided,   captured    two    prisoners;     March    31, 

1865,  at  Gravelly  Run;  April  1,  1865,  at  Five 
Forks;  April  2,  at  the  fall  of  Petersburg;  and, 
on  April  9,  at  Appomattox.  He  was  the  first 
infantry  man  to  fire  a  shot  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  after  General  Grant  was  placed  in 
command;  and  Charles  Wilson,  of  this  town, 
was  the  first  man  killed  in  battle. 

Mr.  King  was  discharged  at  Alexandria, 
Va. ,  on  June  29,  1865,  and  shortly  after  re- 
turned home.  He  owns  a  farm  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  carries  on  general 
farming  and  some  dairying.  He  also  does 
butchering,  and  is  Inspector  of  Cattle  for  the 
town.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
always  loyal  to  his  party.  He  is  a  member  of 
Post  No.  60,  G.  A.  R.  Pie  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Norfolk. 

Mr.  King  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  who  became  Mrs.  King  July  2, 
i860,  was  Laura  Ann  Lawrence,  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Wrentham,  born  December  24, 
1 84 1.  Her  parents  were  Addison  C.  and 
Olive  (Hill)  Lawrence,  the  mother  born  in 
Medway  on  December  15,  1809,  and  the 
father  in  P"ranklin  on  October  19,  1808. 
Mr.  Lawrence  was  a  machinist,  and  made  his 
home  in  Wrentham,  where  both  he  and  his 
wife  died.  Mrs.  Laura  A.  L.  King  died 
March  29,  1875.  She  was  the  mother  of 
three  children,  namely:  Lucy  M.,  born  April 
8,  1863,  who  lives  with  her  father;  David 
Addison,  a  farmer,  living  near  his  father, 
born   August    15,    1866,    who   married    Bertha 


522 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Nickerson,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  born  July  6, 
1875;  and  Willie  W.  King,  born  August  23, 
1870,  who  has  always  remained  at  home.  On 
July  6,  1879,  Mr.  King  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  Abbie  E.  Morey,  of  Bradford,  Vt., 
born  January  19,  1852,  daughter  of  William 
Washburn  and  Lydia  (Converse)  Morey.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Orford,  N.H.,  March  29, 
1809;  and  her  mother  was  bom  in  Lyme, 
N.  H.,  July  7,  1821.  Mr.  Morey  was  a  life- 
long farmer.  Both  he  and  his  wife  died  here 
at  their  daughter's  home.  Mrs.  King  is  a 
great  lover  of  flowers  and  plants,  and  is  very 
successful  in  their  cultivation  in  her  hot- 
house, from  which  she  sells  many  flowers  and 
cuttings.  She  has  one  daughter,  Ruth  Eliza- 
beth King,  born  January  10,  1885,  living  at 
home. 


AMUEL  T-  ELLIOTT,  of  Hyde 
Park,  the  treasurer  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Benefit  Life  Association  of 
Boston,  was  born  in  Sturgis,  Mich'., 
July  26,  1861,  son  of  James  C.  and  Mary  A. 
(Tuttle)"  Elliott.  The  family  is  of  English 
origin.  Joseph  Elliott,  the  great-grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  enlisted  in  Cap- 
tain W.  M.  Thomas's  regiment  or  company, 
July  23,  1781,  and  was  discharged  as  a  Cap- 
tain, December  1  of  the  same  year.  The  haz- 
ardous work  of  transporting  supplies  through 
the  British  lines  to  the  American  army  was 
performed  by  him.  He  resided  in  Sutton, 
Mass. :  and  an  account  of  his  valuable  services 
in  the  Revolutionary  War  will  be  found  in  the 
history  of  that  town.  Alvah  Elliott,  grand- 
father of  Samuel  T. ,  was  a  native  of  New 
York  State,  and  followed  the  trade  of  a  mill- 
wright. While  pursuing  his  calling  near 
Dunkirk,  N.Y.,  he  was  stricken  with  typhus 
fever,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight 
years. 

James  Clark  Elliott,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  New  York  State  and  learned  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  followed  the  business  of 
builder  anil  manufacturer  of  pumps  in  Sturgis, 
Mich.  Some  years  later  he  went  to  Joliet, 
111.,  where  he  executed  a  large  construction 
contract  for  the  Rock  Island  Railroad.  He  is 
now  seventy-four  years  old,  and   is   living  in 


retirement  with  his  son.  For  many  years  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  a  local  preacher.  His  wife,  Mary 
A.,  who  was  a  native  of  Effingham,  N.H., 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine.  She  was  the 
mother  of  three  children,  of  whom  Alvah  T. 
and  Samuel  T.  are  living. 

Samuel  T.  Elliott  began  his  education  in 
the  common  schools.  Subsequently,  after  a 
two  years'  course  at  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College  in  Lansing,  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  he  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  assistant  clerk  in  the 
office  of  that  department.  In  1881  he  became 
book-keeper  for  the  Massachusetts  Benefit  Life 
Association,  and  took  up  his  residence  at 
Hyde  Park  in  the  Readville  district.  When 
he  entered  the  service  of  this  association,  it 
had  but  recently  organized,  and  its  quarters 
were  limited  to  one  room.  As  business  in- 
creased, he  was  advanced  to  the  position  of 
comptroller;  and  in  1896  he  became  the  treas- 
urer. At  that  time  the  association  occupied 
eighteen  large  rooms,  employed  fifty  clerks, 
and  was  one  of  the  largest  organizations  of 
its  kind  in  the  United  States.  In  the  fall  of 
1897  he  took  up  the  profession  of  dentistry, 
locating  with  Dr.  C.  E.  Tuttle  at  242  Hunt- 
ington Avenue,  Boston.  Politically,  Mr. 
Elliott  is  a  Republican.  He  served  as  a 
Selectman  during  the  years  1893,  1894,  1895, 
and  1896,  having  been  chairman  during  the 
last  two  terms.  Among  the  notable  public 
improvements  made  while  he  was  connected 
with  that  body  were  the  abolition  of  grade 
crossings  and  the  establishment  of  a  union 
depot  at  Readville.  He  is  the  secretary  and 
treasurer  and  a  director  of  the  Readville 
Homestead  Association,  and  a  member  of  the 
corporation  of  the  Hyde  Park  Savings  Bank. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Hyde  Park  Histori- 
cal Society;  the  treasurer  of  the  Blue  Hill 
Evangelical  Society,  which  has  a  reading- 
room  and  library  in  Readville;  and  a  director 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
Appointed  a  Notary  Public  by  Governor  Rus- 
sell, he  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Governor  Ames  and  the  reap- 
pointment of  Governor  Greenhalge. 

In  1882  Mr.  Elliott  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  C.  Crippen,  who  was  born  in  Syra- 


FRANCIS    D.   WILLIAMS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S25 


cuse,  N.Y.,  daughter  of  A.  Crippen,  a  black- 
smith and  a  wheelwright  by  trade.  Mrs. 
Elliott  is  the  mother  of  three  children  —  Una, 
Wesley  A.,  and  Margaret.  Both  parents  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


'RANCIS  D.  WILLIAMS,  a  successful 
business  man  of  Foxboro,  was  born 
April  6,  1824,  in  Dighton,  Mass.,  the 
ancestral  home  of  the  Williams  family.  His 
father,  the  late  Simeon  Williams,  was  the 
third  in  direct  line  who  bore  that  name,  lived 
and  died  in  Dighton,  and  was  buried  in  the 
rural  cemetery  that  his  grandfather  had  located 
and  laid  out.  Richard  Williams,  the  founder 
of  the  family  in  Bristol  County,  was  the  origi- 
nal settler  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  where  he  spent 
his  last  years.  His  body  lies  interred  in  the 
family  burying  -  ground.  Simeon  Williams, 
2d,  grandfather  of  Francis  B. ,  is  believed  to 
have  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  and  to  have  been  wounded  in  the  cause 
of   independence. 

Simeon  Williams,  3d,  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools  of  Dighton,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  his  younger 
days.  He  afterward  worked  for  Jesse  Smith, 
the  owner  of  a  stage  route  between  Taunton 
and  Boston.  The  distinction  is  credited  to 
him  of  having  driven  the  first  stage  from 
Taunton  to  Foxboro,  and  also  that  from  Taun- 
ton to  New  Bedford,  Mass.  At  his  death  he 
was  fifty-six  years  old.  He  married  Mary 
Pierce,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Pierce.  They 
became  the  parents  of  three  children,  namely: 
Francis  D.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ;  Simeon 
H.,  of  South  Framingham;  and  Mary,  who 
has  spent  much  of  her  life  in  Providence, 
R. I.,  and  is  the  wife  of  Elisha  Allen. 

Francis  D.  Williams  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Dighton,  Norton,  and  Attleboro, 
living  on  the  home  farm  until  seventeen  years 
old.  Then,  learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  he 
followed  it  for  twenty  successive  years,  work- 
ing in  Dorchester  and  Taunton.  Coming 
from  Taunton  to  Foxboro,  he  became  one  of 
the  owners  of  Pond's  mill  for  two  years. 
Subsequently  he  bought  the  stage  and  express 
line  to  East  Foxboro  and  Mansfield,  and  in 
1S58    the  express  business  on   the  train  from 


here  to  Boston,  of  which  he  has  since  had 
charge.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the 
railroad  was  finished,  Mr.  Williams  was  the 
Foxboro  station  agent.  Later  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  coal  business  for  twenty-two 
years.  He  is  a  strong  advocate  of  Republican 
principles.  In  1852  he  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Winfield  Scott.  He  has  been 
influential  in  local  affairs,  encouraging  all 
modern  improvements,  having  served  on  vari- 
ous committees,  and  having  been  one  of  the 
most  active  helpers  in  the  work  of  laying  out 
the  common.  He  has  been  Selectman  for 
three  years,  and  for  six  years  he  was  one  of 
the  Water  Commissioners. 

On  July  1,  1847,  Mr.  Williams  married 
Miss  Lydia  Townsend  Copeland,  a  descendant 
in  the  sixth  generation  from  John  Alden  and 
Priscilla  Mullen.  They  have  two  children  — 
Frances  Lydia  and  George  Fenelon.  Frances 
Lydia  is  the  wife  of  Judge  Thomas  E.  Grover, 
and  has  one  son,  Gregory  W.  Grover.  George 
P"enelon,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  Foxboro 
telephone  and  postal  telegraph  station,  has 
served  as  Town  Treasurer,  and  since  1879 
has  been  clerk  of  the  Water  Board.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  Alice  Phelps,  a  daughter  of 
Eli  Phelps,  of  this  town;  and  they  have  two 
children  —  Ruth,  seven  years  old  ;  and  Louis, 
five  years  younger. 


ILL  W.  MAYHEVV,  a  well-known 
and  respected  resident  of  Braintree, 
was  born  in  this  town,  January  15, 
1857,  son  of  William  W.  and  Susan  S.  (Ar- 
nold) Mayhew.  His  father,  one  of  the  Select- 
men of  Braintree,  is  descended  from  Thomas 
Mayhew  (1 592-1682),  an  Englishman,  the 
first  settler  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  noted 
tor  his  missionary  efforts  among  the  Indians. 
His  mother  comes  of  Pilgrim  stock. 

Mr.  Will  W.  Mayhew  was  educated  in  the 
common  and  high  schools  of  Braintree.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  employ  of 
Messrs.  M.  C.  Hood  &  Co.,  wholesale  dry- 
goods  merchants  of  Boston.  He  remained 
with  them  for  about  four  years,  during  which 
time  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  sales- 
man for  the  concern.  He  subsequently  be- 
came  travelling    salesman    for    the    wholesale 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dry -goods  firm  of  S.  T.  Tucker  &  Co.,  of  Bos- 
ton, with  whom  he  was  connected  for  five 
years.  In  1883,  in  company  with  W.  I.  Ar- 
nold, he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth- 
ing at  Braintree,  under  the  style  of  Arnold  & 
Mayhew.  In  1884  Mr.  W.  H.  Shaw  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  firm,  and  during  the  same  year 
the  business  was  removed  to  Boston.  Some 
time  afterward  the  firm  dissolved,  and  Mr. 
Mayhew  became  the  sole  proprietor  of  the 
business,  which  he  still  retains,  and  has  been 
most  successful  in  the  enterprise.  He  takes 
an  active  interest  in  local  politics",  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Republican  Committee 
for  the  past  ten  years.  He  is  a  trustee  of  the 
school  fund,  and  is  now  serving  his  second 
term  in  the  legislature  as  Representative  from 
Braintree  and  Weymouth.  During  his  first 
term  he  represented  Braintree  and  Holbrook. 
He  married  Miss  M.  Rosamund  Minchin,  of 
Braintree,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  son,  John 
H.,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Mayhew  is 
connected  by  membership  with  the  Masons, 
the  Odd  Fellows,  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 


EORGE  SAN  FORD,  who  has  been 
Tax  Collector  of  Hyde  Park  for  fif- 
teen consecutive  years,  was  born 
June  13,  1S30,  in  Dartmouth,  Bristol  County, 
Mass.  A  son  of  Thomas  E.  Sanford,  he  be- 
longs to  a  long-established  family  of  that 
town.  The  paternal  great-grandfather,  also 
named  George,  who  was  an  extensive  land- 
owner and  for  many  years  one  of  the  most 
thriving  and  influential  farmers  of  Dartmouth, 
there  reared  his  family.  His  son,  Caleb  San- 
ford, spent  his  entire  life  of  fifty-eight  years 
in  Dartmouth,  dying  in  1835.  Caleb  was  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business  during  the  major 
portion  of  his  life,  and  in  addition  owned  a 
coaster,  and  was  interested  to  some  extent  in 
the  coasting  trade.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Content  Gifford,  survived  him  many 
years,  passing  away  at  an  advanced  age.  She 
was  the  mother  of  four  children,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity. 

Thomas  E.  Sanford  grew  to  man's  estate  in 
Dartmouth,  where  in  his  youthful  days  he 
worked  in  his  father's  store  as  a  clerk.  He 
subsequently  sailed  a  coasting-vessel  for  sev- 


eral seasons,  getting  a  fine  start  in  life  in  that 
manner.  Afterward  he  opened  a  store  in 
South  Dartmouth,  where  he  carried  on  a  sub- 
stantial and  lucrative  trade  until  his  sudden 
death  of  heart-disease  when  seventy  years  of 
age.  He  married  Miss  Ann  H.  Sherman, 
who  was  born  in  Dartmouth,  daughter  of  Jireh 
and  Anna  H.  Sherman.  Her  father,  who  was 
a  farmer  and  also  served  for  some  years  as  a 
revenue  officer,  died  in  that  town  at  the  age  of 
threescore  and  ten  years,  and  her  mother  at 
the  age  of  ninety.  The  children  reared 
by  Thomas  E.  Sanford  and  his  wife  are: 
Sophia  A.,  the  wife  of  Edwin  A.  Howland; 
George,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  H.  Baker.  Both  parents  were  active 
and  faithful  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church.  After  a  widowhood  of  many 
years  the  mother  passed  away  at  the  venerable 
age  of  ninety-one  years. 

George  Sanford  received  his  academical  ed- 
ucation in  East  Greenwich  and  Dartmouth, 
and  then  began  working  for  himself.  In 
1855  he  went  on  a  sea  voyage,  after  which  he 
learned  the  art  of  manufacturing  nails  by 
hand.  This  trade  he  afterward  followed  in 
East  Wareham  for  two  years  as  a  journeyman 
and  later  as  a  manufacturer,  being  also  agent 
of  the  Tisdale  Nail  Works  for  a  number  of 
years.  During  the  fifteen  years  that  he  re- 
sided in  East  Wareham  he  took  a  great  inter- 
est in  local  affairs,  serving  as  Selectman,  for 
five  years  being  chairman  of  the  board,  As- 
sessor, and  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  In  1868 
and  1870  he  represented  that  town  in  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  being  largely  elected  by  the  Re- 
publicans, although  he  has  always  been  a 
Democrat,  even  in  war  time,  and  a  sound 
money  man.  While  in  the  legislature  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Fisheries.  In 
the  later  sixties  Mr.  Sanford  opened  a  store 
in  East  Wareham;  and  in  1871  he  came  to 
Hyde  Park,  where  he  established  another 
store,  becoming  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Sanford  &  Runnells,  for  some  years  conduct- 
ing both  business  establishments.  In  1881 
the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  since  that 
time  Mr.  Sanford  has  devoted  his  attention  to 
his  official  work.  He  was  elected  Selectman 
of  Hyde  Park  in  1875  ancl  1876'-  and  in  1881 
he  was  chosen   Assessor,  a  capacity   in  which 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S27 


he  served  most  acceptably  for  ten  consecutive 
years.  In  1882  he  was  appointed  Tax  Collec- 
tor, which  office  he  has  since  very  efficiently 
filled. 

In  April,  1853,  Mr.  Sanford  married  Miss 
Mary  A.  Hayden,  who  was  born  in  Wareham, 
Mass.  She  is  one  of  the  two  children  of 
Joseph  P.  Hayden,  an  insurance  agent  of  that 
place.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanford  have  three 
children  —  Jethro  C,  Clara  Frances,  and 
Eliza  F.  Jethro  C,  who  is  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  New  York  &  San  Juan  Smelt- 
ing Company's  works  in  Colorado,  and  has 
been  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Masonic 
Lodge  of  Colorado,  married  Miss  Lottie  Far- 
ley, of  Eureka,  Col.  Kliza  F.  married 
Albert  F.  Rogers,  a  manufacturer  of  fire- 
works, and  has  two  children  — •  Mildred  S.  and 
George  M.  Mr.  Sanford,  Sr. ,  was  made  a 
Mason  in  Social  Harmony  Lodge  of  Wareham, 
in  which  he  has  since  held  many  of  the 
offices.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of 
Eastern  Star;  of  Allyn  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of 
Hyde  Park;  and  a  charter  member  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum.  For  some  years  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Hyde  Park  and  Waverly  Clubs, 
for  a  while  being  treasurer  of  the  latter.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Hyde  Park  Historical 
Society,  and  is  connected  with  the  Hyde 
Park  Savings  Bank  as  auditor  and  trustee. 
While  his  religious  creed  is  broad,  he  attends 
the  Unitarian  church. 


I DWIN  P.  GURNEY,  builder  and  con- 
tractor of  Needham,  Mass.,  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Sarah  (Stephens)  Gurney, 
was  born  in  Hebron,  Me.,  June  30,  1S42. 
Elisha  Gurney,  his  great  grandfather,  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  Hebron  ;  and  on  a  rock 
which  may  still  be  seen  on  the  old  Gurney 
farm  was  baked  the  first  bread  made  in  the 
town.  Elisha  Gurney  was  a  commissioned 
officer  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 

His  son,  Jacob,  Sr. ,  who  was  born  in 
Bridgewater,  Mass.,  and  moved  with  him  to 
Hebron,  Me.,  where  he  engaged  in  farming, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  entering  the 
service  when  but  fifteen  years  of  age.  The 
gun  which  he  carried  is  still  in  the  possession 
of   the   family.      Jacob's   son,    Jacob,    Jr.,    the 


father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  Hebron,  Me.,  in  1809.  He  enlisted  in 
1863  in  Company  A,  Thirtieth  Maine  Regi- 
ment, under  General  Nathaniel  T.  Banks;  and 
both  he  and  his  sixteen-year-old  son,  Judson, 
who  was  with  him  in  the  Red  River  expedi- 
tion, died  in  the  service,  the  latter  from  expos- 
ure and  hardships.  Jacob  Gurney,  Jr.,  mar- 
ried Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Caleb  Stephens, 
who  was  a  pioneer  settler  in  Maine.  Mr. 
Stephens  at  one  time  moved  his  family  on  an 
ox  sled  in  the  middle  of  winter  to  Dead 
River,  Me.,  a  place  so  remote  from  the  con- 
veniences of  civilization  that  to  get  his  corn 
ground  he  had  to  carry  it  twelve  miles  to  mill 
on  his  back.      He  died  in  1884. 

Edwin  P.  Gurney  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Hebron  and  at  the  Hebron 
Academy,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1862.  In  the  same  year  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany C,  Seventeenth  Maine  Regiment  of  In- 
fantry, under  Captain  Augustus  Golderman 
and  Colonel  Roberts.  This  regiment  was  en- 
gaged in  engineering  for  some  time  before  it 
was  sent  to  the  front.  Mr.  Gurney  was  in  the 
heavy  artillery  in  the  defence  of  Washington, 
his  regiment  helping  to  construct  the  forts 
about  the  city.  While  at  this  work  he  was  in- 
jured by  a  team  ;  and  he  was  discharged  from 
the  service  in  February,  1863.  He  draws  a 
pension  from  the  government.  Returning  to 
his  home  in  Hebron,  he  was  engaged  as  a 
school  teacher  for  seven  years  after  leaving 
the  army,  and  then  worked  at  his  trade  of 
building  in  Lewiston  until  1879,  when  he 
went  to  Colorado.  A  year  later  he  came  back 
to  Cambridge,  and  worked  in  the  car  shops, 
but  went  to  Florida  the  next  year,  and  for  a 
year  or  so  worked  at  his  trade.  Then,  return- 
ing North,  he  worked  in  Cambridge  for  the 
next  eleven  years.  In  1893  he  came  to  Need- 
ham,  where  he  has  been  engaged  as  a  builder 
and  contractor  ever  since.  Mr.  Gurney  is 
a  comrade  of  Galen  Orr  Post,  No.  81, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  Needham.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational church. 

Mr.  Gurney  was  married  in  1869  to  Louise 
M.,  the  daughter  of  Harvey  Dunham,  of 
Hebron,  Me.  They  have  one  daughter  — 
Lillian  M.,  born  in  Hebron  in    1871,  educated 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


in  the  schools  of  Hebron  and  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  and  now  living  at  home. 


§OHN  HENRY  DUNBAR,  superintend- 
ent of  the  almshouse  and  town  farm  at 
Canton,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  was 
born  August  25,  1836,  in  Winchendon, 
Worcester  County,  son  of  John  D.  Dunbar, 
Jr.  His  grandfather,  John  D.  Dunbar,  Sr., 
was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Samuel  Dunbar, 
the  first  member  of  the  Dunbar  family  to  lo- 
cate in  Canton,  where  he  was  a  settled  minis- 
ter during  the  Revolutionary  War.  A  near 
kinsman  was  Squire  Bill  Dunbar,  a  prominent 
figure  of  this  locality  in  1825.  John  D.  Dun- 
bar, Sr.,  was  one  of  the  leading  Masons  of  his 
day,  as  is  shown  by  papers  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Dunbar,  these  being  his  credentials, 
dated  1802,  as  a  member  of  the  District  De- 
partment, Grand  Commandery  of  Massachu- 
setts,  Seventh  Masonic  District. 

John  D.  Dunbar,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Charlton, 
Mass.,  and  when  but  a  boy  was  in  the  War  of 
18 1  2,  accompanying  his  uncle,  with  whom  he 
afterward  worked  for  some  years  at  manufact- 
uring in  Canton.  He  subsequently  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  brother,  William  C,  and 
opened  factories  in  Sharon,  Canton,  and 
Stoughton,  Mass.  ;  but  the  firm  finally  re- 
moved to  Barre,  Mass.,  and  there  began  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  cloth.  In  a  few  years 
the  partnership  was  dissolved,  John  D.  Dun- 
bar going  from  Barre  to  Winchendon  Springs, 
Mass.,  where  he  carried  on  an  extensive  man- 
ufacturing business  until  1838.  The  succeed- 
ing thirty  years  or  so  he  was  engaged  in  the 
building  and  loan  business  in  Boston,  contin- 
uing until  1867,  when  he  became  a  resident  of 
Canton,  where  he  lived  retired  until  his  death, 
on  June  12,  1879,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-two  years  and  six  months.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Harriet  Beaman,  of  Winchendon, 
and  they  reared  three  children,  namely:  John 
H.,  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch;  Lillian 
F.,  wife  of  the  Rev.  John  H.  Hartman,  a  for- 
mer minister  of  Canton;  and  Zerviah,  who 
died  at  an  early  age. 

John  Henry  Dunbar  was  educated  at  Chap- 
man Hall  School,  a  private  educational  insti- 
tution in  Boston,  where  he  was  graduated   in 


1854.  He  was  subsequently  engaged  for  some 
time  as  a  ship-chandler  in  Boston,  going  from 
there  to  South  America  in  1865.  Two  years 
later  he  returned  to  Boston,  and  soon  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  ship-chandler,  a  business 
which  he  conducted  successfully  twenty-two 
years.  He  then  became  the  New  England 
agent  for  the  Calumet  Fire  Clay  Company, 
having  his  office  in  Boston,  and  remained  in 
that  position  until  1891,  when  he  was  given 
charge  of  the  Canton  almshouse  and  town 
farm,  an  office  which  he  has  since  filled  with 
great  ability  and  fidelity.  In  politics  he  is  a 
sound  Democrat,  and  for  six  years  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Democratic  Town  Committee. 
Mr.  Dunbar  was  married  June  22,  1871,  to 
Miss  Frances  S.  Goodrich,  who  was  born  in 
New  York,  a  daughter  of  Francis  Goodrich. 
They  have  one  son,  D wight  Dunbar.  Mr. 
Dunbar  is  a  member  of  St.  John's  Lodge,  F. 
&  A.  M.,  of  Boston.  He  is  a  Congregation- 
alist  in  religious  belief,  and  he  and  his  fam- 
ily attend  the  Congregational  church. 


YRUS  M.  ALLEN,  a  representative 
farmer  of  Franklin,  Mass.,  and  a  son 
of  Cyrus  and  Sally  (Bacon)  Allen, 
was  born  in  Franklin,  June  6,  1831. 
His  paternal  great-grandfather,  Samuel,  came 
from  Medfield  to  Franklin,  and  settled  near 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  Cyrus  M.  Allen. 
Samuel  was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  so  was 
his  son  Abijah,  who  succeeded  to  the  old  home 
farm.  Abijah  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  taking  part  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  and  having  previously  been  a 
member  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party.  His  son 
Cyrus,  who  in  young  manhood  came  to  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  both  farmer  and  mechanic.  Cyrus 
lived  on  the  farm  until  his  death  on  Septem- 
ber 2,  1866.  His  wife,  Sally  Bacon  Allen, 
a  native  of  Franklin,  died  May  25,  1886. 
They  had  four  children  —  Marena,  George, 
Cyrus  M.,  and  Thomas.  George  died  in  in- 
fancy. Thomas,  born  October  7,  1836,  mar- 
ried Martha  M.  Metcalf,  and  lives  in  Frank- 
lin, where  he  conducts  a  wood  yard.  Marena 
married  Rensselaer  Patch,  and  went  to  Iowa 
to  live,   where  she  and  her  husband  died. 


BENJAMIN    F.    BOYDEN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


53 « 


Cyrus  M.  Allen  received  a  common-school 
education.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  ob- 
tained employment  in  a  straw  shop  of  Frank- 
lin. During  the  following  sixteen  years  he 
worked  in  Franklin,  Worcester,  Maiden, 
Keene,  N.H.,  and  Reading,  Pa.  In  1869  he 
returned  to  the  old  homestead,  where  he  has 
remained  since,  engaged  in  general  farming  and 
dairying.  He  has  made  many  improvements 
on  his  beautiful  place,  and  now  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  good  farming  land. 
He  keeps  about  twenty  cows,  and  does  a  good 
retail  milk  business.  In  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Republican.  He  has  served  his  towns- 
men for  one  year  as  Assessor  and  for  twelve 
years  as  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Grange  Society  at  Franklin  and  of 
the  Farmers'  Club. 

Mr.  Allen  was  married  November  30,  1854, 
to  Sarah  M.,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Julia 
(Amsden)  Williams.  Mr.  Williams  spent  his 
life  chiefly  in  Southboro,  Mass.,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  farming  and  shoemaking,  and  died 
in  Ashland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen  had  six 
children,  namely:  William  Henry,  born  July 
20,  1S56,  who  married  Belle  H.  Sechler,  and 
is  living  in  Downingtown,  Pa.,  where  he  is 
engaged  as  supervisor  on  the  Penn.  Railroad; 
Aldis  M.,  born  November  12,  1861,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  two  years;  Emma  Marena,  born 
November  12,  1863;  Julia  W.,  born  February 
27,  1866;  Abbie  M.,  born  February  13,  1870; 
and  George  A.,  born  November  16,  1874,  who 
married  Margerie  E.  Bacon.  The  last  four 
live  with  their  parents.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Allen  are  earnest  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  at  Franklin. 


RIAH  W.  BOYDEN,  an  experienced 
and  progressive  miller  of  Foxboro,  was 
born  in  this  town,  March  30,  1848, 
son  of  the  late  Benjamin  F. 
Boyden.  His  great-grandfather,  Seth  Boyden, 
came  here  from  Med  field  when  this  section  of 
Norfolk  County  was  in  its  primitive  wildness, 
and  took  up  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  what 
is  now  the  north-eastern  part  of  Foxboro. 
Seth,  who  was  twice  married,  reared  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Seth,  second,  was  the  grand- 
father of  Uriah  W. 


Seth  Boyden,  second,  born  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  April  22,  1764,  died  on  his  Foxboro 
farm,  August  15,  1840.  When  a  young  man 
he  settled  in  this  town,  erecting  a  fine  brick 
house,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  locality,  and 
which  is  now  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the 
place.  Possessed  of  much  inventive  genius, 
he  devised,  among  other  things,  the  famous 
leather-splitting  machine,  which  caused  a  rev- 
olution in  the  shoe  and  leather  business.  He 
married  Susan,  daughter  of  Uriah  Atherton, 
who  is  alleged  to  have  cast,  at  his  foundry  in 
Stoughton,  the  first  cannon  used  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary Army.  It  is  related  that,  after  Mr. 
Atherton  had  started  with  the  cannon  for 
either  Dorchester  Heights  or  Cambridge,  his 
team  was  unable  to  haul  it,  owing  to  the  mis- 
erable condition  of  the  roads,  and  that  Seth 
Boyden,  first,  brought  to  his  assistance  a  yoke 
of  bulls  and  a  stallion  that  had  to  be  worked 
in  fetters.  Seth  assured  Mr.  Atherton  that 
with  these  the  transportation  of  the  cannon 
would  be  safe;  for,  if  he  should  meet  the  red- 
coats, all  he  would  need  to  do  to  rout  them 
was  to  unhitch  his  warlike  cattle.  Mrs.  Susan 
Boyden  had  ten  children;  namely,  Seth,  Alex- 
ander, Susanna,  Sarah,  Otis,  Sabra,  Hannah, 
Uriah  A.,  Benjamin  F.,  and  William  P. 
Seth,  the  third  bearer  of  the  name,  became  a 
noted  inventor,  removed  to  Newark,  N.J., 
where  he  spent  his  last  years,  and  where  in 
1890  a  statue  was  erected  to  his  memory  in 
Washington  Park.  Alexander,  a  resident  of 
Massachusetts,  was  an  inventor  of  a  machine 
for  turning  knife-handles.  Sarah  died  in 
Newark,  N.J.,  at  the  age  of  forty  years. 
Otis,  who  had  worked  fur  his  brothers  in 
Newark,  died  there  in  1861.  Sabra  became 
the  wife  of  Silas  Smith,  of  Foxboio,  and  died 
in  1861.  Hannah  died  in  infancy.  Uriah  A., 
by  occupation  a  civil  engineer,  invented  a 
turbine  water-wheel,  and  died  in  Boston  in 
1879,  leaving  a  sum  of  money  to  Harvard  Col 
lege  to  be  used  for  scientific  purposes.  lie 
also  gave  a  munificent  gift  to  the  Foxboro 
public  library,  which  was  named  for  him. 
William  P.,  the  youngest  son,  also  a  civil 
engineer,  died  in  Kentucky  in  1886. 

Benjamin  F.  Boyden,  who  was  born  in  Fox- 
boro, January  28,  1807,  died  at  his  late  home, 
August    21,     1896.      When    a    young    man    he 


532 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


went  with  his  brother  William  to  Cambridge 
to  introduce  the  leather-splitting  machines, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  business  for  some 
time.  He  subsequently  went  to  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  remaining  there  two  years.  In  1835  he 
resumed  business  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  con- 
tinuing there  until  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1840,  when  he  assumed  the  management  of 
the  old  homestead.  In  1871  he  removed  to 
the  place  now  known  as  Boyden's  Mill,  in 
North  Foxboro,  where  he  resided  until  his 
demise.  On  January  1,  1829,  he  married 
Miss  Lucinda  A.  Clapp,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Clapp,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  one  of  the 
guards  at  the  execution  of  Major  Andrd,  the 
sword  which  he  wore  being  still  preserved  by 
the  family.  She  passed  away  March  8,  1877, 
having  given  birth  to  four  children.  These 
were:  Sarah  A.,  who  resides  with  her  brother 
Uriah  in  North  Foxboro;  Seth  R.,  a  resident 
of  New  York  City,  who  has  charge  of  the 
establishment  of  D wight,  Church  &  Co.  ; 
Susan  A.,  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Uriah 
W. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Uriah  W.  Boyden  was  bred  and  educated  in 
his  native  town.  After  reaching  man's  estate, 
he  bought  a  grist-mill  in  North  Foxboro,  and 
has  since  carried  it  on  successfully.  Later  he 
bought  a  house  not  far  from  the  mill,  where 
he  and  his  sister  now  reside.  He  also  owns 
the  old  Boyden  homestead  on  Oak  Street,  and 
has  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  which  he 
devotes  to  general  agriculture.  Politically, 
he  has  always  been  a  firm  supporter  of  Demo- 
cratic principles.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  St.  Alban's 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Foxboro,  Mass. 


{  3^EORGE  WILLARD  GAY,  a  well- 
V  •)  I  known  business  man  of  Norwood, 
formerly  South  Dedham,  son  of  the 
late  VVillard  and  Emeline  (Rhoades)  Gay,  was 
born  here  on  July  16,  1841.  He  is  of  the 
eighth  generation  in  descent  from  John  Gay, 
who  came  to  America  about  1630,  and,  set- 
tling first  at  Watertown,  was  a  grantee  in  the 
Great  Dividends  and  in  the  Beaver  Brook 
Plowlands,  owning  all  together  forty  acres;  was 
admitted  a  freeman  May  6,  1635;  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  plantation  of  Dedham  —  as 


shown  by  his  signature  on  the  petition  for  in- 
corporation, September  6,  1636  —  and  was 
among  the  original  proprietors  of  lands.  The 
line  is  as  follows:  John,'  Samuel,2  Timothy,3 
Timothy,4  Ichabod,5  Oliver,6  Willard,7  George 
Willard.s 

John  Gay  was  on  the  Board  of  Selectmen  of 
Dedham  in  1654.  He  died  March  4,  1688. 
His  wife,  who  is  said  in  family  tradition  to 
have  been  widow  Baldwicke  before  he  married 
her,  died  August  14,  1691.  John  Gay's  will 
(Suffolk  Records),  dated  December  18,  1686, 
was  proved  December  17,  1689,  his  wife,  Jo- 
anna, and  son,  John,  being  the  executors. 
His  estate  was  valued  at  ninety-one  pounds, 
five  shillings,  eight  pence.  The  children  of 
John  and  Joanna  Gay  were :  Samuel,  who  was 
born  March  10,  1639,  and  died  April  15, 
1 7 1 8  ;  Hezekiah,  born  July  3,  1640,  who  died 
November  28,  1669;  Nathaniel,  born  Janu- 
ary 11,  1643,  who  died  February  20,  1 7 1 2  ; 
Joanna,  born  March  23,  1645;  Eliezer,  born 
June  25,  1647,  who  died  April  13,  1726 
(wrongly  called  Ebenezer  by  Savage)  ;  Abiel, 
born  April  23,  1649,  who  was  married  to 
Daniel  Hawes,  February  23,  1677;  Judith, 
Abiel's  twin  sister  (called  Judah  in  her 
father's  will),  who  was  married  February  8, 
1672,  to  John  Fuller;  John,  born  May  6, 
1651,  who  died  November  19,  1 73 1  ;  Jona- 
than, born  August  1,  1653;  Hannah,  born  Oc- 
tober 16,  1656,  who  died  February  26,  1660; 
and  Elizabeth  (date  and  place  of  birth  un- 
known), who  married  Richard  Martin  in  1660 
(see  Reg.,  ante,  vol.  xix.  168),  not  mentioned 
in  her  father's  will. 

Samuel,  the  eldest  son,  received  under  his 
father's  will  the  portion  of  land  near  Medfield 
granted  by  the  town  in  the  division  of  lands. 
He  was  one  of  the  Selectmen  in  1698.  He 
died  April  15,  17 18.  He  was  married  No- 
vember 23,  1661,  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Ed- 
ward Bridge,  of  Roxbury.  She  died  April  13, 
1718.  Following  are  the  children  of  Samuel 
and  Mary  (Bridge)  Gay:  Samuel,  born  Febru- 
ary 4,  1663;  Edward,  born  April  13,  1666,  who 
married  March  25,  1688,  Rebecca  Fisher,  and 
died  December  23,  1730;  John,  who  was  born 
June  25,  1668,  and  died  June  17,  1758;  Heze- 
kiah, born  May  10,  1670;  and  Timothy,  born 
September  15,   1674. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


533 


Timothy  Gay  died  May  26,  17 19.  He  and 
his  wife,  Patience,  had  six  children:  Hannah, 
born  February  28,  1698;  Hezekiah,  born  Oc- 
tober 30,  1700,  who  died  September  5,  1774; 
Timothy,  Jr.,  born  December  29,  1703;  David, 
born  November  6,  1707;  Joshua,  born  October 
23,  1 7 10;  and  Patience,  born  August  23,  171 3. 

Timothy  Gay,  Jr.,  died  March  29,  1793. 
He  was  married  in  Stoughton,  Mass. ;  Febru- 
ary 10,  1727,  to  Azubah  Thorp,  who  died  De- 
cember 9,  1773.  Their  children  were:  Re- 
becca, born  June  22,  1730;  Timothy,  born 
July  30,  1733;  Solomon,  born  February  24, 
1 741,  who  was  married  to  Abigail  Gould, 
February  4,  1762;  Seth,  who  was  born  Octo- 
ber 9,  1742,  and  died  March  18,  1752;  Icha- 
bod,  who  was  born  May  8,  1745,  and  died  De- 
comber  23,  1812;  Jesse,  born  September  4, 
1747,  Selectman  at  Dedham  in  1793;  and 
Azubah,  born  November  21,  1753,  who  was 
married  to  Abner  Colburn,  December  10, 
1772. 

Ichabod  Gay  was  married  first,  July  24, 
1766,  to"  Mary  Gould,  who  died  August  27, 
1778.  Their  children  were:  Ichabod,  born 
June  2,  1767,  who  married  Catherine  Ellis; 
Oliver,  who  was  born  June  17,  1  77 1 ,  and  died 
September  26,  1824;  Molly,  born  November 
3°.  l773i  wno  married  Lemuel  Savels,  Sep- 
tember 3,  179S;  Wilkes,  born  August  30, 
1775,  who  married  Betsey  Savels,  May  18, 
1796.  Ichabod  Gay's  second  wife,  formerly 
Mrs.  Mary  Fisher,  bore  him  one  child,  Peggy, 
born  June  20,  1789,  who  was  married  August 
11,  1S06,  to  Lemuel  Taunt.  Mrs.  Mary  Gay 
died  March  24,   1797. 

Oliver  Gay,  grandfather  of  George  W.  Gay, 
married  first  Hannah  Richards,  who  died  July 
18,  1805;  and  second,  in  1806,  Mary  Fisher, 
of  Sharon,  who  died  March  21,  1832.  By  his 
second  wife  he  had:  Reuben  R.,  born  Novem- 
ber 10,  1806,  who  died  April  9,  1828; 
George,  born  May  4,  1809,  who  died  Septem- 
ber 24,  1824;  Mary,  born  December  20,  18 10, 
who  died  September  22,  1824;  Hannah,  born 
June  3,  1813,  who  died  March  27,  1833,  wife 
of  John  Ellis  Hartshorn;  Willard,  born  Janu- 
ary 3,  1 8 18,  who  died  January  31,  1882;  and 
Ebenezer  Fisher,  who  was  born  September  8, 
1820,  and  died  November  15,  1871.  Oliver 
Gay  died  September  26,  1824. 


Willard  Gay,  third  son  of  Oliver  named 
above,  married  November  15,  1840,  Emeline, 
daughter  of  Lewis  and  Hannah  (Ellis) 
Rhoades,  and  was  the  father  of  five  children, 
namely:  George  W.,  whose  name  appears  at 
the  head  of  this  article;  Mary  F.,  born  Octo- 
ber 20,  1845;  Emma  W.,  born  P"ebruary  11, 
1849,  wno  died  June  15,  1892;  Warren  F., 
who  was  born  February  11,  1851,  and  died 
October  1,  1852;  and  Ebenezer  F.,  born  June 
4,  1861.      Mrs.  Gay  died  February  18,   1877. 

George  Willard  Gay  acquired  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  town.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  to  work  for  Isaac 
Colburn  &  Co.,  a  shoe  leather  firm  of  Boston, 
with  whom  he  remained  nine  years.  He  then 
established  a  business  of  his  own  on  High 
Street,  Boston,  dealing  in  upper  and  sole 
leather;  but  the  great  fire  of  1872,  so  disas- 
trous to  the  business  men  of  Boston,  ruined 
his  enterprise,  and  in  P'ebruary,  1873,  he  en- 
gaged as  salesman  with  Winslow  Brothers, 
tanners  of  Norwood.  He  has  now  been  with 
this  firm  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Mr. 
Gay  is  a  member  of  the  Business  Men's  Asso- 
ciation and  of  the  Norwood  Associates,  a 
land  company;  he  is  a  director  of  the  Co-oper- 
ative Bank  and  a  member  of  the  Investment 
Committee;  and  he  is  engaged  in  the  fire  in- 
surance business.  He  is  actively  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  Norwood,  has  served  on  the 
School  Committee,  and  is  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace. 

He  was  married  May  29,  1867,  to  Maria  L. 
Hoyle.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  by  the 
following  children:  Willard  B.,  who  was  born 
February  26,  1868,  and  died  March  26,  1886; 
Mabel  H.,  who  was  born  May  14,  1870,  and 
died  October  14,  1890;  Harold  W.,  born  May 
30,  1874;  Eva  B.,  born  January  6,  1879;  anc' 
George  W.,  Jr.,  born  April  25,   1883. 


TILLMAN  E.  NEWELL,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Magee  Furnace  Company 
of  Boston  and  a  resident  of  Hyde 
Park,  was  born  in  Lisbon  Falls, 
Me.,  July  4,  1847,  son  of  Stillman  and  Ara- 
bella (Berry)  Newell.  The  father,  a  native  of 
Maine,  who  for  some  years  followed  the  trade 
of  a  tailor  in   Strong,  spent  his   last  days   in 


534 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Lisbon  Falls,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
seven  years.  The  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
Deacon  Edward  Berry,  a  prominent  farmer  and 
tanner  of  Lisbon  Falls.  Mr.  Berry  and  his 
wife  were  members  of  the  Congregational 
church.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  Still- 
man  Newell's  only  child.  Arabella  Newell 
subsequently  married  the  Rev.  John  Elliott,  a 
Congregational  preacher,  and  became  the 
mother  of  five  children,  of  whom  J.  F.,  Belle 
May,  and  Charles  D.  Elliott  are  living. 
Charles  resides  in  Montana.  The  mother 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Elliott,  who  was  for  some  time  the  pastor 
of  a  church  in  West  Auburn,  Me.,  preached 
for  twenty  years  in  Rumford,  Me.,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Stillman  E.  Newell  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Auburn  and  Rumford,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  When  fifteen  years  old  he 
went  to  Boston,  where  he  was  employed  by 
Charles  Monroe,  a  baker,  for  two  years. 
Then,  entering  the  stove  business  as  a  clerk 
for  James  G.  Haynes,  he  remained  with  him 
for  ten  years.  After  carrying  on  business  on 
his  own  account  for  six  years,  he  sold  out  and 
became  travelling  salesman  for  the  Barstow 
Stove  Company.  He  remained  in  the  employ- 
ment of  this  firm  until  about  1880,  when  he 
became  the  travelling  representative  of  the 
Magee  Furnace  Company.  He  was  a  director 
of  the  Co-operative  Bank  in  Hyde  Park  for 
two  years. 

On  December  18,  1871,  Mr.  Newell  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Susan  E.  Martin. 
Her  father,  the  late  Hon.  J.  K.  Martin,  was 
an  extensive  farmer  and  cattle  dealer  of  Rum- 
ford, and  for  two  years  a  member  of  the  Maine 
Senate.  Mrs.  Newell  is  the  mother  of  four 
children  —  Freelon,  Emeline  M.,  Helen  A., 
and  Susan.  Freelon  is  in  the  glass  business 
in  Boston.  Since  settling  here  in  1880,  Mr. 
Newell  has  been  actively  interested  in  the 
progress  of  the  town.  He  was  elected  a  Se- 
lectman in  1S96  and  1897.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican.  He  is  a  member  of  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen  of  Hyde 
Park,  of  the  Knights  of  Honor  of  Boston,  and 
of  the  Royal  Arcanum.  He,  his  wife,  and  a 
daughter  are  united  with  the  Congregational 
church.     Owins:  his  success  in  life  to  his  gen- 


eral ability  and  agreeable  personal  qualities, 
Mr.  Newell  has  the  esteem  of  a  wide  circle  of 
friends. 


ROBERT  BLEAKIE,  one  of  the  well 
known  and  highly  respected  residents 
of  Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  was  born  near 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  1833,  being 
the  eldest  of  four  children.  In  1S47  Mr. 
Bleakie's  father  came  to  Massachusetts  and 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Salisbury  Mills,  of 
Salisbury  and  Amesbury;  and  there  he  started 
the  first  fancy  woolen  looms  in  this  country. 
His  family  followed  the  year  after,  Robert, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  being  then  in  his 
fourteenth  year.  At  the  age  of  eleven  years 
he  had  worked  as  a  bobbin  boy  in  a  mill  in 
Scotland,  and  the  year  following  had  begun  as 
a  weaver.  Upon  coming  to  this  country  he 
entered  the  mills  under  the  charge  of  his 
father,  remaining  in  Salisbury  until  1850, 
when  the  family  removed  to  East  Greenwich, 
R.  I.  In  a  few  years  he  took  charge  of  the 
weaving  department  of  the  Elm  Street  Mills 
in  Providence,  R.  I.  ;  and  practically  the  only 
schooling  he  received  during  life  was  at  this 
time,  being  obtained  at  night  schools.  In 
1859  he  took  charge  as  superintendent  of  the 
Harrison  Mills  at  Franklin,  N.J.  ;  and  two 
years  later  he  accepted  a  similar  position  at  a 
woollen-mill  in  Rhode  Island,  where  he  re- 
mained until  i860,  when  he  started  in  for  him- 
self. 

His  first  venture  was  at  Tolland,  Conn.,  in 
a  one-set  mill.  His  success  there  was  so  great 
that  he  received  many  offers;  and  in  1863  he 
accepted  the  management  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Woolen  Mills,  where  he  remained  until  1873, 
when  the  mill  was  destroyed  by  fire.  After 
leaving  Tolland,  in  connection  with  some 
Providence  parties  he  organized  the  Riverside 
Company,  and  personally  made  the  plans  for 
the  mill,  purchased  the  machinery,  superin- 
tended the  installation,  and  started  the  mill  in 
operation.  He  had  a  part  ownership  in  the 
company,  but  a  difference  in  opinion  as  to  a 
question  in  policy  caused  him  to  give  up  his 
position  shortly  after  the  mill  had  started  run- 
ning. In  1876  he  organized  the  firm  of 
Robert   Bleakie  &   Co.,  consisting  of  himself 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


535 


and  his  brother,  John  S.,  and  Charles  F. 
Allen,  and  purchased  the  Webster  Mill  at 
Sabattus,  Me.  Afterward  the  firm  acquired 
the  Amesbury  Mill;  and  still  later,  that  is,  in 
1878,  they  bought  the  Hyde  Park  Woollen 
Company's  property,  and  operated  these  three 
mills  under  the  one  management. 

Mr.  Bleakie  has  made  his  home  in  Hyde 
Park;  and,  while  having  no  ambition  for  polit- 
ical prominence,  he  has  been  frequently  called 
to  offices  of  trust  by  his  fellow-citizens,  serv- 
ing as  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  for 
several  years.  In  1880  he  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  Hyde  Park  Savings  Bank,  and 
under  his  management  the  bank  has  been 
highly  successful,  the  surplus  growing  from 
one  hundred  and  sixty -three  dollars  to  seventy 
thousand  dollars.  He  has  also  been  identified 
with  the  Hyde  Park  Water  Company.  The 
tariff  discussion  has  engaged  much  of  his  at- 
tention, and  has  proved  him  to  be  an  origi- 
nal and  vigorous  thinker  on  economical  ques- 
tions, with  a  decided  leaning  toward  the  policy 
of  freer  if  not  free  trade.  He  certainly  has 
gained  something  of  a  national  reputation  by 
the  candor  of  his  expression  of  views  on  the 
question  of  free  wool. 


§'OHN  E.  COUSENS,  a  prosperous  and 
well-known  resident  of  Brookline,  is 
carrying  on  an  extensive  business  as  a 
dealer  in  coal,  having  a  wharf  in  Bos- 
ton, not  far  from  the  town  limits  of  Brookline. 
He  was  born  March  8,  1836,  in  Lyman,  Me., 
which  was  likewise  the  birthplace  of  his 
father,  Seth  Cousens.  The  latter,  who  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  spent  his  entire  life  of 
eighty-four  years  in  Lyman.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Emmons,  was  one 
of  the  ten  children  of  John  Emmons,  another 
successful  farmer  of  Lyman.  She  reared 
fourteen  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living; 
namely,  Horace,  Samuel,  Oliver,  Joseph, 
Ivory,  Amanda,  and  John  E.  Amanda  is  the 
wife  of  Frederick  Spurr.  The  mother  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  Both 
she  and  her  husband  belonged  to  the  Congre- 
gational church. 

John  E.  Cousens  received  a  practical  educa- 
tion, partly  in  the  town  of  Lyman  and  partly 


at  the  high  school  of  Brookline,  where  he  be- 
came a  resident  when  entering  his  teens. 
Afterward  for  some  years  he  was  employed 
as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business  at  Fernandina, 
Fla.,  continuing  there  two  years.  Returning 
to  Brookline  in  1869,  he  established  his  pres- 
ent yard,  forming  a  partnership  with  his 
brother  Horace,  and  for  twenty  years  carried 
on  a  substantial  trade  under  the  firm  name  of 
Cousens  Brothers.  Since  18S9  he  has  contin- 
ued the  business  alone,  being  the  only  resi- 
dent coal  merchant  in  this  town,  and  has  a 
large  number  of  patrons  both  here  and  in  the 
city.  He  is  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  Active  in  Masonry,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Beth-Horon  Lodge;  of  St.  Paul's 
Royal  Arch  Chapter;  and  of  the  Joseph  War- 
ren Commandery.  A  prominent  member  of 
the  Universalist  church,  he  is  the  president 
of  the  Board  of  Parish  Trustees. 

Mr.  Cousens  was  married  September  13, 
187 1,  to  Miss  Sarah  C.  VViggin,  who  was  born 
in  Belfast,  Me.,  one  of  the  five  children  of 
Nathaniel  and  Sarah  VViggin.  Her  father  was 
a  shoe  manufacturer  in  Belfast  for  many  years. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cousens  have  three  children  — ■ 
Rebecca  L.,  John  A.,  and  Kate  E. — who  have 
had  excellent  educational  advantages.  Re- 
becca L.  is  now  a  member  of  the  Boston  Art 
School,  and  her  brother  and  sister  are  students 
at  Tufts  College. 


,HAUNCEY  G.  FULLER,  a  farmer 
and  a  former  school  teacher  of  Wren- 
tham,  was  born  in  Newton,  Mass., 
May  17,  1817,  son  of  John  and 
Nancy  (Grant)  Fuller.  Stephen  Fuller,  the 
grandfather,  born  in  Attleboro,  was  a  house 
carpenter.  Some  of  the  old  tools  used  by  him 
in  his  trade  have  come  down  to  present  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  His  children  by  his  wife, 
Maxcey,  were:  John,  Stephen,  Ann,  and 
Mary.  John,  after  making  nails  by  hand  for 
many  years,  afterward  used  machinery  for 
their  manufacture.  Upon  settling  in  Wren- 
tham,  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  and  spent  his  last  days  there.  He 
was  a  Selectman  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for 
many  years.     At   his   death    he   was   fifty-six 


S36 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


years  old.  His  wife,  Nancy,  had  five  chil- 
dren. These  were:  Nancy  G.,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Lyman  W.  Daggett,  of  Attleboro, 
and  had  one  daughter,  Cora  L.  R. ;  John, 
whose  first  wife,  Esther  P.  Eaton  Fuller, 
had  two  boys  —  Arthur  E.  and  Willis  N. — 
and  whose  second  wife,  Frances  E.  Follett 
Fuller,  had  one  daughter;  Cornelia,  who  mar- 
ried S.  R.  Jackson,  of  Providence;  Catherine, 
who  married  Alonzo  Follett,  of  Wrentham, 
and  had  four  daughters;  and  Chauncey  G.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

Chauncey  G.  Fuller,  the  only  surviving 
member  of  the  family,  attended  the  district 
schools,  and  afterward  graduated  from  Day's 
Academy  and  North  Attleboro  Academy.  He 
then  engaged  in  school-teaching,  which  he  fol- 
lowed successfully  until  he  was  forty  years  of 
age.  He  married  Catherine  C.  Blackinton, 
and  since  that  time  has  lived  upon  the  farm. 
His  wife  died  twelve  years  ago,  leaving  no 
children.  He  keeps  about  thirty  acres  of  his 
farm  under  cultivation.  Ninety  acres  are 
woodland.  He  has  been  a  Republican  since 
the  formation  of  that  party,  and  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  was  cast  for  W.  H.  Harrison. 
He  has  represented  his  town  in  the  legislature 
at  two  different  periods,  serving  on  the  Valua- 
tion Committee  in  i860;  was  Selectman  for 
eighteen  years;  and  he  has  also  served  on  the 
School  Committee. 


Mass. 


"ENRY  C.  BIGELOVV,  the  president 
of  the  Citizens'  Mutual  Insurance 
Company  of  Boston  and  a  resident 
of  Dedham,  was  born  in  Way  land, 
January  20,  1834,  son  of  Ezra  and 
Sally  (Crossman)  Bigelow.  He  is  a  descend- 
ant in  the  seventh  generation  from  Samuel 
Bigelow,  and  the  family  dates  its  origin  in 
America  from  the  year  1653.  Amariah  Bige- 
low, M.D.,  grandfather  of  Henry  C,  was  a 
lifelong  resident  of  West  Boylston,  Mass., 
and  practised  his  profession  there  during  his 
active  period.  He  reared  a  family  of  four 
children. 

Ezra  Bigelow,  Henry  C.  Bigelow's  father, 
was  born  in  West  Boylston,  November  27, 
1782.  In  early  life  he  was  engaged  in  a  mer- 
cantile   business.     This    he    relinquished    for 


agriculture,  and  for  a  time  he  resided  upon  a 
farm  in  Wayland.  He  later  returned  to  his 
native  town,  where  he  continued  to  till  the 
soil  for  the  rest  of  his  active  years;  and  his 
last  days  were  spent  at  the  home  of  his  daugh- 
ter in  Clinton.  Mass.  He  married  Sally 
Crossman,  a  native  of  Boylston,  and  had  a 
family  of  five  children,  one  of  whom,  Everett 
W.,  became  a  business  man  in  Boston,  and 
died  of  apoplexy,  May  16,  1895.  The  others 
are:  Augusta,  Cynthia  G.,  Henry  C,  and 
Sarah.  Mrs.  Ezra  Bigelow  died  in  June, 
1838. 

Henry  C.  Bigelow  was  but  four  years  old 
when  his  mother  died.  After  finishing  his 
studies  in  the  common  schools,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  clerk  in  a  store  for  five  years.  For 
the  succeeding  five  years  he  served  in  the  same 
capacity  in  the  local  post-office,  advancing  to 
the  position  of  head  clerk.  His  connection 
with  the  insurance  business  dates  from  about 
the  year  1858,  when  he  became  clerk  for  the 
Merchants'  and  Farmers'  Insurance  Company 
in  Worcester,  Mass.,  with  whom  he  remained 
about  seven  years.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  Civil  War  he  held  an  appointment  in  the 
Military  Bureau  of  Justice  in  Washington, 
D.C.  Upon  his  return  in  1865  he  became  a 
special  agent  of  the  Home  Insurance  Com- 
pany, with  headcpiarters  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Beginning  in  1871,  he  was  special  agent  and 
adjuster  for  six  years  with  the  firm  of  Foster 
&  Cole,  of  Boston.  In  1877  he  became  presi- 
dent of  the  Citizens'  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pany. His  long  experience  in  the  business 
has  made  him  familiar  with  every  detail  and 
enabled  him  to  place  the  Citizens'  Mutual 
upon  its  present  strong  financial  basis. 

On  January  21,  1855,  Mr.  Bigelow  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Maria  E.  Fuller,  a  na- 
tive of  Wellesley,  Mass.,  daughter  of  Jonathan 
and  Sarah  A.  Fuller.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bigelow 
have  had  three  children  —  Cora  Louisa,  Her- 
bert Henry,  and  Ada  Withington.  Ada  is  the 
wife  of  James  Y.  Noyes,  clerk  of  the  Nor- 
folk Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Ded- 
ham. The  elder  children  died,  aged  respec- 
tively five  years  and  two  years.  In  politics 
Mr.  Bigelow  is  a  Republican.  Both  he  and 
Mrs.  Bigelow  are  members  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational  Church.      He   is  also  a  leader  in 


HENRY    C.    BIGELOW. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


539 


the  Sunday-school,  and  has  been  a  Deacon 
for  several  years.  In  Morning  Star  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Worcester,  he  is  a  Last  Wor- 
shipful Master.  Since  October,  1875,  he  has 
resided  in  Dedham,  where  he  is  highly  es- 
teemed. 


LBERT  F.  MORSE,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Canton,  Mass.,  was  bom  in 
Onondaga  Valley,  N.  Y. ,  in  1842, 
being  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Abner 
and  Hannah  (Peck)  Morse.  He  is  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Samuel  Morse,  who  was  one  of 
the  twelve  original  proprietors  of  the  old  Nor- 
folk County  town  of  Dedham,  having  come  to 
Massachusetts  from  Dedham,  England,  about 
the  year  1635. 

The  Rev.  Abner  Morse,  son  of  Abner, 
grandson  of  Ezekiel,  great-grandson  of  Henry 
Morse,  and  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Medway,  Mass.  He  was  a  gradu- 
ate of  Brown  University,  and  was  an  old-time 
minister  of  the  gospel.  He  went  West  about 
1835,  first  t0  Jamestown,  N.Y.,  from  thereto 
Onondaga  Valley,  N.Y.,  and  then  to  South 
Bend,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  for  six  years. 
He  then  returned  East,  and  was  in  various 
places  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  but  unsettled. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  New  England  His- 
toric Genealogical  Society  and  an  active 
"pioneer  in  genealogical  research."  He  died 
in  Sharon,  Mass.,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two; 
and  his  remains  rest  in  Holliston  cemetery, 
where  eight  generations  are  represented  in  the 
same  lot.  His  first  wife  was  Sarah  Ann 
Voorhees,  of  New  Jersey,  who  died  very  soon 
after  marriage,  without  surviving  children. 
His  second  wife  was  Hannah  Peck,  daughter 
of  Franklin  Peck,  who  built  at  Onondaga 
Valley  the  first  grist-mill  west  of  Utica,  N.Y. 
Three  sons  —  Abner  L. ,  who  resides  in  Can- 
ton, Elijah  A.,  and  Albert  F.  — were  born  of 
the  second  marriage. 

Albert  F. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  New  York 
State  and  Boston,  and  in  the  schools  of 
Sharon,  Mass.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
began  the  work  of  life  as  clerk  in  a  country 
store,  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  about 
five  years.      In  1862   he  enlisted  from   Sharon 


in  Company  B,  Thirty-third  Regiment  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  and  during  his 
three  years'  service  was  in  the  battles  of  Fred- 
ericksburg, Beverly  Ford,  Chancellorsville, 
Gettysburg,  and  Catlett's  Station.  Injured 
by  a  mule  while  driving  a  powder  team  in 
the  army,  he  returned  to  Sharon  in  1865, 
and  after  staying  there  a  few  months  removed 
to  Canton  and  went  into  the  manufacture  of 
the  Rising  Sun  Stove  Polish,  being  associated 
in  this  enterprise  with  his  brother  Elijah,  who 
had  already  begun  in  a  small  way.  Desiring 
a  change  of  scene  and  occupation,  in  1868  he 
went  South,  and  was  engaged  in  farming  in 
Virginia  for  a  year.  During  the  next  six 
years, —  from  1870  to  1876,  he  was  selling 
Southern  produce  in  the  Northern  markets, 
mainly  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island.  In 
1876  he  came  back  to  Canton  and  undertook 
the  superintendency  of  his  brother's  factory, 
which  afterward  was  much  enlarged  on  account 
of  the  growing  business.  He  has  remained 
here  ever  since. 

Mr.  Morse  is  a  member  of  Revere  Post  No. 
94,  G.  A.  R.,  of  this  town,  and  has  served  as 
chaplain  of  the  same  for  many  years.  His 
family  are  attendants  of  the  Congregational 
church,  where  he  was  clerk  of  the  society  for 
fifteen  years,  and  also  for  some  time  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday-school.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican;  but,  unlike  his  brother 
Elijah,  he  never  cared  for  public  life. 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  April  19,  1  cSfifi,  to 
Emeline  F. ,  daughter  of  Granville  Pollard,  of 
Sharon.  They  have  two  children  —  Etta  L. 
and  Leon  F.  who  are  of  the  tenth  generation 
from  the  original  Samuel  Morse. 


TT^HARLES     F.     JENNEY,     counsellor- 
I  Vp       at-law,      was     born      in      Middleboro, 

\%>^  Mass.,  September  16,  i860,  son  of 
Charles  E.  and  Elvira  F.  (Clark) 
Jenney.  The  English  ancestor  of  the  family, 
John  Jenney,  who  was  a  member  of  John 
Robinson's  congregation  in  Leyden,  landed  at 
Plymouth  in  1623. 

Charles  F.,  the  eldest  child  of  his  parents, 
graduated  from  the  high  school  in  Brockton, 
Mass.,  was  a  teacher  in  public  schools  in 
Brockton  for  two  years,  and   then   entered   the 


54° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Law  School  of  Boston  University,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1883  at  the  head  of  his  class. 
He  was  admitted  at  the  bar  October  4,  1882, 
and  after  a  short  season  of  practice  in  Hyde 
Park  opened  an  office  in  Boston  in  1883.  His 
office  is  now  in  the  Sears  Building,  199  Wash- 
ington Street,  and  his  residence  in  Hyde 
Park. 

In  1886  he  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Bruce, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Logan)  Bruce. 
Of  this  union  were  born  Elsie  Bruce  and 
Mildred  Clark  Jenney. 

Mr.  Jenney  is  an  independent  Democrat, 
and  represented  his  district  in  the  legislature 
of  1886.  With  two  exceptions  he  has  been 
the  only  Democrat  to  represent  this  Republi- 
can town.  He  has  served  on  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Public  Library  for  ten  years, 
and  has  been  chairman  of  the  board  for  four 
years.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ceme- 
tery Commission  for  four  years,  and  has  acted 
as  Moderator  at  town  meetings.  He  is  attor- 
ney for  the  Hyde  Park  Co-operative  Bank  and 
for  the  Norfolk  Suburban  Street  Railway 
Company,  and  is  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
latter  corporation.  Since  1886  he  has  been 
one  of  the  instructors  in  the  Boston  Univer- 
sity Law  School.  He  was  for  several  years 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  Hyde  Park  His- 
torical Society,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Ded- 
ham  and  Canton  Historical  Societies.  Mr. 
Jenney  has  been  successful  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  and  is  largely  interested  in 
real  estate  in  Hyde  Park. 


"ENRY  B.  MINER,  the  esteemed 
naster  of  the  Edward  Everett  School 
of  Boston,  was  born  in  Dorchester, 
Mass.,  September  17,  1S43,  son  of 
the  Rev.  Bradley  and  Louisa  (Tucker)  Miner. 
Thomas  Miner  came  to  Charlestown,  Mass., 
in  1630,  and,  at  the  request  of  Governor  Win- 
throp,  soon  after  1645  joined  his  colony  in 
New  London,  C6*nn.,  where  succeeding  gener- 
ations of  the  family  have  been  born.  One  of 
the  family  still  owns  a  portion  of  the  original 
grant  of  land,  which  has  been  handed  down 
through  many  generations  of  farmers. 

Mr.    Henry  B.  Miner's  grandfather,  Saxton 
Miner,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  was  a  farmer 


and  manufacturer  of  North  Stonington,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  His  son 
Bradley  was  one  of  a  large  family  of  children. 
He  was  graduated  from  Madison  University 
in  New  York  State,  became  a  Bapiist  minis- 
ter, and  preached  in  that  denomination  until 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  settled  at 
different  periods  of  his  life  in  Fall  River, 
Mass.,  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  where  he  re- 
mained eight  years,  in  Pittsfielcl,  this  State, 
and  in  Providence,  R.I.,  where  he  died  in 
1854.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  a 
daughter  of  Nathan  Tucker,  a  farmer  of  Can- 
ton. They  had  two  children,  the  youngest  of 
whom  was  Sarah  L.,  who  was  graduated  from 
the  Boston  Normal  School  and  the  Boston 
University,  and  taught  for  several  years  in  the 
Boston  High  School  and  in  the  Hyde  Park 
High  School.  She  died  at  the  home  of  her 
brother,  Henry  B. ,  in  Hyde  Park  in  1892,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-nine.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church.  The  mother  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six  years. 

Mr.  Henry  B.  Miner  spent  his  boyhood 
days  in  Providence,  where  he  had  been  left 
fatherless  at  the  age  of  eleven  years.  He  was 
graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1864,  and 
at  once  began  teaching  in  the  Canton  schools. 
Mr.  Miner  claims  a  residence  in  this  county 
since  1858.  He  taught  in  the  high  school  at 
Canton  tor  four  years,  at  the  end  of  that  time 
accepting  a  position  in  the  Tileston  School  in 
Boston.  In  1875  he  came  to  the  Edward 
Everett  School,  of  which  he  has  now  been  the 
honored  master  for  twenty-two  years.  Dur- 
ing this  length  of  time  the  population  of  the 
neighborhood  has  so  much  increased  that  two 
districts  formerly  covered  by  the  school  have 
been  detached.  Beginning  with  a  school 
membership  of  six  hundred,  this  same  terri- 
tory now  contains  three  thousand  children. 

In  1883  Mr.  Miner  married  Miss  Maud  M. 
Clark,  daughter  of  Dr.  Henry  G.  Clark,  a 
well-known  Boston  physician  of  fifty  years' 
standing,  who  died  in  1874.  Miss  Clark  was 
one  of  three  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miner 
have  one  child,  a  daughter  named  Dorothy. 
A  son  named  Henry  G.  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Miner  is  an  honored  member  of  various 
educational  associations,  and  has  an  important 
position  in  educational  circles   in   Boston  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


S4i 


its  vicinity.  He  is  beloved  and  respected  by 
his  pupils  and  friends,  and  universally  es- 
teemed. He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  public 
library  of  Hyde  Park  for  many  years,  and  for 
the  past  four  years  the  chairman  of  that  board. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Hyde  Park  Historical 
Society,  and  is  interested  in  genealogical  and 
literary  researches.  A  successful  instructor 
of  youth,  he  is  a  man  whose  influence  can 
never  be  measured,  because  so  far-reaching. 


WINSLOW  FAUNCE, 
pattern  department  01 
land  car  shops,  Norw 


foreman  of  the 
of  the  New  Eng- 
ups,  Norwood,  and  chair- 
man of  the  School  Board  of  this  town,  was 
born  in  Kingston,  Mass.,  April  n,  1S50,  son 
of  George  and  Adeline  F.  (Winslow)  Faunce. 
On  the  paternal  side  he  is  a  descendant  of 
Francis  Cook,  Stephen  Hopkins,  Isaac  Aller- 
ton.  and  Mary  Chilton — ■  who  all  arrived  at 
Plymouth  on  board  the  "Mayflower"  in  1620 
—  and  of  John  Faunce,  who  came  to  Plymouth 
in  the  ship  "Ann"  in  1623.  The  Faunce 
family  has  been  identified  with  the  town  of 
Kingston  since  its  original  settlement.  Mr. 
Faunce's  great-grandfather,  Elijah,  and  his 
grandfather,  Kilborn  Faunce,  were  lifelong 
residents  of  Kingston;  and  the  latter,  who 
followed  the  mason's  trade,  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  his  day. 

George  Faunce,  above  named,  son  of  Kil- 
born, was  born  in  Kingston  in  18 16,  and  is 
still  residing  there.  He  married  Adeline  F. 
Winslow,  a  descendant  of  Knelm  Winslow, 
who  arrived  in  Plymouth  in  1633.  Her 
father,  William  Winslow,  was  the  son  of 
Major  Nathaniel  Winslow,  who  served  with 
honor  through  the  Revolutionary  War. 

She  became  the  mother  of  the  following 
children:  Elmer;  Ellen;  Winslow,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch ;  Myron;  Linus,  a  professor 
at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology; 
Alton;  George,  superintendent  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Lead  Company  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  ; 
Bertha;  and  Sarah  C. 

Winslow  Faunce  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Kingston,  and  was  for  a 
time  engaged  in  teaching.  He  subsequently 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  and,  coming  to 
Norwood  in  1882,  followed  it  as  a  journeyman 


until  1884,  when  he  engaged  as  a  pattern- 
maker in  the  car  shops  of  the  New  England 
Railway,  where  he  is  now  foreman  of  that  de- 
partment. Mr.  Faunce  is  a  charter  member 
of  Tiot  Lodge,  No.  50,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  acting  as 
Past  Grand  when  it  was  organized,  and  is  now 
its  secretary,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen.  Politically, 
he  acts  with  the  Republican  party,  and  is 
serving  with  ability  as  chairman  of  the  School 
Board. 

Mr.  Faunce  married  for  his  first  wife 
Nellie  J.  Stranger,  who  bore  him  one  daugh- 
ter, Clara  L. ;  and  for  his  second  wife  he 
wedded  Laura  A.  Stranger,  his  first  wife's 
sister.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faunce  attend  the  Con- 
gregational church. 


DMUND  N.  CLARK,  a  prosperous  gen- 
eral farmer  and  stock-raiser  of  Millis, 
was  born  here,  August  19,  1840,  son 
of  Elbridge  and  Lydia  C.  (New,ton)  Clark. 
The  family  was  founded  in  this  country  by  Jo- 
seph and  John  Clark,  who  emigrated  from 
England,  and  settled  in  Medway.  Lemuel 
Clark,  the  grandfather  of  Edmund  N.,  married 
Deborah  E.  Newton,  of  Framingham.  (A 
more  extended  account  of  the  family  will  be 
found  in  the  biography  of  John  Clark.) 

Elbridge  Clark  was  born  September  11, 
1812,  on  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Millis. 
He  followed  agriculture  in  connection  with 
brick-making,  and  occupied  the  Clark  home- 
stead until  his  death,  which  occurred  Febru- 
ary 4,  1896.  His  first  wife,  Lydia,  who  was 
born  in  Princeton,  Mass.,  July  18,  1814,  died 
May  31,  1869.  His  second  wife,  in  maiden- 
hood Mary  Elizabeth  Mansfield,  whom  he 
married  November  30,  1871,  was  born  in 
Lynn,  Mass.,  August  19,  1827,  and  now  re- 
sides with  her  son  in  Millis.  By  his  first 
union  Elbridge  Clark  was  the  father  of  seven 
children,  namely:  Mary  Ophelia,  who  died 
June  6,  1843;  Edmund  N.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Lucy  Jane,  who  married  Alvah  Stone, 
and  resides  in  Medina,  Mich.  ;  Martha  Ophe- 
lia, the  second  wife  of  Leander  Day,  of  Fram- 
ingham, Mass.:  Harriet  Lydia,  now  deceased, 
who  was  the  first  wife  of  Leander  Day;  El- 
bridge  William,    born    in    1850,    who   died    in 


542 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


January,  1851;  and  Lemuel,  born  February  6, 
1858,  who  married  Bertha  Sweet,  and  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  this  town. 

Edmund  N.  Clark  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  his  native  town. 
Since  completing  his  studies  he  has  given  his 
attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  re- 
sided at  the  homestead  until  1878,  when  he 
purchased  the  John  Bullard  farm,  which  he 
has  greatly  improved  since  taking  possession. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  land, 
well  adapted  for  tillage  and  pasturage;  and  he 
carries  on  general  farming  and  stock-raising. 
In  politics  a  Republican,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  School  Board  for  nine  years  and  Assessor 
for  two  years. 

Mr.  Clark  married  Tryphena  R.  Fisher, 
who  was  born  in  Med  way,  January  17,  1841, 
daughter  of  Lewis  and  Betsey  (Richardson) 
Fisher,  of  that  town.  Her  father,  now  de- 
ceased, was  a  stirring  farmer  in  his  day.  Her 
mother  resides  with  a  daughter  in  Chicago. 
Mrs.  Clark  has  been  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren, namely:  Ernest,  born  October  12,  1868; 
Elsie  Lydia,  born  January  28,  1870;  Betsey 
F.,  born  August  25,  1871;  Arthur  Lewis, 
born  February  19,  1873,  who  died  June  8  of 
the  same  year;  Irving  Richardson,  born  Octo- 
ber 24,  1874;  and  Fanny  Ethel,  born  October 
21,  1876.  Ernest  is  now  residing  in  Ridg- 
way,  Col.  Elsie  Lydia  married  Perry  S. 
Newcomb,  who  is  now  a  boot  and  shoe  dealer 
in  Chicago.  Betsey  is  the  wife  of  Clarence 
Thorn,  a  coal  and  grain  dealer  in  Millis. 
Irving  R.  and  Fanny  E.  are  residing  at  home. 
Mr.  Clark's  natural  ability  and  untiring  in- 
dustry have  placed  him  among  the  leading 
agriculturists  of  this  locality,  and  he  stands 
high  in  the  estimation  of  his  townsmen. 
Mrs.  Clark  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church. 


ILLIAM   LEONARD   HODGES,  of 

West  Stoughton,  a  gentleman  of 
means,  with  a  taste  for  quiet  coun- 
try life,  an  esteemed  and  popular  member  of 
the  community  where  he  dwells,  was  born  on 
July  13,  1858,  son  of  Leonard  and  Jane 
(Atherton)  Hodges.  He  is  a  lineal  descend- 
ant    in    the    seventh    generation     of    William 


Hodges,  presumably  of  English  birth,  an  early 
settler  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  his  name  first  ap- 
pearing on  the  records  under  the  date  August, 
1643.  His  marriage  took  place  a  few  years 
later,  his  wife  being  Mary  Andrews,  daughter 
of  Henry  Andrews,  of  Taunton.  This  is  the 
line:  William,'  John,'  William,3  Abijah,4 
Samuel,5  Leonard,'1  William  Leonard.7  (See 
Hodges  Genealogy.) 

Samuel  Hodges,  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  an  innkeeper  in  Taunton 
and  Easton,  Mass.,  many  years  previous  to  the 
advent  of  railroads,  and  was  one  of  the  best 
known  men  of  his  day  in  that  section  of  the 
State.  He  married  Lucinda  Austin,  of  Digh- 
ton,  Mass.,  and  reared  several  children,  among 
whom  were  Samuel,  Jr.,  Lucinda,  and  Leon- 
ard. Samuel  Hodges,  Jr.,  who  was  commis- 
sioned First  Lieutenant  in  the  United  States 
army,  and  served  as  a  recruiting  officer  in  the 
War  of  1S12,  incorporated  the  Gay  Cotton 
Manufacturing  Company  in  1813.  Later  he 
was  appointed  United  States  Consul  at  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  went  there  in  1819. 
He  died  in  1835.  Lucinda  Hodges  married 
the  Rev.  Calvin  Park. 

Leonard  Hodges,  father  of  William  L.,  was 
born  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  July  8,  1794.  He 
learned  the  jeweller's  trade,  and  in  1820  he  es- 
tablished himself  in  business  at  West  Stough- 
ton. His  progressive  tendencies  manifested 
themselves  as  early  as  1822,  when  he  began 
the  manufacture  of  satinets,  the  weaving  in 
those  days  being  done  by  hand  looms.  His 
energy,  business  ability,  and  close  application 
soon  developed  the  enterprise  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  necessitate  the  employment  of  twenty- 
five  weavers;  and  he  later  erected  and  equipped 
a  mill  with  improved  machinery.  In  1851  he 
retired  from  business,  renting  the  mill  to  his 
nephew,  who  in  company  with  Calvin  Tuck 
carried  it  on  under  the  firm  name  of  Tuck  & 
Hodges  until  1857,  at  which  time  he  sold  the 
property  to  Charles  French,  of  Canton.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  director  of  the  Neponset 
Bank,  Canton.  Thoroughly  upright  and  hon- 
orable, unassuming  in  manner,  having  no  am- 
bition for  office,  he  occupied  a  prominent  place 
among  the  leading  citizens  of  Stoughton,  where 
he  died  March  1,  1871,  sincerely  mourned  by 
a    large   circle    of    friends   and    acquaintances. 


WILLIAM    L.    HODGES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S4S 


Jane  Atherton,  his  wife,  whom  he  married 
January  12,  1848,  was  a  daughter  of  Elijah 
and  Ruth  (Tisdale)  Atherton,  of  Stoughton. 
She  became  the  mother  of  two  children, 
namely:  Anna  A.,  born  August  20,  1855  ;  and 
William  Leonard,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Anna  A.  is  now  the  widow  of  Claude  Wilson, 
M.  D. ,  late  a  prominent  physician  of  Water- 
town,  N.Y.,  who  died  April  23,  1896.  She 
has  had  five  children  —  Anna  Belle,  Janet, 
Margery,  Claude,  and  Leonard. 

William  L.  Hodges  pursued  his  primary 
studies  in  the  public  schools  of  Stoughton,  and 
then  took  a  four  years'  course  at  the  West 
Newton  English  and  Classical  School.  After 
some  time  spent  in  travel  he  resumed  his 
residence  in  West  Stoughton.  Unconnected 
with  any  business  enterprise,  he  devotes  much 
time  and  thought  with  happy  effect  to  improv- 
ing and  beautifying  his  estate.  He  has  never 
been  induced  to  accept  public  office,  and  holds 
himself  aloof  from  political  affairs.  He  is 
well  advanced  in  Masonry,  being  a  member  of 
Rising  Star  Lodge,  of  Stoughton,  and  of  Bay 
State  Commander)-,  Knights  Templar,  of 
Brockton.  He  is  a  Director  of  Neponset  Na- 
tional Bank,  Canton,  Mass. 

On  May  10,  18S3,  Mr.  Hodges  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Littie  Gray  Simmonds,  of 
Boston.  Her  parents  were  David  M.  and 
Lydia  A.  (Dudley)  Simmonds,  the  former  of 
whom  was  a  furniture  dealer.  Mr.  and  Mis. 
Hodges  have  two  children,  namely:  Lydia, 
born  January  29,  1884;  and  William,  Jr., 
born  September  28,  1887. 


rmc 


EORGE  HENRY  BATEMAN,  an 
\   '•)  I       extensive    milk    dealer    of    Norwood 

—  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men, was  born  in  Sullivan  County,  New 
York,  October  12,  1847,  son  of  William  and 
Harriet  Newell  (Smith)  Bateman.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  also  named  William,  who  was 
a  prosperous  farmer  of  Herkimer  County,  New 
York,  and  lived  to  be  seventy-three  years  old, 
had  a  family  of  nine  children;  namely,  Will- 
iam, Jonathan,  Perry,  Rozelle,  Lyman, 
Eunice,  Lucy,  Louisa,  and  Gaylord.  Of 
these  two  died  young. 

William  Bateman,  the  father  of  George  H., 


was  born  in  Newport,  N.Y.,  November  11, 
181  5.  He  was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  for  some  time  owned  and  cultivated  a 
large  farm  in  Cazenovia,  N.Y.  He  went  to 
California  in  1852.  Upon  his  return  East  in 
the  following  year,  he  settled  upon  a  farm  in 
East  Walpole,  Mass.  He  later  removed  to 
South  Dedbam  (now  Norwood),  where  he  re- 
sided for  some  years;  and  he  died  in  Pike, 
N.Y.,  aged  seventy-two.  His  wife,  Harriet, 
who  was  born  in  Newport,  N.Y.,  April  5, 
18 1 8,  became  the  mother  of  seven  children,  as 
follows:  Jerome  Bonaparte,  born  in  Greece, 
N.Y.,  in  1840;  Rozelle  S.  and  Adeline  Vir- 
ginia, both  born  in  Cazenovia,  N.Y.,  in  1843; 
George  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Anna 
L.,  born  in  Cazenovia  in  1851;  Frank  Will- 
iam, born  in  East  Walpole  in  1S55;  and 
Lillie  Frances,  born  in  i860. 

George  Henry  Bateman  began  his  education 
in  East  Walpole,  and  completed  his  studies  in 
South  Dedham.  When  seventeen  years  old  he 
was  employed  by  Simon  Gould  in  driving  a 
milk  wagon  for  a  short  time.  Then  he  was 
for  several  years  an  operative  in  Isaac  Ellis's 
paper-mill.  After  relinquishing  that  employ- 
ment he  resumed  his  connection  with  the  milk 
business,  driving  a  wagon  for  Jason  M. 
Patten,  of  Hyde  Park.  A  short  time  later  he 
purchased  the  business  of  his  employer,  and 
has  since  carried  it  on.  Employing  nine 
horses  and  four  wagons,  he  delivers  a  large 
quantity  of  milk  daily  to  regular  customers  in 
Hyde  Park  and  other  towns.  Politically,  he 
is  a  Republican,  and  he  has  been  a  Selectman 
since  1892.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Business 
Men's  Association  and  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  was  active  in  securing  the  establishment 
of  the  electric  railway  between  Norwood  and 
Dedham.  In  Masonry  he  has  advanced  to  the 
Commandery,  being  a  member  of  Hyde  Park 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.;  of  Hebron  Chapter, 
Royal  Arch  Masons;  of  Hyde  Park  Council  of 
Royal  and  Select  Masters ;  and  of  Cyprus 
Commandery,  Knights  Templar.  He  is  also 
connected  with  Nahatan  Tribe,  Improved 
Order  of  Red  Men. 

In  1879  Mr.  Bateman  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Martha  L.  McLeod,  daughter  of 
Thomas  McLeod,  of  Gardiner,  Me.  Mrs. 
Bateman     is    the    mother    of     five    children; 


54^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


namely,    Lilla   Frances,    Harold    R.,    Bernice 

M.,  Eleanor,  and  Ruth.  The  family  occupy  a 
handsome  residence  located  on  Washington 
Street,  and  attend  the  Universalist  church. 


grain, 
place  of 
South 
Wey- 
mouth, born  November  5,  1847,  son  of  San- 
ford  and  Martha  (Shaw)  Hollis.  His  father, 
a  shoemaker,  by  occupation,  was  a  resident  of 
South  Weymouth  for  many  years.  Of  his 
children  six  survive,  namely:  Martha  M., 
widow  of  the  late  Joseph  P.  Thayer;  Alvin; 
Charles;  Lucy,  wife  of  Walton  R.  Shaw; 
Sanford  W. ;  and  Fannie,  wife  of  Winslow  P. 
Wilbur. 

Alvin  Hollis  obtained  his  education  in  the 
district  schools.  When  fourteen  years  of  age 
he  found  employment  in  a  shoe  shop,  where 
he  remained  about  six  years.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  the  ice  business,  which  he  carried  on 
for  twenty-four  years,  a  part  of  the  time  being 
associated  with  his  brother  Charles,  under  the 
firm  name  of  A.  &  C.  Hollis.  In  1889  he 
started  in  his  present  business,  in  which  he 
has  been  quite  successful.  He  has  served  on 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  South  Weymouth 
Co-operative  Bank,  and  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  institution.  He  is  also  a  trustee 
of  the  Savings  Bank. 

Mr.  Hollis  married  Adelaide  Carroll,  of 
Weymouth,-  by  whom  he  has  had  four  children  : 
Mary  L.,  wife  of  George  W.  Sargent;  Bessie 
K. ,  who  is  now  deceased;  Bertha  E. ;  and 
Adelaide  F.  Mr.  Hollis  is  a  Republican  po- 
litically, and,  although  not  an  office-holder,  is 
much  interested  in  town  affairs.  He  belongs 
to  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  to  the  U.  O.  G.  C,  of 
which  last-named  order  he  is  a  charter 
member. 


"ON.  SAMUEL  WARNER,  of  Wren- 
tham,  an  old  and  honored  member  of 
the  Norfolk  County  bar,  was  born 
October  2,  18 16,  in  Providence, 
R.I.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Nathan 
Warner,  who  was   born   in   Warwick,   R.I.,  in 


early  life  removed  to  Providence,  where  he 
died  at  an  advanced  age.  It  is  believed  that 
Nathan  was  one  of  the  minute-men  of  Revolu- 
tionary times,  and  was  discharged  at  Saratoga 
as  a  drummer  boy,  having  served  in  the  army 
for  some  time,  although  he  was  not  present  at 
any  important  battle. 

Samuel  Warner,  Sr.,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  educated  in 
Providence,  R.I.  When  a  boy  he  became  a 
sailor,  in  which  calling  he  afterward  passed 
through  many  dangers,  and  visited  a  large 
number  of  foreign  ports.  He  was  on  board 
the  frigate  "Essex,"  commanded  by  Commo- 
dore Bainbridge,  at  the  siege  of  Tripoli  in 
Algiers.  When  duly  qualified  he  became  a 
master  mariner  and  a  part  owner  of  the  ves- 
sels he  commanded.  After  retiring  from  the 
sea,  he  was  engaged  for  a  time  in  the  grocery 
business.  He  also  carried  on  farming,  spend- 
ing several  years  in  Wrentham.  In  his  de- 
clining days  he  returned  to  Providence,  where 
his  death  occurred,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine 
years.  To  him  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Sarah  A.  Mann,  two  children  were 
born  —  Elisha  M.  and  Samuel.  Elisha  M. 
died  many  years  ago,  leaving  three  children 
—  Charles  H.,  Samuel,  and  Annie. 

Samuel  Warner  was  but  six  years  old  when 
his  parents  settled  in  this  town.  He  at- 
tended the  district  schools  for  a  time,  then 
continued  his  studies  in  Providence,  and  later 
was  a  pupil  of  Day's  Academy.  After  this  he 
took  a  course  in  Brown  University,  graduated 
from  that  institution  with  the  class  of  1838, 
and  thereupon  began  reading  law.  Soon  after 
his  admission  to  the  bar  he  located  in  Wren- 
tham, and  in  a  comparatively  brief  time  won  a 
place  among  the  most  able  lawyers  of  the 
county,  together  with  a  wide  and  lucrative 
general  practice.  He  has  served  as  Trial 
Justice  since  the  first  establishment  of  that 
office  under  Governor  Banks. 

Mr.  Warner  was  married  December  24, 
1840,  to  Miss  Hannah  F.  Pond,  a  daughter  of 
Oliver  Pond,  of  Wrentham,  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  Captain  Oliver  Pond,  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame.  He  has  one  daughter,  Sarah 
A.  In  politics  he  has  been  a  Republican 
since  the  formation  of  his  party.  His  first 
Presidential  vote  was  cast  in   1840  for   Martin 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


547 


Van  Buren.  He  served  for  many  terms  at 
different  periods  as  a  member  of  the  VVren- 
tham  School  Committee,  and  for  twenty-five 
years  was  Town  Clerk.  In  1843,  1848,  and 
1882,  he  was  a  Representative  to  the  General 
Court;  and  in  185  1  he  was  State  Senator.  In 
the  latter  part  of  that  year  Mr.  Warner  was 
appointed  Land  Agent  of  the  Commonwealth 
for  a  term  of  three  years,  having  charge  of  the 
public  lands  in  Maine  that  belonged  to  Mas- 
sachusetts. In  that  period  he  sold  all  these 
lands,  making  the  last  sale  to  the  State  of 
Maine,  and  turned  in  to  the  government  a 
total  sum  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-one  thou- 
sand, two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and 
seventy  cents.  An  acknowledgment  of  the 
deed  of  conveyance  was  made  before  Rufus 
Choate,  Justice  of  the  Peace.  A  record  of 
this  may  be  found  in  the  Massachusetts  Leg- 
islative Reports  for  1854,  chapter  lxii.  p. 
437.  In  1853  Mr.  Warner  was  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention.  He  is  deeply 
interested  in  national  and  political  affairs, 
and  has  been  one  of  the  stanchest  adherents  of 
his  party. 


§AMES     McKAY,     Chief    of     Police    in 
Hyde    Park,    Norfolk    County,    Mass., 
was  born  June  19,  1843,  in   Warwick, 
R.I.,  of  Scotch  parentage.      His  grand- 
father, Alexander  McKay,  was  a  lifelong  resi- 
dent of  Scotland,   where  he  was  engaged    in 
tilling  the  soil. 

John  McKay,  father  of  James,  was  born  and 
reared  in  Scotland,  but  in  his  early  manhood 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  locating  in 
Warwick,  R.I.,  where  he  subsequently  be- 
came overseer  in  a  cotton-mill,  residing  there 
until  his  demise,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  His  wife,  Barbara,  was  born  in  Scot- 
land, a  daughter  of  Alexander  Dove,  who 
came  to  America  with  his  wife  and  eight  chil- 
dren, and  settled  in  Warwick,  R.I.  Mrs. 
Barbara  Dove  McKay  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-four  years,  leaving  six  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Alexander,  a  resident  of  California; 
John,  a  commercial  traveller;  Letitia,  wife  of 
William  Randall;  James,  the  special  subject 
of  this  biographical  sketch;  Jane,  widow  of 
the  late  William  T.  Mills;  and   Mary  A.,  un- 


married, who  lives  in  Hyde  Park.  The  par- 
ents clung  through  life  to  the  religious  faith 
in  which  they  were  reared,  being  devout  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

James  McKay  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Warwick,  which  he  attended  until 
he  was  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  began 
working  at  the  machinist's  trade.  On  June  5, 
1861,  shortly  before  his  eighteenth  birthday, 
he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  A,  Sec- 
ond Rhode  Island  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
went  to  the  front  with  the  regiment.  He 
passed  through  all  the  service  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  was  with  Sheridan  in  his  cam- 
paign in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  was  an 
active  participant  in  thirty-five  engagements, 
including  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the 
battles  of  Antietam,  Gettysburg,  Cold  Har- 
bor, Petersburg,  and  Spottsylvania.  He  was 
advanced  successively  from  private  to  Cor- 
poral, Sergeant,  Sergeant  Major,  Second 
Lieutenant,  and  from  that  rank  was  promoted 
to  First  Lieutenant  for  his  bravery  in  leading 
his  company  in  the  last  fight  at  Sailor's  Creek, 
where  he  was  wounded  by  a  minie  ball  in  the 
shoulder,  receiving  an  injury  that  confined 
him  in  the  hospital  several  months.  Honor- 
ably discharged  on  July  27,  1865,  he  was  mus- 
tered out  as  First  Lieutenant  of  his  company. 

Returning  to  Warwick,  Mr.  McKay  com- 
pleted his  trade  as  a  machinist  with  the  Green 
Manufacturing  Company,  which  sent  him  sub- 
sequently to  Readville,  this  county,  to  take 
charge  of  the  machine  shops  in  the  branch  of 
their  works  known  as  the  Smithfield  Manufact- 
uring Company.  On  giving  up  that  position 
he  worked  nine  years  as  journeyman  contrac- 
tor in  the  machine  shops  of  B.  F.  Sturtevant, 
of  Boston,  and  later  was  employed  ten  years 
by  the  Boston  Blower  Company  as  superin- 
tendent of  their  works  at  Hyde  Park,  having 
ninety  men  under  him.  He  afterward  trav- 
elled two  years  for  the  same  firm,  his  territory 
extending  through  the  New  England  and 
Middle  States.  Resigning  that  position,  he 
became  travelling  salesman  for  the  Barney 
Ventilating  Company,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained until  1893,  when  he  was  appointed 
chief  of  the  Hyde  Park  police  force.  He  had 
previously  been  connected  with  the  manage- 
ment  of    the  town  affairs,   having    served    in 


548 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1888  as  Selectman.  For  three  years  he  was 
treasurer  of  the  Republican  Town  Committee. 
Mr.  McKay  was  married  in  1S71  to  Miss 
Alma  George,  who  was  born  in  Chelsea,  Vt., 
being  one  of  the  six  children  of  Rufus  and 
Nancy  George.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKay  have 
one  child,  Lizzie  L.  McKay.  Fraternally, 
Mr.  McKay  is  a  member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.  ;  of  the  Royal  Arcanum,  No.  136; 
is  Past  Sachem  of  Neponset  Tribe  of  Red 
Men:  and  is  very  active  in  the  work  of  Tim- 
othy Ingraham  Post,  No.  121,  G.  A.  R.,  in 
which  he  has  passed  all  the  chairs,  having 
been  Quartermaster  five  years,  Commander  of 
the  post,  and  is  now  Adjutant.  He  is  like- 
wise a  member  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  a  mili- 
tary order  of  the  United  States.  In  former 
years  he  was  connected  with  the  Waverley 
Club.  He  is  liberal  in  his  religious  belief 
and  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Universalist 
church. 


KRANK  O.  PIERCE,  Third  Selectman 
of  Norfolk  and  a  veteran  of  the  Civil 
War,  was  born  in  Acworth,  Sullivan 
County,  N.H.,  December  23,  1835,  son  of 
Orville  VV.  and  Amanda  (Templeton)  Pierce. 
The  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Alstead, 
N.H.,  followed  agriculture  in  that  town  until 
he  moved  to  Langdon,  where  he  passed  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Amanda,  his  first  wife,  who 
was  born  in  Acworth,  N.  H.,  died  in  1856. 
His  second  marriage  was  contracted  with 
Miss  Burrows,  of  Alstead,  who  died  in  1890. 
Born  of  his  first  marriage  were  eight 
children,  two  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Frank  O.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Hattie,  the  wife  of  Willard  Inman,  a  contrac- 
tor in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  The  others  were:  Me- 
lissa, Jacob,  Mary  Ann,  Orilla,  George,  and 
Sarah.  His  second  wife  had  two  children: 
Emma,  who  died  in  1883;  and  Charles,  who 
is  now  a  miller  in  Alstead. 

Frank  O.  Pierce  remained  at  home  until 
reaching  his  majority.  Afterward  he  worked 
in  a  box  factory  of  Foxboro,  Mass.,  until 
1 86 1,  when  he  entered  the  service  in  Com- 
pany F,  Fourth  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry.  His  term  of  enlistment 
was  mainly  spent  in  the  vicinity  of  the  James 


River.  Discharged  after  its  expiration  .in 
July,  1861,  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  B, 
Fourteenth  Regiment,  New  Hampshire  Vol- 
unteers, on  September  11,  1862,  under  Colo- 
nel Robert  Wilson  and  Captain  Johnson. 
At  the  battle  of  Winchester  he  received  a 
severe  gunshot  wound  in  the  ankle,  necessitat- 
ing amputation.  After  being  confined  for 
about  a  year  in  hospitals  at  Winchester,  Bal- 
timore, and  at  Manchester,  N.H.,  he  was  dis- 
charged September  8,  1865.  After  staying  at 
his  home  in  New  Hampshire  for  a  time,  he 
returned  to  Foxboro,  where  he  operated  a  port- 
able engine,  and  later  worked  at  his  old  trade 
of  box-making.  About  1872  he  moved  to 
Norfolk:  and  in  1873  he  bought  the  Captain 
Fairfield  farm,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  has  made  various  improvements  in  his 
property,  which  now  contains  eighty  acres  of 
fertile  land:  and  he  carries  on  general  farm- 
ing and  dairying  with  prosperity.  Politi- 
cally, he  is  a  Republican;  and  he  was  elected 
a  Selectman  in  March,  1897.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  St.  Alban's  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Foxboro;  and  of  the  Order  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers. 

On  September  8,  1870,  Mr.  Pierce  was 
joined  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Jane  Messenger, 
of  Norfolk,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Hannah 
(Wilson)  Train,  both  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased. Her  father,  who  was  a  teacher  of 
penmanship  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
died  in  New  Orleans.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce 
have  three  children,  as  follows:  Mabel,  the 
wife  of  Frank  Proctor,  who  is  in  the  meat 
business,  and  resides  in  Wollaston,  Mass.  ; 
George  and  Jennie,  who  are  residing  at  home. 
Mrs.  Pierce  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church.  Mr.  Pierce  is  a  comrade  of  E.  P. 
Carpenter  Post,  No.  90,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Fox- 
boro, Mass. 


/TAAPTAIN  DAVID  F.  HENDERSON, 
I  \r^     a   well-known    agriculturist    of    Need- 

vJ?^-  ham,  was  born  at  Newton,  Mass., 
in  1840,  son  of  John  and  Catherine 
(Foster)  Henderson.  The  family  is  of  Scotch 
origin,  and  its  representatives  in  Scotland  have 
long  been  identified  with  the  history  of  the 
country.      Captain  Henderson's  paternal  grand- 


DAVID    F.    HENDERSON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S51 


father  was  John  Henderson,  Sr. ,  born  in  Scot- 
land, who  was  a  Captain  in  the  English  army. 
The  younger  John,  the  father  above  named, 
was  born  in  Scotland  in  1805,  and  came  to 
Massachusetts  in  1824,  settling  in  Newton. 
He  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  David 
Foster,  an  Englishman,  who  brought  his  fam- 
ily to  this  country  at  about  the  same  time. 

Their  son,  David  F.,  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Newton  and  at  Woodward's 
Academy  in  that  town,  where  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1855.  After  leaving  school  he  worked 
on  his  father's  farm  until  1857,  the  year  of  his 
removal  to  Needham  with  his  parents.  He 
subsequently  continued  working  as  a  farm 
laborer  until  1867,  when  he  rented  a  farm  in 
Needham,  which  he  operated  for  twenty  years. 
He  then  purchased  the  farm  on  Mark  Tree 
Road,  where  he  now  resides  engaged  especially 
in  market  gardening. 

In  1878  he  joined  the  Roxbury  Horse 
Guards  ;  and  he  has  been  successively  Corporal, 
Sergeant,  Lieutenant,  and  for  four  years  Cap- 
tain in  that  organization.  He  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Roxbury  Historical  Society.  Cap- 
tain Henderson  has  been  Superintendent  of 
Streets  for  three  years,  also  Constable;  and  in 
both  these  offices  has  served  the  public  with 
marked  ability  and  with  entire  fidelity  to  the 
constituency  by  whom  he  was  appointed.  He 
is  the  oldest  member  of  the  Norfolk  Lodge  of 
F.  &  A.  M. ,  was  made  an  Odd  Fellow  in  1870, 
and  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  58  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  Past  Grand. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  Massasoit  Encamp- 
ment, of  Boston,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Needham  Lodge  of  Knights  of  Honor  since 
1878.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  Boston  Marketmen's  Republi- 
can Club. 

In  1865  Captain  Henderson  was  married  to 
Miss  Emily  A.,  daughter  of  Albion  Squires, 
of  New  Hampshire.  Captain  and  Mrs.  Hen- 
derson have  no  children. 


V>  Vi         Ma. 


!LLIAM  F.  HALL,  for  the  past 
irty  years  a  resident  of  Brookline, 
lass.,  is  now  living  retired  from 
active  pursuits,  enjoying  the  leisure  earned  by 
his   many  years   of   toil    and    thrift.      He   was 


born  March  7,  1824,  in  Alfred,  York  County, 
Me.,  the  birthplace  of  his  father,  Dr.  Abial 
Hall,  Jr.,  and  the  town  in  which  his  grand- 
father, Dr.  Abial  Hall,  Sr. ,  was  for  many 
years  the  leading  physician.  Dr.  Abial  Hall, 
Sr. ,  after  beginning  practice  in  Concord,  in 
his  early  manhood  went  to  Alfred,  Me.,  where 
he  continued  his  labors  until  his  demise,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  At  one  time  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislat- 
ure. He  was  also  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
and  fought  at  the  battles  of  Bennington  and 
Saratoga. 

Dr.  Abial  Hall,  Jr.,  who  was  born  in  Al- 
fred in  1787,  passed  his  entire  life  in  his  na- 
tive town,  and  died  in  1869,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years.  He  entered  upon  a  medical 
career  when  young,  acquired  a  high  reputation 
throughout  the  county,  and  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful. A  man  of  commanding  presence, 
he  yet  had  a  benevolent  countenance,  through 
which  a  kindly  nature  shone  brightly,  win- 
ning love  and  respect  wherever  he  went.  He 
was  a  Deacon  in  the  Congregational  church, 
to  which  his  good  wife  also  belonged.  A 
handsome  memorial  window,  placed  by  his 
son,  William  F.,  in  the  church  edifice  where 
he  attended  religious  services,  recalls  his 
good  works.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Frost,  was  born  and  educated 
in  Sanford,  Me.  She  reared  a  family  of  five 
children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living. 
These  are:  William  F.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Edward  P.  Hall,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.; 
and  Dr.  Jerry  G.  Hall,  a  physician  in  Wells, 
Me.  One  son,  Dr.  Edwin  Hall,  who  died  in 
1852,  was  known  as  one  of  the  most  skilful 
surgeons  of  Maine.  The  mother,  who  was 
born  in  1794,  died  in  1863. 

William  F.  Hall  received  a  practical  com- 
mon-school education.  When  eighteen  years 
old  he  began  teaching  in  the  district  schools 
of  his  native  town,  and  was  afterward  so  em- 
ployed nearly  every  winter  until  1850.  From 
1843  until  1S47  ne  was  a'so  engaged  as  a 
clerk  in  a  country  store  in  Springvale,  Me. 
In  1850  he  purchased  an  interest  in  a  cargo 
consigned  to  California,  and,  taking  passage 
on  the  vessel  which  carried  it,  made  the  voy- 
age to  that  State  by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  being 
two  hundred   days  on   the   water.      Two  years 


55: 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


later  he  returned  to  Maine,  taking  a  steamer 
to  Panama,  thence  across  the  Isthmus  by  mule 
train,  and  again  by  steamer  to  New  York. 
After  spending  a  short  time  with  his  parents, 
Mr.  Hall  settled  in  Boston.  Here  he  carried 
on  an  extensive  business  as  a  lumber  dealer 
until  1887,  when  he  retired.  In  1866  he  pur- 
chased his  present  commodious  home  in 
Brookline,  which  he  has  made  his  permanent 
residence. 

Mr.  Hall  is  a  decided  Republican  in  his 
views,  but  has  firmly  declined  all  political 
offices.  In  1865  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Catherine  R.  Fogg,  who,  born  in  South  Ber- 
wick, Me.,  in  1839,  died  in  Brookline,  Mass., 
July  29,  1889.  She  was  one  of  the  two  chil- 
dren of  the  late  Joseph  Fogg,  of  South  Ber- 
wick. The  only  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall 
is  a  daughter,  Fannie  M.,  now  the  wife  of 
William  J.  Fegan,  a  boot  and  shoe  manufact- 
urer of  Boston. 


/STfTo 


EORGE  P.  MASON,  a  farmer  and 
\  '•)  I  one  of  the  leading  men  of  Franklin, 
^—  Mass.,  was  born  in  Warren,  R.  I., 
March  2,  1855,  son  0I  Charles  and  Eliza 
(Peck)  Mason.  The  father,  who  was  born  in 
Swansea,  Mass.,  and  acquired  the  trade  of 
mason,  when  quite  a  young  man  went  to  War- 
ren, R.I.,  to  follow  that  business.  In  1876 
he  moved  to  Cornish,  N.H.,  and  was  there  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  his  old  age  he  came  to  live  with 
Mr.  Mason  in  Franklin,  where  he  died  Sep- 
tember 11,  1896.  His  wife,  Eliza,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  Swansea,  bore  him  four  chil- 
dren. These  were:  Phcebe,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  four;  Charles  Clarence,  who  died  in 
1892;  George  P.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Edmund  V.,  born  in  1875,  who  married 
and  is  living  in  Everett,  Mass. 

After  obtaining  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Warren,  R.I.,  graduating  from  the 
high  school,  George  P.  Mason  remained  at 
home  until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  Then 
he  came  to  Franklin,  and  engaged  in  the 
market  business.  He  continued  in  this  work 
until  the  year  1888,  when  he  went  to  Boston 
to  work  as  a  salesman  in  a  wholesale  beef 
market  for  one  year  and   a   half.      Six   months 


more  were  spent  in  an  employment  in  Frank- 
lin, after  which  he  worked  at  the  wholesale 
beef  business  in  Boston  for  six  years.  In  Au- 
gust, 1896,  he  returned  to  Franklin,  and  set- 
tled on  his  present  farm,  known  as  the  old 
Clark  farm,  which  now  contains  about  thirty- 
five  acres  of  well -improved  land.  Mr.  Mason 
is  engaged  in  general  farming,  and  keeps  a 
dairy. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mason  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can and  an  important  man  in  town  affairs. 
At  the  present  time  he  is  Third  Selectman  of 
the  town,  having  held  that  office  since  Janu- 
ary, 1897.  A  Free  and  Accepted  Mason  of 
Excelsior  Lodge  in  Franklin,  he  belongs  to 
Miller  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  He  was  married 
on  January  3,  1876,  to  Mary  J.,  daughter  of 
Charles  W.  and  Elmira  (Albee)  Clark,  of 
Milford,  Mass.  Mr.  Clark  was  born  in 
Franklin,  where  he  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  engaged  in  the  butcher's  trade.  He 
died  in  Franklin  on  May  21,  1893.  Mrs. 
Clark  now  resides  in  Franklin  with  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Mason. 


/^TeORGE  K.  NICKERSON,  dealer  in 
\  •)  I  meats  and  provisions,  who  has  been 
for  nearly  forty  years  in  business  in 
Cohasset,  was  born  in  this  town,  December 
25,  1837.  His  parents  were  Captain  George 
L.  and  Harriet  L.  (Beal)  Nickerson.  His 
father  was  born  in  Provincetown  in  1800,  and 
belonged  to  an  old  Cape  Cod  family;  and  his 
mother  was  born  in  Cohasset.  Her  brother, 
George  Beal,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812. 

Captain  Nickerson  followed  the  sea  for  a 
great  many  years,  visiting  nearly  every  pait  of 
the  globe,  and  commanded  a  number  of  ves- 
sels. He  was  several  years  master  of  the 
quarantine  boat  at  Deer  Island  in  Boston  Har- 
bor. The  Nickersons  are  a  long-lived  family; 
ami  the  Captain  was  no  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule,  being  over  ninety-two  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
Cohasset.  Mrs.  Nickerson  died  in  1863.  Of 
their  children  two  are  living;  George  K. ,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Mary  H.,  wife  of 
Edward  E.  Wentworth,  of  Cohasset. 

George  K.  Nickerson   was  reared  and  edu- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


553 


cated  in  Cohasset.  When  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age  he  began  to  learn  the  machinist's 
trade  in  Taunton,  Mass.  ;  and  he  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  three  years.  After  acquiring 
the  trade,  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  for  a 
short  time.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  re- 
tailing meats  and  provisions  with  Charles  P. 
Bourne,  under  the  firm  name  of  Bourne  & 
Nickerson.  This  partnership  continued  some 
thirty-eight  years,  and  was  dissolved  May  I, 
1896.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Nickerson  has 
been  sole  proprietor  of  the  market.  He  has 
been  very  successful  as  a  business  man,  and 
has  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  with 
whom  he  has  dealings.  He  is  a  self-made 
man,  his  prosperity  being  the  fruit  of  his  own 
industry  and  perseverance. 

Mr.  Nickerson  has  been  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  Pamelia  S.  Kilburn,  of  Cohas- 
set, Mass.,  died  May  26,  1865.  His  second 
wife,  Clarissa  C.  Ripley,  of  Hingham,  Mass., 
died  January  9,  1S97.  He  has  three  children 
living — Henry  R.,  Harriet  A.,  and  Mary  A. 
Mr.  Nickerson  has  been  for  a  number  of  years 
a  trustee  of  the  Cohasset  Savings  Bank,  and 
is  a  stockholder  in  the  Cohasset  Water  Com- 
pany. He  was  one  of  the  original  promoters 
of  the  splendid  system  of  water-works  which 
Cohasset  enjoys. 


§OHN  JAMES  WHETTON,  a  repre- 
sentative business  man  of  Needham, 
Mass.,  was  born  in  Sutton,  in  Ashfield, 
Nottinghamshire,  England,  October 
21,  1844.  He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Sutton,  and  was  then  employed  for 
six  years  in  the  merchant  shipping  business. 
Having  acquired  a  taste  for  the  sea,  he  shipped 
as  cabin  boy  on  the  "  Kurrachee, "  commanded 
by  Captain  Clark,  and  bound  for  the  West 
Indies.  He  made  two  trips  on  this  vessel, 
and  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  ordinary 
seaman.  His  next  voyage  was  on  the  steam- 
ship "  Great  Britain,"  in  the  Australian  pas- 
senger line,  "under  Captain  John  Gray.  On 
this  vessel  he  was  promoted  to  able  seaman. 
He  remained  a  member  of  the  crew  of  the 
"Great  Britain"  for  three  years,  and  then 
shipped  as  able  seaman  on  the  "Denmark," 
of     the    National    Steamship    Company,    from 


Liverpool  to  New  York.  His  next  voyage 
was  on  the  "Helvetia,"  from  Portsmouth, 
England,  to  Alexandria,  Egypt.  He  subse- 
quently came  to  this  country  as  one  of  the 
crew  of  the  steamship  "  England,"  on  which 
he  made  several  voyages,  leaving  her  in  1870, 
in  order  to  become  a  resident  of  Needham. 
On  his  arrival  here  he  first  found  employment 
as  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  owned  by  Oben  C. 
Parker,  for  whom  he  worked  one  year.  He 
was  then  employed  for  some  time  by  the  firm 
of  Greenwood  &  White,  and  later  by  Green- 
wood &  Proctor.  He  subsequently  went  into 
partnership  in  the  grocery  business  with  H.  T. 
Reed,  under  the  firm  name  of  H.  T.  Reed  & 
Co.  The  company  dissolved  within  two  years; 
and  the  business  was  sold  to  E.  B.  Fowler,  for 
whom  Mr.  Whetton  worked  one  year.  He 
then  bought  out  Mark  Lee's  grocery  store  in 
Highlandville,  and  established  himself  in  his 
present  business.  He  keeps  a  general  stock, 
handling  hardware,  grain,  crockery,  and  other 
articles  in  constant  demand.  In  January, 
1890,  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  of  Need- 
ham by  Postmaster-General  Wanamaker;  and 
during  his  incumbency  the  rating  of  the  office 
was  raised  to  third  class.  In  1896  Mr.  Whet- 
ton was  reappointed  as  Postmaster  by  Presi- 
dent Cleveland.  Mr.  Whetton  is  a  member  of 
the  Norfolk  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Needham, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Nehoiden 
Lodge,  K.  of  H.,  for  the  last  seventeen  years. 
He  was  married  in  1871,  in  Ashfield,  Not- 
tinghamshire, England,  to  Martha,  a  daughter 
of  Henry  Farrand,  of  Sutton.  They  have  had 
four  children  —  Jane,  who  died  in  infancy; 
James  Henry,  now  assistant  treasurer  in  the 
Union  Cycle  Company;  Frederick,  who  died 
in  infancy;  and  Arthur  H.,  now  a  student  in 
the  high  school  of  this  town. 


ILLIAM  JAMES  WALLACE,  the 
Postmaster  of  Norwood,  was  born  in 
Boston,  December  10,  1833,  son  of 
James  and  Jane  (Shields)  Wallace.  The 
father,  who  was  born  in  Belfast,  Ireland,  son 
of  a  Scotch  farmer,  was  a  nail -maker  by  trade. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  in  early  man- 
hood, and  here  married  Jane,  daughter  of 
William    Shields,    a    prosperous    farmer,    who 


554 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


resided  near  Belfast,  Ireland.  Their  children 
were:  Mary  J.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen years;  and  William  James,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

William  James  Wallace  spent  his  boyhood 
in  Boston,  attending  the  public  schools  in  that 
city.  His  first  business  experience  was  as  a 
clerk  in  a  furnishing  store.  Afterward  he 
learned  the  cabinet-maker's  trade  in  Dorches- 
ter, where  he  remained  for  six  years.  In  1857 
he  went  to  South  Dedham,  and  worked  at  his 
trade  with  Haley,  Marse  &  Co.,  Willard 
Everett  &  Co.,  and  Daniels,  Harris  &  Co. 
After  leaving  South  Dedham,  he  established 
himself  as  a  cabinet-maker  in  Boston;  and  in 
1S72  he  became  associated  in  this  capacity 
with  the  New  England  Organ  Company  of 
Boston,  remaining  with  that  firm  for  eleven 
years.  He  enlisted  July  1,  1862,  from  South 
Dedham,  in  Company  I,  Thirty-fifth  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers,  which  was  attached  to 
the  Ninth  Army  Corps.  He  saw  service  at 
South  Mountain,  Antietam,  and  the  first 
Fredericksburg;  and  he  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Vicksburg.  Returning  to  Ken- 
tucky, he  was  detailed  to  the  Commissary 
Department  at  Crab  Orchard  Springs.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  at  the  rear  of  Petersburg, 
and  spent  five  months  in  prison  at  Salisbury, 
N.  C.  Afterward  he  was  transferred  to  Libby 
Prison,  from  which  after  a  single  night  he 
was  liberated  in  an  exchange  of  prisoners. 
Then,  with  his  health  completely  shattered, 
he  returned  to  his  home  in  Norwood,  and  from 
there  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Readville. 
He  was  mustered  out  with  the  other  members 
of  his  regiment  in  June,    1865. 

In  1886  Mr.  Wallace  was  appointed  Post- 
master of  Norwood  by  President  Cleveland, 
was  reappointed  by  President  Harrison  in 
1890,  and  again  by  President  Cleveland  in 
1894.  He  married  Elinor,  daughter  of  James 
Holmes,  of  Halifax,  N.S.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wallace  have  had  five  children  —  Mary  S., 
Harriet  Eleanor,  Sarah  Louise,  William  J., 
Jr.,  and  Clara.  Elected  to  the  State  leg- 
islature in  1880,  Mr.  Wallace  served  one  term 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was 
connected  with  the  Norwood  fire  department 
for  thirty  years,  is  a  member  of  the  George 
K.  Bird  Post  of  G.  A.  R.,  and  a  charter  mem- 


ber of  the  Tiot  Lodge,  No.  50,  of  Norwood, 
and  of  Monterey  Encampment,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  of 
Hyde  Park. 


§ONATHAN     PARKER    HAYWARD, 
a    well-known    contractor    and  builder 
residing  in  Braintree,  was  born  in  this 
town,  October  19,   1844,  son  of  Daniel 
and  Sarah  H.  (Clapp)  Hay  ward. 

The  emigrant  ancestor  of  this  branch  of  the 
Hay  ward  family  received  a  grant  of  land  from 
King  George,  a  large  tract  located  in  and 
around  East  Braintree;  and  in  this  vicinity 
some  of  his  descendants  have  since  remained. 
The  first  school  opened  in  Braintree  is  said  to 
have  been  taught  by  a  Miss  Hayward. 
Daniel  Hayward,  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  J. 
Parker  Hayward,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier; 
and  Eliphas  Thayer,  an  ancestor  of  Mr.  Hay- 
ward on  his  grandmother's  side,  was  also  in 
the  army,  and  was  stationed  at  West  Point  at 
the  time  of  the  capture  of  Major  Andre. 
Abigail  Thayer,  a  daughter  of  Eliphas,  is  still 
living  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  and  resides  in 
Boston. 

Daniel  Hayward,  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  builder  and  contractor  in 
his  earlier  years,  and  later  in  life  followed 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  died  in  March, 
1883,  leaving  a  widow,  now  (1897)  in  the 
seventy-eighth  year  of  her  age,  with  four  chil- 
dren :  George  D.,  a  resident  of  Neponset;  J. 
Parker,  Charles  A.,  and  Annah  E.,  all  of 
Braintree.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  Orthodox  in  religion,  attending  the  Con- 
gregational church. 

When  about  eighteen  years  of  age  J.  Parker 
Hayward,  having  obtained  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Braintree,  began  learn- 
ing the  carpenter  and  builder's  trade,  at  which 
he  worked  with  his  father  for  a  short  period, 
afterward  being  employed  as  a  journeyman 
carpenter  in  Boston.  More  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago,  in  company  with  his  brother 
Charles,  he  engaged  in  contracting  and  build- 
ing under  the  firm  name  of  Hayward  Brothers, 
who  continue  to  carry  on  a  most  successful 
business  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Hayward  married  Mary  F.  Baxter,  of 
Ouincy,  Mass.,  and  is  the  father  of  two  sons 


GEORGE    W.    BACON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


557 


—  Daniel  B.  and  Franklin  P.  Mrs.  Hayward 
is  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Abigail  (Curtis) 
Baxter.  Through  his  great-grandfather,  Dan- 
iel Hayward,  Mr.  Hayward  is  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Sons  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution. Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and 
is  now  serving  his  third  term  as  a  Selectman 
of  Braintree,  being  clerk  of  the  board. 


'RANCIS  D.  HAMANT,  a  cattle  dealer 
of  Medfield,  was  born  in  this  town, 
June  6,  1839,  son  of  Daniels  and  Han- 
nah (Ellis)  Hamant.  The  Hamant  farm, 
which  he  now  occupies,  was  cleared  and  im- 
proved by  his  great-grandfather,  Timothy 
Hamant;  and  his  grandfather,  Daniels  Ha- 
mant, was  a  lifelong  resident  here. 

Daniels  Hamant,  second,  father  of  Francis 
1).,  was  born  and  reared  on  the  homestead, 
which  he  subsequently  inherited.  He  was  a 
prosperous  farmer  and  cattle  dealer,  and  has  a 
wide  reputation  as  an  upright  and  honorable 
man.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  public 
affairs,  and  was  serving  as  Selectman  and  As- 
sessor at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  May,  1874,  when  he  was  sixty-two  years 
old.  His  wife,  Hannah,  who  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  Medfield,  became  the  mother  of  three 
children,  namely:  Mary  J.,  the  widow  of 
William  R.  Smith,  and  a  resident  of  Med- 
field; Francis  D. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Julia  A.,  who  became  the  first  wife  of 
William  R.  Smith,  but  is  no  longer  living. 
The  mother  died  in  March,  1888. 

Francis  D.  Hamant  received  his  general 
education  in  the  common  schools  and  at  the 
New  Hampton  (N.  H.)  Literary  Institute,  sub- 
sequently completing  a  course  of  study  at  a 
commercial  college  in  Boston.  He  then 
turned  his  attention  to  farming  and  also  to 
dealing  in  live  stock.  Energetic  and  pos- 
sessed of  sound  judgment,  he  has  realized  ex- 
cellent financial  results.  Succeeding  to  the 
ownership  of  the  homestead,  which  contains 
two  hundred  acres,  he  has  since  made  various 
improvements  in  the  property,  including  the 
erection  of  a  new  residence. 

On  August  31,  1867,  Mr.  Hamant  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Eliza  M.  Cushman,  of 


Medfield.  She  was  a  daughter  of  J.  R. 
Smith;  but,  her  mother  dying  at  the  time  of 
her  birth,  she  was  adopted  by  Jacob  R.  Cush- 
man. Mrs.  Hamant  died  February  11,  1895, 
leaving  five  children;  namely,  Gertrude  C, 
Nettie  F. ,  Daniels,  Mary  E.,  and  P'rancis,  all 
of  whom  are  residing  at  home  except  Daniels, 
who  is  employed  as  a  book-keeper  in  a  busi- 
ness establishment  in  Boston. 

Politically,  Mr.  Hamant  is  a  Republican. 
He  served  as  Selectman  one  year,  and  is  now 
Assessor,  Inspector  of  Cattle  and  Provisions, 
and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  connected 
by  membership  with  the  Royal  Arcanum  and 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  and 
he  is  also  an  active  member  of  the  Baptist 
church.  His  farm,  which  is  one  of  the  finest 
pieces  of  agricultural  property  in  Medfield,  is 
situated  near  the  village,  and  presents  tangi- 
ble evidence  both  of  its  owner's  industry  and 
prosper  it\'. 


(WTc 


EORGE  WARREN  BACON,  of 
\  •)  I  Franklin,  son  of  the  late  Joseph 
Thomas  and  Mary  Ann  Metcalf 
Bacon,  was  born  December  3,  183 1,  and  now 
lives  on  one  of  the  oldest  ancestral  homesteads 
in  Norfolk  County.  He  is  of  the  eighth  gen- 
eration from  Michael  Bacon,  who,  with  two 
brothers,  his  wife  and  four  children,  emigrated 
from  Ireland  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
They  all  settled  in  Dedham.  Michael  died  in 
the  winter  of  1647-4S.  His  son,  John 
Bacon,  died  June  17,  1683.  Rebecca  Bacon, 
wife  of  John,  died  October  27,  1684.  Their 
son,  Thomas,  settled  in  Wrentham.  He  mar- 
ried Hannah  Fales,  and  had  seven  children. 
Their  son,  Thomas  Bacon,  second,  born  No- 
vember 26,  1693,  married  Deborah  Clark. 
They  had  seven  children,  two  of  whom  were: 
Thomas  Bacon,  third  ;   and  Seth  Bacon. 

These  two  brothers  lived  to  an  old  age  in 
that  part  of  Wrentham  which  was  set  off  and 
formed  the  town  of  Franklin.  Thomas  Bacon, 
second,  died  in  Franklin,  June  6,  1784,  in  the 
ninety-first  year  of  his  age.  His  wife,  Debo- 
rah, died  January  6,  1783,  aged  eighty-four 
years.  Their  direct  descendants  now  live  in 
Franklin,  bearing  the  family  name  of  Allen. 
Cyrus  Allen  and   Sally  Bacon   Allen  are    now 


558 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dead.  Cyrus  Milton  Allen,  who  lives  on  their 
homestead,  is  an  enterprising  farmer  and  an 
acknowledged  leader  in  all  farmers'  organiza- 
tions. The  present  Deacon  Thomas  Bacon 
Allen  is  his  younger  brother.  George  Alfred 
Allen,  son  of  Cyrus  M.  Allen,  is  of  the  ninth 
generation  in  the  line  of  Thomas  Bacon,  third; 
and  his  wife,  Margie  Emma  Bacon,  who  is  the 
only  daughter  of  George  W.  Bacon,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  of  the  ninth  generation  in  the 
line  of  Seth  Bacon,  the  younger  brother. 

Seth  Bacon,  son  of  Thomas,  second,  married 
Abigail  Whiting,  June  3,  1762.  They  had 
five  children — Joseph,  Theophilus,  Sarah, 
Thomas,  and  Abigail.  He  died  November 
24,  1822.  His  wife,  Abigail,  died  October 
3>  l77&-  Joseph  Bacon,  their  son,  married 
Chloe  Lethbridge.  They  had  one  daughter, 
Abigail,  who  was  betrothed  to  Willis  Fisher, 
of  Franklin.  She  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  in  1807,  her  mother  dying  at  the  age  of 
forty-two  years  in  1802.  Joseph  Bacon  and 
his  second  wife,  Ruth  Heaton,  had  two  chil- 
dren—  Joseph  Thomas  and  Delia  Emmons 
Bacon.  Joseph  Bacon's  church  history  was 
contemporary  with  the  ministry  of  the  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Emmons,  D.D.,  he  being  for  many 
years  one  of  Dr.  Emmons's  Deacons.  He  sur- 
vived his  venerable  and  beloved  pastor  several 
years,  and  died  May  6,  1843,  aged  eighty 
years.  Ruth  Heaton,  his  wife,  died  January 
6,  1866,  aged  eighty-nine  years.  Deacon 
Bacon  was  a  man  of  sterling  qualities,  and  was 
highly  appreciated  in  his  time.  He  was  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  for  many  years,  represented 
his  town  for  seven  consecutive  years  in  the 
State  legislature,  and  was  sent  from  Franklin 
as  delegate  to  the  State  convention  to  amend 
the  constitution.  In  politics  he  was  an  in- 
tense Whig.  In  society  he  was  genial,  with 
an  overflow  of  pleasantry  from  a  jocose  nature 
that  made  him  attractive  to  the  young. 

Joseph  Thomas  Bacon,  his  son,  was  born 
February  14,  1808.  He  became  a  farmer 
much  against  his  taste,  as  he  was  naturally  me- 
chanical and  possessed  a  genius  that  served 
him  well  on  the  farm  later  in  life.  Being  the 
only  son,  he  yielded  his  choice  of  occupation 
to  the  strong  desire  of  his  father,  who  was  a 
well-to-do  farmer.  In  1826  his  father  built  a 
spacious  mansion  for  those  days,  suited  for  two 


families.  At  an  early  age  Joseph  T.  Bacon 
married  Mary  Ann  Metcalf.  He  was  a  man  of 
good  judgment,  diligent  in  his  business,  and 
held  offices  of  trust  in  the  town.  He  was  a 
devout  Christian  worker,  and  was  made  Deacon 
of  the  only  church  in  town  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years.  His  strong  faith,  with  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  made  him  one  of  the 
foremost  men  in  the  church  and  Sunday-school. 
He  was  prompt  in  duty,  always  ready  to  tes- 
tify to  his  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  was  a  liv- 
ing epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men.  His 
wife  was  also  a  devoted  Christian  woman. 
They  had  four  children,  one  of  whom  (Ellen) 
died  in  infancy,  three  —  Abigail  Miranda, 
Thomas  Metcalf,  and  George  W. — living  to 
fill  useful  spheres  in  society. 

Abigail  Miranda  is  the  wife  of  Deacon 
Erastus  E.  Baker.  Thomas  Metcalf  Bacon 
was  educated  for  a  teacher  at  Holliston  Acad- 
emy and  Westfield  Normal  School.  In  all  of 
this  course  of  study  he  was  the  close  compan- 
ion of  the  late  Charles  A.  Richardson,  of  the 
Congregationalist.  Messrs.  Richardson  and 
Bacon  were  associated  together  in  teaching  in 
Hadley,  Mass.  Mr.  Bacon  continued  teaching 
till  near  the  close  of  his  life.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven  years.  He  was  married  to 
Emily  J.  Thayer.  They  had  one  son,  Joseph 
Thomas  Bacon.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  and  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  secured  a  position  as  as- 
sistant book-keeper  in  the  Girard  Bank.  He 
furnished  the  required  bond,  and,  filling  the 
place  with  honor,  won  the  love  of  his  su- 
periors. For  the  last  twenty-four  years  he  has 
filled  a  lucrative  position  in  a  mercantile  house 
in  that  city,  living  in  Moorestown,  N.J., 
where  he  has  an  elegant  home  for  his  wife  and 
four  children.  He  is  a  stanch  Christian 
worker  and  able  supporter  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  where  he  resides. 

George  W.  Bacon  is  a  man  of  much  energy 
and  push,  of  strict  integrity  of  character,  with 
deep  religious  convictions.  He  has  a  strong 
faith  in  and  is  a  loving  witness  for  Jesus 
Christ.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he 
joined  the  church,  under  the  pastorate  of  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Hunt.  His  religious  fervor  and 
love  for  the  church  have  been  combined  with 
an   indomitable  energy  to  overcome  obstacles 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


559 


to  uniform  attendance  of  church  and  Sunday- 
school.  As  a  business  man  he  has  always 
made  business  before  pleasure  one  of  the  rules 
of  his  life,  has  always  loved  to  work,  and  has 
shown  enterprise  and  thrift  in  all  of  his  under- 
takings. YVhile  very  young  he  taught  a  district 
school  in  his  own  town  several  winters.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one  he  married  Julia  Adams 
Brooks,  daughter  of  Dr.  Paschal  P.  Brooks,  of 
Albany,  N.  Y.  They  had  three  children,  two 
of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

Dr.  Henry  Metcalf  Bacon,  their  first-born 
son,  was  graduated  at  Amherst  College  in  the 
class  of  1876.  In  answer  to  a  call  for  that 
college  to  send  a  teacher  to  Kansas,  he  re- 
sponded at  once.  While  teaching  in  Arkansas 
City,  he  pursued  his  study  in  pharmacy,  and 
later  made  it  his  profession  for  some  years  in 
Kansas  City.  In  18S3  he  married  Mattie 
Mitchel,  who  was  his  pupil  in  1876  and  1877. 
Later  they  both  completed  a  course  of  study 
and  lectures  in  the  Medical  College  of  Kansas 
City,  Kan.  Dr.  Bacon  has  served  in  the  City 
Council  and  on  the  School  Board. 

In  1858  and  1859  George  W.  Bacon  pros- 
pected in  Kansas  for  sixteen  months.  After 
good  observation  and  some  experience  in 
pioneer  life  he  resolved  never  to  move  his 
family  into  so  new  a  country.  He  purchased 
several  tracts  of  land,  much  of  which  he  re- 
tained for  twenty  years  to  good  advantage.  In 
1865  he  was  called  to  part  with  his  beloved 
and  devoted  wife,  who  died  June  14  in  her 
thirty-fourth  year.  The  next  fall  Mr.  Bacon 
established  himself  in  business  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  where  for  nearly  ten  years  he  car- 
ried on  a  hat  and  bonnet  bleachery  with  much 
success.  In  1S67  he  married  Emily  J. 
Thayer  Bacon.  While  living  in  the  city,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bacon  identified  themselves  with  the 
Christian  workers  in  the  historic  Presbyterian 
church  at  Fifth  and  Buttonwood  Streets,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  J.  Shepard,  D.  D. ,  pastor.  In 
1872  Mr.  Bacon  was  made  one  of  the  trustees 
of  that  society.  In  1874  he  had  a  pressing 
call  to  return  to  the  old  home  in  Franklin, 
owing  to  the  illness  of  his  mother;  while 
the  age  of  both  parents  pointed  to  a  duty  to 
give  a   helping  hand  in   their  declining  years. 

Resolving  at  once  to  remodel  the  family 
dwelling,  he  greatly  enlarged  the  old  mansion, 


making  it  convenient  for  both  families.  As 
soon  as  they  were  settled  on  the  old  farm,  he 
pushed  forward  with  characteristic  energy  the 
improvement  of  the  farm  generally,  making 
the  rough  smooth,  the  crooked  straight,  and  the 
barren  fruitful.  Early  in  1875  he  was  made 
Deacon  of  the  First  Congregational  Church. 
In  the  spring  of  1878  both  of  his  parents  died, 
Mrs.  Bacon  surviving  her  husband  just  one 
month,  their  respective  ages  being  severity 
and  seventy-two.  This  was  a  severe  blow 
to  their  son,  who  had  fondly  leaned  upon 
the  judgment  and  skill  of  his  father  wherein 
he  had  never  assumed  responsibility.  He 
painfully  felt  that  he  was  alone  in  command  of 
a  large  farm.  While  seeking  for  the  highest 
wisdom,  he  summoned  all  of  his  powers  to  the 
task  in  hand.  A  new  inspiration  and  aspira- 
tions at  once  gave  zest  to  his  love  of  home 
and  family  and  his  plans  for  work.  In 
1881-85  he  prepared  to  can  the  products  of 
his  farm.  He  pushed  with  all  of  his  force 
such  crops  as  he  could  thus  pack  for  the 
market,  and,  making  his  own  cans,  packed  fifty 
thousand  in  one  season.  Soon  came  the  crash 
in  that  line  of  goods,  and  prices  declined  so  as 
to  leave  too  little  margin  for  so  much  work 
and  outlay  of  capital.  Fortunately,  he  sold 
his  machinery  to  a  new  company  just  advanc- 
ing in  the  business  to  be  buried  by  the  ava- 
lanche of  bankrupt  goods  just  beginning  to 
sweep  like  a  wave  over  the  market.  Mr. 
Bacon  still  pushed  those  special  crops,  carrying 
them  to  a  packing  company  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood,  where  he  found  a  cash  market 
for  all  he  could  produce.  He  then  made  the 
dairy  his  leading  effort,  filling  three  silos 
with  ensilage  he  made  from  the  corn  he  raised 
for  the  factory.  Milk  and  small  fruits,  vege- 
tables and  hay,  now  make  up  the  yearly  in- 
come. 

Mr.  Bacon  has  three  children  by  his  second 
wife,  two  of  whom  are  married — George  Edgar 
and  Margie  Emma  Bacon.  Howard  Thayer, 
the  youngest,  now  lives  on  the  old  home  place, 
and  is  an  efficient  worker  in  agriculture,  horti- 
culture, and  mechanics.  His  future  depends 
much  upon  decisions  that  just  now  press  upon 
his  young  manhood.  Seven  grandchildren, 
now  upon  the  arena  of  life,  make  the  tenth 
generation  of  this  family. 


S6o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ANIEL  P.  SMITH,  M.D.,  who  is 
also  entitled  to  the  degrees  of 
Batchelor  of  Arts  and  Master  of 
Arts,  the  latter  having  been  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  Boston  College  in  1893, 
is  a  promising  and  popular  young  physician  of 
Canton,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.  He  was  born 
in  Canton,  January  23,  1862. 

His  father,  Patrick  Smith,  was  born  and 
reared  in  the  Emerald  Isle.  Crossing  the 
Atlantic  in  his  early  manhood,  he  settled  in 
Canton,  and  has  since  made  this  town  his 
home.  linergetic,  industrious,  and  very  trust- 
worthy, for  fifty-three  consecutive  years  he 
was  employed  at  the  Revere  Copper  Works. 

Dr.  Daniel  P.  Smith  in  his  boyhood  was 
a  pupil  in  the  public  schools  of  Canton;  and 
later  he  attended  Boston  College,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1883,  with  the  degree  of 
Batchelor  of  Arts.  He  afterward  took  a 
thorough  course  of  study  at  the  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital Medical  College  in  New  York  City,  re- 
ceiving his  diploma  from  that  noted  institution 
in  1887.  He  then  began  the  exercise  of  his 
profession  at  Attleboro,  Bristol  County,  Mass., 
and  continued  there  nine  years,  building  up  a 
good  practice.  In  February,  1896,  he  re- 
turned to  Canton,  where  he  is  meeting  with 
eminent  success  in  his  professional  career, 
having  already  established  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion for  skill  in  diagnosing  and  treating  the 
various  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir. 

Dr.  Smith  is  a  sound  Democrat  on  all  polit- 
ical questions.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  Good  Fellows  of 
Attleboro,  in  which  he  was  Ruler  for  some 
time,  of  the  Ancient  Order  Hibernians,  and 
Massachusetts  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 
He  is  likewise  a  member  of  the  Boston  Col- 
lege Alumni  Association  and  of  the  Catholic 
Alumni  Club  of  Boston. 


ILLIAM  E.  MANN,  a  well-known 
farmer  and  lumber  manufacturer  of 
Norfolk,  was  born  in  this  town,  De- 
cember 22,  1844,  son  of  Levi  and  Lydia 
(Lurana)  Mann.  His  parents  were  natives  of 
North  Wrentham,  now  Norfolk,  as  was  also 
his  grandfather,  Salmon  Mann  ;  and  he  is  de- 
scended from  the  Rev.  Samuel  Mann,  who  was 


the  first  settled  minister  in  Wrentham.  The 
Rev.  Samuel  Mann  lived  in  the  central  part  of 
the  town,  and  many  of  his  descendants  may  be 
found  in  this  vicinity.  Salmon  Mann,  who 
married  Phcebe  Howe,  of  Marlboro,  Mass., 
followed  agricultural  pursuits,  and  operated 
a  saw-mill. 

Levi  Mann,  father  of  William  E. ,  inher- 
ited the  homestead  farm  and  the  mill,  both  of 
which  he  carried  on  during  his  active  years.  • 
He  was  a  Selectman  of  Wrentham,  served  in 
the  same  capacity  for  many  years  in  Norfolk, 
and  represented  his  district  in  the  legislature 
for  one  term.  He  died  April  18,  1S88.  His 
wife  survived  him  about  seven  years,  dying 
February  3,  1895.  They  were  the  parents  of 
six  children,  as  follows:  Thomas,  who  mar- 
ried Julia  Backus,  of  Ashford,  Conn.,  served 
through  the  Civil  War,  and  is  now  Postmaster 
at  Fitchburg,  Mass.  ;  William  E.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  James  W. ,  who  died  at  Port 
Hudson,  La.  ;  Edward  W. ,  who  married  Eme- 
line  Cary,  of  Medway,  Mass.,  and  is  Postmas- 
ter and  the  only  merchant  in  Norfolk  village; 
Phcebe,  who  died  from  an  accident,  at  the  age 
of  twelve  years;  and  Frank  W. ,  who  married 
Fanny  Backus,  and  manufactures  bone-cutters 
in  Milford,  Mass.  All  were  educated  in  the 
common   schools,  and   Frank  attended  college. 

William  E.  Mann  assisted  in  carrying  on 
the  home  farm  until  the  death  of  his  father, 
when  he  took  charge  of  it,  and  has  since  man- 
aged the  property.  He  owns  two  hundred 
acres  of  tillage  and  pasture  land,  besides  con- 
siderable woodland ;  and  besides  genera]  farm- 
ing he  manufactures  hard  and  soft  lumber  and 
building  material  at  the  old  Mann  saw-mill. 
He  does  a  good  business,  and  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  prosperous  citizens  of  the  town. 

On  April  20,  1873,  Mr.  Mann  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Jennie  M.  Rae,  who  was 
born  in  Nova  Scotia,  September  15,  1847, 
daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Craig) 
Rae.  Her  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Dum- 
fries, Scotland,  accompanied  his  parents,  who 
were  people  of  wealth,  to  Nova  Scotia,  when 
he  was  twelve  years  old.  He  died  in  1887, 
and  Mrs.  Rae  passed  away  in  1895. 

Mr.  Mann  has  served  with  ability  in  several 
town  offices,  and  is  now  sexton  of  the  ceme- 
tery.     In    politics    he    is  a    Republican.      He 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


56i 


and  Mrs.  Mann  are  active  members  of  the 
Congregational  church,  and  his  brother  Ed- 
ward is  very  prominent  in  that  society. 


•STS 


EORGE  P.  MOREY,  Town  Clerk  of 
I  IgjT  Walpole,  Norfolk  County,  Mass., 
^ — *~  was  born  at  Walpole  Centre  in  1826, 
a  son  of  Palmer  Morey.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, the  Rev.  George  Morey,  who  came  here 
from  Norton,  Bristol  County,  was  a  noted 
minister  of  the  gospel,  and  for  forty-four  years 
the  only  clergyman  of  this  town. 

Palmer  Morey  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Walpole,  for  many  years  being  a  leading 
farmer  and  one  of  the  most  influential  citizens 
of  this  place.  He  was  a  steadfast  Whig,  and 
for  many  years  served  in  various  town  offices, 
including  that  of  Selectman  and  of  Assessor, 
besides  representing  his  town  in  the  State 
legislature.  His  wife,  formerly  Priscilla  M. 
Porter,  of  Middleboro,  Mass.,  bore  him  three 
children,  namely:  H.  Louisa,  deceased; 
George  P.  ;  and  Sarah  J.  The  father's  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  old  home  farm  in  Wal- 
pole in  1864,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years, 
was  a  serious  loss  to  the  community. 

George  P.  Morey  left  school  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years  to  assume  the  position  of  a 
clerk  in  a  country  store;  and,  after  being  thus 
employed  fifteen  years,  he  went  to  Boston,  and 
was  a  clerk  in  the  wholesale  grocery  store  of 
Robert  M.  Morse  four  years.  Returning  then 
to  Walpole,  he  established  himself  here  as 
a  general  merchant,  and  continued  in  business 
several  years,  building  up  a  flourishing  local 
trade.  He  was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in 
farming,  and  operated  a  saw-mill,  his  lumber 
business  being  large  and  lucrative.  In  1861 
he  was  appointed  an  officer  in  the  Boston  cus- 
tom-house by  John  C.  Goodrich,  and  con- 
tinued there  eight  years. 

Mr.  Morey  is  a  public-spirited,  enterprising 
man,  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  progressive 
movements  for  adding  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
town,  and  has  rendered  efficient  service  to  his 
fellow-men  in  various  official  capacities.  For 
fifteen  years  he  was  Special  County  Commis- 
sioner. He  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 
Town  Board  of  Selectmen;  and  in  1865  he 
was  elected  to  his  present  position  of  Town 


Clerk,  succeeding  his  father,  who  had  been 
the  incumbent  of  the  office  the  twenty  preced- 
ing years. 

Mr.  Morey  married  Miss  Jessie  A.  Blake- 
ley,  of  New  Orleans.  They  have  one  child  — 
George  P.  Morey,  Jr.,  who  is  in  business  as 
a  real  estate  dealer  in  Boston,  but  resides  with 
his  parents  at  Walpole  Centre.  Mr.  Morey 
and  his  family  attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


URTON  W.  NEAL,  who  was  for 
many  years  a  leading  builder  of 
Brookline,  Mass.,  is  now  enjoying 
the  comforts  of  life  free  from  the 
cares  of  business  activity.  He  was  born  in 
Hereford,  Canada  East,  December  25,  1833, 
son  of  the  late  John  Neal.  His  grandfather, 
Samuel  Neal,  was  born  in  or  near  Unity, 
N.H.,  and  there  spent  the  larger  portion  of 
his  life. 

John  Neal,  who  was  born  and  educated  in 
Unity,  for  many  years  followed  farming  and 
carpentering  in  that  town.  Later  he  removed 
to  Hartford,  Vt.,  where  he  followed  both  oc- 
cupations to  some  extent.  His  last  years 
were  passed  in  Woodstock,  Vt. ,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  threescore  years  and  ten.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Lucy  D.  Mor- 
gan, bore  him  seven  children,  of  whom 
Amanda,  Burton  W. ,  and  Rosaline  are  living. 
Both  parents  were  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church. 

Burton  W.  Neal  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  afterward  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade.  In  1853  he  came  to  Brook- 
line  as  a  journeyman  carpenter,  and  in  1870 
he  established  himself  in  business  here  on  his 
own  account.  A  skilful  and  ingenious  work- 
man, thoroughly  conversant  with  the  use  of 
tools,  he  had  no  trouble  in  securing  all  the 
work  he  needed.  In  the  succeeding  twenty- 
one  years  he  built  a  large  number  of  resi- 
dences in  this  vicinity.  Six  years  ago  he 
gave  up  his  business  to  his  son,  Burton  W. 
Neal,  Jr.,  who  is  now  conducting  it  very  suc- 
cessfully. While  he  has  been  a  strong  Re- 
publican in  politics,  he  has  never  been  an  as- 
pirant to  official  honors.  For  some  years  he 
has  been  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Brook- 
line  Savings  Bank.      He  attends   the  Baptist 


562 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


church,  toward  the  support   of   which   he   con- 
tributes cheerfully  and  liberally. 

Mr.  Neal  was  married  in  1S55  to  Miss  Lena 
Becker,  who  was  born  in  Germany.  They 
have  two  children  —  Clara  and  Burton  W.,  Jr. 
Clara  married  George  F.  Boynton,  a  dry-goods 
merchant  in  Brookline;  and  they  have  one 
child,  George.  Burton  W.  Neal,  Jr.,  married 
Miss  Ida  Campbell ;  and  they  have  a  daughter, 
named  Marion. 


§OHN  VV.  TIRRELL,  the  proprietor  of 
TirrelTs  Pharmacy,  located  in  Brooks 
Block,  Washington  Street,  Canton,  is 
a  well-known  business  man  of  this 
town  and  one  of  its  most  respected  citizens. 
He  was  born  July  8,  1856,  in  East  Bridge- 
water,  Plymouth  County.  His  father,  Will- 
iam Tirrell,  was  also  a  native  of  Bridgewater; 
and  his  paternal  grandfather,  also  named 
William,  was  an  early  settler  of  the  town. 
The  father  was  reared  in  Bridgewater,  and  for 
a  while  was  there  engaged  in  the  grocery  and 
grain  business.  Selling  out  his  store,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  was  thereafter  engaged  in  farming  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  thirty- 
eight  years  old.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Emily  S.  Bell,  was  born  in  Stock- 
ton, Me.,  daughter  of  John  Bell,  a  prosperous 
shoe  manufacturer  of  that  place.  At  her  hus- 
band's death  she  was  left  with  three  young 
children  to  care  for,  namely:  Altazana,  now 
the  wife  of  Joseph  H.  Bisbee,  of  Canton; 
John  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and 
Jennie  G.,  the  wife- of  Charles  H.  Griggs,  of 
Milton,  Mass. 

John  W.  Tirrell  had  but  limited  educational 
advantages,  his  early  knowledge  having  been 
obtained  in  the  public  schools  of  Beaver  vil- 
lage in  East  Bridgewater  before  he  was  thir- 
teen years  old.  In  1869  his  widowed  mother 
came  with  her  little  family  to  Canton,  and  he 
obtained  work  in  a  stocking  factory.  His 
mother  afterward  returned  to  East  Bridge- 
water,  but  he  continued  his  residence  here, 
and  for  a  year  or  more  was  employed  by  C.  M. 
&  J.  N.  Staples  in  their  large  bakery.  On 
April  1,  1872,  he  entered  the  drug  store  of 
W.   W.    Brooks  for  the    purpose    of    learning 


the  business,  and  remained  with  him  as  clerk 
until  January  1,  1889.  He  then  bought  out 
his  former  employer,  Mr.  Brooks,  and  has 
since  carried  on  a  general  drug  business,  as 
above  mentioned.  He  has  met  with  signal 
success  from  the  first,  maintaining  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  establishment,  which  was  opened 
in  1856  by  the  late  proprietor,  as  a  first-class 
drug  store  and  pharmacy. 

In  former  years  Mr.  Tirrell  invariably  sup- 
ported the  Republican  ticket.  He  is  now  in- 
dependent in  his  views,  and  casts  his  vote  for 
the  men  best  suited  for  the  office  to  be  filled. 
On  November  20,  1877,  he  married  Miss 
Annie  Little,  a  daughter  of  William  Little, 
of  Pembroke,  Me.  They  have  two  sons,  both 
young  men  of  whom  their  parents  may  justly 
be  proud.  William  B.  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Canton  High  School;  and  Arthur  L.,  who  is 
in  the  city  office  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  Rail- 
way Company,  resides  at  home.  Mr.  Tirrell  is 
a  member  of  Blue  Hill  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
of  Canton ;  of  Mount  Zion  Royal  Arch  Chap- 
ter of  Stoughton ;  of  Hyde  Park  Council  ot 
Royal  and  Select  Masters;  of  Cyprus  Com- 
mandery,  Knights  Templar,  of  Hyde  Park;  of 
Blue  Hill  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  of  Pecunit 
Tribe,  I.  O.  R.  M.  ;  and  of  Samuel  Adams 
Colony,  Pilgrim  Fathers,  of  Boston. 


/ISTc 


EORGE  F.  GRIDLEY,  of  the  firm 
\  '•)  I  Downer  &  Co.,  bankers  and  stock- 
—  brokers  of  Boston,  is  a  well-known 
resident  of  Hyde  Park.  He  was  born  Febru- 
ary 28,  1848,  in  Boston,  which  was  also  the 
birthplace  of  his  father,  George  A.  Gridley, 
and  of  his  grandfather,  William  Gridley. 
The  Gridleys  trace  their  descent  to  three 
brothers  named  Gridley,  who  emigrated  from 
England  to  America  in  old  Colonial  times, 
settling  in  or  near  Boston.  William  Gridley, 
the  paternal  great-grandfather  of  George  F., 
spent  a  large  part  of  his  life  in  Boston,  pros- 
perously engaged  in  business.  William  Grid- 
ley,  second,  who  inherited  the  business  quali- 
ties of  his  father,  was  for  many  years  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  furniture  in  Boston. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  firm  of 
Gridley  &  Blake,  which  after  his  death  in 
1845  was  changed  to  Blake  &  Alden. 


GEORGE    W.    ROBBINS. 


BI<  IGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S65 


George  A.  Gridley  spent  his  seventy-three 
years  of  life  in  his  native  city,  for  many  years 
carrying  on  a  substantial  business  as  a  dealer 
in  second-hand  furniture,  being  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm  Barry  &  Gridley.  He 
married  Susan  P.  Smallpeace,  who  was  born 
and  bred  in  Boston.  Her  father,  Robert 
Smallpeace,  was  the  proprietor  of  a  fashion- 
able hair-dressing  establishment  in  that  city. 
She  is  still  living,  being  now  a  bright  and  in- 
telligent woman  of  eighty-five  years.  Her 
children  are:  William  A.,  George  F. ,  and 
Maria"  L.  Maria  is  the  wife  of  Amos  D. 
Brainard.  Both  parents  united  with  the  Uni- 
tarian church  in  their  earlier  days. 

George  F.  Gridley  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Boston  until  he  was  fifteen  years 
old.  After  his  graduation  from  the  grammar 
department,  he  accepted  a  position  with  the 
firm  of  which  he  is  now  a  member,  and  which 
is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  firms  in 
the  city,  having  been  established  fifty  years 
ago,  under  the  name  of  Stone  &  Downer.  He 
began  as  office  boy,  working  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  hours  daily,  receiving  at  first  but  fifty 
dollars  per  annum  for  his  labors.  From  that 
position  he  gradually  worked  his  way  upward, 
becoming  clerk  and  then  cashier.  In  1 88 1  he 
was  admitted  to  the  firm  as  junior  partner. 
In  the  same  year  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Stock  Exchange.  Here  he  has  been  one  of 
the  Governing  Committee  for  three  years,  and 
will  be  until  1898,  when  his  term  will  expire. 
He  possesses  in  a  rare  degree  the  qualities  es- 
sential to  a  business  man,  while  quiet  and  un- 
assuming in  manner. 

On  January  24,  1871,  Mr.  Gridley  married 
Miss  Nannie  Smith,  who  was  born  in  Saco, 
Me.,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Smith, 
the  former  of  whom  was  a  leading  dry-goods 
merchant  of  that  place.  Mrs.  Gridley,  who 
was  a  woman  of  refinement  and  culture,  much 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  her,  died  March  12, 
1894,  aged  forty-three  years.  A  devout 
Christian,  she  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
church.  In  this  society,  with  which  he 
united  many  years  ago,  Mr.  Gridley  is  now 
the  lay  reader.  He  was  also  for  some  time 
one  of  the  church  trustees  and  the  clerk  of  the 
parish.  In  politics  he  is  a  strong  Republi- 
can.     He  has   served   his   fellow-townsmen  as 


Auditor  for  some  years,  although  his  business 
leaves  him  but  little  time  to  devote  to  public 
affairs;  and  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  public 
library  for  seventeen  years.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Arcanum:  of  the  Hyde  Park 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  of  Norfolk  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.;  of  Hyde  Park  Council,  which  he 
served  as  an  officer  for  five  years,  declining  a 
re-election  in  1896;  and  of  Cyprus  Command- 
ery,  K.  T.  He  also  declined  to  accept  the 
higher  offices  in  the  lodge. 


7T\0L0NEL    GEORGE    W.    ROBBINS, 
I  VX      the  present  chairman  of   the   Board   of 

vJ?_^"  Selectmen  of  Avon,  Mass.,  and  a 
distinguished  veteran  of  the  late 
Civil  War,  was  born  in  Avon  on  February  2, 
1839,  son  or  Captain  Samuel  Virgin  and  Sally 
(Loring)  Robbins.  His  ancestors,  both  pa- 
ternal and  maternal,  were  of  English  origin. 
His  mother's  parents  were  Jacob  and  Lydia 
(Tilson)  Loring,  her  paternal  grandfather's 
name  being  Ignatius  Loring.  Captain  Rob- 
bins,  the  father,  was  a  master  mariner  in  the 
West  Indian  merchant  service  with  Samuel 
P.  Draper,  of  Boston,  and  was  lost  in  the 
Gulf  Stream  with  his  vessel,  the  bark 
"Sharon,"  being  en  route  from  Savannah  to 
Hamburg,  Germany,  and  only  two  days  out 
from  port. 

George  Washington  Robbins,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  who  was  only  eight  years  old  at 
the  time  of  his  father's  death,  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Avon,  and  later,  having 
shown  a  natural  aptitude  for  military  tactics, 
was  sent  to  Russell's  Military  Academy  at 
New  Haven,  Conn.  He  was  a  student  in  that 
institution  for  about  three  years,  and  during 
the  last  two  years  held  the  rank  of  captain  of 
the  cadets.  In  1858  he  left  the  academy,  and 
went  to  Dane  County,  Wisconsin,  near  Madi- 
son, and  became  superintendent  of  a  farm  of 
over  thirteen  hundred  acres,  which  was  owned 
by  his  brother,  John  V.  Robbins. 

He  remained  in  this  position  until  August 
12,  1861,  when  he  was  commissioned  as  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  in  the  Eighth  Regiment  of 
Wisconsin  Volunteers,  better  known  as  the 
Eagle  Regiment.  On  the  14th  of  the  follow- 
ing October  the  "Eagles"  reached  St.  Louis, 


566 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Mo.,  and  were  assigned  to  duty  along  the  line 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  which  they 
kept  guarded  during  that  fall  and  the  follow- 
ing winter.  The  first  battle  in  which  the 
regiment  participated  occurred  on  October  22, 
1 86 1.  During  this  winter  the  regiment  was 
transferred  to  Cairo,  111.,  and  in  the  following 
spring  crossed  the  river  to  Bird's  Point,  111., 
and  opened  up  the  Bird's  Point  &  Sykeston 
Railroad  in  order  that  supplies  could  be  des- 
patched to  General  Pope's  army,  then  sta- 
tioned at  New  Madrid  and  Island  Number 
Ten.  On  April  7  and  8  engagements  oc- 
curred at  these  two  places;  on  May  8,  1862, 
the  battle  of  Farmington  took  place;  and  on 
the  28th  of  May  the  siege  of  Corinth  was 
opened.  September  14  and  September  19 
there  were  fights  at  Iuka,  Miss.,  and  on  Octo- 
ber 3  and  4  at  Corinth.  In  this  last  engage- 
ment the  Eighth  Wisconsin  Regiment  had 
twenty-one  men  killed,  eighty-three  wounded, 
and  eighteen  missing.  Colonel  Robbins  was 
in  all  these  engagements  with  his  regiment, 
and  was  subsequently  at  Jackson,  where  his 
men  were  in  the  advance.  On  May  14,  1S63, 
they  were  at  Champion  Hills,  and  on  the  22d 
of  the  month,  being  then  a  part  of  the  Second 
Brigade,  Second  Division  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps,  they  were  engaged  in  the  assault 
on  Vicksburg,  which  was  in  the  nature  of  a 
feint  made  with  a  view  of  absorbing  the  atten- 
tion of  the  rebel  commander,  and  thus  pre- 
venting him  from  massing  his  troops  against 
General  McClernand  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps. 
Succeeding  this  the  regiment  fought  in  the 
battles  of  Mechanicsville  on  June  4  and  Rich- 
mond on  June  14,  and  was  present  at  the  sur- 
render of  Vicksburg  on  July  4,  1863.  On 
October  3,  1862,  at  the  battle  of  Corinth, 
Colonel  Robbins  was  shot  in  the  leg,  and 
seriously  injured;  and  on  July  1,  1863,  while 
behind  the  levees  on  the  Louisiana  side, 
he  was  again  disabled,  his  horse  falling  on 
him,  and  injuring  him  so  severely  as  to  make 
it  needful  for  him  to  give  up  his  command. 
On  September  1,  1863,  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged by  order  of  General  Grant,  for  inju- 
ries received  in  the  service,  holding  the  com- 
mission of  Colonel,  which  had  been  granted 
him  on  December  20,  1862. 

After    retiring    from    the    service,    Colonel 


Robbins  came  to  Avon,  remaining  here  until 
the  spring  of  1864,  when  he  started  for  the 
Far  West  by  overland  stage  route.  In  May 
he  arrived  in  Austin,  Nev. ,  where  he  engaged 
in  milling  and  mining  for  two  years,  and  sub- 
sequently until  1870  in  managing  a  stage 
route  and  conducting  a  hotel  at  Pinto  Creek, 
thirty-two  miles  east  of  White  Pine.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1870,  Colonel  Robbins  returned  to 
Avon,  and  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in 
the  livery  business,  also  running  an  express 
line  between  Avon  and  Boston.  In  1875  and 
1876,  while  in  this  business,  he  served  as  Se- 
lectman of  the  town  of  Stoughton,  of  which 
Avon  was  then  a  part;  and  after  the  division 
of  the  towns  he  was  chosen  as  a  member  of 
the  first  Board  of  Selectmen  of  Avon.  Me 
was  again  chosen  Selectman  in  1896-97,  and 
in  both  years  has  been  chairman   of  the  board. 

Colonel  Robbins's  wife  was  before  marriage 
Miss  Deborah  T.  Inglee,  of  Halifax,  Mass. 
She  has  been  the  mother  of  four  children,  by 
name  George  W. ,  Florence  I.,  Grace  A.,  and 
Helen  T.  The  Colonel  is  a  member  of 
Fletcher  Webster  Post,  No.  13,  G.  A.  R.,  at 
Brockton,  Mass.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republi- 
can. He  has  served  the  town  of  Avon  as 
Superintendent  of  Streets,  and  his  fellow- 
townsmen  hold  him  in  highest  esteem  both  as 
an  official  serving  the  public  interests  and  as  a 
man  in  private  life.  Naturally  of  exact  and 
military  habits  and  of  unflinching  courage,  he 
inspired  the  soldiers  under  his  command  with 
enthusiasm  and  bravery,  and  as  an  officer  se- 
cured the  most  perfect  discipline. 

No  allusion  to  the  Eighth  Wisconsin  Regi- 
ment should  be  made  without  referring  to 
"Old  Abe,"  the  eagle  that  was  always  carried 
into  battle,  and  that  has  made  the  regiment  so 
famous.  "Old  Abe"  was  captured  in  Wis- 
consin in  1 86 1 ,  when  an  eaglet,  by  a  Chip- 
pewa Indian,  who  sold  the  bird  for  a  bushel 
of  corn.  It  was  subsequently  presented  to 
the  Eighth  Wisconsin  Regiment,  christened 
"Old  Abe"  in  honor  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
and  became  the  pet  and  inspiration  of  the 
regiment.  It  was  of  the  species  known  as 
the  white-headed  or  bald-headed  eagle,  the 
American  emblem.  "Old  Abe  "  was  carried 
into  battle;  and  it  is  said  that  when  the  fight 
raged  most  fiercely,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S67 


soldiers  was  at  its  highest,  then  it  was  that  he 
"seemed  to  be  in  his  own  element.  He 
flapped  his  wings  in  the  midst  of  the  furious 
storm,  and,  with  head  erect,  faced  the  Hying 
bullets  and  crashing  shells,  with  no  signs  of 
fear."  His  presence  became  almost  a  prestige 
of  victory,  and  at  the  battle  of  Corinth  the 
rebel  General  Price,  made  every  effort  to 
capture  him;  but  "Old  Abe,"  as  if  conscious 
of  his  danger,  soared  aloft,  and,  though  many 
shots  were  hurled  after  him,  was  soon  out  of 
reach  of  harm.  One  bullet  just  grazed  his 
feathers,  but  did  no  serious  injury.  After 
this,  it  being  feared  that  he  might  some  time 
become  lost,  his  tail  and  wing  were  cropped 
to  prevent  his  flight,  and  for  a  time  he  lost 
his  appearance  of  dignified  royalty.  He  was 
again  shot  at  Vicksburg,  but  was  never  in- 
jured in  the  flesh.  He  shared  all  the  marches 
of  the  regiment,  including  Sherman's  great 
march  and  the  Red  River  expedition,  ami  was 
in  twenty-five  battles  and  as  many  skirmishes. 
After  the  war  large  sums  of  money  were 
offered  for  him,  the  Barnum  Circus  manage- 
ment offering  twenty  thousand  dollars;  but  it 
was  decided  by  his  "comrades"  that  he 
should  be  given  to  the  State  government  of 
Wisconsin.  He  appeared  at  various  reunions, 
was  one  of  the  features  of  interest  at  the  Cen- 
tennial at  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  winter  of 
1878-79  was  in  Boston  for  a  number  of 
months.  It  is  estimated  that,  merely  by  the 
sale  of  his  pictures,  at  least  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  was  added  to  G.  A.  R.  funds. 
"Old  Abe"  died  in  1881,  and  through  the  art 
of  the  taxidermist  has  been  preserved  in  life- 
like attitude,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  War 
Museum  at  Washington. 


r^AMUEL  BRADLEY  NOYES,  a 
lawyer  and  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Canton,  Mass.,  was  born  in  Ded- 
ham,  Mass.,  April  9,  181 7.  The 
eldest  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Morrill) 
Noyes,  he  is  a  descendant  of  Nicholas  Noyes, 
who  belonged  to  the  Noyes  family  of  Choul- 
dertown,  Wiltshire,  England.  This  ancestor, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  with  his  brother 
James,  who  was  a  clergyman,  came  to  New 
England    in    1634,    and    settled    in    Newbury, 


Mass.,  in  1635,  five  years  after  the  settlement 
of  Boston.  The  maternal  great-grandfather  of 
Mr.  Noyes,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Morrill,  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1737,  was  a  strict,  Pu- 
ritanic divine,  and  the  pastor  in  Wilmington 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1793.  His  son  and  the  grandfather  of  Mr. 
Noyes,  Eliakim  Morrill,  was  a  highly  re- 
spected resident  of  Dedham. 

Samuel  B.  Noyes  attended  the  public 
schools,  and  also  for  one  year  a  private  school 
in  Dedham,  under  the  tuition  of  the  Hon. 
Francis  W.  Bird.  He  entered  Phillips  An- 
dover  Academy  in  1S36,  and  remained  there 
until  the  summer  of  1840,  in  which  year  he 
entered  Harvard  College.  While  at  Phillips 
Academy  he  was  closely  in  touch  with  stu- 
dent life,  and  he  is  now  a  member  of  the  acad- 
emy's Alumni  Association.  In  1875,  when 
the  Philomathean  Society  of  the  academy,  in 
which  he  played  a  prominent  part  during  his 
school  days,  held  its  semi-centennial  anniver- 
sary, he  was  chosen  to  be  the  orator  of  the 
day.  His  address  on  that  occasion,  together 
with  an  account  of  the  day's  proceedings  and 
views  of  the  academy  buildings,  was  subse- 
quently published  in  book  form.  On  leaving 
college  he  studied  law  successively  with  the 
Hon.  Isaac  Davis,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  the 
Hon.  Ezra  Wilkinson,  of  Dedham,  and  the 
Hon.  Ellis  Ames,  of  Canton.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Norfolk  County  bar  in  April, 
1847,  and  began  practice  in  Canton,  where  he 
has  resided  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of 
two  years  spent  in  Florida.  Mr.  Noyes  has 
served  in  public  office  with  distinguished  abil- 
ity. In  1849  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  Trial  Justice  from  1850  until  1867.  He 
was  appointed  by  Governor  John  H.  Clifford 
Commissioner  of  Insolvency  for  Norfolk 
County  in  1853;  from  1849  to  1871  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Canton  School  Board ;  and 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  from  1856 
to  1858,  from  1 86 1  to  1864,  and  from  1867 
to  1 87 1.  He  has  always  taken  a  deep  inter- 
est in  popular  education,  even  outside  his 
own  town.  In  1864  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Hon.  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  then  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  United  States  Treasury,  as  a 
special  agent  of  the  department,  and  the  act- 
ing Collector  of  Customs  at  Fernandina,    Fla. 


S68 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Here  he  spent  two  years,  and  then  returned 
North.  In  May,  1867,  the  Hon.  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court,  appointed  him  Register  of 
Bankruptcy  for  the  Second  Congressional 
District,  which  office  he  still  holds.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  has  constantly 
taken  an  earnest  interest  in  State  and  national 
affairs.  He  formed  and  kept  up  a  wide  polit- 
ical acquaintance;  and  his  support  has  been 
often  sought,  and  always  given  on  the  side 
of  justice  and   integrity. 

Mr.  Noyes  is  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Historical  and  Genealogical  Society,  of 
the  New  England  Agricultural  Society,  of 
the  Massachusetts  Press  Association,  of  the 
Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association,  and  of 
the  Stoughton  Musical  Society.  In  the  latter 
organization  he  was  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements  that  had  charge  of 
their  centennial  celebration  in  1886,  and  it 
was  he  who  delivered  the  address  for  the  occa- 
sion. In  private  life  he  is  known  as  a  man  of 
taste  and  culture,  a  genial  companion,  an  ac- 
complished entertainer,  and  a  valued  and  re- 
liable friend.  He  has  marked  literary  and 
musical  tastes.  The  classics  of  his  school 
and  college  life  have  never  lost  their  interest 
for  him,  and  he  has  a  special  fondness  for  the 
old  English  writers  of  the  time  of  Addison 
and  Johnson.  He  is  familiar  with  the  writ- 
ings of  Shakspere,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
famous  actors  who  have  appeared  on  the  Amer- 
ican stage  in  Shaksperian  drama  for  the  past 
forty  years  is  extensive.  He  has  been  an  in- 
dustrious writer  for  the  public  press,  espe- 
cially in  the  line  of  historical  essays.  For 
over  ten  years  he  has  been  almost  totally 
blind,  and  consequently  has  lived  retired  from 
public  and  social  life;  but  he  still  retains  his 
health  and  spirits,  and  enjoys  a  life  of  leisure 
in  the  companionship  of  his  friends  and  fam- 
ily. He  has  from  his  youth  devoted  much 
time  to  the  study  of  music.  In  college  he 
was  the  leader  of  the  college  choir,  of  the 
Harvard  Glee  Club,  and  of  several  other 
choirs,  being  thereby  enabled  to  partially  de- 
fray his  expenses.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that, 
had  he  made  a  specialty  of  voice  culture,  he 
would  have  become  famous  as  a  tenor  singer. 
As  a  member  of  the  class  of  Harvard  Univer- 


sity, 1844,  he  received  his  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts  in  1864  and  that  of  Master  of  Arts 
in    1 87 1. 

In  January,  1850,  Mr.  Noyes  was  married 
to  Georgiana,  daughter  of  James  and  Abigail 
(Gookin)  Beaumont.  Her  father  came  to 
New  England  from  Denby,  England,  in  1800, 
and  in  1802  built  the  first  mill  in  Massachu- 
setts erected  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  by 
machinery.  Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
Edmond  Gookin,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Daniel 
Gookin,  who  in  1650  was  magistrate  of  the 
Indians  in  Massachusetts,  antl  who  accom- 
panied the  preacher,  John  Eliot,  in  his  visits 
to  the  various  tribes.  Daniel  Gookin's  His- 
tory of  the  Indians  is  published  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety. Mr.  Noyes  has  four  children,  namely: 
Teresa,  the  wife  of  Charles  H.  French,  of 
Canton;  Eliza  Rosita,  the  wife  of  F.  W. 
Sumner,  of  the  same  town;  Bradley  Morrill, 
of  Canton;  and  James  Beaumont,  who  married 
Mary  Bartlett,  of  Lynn,  and  resides  in  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 


§'AMES  H.  PACKARD,  a  prominent 
resident  of  Milton,  now  retired  from 
business  life,  is  a  native  of  Dorchester, 
born  April  10,  1845,  son  of  Henry  J. 
and  Amanda  (Waite)  Packard.  The  Packard 
family  is  an  old  one  in  Milton,  and  its  men 
have  been  among  the  progressive  citizens  of 
the  town.  Samuel  Packard,  the  first  of  the 
name  in  this  country,  came  from  England  in 
1638,  and  settled  in  Bridgewater.  The  grand- 
father of  James  H.  Packard  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  1812.  He  settled  in  Milton, 
coming  to  this  town  from  Bridgewater  in 
either  1805  or  1806. 

Henry  J.  Packard,  who  was  born  in  Milton, 
resided  for  many  years  in  Dorchester,  on  what 
is  now  Morton  Street.  In  early  life  he  was  a 
cabinet-maker.  Later  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  making  of  pianos.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  was  in  business  at  Dorchester  Lower 
Mills,  manufacturing  different  kinds  of  furni- 
ture. He  was  a  man  of  very  decided  opinions, 
and  in  politics  was  a  Whig.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  1854.  Of  his  children,  four  are  liv- 
ing, namely:  Elizabeth  T.,  now  Mrs.  W.    H. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S69 


Bowman,  of  Dorchester  Lower  Mills;  James 
H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  William  E., 
who  resides  at  Dorchester  Lower  Mills;  and 
Frank,  who  resides  on  the  old  Packard  home- 
stead on  Morton  Street,  Dorchester. 

James  H.  Packard  resided  in  Dorchester 
until  he  reached  his  fifteenth  year,  attending 
school  at  the  old  Winthrop  School-house. 
He  then  came  to  Milton,  where  he  entered 
the  employ  of  Samuel  Adams,  then  a  well- 
.known  baker  of  Milton  and  the  proprietor  of 
the  original  Bent  &  Co.  Bakery,  which  was  at 
that  time  located  on  Wadsworth  Hill.  After 
working  for  Mr.  Adams  for  about  ten  years, 
he  engaged  in  the  provision  and  meat  busi- 
ness, with  his  headquarters  in  Dorchester. 
After  two  years  he  returned  to  the  business 
with  which  he  had  formerly  been  connected, 
but  which  was  now  under  different  manage- 
ment. In  1874  he  was  made  gardener  of  the 
Milton  Cemetery,  and  subsequently  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent.  The  last-named  po- 
sition he  filled  for  fifteen  years,  having 
been  in  all  engaged  for  twenty-three  years  in 
cemetery  work.  For  fourteen  years  he  was 
town  undertaker  of  Milton. 

On  January  5,  1881,  Mr.  Packard  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Emma  L.  Wadsworth, 
of  Milton,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Elmira  T. 
(Hunt)  Wadsworth.  Mr.  Packard  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics.  He  is  a  member  of 
Union  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Dorchester, 
which  is  one  of  the  oldest  Masonic  lodges  in 
the  State;  and  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.,  of  Quincy,  Mass.  He  was  for- 
merly identified  with  Mattapan  Lodge,  K.  of 
P.,  of  Dorchester. 


§OHN  F.  BROOKS,  manufacturer  of 
infants'  fine  shirts,  bands,  mittens,  and 
similar  articles,  was  born  in  Cohasset, 
Mass.,  in  1868,  son  of  Frank  and  Mary 
G.  (Rose)  Brooks.  The  father  was  a  seaman, 
who  sailed  from  Cohasset  on  a  whaling  voyage; 
and  the  ship  was  never  heard  from.  His 
wife,  Mary  G.,  was  born  in  1845,  was  a 
daughter  of  John  Rose,  of  the  Azores  Islands. 
She  is  now  a  resident  of  Needham. 

John  F.  Brooks  was  educated   in   the  public 
schools  of  Cohasset,  at  the  Derby  Academy  in 


Hingham,  and  at  Phillips  Academy  at  Exe- 
ter, N.H.,  being  graduated  at  the  last-named 
institution  in  1889.  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  he  went  to  work  as  travelling  salesman 
for  T.  O.  Gardner  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  and  in 
this  capacity  visited  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Washington,  and  many  other  large 
cities.  He  remained  with  this  firm  five  years, 
and  then,  in  company  with  H.  I.  Brett,  pur- 
chased the  business  of  his  former  employers, 
which  they  carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of 
Brooks  &  Brett,  their  factory  being  located  in 
Boston.  In  1896  they  bought  the  factory  of 
Alexander  Lines  &  Co.,  at  Highlandville, 
Mass.,  to  which  they  removed  their  entire 
machinery.  In  July,  1896,  Mr.  Brett  retired 
from  the  company;  and  the  business  is  now 
carried  on  under  the  name  of  John  F.  Brooks 
&  Co.  The  stock,  of  which  the  factory  pro- 
duces about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars'  worth 
in  a  year,  is  sold  principally  to  jobbers  and 
large  retail  dealers.  Mr.  Brooks  has  enlarged 
and  improved  the  plant,  putting  in  all  the  new 
and  improved  machinery  used  in  this  line  of 
business,  and  has  in  other  respects  shown 
himself  to  be  a  wide-awake  and  thoroughly  up- 
to-date  business  man.  He  is  a  member  of 
Old  Colony  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Hingham, 
Mass. 


f£j*J AMES  T.  LENNON,  the  proprietor  of 
a  large  livery  stable  in  Wellesley,  and 
a  son  of  Michael  and  Kate  (Field) 
Lennon,  was  born  in  the  County  Ros- 
common, Ireland,  in  1854.  The  father,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Roscommon,  born  in 
1833,  died  in  1892.  He  was  a  school  teacher 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  The 
mother,  who  was  also  a  teacher,  died  when 
their  son,  James  T.,  was  an  infant. 

James  T.  Lennon  was  educated  in  his  na- 
tive town.  Having  finished  his  education,  he 
became  a  monitor  in  the  school  in  which  he 
had  pursued  his  studies.  After  filling  this 
position  very  satisfactorily  for  one  year,  he 
set  sail  for  this  country  in  a  vessel  bound  to 
Boston.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  found  em- 
ployment in  the  stables  of  R.  H.  White  at 
Chestnut  Hill,  Brookline.  In  1875  he  came 
to   Wellesley    Hills,    then   called    Grantville, 


57° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  was  here  engaged  in  farming  for  five 
years.  He  was  subsequently  manager  of  a 
livery  business  for  C.  H.  Mcintosh  and  his 
successor,  Mr.  Taylor.  After  spending  a  year 
in  the  employment  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Lennon 
bought  the  stables,  and  has  since  conducted 
them  very  successfully  in  his  own  name.  He 
has  a  good  and  growing  business.  In  politics 
Mr.  Lennon  is  a  Democrat,  and  his  religious 
belief  is  the  Roman  Catholic.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  St.  John's  Catholic  Church  at 
Wellesley  Lower  Falls;  of  the  Natick  Coun- 
cil, No.  126,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Natick;  and  of  the 
A.  O.  H.,  Division  No.  25,  at  Newton  Lower 
Falls,  of  whose  Finance  Committee  he  is  the 
chairman. 

Mr.  Lennon  was  married  in  May,  1882,  to 
Mary,  daughter  of  Hugh  Conley,  a  resident  of 
County  Roscommon,  Ireland,  where  his 
daughter  was  born.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lennon 
have  nine  children,  born  as  follows:  Kate,  in 
1883;  Hugh,  in  1884;  Mary,  in  1885;  James, 
in  1886;  Lizzie,  in  1887;  Agnes,  in  1890; 
Margaret,  in  1893;  Louisa,  in  1894;  and 
Helen,  in  1897.  Of  these  the  first  six  are  at- 
tending school. 


7TAHARLES  H.  FRENCH,  an  extensive 
I  s/  and  prosperous  manufacturer  of  Nor- 
^Hs  folk  County,  residing  in  Canton,  was 

born  in  this  town,  April  17,  1848, 
a  son  of  Charles  Howe  French.  His  grand- 
father, Alexander  French,  was  likewise  born 
in  Canton,  and  was  of  old  Colonial  stock,  the 
family  having  emigrated  from  England  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Charles  Howe  French  was  born  and  bred  in 
Canton,  and  during  his  years  of  activity  was 
identified  with  the  highest  and  best  interests 
of  the  town.  For  some  time  he  was  engaged 
in  business  as  a  railroad  contractor,  but  after- 
ward established  himself  in  business  in 
Stoughton  as  a  manufacturer  of  fancy  woollen 
goods,  for  which  he  gained  a  wide  reputation, 
the  productions  of  his  mill  being  in  demand 
in  all  the  leading  New  England  markets.  He 
was  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics  and  very 
active  in  local  affairs,  serving  as  Selectman, 
besides  being  Representative  to  the  General 
Court,  and  State  Senator  two  terms.      He  was 


for  thirty-eight  years  president  of  the  Nepon- 
set  National  Bank,  a  position  which  he  occu- 
pied at  the  time  of  his  death,  on  January  13, 
1889,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  Four 
children  were  reared  by  him  and  his  wife, 
Elmira  K.  Everett,  daughter  of  Deacon  Leon- 
ard Everett,  of  Canton,  namely:  Caroline  O. ; 
Ella  A.,  widow  of  D.  T.  V.  Huntoon,  of  Can- 
ton; Charles  H.  ;  and  Abbott  E.,  of  this 
town. 

Charles  H.  French  completed  his  education 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  in  the  Chauncy 
Hall  School,  Boston,  and  at  once  entered  the 
factory  of  his  father  in  Stoughton,  in  order  to 
learn  the  business,  and  was  there  employed  in 
various  capacities  until  the  demise  of  his 
father.  Since  that  time  he  has  carried  on  the 
business  in  company  with  his  brother,  Abbott 
E.  French,  and  Robert  Ward,  of  South 
Orange,  N.J.,  this  firm  being  among  the  lead- 
ing woollen  manufacturers  of  Massachusetts. 

In  politics  Mr.  French  is  a  Republican, 
faithful  to  the  principles  in  which  he  was 
reared.  He  has  succeeded  his  father  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Neponset  National  Bank,  is  also 
president  of  the  Braintree  &  Weymouth  Street 
Railway  Company,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Canton  School  Board.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belonging 
to  Blue  Hill  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Canton; 
to  Mount  Zion  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Stough- 
ton; and  to  Cypress  Commandery,  K.  T.,  of 
Hyde  Park.  He  is  of  the  liberal  type  in  his 
religious  belief  and  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Unitarian  church. 

Mr.  French  was  married  September  13, 
1875,  to  Miss  Theresa  I.  Noyes,  daughter  of 
Samuel  B.  Noyes,  of  Canton.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
French  have  three  children,  sons,  namely: 
Charles  Howe,  who  was  named  for  his  grand- 
father;  Malcolm  B. ;  and  Norman  B. 


RANK  ALDRICH  FALES,  one  of 
the  most  prominent  residents  of  Nor- 
wood, the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen,  and  an  ex-member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts legislature,  was  born  in  South  Dedham, 
October  13,  1848,  son  of  Eliphalet  and  Lucy 
Bullard  (Weatherbee)  Fales.  The  founders  of 
his  family  originally  came  from  Chester,  Eng- 


JOHN    A.    NEWELL. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


573 


land.  His  paternal  grandfather,  also  named 
Eliphalet,  was  a  native  of  Walpole,  Mass.,  as 
was  also  his  father.  Both  were  farmers,  and 
their  last  days  were  spent  in  Norwood.  The 
father  married  Lucy  Bullard  Weatherbee,  a 
daughter  of  Joel  and  Betsey  (Sumner) 
Weatherbee.  She  became  the  mother  of  six 
children — Henry  U.,  Frank  A.,  Walter, 
Frederick  A.,  Susan  E. ,  and  Albert. 

Frank  Aldrich  Fales  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a 
carpenter.  After  learning  the  trade,  he  fol- 
lowed it  as  a  journeyman  for  five  years.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  entered  the  employ  of 
Clark  &  Leatherbee,  lumber  dealers  of  Bos- 
ton, and  was  later  advanced  to  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  their  wharf.  He  remained 
with  that  concern  four  years.  Returning  to 
Norwood  in  1877,  he  purchased  the  flour, 
grain,  and  feed  business  of  William  Fisher, 
then  located  on  Washington  Street.  In  1880 
he  built  his  present  mill  on  Railroad  Street, 
the  only  grist-mill  in  town,  and  which  has  a 
large  and  profitable  business.  In  politics 
Mr.  Fales  is  a  Republican.  His  public  ser- 
vices have  been  greatly  beneficial  to  the  town. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Select- 
men since  1882,  and  is  now  its  chairman. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  Fire 
Engineers  and  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
secure  the  construction  of  the  water-works, 
which  were  completed  in  1885.  He  was 
mainly  instrumental  in  securing  the  abolition 
of  grade  crossings  on  Washington  and  Guild 
Streets,  represented  the  First  Norfolk  Dis- 
trict in  the  legislature  during  the  sessions  of 
1886,  1887,  and  1888,  and  he  is  now  serving 
his  second  term  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
He  also  belongs  to  the  Business  Men's  Asso- 
ciation, and  is  a  director  of  the  Norwood  Co- 
operative Bank  and  a  member  of  its  Finance 
Committee.  He  is  prominent  in  the  fraternal 
orders,  being  a  member  of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  & 
A.  M.;  of  Hebron  Chapter  of  Norwood;  and 
of  Cyprus  Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  of 
Hyde  Park.  He  is  a  charter  member  of  Tiot 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
Noble  Grand,  has  been  chairman  of  its  Board 
of  Trustees,  and  served  for  two  terms  as  Dis- 
trict    Deputy    Grand     Master;    was    the    first 


Sachem  of  Nahatan  Tribe,  Improved  Order  of 
Red  Men,  serving  it  for  a  time  in  the  capaci- 
ties of  chairman  of  its  Board  of  Trustees  and 
District  Deputy;  and  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Norfolk  Club  of  Boston. 

In  1888  Mr.  Fales  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Jennie  F.  Train,  of  Potsdam,  N.Y. 
Both  he  and  Mrs.  Fales  attend  the  Univer- 
salist  church. 


^'OHN  ALLEN  NEWELL,  a  lifelong 
resident  of  Dover,  Norfolk  County, 
Mass.,  who  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
September  21,  1894,  was  the  oldest 
citizen  in  the  town,  was  born  here,  June  29, 
1803,  youngest  son  of  Jesse  and  Mehitable 
(Allen)  Newell.  The  original  ancestors  of 
the  family  in  this  country,  from  whom  Mr. 
Newell  traced  his  descent  in  direct  line,  were 
Abraham  Newell  and  his  wife,  Frances,  who 
came  from  Ipswich,  England,  in  1634,  and 
settled  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  They  each  lived, 
it  is  said,  to  be  ninety-one  years  old.  Other 
instances  of  remarkable  longevity  among  Mr. 
Newell's  ancestors,  on  both  the  paternal  and 
maternal  side,  are  on  record.  A  great-grand- 
father and  his  wife  lived  to  be  ninety-seven 
and  one  hundred  and  three  years  old  respec- 
tively; a  grandmother  lived  to  be  ninety- 
eight;  and  an  uncle,  who  died  in  i860,  was 
upward  of  ninety  years  of  age.  Many  of 
Mr.  Newell's  progenitors  were  men  of  note, 
some  of  them  rendering  important  service  to 
the  country  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  while 
others  were  prominent  in  local  affairs.  Elea- 
zer  Allen,  great-great-grandfather  of  Mr. 
Newell  on  his  mother's  side,  and  his  brother 
Hezekiah,  were  two  of  the  first  settlers  in 
Dover,  then  a  part  of  Dedham,  known  as  the 
"Springfield  District,"  Dover  not  being  in- 
corporated as  a  separate  town  until  1784. 

Jesse  Newell  was  born  in  Dover.  At  an 
early  day  he  settled  upon  the  farm  where  the 
two  daughters  of  his  son,  the  late  John  A. 
Newell,  now  reside.  He  spent  his  life  in 
this  town;  and  besides  being  engaged  in  agri- 
culture he  followed  the  trade  of  weaver,  at 
which  he  was  an  adept.  This  was  before  the 
advent  of  modern  machinery,  and  his  methods 
as  well  as   implements  would  be  regarded   as 


574 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


curiosities  nowadays.  When  old  age  came 
upon  him,  they  were  consigned  to  the  garret, 
where  they  served  to  interest  and  perplex  the 
inquiring  minds  of  the  younger  generation. 
He  and  his  wife,  Mehitable,  who  was  also  a 
native  of  Dover,  became  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  namely:  Rebecca,  who  was  born  Oc- 
tober 8,  1792,  and  died  August  16,  1827; 
Charles,  born  May  7,  1794,  died  October  19, 
1872;  Mehitable,  born  October  7,  1795,  who 
married  Sherman  Batelle,  of  Dover,  and  died 
July  14,  1842;  Jesse,  born  August  13,  1797, 
died  November  16,  1879;  Amy,  born  May 
18,  1799,  died  July  13,  1827;  Dolly,  born 
October  19,  1801,  died  May  8,  1824;  John 
A.,  principal  subject  of  this  sketch;  Betsey, 
born  January  8,  1807,  who  married  Obed 
Allen,  and  died  November  23,  1883;  Sarah 
M.,  born  January  9,  18 10,  who  married  Mason 
Brown,  of|Dover,  and  died  April  7,  1843. 

John  Allen  Newell  received  such  education 
as  was  afforded  by  the  district  school  of  his 
native  town.  His  limited  amount  of  book 
knowledge  was  compensated  for  in  his  mature 
years  by  his  great  natural  intelligence  and 
habits  of  close  observation.  At  an  early  age 
he  was  trained  to  the  useful  and  invigorating 
work  of  tilling  the  soil,  which  he  continued 
through  the  active  period  of  his  long  life. 
He  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  successful 
farmer  of  the  type  of  a  generation  ago,  har- 
vesting crops  of  Indian  corn,  rye,  oats,  and 
potatoes,  taking  great  pride  in  his  horses  and 
cattle,  felling  trees  from  woodland  acres,  and 
working  them  up  in  various  ways,  such  as 
making  charcoal  for  city  customers,  cutting 
hoop-poles  and  getting  out  railroad  sleepers. 
But  whether  engaged  in  farm  work,  in  busi- 
ness lines,  serving  in  town  office,  on  the  jury, 
or  in  matters  of  arbitration,  he  was  always 
considered  a  man  of  unusually  good  judgment. 

In  politics  he  was  a  true  Democrat,  casting 
his  first  vote  for  the  Democratic  ticket  in 
1824,  when  just  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
his  last  one  a  few  months  before  his  death, 
thus  giving  almost  seventy  years  of  unswerv- 
ing loyalty  to  his  party.  He  took  an  active 
interest  in  all  the  town  meetings,  and  was 
quick  to  recognize  and  support  all  practical 
measures  for  the  public  good.  He  was  opti- 
mistic in   temperament.      His  happy  disposi- 


tion, noticeable  when  a  child,  expanded  in 
later  years,  and  led  him  constantly  to  look 
upon  the  bright  rather  than  on  the  dark  side 
of  life.  Perhaps  this  characteristic,  combined 
with  his  lifelong  temperance,  had  much  to  do 
with  prolonging  his  years,  as  it  doubtless 
had  with  his  wonderful  health  and  vigor.  His 
sense  of  duty  was  of  the  highest  type,  as  was 
his  personal  integrity.  He  was  noted  besides 
for  his  excellent  business  ability,  great 
strength  of  character,  tenacity  of  purpose,  and 
rare  presence  of  mind.  An  instance  of  the 
latter  occurred  in  the  early  fifties,  when  he 
saved  his  dwelling-house  from  being  destroyed 
by  fire.  It  was  as  follows:  On  a  windy  day 
in  midwinter,  when,  as  it  chanced,  house  and 
farm  help  were  away  from  the  place,  Mr. 
Newell,  happening  to  open  an  outer  door 
while  preparing  food  for  the  swine,  discovered 
that  the  roof  of  the  main  part  of  the  house  was 
in  roaring  flames.  Quick  as  lightning  he 
seized  the  axe  and  pail,  filled  the  latter  from 
the  pump,  ascended  two  flights  of  stairs  to  the 
attic,  slashed  a  hole  through  the  roof,  and 
emptied  his  pail,  returning  again  and  again 
for  water.  With  agility  and  strength  almost 
superhuman,  he  battled  with  the  flames  un- 
aided until  he  finally  succeeded  in  subduing 
them,  thus  saving  his  home. 

Once  when  in  the  prime  of  manhood  he 
narrowly  escaped  a  violent  death.  He  had 
started  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  with 
a  load  of  hay  to  market  in  the  city.  Return- 
ing home  late  in  the  afternoon,  sleep  over- 
came him  as  he  drove  along.  Suddenly  he 
awakened  in  front  of  the  railroad  track,  to  see 
his  horse  struck  down  and  swept  away  by  the 
locomotive,  directly  before  his  face.  Al- 
though a  man  of  "iron  nerve,"  it  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  that  he  should  experience  a 
feeling  of  horror  as  he  discovered  his  own  nar- 
row escape. 

In  1832  Mr.  Newell  married  Miss  Caroline 
Allen,  only  daughter  of  Colonel  Obed  Allen, 
of  the  adjoining  town  of  Medfield.  Five  chil- 
dren were  the  result  of  this  union:  John  A., 
Harriet,  Sarah,  William,  and  Caroline.  John 
A.,  who  was  born  October  28,  1835,  married 
Alvira  Diana  Willard;  and  they  now  reside  in 
Medfield,  this  county.  Harriet,  born  January 
8,   1840,  resides  with   her  sister  Caroline  on 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


575 


the  old  Dover  homestead.  Sarah,  born  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1843,  is  the  wife  of  Alden  Derby, 
and  lives  in  Elmira,  N.Y.  William,  born 
May  9,  1847,  died  in  August,  1884.  Caro- 
line, born  February  3,  1850,  resides  on  the 
homestead,  as  above  stated.  She  is  a  lady 
who  combines  the  best  and  strongest  qualities 
of  her  father  with  the  softer  graces  of  refined 
womanhood. 

Before  the  infirmities  of  age  came  upon 
him,  Mr.  Newell  attended  and  helped  support 
the  Unitarian  church  in  his  native  town, 
where  his  parents  and  grandparents  wor- 
shipped before  him.  When,  a  few  years  ago, 
within  the  short  space  of  two  weeks,  death 
stole  from  his  side  his  aged  wife  and  his 
youngest  son  William,  then  in  the  prime  of 
young  manhood,  and  on  whom  he  had  allowed 
family  cares  to  devolve,  there  was  something 
truly  heroic  in  the  manner  in  which  the  aged 
man  bowed  to  the  divine  decree.  After  this 
double  bereavement  he  went  calmly  on  di- 
recting his  affairs  and  waiting  in  patience 
for  the  Master's  call.  Most  tenderly  was  he 
cared  for  in  these  declining  years  by  his 
youngest  daughter  Caroline.  His  departure 
was  the  cause  of  wide-spread  sorrow,  and  his 
memory  is  held  in  tender  regard  by  those  he 
left  behind. 


AVID  T.  HAGAN,  a  retired  busi- 
ness man  of  Canton,  Mass.,  was  born 
in  Ireland,  the  son  of  Francis  and 
Ann  (Lennon)  Hagan,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  his  boyhood,  about  fifty  years 
ago,  1847  or  1848,  with  his  father,  Francis 
Hagan,  Jr.,  who  also  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
being  son  of  Francis,  Sr.,  a  lifelong  resident 
of  the  Emerald  Isle.  Francis  Hagan,  the 
emigrant,  settled  in  Canton,  where  he  had 
charge  of  Messinger's  farm  for  about  thirty- 
three  years,  and  also  worked  in  the  Messinger 
Silk  Factory.  His  wife,  Ann  Lennon,  bore 
him  four  children,  only  one  of  whom,  David 
T.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  now  living. 
The  father  died  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Democrat. 
David  T.  Hagan  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  this  town.  When  he  was  six- 
teen he  took  a  course  at  Comer's  Commercial 


College  in  Boston,  and  was  subsequently  book- 
keeper for  P.  F.  Logan,  of  that  city,  for  three 
years.  In  1S65  he  returned  to  Canton,  and 
engaged  in  the  woollen  business,  which  he 
followed  for  four  years;  and  then  in  1869  he, 
in  partnership  with  P.  F.  Brady,  opened  a 
general  country  store,  which  they  conducted 
until  November  of  1881,  when  the  partnership 
was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Hagan  assumed  the 
entire  management,  carrying  it  on  for  about 
six  years  more.  The  store  being  burned  out 
in  18S7,  he  retired  from  business,  and  for  the 
next  seven  years  held  the  position  of  Town 
Librarian.  Since  1895  he  has  been  practi- 
cally retired  from  the  activities  of  life.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  but  has  never  been 
specially  interested  in  political  affairs.  He 
and  his  family  attend  the  Roman  Catholic 
church. 

Mr.  Hagan  and  Margaret  E.  Galligan,  of 
Canton,  were  married  October  5,  1875. 
Eight  children  have  been  born  to  them,  and 
five  are  now  living;  namely,  Francis,  Mar- 
garet, Joseph,  John,  and  James,  all  of  whom 
are  in  Canton,  and  with  the  exception  of 
Francis,  third  of  the  name,  all  at  the  parental 
home. 


DWARD  JULIUS  SANDBERG,  a 
well-known  contractor  of  Quincy,  Nor- 
folk County,  Mass.,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 21,  1866,  in  Helsingborg,  Sweden,  that 
town  being  also  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
Neils  Sandberg,  who  lives  there  at  this  day, 
and  is  a  prominent  citizen. 

Neils  Sandberg  learned  the  trade  of  a 
watchmaker  when  a  boy,  and  as  soon  as  old 
enough  started  in  the  watch-making  business 
for  himself.  He  has  met  with  good  success, 
and  is  still  carrying  on  the  business,  employ- 
ing a  number  of  men  in  his  factory.  To  him 
and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sophia 
Nelson,  eight  children  were  born,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living;  namely,  Edward  Julius, 
Adolph  Siegfrid,  Amanda  Geneveva,  and 
Gustaf  Anton,  all  of  this  city,  and  Oscar. 
The  parents  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

Edward  J.  Sandberg  obtained  a  practical  ed- 
ucation   in     Helsingborg,    and    after    leaving 


576 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


school  went  to  Denmark,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed two  years  as  coachman  for  Mr.  Ostrop, 
a  man  well  known  throughout  that  country. 
Returning  to  Sweden,  Mr.  Sandberg  was  a 
member  of  the  engineering  corps  connected 
with  the  Skone  &  Hallands  Railway  Company 
two  years.  He  subsequently  worked  as  a  gar- 
dener a  year,  and  then  came  to  America,  set- 
tling in  Quincy  in  1S86.  Securing  a  situa- 
tion with  Henry  Barker,  he  remained  with  him 
two  years;  and  then,  having  become  familiar 
with  the  customs  and  methods  of  this  country, 
he  started  in  business  on  his  own  account  as 
a  teamster  and  contractor.  He  began  on  a 
modest  scale,  and,  as  his  business  has  in- 
creased, has  added  to  his  equipments,  keeping 
now  eight  horses  and  two  drivers,  at  times 
employing  from  thirty-five  to  forty  extra 
teams.  He  makes  a  specialty  of  building 
streets,  cellars,  and  walls,  being  one  of  the 
leading  men  in  that  line  of  industry  in  the 
city. 

Politically,  Mr.  Sandberg  is  an  earnest  ad- 
vocate of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  been  one  of  the  Ward  and  City 
Committee  five  years,  and  has  served  as  spe- 
cial police  for  an  equal  length  of  time.  Fra- 
ternally, he  is  a  member  of  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  of  Manet  Encampment; 
and  of  Philedian  Senate,  A-  E.  O.,  of  Quincy. 

On  the  thirteenth  day  of  June,  1891,  he 
married  Hanna  Marie  Dorum,  daughter  of  H. 
Dorum,  a  former  resident  of  Quincy.  Three 
children  have  been  born  of  this  union,  and  two 
are  now  living;  namely,  Henry  Siegfrid  and 
Edward  Julius,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sandberg 
attend  the  Lutheran  church. 


§OHN  CLARK,  of  Millis,  was  born  Oc- 
tober 2,  1816,  prior  to  the  setting  off 
of  this  town  from  Medway,  in  the  old 
Clark  homestead,  his  present  residence. 
A  son  of  Lemuel  and  Deborah  E.  (Newton) 
Clark,  he  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  two  broth- 
ers, Joseph  and  John  Clark,  who  emigrated 
from  England,  and  settled  in  Medway  at  an 
early  date  in  the  town's  history.  They  located 
upon  an  eminence  in  Millis,  called  Chestnut 
II ill.  The  majority  of  their  descendants  have 
been   engaged    in   agricultural   pursuits   in  this 


vicinity;  and  the  farm  which  is  now  owned 
by  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  cultivated 
in  turn  by  his  great-grandfather,  Nathaniel, 
and  his  grandfather,  Stephen  Clark.  Stephen, 
who  died  January  29,  1820,  married  Eunice, 
daughter  of  David  Clark,  a  blacksmith  of 
Medway,  and  was  the  father  of  eight  children, 
namely:  Chloe;  John;  Asenath,  who  married 
E.  Haven;  Stephen;  Eunice;  Lemuel;  Na- 
thaniel ;  and  Rebecca. 

Lemuel  Clark,  born  here  in  1780,  besides 
carrying  on  the  homestead  farm,  was  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  brick.  He  died  in 
1858.  His  wife,  Deborah,  who  was  a  native 
of  Framingham,  became  the  mother  of  four 
children,  namely:  David,  born  May  17,  1807; 
Sarah,  born  October  22,  18 10,  who  died  Octo- 
ber 27,  1857;  Elbridge,  born  September  11, 
1812;  and  John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
David,  who  successively  married  Huldah  Bar- 
ton, Harriet  Danforth,  and  Harriet  Mann, 
died  in  September,  1891.  Elbridge,  now 
deceased,  married  for  his  first  wife  Lydia 
Newton  and  for  his  second  Mary  Mansfield. 
His  widow  is  residing  at  Millis.  Mrs.  Lem- 
uel Clark  died  in  1864. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  having  obtained  his 
education  in  the  common  schools,  John  Clark 
began  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  at  the  car- 
penter's trade  in  West  Medway.  Subse- 
quently, after  working  as  a  journeyman  for 
some  years  in  East  Medway,  Rockville,  and 
the  place  now  called  Millis  village,  be  re- 
turned in  1844  to  the  homestead,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  In  1845  he  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  brick,  running  two  yards,  and 
carrying  on  a  thriving  business  in  that  line 
until  1890,  at  which  time  he  sold  out.  He  is 
still  actively  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
home  farm,  of  which  nine  acres  are  under  till- 
age and  fifty  are  timbered.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican. 

On  May  24,  1837,  Mr.  Clark  wedded 
Martha  Maria  Dairy,  who  was  bom  in  Attle- 
boro,  Mass.,  daughter  of  a  prosperous  farmer 
of  West  Medway.  She  became  the  mother  of 
eleven  children,  as  follows:  Albert  L.,  born 
May  27,  1838;  John  Addison,  born  February 
12,  1840,  who  died  February  19,  1842;  Sarah 
Louisa,  bom  November  10,  1841;  David  Ad- 
dison, born   October  9,   1843;  Frederick  Fran- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


577 


cis,  born  June  6,  1846;  Rhoda  Isabella,  born 
July  22,  1848;  John  Edwards,  born  Septem- 
ber 16,  1850,  who  was  drowned  July  1,  1854; 
Mary  Adeline,  born  December  17,  1852;  Jen- 
nie Maria,  born  July  28,  1S55;  Abbie  Eliza, 
born  March  3,  1858;  and  Carrie  F. ,  born  Sep- 
tember 4,  1859,  who  married  George  R.  Hill, 
and  died  July  25,  1884,  of  injuries  received 
in  an  accident.  Albert  L. ,  who  married  Har- 
riet Rice,  is  a  grain  dealer  in  Leominster, 
Mass.  Sarah  Louisa  is  the  widow  of  George 
B.  Fisher,  and  resides  in  Millis.  David  Ad- 
dison married  Rose  Roberts,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  firm  Clark  &  Roberts,  bottlers,  at  No. 
221  State  Street,  Boston.  Frederick  Francis, 
who  resides  in  New  York  City,  married  Flor- 
ence E.  Collins.  Rhoda  Isabella  is  the  wife 
of  Charles  H.  Russell,  and  resides  in  South 
Framingham,  Mass.  Mary  Adeline  married 
William  F.  Harding,  a  grocer  of  Fitchburg, 
Mass.  Jennie  Maria  married  Daniel  Adams, 
of  Waltham,  a  mason  by  trade;  and  Abbie 
Eliza  is  the  wife  of  Francis  H.  Russell,  and 
resides  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  The  mother  died 
December  2,  1881.  A  second  marriage,  con- 
tracted on  March  8,  1883,  united  Mr.  Clark 
to  Abbie  L.  Russell.  She  was  born  in  Med- 
field,  Mass.,  August  30,  1834,  daughter  of 
Daniel  P.  and  Polly  P.  (Hammant)  Russell, 
who  were  prosperous  farming  people  and 
natives  of  Medfield.  Her  father  died  May  26, 
1875,  and  her  mother  on  January  1,  1892. 
Mr.  Clark  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  while  Mrs.  Clark  is  a  Unitarian. 


TTAIIARLES  HALEY,  a  highly  success- 
I  Vp  ful  contractor  and  builder  of  Norfolk 
^^Hs>  County,  residing  at   Hyde  Park,  was 

born  March  5,  1S35,  in  Somerset 
County,  Maine,  son  of  Mark  Haley.  He 
comes  of  good  old  pioneer  stock,  being  the 
lineal  descendant  of  one  Thomas  Haley,  who 
in  1653  was  a  resident  of  Saco,  Me.,  a  city 
which  has  been  the  abiding-place  of  some 
member  of  the  Haley  family  ever  since.  The 
great-grandfather  of  Charles  Haley  had  charge 
of  the  lower  ferry  in  that  town  for  several 
years,  being  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Weddock. 

A  later  Thomas  Haley,  the  paternal   grand- 
father of  Charles,  was  born   in  Saco   in   1760; 


and  after  his  marriage  with  Margery  Scam- 
mon,  the  descendant  of  an  old  and  respected 
family  of  York  County,  Maine,  he  settled  on 
a  farm  near  his  birthplace,  and  was  afterward 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  threescore  and  three 
years. 

Mark  Haley  was  born  on  the  parental  home- 
stead in  Saco  in  December,  1799,  and  for 
more  than  thirty  years  lived  there,  being  em- 
ployed from  his  youth  up  as  a  tiller  of  the 
soil.  In  1832  he  removed  to  Somerset 
County,  where  he  took  up  a  tract  of  heavily 
timbered  land,  consisting  of  one  hundred 
acres,  from  the  government,  and,  having 
cleared  a  space,  erected  a  rude  log  cabin,  in 
which  he  and  his  wife  began  housekeeping. 
She  also  was  born  and  brought  up  in  Saco,  in 
her  early  years  unused  to  the  privations  and 
hardships  which  she  in  common  with  her  few 
neighbors  bravely  endured  in  her  new  home. 
Her  maiden  name  was  Lydia  Hill;  and  she  in- 
herited in  a  high  degree  the  determination 
and  force  of  character  that  marked  her  ances- 
tors, making  her  a  true  helpmate  to  her  hus- 
band in  his  pioneer  labors.  He  worked  with 
energetic  perseverance,  clearing  and  improv- 
ing the  land,  eventually  replacing  the  humble 
log  structure  with  a  substantial  frame  house, 
in  which  he  afterward  lived  in  comparative 
luxury  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three 
years.  His  widow  survived  him,  dying  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Congregational  church,  in  which  he  served 
as  Deacon  some  years.  He  was  also  quite 
prominent  in  local  affairs,  and  was  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Highways  at  a  time  when  many 
of  the  roads  of  the  county  were  being  laid  out. 
Mark  and  Lydia  Haley  reared  six  children, 
of  whom  three  are  living,  namely:  Malinda, 
who  is  unmarried;  Charles,  whose  personal 
history  is  here  outlined;  and  Lydia  Ann,  wife 
of  J.  H.  Fogg,  of  Biddeford,  Me. 

Charles  Haley  spent  the  first  eighteen  years 
of  his  life  in  St.  Albans,  Me.,  his  boyhood 
being  passed  in  the  log  cabin,  which  was  so 
rudely  constructed  that  the  snow  sifted  in 
through  the  cracks,  he  often  finding  a  quilt  of 
this  fleecy  material  on  his  bed  on  a  winter's 
morning.  After  obtaining  a  district-school 
education,    and    supplementing    it    by   a   brief 


57« 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


term  of  attendance  at  the  high  school,  he  went 
to  Biddeford,  and  began  working  for  his 
cousin,  Thomas  Hill,  of  whom  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade.  On  attaining  his  majority, 
he  came  to  Boston,  and  for  ten  years  worked 
as  a  journeyman  carpenter,  four  years  of  the 
time  being  spent  in  Watertown  ;  and  four  years 
at  the  Back  Bay.  Mr.  Haley  then  established 
himself  in  business  as  a  contractor  and  builder 
in  what  is  now  Hyde  Park,  which  was  not 
then  incorporated  as  a  town,  he  being  one  of 
the  first  to  build  in  this  locality.  Buying  a 
piece  of  ground  on  Mount  Neponset,  he 
erected  a  house  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Henry  Miner;  and  he  has 
since  built  some  of  the  largest  and  finest 
dwellings  in  Hyde  Park,  Attleboro,  Canton, 
Jamaica  Plain,  Brookline,  and  Newton,  the 
number  being  in  the  hundreds.  He  has  been 
eminently  successful  in  business,  having 
amassed  a  good  property,  including  ten  or 
twelve  houses,  of  which  he  was  the  architect 
as  well  as  builder.  For  a  year  he  owned  and 
conducted  a  lumber  yard  in  this  vicinity,  but 
then  sold  out,  concluding  that  his  time  was 
better  occupied  in  contracting  and  building. 

On  December  25,  1864,  Mr.  Haley  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  A.,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Emeline  (Moore)  Farnsworth,  and  one  of  a 
family  of  eleven  children.  She  was  born  in 
Lincoln,  Mass.,  in  the  house  in  which  her 
marriage  was  solemnized  on  that  beautiful 
Christmas  Day,  thirty-three  years  ago.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Haley  have  never  had  any  children. 
Both  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
church,  of  which  he  was  a  trustee  fifteen 
years.  He  is  a  strong  Republican,  but  has 
never  aspired  to  political  office,  although  he 
did  serve  one  year  as  Assessor. 


§OSEPH  WILLARD  HEATON,  who 
was  an  influential  resident  of  Franklin, 
Mass.,  was  born  October  26,  1829,  in 
this  town,  son  of  Samuel  and  Tirzah 
Heaton.  His  father  was  born  July  17,  1798; 
and  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Tir- 
zah Carleton,  was  born  in  Acworth,  N.  H., 
April  23,  1806.  They  were  married  in  July, 
1823,  and  became  the  parents  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren.      Of   these   one   died   in    infancy.      The 


others,  of  whom  five  reside  in  Franklin,  are: 
William,  George,  Sarah,  Joseph,  Henry, 
Samuel,  Halsey,  Melansa,  Francis,  Melansa 
(second),  Ellen,  and  Charles. 

Joseph  Willard  Heaton  attended  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town.  When  he  was 
fourteen  years  of  age,  he  began  to  work  on  his 
father's  farm.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  went 
to  Hopkinton,  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade. 
After  a  comparatively  short  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed the  superintendent  of  the  establish- 
ment. He  held  this  position  until  1867, 
when  he  and  his  brother-in-law  started  in  the 
provision  business  in  Franklin.  After  five 
years  Mr.  Heaton  sold  his  interest  to  his 
partner,  and  then  went  into  the  hay,  grain, 
wood,  and  coal  business.  He  retired  in  1S92 
with  a  comfortable  income,  and  afterward 
lived  quietly  at  his  home  in  Franklin.  Mr. 
Heaton  filled  several  town  offices,  where  he 
exercised  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  the 
same  good  judgment  that  made  him  so  suc- 
cessful in  business. 

He  was  married  August  17,  1853,  to  Ellen 
Francis,  a  daughter  of  Addison  and  Sally 
(Hancock)  Thompson,  of  Wrentham,  Mass. 
His  only  child,  Ella  Flora,  who  was  born  in 
1855,  died  in  1856.  Mr.  Heaton  died  August 
22,   1897,  aged  sixty-seven  years. 


§EDEDIAH  P.  PLUMMER,  of  Med- 
way,  one  of  the  best  known  artisans 
connected  with  the  straw  industry  in 
this  section,  was  born  in  Monmouth, 
Me.,  August  31,  1 8 19,  son  of  John  and  Re- 
becca (Johnson)  Plummer.  The  founder  of 
the  family,  which  is  of  English  origin,  settled 
in  Newburyport ;  and  several  of  his  descend- 
ants were  identified  with  the  early  growth  of 
that  town.  Jabez  Plummer,  grandfather  of 
Jedediah  P.,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  killed 
in  battle,  as  he  never  returned  from  the  ser- 
vice. 

John  Plummer,  who  was  born  in  Hamp- 
stead,  N.  H.,  in  1777,  passed  his  early  life  in 
Litchfield,  N.H.  Then  he  moved  to  Mon- 
mouth, Me.  ;  and  the  rest  of  his  active  period 
was  spent  in  tilling  the  soil.  He  lived  to  the 
age  of  ninety-four  years  and  six  months.      His 


JOSEPH    \V.    HEATON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


58i 


first  wife,  Rebecca,  who  was  a  native  of  Hills- 
boro,  N.H.,  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight. 
A  second  marriage  united  him  to'  Mrs.  Bates, 
a  widow  of  Dr.  Bates,  of  Greene,  Me.  She  is 
now  deceased.  Of  his  nine  children,  all  by 
his  first  union,  the  survivors  are:  Dianna,  now 
residing  in  Monmouth,  the  widow  of  Shepard 
Pease,  who  died  in  the  army;  Jedediah  P.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  ;  and  Rebecca,  who  mar- 
ried Joseph  Spear,  and  resides  in  West  Gard- 
ner, Mass.  The  others  were:  John,  who  died 
in  1885;  Judith,  who  died  in  1838;  Jabez, 
who  died  in  1892;  and  Mary,  William,  and 
Alden,  the  last-named  of  whom  died  in    1887. 

Jedediah  P.  Plummer  acquired  a  common- 
school  education  in  his  native  town,  and  re- 
sided there  until  he  was  nineteen  years  old. 
He  then  went  to  Boston  and  later  to  Walpole, 
Mass.,  where  he  worked  as  a  farm  assistant  for 
three  years.  He  next  entered  a  straw  factory 
in  that  town,  three  years  later  going  to 
Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
the  same  business  until  1S52.  From  Spring- 
field he  went  to  Nevada  County,  California, 
and  there  worked  in  the  mines  for  nine 
months.  Upon  his  return  to  Massachusetts  in 
the  following  year  he  resumed  his  former 
occupation  in  Medway,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  He  has  been  the  superintendent  of 
the  bleaching  department  of  a  factory  in  this 
town  for  many  years.  Having  spent  consider- 
ably over  half  a  century  in  the  straw  business, 
and  being  at  the  present  time  the  oldest  active 
artisan  in  the  locality,  he  is  about  to  retire. 
He  has  been  thrifty  as  well  as  industrious, 
and  owns  considerable  real  estate,  including 
a  farm.  He  is  connected  with  Medway  Lodge, 
No.  163,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  with  the  Sons  of 
Temperance.  Formerly  a  Whig  in  politics, 
he  has  acted  with  the  Republican  party  since 
its  formation. 

In  August,  1S49,  while  residing  in  Spring- 
field, Mr.  Plummer  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Sophia  L.  Spear,  of  Gardiner,  Me., 
daughter  of  Nathan  Spear.  She  died  in  1858, 
having  been  the  mother  of  Charles,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  nine  months,  and  another  child 
that  died  unnamed.  Mr.  Plummer's  present 
wife,  whom  he  wedded  October  14,  1860,  was 
before  marriage  Sarah  Frances  Benner,  born 
in    Waldoboro,     Me.,    April    24,     1834.      Her 


parents,  both  now  deceased,  were  John  A.  and 
Hannah  (Storer)  Benner,  the  former  a  native 
of  Nobleboro,  Me.,  and  the  latter  of  Waldo- 
boro, Me.  Mr.  Benner  resided  for  the  greater 
portion  of  his  active  period  in  Waldoboro, 
where  he  followed  ship-building  and  farming. 
Mrs.  Plummer  is  the  mother  of  two  children  : 
Frank  Prescott,  born  February  19,  1868,  the 
superintendent  of  the  sizing  department  of 
a  straw  factory  in  Medway ;  and  Mary  L., 
born  December  9,  1S71,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  R.  Adams,  a  manufacturer  of  straw 
goods  and  a  farmer  in  North  Franklin.  The 
family  are  all  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  take  an  active  interest  in  religious 
work.  Since  1893  Mrs.  Plummer  has  been 
president  of  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society 
of  Medway,  connected  with  the  Congrega- 
tional   church. 


REDERICK  LEONARD  FISHER,  a 
prosperous  farmer  and  business  man  of 
Norwood,  was  born  in  South  Dedham, 
January  29,  1862,  son  of  William  Curtis  and 
Emily  E.  (Atkins)  Fisher.  He  is  a  descend- 
ant of  David  Fisher,  who  was  familiarly 
known  as  "King  David,"  and  who  was  an 
early  settler  in  Dedham.  David  Fisher  had 
six  sons;  and  the  line  of  descent  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  is  through  Oliver  (son  of 
David,  first),  David  (second),  Leonard,  and 
William  Curtis.  The  family  is  one  of  the  old- 
est in  this  locality,  and  six  generations  have 
resided  within  sight  of  the  present  homestead. 
Grandfather  Leonard  Fisher  tilled  the  soil 
of  a  good  farm,  and,  previous  to  the  advent  of 
railroads,  was  engaged  in  teaming  from  Boston 
to  New  York  by  way  of  Providence  and  New 
Haven. 

William  Curtis  Fisher,  father  of  Frederick 
L. ,  has  been  engaged  in  agriculture  since  his 
youth,  and  was  formerly  an  extensive  dairy- 
man. He  married  Emily  E.  Atkins,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Emily  (Perry)  Atkins,  and  has 
reared  four  children;  namely,  Frederick  L. , 
Emily  C,  Nettie  M.,  and  Alibv  S. 

Frederick  Leonard  Fisher  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  town,  and  at  an 
early  age  began  to  assist  his  father  upon  the 
farm.        He    has     made    agriculture    his    chief 


S82 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


occupation,  but  has  also  engaged  in  other 
branches  of  industry.  His  first  business  vent- 
ure was  the  leasing  of  a  clay  pit,  the  product 
of  which  he  sold  to  the  paper  mills.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  fire  department  for  a 
number  of  years,  was  Highway  Surveyor  from 
1885  to  1890,  and  has  served  upon  the  Board 
of  Selectmen  since  1894.  Politically,  he  is 
an  independent  Republican.  He  is  a  member 
of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. ,  was  one  of 
the  organizers,  and  first  Vice-Grand  of  Tiot 
Lodge,  No.  50,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  and  is  connected 
by  membership  with  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

In  1888  Mr.  Fisher  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Harriet  D.  Blackmail,  daughter  of  Cyrus 
F.  and  Mary  E.  (Babb)  Blackman.  He  has 
three  children  —  Curtis  B. ,  Leonard  C. ,  and 
Emily.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  attend  the  Con- 
gregational church. 


MMONS  LEONARD,  a  retired  manu- 
facturer of  Sharon,  was  born  in  the  ad- 
joining town  of  Foxboro,  May  17, 
1825,  son  of  Hartford  and  Betsey  (Shaw) 
Leonard.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Fox- 
boro. His  paternal  grandfather,  Jacob  Leon- 
ard, who  was  a  blacksmith  in  that  town,  mar- 
ried Mille  Blake,  of  Wrentham,  Mass.  They 
had  twelve  children,  as  follows:  Pattie,  Hart- 
ford, Polly,  Ellis,  Robert,  Amelia,  Samuel, 
Sanford,  Harvey,  Ann  M.,  and  Williams  and 
Warren  (twins).  Harvey  married  Emeline 
Skinner,  and  is  still  residing  in  Foxboro;  but 
his  wife  is  no  longer  living. 

Hartford  Leonard  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade  in  his  native  town.  In  1829,  about  four 
years  after  the  birth  of  his  son  Emmons,  he 
removed  to  Franklin,  in  the  same  county,  and 
resided  there  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
August  31,  1855.  For  several  years  he  was 
a  Selectman,  and  in  1851  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  legislature.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Betsey  Shaw,  died 
March  1,  1846.  She  was  the  mother  of  five 
children,  namely:  Elizabeth,  who  was  born 
December  18,  1820,  and  died  September  29, 
1S41  ;  Hartford  P.,  who  was  born  May  3, 
1822,  was  graduated  at  Amherst  College,  and 
died  November  27,  1S92;  Emmons,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  George   Shaw,  born   Sep- 


tember 29,  1833;  and  Mary  Louisa,  born 
January  6,  1836.  George  Shaw,  who  is  a 
machinist  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  married  Emma 
Leonard.  Mary  Louisa  was  married  June  9, 
1870,  to  Hiram  E.  West,  of  Attleboro,  Mass., 
a  machinist.  They  have  one  daughter —  Mille 
Louise,  born  August  16,  1876. 

Emmons  Leonard  acquired  his  education  in 
the  common  schools,  and  when  nineteen 
years  old  he  began  work  in  a  straw  factory. 
He  was  thus  employed  for  thirteen  years, 
when  on  account  of  failing  health  he  went  to 
Madison,  Jones  County,  la.,  and  bought  a 
farm.  He  followed  agricultural  pursuits  in 
the  West  until  1866,  when  he  sold  his  farm 
and  returned  to  Massachusetts.  Purchasing 
a  mill  in  the  north  part  of  Sharon,  he  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  packing-cases,  the 
greater  part  of  his  product  being  used  by  the 
Morse  Brothers.  He  continued  in  business 
until  January  8,  1897,  at  which  time  he  sold 
his  plant  to  Captain  H.  A.  Blackstone.  He 
is  now  living  in  retirement. 

On  March  14,  1850,  Mr.  Leonard  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Henrietta  Dunbar, 
daughter  of  Amasa  Dunbar,  formerly  an  ex- 
tensive shoe  manufacturer  of  Sharon.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Leonard  are  the  parents  of  one 
daughter  —  Lizzie  N.,  who  was  born  in  Madi- 
son, la.,  January  10,  1861,  and  is  now  resid- 
ing at  the  parental  home  in  Sharon. 

In  politics  Mr.  Leonard  is  a  Republican, 
but  he  would  never  accept  office.  He  has 
always  attended  strictly  to  business;  and  his 
leisure  time  has  mostly  been  devoted  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Congregational  church,  with 
which  he  has  been  officially  connected,  and  of 
which  he  is  still  a  member. 


EV.  GEORGE  WALTER  NEAD, 
the  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
at  Norwood,  Mass.,  was  born  Janu- 
ary 7,  1845.  He  is  the  son  of 
James  and  Mary  (Smith)  Nead.  His  father 
and  mother  were  both  of  English  parentage. 
Their  five  children  were:  James,  Albert, 
James  (second),  George  Walter,  and  Charles. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Nead  attended  school  in 
Cleveland,  his  boyhood  home,  taking  an  aca- 
demical course  at  Richfield,  Ohio.     In  1861  he 


EMMONS    LEONARD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


585 


enlisted  at  Berea,  Ohio,  in  Company  E,  Sixty- 
fifth  Regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteers,  and,  join- 
ing the  John  Sherman  brigade  at  Mansfield, 
went  with  his  regiment  to  the  front.  He 
participated  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  At  the 
siege  of  Corinth  he  was  stricken  with  fever, 
and  remained  in  the  hospital  for  two  months, 
after  which  he  was  discharged  on  account  of 
disability.  Upon  the  recovery  of  his  health  in 
1S64  he  re-enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  saw  five 
months  of  active  service  under  General  Curtis 
in  Kansas  and  Missouri.  At  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  service  he  was  mustered  out  at 
Springfield,  111.  ;  and  immediately  upon  re-en- 
tering civil  life  he  continued  an  uninterrupted 
pursuit  of  knowledge.  He  first  went  to  Knox 
College,  at  Galesburg,  111.,  and  subsequently 
to  the  Chicago  University,  receiving  from  that 
university  the  degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  and 
Master  of  Arts  in  due  course.  The  following 
three  years,  1870-73,  were  passed  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry  at  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary in  Chicago.  He  there  received  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Divinity,  and  was  or- 
dained at  Chicago,  when  he  at  once  organized 
the  Union  Stock  Yards  Baptist  Church,  of 
which  he  was  pastor  for  three  successive  years. 
The  following  five  years  were  spent  at  Medina, 
Ohio,  which  pastorate  he  resigned  to  ac- 
cept a  call  from  the  Baptist  church  at  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  five  years;  and 
after  a  pastorate  of  four  years  at  Avon,  Ohio, 
he  came  to  New  England,  and  spent  a  year  in 
study  at  the  Newton  Theological  Institution. 
He  received  a  call  to  Norwood  in  1892,  and 
hereby  became  the  spiritual  leader  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  this  pleasant  New  England  vil- 
lage in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

He  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife 
was  Orisy  Villa,  the  daughter  of  Orman  and 
Mary  Crocker,  of  Galesburg,  111.  By  her  he 
had  one  son,  Benjamin,  born  January  6,  1880. 
His  second  marriage  was  to  Miss  Julia  Etta 
Tryon,  daughter  of  Robert  Tryon,  of  Bedford, 
Ohio.  They  have  had  six  children,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living — Bertha  Evangeline, 
Goldwin  Whittier  (deceased),  Raymond 
Marker,  Gladwin  Murl,  Carol  Plimpton,  and 
George  Washington.  Mr.  Nead  is  a  member 
of  the  George  K.  Bird  Post  of  the  G.  A.  R., 


and  has  been  chaplain  of  the  post  a  number  of 
years.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Business 
Men's  Association  of  Norwood.  He  is  an 
easy  yet  impressive  speaker,  evangelistic  as 
well  as  scholarly  in  the  presentation  of  gospel 
teaching.  He  is  also  of  a  social  nature,  and 
thoroughly  enjoys  his  pastoral  work,  is  popular 
with  the  people  of  the  town,  and  is  much 
sought  after  to  attend  weddings,  funerals, 
memorial  occasions,  and  so  forth.  A  goodly 
degree  of  success  has  thus  far  attended  his 
faithful  ministry  in  each  of  his  fields  of  labor. 
At  present  he  is  vice-president  of  the  Boston 
Baptist  Ministers'  Conference  which  meets 
in  Chipman  Hall,  Tremont  Temple,  each 
Monday   morning. 


IRA  BARROWS  CUSHING*  M.D.,  a 
well-known  physician  residing  in  Brook- 
line,  was  born  in  Providence,  Bureau 
County,  111.,  November  12,  1846,  son  of 
Caleb  and  Malinda  Peck  (Barrows)  Cushing. 
The  father,  who  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in 
1793,  removed  in  1836  to  Illinois,  where  he 
became  a  farmer  on  an  extensive  scale.  He 
died  in  1876.  The  mother,  bom  in  Paw- 
tucket,  R.I.,  in  1806,  died  in  1870.  A 
daughter  of  William  Barrows,  she  was  a  sister 
of  Dr.  Ira  Barrows,  of  Providence,  R.I.,  and 
Dr.  George  Barrows,  of  Taunton,  Mass. ,  both 
distinguished  medical  practitioners  and  pio- 
neers in  the  school  of  homoeopathy.  She  was 
united  with  the  Congregational  Church  of 
Providence,  111.,  in  which  two  of  her  sons  are 
Deacons;  and  a  grandson  of  hers  is  a  minister. 
The  Doctor  is  one  of  a  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren, of  whom  his  own  mother,  the  second 
wife  of  his  father,  bore  seven.  Five  of  the 
children  are  still  living,  and  all  are  in  the 
West. 

Ira  Barrows  Cushing  attended  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  town  until  sixteen  years 
of  age.  In  1864  he  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry  for  three  years,  and  was  mustered  out 
at  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865.  Subse- 
quently he  spent  about  two  years  in  the  Eng- 
lish High  School  at  Princeton,  111.  In  1869 
he  came  to  Taunton,  where  he  began  the  study 
of    medicine    in    the  office  of    his  uncle.      As 


586 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


has  been  stated,  Dr.  Barrows  was  a  skilful 
exponent  of  the  principles  of  homoeopathy. 
In  the  fall  of  1869,  through  his  influence,  his 
nephew  entered  the  Hahnemann  Medical  Col- 
lege at  Philadelphia.  Having  a  liking  for 
chemistry,  he  took  a  special  course  in  that 
subject  with  Professor  Barker,  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, and  subsequently,  in  1872,  during 
the  vacation  of  the  medical  school,  a  full 
course.  In  the  winter  of  1871-72  he  was  a 
student  at  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Col- 
lege, and  in  the  spring  was  graduated  from 
that  institution  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine.  After  this  he  returned  to  Taunton, 
and  during  the  summer  of  that  year  was  en- 
gaged in  practice  with  his  uncle.  In  the  fol- 
lowing winter  and  spring  he  took  a  post-gradu- 
ate course  in  the  New  York  Ophthalmic 
Hospital  and  College,  graduating  in  1873. 
He  then  returned  to  Taunton,  and  resumed 
his  practice  there,  making  a  specialty  of  treat- 
ing diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear.  In  the  spring 
of  1875  he  removed  to  Brookline,  becoming 
the  successor  of  Dr.  Warren  Sandford,  who 
had  succeeded  Dr.  Wilde,  the  first  physician 
to  practise  homoeopathy  in  this  vicinity. 
During  the  three  years  preceding  that  of 
1875  Dr.  Cushing  had  served  as  assistant 
surgeon  to  the  Third  Regiment  of  Militia, 
having  been  appointed  in  1872  by  Governor 
Washburn,  and  being  the  first  of  the  new 
school  called  to  the  service  of  the  State.  The 
Doctor  is  the  inventor  of  the  well-known 
"Cushing  Process"  for  purifying  and  refin- 
ing distilled  liquors.  This  process  consists 
of  forcing  through  the  liquors  heated  atmos- 
pheric air,  previously  freed  from  living  germs 
by  Professor  Tyndall's  method,  thus  thor- 
oughly oxidizing  the  fusel-oil  and  eliminating 
the  poisons.  This  discovery,  which  was  made 
known  to  science  in  1882,  was  the  result  of 
Dr.  Cushing's  investigations,  begun  some 
years  before,  upon  the  effect  of  air  upon  spir- 
ituous liquors.  He  has  been  examining  sur- 
geon for  several  benevolent  organizations,  and 
he  has  reached  a  position  of  eminence  in  his 
profession  that  has  caused  his  services  to  be 
sought  from  far  and  near.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Homoeopathic  Society, 
of  the  Boston  Medical  Society,  and  of  the 
Gynaecological    Society.      In  Masonry  he  is  a 


Master  and  a  charter  member  of  the  lodge  of 
Brookline.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Royal 
Arcanum  ;  and  he  is  a  comrade  of  the  Brook- 
line Grand  Army  Post,  No.   143. 

On  October  27,  1874,  Dr.  Cushing  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  H.  Elizabeth 
Alden,  of  Bridgewater,  Conn.,  daughter  of 
Elijah  and  Harriet  (Bassett)  Alden.  Mrs. 
Cushing's  family  has  been  known  and  honored 
in  Bridgewater  for  many  years.  She  is  a 
direct  descendant  of  John  Alden,  who  came 
from  England  in  the  "  Mayflower,"  and  landed 
at  Plymouth.  The  male  line  of  descent  comes 
through  Joseph,  John,  Joseph,  and  Ebenezer 
Alden,  the  last-named  being  Mrs.  Cushing's 
grandfather.  Elijah  Alden,  who  was  born 
January  17,  1800,  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years.  He  was  a  skilled  workman  in 
iron,  his  particular  craft  being  the  manufact- 
ure of  hand-made  augers  from  pig-iron.  His 
wife,  Harriet,  a  native  of  Bridgewater,  be- 
longed to  an  old  and  influential  family.  One 
of  a  family  of  eight  children,  six  of  whom  are 
still  living,  she  also  had  eight  children,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  Both  she  and 
Elijah  were  Baptists,  and  the  latter  was  a 
Deacon  in  the  society.  Mrs.  Cushing  is  a 
lady  of  refinement,  and  in  every  way  a  fitting 
helpmeet  for  her  husband.  She  is  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Ladies'  Sewing  Society,  an  aux- 
iliary organization  connected  with  the  Baptist 
church ;  and  both  she  and  Dr.  Cushing  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  church.  They  have 
three  children,  namely:  Ira  M.,  born  August 
26,  1875;  Maude  E.,  born  December  27, 
1877;  and   Arthur  A.,  born  January  17,   1881. 


§OSEPH  W.  WATTLES,  a  manufact 
urer  of  Canton,  was  born  in  Chaplin, 
Conn.,  in  1824,  son  of  Andrew  and 
Margery  (Sterry)  Wattles.  Andrew 
Wattles  Was  a  native  of  Lebanon,  Conn., 
where  he  spent  the  most  of  his  life.  He  was 
a  hatter  by  trade,  which  he  carried  on  in  the 
different  towns.  In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat, and  he  was  quite  a  prominent  man  in  his 
day.  Lie  married  Margery  D.  Sterry,  of  Nor- 
wich, Conn.  ;  and  they  had  eleven  children. 
Of  these  three  are  living,  namely:  Joseph 
W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Benjamin,  who 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


587 


went  to  California  in  1S49;  and  Thomas  B., 
now  of  New  Hampshire.  Andrew  Wattles 
died  in  Canton,  at  the  home  of  his  son  Joseph, 
after  reaching  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 

Joseph  W.  Wattles,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town.  When  fifteen  years  of 
age  he  obtained  employment  in  the  cotton- 
mills  at  Norwich,  Conn.,  where  he  remained 
for  a  period  of  six  years.  In  1846  he  came  to 
Canton,  Mass.,  where  he  was  employed  in  the 
Neponset  Cotton  Mill  as  foreman  for  thirty 
years.  In  1870  he  started  manufacturing  cot- 
ton goods  at  Neponset  Cotton  Factory,  which 
he  sold  out  after  ten  years.  He  was  then 
connected  with  the  cotton-mills  of  Pembroke, 
N.  H.,  for  a  number  of  years,  and  with  the 
mills  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  for  three  years. 
He  then  returned  to  Canton,  Mass.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  was  a  Select- 
man for  three  years. 

Mr.  Wattles  married  Fannie  D.  Marden,  of 
Newburyport.  They  had  a  family  of  four 
children,  namely:  Ella  F. ,  now  deceased; 
Arthur  S.,  of  Canton;  Joseph  W.,  Jr.;  and 
Margery  S.  Margery  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Por- 
ter.     The  family  attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


RTHUR  WALLACE  POPE,  a  promi- 
nent resident  of  Needham  and  senior 
member  of  the  well-known  firm  of 
A.  W.  Pope  &  Co.,  High  Street, 
Boston,  was  born  in  Brookline,  March  9, 
1850.  He  is  the  third  son  of  the  late  Charles 
and  Elizabeth  (Bogman)  Pope.  Charles  Pope 
was  born  in  Dorchester  in  18 14,  was  a  mer- 
chant in  Boston,  though  retired  from  active 
business  pursuits  for  some  years  before  his 
death  in  188S.  Mrs.  Pope  was  daughter  of 
Captain  James  Bogman,  and  was  born  in  Bos- 
ton. She  died  in  1885.  They  were  the 
parents  of  eight  children  —  four  sons  and  four 
daughters.  Their  oldest  living  son  is  Colonel 
Albert  A.  Pope,  president  of  the  Pope  Manu- 
facturing Company.  Two  of  their  daughters 
were  physicians,  though  now  retired  from 
practice.  Arthur  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Brookline.  While  in  his  teens,  he 
became  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  his  brother, 
who  was   then    in    the   wholesale    shoe-findin<r 


business  on  Pearl  Street.  In  1S72  he  was 
admitted  as  junior  partner  of  the  firm,  the 
style  being  changed  to  Albert  A.  Pope  & 
Co.  Six  years  later  the  senior  partner  re- 
tired, in  order  to  devote  his  whole  attention  to 
the  Pope  Manufacturing  Company.  For  sev- 
eral years  the  business  was  carried  on  by  the 
junior  partners,  later  by  A.  W.  Pope,  under 
the  firm  name  of  A.  W.  Pope  &  Co.  The 
house  is  now  located  at  No.  45  High  Street, 
and  does  a  large  wholesale  business  in  shoe 
manufacturers'  goods  and  leather.  Mr.  Pope 
is  vice-president  of  the  Lincoln  National  Bank 
in  Boston,  treasurer  of  the  J.  Alston  Newhall 
Company,  wholesale  leather  dealers,  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Shawmut  Manufacturing  Company 
of  Boston.  He  is  also  trustee  of  a  large  estate 
in  Boston,  director  in  several  trust  companies 
in  New  York  City,  and  director  in  three  large 
mercantile  companies,  of  one  of  which  he  is 
president.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Boston 
Merchants'  Association,  also  of  the  Algon- 
quin and  of  the  Commodore  Clubs.  He  is 
a  thirty-second  degree  Mason,  and  belongs  to 
Lucias  Lodge  of  Boston.  In  politics  he  is 
independent. 

Mr.  Pope  was  married  in  1892  to  Miss 
Lilla  M.  Whittredge,  daughter  of  Mr.  Myron 
Whittredge,  of  Lynn.  They  have  two  chil- 
dren. Their  summer  home  is  in  Needham, 
close  to  the  Wellesley  town  line,  on  the  estate 
known  as  the  Ridge  Hill  Farms. 


UGUSTINE  SHURTLEFF,  M.D.,  a 
retired  physician  of  Brookline,  Mass., 
residing  on  High  Street,  was  born 
August  24,  1826,  on  Pemberton 
Hill,  Boston,  a  son  of  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Shurt- 
leff.  He  is  closely  connected  with  many  of 
the  prominent  families  of  early  Colonial  days 
in  Massachusetts.  Among  his  ancestors  were 
eight  of  the  passengers  by  the  "Mayflower  "  in 
1620;  others  by  the  "Fortune,"  which  arrived 
in  1621  ;  and  still  others  by  the  "Ann," 
which  came  in  1623.  Through  his  grand- 
mother Shurtleff,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Abigail  Atwood,  he  traces  his  lineage  to 
Richard  Warren,  who  was  born  in  Devonshire, 
England,  son  of  Christopher  and  Alice 
(Webb)  Warren. 


538 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Richard  Warren  came  to  Plymouth  in  the 
"Mayflower"  in  1620,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth 
came  in  1623  in  the  "  Ann."  They  had  five 
daughters,  one  of  whom,  Mary,  married  Robert 
Bartlett;  their  daughter,  Mary  Bartlett,  mar- 
ried Jonathan  Morey ;  their  daughter,  Mary 
Morey,  married  Nathaniel  Atwood ;  their  son, 
Nathaniel  Atwood,  Jr.,  married  Abigail 
Shaw;  their  daughter  Abigail  (see  above) 
married  Benjamin  Shurtleff,  Jr.  ;  their  son, 
Samuel  Atwood  Shurtleff,  married  Eliza 
Carleton  ;  and  their  son  Augustine  is  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 

Francis  Cooke  came  in  the  "Mayflower." 
His  wife  Hester  came  in  the  "Ann."  He  was 
born  in  the  parish  of  Blythe,  1577,  in  the 
nineteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  is  the  oldest  authenticated  ancestor 
of  Augustine  Shurtleff.  Jacob  Cooke,  the 
son  of  Francis  and  Hester,  married  Damaris 
Hopkins  in  1646.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Stephen  Hopkins  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and 
parents  and  daughter  came  over  in  the  "  May- 
flower." Martha  Cooke,  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Damaris,  married  Elkanah  Cushman,  who 
was  the  son  of  Elder  Thomas  Cushman  and 
his  wife  Mary  Allerton,  daughter  of  Isaac 
Allerton.  Mary  Allerton  came  over  with  her 
parents  in  the  "Mayflower."  She  lived  till 
1699,  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety,  being  the 
last  survivor  of  the  passengers  by  the  "May- 
flower. " 

Robert  Cushman,  the  father  of  Elder 
Thomas  Cushman,  came  over  in  the  "  Fort- 
une"  in  1621,  but  returned  to  England,  and 
died  there  in  1626.  He  preached  the  first 
printed  sermon  in  New  England.  William 
Shurtleff,  the  progenitor  of  all  of  the  name  in 
America,  came  from  Sheffield,  in  England,  in 
1634.  The  name  was  originally  spelled  Shier- 
cliffe,  and  is  spelled  both  ways  to-day  in 
Sheffield.  He  married  October  18,  1655, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lettice. 
William,  as  did  his  son  Abiel  after  him, 
became  a  considerable  owner  of  real  estate  in 
Plymouth,  where  they  each  in  turn  built  a 
number  of  houses.  William  was  killed  by 
lightning,  which  struck  the  house  where  he 
was  visiting  in  Marshfield,  June  23,  1666. 
His  son  William,  who  was  sitting  on  his 
father's  knee,  escaped  unhurt,  living  to  be  the 


ancestor  of  many  descendants.  Abiel,  his 
younger  brother,  the  great-great-grandfather 
of  Augustine,  was  born  in  June,  shortly  after 
his  father's  death.  He  dwelt  in  Plymouth, 
where  he  married  January  14,  1695-96, 
Lydia  Barnes,  and  was  the  father  of  seven  sons 
and  three  daughters.  He  was  a  Selectman  of 
Plymouth,  and  held  other  offices.  He  spent 
the  last  years  of  his  life  in  that  portion  of 
Plympton  now  Carver,  and  died  there  October 
28,  1732,  aged  sixty-seven.  Lydia,  his  wife, 
died  September  io,  1727,  aged  fifty-three. 
Benjamin,  son  of  Abiel,  was  bom  April  17, 
1710.  He  married  March  25,  1745,  Susanna 
Cushman,  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Josiah  Cush- 
man, and  grand  -  daughter  of  Elkanah  (see 
above).  He  was  largely  interested  in  iron 
works,  being  part  owner  of  the  old  Charlotte 
Furnace  in  Sampson's  Pond  in  Plympton,  of 
which  he  was  clerk  and  treasurer.  He 
lived  on  the  old  estate,  which  he  inherited 
from  his  father  Abiel,  and  which  he  largely 
added  to  from  time  to  time,  and  which,  with 
its  three  hundred  acres,  now  belongs  to  his 
great-grandson  Augustine,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Benjamin  died  November  23,  1788. 
His  son  Benjamin,  grandfather  of  Augustine, 
was  born  October  14,  1748.  He  was  a  farmer 
by  occupation  on  the  old  place,  which  he  in- 
herited from  his  father,  adding  in  his  turn 
fields  and  meadows;  and,  with  the  exception 
of  the  time  passed  by  him  in  militia  service 
at  the  siege  of  Boston  under  Washington,  he 
lived  there  all  his  life,  dying  July  8,  182 1. 
Benjamin  married  June  7,  1773,  Abigail  At- 
wood (see  before).  She  was  born  October  7, 
1755,  and  died  November  29,  1826. 

Benjamin's  son,  Samuel  Atwood  Shurtleff, 
was  born  and  bred  in  Carver  on  the  old  place, 
but  in  early  manhood  went  to  Boston  to 
study  medicine  with  his  elder  brother,  Dr. 
Benjamin  Shurtleff.  In  1815  he  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  that  city,  remain- 
ing there  until  1S38,  when  he  removed  to 
Brookline,  where  he  lived  until  his  death  in 
1 87 1,  aged  nearly  eighty-one  years.  He  was 
a  successful  physician,  having  enjoyed  a  large 
and  remunerative  practice  while  in  Boston, 
which  at  the  date  of  his  removal  had  a  popu- 
lation of  about  eighty  thousand.  He  married 
Eliza   Carleton,    who  was  born    in    Haverhill, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S89 


Mass.,  in  1800.  Her  father,  Jonathan  Carle- 
ton,  removed  to  Boston  in  18 12,  and  was 
thereafter  engaged  as  an  importer  of  sugar  and 
molasses  and  an  exporter  of  hats  and  boots 
until  his  death  in  1832.  He  was  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Central  Wharf,  and 
built  one  of  the  fifty-four  stores,  No.  5,  in 
1816,  which  still  remains  in  the  possession  of 
Augustine  and  his  two  sisters.  Eight  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Dr.  Samuel  A.  and  Eliza 
Shurtleff,  and,  of  these,  four  grew  to  mature 
years,  and  three  are  now  living,  namely: 
Augustine,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Helen, 
wife  of  Dr.  T.  E.  Francis,  the  oldest  active 
practitioner  of  Brookline;  and  Isabella,  wife 
of  David  H.  Coolidge,  of  Boston,  a  member  of 
the  Suffolk  Bar.  One  son,  Carleton  Atwood, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  served  in  the 
regular  army  as  medical  cadet  in  the  late 
Rebellion,  and  died  from  disease  contracted  at 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg  in  1864,  aged  twenty- 
four  years.  The  mother  died  in  1878.  Both 
she  and  her  husband  were  at  one  time  con- 
nected with  the  Baptist  church  in  Boston  of 
which  Dr.  Baldwin  was  the  pastor,  but  were 
afterward  members  of  the  Swedenborgian 
church,  which  stood  in  Phillips  Place,  oppo- 
site King's  Chapel  on  Tremont  Street.  The 
father  was  for  a  while  assistant  surgeon  of  the 
State  militia,  and  was  at  one  time  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  State  Horticultural  Society,  in 
which  he  always  felt  a  deep  interest.  His 
house  was  opposite  the  head  of  Hanover  Street, 
on  what  is  now  called  Scollay  Square,  then 
known  as  Pemberton  Hill;  and  his  garden, 
filled  with  fruit-trees  and  grape-vines,  ex- 
tended up  to  where  the  new  court-house  stands 
on  Pemberton  Square. 

Jonathan  Carleton,  the  maternal  grandfather 
of  Augustine  Shurtleff,  was  a  son  of  Elijah 
and  Rebekah  (Webster)  Carleton.  He  traced 
his  lineage  to  Edward  Carleton,  Esq.  (from 
the  Carletons  of  Chertsey,  Surrey,  England), 
who  came  over  and  settled  in  Rowley,  Mass., 
in  1638,  and  was  appointed  Judge  in  1647. 
He  returned  to  England  some  time  earlier 
than  1656.  His  wife  was  Eleanor,  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Denton.  They  had  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  John,  the  elder  son,  "Lieu- 
tenant Carleton,"  was  born  in  England  in 
1630,    and   died    in   Massachusetts,    1668.      He 


moved  from  Rowley  to  Haverhill,  where  he 
was  Selectman  and  Town  Clerk.  He  married 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Joseph  Jewett,  Esq.,  of 
Rowley.  They  had  four  sons.  Edward,  the 
third  son,  was  born  in  Haverhill,  March  22, 
1664.  He  married  Elizabeth  Kimball,  and 
had  seven  sons  and  four  daughters.  He  was 
killed  by  an  Indian  in  171 1.  Ebenezer,  sixth 
son  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth,  was  born  in 
1705  or  1706.  He  moved  to  Methuen  and  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Saunders.  He  died  in  1761. 
Elijah,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Elizabeth,  was 
born  October  20,  1746,  and  died  June  14, 
1 8 16.  He  married  Rebekah  Webster,  July 
31,  1770.  His  name  appears  with  rank  of 
Corporal  on  the  Lexington  alarm-roll  of  Cap- 
tain James  Jones's  company  of  minute-men, 
which  marched  on  alarm  of  April  19,  1775, 
from  Methuen  to  Concord. 

Jonathan  Carleton,  their  son,  married  Han- 
nah Sawyer,  daughter  of  Amos  and  Hannah 
Sawyer,  of  Beverly,  Mass.,  a  grand-daughter  of 
Nathaniel,  Jr.,  and  Tryphena  (Haseltine) 
Duston,  great-grand-daughter  of  Nathaniel, 
Sr. ,  and  Mary  (Ayer)  Duston,  and  great-great- 
grand-daughter  of  Thomas  and  Hannah  (Emer- 
son) Duston.  The  latter  mentioned  maternal 
ancestor,  Hannah  Duston,  daughter  of  Michael 
and  Hannah  (Webster)  Emerson,  was  born  in 
1657,  in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  in  1697,  being 
the  wife  of  Thomas  Duston,  was  captured  by 
the  Indians.  After  seeing  her  week-old  babe 
killed,  she  was  forced  to  march  to  the  Indian 
camp  near  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Con- 
cord, N.  H.  There,  learning  that  she  and 
the  other  captives  were  to  be  killed  on  reach- 
ing their  destination  in  Canada,  she  quietly 
arose  in  the  night,  and,  with  the  aid  of  her 
nurse,  Mary  Neff,  and  a  young  boy,  killed  ten 
of  the  sleeping  Indians,  and  made  her  escape 
to  the  Merrimac  River,  where  they  unloosed  a 
canoe,  and  soon  after  rejoined  her  astonished 
family  in  Haverhill.  Pier  brave  act  is  re- 
corded in  history,  and  her  name  occupies  an 
honored  position  in  the  list  of  America's 
heroic  women. 

Augustine  Shurtleff  attended  private  schools 
in  Boston  until  eleven  years  old,  when  he 
came  with  his  parents  to  Brookline.  He  was 
fitted  for  college  by  a  private  tutor,  and  in 
1842  entered    Brown  University,  where  he  was 


59° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


graduated  in  1846.  After  pursuing  the  study 
of  medicine  three  years  at  the  Medical  School 
of  Harvard  University,  where  he  received  his 
diploma  in  1849,  and  subsequently,  for  nearly 
two  years,  following  the  hospitals  in  Paris  and 
London,  he  began  active  practice  in  Essex 
Street,  Boston,  where  he  remained  about  one 
year.  In  1852  he  removed  his  office  to  Brook- 
line,  and  since  that  time  has  here  made  his 
home.  The  old  stone  house  that  his  father 
owned  on  Boylston  Street,  and  which  was  the 
family  homestead  for  forty-three  years,  is  still 
standing;  but  in  1881,  shortly  after  the  death 
of  his  mother,  Augustine  erected  and  removed 
to  his  present  dwelling  on  the  corner  of  High 
and  Allerton  Streets. 

Dr.  Shurtleff  is  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Benevolent  Society,  of  the  Norfolk 
County  District  Medical  Society,  of  the  Bos- 
ton Natural  History  Society,  and  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  was  a  member  of  the  Union  Club. 
Since  1869  he  has  been  one  of  the  trustees  of 
the  Brook! ine  Public  Library. 


'AMUEL  E.  GUILD,  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  re- 
spected families  of  Walpole,  Mass., 
was  born  in  this  town,  at  the  North 
End,  April  20,  1835,  a  son  of  Samuel  Guild. 
The  family  is  of  Scotch  extraction,  three  of 
its  members  —  John,  Samuel,  and  Ann  —  hav- 
ing come  from  Scotland  to  America  in  1636, 
the  same  year  locating  in  Dedham,  Norfolk 
County,  where  the  descendants  of  the  ancestor 
of  this  branch  of  the  Guild  family  lived  for 
some  years,  Samuel  E.  Guild  being  of  the 
seventh  generation  in  Massachusetts.  John 
Guild,  the  great-great-grandfather  of  Samuel 
E. ,  became  a  pioneer  of  Walpole,  and  here 
brought  up  his  son  Samuel,  the  next  in  line 
of  descent ;  and  here  Aaron  Guild,  son  of 
Samuel  and  grandfather  of  Samuel  E.,  spent 
his  years,  being  an  industrious  and  esteemed 
member  of  the  farming  community. 

Samuel  Guild  succeeded  to  the  occupation 
of  his  forefathers,  and,  having  inherited  fine 
physical  powers  and  the  habits  of  temperance 
in  all  things  that  characterized  the  former 
generations,  attained  a  ripe  old  age,  dying  on 


his  homestead  farm  in  1892,  aged  eighty-six 
years.  To  him  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Orra  Eisher,  six  children  were 
born,  namely:  Orra  E.,  who  died  in  i860; 
Samuel  E.,  the  special  subject  of  this  brief 
biographical  record;  Mary  J.,  living  in  Ja- 
maica Plain,  the  widow  of  the  late  George  H. 
Ware;  William  E,  of  Medfield,  Mass.  ;  Ered- 
erick,  of  Walpole;  and  Julius,  of  whom  a 
sketch  may  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
volume. 

Samuel  E.  Guild  attended  the  district 
schools  until  nearly  seventeen  years  old,  ob- 
taining a  practical  knowledge  of  the  studies 
there  pursued.  Being  possessed  of  some  me- 
chanical ingenuity  and  skill,  he  then  began 
the  development  of  his  natural  talents  by 
learning  the  machinist's  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  until  1864.  Enlisting  that  year  in  de- 
fence of  the  Union,  he  became  acting  third  as- 
sistant engineer  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
and  remained  in  service  until  the  cessation  of 
hostilities.  On  returning  home,  Mr.  Guild 
resumed  work  at  the  machinist's  bench,  and 
has  since  followed  his  chosen  vocation  with 
great  success.  Politically,  he  is  a  zealous 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  in  which  he  is  an  active  worker,  for 
three  years  having  been  chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican Town  Committee. 

Mr.  Guild  was  married  April  7,  1859,  to 
Miss  Jane  Earl,  who  was  born  in  Hollis,  Me., 
a  daughter  of  Winthrop  Earl.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Guild  have  one  daughter  —  Alice  Maria,  wife 
of  James  B.  Lewis,  of  this  town.  Frater- 
nally, Mr.  Guild  belongs  to  the  E.  B.  Piper 
Post,  No.  157,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  which  he  is  the 
present  Commander;  and  he  is  a  member,  and 
for  the  past  year  has  been  Master,  of  the 
A.  O.  U.  W.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he 
has  faithfully  served  as  Deacon  of  the  Second 
Congregational  Church,  and  has  been  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday-school. 


HARLES  H.  BELCHER,  a  success- 
ful merchant  of  Randolph  and  a  vet- 
eran of  the  Civil  War,  was  born  in 
this  town,  April  25,  1841.  He  is 
a  son  of  Charles  and  Hannah  (Spear)  Belcher, 
both   of  whom  were  natives  of   Randolph,  the 


SAMUEL    E.    GUILD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


593 


father  being  a  carpenter  by  trade.  ^_The  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Ephraim  Belcher,  was  a  life- 
long resident  of  this  town;  and  the  family  has 
long  been  a  prominent  one  in  Randolph  and 
the  vicinity.  Three  of  the  children  of  Charles 
and  Hannah  (Spear)  Belcher  survive,  namely: 
Mary  F.,  now  Mrs.  Henry  Nichols;  Flor- 
ence A.,  now  Mrs.  Daniel  B.  White — both  of 
whom  are  residents  of  this  town;  and  Charles 
II.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Charles  H.  Belcher  was  educated  at  the 
Stetson  High  School  and  at  Pierce's  Academy 
in  Middleboro.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  War  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany D,  Fourth  Regiment,  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteers, and  served  under.  General  Banks  in 
the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  participating  in 
the  battle  of  Franklin  and  siege  of  Port  Hud- 
son. In  the  last  -  named  engagement  Mr. 
Belcher  received  a  severe  scalp  wound,  which 
confined  him  to  the  hospital  for  some  time. 
Upon  completing  his  term  of  service,  he  was 
honorably  discharged  with  the  rank  of  Cor- 
poral. After  his  return  from  the  army  he 
went  to  Taunton,  Mass.,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  until 
1874.  He  then  formed  a  partnership  with 
Daniel  B.  White,  of  this  town,  with  whom  he 
was  associated  for  some  time,  finally  becoming 
sole  proprietor  of  the  business.  He  carries 
a  large  and  varied  stock  of  goods,  including 
groceries  and  other  family  necessaries,  and  is 
numbered  among  the  prosperous  merchants  of 
Randolph.  He  is  a  comrade  of  Horace  Niles 
Post,  No.  1 10,  G.  A.  R.,  and  a  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Honor.  In  1866  Mr.  Belcher 
married  Eliza  A.  Williams,  of  Taunton,  who 
died,  leaving  one  daughter — Clara  W.,  now 
Mrs.  William  B.  Mason,  of  Brockton.  In 
1885  he  married  Emma  Howe  King,  a  native 
of  Randolph.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Belcher  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church. 


;AMUEL  SUTTON,  for  many  years 
one  of  the  most  respected  residents 
of  Needham,  Mass.,  was  born  at 
Alfreton,  England,  February  24, 
181 2.  On  account  of  an  accident  that  it  was 
thought  would  render  him  unable  to  do  manual 
labor,  he  was  given  a  good  education,  becom- 


ing very  proficient  in  mathematics  and  pen- 
manship. He  recovered  his  physical  powers, 
however,  and  subsequently  developed  into 
quite  an  athlete.  He  came  to  America  in 
1833,  and  settled  in  Boston,  afterward  remov- 
ing to  Brookline  and  later  to  Roxbury.  He 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  hand  loom  knit- 
ting business  in  this  country,  in  which  he 
was  very  successful.  In  1856  the  Mechanics 
Charitable  Association  awarded  him  a  gold 
medal  for  the  superior  quality  of  his  hosiery, 
and  for  many  years  thereafter  goods  bearing 
his  name  commanded  the  highest  market 
prices.  In  1868  he  moved  to  Needham,  and 
added  to  his  business  the  manufacture  of  yarn, 
occupying  the  mill  now  known  as  the  Union 
Cyle  Factory,  and  also  several  smaller  estab- 
lishments in  other  parts  of  the  town.  The 
business  was  to  be#  still  further  enlarged  and 
made  into  a  stock  company,  with  a  capital  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  majority  of 
which  was  subscribed,  when  the  Boston  fire 
in  November,  1872,  swept  away  the  accumula- 
tion of  years. 

During  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  Mr. 
Sutton  resided  at  "The  Farm,"  living  a 
quiet  although  an  active  and  industrious  life. 
After  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1886,  his  two 
youngest  daughters  kept  house  for  him,  antici- 
pating his  every  need.  Domestic  in  his 
tastes,  he  loved  his  children  with  the  devotion 
of  a  true  father,  and  realized  the  truth  ex- 
pressed in  David's  psalms,  "Children  are  an 
heritage  of  the  Lord;  .  .  .  happy  is  the  man 
that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them."  He  died 
June  6,  1897,  aged  eighty-five  years,  three 
months,  and  fifteen  days.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, the  last  time  in  1846,  to  a  beautiful  and 
accomplished  lady,  Ann,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Hills,  of  Boston.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
eleven  children,  eight  of  whom  survive,  who, 
with  their  wives,  children,  and  grandchildren, 
number  all  together  thirty-four  persons. 

The  surviving  children  of  Samuel  Sutton 
are:  George  Hills  Sutton,  a  resident  of  New 
York  City,  president  of  the  Lenox  Republican 
Club  and  member  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  Public  Schools;  Thomas  Sutton,  of 
whom  a  special  mention  is  made  elsewhere  in 
this  sketch;  Frederick  D.  Sutton,  a  carpenter 
of    Needham  and   Master  of    Norfolk   Lodge, 


594 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  this  town;  Eliza  A.,  now 
Mrs.  Thomas  J.  Crossman,  and  a  resident  of 
Needham;  Samuel  F.  Sutton,  of  Yonkers, 
N.Y. ,  a  salesman  of  hosiery  in  the  West  and 
South;  Mary  M.  Sutton,  who  resides  in  Need- 
ham,  and  is  a  school  teacher  in  the  public 
schools  of  this  town;  Charles  H.  Sutton,  a 
farmer  of  Needham ;  and  Emma  L.  Sutton, 
who  resides  in  Needham,  and  is  employed  in 
Boston  as  a  stenographer. 

In  politics  Mr.  Sutton  was  a  Republican. 
He  cast  his  first  vote  for  William  Henry 
Harrison,  and  voted  at  every  election  from 
that  time  until  his  death.  He  kept  well 
abreast  with  the  times,  and  was  a  close  stu- 
dent of  the  political  and  economical  problems 
affecting  the  welfare  of  the  United  States. 
Although  never  holding  a  town  office,  he  was 
much  interested  in  local  affairs,  and  seldom 
failed  to  attend  a  town  meeting.  He  was  de- 
cidedly musical  in  his  tastes,  and  was  a  prom- 
inent figure  in  Brookline  musical  circles  for 
many  years.  A  singer  of  no  small  ability, 
his  happiness  seemed  never  so  complete  as 
when  a  difficult  anthem  or  chant  had  been  suc- 
cessfully rendered. 

Thomas  Sutton,  son  of  Samuel  and  Ann 
(Hills)  Sutton,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass., 
in  1850.  He  is  one  of  the  prominent  busi- 
ness men  of  Needham,  where  he  is  engaged  in 
the  provision  business.  He  is  quite  active  in 
town  affairs,  having  served  as  Auditor,  Select- 
man and  trustee  of  the  public  library,  and  is 
at  the  present  time  Town  Clerk.  He  was 
married  February  22,  1873,  to  Margarette  A., 
daughter  of  John  H.  M  inch  in,  of  Braintree, 
Mass.,  a  descendant  of  John  Alden.  They 
have  one  daughter,  Clarissa  May. 


e^fONATHAN  R.  PACKARD,  of  the 
H.  A.  Lothrop  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Sharon,  was  born  in  North  Eas- 
ton,  Mass.,  January  3,  1828,  son  of 
Tillson  and  Millie  (Randall)  Packard.  He  is 
a  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation  of  Samuel 
Packard,  who  came  from  England  in  the  "Dil- 
igent "  in  1638,  and  settled  at  Hingham, 
whence  he  removed  to  Bridgewater.  His  son 
Zacheus,  baptized  at  Hingham  in  165 1,  mar- 
ried  Sarah   Howard.      Their  son,    Abiel,    who 


was  born  April  22,  1700,  married  Sarah  Wash- 
burn Ames,  of  West  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary ii,  1722;  and  he  died  in  1776.  Timothy 
Packard,  of  North  Bridgewater,  son  of  Abiel 
and  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  bom  in  1735,  and  became  a  pros- 
perous farmer.  He  married  Miss  Sarah 
Alden,  of  Bridgewater,  a  direct  descendant  of 
John  Alden,  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  Their 
son,  Calvin  Packard,  grandfather  of  Jonathan 
R.,  was  born  in  1762;  and  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm  in  Easton, 
Mass.,  where  he  died  in  1823.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Betsey  Dunbar.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Relief  (Curtis) 
Dunbar,  of  Easton. 

Tillson  Packard,  son  of  Calvin  and  Betsey 
(Dunbar)  Packard,  was  born  in  North  Easton 
in  1792.  He  followed  agricultural  pursuits, 
giving  his  undivided  attention  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  farm  during  the  active  period  of  his 
life,  which  terminated  December  16,  1847. 
His  wife  Millie,  who  was  a  native  of  North 
Easton,  and  a  direct  descendant  of  Thomas 
Randall,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Easton, 
bore  him  three  children,  namely:  Jonathan 
R.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Louisa;  and 
Dexter.  Louisa  married  John  F.  Long,  a 
merchant  of  Sharon,  and  became  the  mother  of 
two  sons — Frank  P.  and  Fred  D.  Her  hus- 
band died  in  1884,  and  she  died  in  1888. 
Dexter  Packard,  who  was  born  August  28, 
1834,  was  connected  with  the  H.  A.  Lothrop 
Company  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Oc- 
tober 28,  1896.  He  was  for  many  years  iden- 
tified with  public  affairs  in  Sharon,  serving  as 
a  Selectman  and  in  other  offices;  and  in  poli- 
tics he  was  a  Republican.  He  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  who  was  before  marriage  a  Miss 
Phinney,  and  three  children,  namely:  Alvin 
Dexter,  connected  with  the  cutlery  works  in 
Sharon;  Warren  S. ,  cashier  of  Mount  Vernon 
National  Bank,  of  Mount  Vernon,  Washing- 
ton ;  and  Loring  Bradford,  who  is  now  a  stu- 
dent at  Yale  College.  Mrs.  Millie  Randall 
Packard  died  in  1882,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

Jonathan  R.  Packard  attended  school  until 
he  was  fifteen  years  old,  when  he  began  to 
learn  the  cutler's  trade  with  John  Ames  in 
North  P~aston,  continuing  for  some  time  to  go 
to  school  in  the  winter  months.      He  remained 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


59S 


there  until  1S47,  and  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Ames  he  accompanied  his  late  employer's 
widow  to  Sharon,  where,  with  his  assistance, 
she  established  the  present  factory.  The 
business  was  managed  by  him  and  his  brother 
Dexter  until  1848.  In  that  year  was  founded 
the  firm  of  H.  A.  Lothrop  &  Co.,  and  later 
was  formed  the  corporation  known  as  the 
H.  A.  Lothrop  Manufacturing  Company. 
This  concern  produces  butcher,  shoe,  and 
bread  knives  for  both  the  domestic  and  export 
trade,  and  employs  an  average  of  from  forty- 
five  to  fifty  workmen. 

In  1861  Mr.  Packard  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Madeline  Holmes,  daughter  of  the  late 
Otis  and  Mira  Holmes,  of  Providence,  R.I., 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Packard  have  four  children, 
namely:  Charming  R.,  born  January  22,  1862; 
Marshall  B.,  born  September  25,  1863;  Mil- 
dred L.,  born  April  12,  1874;  and  Susan  A., 
born  May  29,  1877.  Charming  R.  Packard 
has  charge  of  the  office  and  shipping  de- 
partment of  the  cutlery  factory.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
in  Boston,  and  the  Improved  Order  of  Red 
Men  in  Canton.  Marshall  B.  is  also  employed 
in  the  factory.  Mildred  L.  is  the  wife  of 
John  W.  L.  Cram,  of  Newtonville,  Mass. 
Susan  A.  Packard  is  residing  at  home  with 
her  parents. 

Politically,  Mr.  Packard  is  a  Republican, 
but  has  never  sought  or  held  public  office. 
His  long  business  career  has  been  attended 
with  gratifying  success,  and  he  is  highly  es- 
teemed both  in  business  and  social  circles. 


JDWARD  E.  WENTWORTH,  Deputy 
Sheriff  of  Norfolk  County,  whose  home 
is  in  Cohasset,  was  born  in  VVater- 
ville,  Me.,  July  27,  1845.  Son  of  the  late 
William  Wentworth  and  his  wife,  Nancy 
Kidder  Wentworth,  both  of  English  ancestry, 
he  is  a  lineal  descendant  in  the  eighth  genera- 
tion of  William  Wentworth,  who  came  to 
New  England  about  1637,  was  an  early  settler 
at  Exeter,  N.H.,  lived  at  Wells,  Me.,  1642 
-49,  and  removed  thence  to  Dover,  N.H., 
where  he  served  as  Selectman,  and  held  the 
office  of  Ruling  Elder  in  the  church  more 
than  forty  years. 


His  fourth  son,  Ezekiel,2  was  the  father  of 
John,3  whose  son,  Ezekiel,4  was  the  father  of 
Samuel5  and  grandfather  of  Timothy,6  who 
married  Abigail  Black,  the  daughter  of  a  Rev- 
olutionary soldier.  (See  Wentworth  Gene- 
alogy, an  elaborate  and  interesting  work  in 
three  volumes.) 

William  Wentworth,  son  of  Timothy  and 
Abigail,  was  born  in  Lewiston,  Me.  He  was 
a  millwright,  and  followed  his  trade  in  his  na- 
tive State  and  in  Massachusetts,  making  his 
home  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life 
in  Cambridge,  Mass.  He  died  March  21, 
1892.  His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of  Water- 
ville,  Me.,  now  resides  at  North  Scituate, 
Mass. 

Edward  E.  Wentworth  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town.  On  De- 
cember 15,  [861,  in  his  seventeenth  year,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  Seventh  Regiment, 
Maine  Volunteer  Infantry ;  and,  joining  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  participated  in  Mc- 
Clellan's  Peninsular  Campaign,  taking  part  in 
the  siege  of  Yorktown  and  the  battles  of  Fair 
Oaks,  Malvern  Hill,  and  Antietam.  He  was 
afterward  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the 
South-west,  and  was  in  Nashville  at  the  time 
that  city  was  besieged.  In  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  Mr.  Wentworth  served  as  a  private 
for  eighteen  months,  and  in  the  Army  of  the 
South-west  he  was  post  quartermaster's  clerk 
for  twenty-one  months.  Honorably  dis- 
charged in  the  spring  of  1865,  he  returned  to 
Lewiston,  where  his  parents  were  living;  and 
he  subsequently  spent  a  year  recuperating  at 
the  headwaters  of  the  west  branch  of  the  Pe- 
nobscot, his  health  having  been  undermined 
by  the  hardships  of  army  life.  When  he  had 
fully  recovered,  he  went  to  Indianapolis  to 
learn  the  trade  of  carriage-building.  He  was 
in  the  employ  of  one  firm  for  several  years, 
and  became  familiar  with  all  the  branches  of 
the  work.  Returning  to  New  England,  he 
started  in  business  as  a  carriage  manufacturer 
in  Deny,  N.H. 

Early  in  the  seventies,  having  closed  up  his 
business  in  Derry,  he  removed  to  Cohasset, 
and  entered  the  employ  of  Charles  F.  Tilden, 
for  whom  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  then  began  to  manu- 
facture carriages  on  his  own   account  in  North 


S96 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Scituate,  and  was  in  control  of  a  fairly  pros- 
perous business  until  1896,  when  he  retired. 
During  all  this  time  his  home  was  in  Cohas- 
set,  where  he  served  as  Constable  for  twenty- 
two  successive  years.  In  1895  he  was  ap- 
pointed Deputy  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  County; 
and  on  the  second  day  of  November  last, 
1897,  he  was  elected,  on  the  Republican 
ticket,  Representative  to  the  General  Court 
from  Cohasset,  Hingham,  and  Hull. 

In  1874  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Mary  H.  Nickerson,  sister  of  George  K. 
Nickerson,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Cohasset. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wentworth  have  one  daughter, 
Abbie  E.,  who  is  the  wife  of  J.  Murray  Cann, 
of  Yarmouth,  N.S.  Mr.  Wentworth  is  a 
member  of  Henry  Bryant  Post,  No.  98, 
G.  A.  R. ,  of  Cohasset,  and  was  Commander 
of  the  post  for  seven  years.  He  is  a  member 
of  Konohasset  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  this 
town ;  and  Past  Grand  of  Cohasset  Lodge, 
No.  192,  I.  O.O.  F.  He  is  widely  known 
and  highly  esteemed. 


KRANCIS  BAYLIES  RAY,  late  of 
Franklin,  Mass.,  son  of  Joseph  and 
Lydia  (Paine)  Ray,  was  born  in  South 
Mendon,  now  East  Blackstone,  Mass.,  May 
15,  1823,  and  died  November  29,  1892.  His 
father  was  for  many  years  a  manufacturer  of 
mill  machinery  at  East  Blackstone,  and  was  a 
Colonel  in  the  State  militia;  and  his  mother 
was  a  native  of  Smithfield,  R.I.  Joseph  Ray 
came  to  Franklin  with  his  family  in  1839,  and 
settled  in  the  village  of  Unionville,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death  in  1847.  He  had 
three  sons  who  grew  to  manhood,  namely: 
James  P.  ;  Francis  B.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Joseph  G. — all  extensive  and 
well-known  manufacturers  in  cotton  and 
woollen  lines. 

Francis  B.,  having  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools,  started  in  the  wool  and 
cotton  trade  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  in 
the  course  of  his  career  was  a  large  manufact- 
urer of  satinets  and  feltings  and  dealer  in 
woollen  stock,  owning  or  being  connected  in 
the  proprietorship  of  factories  in  Franklin, 
Norfolk,  Caryville,  South  Milford,  Blackstone, 
and    Millbury   in    Massachusetts,  and    Stafford 


Springs  in  Connecticut.  He  was  fond  of 
farming,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  citizens 
in  Massachusetts  to  become  interested  in 
Jersey  cattle.  He  was  also  an  excellent 
judge  of  and  always  owned  fine  horses.  Of 
an  active  and  cheerful  temperament,  he  be- 
came very  prominent  in  his  residential  town, 
holding  at  different  times  several  town  offices, 
and  serving  as  a  Representative  in  the  State 
legislature  of  1865.  He  belonged  to  the 
Franklin  Lodge  of  Masons.  In  politics  he 
was  a  Republican.  He  was  a  generous  and 
public-spirited  man,  and  did  a  great  deal 
toward  building  up  and  improving  the  com- 
munity. He  was  an  earnest  member  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  of  Franklin,  and 
one  of  the  committee  to  build  the  beautiful 
church  edifice  that  was  erected  in  1872  and 
was  burned  in  1893.  Mr.  Ray  married  Susan 
Bailey  Rockwood,  who  was  born  in  Franklin, 
March  17,  1824,  being  the  daughter  of  Asa 
Rockwood,  a  well-known  general  storekeeper, 
and  Julia  Thurston.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ray  had 
but  one  child,  William  Francis  Ray,  born 
March  2,  1854.  He  married  Harriet  P. 
Richardson,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  and  is  now 
living  in  Franklin,  engaged  in  woollen  manu- 
facture. A  graduate  of  Brown  University  in 
1874,  he  is  an  active  business  man,  and  has 
been  State  Representative  and  Senator,  each 
for  two  years.  Mrs.  Susan  B.  Ray  lives  in 
the  old  homestead  dwelling  at  Unionville,  on 
the  farm  which  her  husband  so  much  im- 
proved. 


ILLIAM  B.  CROCKER,  a  promi- 
nent and  prosperous  dry-goods  mer- 
chant of  Foxboro,  was  born  October 
1,  1836,  in  Sandwich,  Barnstable  County.  A 
son  of  Nathan  N.  Crocker,  he  is  a  descendant 
of  an  early  settler  of  Cape  Cod.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Prince  Crocker,  was  a  lifelong 
resident  of  the  Cape,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  farming,  and  died  at  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety-two  years. 

Nathan  N.  Crocker,  who  was  born  and 
brought  up  in  Barnstable,  Mass.,  after  attain- 
ing his  majority  settled  in  the  neighboring 
town  of  Sandwich  as  a  merchant,  and  was  for 
many  years  its  leading  storekeeper.      He  mar- 


i 


WILLIAM    B.    CROCKER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


599 


ried  Miss  Harriet  E.  Boyden,  a  daughter  of 
Jesse  Boyden,  of  Walpole,  and  with  her 
reared  four  children.  These  were:  N.  Henry, 
of  Brookline,  Mass.,  who  married  Cornelia 
Lincoln,  and  has  four  children  —  Harry  H., 
Lincoln,  Richard,  and  John;  Ariel  B.,  who 
married  Anne  Lincoln,  and  died  January  12, 
1892,  leaving  four  children  —  Marian,  Edith, 
William,  and  Albert;  William  B.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  and  Harriet  M.,  who  is 
unmarried. 

William  B.  Crocker  was  bred  and  educated 
in  Sandwich.  He  obtained  his  first  knowl- 
edge of  business  at  the  general  store  of  Brett 
&  Kingman  in  Brockton,  where  he  remained 
three  years  as  a  clerk.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
years  he  came  to  Foxboro,  and  during  the  fol- 
lowing three  years  was  a  clerk  in  the  dry- 
goods  store  of  George  T.  Ryder  &  Co.  In 
1 861  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself  at 
the  stand  he  now  occupies,  entering  into  part- 
nership with  his  former  employer,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Ryder  &  Crocker.  A  new  mem- 
ber was  subsequently  added  to  the  firm,  a  Mr. 
Shepard;  and  after  a  time  the  senior  member 
was  bought  out.  On  the  death  of  Mr.  Shep- 
ard, in  February,  1885,  Mr.  Crocker  pur- 
chased the  interest  of  his  heirs  in  the  busi- 
ness, which  he  managed  for  a  time  alone. 
He  has  recently  admitted  John  W.  Richard- 
son into  copartnership,  and  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive business  is  now  carried  on  under  the 
name  of  W.  B.  Crocker  &  Co. 

Mr.  Crocker  has  been  three  times  married. 
His  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Laura 
A.  Carpenter,  died,  leaving  no  children.  His 
second  marriage  was  contracted  with  Miss 
Emma  (Leonard)  Wheaton,  of  Foxboro, 
Mass.,  who  also  died  childless.  He  next 
married  Miss  Margaret  E.  Littlefield,  who 
was  born  in  Zanesville,  Ohio,  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Olive  B.  Spear  by  her  first  husband,  Jo- 
seph Littlefield.  Mr.  Crocker  is  a  steadfast 
Republican  in  politics,  has  always  taken  an 
active  interest  in  local  affairs,  and  served  the 
community  in  the  capacity  of  Selectman.  He 
is  the  treasurer  of  the  Foxboro  Cemetery 
Company,  and  he  has  been  the  treasurer  of  the 
Water  Works  Company  since  its  organization. 
In  the  Masonic  fraternity  he  is  a  Past  Master 
and  a  Past   High  Priest  of  Keystone  Chapter; 


the  treasurer  of  St.  Alban's  Lodge;  the  treas- 
urer of  Keystone  Chapter;  and  Worthy  Pa- 
tron of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star  since 
its  organization.  A  man  of  recognized  finan- 
cial ability,  he  is  serving  most  acceptably  as 
vice-president  of  the  Foxboro  Co-operative 
Bank  and  as  president  of  the  Foxboro  Savings 
Bank.  In  i860  he  cast  his  first  Presidential 
ballot  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 


LLIS  THAYER  NORCROSS,  a  re- 
tired farmer  of  Bellingham,  Mass.,  re- 
siding near  South  Milford,  the  son 
of  Silas  T.  and  Sallie  (Hixson)  Norcross,  was 
born  in  Bellingham,  March  24,   1823. 

The  Norcross  family  is  of  English  colonial 
stock  that  has  long  been  rooted  in  American 
soil.  Jeremiah  Norcross,  the  immigrant  pro- 
genitor, settled  at  Watertown,  this  State,  as 
early  as  1642.  Bond  in  his  History  speaks 
of  him  as  a  large  proprietor,  and  as  Selectman 
in  1649.  Sons  Nathaniel  and  Richard  are 
mentioned  in  his  will;  also  Anna,  daughter  of 
a  brother  supposed  to  have  been  John  Nor- 
cross, of  whom  no  more  is  heard. 

Asa  Norcross,  great-grandfather  of  Mr. 
Ellis  T.  Norcross,  removed  from  Watertown 
to  Hopkinton,  Mass.  ;  and  his  son,  Asa,  Jr., 
who  was  a  farmer  and  a  man  of  quiet  tastes 
and  industrious  habits,  settled  in  Franklin, 
Mass.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  and  a  great  church  worker. 
Asa  Norcross,  Jr.,  married  Sylvia  Thayer,  of 
Bellingham,  and  had  three  children  —  Silas 
Thayer,  Asa  G.,  and  Sylvia.  Asa  G.  Nor- 
cross married  Irene  Fisher.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  now  deceased.  Sylvia  Norcross  died 
at  the  age  of  sixteen.  Silas  Thayer  Norcross, 
father  of  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  born 
in  1800.  He  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight 
years,  in  1828;  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Sallie  Hixson,  died  at  the  same  age, 
in  1829.  They  had  three  children  —  Ellis 
Thayer,  Sylvia,  and  Sarah.  Both  of  the  girls 
died  in  childhood. 

Ellis  T.  Norcross,  the  only  son  and  now  the 
sole  survivor  of  his  father's  family,  was  left  an 
orphan  at  the  age  of  six  years.  He  was 
brought  up  by  his  uncle,  Silas  Hixson,  of 
Bellingham,    where    he    stayed    until    he    was 


6oo 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  for 
himself.  He  first  settled  on  a  small  farm  near 
where  he  now  lives;  but  in  1865  he  bought 
his  present  place  of  about  twelve  acres,  be- 
sides some  outlying  lots.  He  was  for  some 
time  engaged  in  making  boots,  and  also  as 
a  band  leader;  but  his  later  working  years 
were  devoted  wholly  to  his  farm.  He  has  now 
retired  from  active  pursuits,  and  lives  very 
quietly  at  his  pleasant  home.  In  politics  Mr. 
Norcross  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  has 
held  the  office  of  Highway  Surveyor,  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor,  and  has  also  served  on  the 
School  Committee. 

He  was  married  in  1845  to  Ellen  E.,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Polly  (Moore)  Hawes, 
of  Cumberland,  R.I.  Three  children  were 
the  fruit  of  this  union,  namely:  Emma  F., 
who  married  R.  C.  Metcalf,  and  is  now  living 
in  Lynn,  Mass.  ;  Ellen  Jeannette,  who  died 
in  1864;  and  Eva  Eliza,  who  married  Lewis 
Aldrich,  and  is  living  in  Milford,  Mass. 
Mrs.  Ellen  E.  Norcross  died  in  June,  1893; 
and  Mr.  Norcross  was  married  a  second  time, 
October  18,  1895,  to  Clarissa,  daughter  of 
Amos  and  Clarissa  (Hill)  Partridge,  of  Bel- 
li ngham. 


ILBUR     HOWARD     POWERS, 

counsel  lor-at-law  of  Boston  and 
Hyde  Park,  was  born  in  Croydon, 
N.  H.,  January  22,  1849,  son  of  Elias  and 
Emeline  (White)  Powers. 

His  great-grandfather,  Ezekiel  Powers,  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Croydon,  going  there 
first  in  1766  through  the  trackless  forest  from 
Massachusetts  with  three  other  explorers  to 
make  preparations  for  a  settlement,  for  which 
a  charter  had  been  granted  in  1763,  signed  by 
Governor  Benning  Wentworth.  Families 
were  removed  thither  and  homes  established  in 
1767.  The  story  is  told  that  at  one  stage  of 
their  journey  they  were  delayed  some  time  in 
building  a  raft  with  which  to  cross  the  river, 
and  while  doing  this  they  deposited  the  char- 
ter, which  they  had  brought  with  them,  in  a 
hollow  tree  for  safe  keeping.  When  at  length 
they  had  reached  the  other  side,  and  the  log 
raft  had  been  swept  away  by  the  force  of  the 
current,  they  discovered  that   the  charter  had 


been  left  behind.  A  pistareen  was  offered  to 
the  one  who  should  boldly  swim  the  stream 
and  return  with  the  precious  document,  and 
the  prize  was  won  by  the  pioneer  ancestor  of 
the  Powers  family. 

Ezekiel  Powers  was  a  man  of  resources  and 
mechanical  skill;  and  by  his  world-celebrated 
inventions,  the  sap-pan  and  the  side-hill 
plough,  he  was  made  rich  and  successful.  He 
fought  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  He 
died  at  his  home  in  Croydon,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
was  Hannah  Hall.  They  had  several  chil- 
dren. Major  Powers,  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  served  through  the  War  of 
181 2.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
His  wife,  Hanna  Melendy  Powers,  who  bore 
him   five  children,  died  at  fifty  years  of  age. 

Elias  Powers  was  born  in  Croydon,  and  dur- 
ing his  school  days  he  lived  upon  the  home 
farm.  He  became  a  civil  engineer,  and  sur- 
veyed the  whole  county.  Being  possessed  of 
large  general  information,  he  was  the  oracle  of 
the  neighborhood.  He  was  highly  esteemed, 
and  was  honored  with  election  to  various  posi- 
tions of  responsibility  and  trust,  as  that  of 
County  Commissioner  and  Selectman.  He 
took  great  interest  in  public  affairs,  was  an 
original  Free  Soiler  and  always  a  strong  par- 
tisan. He  married  Miss  White,  daughter  of 
Captain  James  White.  Her  father  was  born  in 
Newport,  N.H.,  and  was  formerly  a  Captain  of 
the  militia  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elias  Powers 
had  five  children,  namely:  Albina  IL,  ma- 
chinist and  a  fish  commissioner  of  New 
Hampshire,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years;  Myra  A.,  who  married  S.  H.  Bickford 
of  Fitchburg;  Abijah,  a  farmer  of  Croydon, 
residing  at  the  old  homestead;  Elias  F.,  who 
was  a  Sergeant-major  of  Company  I,  Four- 
teenth Regiment,  New  Hampshire  Volunteers, 
during  the  late  Civil  War,  and  died  of  pneu- 
monia at  the  age  of  nineteen;  and  Wilbur 
Howard.  The  mother  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four.  The  father  died  in  the  eighty- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

Wilbur  H.  Powers  spent  his  early  years  on 
his  father's  farm.  He  fitted  for  college  at 
Kimball  Academy,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1 87 1  ;  and  four  years  later  he  finished  his  course 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


601 


at  Dartmouth.  He  at  once  began  the  study  of 
law,  and  after  graduating  from  the  Boston  Law 
School  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1878.  He 
has  since  continued  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  the  city  of  Boston.  He  was  at  one 
time  associated  with  W.  B.  Tanner,  Attorney- 
General  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 

He  married  Emily,  daughter  of  Frederick 
L.  Owen,  a  farmer  of  Hanover,  N.H.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Powers  have  two  children  —  Walter 
and  Myra.  Since  1881  the  family  have  re- 
sided at  Hyde  Park. 

Mr.  Powers  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  was 
Representative  to  the  legislature  during  1890, 
1 89 1,  and  1S92,  and  has  been  Town  Solic- 
itor for  two  years.  He  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Republican  State  Committee  and  is  on  the 
Town  Committee,  of  which  he  has  been  chair- 
man; was  chairman  of  the  Executive  State 
Committee  and  Congressional  Committees; 
was  presidential  elector  and  secretary  of  the 
Electoral  College  in  1897.  As  chairman  of 
the  Park  Commissioners  of  Hyde  Park  he 
was  active  in  advocating  the  taking  of  Stony 
Brook  Reservation  for  a  public  park.  He  is  a 
member  of  Hyde  Park  Lodge,  F.  &  A.M.; 
of  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  of  the  Order 
of  the  Golden  Cross,  in  which  he  has  held  all 
the  offices  in  turn,  including  that  of  Gen- 
eral Counsel  for  the  United  States.  He  is 
a  Royal  Goodfellow,  and  has  been  at  the  head 
of  the  local  lodge;  and  he  was  sent  as  repre- 
sentative to  the  Grand  Lodge.  He  has  be- 
longed to  the  Waverly  Club  for  the  past  fifteen 
years,  was  made  president  of  the  club  in  1895, 
and  has  held  that  office  to  the  present  time. 
Mrs.  Powers  is  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Hyde  Park. 


/§> 


EORGE  F.  DEARBORN,  Lieuten- 
\  •)  I  ant  of  Police  in  Brookline,  was  born 
here,  July  22,  1840,  son  of  Isaac 
Dearborn.  His  grandfather,  John  Dearborn, 
was  born  and  bred  in  England.  In  early 
manhood  John  came  to  the  United  States, 
settling  in  Massachusetts,  where  he  spent  his 
last  days,  although  for  a  few  years  he  was  a 
resident  of  the  Granite  State. 

Isaac    Dearborn    was    born    in    New    Hamp- 
shire, and  was  brought  up  as  a  farmer's  son. 


When  about  sixteen  years  old  he  came  to 
Brookline,  and  for  some  years  worked  as  a 
farm  laborer.  Industrious  and  thrifty,  he  was 
able  in  a  few  years  to  buy  a  farm  in  the  part 
of  the  town  adjoining  Brighton,  where  he  was 
afterward  engaged  in  agriculture  for  forty  or 
more  years.  Selling  that  property  then,  he 
has  since  lived  retired  from  active  business  in 
Allston.  Now,  though  fourscore  and  four 
years  have  passed  over  his  head,  he  is  compar- 
atively hale  and  vigorous.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Susan  Coolidge,  was  the 
only  daughter  among  the  eight  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Coolidge,  of  Brookline. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years,  in 
1863,  leaving  four  children,  namely:  George 
E.  and  Charles  E. ;  Laura  F.,  the  wife  of 
Samuel  Davenport;  and  Susan  E.,  the  widow 
of  the  late  Edward  Leonard.  Both  parents 
were  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  in 
which  the  mother  was  for  many  years  the 
organist. 

George  F.  Dearborn  spent  his  early  years 
on  the  home  farm.  Having  finished  his 
studies  in  the  district  school,  he  became  a 
clerk  in  the  store  of  his  uncle,  at  what  is  now 
called  Coolidge's  Corner,  remaining  there 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  Rebellion. 
Then  he  enlisted  for  nine  months  in  the 
Eleventh  Massachusetts  Battery.  On  return- 
ing to  Brookline  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  he  resumed  work  in  the  store  and  on  the 
farm,  continuing  thus  engaged  until  1870. 
During  the  following  two  years  he  served  as 
patrolman  on  the  police  force,  and  from  1872 
until  1878  he  was  truant  officer.  In  that  year 
he  was  made  sergeant,  and  then  one  of  the 
mounted  policemen.  Afterward  he  served  in 
the  capacity  of  probation  officer  until  June, 
1880.  In  May,  1891,  he  was  appointed  a 
Lieutenant  of  Police,  in  which  position  he  has 
since  served  with  distinction.  He  has  seen 
many  important  changes  in  the  police  depart- 
ment of  the  town  government  since  he  entered 
the  service.  The  force,  which  now  numbers 
thirty-nine  men,  then  numbered  but  eight 
men,  all  told,  and  its  equipment  was  of  a 
meagre  character. 

In  politics  Lieutenant  Dearborn  has  been 
identified  with  the  Republican  party  since  he 
cast    his    first    Presidential    vote    in    i860    for 


6o2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Abraham  Lincoln.  He  takes  a  genuine  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  the  town  in  which  he  has 
spent  the  most  of  his  life,  and  which  since  his 
remembrance  has  increased  its  population 
more  than  fourfold.  He  is  an  active  member 
of  Beth-Horon  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  of 
Lomia  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ;  and  of  the  C.  L. 
Chandler  Post,  No.  145,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  also 
treasurer  of  the  Brookline  Police  Mutual  Aid 
Association.  In  November,  1874,  Lieutenant 
Dearborn  married  Arabella  M.  McGregor,  who 
was  born  in  Nova  Scotia,  where  her  father, 
James  McGregor,  was  a  tanner  for  many  years. 
She  is  a  most  agreeable  woman  to  meet  and 
a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church. 


RNOLD  ALLEN  JENCKES,  of 
Franklin,  Norfolk  County,  Mass., 
who  has  an  honorable  record  as  a 
soldier  in  the  late  war  for  the 
Union,  in  which  he  served  nearly  three  full 
years,  at  first  as  a  private  and  later  as  Ser- 
geant, and  who  has  since  been  a  patient  suf- 
ferer from  injuries  received  on  Southern  battle- 
fields, is  of  Rhode  Island  parentage,  birth, 
and  breeding,  a  native  of  Cumberland,  Provi- 
dence County,  and  is  connected  by  ties  of 
blood  and  marriage  with  not  a  few  of  the  old 
families  of  that  State. 

He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Daniel  Jenckes, 
who  married  Catherine  Balcom,  and  was  the 
first  bearing  this  surname  to  settle  at  Cumber- 
land, R. I.,  where  he  built  mills.  Daniel 
Jenckes  was  born  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1663, 
youngest  son  of  Joseph,  Sr.,  by  his  second 
wife,  he  having  come  to  Lynn  a  widower  in 
1643.  His  eldest  son,  Joseph,  Jr.,  whom  he 
left  in  England,  came  over  a  few  years  later, 
was  granted  land  at  Warwick,  R.I.,  in  1669, 
and  a  few  years  later  removed  to  Pawtucket. 
He  also  married  and  left  descendants.  (See 
New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Register, 
vol.  ix.)  Arnold  Jenckes,  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  and  life- 
long resident  of  Cumberland,  R.I. ,  where  he 
held  many  positions  of  public  trust.  He  was 
a  cooper  by  trade,  and  was  an  extensive 
landed  proprietor.  His  farm,  which  was  a 
mile  and    a   half   long  and   one   mile  wide,  is 


now  occupied  by  his  descendants,  and  known 
as  the  Jenckes  homestead.  Arnold  Jenckes 
was  a  Free  Mason.  He  married  for  his  first 
wife  a  daughter  of  Saul  Peck  and  for  his 
second  a  Miss  Ballou,  who  was  a  descendant 
of  original  settlers  of  the  Providence  Planta- 
tion. His  children  were:  Joel  P.,  Eliza, 
Harriet,  Arnold  Allen  (first),  Lois,  and  J. 
Lewis. 

Joel  P.  remained  at  the  homestead.  He 
married  first  Amelia  Tallent,  by  whom  he  had 
three  children  —  Alice,  Maria,  and  Frank; 
and  second,  Mary  Arnold,  who  survives  him, 
his  death  having  occurred  in  1883.  Alice 
married  Almon  Powers,  of  Attleboro,  Mass., 
a  carpenter,  who  died  in  Pawtucket,  R.I.,  leav- 
ing her  with  three  children.  Maria  married 
Omar  F.  Currier,  of  Cumberland,  and  settled 
at  Pawtucket,  where  he  is  proprietor  of  a  gen- 
eral store.  They  have  three  children.  Frank 
Jenckes  is  a  farmer  on  the  old  homestead. 
His  first  wife,  formerly  Miss  Whipple,  died 
soon  after  the  birth  of  their  one  child,  a  son; 
and  he  married  again. 

Eliza  Jenckes  married  Lewis  Ingalls,  a 
stone-cutter  of  Providence,  R.I.  About  1845 
they  removed  to  Augusta,  Ga.  They  had  four 
children  —  Harriet,  Adelaide,  Stephen  Ar- 
nold, and  Evelyn.  Adelaide  Ingalls  married 
a  Mr.  Averill,  who  was  drafted  into  the  Con- 
federate army,  was  taken  prisoner,  sent  North 
and  paroled,  and  became  an  editor  of  a  New 
York  paper.  Stephen  A.  Ingalls,  who  mar- 
ried in  Georgia,  enlisted  in  the  rebel  army, 
and  was  wounded  at  Fredericksburg.  Evelyn 
Ingalls  married  a  Mr.  Sykes,  who  also  was  a 
rebel  soldier.  Lewis  Ingalls,  the  father,  was 
drafted  into  the  rebel  army,  and  served  as 
guard  at  Andersonville  until  the  close  of  the 
war. 

Harriet  Jenckes  married  Lewis  Scott,  a 
farmer  of  Cumberland,  who  served  in  a  Rhode 
Island  battery  during  the  war.  They  had 
seven  children;  namely,  Lois,  Harriet  Jane, 
Oceanna,  Walter  Allen,  Mary  Emma,  Evelyn, 
and  Edwin.  Lois  Scott,  who  married  Wil- 
lard  Grant,  of  Cumberland,  and  after  his  death 
married  a  Mr.  Evans,  is  now  dead,  leaving  no 
children.  Harriet  Jane  Scott  married  Henry 
Ellis,  of  Cumberland,  and  is  now  a  widow 
with  three  children.      Oceanna  Scott   married 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


603 


Ferdinand  Pierce,  of  Franklin,  and  has  had 
two  children,  a  boy  and  a  girl.  Walter  Allen 
Scott  served  during  the  Civil  War  in  Com- 
pany F,  Twelfth  Rhode  Island  Infantry.  He 
married  Helen  May  Whipple,  settled  in  Provi- 
dence, R.I.,  and  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
J.  B.  Barnaby  &  Co.,  with  which  he  has  been 
connected  many  years.  He  has  had  four  chil- 
dren—  Walter,  Willie,  Gertrude,  and  Harold 
—  but  has  been  bereft  of  one,  Gertrude,  who 
died  in  September,  1897.  Mary  Emma  Scott, 
now  Mrs.  Cheatam,  of  Central  Falls,  R.I., 
has  one  child.  Evelyn  and  Edwin  Scott  are 
both  married  and  live  in  Pawtucket.  Edwin 
is  a  fine  musician,  and  belongs  to  the  Ameri- 
can Band. 

Lois  Jenckes  died  at  the  homestead  in  young 
womanhood. 

J.  Lewis,  who  was  a  stone-cutter,  died  in 
August,  18S3.  His  widow,  formerly  Lucy 
Darling,  of  Cumberland,  now  blind,  is  living 
in  Franklin  with  her  only  child,  Elizabeth, 
the  wife  of  Addison  Blake. 

Arnold  Allen  Jenckes,  first,  was,  like  his 
father,  Arnold  Jenckes,  a  farmer  and  cooper, 
and  a  resident  of  Cumberland,  R.I.,  all  his 
life.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  He  died 
February  13,  1S88.  His  wife,  Amy  Ann 
Alexander,  of  Cumberland,  a  descendant  of  the 
Narragansett  Indians,  died  April  22,  1883, 
aged  sixty  years.  Their  children  were:  Ar- 
nold Allen,  of  Franklin,  whose  name  stands 
at  the  head  of  this  family  record;  Josephine 
Maria;  Louisa  Evelyn  and  Ella  Frances,  both 
deceased;  Elmer  Ellsworth,  who  died  unmar- 
ried, February  19,   1885;  and  George  Ray. 

Josephine  Maria  Jenckes,  born  about  1857, 
married  James  Goldbourne,  an  Englishman,  and 
settled  in  Pawtucket,  R.I.,  where  he  has  been 
connected  for  many  years  with  the  Conant 
Thread  Works.  Seven  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  and  three  are  still  living. 

George  Ray  Jenckes,  born  in  March,  1864, 
resides  on  a  farm  at  Tower  Hill,  Cumber- 
land, R.I.,  and  is  not  married. 

Arnold  Allen  Jenckes,  of  Franklin,  eldest 
son  of  Arnold  Allen,  first,  and  Amy  A. 
(Alexander)  Jenckes,  was  born  in  Cumber- 
land, Providence  County,  R.I.,  March  2, 
1847,  and  grew  to  manhood  in  a  period 
marked    by    some     of    the    most    momentous 


events  in  the  history  of  our  country.  Lessons 
of  patriotism  in  the  days  that  soon  came  were 
learned  without  effort.  Text-books  were  early 
thrown  aside,  and  military  drill  took  the  place 
of  school-room  exercises.  In  the  history  of 
Franklin  Post,  No.  60,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which 
Mr.  Jenckes  is  a  comrade,  it  is  recorded  that 
he  enlisted  September  26,  1862,  in  his  six- 
teenth year,  at  Providence,  R.I.,  as  private  in 
Company  F,  Twelfth  Rhode  Island  Infantry; 
was  discharged  July  29,  1863;  re-enlistecl 
October  5,  1863,  at  Jamestown,  R.I.,  as  a 
private  in  Company  C,  Third  Rhode  Island 
Cavalry;  was  made  Sergeant  April  10,  1864; 
and  was  finally  discharged  after  the  close 
of  the  war  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1865.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Fred- 
ericksburg, Va.,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded,  December  13,  1862,  the  battle  of 
Camden,  La.,  and  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Red 
River  expedition. 

Mr.  Jenckes  is  a  Methodist  in  religion  and 
an  independent  Republican  in  politics.  He 
married  on  April  22,  1866,  Ruth  Electa 
Whipple,  of  Cumberland,  R.I.  A  few  years 
later  they  removed  to  Woonsocket,  R.I., 
whence  they  came  to  Franklin,  Mass.,  where 
they  purchased  the  house  in  which  they  now 
live. 

The  Whipple  family  came  to  this  country 
from  Scotland.  David  Whipple,  grandfather 
of  Mrs.  Jenckes,  married  Ruth  Weatherhead, 
a  native  of  Wales,  and  settled  in  Cumberland, 
R.I.  They  had  eight  children  —  Washington, 
Amy  Ann,  Sylvester  Kimpton,  John,  Mary, 
David  Olney,  Ruth  Jane,  and  Erastus  Ross . 

Washington  Whipple,  farmer,  married  Ade- 
line Ray,  of  Cumberland,  and  had  seven  chil- 
dren. The  four  now  living  are:  Melissa,  who 
married  Ferdinand  Jenckes,  of  Woonsocket, 
and  had  five  children;  Clarissa  A.,  who  mar- 
ried Leander  Jenckes,  of  Woonsocket,  and 
after  his  death  married  Barton  Wilcox,  of 
Scott  Hill,  Mass.;  Ruth  Adeline,  who  mar- 
ried Joseph  Burlingame,  of  Cumberland,  and 
had  two  children,  one  of  whom  is  now  living; 
and  Nathan,  who  married  a  Miss  Mason,  of 
Pawtucket,  and  is  a  wholesale  dealer  in  hay, 
grain,  and  produce  in  that  city.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Nathan  Whipple  had  three  children, 
only    one     of     whom     is    now    living.      Owen 


604 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Whipple  married  Sarah  Emma  Scott,  of  Cum- 
berland.    They  live  in  Pawtucket. 

Amy  Ann  Whipple  married  Otis  Clark,  of 
Cumberland,  who  died  in  1866,  leaving  her 
with  two  children  —  Ambrose  and  Betsy  —  two 
others  having  died  young.  She  still  lives  in 
Cumberland.  Her  son,  Ambrose  Clark,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Whipple,  of  Cumberland,  and  went 
West,  where  she  died,  leaving  no  children. 
Betsy  Clark  married  George  Clark,  a  farmer 
of  Cumberland,  and  has  three  children. 

John  Whipple  married  Marcelia  Lee,  of 
Slatersville,  R.I.,  and  died  in  May,  1879, 
leaving  no  children.  Mrs.  Whipple  is  still 
living  on  the  old  Whipple  homestead  at  Cum- 
berland. 

Mary  Whipple  married  a  German  named 
Miller.  They  settled  in  Portland,  Jay 
County,  Ind.,  where  he  was  a  very  successful 
farmer,  and  had  a  large  farm.  Five  children 
were  born  to  them,  and  four  are  now  living, 
and  all  married  and  settled  in  Portland.  The 
sons,  Alba  and  Sumner,  each  received  a  farm 
when  they  married.  The  daughter,  Amy,  who 
married  a  physician,  and  her  sister  Ada,  who 
married  a  farmer,  each  received  twelve  hun- 
dred dollars. 

David  Olney  Whipple  married  first  Mary 
Ann  Spade,  a  German,  and  settled  at  Port- 
land, Ind.  During  the  war  he  was  Captain 
in  an  Indiana  regiment,  and  received  injuries 
which  finally  caused  his  death.  His  first 
wife  left  one  child,  Ruth  Ann,  now  living; 
and  his  second  wife  is  survived  by  five  chil- 
dren. 

Ruth  Jane  Whipple  married  Sumner  Brown, 
a  stone-cutter,  and  lived  in  Cumberland. 
They  had  five  children,  two  of  whom,  Ida  and 
Erastus,  are  now  living.  Their  son  Alba  died 
at  thirty-two  years  of  age,  leaving  a  widow 
and  three  children;  and  David  Brown  died  in 
1894,  aged  forty-five.  Ida  Brown  is  the  wife 
of  James  Metcalf,  a  farmer,  of  Wrentham, 
Mass.  Four  of  their  seven  children  are  now 
living.  Erastus  Brown  is  married,  and 
settled  in  Saylesville,  R.I.  He  has  no  chil- 
dren, having  lost  two. 

Erastus  Ross  Whipple,  farmer  and  stone- 
cutter, married  Jane  Miller,  and  settled  at 
Portland,  Ind.  He  went  to  California  as  a 
forty-niner,    is  now  a  farmer  and   real   estate 


dealer,  and  a  rich  man.  His  only  child,  a 
daughter,  Mary,  died  when  she  was  eighteen 
years  old. 

Sylvester  Kimpton  Whipple,  third  child  of 
David  and  Ruth  Whipple,  and  father  of  Mrs. 
Jenckes,  was  born  March  20,  1S16,  and  died 
August  29,  1880.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
settled  in  Cumberland,  R.I.  His  wife,  Mary 
Amne  Jillson,  of  Cumberland,  was  a  descend- 
ant of  early  English  settlers  of  Rhode  Island. 
She  became  the  mother  of  five  children,  four 
of  whom  are  now  living;  namely,  Lewis  R., 
Ruth  Electa,  Ann  liliza,  and  Kllen  Jean- 
nette.  Lewis  R.  Whipple,  a  machinist,  born 
in  1844,  married  Helen  C.  Buxton,  of  Woon- 
socket,  where  they  still  live.  They  have  four 
children  —  Eddie  Lee,  Willie,  Bertha  Louise, 
and  Sarah  Augusta.  Ann  Eliza  Whipple 
married  Henry  Bartlett.  They  live  in  Cum- 
berland, and  have  no  children.  Ellen  Jean- 
nette  Whipple  married  Frank  I.  Bates,  a  car- 
penter, of  Valley  Flails,  R.I.,  now  in  busi- 
ness in  Lawrence,  Kan.  During  the  late 
war  he  was  a  soldier  in  Company  C,  Third 
Rhode  Island  Cavalry,  and  while  in  the  ser- 
vice received  injuries  from  which  he  is  still 
suffering.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bates  have  two  chil- 
dren—  Wild  Rose  and   Rolf  Star. 

Arnold  Allen  and  Ruth  F:iecta  (Whipple) 
Jenckes  have  one  child,  a  son,  Arthur  Mar- 
shall. He  was  born  August  28,  1872,  in 
Woonsocket,  R.I.,  is  a  hat-block  maker,  and 
resides  with  his  parents.  He  was  married 
July  2,  1895,  to  Miss  Kate  Lorena  Mathew- 
son,  born  June  22,  1872,  daughter  of  James 
Burrill  Mathewson,  of  Valley  Falls,  R.I.,  now 
living  in  Cheshire  Mills,  East  Jaffrey,  N.H. 
Mr.  Mathewson  was  born  in  1837,  and  is  a 
descendant  of  early  settlers  of  Rhode  Island. 
He  and  his  four  brothers  served  through  the 
late  Civil  War.  His  first  wife,  Katherine 
Falls,  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  died  leaving 
one  child,  a  daughter,  Sarah.  She  married 
John  Boak,  who  is  of  Scottish  descent:  and 
they  are  now  living  in  Providence.  Mr. 
Mathewson's  second  wife,  Eliza  Boak,  a  sister 
of  his  daughters  husband,  was  born  in  1850. 
She  died  in  1891,  having  had  these  children, 
namely :  Mary,  who  married  Everett  Petette, 
of  Saratoga,  N.Y.,  and  had  one  child,  Charles, 
unmarried,  who  was  drowned  at  twenty-seven; 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RFA'IKW 


605 


Willie,  who  died  young:  Kate  Lorena,  now 
Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Jenckes;  Annie,  who  married 
Seymour  H.  Austin,  a  blacksmith,  lives  at  East 
Jaffrey,  N.H.,  and  has  three  children;  Eliza, 
who  died  in  1897,  aged  nineteen;  Frances 
Gertrude,  who  is  housekeeper  for  her  father; 
Norris,  Tom,  Bennie,  Nelson,  and  James,  all 
living  at  home,  and  attending  school;  and 
Waity,  who  died  young. 

Arthur  Marshall  Jenckes  is  First  Sergeant 
of  General  William  F.  Draper  Camp,  No.  44, 
Sons  of  Veterans,  of  Franklin. 


YJ2)TON.  WILLARD  F.  GLEASON,  a 
I  r,'  I  representative  citizen  of  Holbrook, 
|ig  I  member  of  the  firm  of  Nye  &  Glea- 

^— ^  son,  Brockton,  Mass.,  dealers  in 
bay  and  grain,  was  born  in  Hubbardston,  this 
State,  on  December  24,  1847,  son  of  Deacon 
Andrew  and  Celia  (Harwood)  Gleason.  His 
grandfather  Gleason  and  his  great-grandfather 
Gleason  were  both  soldiers  in  the  Revolution, 
and  fought  side  by  side  at  Lexington.  Dea- 
con Andrew  Gleason  was  a  native  of  Worces- 
ter; and  his  wife  was  a  native  of  Barre,  Mass. 
The  Deacon  was  a  leading  and  successful  agri- 
culturist, and  was  a  very  prominent  citizen  of 
Hubbardston,  where  he  served  as  Selectman 
and  in  various  other  town  offices. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  Willard  Gleason 
were  spent  on  his  father's  farm  in  Hubbards- 
ton. He  attended  the  common  schools  and 
the  high  school  in  that  town,  and  subsequently 
was  graduated  from  Franklin  Academy  at 
Shelburne  Falls.  He  came  to  Holbrook  in 
1872,  and  engaged  in  the  express  business  and 
in  the  business  of  shipping  hay.  He  contin- 
ued this  until  February,  1896,  when  he  be- 
came a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Nye  &  Gleason, 
of  Brockton.  This  firm,  which  carries  on 
business  at  Freight  Yard  Square,  is  looked 
upon  as  entirely  trustworthy;  and  its  honor- 
able and  prompt  methods  of  dealing  with  cus- 
tomers have  secured  a  large  list  of  patrons. 

Mr.  Gleason  has  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  public  interests  in  Holbrook,  and  has 
filled  various  official  positions  with  credit  to 
himself  and  in  a  manner  highly  satisfactory 
to  his  townsmen.  F"or  nine  years  he  was  Se- 
lectman   of    Holbrook    and    for   much    of    that 


time  chairman  of  the  board;  and  for  nine 
years,  also,  he  was  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Water  Commissioners.  He  was  one  of  the 
active  promoters  of  the  water-works  system  ; 
and,  while  in  the  legislature,  he  introduced 
a  bill  which  secured  the  franchise  for  the  Hol- 
brook Water  Works.  He  was  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts House  of  Representatives  in  1885 
and  1SS8,  member  from  Holbrook  and  Brain- 
tree;  and  in  1890  he  was  State  Senator  from 
the  First  Norfolk  District,  and  chairman  of 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Public  Charities, 
and  member  of  other  committees. 

Mr.  Gleason  married  Hattie  A.  Reynolds, 
of  Barre,  Mass.,  and  resides  on  Plymouth 
Street,  Holbrook.  Enterprising  and  progres- 
sive, he  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the 
organization  of  the  Holbrook  Co-operative 
Hank,  and  is  now  vice-president  of  the  bank 
and  one  of  its  directors.  He  is  sincerely  re- 
spected by  his  fellow-townsmen  on  account  of 
his  ability  and  success  as  a  business  man,  but 
more  for  his  high  personal  character  and 
worth. 


T^ /ALTER  L.  PALMER,  an  energetic 
\)5\/  business  man  of  Medway  and  for- 
'"*>  **">  merly  a  member  of  the  Connecticut 
legislature,  was  born  in  Plainfield,  Conn., 
April  23,  1X57,  son  of  Walter  and  Hannah 
(Shepard)  Palmer.  His  parents  are  natives  of 
Plainfield,  in  which  town  his  father  is  now 
a  prosperous  farmer.  They  have  had  three 
children,  namely:  Walter  L.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch ;  Margaret,  wife  of  Jason  P.  La- 
throp,  of  Plainfield;  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Herbert  Gallop,  of  Oneco,  Conn. 

Walter  L.  Palmer  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  at  Plainfield  Academy. 
When  about  twenty-three  years  old  he  went 
to  Turner's  F"alls,  Mass.,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  hardware  and  coal  business  for 
over  two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
removed  to  Central  Village,  Conn.,  where  for 
the  succeeding  three  years  he  kept  a  country 
store,  being  also  engaged  in  the  undertaking 
business.  In  June,  1886,  he  came  to  Medway  ; 
and  he  established  himself  in  the  coal,  wood, 
grain,  and  teaming  business,  having  centrally 
located   quarters  near  the  depot.      He  also  still 


6o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


carries  on  an  undertaking  business.  In  poli- 
tics a  Democrat,  he  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Connecticut  legislature  in  1885  and  1886. 
He  is  at  the  present  time  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  of  Medway,  having  previ- 
ously been  a  Road  Surveyor. 

In  February,  1881,  Mr.  Palmer  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Ella  Frances  Witter,  his 
first  wife.  She  was  a  native  of  Packerville, 
Conn.,  and  a  daughter  of  Amos  and  Mary 
Witter,  the  former  of  whom  is  no  longer  liv- 
ing, the  latter  being  a  resident  of  Medway. 
Mr.  Palmer's  first  wife  died  September  26, 
1888;  and  on  February  22,  1893,  he  married 
Harriet  W.  Cary,  of  Medway,  daughter  of 
William  H.  and  Maria  B.  (White)  Cary,  resi- 
dents of  this  town. 

Mr.  Palmer  is  a  member  of  Moosup  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Plainfield,  and  of  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen  of  Medway. 
Since  locating  here,  he  has  built  up  a  good, 
profitable  business,  and  has  gained  the  esteem 
and  good  will  of  the  entire  community. 


/  3|TeORGE  W.  HARTSHORN,  a  mason 
\  '*>  I  by  trade  and  a  well-known  resident 
^—  of  Foxboro,  was  born  July  10,  1846, 
in  North  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  son  of  George 
Hartshorn.  His  grandfather,  Seth  Harts- 
horn, who  was  a  stone-cutter,  spent  the  larger 
part  of  his  long  life  in  Foxboro.  Seth  mar- 
ried Lydia  Paddock,  who  bore  him  five  chil- 
dren—  Gilbert,  George,  Mary,  Julia,  and 
Walter — of  whom  Julia  is  the  only  survivor. 
George  Hartshorn,  born  and  reared  in 
Brockton,  when  a  young  man  learned  the  shoe- 
maker's trade,  which  he  made  his  principal 
occupation  through  life.  In  1862  he  enlisted 
in  the  Forty-seventh  Massachusetts  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  during  the  campaign  of  General 
N.  P.  Banks  in  the  late  war  was  stationed  at 
New  Orleans.  While  there  he  contracted  dis- 
ease from  exposure,  and  died  about  a  year 
after  leaving  home.  On  October  8,  1845,  he 
married  Miss  Seraphine  D.  Alexander.  By 
her  he  became  the  father  of  four  children, 
namely:  George  W. ,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Flora  C,  now  the  wife  of  John  Tol- 
man,  residing  in  Springfield,  Mass.  ;  Hattie 
A.,  who   is  the  wife  of  Royal   J.    Packard,  of 


this  town,  and  has  six  children  —  Mernie, 
Hattie  (who  died  in  infancy),  Bessie,  Freddie, 
Roy,  and  Willie  T.  ;  and  Arthur  J.,  a  cloth- 
ing merchant  in  Foxboro,  who  married  Fannie 
Williams,  and  has  one  child,  Jesse. 

George  W.  Hartshorn  acquired  a  good  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools.  He  began  to 
earn  his  living  in  a  hoop-skirt  factory,  where 
he  was  employed  until  after  the  breaking  out 
of  the  late  war.  On  August  15,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  the  Seventh  Rhode  Island  Volunteer 
Infantry,  on  his  enlistment  giving  his  age 
as  nearly  nineteen  years.  He  subsequently 
served  until  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  being 
mustered  out  June  9,  1865,  at  New  Alexan- 
dria, Va.  He  experienced  the  hardships  and 
exposures  of  army  life,  and  was  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  thirteen  of  the  important  engage- 
ments. At  Jackson,  Miss.,  he  was  wounded 
in  the  foot.  On  returning  to  Massachusetts 
he  learned  the  mason's  trade,  which  he  has 
since  followed  successfully  in  Foxboro,  being 
an  expert  workman,  and  well  qualified  to  per- 
form labor  requiring  skill  and  neatness. 

In  1870  Mr.  Hartshorn  married  Miss  Mari- 
etta Brigham,  who  died  August  9,  1885.  His 
children  by  her  were:  Etta  May,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Effie  Geneva,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
George  Wilber,  of  this  town,  and  has  one 
child,  Georgie;  Jennie,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  nine  years;  Sadie  F.  ;  and  Mary  O.  A 
subsequent  marriage  performed  September  29, 
1885,  united  him  to  Miss  Hannah  A.  Purdy, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Purdy.  In  politics  he 
is  a  sound  Republican.  While  in  the  army 
he  cast  his  first  vote  for  President,  giving  it  to 
George  B.  McClellan  in  1864.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  E.  P.  Carpenter  Post,  No.  91, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  Foxboro,  and  is  likewise  a  mem- 
ber of  the  A.  P.  A. 


m 


NSMAN  SAWYER,  the  popular 
Postmaster  of  Wellesley,  is  a  native 
of  North  Yarmouth,  Me.,  born  in 
1850,  a  son  of  L.  W.  and  Sarah  K. 
(Maxfield)  Sawyer.  The  first  representative 
of  the  family  in  this  country  settled  in  Maine 
as  early  as  1620  or  1622,  in  which  latter  year 
the  first  permanent  settlement  was  made;  and 
most  of  their  descendants  have  resided  in  that 


GEORGE    \V.    HARTSHORN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


609 


State.  Mr.  Sawyer's  father,  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, died  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1892. 
His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Reuben  and 
Lucy  Maxfield,  of  North  Yarmouth,  Me. 

R.  Kinsman  Sawyer  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  town  and  in 
the  famous  Kimball  Union  Academy  of  Meri- 
den,  N.IL,  where  he  fitted  for  college.  He 
matriculated- at  Dartmouth  College,  but  was 
subsequently  obliged  to  discontinue  his 
studies  there  on  account  of  poor  health. 
Shortly  afterward  he  went  to  New  Jersey, 
where  he  was  employed  for  some  time  in  the 
State  Reform  School  as  instructor.  Later  he 
came  to  Wellesley,  and  worked  some  time  for 
Mr.  Durant,  having  charge  of  the  improve- 
ments then  being  made  on  what  are  now  the 
college  grounds.  Then  for  five  years,  from 
1S80  to  1885,  he  was  superintendent  of  Stone 
Hall  and  other  college  buildings.  In  18S6 
he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at  Wellesley  by 
President  Cleveland;  and  he  was  reappointed 
to  the  same  office  by  President  Harrison,  and 
again  reappointed  by  President  Cleveland  dur- 
ing his  second  term.  In  1886  he  served  the 
town  as  Selectman.  Mr.  Sawyer  has  done 
quite  a  business  in  real  estate,  and  has  built  a 
number  of  houses  in  Wellesley.  He  is  ac- 
tively interested  in  the  business  and  life  of 
the  town  and  in  its  general  welfare.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  order  and  of  other 
secret  societies,  belonging  to  the  Blue  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Natick;  Parker  Royal  Arch 
Chapter  of  Natick  and  Natick  Commandery; 
Sincerity  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  which  he  is 
Past  Grand,  having  also  represented  it  in  the 
Grand  Lodge;  and  to  Natick  Council,  Royal 
Arcanum.  He  is  a  Warden  and  the  treasurer 
of  St.  Andrew's  Episcopal  Church.  In  1879 
Mr.  Sawyer  was  united  in  marriage  with  E. 
Ellen,  daughter  of  William  Flagg,  Esq.,  of 
Wellesley. 


§OSHUA   F.    LEWIS,    M.D.,    of    Hyde 
Park,  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Indoor 
Poor  of  the  State  Board  of  Lunacy  and 
Charity,    was    born    in    Provincetown, 
Mass.,  February  19,  1855,  son  of  Joshua  and 
Mary    (Avery)    Lewis.       The    family    claims 
descent   from    Oliver  Cromwell;    and    its   first 


American  progenitor  settled  in  Barnstable 
County,  Massachusetts,  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Dr.  Lewis's  great-grandfather  was 
an  officer  in  the  British  army,  and  served  in 
America  during  the  Revolutionary  War. 
George  Lewis,  the  grandfather,  was  born  in 
Truro,  Mass.,  and  was  engaged  in  the  fishing 
business,  controlling  a  large  fleet  of  vessels 
throughout  the  active  period  of  his  life.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His  son  Joshua, 
father  of  Dr.  Lewis,  was  also  born  in  Truro, 
and  when  a  young  man  engaged  in  his  father's 
business,  which  he  followed  for  many  years. 
He  was  favorably  known  along  the  Cape  Cod 
shore  as  an  upright  man  and  reliable  citizen; 
and  he  was  prominently  identified  with  public 
affairs,  serving  as  Selectman,  Assessor,  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor,  and  Highway  Surveyor.  In 
politics  he  was  in  his  earlier  years  a  Whig 
and  later  a  Republican.  His  wife,  Mary,  was 
a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Betsy  Avery,  of 
Truro,  her  father  being  a  master  mariner. 
She  became  the  mother  of  eight  children,  six 
of  whom  attained  maturity,  and  four  are  now 
living;  namely,  George  W. ,  Joshua  F. ,  Anna 
W.,  and  Lawrence  B.  Those  deceased  are: 
Etta,  who  married  L.  H.  Richards,  Deputy 
Sheriff  of  Middlesex  County,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  forty-four;  and  Ida  F.,  a  school  teacher 
who  died  unmarried,  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
years.  The  father  died  in  1883,  aged  sixty- 
eight  years;  and  the  mother  lived  to  the  age 
of  seventy-two.  Both  parents  were  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  the  father 
serving  as  steward  and  clerk  of  the  society  for 
a  number  of  years. 

Joshua  F.  Lewis  remained  at  home  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  at 
which  time  he  went  to  reside  in  Ware,  Hamp- 
shire County,  Mass.  He  fitted  for  his  col- 
legiate course  at  the  Wesleyan  Academy,  and 
was  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1879. 
Returning  to  Cape  Cod,  he  taught  school  for 
two  years  in  Dennis.  Subsequently  he  be- 
came principal  of  the  Whitman  School  at 
Brockton,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  three 
years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  secretary  at  the  Re- 
publican headquarters  in  Boston.  He  was 
also  principal  of  an  evening  school  in  Maiden 
for  six  years,  during  which   time   he  pursued 


6io 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


his  medical  .studies,  and  was  graduated  at  the 
Harvard  University  Medical  School  with  the 
class  of  1887.  On  June  15  of  that  year,  after 
successfully  passing  a  competitive  examina- 
tion, he  was  appointed  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent of  Indoor  Poor  of  the  State  Board  of 
Lunacy  and  Charity,  a  position  which  he  has 
since  retained.  (His  duties  require  him  to 
visit  monthly  each  of  the  eight  State  asylums, 
in  order  to  personally  interview  the  patients 
therein  confined,  ascertain  where  they  belong 
and  if  legally  settled  in  Massachusetts,  and 
also  to  arrange  for  the  deportation  of  those 
who  belong  in  foreign  countries.)  In  this 
particular  department  of  the  public  service  he 
has  become  recognized  as  an  expert,  and  has 
testified  in  many  law  cases  bearing  upon  the 
subject.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican. 
He  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  School 
Board  of  Maiden,  but  resigned  upon  his  re- 
moval to  Hyde  Park  in  1890.  Since  1892  he 
has  served  in  a  like  capacity  in  this  town,  and 
is  now  chairman  of  the  board. 

On  June  26,  1887,  Dr.  Lewis  was  united  in 
marriage  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  with  Madeline 
S.  Howes,  who  was  born  in  Dennis,  Barn- 
stable County,  Mass.,  daughter  of  Barzillia 
H.  and  Rebecca  (Carlow)  Howes.  Her 
father,  who  was  a  sea  captain,  circumnavi- 
gated the  globe  several  times  while  in  the 
exercise  of  his  calling.  He  is  now  sixty-four 
years  old,  and  a  resident  of  Hyde  Park.  Her 
mother  is  also  living.  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Howes  have  two  daughters,  the  other  being 
Eliza  H.,  who  married  Charles  R.  Peto. 
Mrs.  Lewis  has  had  three  children,  two  of 
whom  are  living — Lena  S.  and  Etta  R. 

Dr.  Lewis  belongs  to  Allon  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  the  Good  Fellows,  the  Waverly 
Club,  and  the  Republican  Town  Committee. 
He  attends  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
of  which  Mrs.  Lewis  is  a  member. 


estc 


jOBERT  CRAIG,  for  many  years  one 
the  best  known  and  most  highly 
teemed  business  men  of  Quincy, 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  Bristol, 
Dumfriesshire,  Scotland,  March  18,  1821. 
Left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  he  received 
little  or  no  schooling,  being  apprenticed  to  a 


stone-cutter  when  a  mere  boy.  He  became, 
however,  a  master  workman,  an  expert  at  every 
branch  of  the  trade,  but  especially  at  carving, 
of  which  he  subsequently  made  a  specialty. 
While  still  a  young  man  he  enlisted  in  the 
British  army,  and  went  to  Gibraltar,  where  he 
served  for  some  time.  In  1850  he  came  to 
America,  settling  in  Quincy,  Mass.  His  first 
work  here  was  on  Minot's  Ledge  Light-house, 
and  for  several  years  subsequently  he  followed 
his  trade  as  a  journeyman  in  this  town.  He 
finally  engaged  in  monumental  work  in 
Quincy,  in  company  with  his  three  eldest 
sons,  with  whom  he  continued  in  business 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
April  6,  1884,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years. 
He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  politics  of 
this  country,  became  an  American  citizen, 
and  voted  the  Republican  ticket  at  State  and 
national  elections,  but  acted  independently  of 
party  affiliations  in  local  affairs.  Intelligent 
and  ambitious,  he  made  up  for  his  lack  of 
schooling  by  extended  reading  and  habits  of 
close  observation,  and  succeeded  ultimately 
in  acquiring  a  very  respectable  education. 
He  married  Janet  Smith,  daughter  of  William 
Smith,  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  by  her  had 
twelve  children- — -John,  William  W.,  Isabel, 
Robert  A.,  James,  Janet,  George,  Angus, 
Charles,  Walter,  Arthur,  and  Frank.  The 
mother  is  still  a  resident  of  Quincy,  where 
she  has  many  friends  and  is  widely  respected. 


DGAR  F.  DRAKE,  a  prosperous  dairy- 
man and  market  gardener  of  Sharon, 
was  born  in  this  town,  November 
25,  1851,  son  of  Asahel  and  Mary  E.  (John- 
son) Drake.  His  grandfather,  Ziba  Drake, 
of  Sharon,  one  of  the  stirring  farmers  of  his 
day,  took  an  active  part  in  public  affairs, 
serving  as  a  Selectman,  representing  Sharon 
in  the  legislature.  Ziba's  death  occurred  in 
1852.  He  married  Mary  Smith,  of  Canton, 
Mass.,  and  by  her  became  the  father  of  five 
children,  of  whom  one  died  in  infancy.  The 
others  were:  Tisdale,  Hannah,  Andrew,  and 
Asahel. 

Asahel  Drake  was  born  in  Sharon,  July  4, 
1 8 10.  From  his  youth  he  followed  agricult- 
ure in  his  native  town.      He  was  also  an  ex- 


BIOGRAPHICALb[REVIEW 


tensive  cattle  dealer.  Prominent  in  political 
affairs,  he  served  with  ability  on  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
i860.  He  died  January  21,  1888.  On  April 
22,  1836,  he  married  Patience  Gannett,  who, 
born  in  Sharon,  September  10,  1815,  died 
January  24,  1845.  Of  that  union  were  born 
two  children:  Alary  A.,  on  January  ig,  1837, 
who  married  Benjamin  Drake,  of  Stoughton, 
Mass.;  and  Hannah  A.,  on  June  21,  1839, 
who  died  October  21,  1843.  Mary  E.  John- 
son Drake,  Asahel's  second  wife,  whom  he 
wedded  on  November  6,  1848,  was  born  in 
Boston.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Otis  and 
Edna  (Hill)  Johnson,  the  former  of  whom  was 
a  native  of  Sharon,  and  his  wife,  of  Nashua, 
N.H.  Otis  Johnson,  after  many  years  spent 
in  the  business  of  grain  dealer  in  Boston,  on 
account  of  failing  health  retired  to  a  farm  in 
his  native  town.  He  served  as  a  Selectman 
for  twenty-nine  years,  and  was  Town  Treas- 
urer for  some  time.  Otis  and  Edna  Johnson 
reared  two  daughters —  Edna  R.  and  Mary  E. 
Asahel  Drake's  children  by  his  second  wife 
were:  Ellis  O.,  born  August  29,  1849;  Edgar 
F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Lizzie 
M.,  born  December  13,  1857,  who  died  De- 
cember 30,  1875.  Ellis  O.,  who  is  a  manu- 
facturer of  steam  heaters  in  Gardner,  Mass., 
and  the  Postmaster  of  that  town,  married 
Emily  A.  Partridge,  and  has  had  three  chil- 
dren—  Lizzie  M.,  Bertha  E.  (now  deceased), 
and  Harold  E.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Drake  died 
June  10,  1889. 

Edgar  F.  Drake  began  his  education  in  the 
common  schools,  and  attended  a  private  school 
for  four  years.  When  seventeen  years  old  he 
became  a  clerk  in  a  store.  A  short  time  later 
he  engaged  in  the  milk  business,  which  he 
subsequently  followed  for  five  years.  After- 
ward for  three  years  he  was  associated  with 
his  brother  in  carrying  on  a  general  store  in 
Winchendon,  Mass.  Since  his  return  to 
Sharon  at  the  end  of  that  time,  he  has  been 
engaged  in  his  present  business.  On  his 
seventy  acres  of  fertile  land  he  keeps  a  dairy, 
raises  garden  truck  for  the  Stoughton  and 
Canton  markets,  and  has  a  large  greenhouse. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  he  has 
served   upon  the  School   Board  and  as  Town 


Auditor.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen  of  Sharon,  and  of 
the  grange  in  Stoughton. 

On  March  20,  1887,  Mr.  Drake  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Eliza  J.  W.  Berry.  She  was 
born  in  Boston,  October  20,  1858,  daughter  of 
Clark  T.  and  Betsey  M.  (Trickey)  Berry.  Her 
father,  who  was  an  expressman,  died  March  6, 
1897;  and  his  wife  died  in  January,  1872. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Drake  have  two  children:  Edna 
F. ,  born  December  7,  1892;  and  Asahel  E., 
born  March  5,  1895.  Mr.  Drake  has  dis- 
played an  energy  and  perseverance  which  fully 
merit  the  success  he  has  attained,  and  his 
industry  is  highly  commended  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen.  The  family  attend  the  Congrega- 
tional church. 


ENRY  W.  PICKERING,  a  prosper- 
ous dairyman  of  Bellingham  and  a 
veteran  of  the  Fourth  Regiment, 
Rhode  Island  Infantry,  was  born  in 
Woonsocket,  R.I. ,  November  9,  1840,  son  of 
Wiley  and  Susan  Blue  Pickering.  The 
father,  who  was  a  native  of  Blackstone,  Mass., 
was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  Woon- 
socket for  many  years  before  his  death.  The 
mother,  who  was  born  in  Burrville,  R.I.,  and 
is  now  residing  with  a  daughter  in  Provi- 
dence, has  six  children  living.  These  are: 
Vina,  the  wife  of  Wilton  Grant,  of  Woon- 
socket; Henry  W. ,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Almeda,  who  married  Alfred  Bartlett,  and 
resides  in  Woonsocket;  Frank  P.,  a  thriving 
farmer  in  Bellingham;  Ellen,  the  wife  of 
Albert  E.  Sweet,  of  Providence;  and  Arnold, 
who  also  resides  in  that  city.  The  others 
were:  Newton  R.  ;  Wesson  Wilder,  who  died 
in  California;  and  Nathaniel. 

Henry  W.  Pickering  attended  school  in  his 
native  town.  In  his  youth  he  worked  upon 
his  father's  farm,  and  was  also  employed  in 
mechanical  pursuits.  In  September,  1861, 
he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  E, 
Fourth  Rhode  Island  Infantry,  under  Colonel 
McCarty  and  Captain  Allen.  He  saw  a  great 
deal  of  active  service  in  New  Orleans,  North 
Carolina,  and  Virginia,  participating  in  many 
engagements,  including  those  of  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Black  Water,  and  Petersburg, 


6l2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  being  present  at  Appomattox  Court-house 
when  General  Lee  surrendered.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  July  13,  1865,  and  returned  to 
Woonsocket.  Later  he  bought  the  farm  of 
seventy-three  acres  in  Bellingham  where  he 
has  since  resided.  He  has  made  various  im- 
provements in  his  property,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  most  successful  dairy  farmers  in  the  town. 
Raising  vegetables  and  poultry  yields  him  a 
good  income,  and  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years  he  has  not  missed  a  single  daily  trip 
with  milk  to  Woonsocket.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  at  the  present  time  he  is  an 
Overseer  of  the  Poor  and  a  member  of  the 
School  Board.  He  is  connected  with  the 
Order  of  the  Golden  Cross  and  the  Patrons  of 
Husbandry,  and  is  a  comrade  of  Swift  Post, 
No.  9,  G.  A.  R. 

Mr.  Pickering  has  been  twice  married. 
His  first  marriage,  contracted  in  1868,  united 
him  to  Amelia  Wilcox,  of  Bellingham.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Jerold  O.  and  Phcebe 
(Harris)  Wilcox,  who  resided  in  Bellingham 
all  their  lives.  Mr.  Wilcox  was  a  well- 
known  manufacturer  of  rakes,  and  the  founder 
of  the  village  of  Rakeville,  R.I.  Mrs. 
Amelia  Pickering  died  June  25,  1871,  leaving 
one  daughter,  Amelia,  who  married  George 
Grant,  a  master  mechanic  at  the  Eagle  Mill, 
Woonsocket.  In  December,  1872,  Mr.  Pick- 
ering married  Caroline  Fenton,  of  New  York. 
Her  parents,  Rossman  and  Elvira  (Snell) 
Fenton,  are  now  deceased.  She  is  the  mother 
of  four  children  —  Florence,  Nathaniel,  Ger- 
trude, and  Mary.  Florence  is  now  the  wife 
of  Cumfort  Sidley,  of  Woonsocket.  The 
other  children  reside  with  their  parents. 


LIVER  HUNT  HOWE,  M.D.,  of 
Cohasset,  was  born  in  Dedham,  Mass., 
May  29,  i860.  A  son  of  Elijah  and 
Julia  A.  (Hunt)  Howe,  he  is  of  the 
ninth  generation  of  Howes  in  this  country. 
The  name  was  originally  spelled  How.  The 
Doctor's  immigrant  ancestor,  Abraham  How, 
was  made  a  freeman  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  in 
1638.  From  Abraham  the  line  is  traced 
through  Isaac,  Isaac  (second),  Thomas, 
Thomas  (second),  Thomas  (third),  Elijah, 
and  Elijah  (second),  the  last  named  being  Dr. 


Howe's  father.  Thomas  Howe,  the  Doctor's 
great-great-grandfather,  was  a  Revolutionary 
patriot. 

Oliver  Hunt  Howe  acquired  the  rudiments 
of  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Ded- 
ham. He  graduated  from  the  Medical  School 
of  Harvard  University  in  1886.  For  a  year 
and  a  half  he  was  house  surgeon  in  the  Boston 
City  Hospital,  and  he  was  later  assistant  to 
the  superintendent  of  the  hospital.  Since 
1887,  when  he  entered  upon  his  profession  in 
Cohasset,  he  has  built  up  a  large  and  success- 
ful practice.  He  is  a  skilful  surgeon  and 
thoroughly  in  touch  with  modern  progress  in 
medicine.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society,  the  Massachusetts 
Medico-Legal  Society,  and  the  Massachusetts 
Association  of  Boards  of  Health;  and  he  is 
the  medical  examiner  for  the  district  of  Co- 
hasset and  physician  to  the  Board  of  Health 
in  this  town. 

In  1889  Dr.  Howe  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Martha  Dresser  Paul,  daughter  of  Eben- 
ezer  and  Susan  (Dresser)  Paul.  Two  children 
have  blessed  the  union  —  Paul  and  Julian 
Cheever.  In  politics  Dr.  Howe  is  a  Repub- 
lican. He  is  a  Mason  of  Konohasset  Lodge  of 
Cohasset  and  a  member  of  the  Second  Con- 
gregational Church  in  this  town. 


DpRANKLIN  PORTER,  for  thirty  years 
r*|  a  prosperous  druggist  and  apothecary 
-*-  of  Randolph,  was  born  in  Braintree, 
Mass.,  October  14,  1836.  His  parents  were 
Ira  and  Eulalia  (Belcher)  Porter,  the  former 
of  whom  was  a  native  of  North  Bridgewater, 
Mass.,  and  the  latter  of  Randolph.  Mr. 
Porter's  uncle,  Isaac  Porter,  served  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  drum- 
mer on  board  the  United  States  frigate  "Ches- 
apeake" at  the  time  of  her  encounter  with  the 
British  frigate  "Shannon."  Ira  Porter,  father 
of  Franklin,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  did 
quite  an  extensive  contracting  and  building 
business  in  Randolph  and  the  vicinity. 

Franklin  Porter  obtained  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  Randolph  and  at  the 
Stetson  High  School.  At  the  age  of  thirteen, 
while  attending  school,  he  began  to  work  morn- 
ings and  evenings  in  the  drug  store  of  Zenas 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


6<3 


Snow,  which  occupation  he  continued  until 
finishing  his  education.  When  seventeen 
years  old  he  secured  a  position  in  Boston  as 
clerk  for  Alvah  Littlefield,  who  at  that  time 
kept  a  pharmacy  under  the  United  States 
Hotel,  and  with  whom  he  remained  several 
years.  Upon  his  return  to  Randolph  he  went 
to  work  as  clerk  for  Benjamin  Dickerman,  and 
later  became  associated  with  him  as  a  partner. 
He  eventually  became  sole  proprietor  of  the 
business  by  purchasing  Mr.  Dickerman's  in- 
terest, and  has  since  been  very  successful. 
He  is  an  enterprising  citizen,  always  ready  to 
aid  in  the  introduction  of  public  improve- 
ments. In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  with  in- 
dependent proclivities.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the 
Knights  of  Honor,  and  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
and  is  very  popular  socially. 

November  25,  1862,  Mr.  Porter  married 
Eliza  R;  Woodman,  of  Randolph.  He  has 
two  children  living,  namely:  Abbie  Wood- 
man, born  in  Randolph,  July  16,  1864,  and 
now  Mrs.  William  H.  Farnsworth,  of  West- 
field,  Mass.;  and  Lee  H.,  born  in  Randolph, 
November  25,  1879,  and  now  a  student  at  the 
Chauncy  Hall  School,  Boston. 


NEWTON  THAYER,  a  prominent 
manufacturer  and  business  man  of  Hol- 
brook,  was  born  in  this  town,  Octo- 
ber 18,  1839,  son  of  Royal  and  Serena  A. 
(White)  Thayer.  The  Thayers  are  one  of  the 
old  families  of  Braintree,  Mass.,  where  Rich- 
ard Thayer,  immigrant,  was  admitted  a  free- 
man in  1640. 

Captain  Ezra  Thayer,  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  probably  the  first  man 
in  the  United  States  to  engage  in  the  manu- 
facture of  leather  shoe-strings,  establishing  in 
1838  in  East  Randolph  (now  Holbrook)  an  en- 
terprise of  this  kind,  which  he  conducted  for  a 
number  of  years  in  a  small  shop  that  stood  on 
the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  Winthrop  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  which  he  carried  on 
until  his  death  in  1856.  Gifted  musically,  he 
was  for  a  number  of  years  leader  of  the  choir 
of  the  Congregational  Church  of  East  Ran- 
dolph.     He  was  also  an  officer  in  the  militia. 

Royal  Thayer,  father  of  E.  Newton  Thayer, 


was  born  in  East  Randolph,  March  31,  1813. 
He  succeeded  his  father,  Captain  Ezra  Thayer, 
in  business,  and  enlarged  the  scope  of  the  en- 
terprise, adding  to  the  manufacture  of  shoe- 
strings a  profitable  trade  in  leather  remnants, 
from  which  were  sorted  the  pieces  of  kid  and 
calf  suitable  for  strings,  the  remainder  being 
sold  for  other  purposes.  The  work  was  at  first 
all  clone  by  hand,  machinery  not  being  intro- 
duced until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 
Royal  Thayer  was  a  thoroughly  capable  busi- 
ness man,  foresighted,  and  enterprising,  and  as 
a  natural  consequence  successful.  He  contin- 
ued to  carry  on  business  until  his_  death, 
which  occurred  July  13,  1889.  In  politics  he 
was  a  Republican.  He  was  actively  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  was  one 
of  the  promoters  of  the  present  town  of  Hol- 
brook, circulating  a  petition  to  have  it  set  off 
from  the  old  town  of  Randolph.  His  wife, 
who  also  was  a  native  of  East  Randolph,  born 
February  22,  1818,  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Simeon  and  Sarah  (Linfield)  White,  her 
father  being  a  prominent  citizen  of  this  town. 
She  was  the  mother  of  but  one  child,  E.  New- 
ton. Mrs.  Serena  A.  Thayer  died  December 
14,   1885. 

E.  Newton  Thayer  was  educated  in  public 
and  private  schools  in  his  native  town.  He 
first  obtained  employment  as  a  clerk  in  a  gen- 
eral store  in  East  Randolph,  a  position  which 
he  held  for  two  years.  About  1857  he  went 
to  work  for  his  father  in  the  factory;  and  two 
years  later  he  was  admitted  as  partner,  the 
firm  name  becoming  Royal  Thayer  &  Son. 
They  conducted  the  business  in  East  Ran- 
dolph till  1870,  when  they  removed  to  North 
Bridgewater  (now  Brockton),  where  they  re- 
mained until  1874.  They  then  returned  to 
Holbrook,  and  erected  the  factory  at  the  foot 
of  Maple  Hill  Avenue,  in  which  the  business 
is  now  carried  on  by  E.  Newton  Thayer,  suc- 
cessor to  Royal  Thayer  &  Son.  As  already 
stated,  the  work  was  at  first  done  by  hand,  even 
to  the  rolling  of  the  strings  on  a  board.  Sub- 
sequently the  superintendent  of  the  shop,  Mr. 
Smith,  invented  a  rolling  machine,  which  he 
patented  in  1866,  and  which  he  later  improved. 
In  1883  he  devised  a  machine  that  produces  a 
string  of  much  finer  finish  than  that  made  by 
the    old    machine,    which    it    has    superseded. 


6.4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  factory  turns  out  four  grades  of  strings, 
in  the  manufacture  of  which  both  men  and 
women  are  employed.  Mr.  Smith  has  also 
improved  the  cutting  machines  invented  by 
others.  The  superiority  of  his  machinery 
gives  Mr.  Thayer  an  advantage  over  most  of 
his  competitors  throughout  Norfolk  and 
Worcester  Counties,  to  which  the  shoe-string 
industry  is  principally  confined.  Mr.  Thayer 
is  a  capable  and  enterprising  business  man. 
He  was  one  of  the  promoters  and  organizers 
of  the  Holbrook  Co-operative  Bank,  which  he 
served  as  president  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
also  for  a  time  as  a  director. 

He  was  married  in  1865,  June  29,  to  Miss 
B.  Jane  Vining,  a  native  of  Holbrook,  born 
December  22,  1842,  daughter  of  Samuel  A. 
and  Eliza  Ann  (White)  Vining,  the  former  a 
prominent  boot  and  shoe  manufacturer  of  East 
Randolph,  now  Holbrook.  Mrs.  Thayer  has 
four  sisters:  Abbie  E.,  wife  of  R.  H.  Duncan, 
a  prominent  lawyer  of  Brooklyn,  N.Y. ;  Mary 
F.,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Perley  B.  Davis,  pastor 
of  the  Central  Congregational  Church  at 
Field's  Corner,  Dorchester,  Mass.;  Felicia, 
wife  of  Congressman  Elijah  A.  Morse,  of 
Canton,  Mass. ;  and  Ellen  W.,  who  married 
Elisha  Wales,  formerly  a  boot  and  shoe  manu- 
facturer of  Holbrook,  but  now  deceased.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Thayer  are  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren —  Mary  V.,  Wilson  D.,  Alfred  N.,  Hart- 
ley W.,  Charles  W.,  and  Royal  B.  Charles 
W.  died  at  the  age  of  nine  years.  Mr.  Thayer 
is  a  Republican  politically.  He  is  actively 
interested  in  town  affairs,  and  served  on  the 
Building  Committee  of  the  first  town  hall  of 
Holbrook,  and  also  on  the  Building  Commit- 
tee of  the  Franklin  School  in  this  town.  He 
ami  his  wife  and  children  are  members  of 
Winthrop  Congregational  Church. 


7T"tHARLES  H.  DEANS,  a  successful 
I  Sr-^  attorney-at-law  and  an  esteemed  resi- 
^^Hs  dent  of  Med  way,  was  born  in  Eas- 
ton,  Mass.,  May  2,  1832.  His 
parents,  Dr.  Samuel  and  Hannah  LeBaron 
(Wheaton)  Deans,  were  natives  respectively 
of  Eastford,  Conn.,  and  Easton.  Samuel 
Deans,  M.D.,  settled  in  the  latter  town  when 
a  young    man,    and    practised    his    profession 


there  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  in 
1873;  and  his  wife  died  in  January,  1881. 
Their  children  were:  George  Wheaton  Deans, 
a  lawyer  and  merchant,  who  died  in  Jackson- 
ville, Fla.,  in  1888;  Charlotte  and  Fidelia, 
both  of  whom  died  in  infancy:  Elizabeth,  also 
deceased,  who  was  a  teacher;  Charles  H.,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Anna  LeBaron, 
who  is  residing  in  Mansfield,  Mass. 

Charles  H.  Deans  was  fitted  for  college  at 
the  New  Hampton  (N.H.)  Literary  Institute, 
and  subsequently  studied  at  Brown  Univer- 
sity. He  read  law  in  Canton,  Mass.,  teaching 
school  while  pursuing  his  legal  studies;  and 
he  has  practised  law  in  Medway  since  1858. 
He  has  conducted  a  profitable  business,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  well-to-do  residents  of  the 
town.  A  Republican  in  politics,  he  has  ably 
contributed  to  the  success  of  his  party  in  this 
section  of  the  State.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  committee  appointed  to  raise  funds  for  the 
volunteers  of  Massachusetts  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  he  was  one  of  the  enrolment  com- 
missioners who  supervised  the  drafting  of 
levies.  He  was  Trial  Justice  for  twenty-one 
years;  a  member  of  the  School  Board  for 
twenty-three  years,  being  the  Superintendent 
of  Schools  for  a  part  of  that  period;  and  he 
has  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  nearly  forty 
years. 

In  1861  Mr.  Deans  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  M.  Harris,  a  native  of  Westboro, 
Mass.,  and  a  daughter  of  Rufus  and  Elvira 
(Goss)  Harris.  Mrs.  Deans's  father,  who  is 
no  longer  living,  was  a  real  estate  dealer  in 
Westboro.  Her  mother,  who  is  now  ninety- 
two  years  old,  and  resides  with  her,  is  un- 
usually bright  and  active  for  her  age.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Deans  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, namely:  Harris  Wheaton,  who  married 
Charlotte  Ellis,  of  Woburn,  Mass.,  and  is 
now  a  jeweller  in  Spencer,  Mass.  ;  Anna  Le- 
Baron, who  is  residing  in  Denver,  Col.,  for 
the  benefit  of  her  health;  Harriet  Elizabeth, 
the  wife  of  George  C.  Conn,  who  is  connected 
with  the  freight  department  of  the  Canada 
Pacific  Railroad,  and  resides  in  Woburn, 
Mass.  ;  Gertrude  A.,  a  teacher  in  the  Milford 
High  School;  and  Mary  Elvira,  who  lives  at 
home.  Both  parents  are  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational church. 


CHARLES    H.    DEANS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


617 


"IRAM  W.  PHILLIPS,  submarine 
diver,  residing  in  Quincy,  Mass., 
was  born  in  this  town,  May  9, 
1850,  a  son  of  Lemuel  Phillips. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Isaac  Phillips,  was 
a  resident  of  Weymouth,  Mass.  He  was  a 
mason  by  trade,  and  acquired  a  large  landed 
property,  being  engaged  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  active  years  in  laying  stone,  build- 
ing wharves,  and  kindred  work.  He  married 
Rhoda  Litchfield. 

Lemuel  Phillips  was  born  March  20,  1819, 
in  Weymouth,  and  in  his  earlier  manhood 
years  was  captain  of  the  vessels  he  employed 
in  the  business  of  freighting  stone  between 
Quincy  and  Boston.  In  1864  he  removed  to 
Pembroke,  Mass.,  where  he  has  since  devoted 
his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  married 
Betsey  Judkins,  of  Alton,  Me.,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  Judkins,  whose  wife's  maiden  name 
was  Cammel.  Of  the  eleven  children  born  of 
their  union  nine  grew  to  mature  years.  The 
record  is  as  follows:  George  L.,  of  Quincy; 
Adelaide,  wife  of  James  Trainor,  of  Wey- 
mouth; Susan,  who  was  killed  in  an  explo- 
sion; Lewis,  of  Pembroke;  Alice,  who  was 
killed  by  a  fall;  Loring,  of  Hanover,  Mass.; 
Hiram  W. ;  Betsey  J.,  wife  of  Marshall 
Wright,  of  Weymouth;  Annie,  who  married 
William  Gutterson,  of  Weymouth;  Edwin  P., 
of  Seattle,  Wash.  ;  and  Charles,  of  Pembroke, 
Mass. 

Hiram  W.  Phillips  received  a  practical 
common-school  education,  and  afterward 
worked  at  freighting  stone.  When  about 
nineteen  years  old  he  began  making  a  spe- 
cialty of  diving  under  water,  first  for  his  own 
amusement,  becoming  such  an  adept  in  this 
athletic  pursuit  that  in  the  course  of  two  years 
he  made  it  a  regular  business,  and  has  ever 
since  continued  submarine  diving.  He  is 
principally  engaged  in  building  foundations 
for  wharf  and  bridge  structures  under  water, 
blasting  rocks,  etc. ;  and  in  this  occupation  he 
has  probably  been  under  the  water  more  times 
than  any  other  one  man  in  this  section  of  the 
Union.  He  is  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  prominent  divers  in  New  England,  hav- 
ing labored  all  along  the  coast. 

Mr.  Phillips  is  a  Republican  in  his  politi- 
cal affiliations.     He  has  served  three  years  in 


the  City  Council,  in  which  he  was  on  the 
Committee  on  Sewers,  Drains,  and  Water 
Supply,  and  the  chairman  of  the  Legislative 
Committee.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of 
Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  married  January  2,  1876, 
to  Melvina,  daughter  of  William  Cargill,  of 
Cumberland,  R.I.  They  have  three  children  ; 
namely,  Harriet  M.,  Eva  D. ,  and  Elise  C. 


KRANK  H.  PORTER,  a  respected  citi- 
zen of  Wellesley,  where  he  is  engaged 
in  the  plumbing  business,  was  born  in 
Needham,  Mass.,  in  1856,  son  of  John  and 
Catharine  (Day)  Porter.  The  father  went  to 
California  in  1859,  and  remained  there  until 
a  short  time  before  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1878.  His  wife,  Catharine,  was  born  in 
London,  England,  a  daughter  of  Edward  Day, 
and  came  to  this  country  with  her  parents 
when  she  was  but  thirteen  years  old. 

Frank  H.  Porter,  at  the  age  of  six  years, 
went  to  reside  in  Lenox,  Mass. ;  and  he  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that  town. 
He  then  went  to  work  on  a  farm,  and  re- 
mained thus  engaged  until  1871,  when  he 
began  to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade.  After  a 
year  spent  in  carpentering  he  removed  to 
Pittsfield,  where  he  worked  at  tinning  and 
plumbing  for  Backus  &  Sons.  He  remained 
with  this  firm  six  years,  and  was  then  em- 
ployed for  a  time  by  John  Fealey  in  the  sand 
business.  In  1878  he  went  to  Boston,  where 
he  worked  a  year  for  Walker  &  Pratt,  stove 
manufacturers.  Subsequently  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Magee  Furnace  Company  for 
one  year.  In  1S81  he  came  to  Wellesley,  and 
went  into  the  plumbing  business,  in  1893 
forming  a  partnership  with  Joseph  Schellar, 
under  the  firm  name  of  F.  H.  Porter  &  Co. 
This  partnership  remained  intact  until  the 
fall  of  1S97,  when  Mr.  Porter  became  sole 
proprietor  of  the  business  which  he  conducts 
under  the  name  of  F.  H.  Porter.  His  spe- 
cialty is  plumbing  and  the  installation  of 
heating  apparatus.  He  also  carries  a  large 
general  stock  of  hardware. 

Mr.  Porter  is  a  member  of  the  local  fire 
company.  In  politics  he  is  a  strong  Re- 
publican.       He     belongs    to     Waban     Lodge, 


6i8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW   " 


A.  O.  U.  W. ;  to  Sincerity  Lodge,  No.  173, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  and  to  the  Manchester  Unity 
Saint  Mannacs  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  at  Welles- 
ley.  He  was  married  in  1878  to  Sarah,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Fells,  of  Newton 
Upper  Falls.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  have  two 
children:  Henry,  born  in  1880,  now  a  student 
at  the  Burdett  School  of  Boston;  and  Mary, 
born  in  1882,  who  attends  the  grammar 
school. 


'ILAS  G.  WILLIAMS,  late  a  re- 
spected resident  of  Wellesley  and  a 
son  of  Silas  and  Ellis  (Spaulding) 
Williams,  was  born  in  Plainfield, 
1 8 16.  The  father,  who  was  born  in 
Royalton,  Vt.,  there  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life,  serving  in  the  capacity  of  Town 
Clerk  for  over  thirty  years.  Afterward  he 
moved  to  Massachusetts,  and  went  into  the 
freight  business.  He  died  in  this  State  in 
1870.  Of  his  eight  children  three  are  now 
living  in  Newton  Lower  Falls. 

Silas  G.  Williams,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  withdrawn  from  the  public  schools 
in  Plainfield  when  he  was  seventeen  years  old. 
Then  he  went  to  VVinchendon,  Mass.,  and  ob- 
tained work  in  a  machine  shop  connected  with 
a  cotton  factory  there.  He  was  afterward  put 
in  charge  of  the  factory,  a  position  that  he 
held  for  several  years.  From  1843  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  engaged  in 
the  freight  business  at  Newton  Upper  Falls. 
At  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Bunker  Hill  monument  Mr.  Williams  fur- 
nished a  six-horse  conveyance,  carrying 
seventy -five  persons,  a  four-horse  conveyance 
carrying  fifty,  and  a  two-horse  wagon  driven 
by  himself,  accommodating  twenty-five,  the 
entire  party  going  to  hear  Daniel  Webster's 
great  oration.  During  the  war  he  was  a  re- 
cruiting officer  by  virtue  of  his  office  as  Se- 
lectman. After  the  war  he  went  into  the 
livery  business.  He  died  Saturday,  January 
8,  1898,  aged  eighty-one  years  and  nearly 
nine  months. 

Mr.  Williams  filled  several  public  offices, 
where  he  exercised  the  same  integrity  and  care 
which  he  practised  in  business.  He  served 
for  a  number  of  years  on  the  Board  of  Asses- 


sors and  in  the  capacity  of  Collector  of  Taxes 
in  Needham,  and  he  was  Selectman  there  for 
eight  years  and  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  for  several  years.  In  politics  he 
was  a  Democrat,  and  he  first  voted  in  the 
Presidential  election  of  1840.  He  attended 
the  Unitarian  church  at  Wellesley  Hills.  In 
1839  he  was  married  to  Nancy  C,  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  Caldwell,  of  Peterboro,  N.H. 
They  had  eight  children  —  Ellen  Augusta, 
Maria  Frances,  Eliza  Ellis,  Caroline  Warren, 
Jeanette  Webster,  Nancy  Caldwell,  Silas 
William,  and  Eva  Katharine.  Maria  Frances 
married  Jonathan  Felt;  Eliza  Ellis  married 
the  Rev.  Isaac  F.  Porter;  Jeanette  Webster 
died  in  1893;  Nancy  Caldwell  married  Arthur 
Waldo  Sweetser;  Silas  William  died  in  child- 
hood; and  Eva  Katharine  died  in  infancy. 


'TANLEY  A.  CLARK,  who  owns 
and  cultivates  a  productive  farm  in 
Millis,  is  a  native  of  Nova  Scotia, 
and  was  born  August  27,  1863. 
His  parents,  William  H.  and  Prudence 
(Reagh)  Clark,  were  natives  of  Wilmot,  N.S. 
The  father  was  engaged  in  agriculture  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1885.  His  first 
wife,  Prudence,  died  December  27,  1863. 
His  second  marriage  was  contracted  with 
Ceretha  Chute,  of  Wilmot,  who  is  still  resid- 
ing there.  Of  his  eleven  children,  all  by  his 
first  union,  eight  are  living,  namely:  Sarah, 
the  wife  of  Phineas  Whitman,  of  Nova  Scotia; 
Wallace  and  John,  who  are  residing  in  that 
province;  Henry,  Charles,  and  Thomas,  resi- 
dents of  Franklin,  Mass.;  Brenton,  who  lives 
in  Hyde  Park,  Mass.  ;  and  Stanley  A.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  The  others  were:  Mary, 
Isaac,  and  Gilbert. 

Stanley  A.  Clark  attended  the  common 
schools  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  resided  at  home 
until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He  then 
came  to  the  United  States,  and  settling  in 
Millis  was  here  employed  as  a  farm  assistant 
for  some  years.  After  his  marriage  his  father- 
in-law,  George  W.  Couth  ill,  bought  what 
is  known  as  the  Metcalf  farm,  containing  fifty- 
seven  acres,  which  Mr.  Clark  rents,  and  where 
he  carries  on  general  farming  with  gratifying 
success.     The  property  has  undergone  consid- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


619 


erable  improvement  since  it  came  into  his 
possession,  and  he  displays  an  energy  and  pro- 
gressive tendency  which  promise  well  for  his 
future  prosperity.  In  politics  he  acts  with 
the  Republican  party;  and,  though  not  desir- 
ous of  holding  office,  he  takes  an  earnest  in- 
terest in  the  administration  of  public  affairs. 
He  is  connected  with  the  Society  of  the  Home 
Circle. 

On  December  18,  1889,  Mr.  Clark  was 
joined  in  marriage  with  Jennie  M.  Couthill, 
who  was  born  in  New  York  City,  February 
12,  1867,  daughter  of  George  N.  and  Sarah 
(Sease)  Couthill.  The  former  is  a  native  of 
Coldstream,  Scotland;  and  the  latter  was  born 
in  New  York.  Mr.  Couthill  arrived  in  New 
York  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  and 
there  learned  the  machinist's  trade.  He  is 
now  employed  at  a  straw  factory  in  Franklin, 
Mass.  Mrs.  Clark  has  had  two  children: 
Mary  Esther,  born  July  2,  1892,  who  died 
March  4,  1893;  and  George  Nesbitt,  born  Au- 
gust 22,  1896.  Both  parents  are  members  of 
the  Baptist  church. 


ILLIAM  F.  DRUGAN,  the  chief 
of  police  in  Dedham,  was  born  July 
29,  1838,  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  son 
of  Joseph  Drugan.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
also  named  Joseph,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  Ireland,  lived  there  during  his  earlier  man- 
hood, engaged  as  a  seine  weaver  until  his  emi- 
gration to  America.  After  his  arrival  the 
grandfather  located  on  the  island  of  Grand 
Menan,  off  the  north-east  coast  of  Maine,  and 
there  afterward  resided  until  his  death,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy -eight  years,  being 
much  of  the  time  occupied  in  fishing. 

Joseph  Drugan,  the  father  of  William  F., 
was  born  on  Grand  Menan,  where  he  was  bred 
and  educated.  Remaining  with  his  parents 
until  twenty  years  old,  in  common  with  the 
natives  of  that  isle  he  spent  his  time  in  fish- 
ing after  becoming  old  enough  to  help  support 
himself.  Coming  then  to  Massachusetts,  he 
secured  work  in  a  soap  factory  at  Winchester, 
remaining  there  as  workman  and  foreman  for 
some  years.  He  afterward  resided  for  a  while 
in  Cambridge,  going  thence  to  East  Boston, 
where  he  was  foreman  of  a  soap  factory  until 


1855.  In  that  year  he  bought  a  farm  in  Wal- 
pole,  this  county;  and  from  that  time  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  he 
was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
married  Sarah  G.  Johnston,  who  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Frazier  Johnston,  who  was  accidentally  killed 
in  that  city  while  working  on  the  old  city 
hall,  leaving  his  widow  with  six  children. 
The  children  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Drugan 
were:  William  F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Rebecca,  now  the  wife  of  H.  H.  Graham; 
John,  of  whom  there  is  no  special  record; 
Mary,  who  died  in  1S90;  Anna,  the  widow  of 
the  late  Andrew  J.  Sellon;  and  Joseph.  The 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  Both 
parents  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  when  living  in  East  Boston. 

William  F.  Drugan  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Boston,  remaining  with  his 
parents  until  thirteen  years  of  age.  He  then 
began  learning  the  mason's  trade,  serving  a 
four  years'  apprenticeship  during  the  long- 
hour  times,  and  afterward  worked  as  a  jour- 
neyman in  Boston  for  some  years.  In  1861 
he  was  one  of  the  first  to  respond  to  his  coun- 
try's call,  enlisting  as  a  private  in  Company 
B,  First  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry, 
which  was  the  first  regiment  to  pass  through 
Baltimore  after  the  riot.  This  regiment  was 
also  the  first  assigned  to  the  First  Army 
Corps.  Later  it  was  transferred  to  the  Fifth 
Army  Corps,  and  was  in  continuous  service 
until  after  General  Grant  had  crossed  the 
Rapidan.  Mr.  Drugan  saw  some  severe  fight- 
ing during  the  three  years  of  his  life  as  a 
soldier,  being  with  his  comrades  in  some  of 
the  most  hotly  contested  battles  of  the  war, 
from  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  until  his  dis- 
charge in  1864.  On  returning  from  the  army 
he  resumed  his  trade,  working  for  a  while  for 
L.  D.  Gray,  of  Walpole,  with  whom  he  subse- 
quently formed  a  copartnership,  having  their 
headquarters  in  Dedham,  where  they  located 
in  1868.  They  built  up  a  very  large  and  sub- 
stantial business,  which  they  carried  on  in 
company  until  August  10,  1878.  On  this 
date  Mr.  Drugan  was  appointed  on  the  police 
force  of  Dedham,  a  position  to  which  he  has 
since  been  reappointed  each  year,  each  suc- 
ceeding  Board  of   Selectmen   recognizing   his 


620 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ability  and  peculiar  fitness  for  the  responsible 
office.  Nineteen  years  ago,  when  he  assumed 
its  management,  the  force  consisted  of  but  two 
men.  The  number  is  now  six  men,  who  share 
the  guardianship  of  a  town  of  nine  thousand 
inhabitants. 

Mr.  Drugan  has  been  twice  married.  His 
union  with  Miss  Mary  E.  Richards  took  place 
in  1864.  She  was  born  in  Sharon,  Mass., 
daughter  of  Moses  Richards,  a  well-to-do 
farmer  and  the  representative  of  an  early 
family  of  that  place.  She  was  a  woman  of 
great  personal  worth;  and  her  early  death  at 
the  age  of  twenty-nine  years  was  deeply  de- 
plored by  hosts  of  friends,  and  her  influence 
was  missed  in  the  Orthodox  church,  of  which 
she  was  a  member.  She  left  two  children, 
as  follows:  Sarah  E.  and  William  H.  Sarah 
E.  married  Frank  L.  Gould,  a  coal  dealer  at 
East  Walpole,  and  has  four  children  —  Cath- 
erine, Annie,  Maynard,  and  Howard.  Will- 
iam H.,  a  resident  of  Cambridgeport  and  a 
travelling  salesman  for  B.  P.  Clark,  married 
Miss  Addie  Morse,  and  has  one  child,  Olive. 
Mr.  Drugan  married  for  his  second  wife  Mrs. 
Martha  E.  Silsby,  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah 
Getchell,  of  Hallowell,  Me.  In  politics  Mr. 
Drugan  is  a  straightforward  Republican,  and 
his  religious  creed  is  broad  and  liberal.  Fra- 
ternally, he  is  a  member  of  Constellation 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Dedham ;  of  Norfolk 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Hyde  Park;  and  of 
Hyde  Park  Council  of  Select  Masters.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  Charles  W.  Carroll  Post, 
No.  144,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Dedham;  of  Samuel 
Dexter  Lodge,  No.  232,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  this 
town;  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.  ;  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum; and  is  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Chiefs  of  Police  Union. 


(5  I  IMC 


IMOTHY  J.  WHELAN,  assistant  pas- 
'  I       tor   of    St.    Joseph's    Parish,    Medway, 

-*-  was  born  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  Septem- 
ber 8,  1854,  son  of  Timothy  J.  and  Ellen 
(Atkinson)  Whelan.  His  parents,  who  were 
natives  of  County  Meath,  Ireland,  emigrated 
to  the  United  States,  and  settled  in  Law- 
rence, Mass.  Father  Whelan's  parents  reared 
four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

He  acquired  his  early  mental  training  in  the 


public  schools  of  Lawrence,  the  Amesbury 
(Mass.)  High  School,  and  the  Putnam  High 
School  in  Newburyport,  Mass.  He  subse- 
quently attended  Nicholet  College,  Canada, 
and  completed  his  theological  studies  with  a 
course  of  four  and  a  half  years  at  St.  Mary's 
College,  Baltimore.  After  his  ordination  to 
the  priesthood  in  1880,  he  was  appointed  to 
serve  at  St.  Barnard's  Church,  Concord, 
Mass.,  where  he  remained  for  three  years, 
after  which  he  was  stationed  at  Hopkinton, 
Mass.,  for  a  similar  length  of  time.  He  was 
located  for  a  short  time  in  Cambridgeport, 
subsequently  served  six  years  at  St.  Francis 
de  Sales  Church,  Roxbury,  and  since  Janu- 
ary, 1896,  has  been  assistant  pastor  of  St.  Jo- 
seph's Church,  Medway.  Father  Whelan  is  a 
zealous  priest  and  an  indefatigable  worker  for 
the  welfare  of  the  church  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  parish. 


RADFORD  LEWIS,  a  veteran  man- 
ufacturer of  Walpole  Centre,  Mass., 
being  senior  member  of  the  well- 
known  firm  of  Bradford  Lewis  & 
Son,  was  born  October  9,  18 19,  in  South  Ded- 
ham, Mass.,  a  son  of  Joseph  Lewis.  He  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  William  Lewis,  who  em- 
igrated from  Wales  to  Massachusetts  in  1635, 
settling  in  Boston,  near  Roxbury  probably,  as 
he  soon  afterward  united  with  the  First 
Church  of  that  town,  of  which  John  Eliot,  the 
Apostle  to  the  Indians,  was  the  pastor.  Isaac 
Lewis,  the  great-grandfather  of  Bradford 
Lewis,  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  make  his 
home  in  Walpole;  and  here  John  Lewis,  the 
next  in  line,  was  born,  lived,  and  died. 

Joseph  Lewis,  son  of  John,  was  born  in 
Walpole  in  1773.  During  his  earlier  active 
life  he  was  for  some  years  a  tavern-keeper  in 
Roxbury.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  at  East  Walpole,  Mass.,  where 
he  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty -eight  years 
in  1 82 1.  He  married  Miss  Lydia  Crane,  of 
Milton,  Mass.;  and  they  became  the  parents 
of  four  children,  of  whom  Bradford,  the  spe- 
cial subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor. 

Bradford  Lewis  left  school  at  the  age  of 
sixteen   years,    and,   after  serving  an   appren- 


-> 


BRADFORD    LEWIS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


623 


ticeship  at  the  trade  of  hoemaking,  followed 
that  occupation  for  some  years  in  this  town 
and  at  Plymptonville.  He  then  established 
himself  in  mercantile  business,  opening  a  gen- 
eral store  in  Walpole,  which  he  conducted 
twelve  years.  In  1868  he  began  preparing 
machine  waste  for  use,  establishing  a  plant  in 
this  town;  and  in  1882  he  added  a  paper-mill 
for  the  manufacture  of  bookbinders'  board,  in 
which  he  has  since  built  up  a  flourishing  in- 
dustry. Having  admitted  his  son  to  an  equal 
partnership  in  1880,  in  1894  he  sold  out  to 
this  son,  James  B.,  who  has  entire  charge  of 
the  manufacturing,  although  Mr.  Lewis  him- 
self still  attends  to  the  outside  business,  going 
to  Boston  every  day. 

Mr.  Lewis  was  married  October  27,  1841, 
to  Miss  Hannah  Gay,  of  Walpole,  who  by  his 
side  trod  life's  pathway  fifty-one  years,  when 
on  December  3,  1892,  little  more  than  a 
twelvemonth  after  they  had  celebrated  the 
golden  anniversary  of  their  wedding,  the  angel 
of  death  silently  bore  her  to  the  realms  of 
eternal  day.  She  left  five  children,  namely: 
E.  Frank,  a  prominent  business  man  of  Law- 
rence, Mass.;  Josephine  G.,  wife  of  Henry  A. 
Billings,  of  Providence,  R.I. ;  James  Brad- 
ford, junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Bradford 
Lewis  &  Son;  Harrison  N.,  who  until  his 
death,  October  8,  1897,  had  charge  of  the 
paper  department  in  the  firm's  factory;  and 
Florence  A.,  who  lives  at  home.  E.  Frank 
Lewis  has  a  wool-scouring  factory  in  Law- 
rence, and  is  carrying  on  the  business  estab- 
lished in  Walpole  in  1870  by  him  and  his 
father.  The  business  grew  wonderfully  while 
it  was  conducted  in  this  place;  and  since  its 
removal  to  Lawrence,  in  1890,  it  has  assumed 
magnificent  proportions,  the  plant  being  now 
the  largest  of  its  kind  in  New  England. 

In  former  years  Mr.  Lewis  voted  with  the 
old  Whig  party,  and  in  1840  cast  his  first 
Presidential  ballot  for  William  Henry  Harri- 
son. Since  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party  he  has  been  one  of  its  firmest  sup- 
porters. He  has  been  active  and  influential 
in  local  affairs,  and  has  served  in  all  impor- 
tant offices,  including  that  of  School  Commit- 
tee. In  1849  he  made  a  public  profession  of 
religion,  uniting  with  the  Congregational 
church,  in  which  he  has  since  been  an   earnest 


and  faithful  worker,  being  at  the  present  time 
Deacon  of  the  church,  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school,  and  one  of  the  Parish  Com- 
mittee. 


WALTER  HEWETT,  of  Needham, 
the  clothing  cutter  for  Shuman  & 
Co.,  Boston,  was  born  in  Gosport, 
Hants,  England,  January  20,  1849,  son  of 
Richard  and  Sarah  (Cousens)  Hewett.  Rich- 
ard Hewett  was  born  in  England  in  18 14. 
When  a  young  man  he  learned  the  trade  of 
shipwright,  and  afterward  had  charge  of  the 
new  saw-mills  at  Portsmouth  dock-yards.  He 
is  now  a  government  pensioner,  living  in 
Wimbledon,  County  Surrey.  His  wife, 
Sarah,  a  daughter  of  James  Cousens,  was  born 
in  Hants,  England,  in  1816,  and  is  still  liv- 
ing. They  reared  seven  children  —  Charles, 
Richard,  James,  Frank,  Walter,  George,  and 
'Sarah  —  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of 
Walter,  are  still  living  in  England. 

Walter  Hewett  was  educated  in  the  national 
schools  of  Gosport.  After  leaving  school  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years  to  the 
clothier's  trade.  Then  he  went  to  London, 
where  he  was  engaged  as  cutter  and  afterward 
as  book-keeper  in  the  same  firm.  He  came  to 
this  country  in  May,  1874,  landing  in  Boston. 
From  there  he  went  to  Martin,  Ohio,  whence 
after  a  stay  of  one  year  he  returned  to  Boston 
in  the  following  June.  Soon  after  he  entered 
the  employment  of  A.  Shuman  &  Co.  as  cut- 
ter, a  position  that  he  has  held  ever  since. 
He  went  to  Needham  to  live  in  1883,  and  he 
has  become  one  of  the  influential  men  of  the 
town.  Mr.  Hewett  is  a  charter  member  of 
the  Cutters'  Union  of  Boston,  and  has  served 
in  the  society  as  recording  secretary,  as  finan- 
cial secretary,  and  vice-president.  For  three 
successive  years  he  went  as  delegate  to  the 
legislature  to  look  out  for  the  interests  of  this 
organization.  He  has  been  Master  Workman 
of  the  K.  of  L.  of  Highlandville,  and  also  of 
the  National  Garment  Makers'  Union  of  Bos- 
ton. In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat, 
and  he  has  served  one  year  as  Selectman  of 
Needham. 

Mr.  Hewett  was  married  in  England  in 
1 87 1    to    Anne    M.,    daughter    of    James    and 


624 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RFA'IKYV 


Eliza  Baker,  of  the  parish  of  North  Petherwin, 
County  of  Devon,  England.  His  children 
are:  William  Walter,  Bertha  Prower,  Amy 
Gertrude,  Edith  Sarah,  and  George  Henry. 
William  Walter  is  now  working  with  his 
father.  The  three  older  children  were  edu- 
cated in  the  Avery  School,  and  the  two 
younger  are  still  attending  school. 


KLAVIUS  JOSEPHUS  LAKE,  the  As- 
sessor of  Wellesley  and  a  well-known 
florist,  is  a  native  of  Springfield,  Vt. 
Born  in  1829,  he  is  a  son  of  Alvah  and  Eliza- 
beth (Graves)  Lake.  His  first  ancestor  in 
this  country  was  Henry  Lake,  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1635,  who  came  to  America,  and  died 
in  Topsfield,  Mass.,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
eight.  His  wife,  Priscilla,  was  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Priscilla  Gould,  who  had  a  family  of 
four  children.  The  line  of  descent  from 
Henry  Lake  is  through  Daniel,  Enos,  Enos 
(second),  and  Alvah.  Daniel  married  Sarah 
Bixbee.  The  first  Enos,  who,  born  in  1733, 
married  Prudence  Page,  was  at  the  battles  of 
Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  shared  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.  Grandfather 
Enos  was  married  to  Abigail  Hudson  on  Sep- 
tember 22,   1796.      She  died  in  1800. 

Alvah  Lake  was  born  in  Springfield,  Vt., 
and  lived  to  be  fifty-two  years  of  age.  His 
wife,  Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Graves, 
was  born  in  Williamsburg,  Va.  She  married 
for  her  first  husband  John  Prior,  a  commis- 
sioned officer  of  the  Revolution.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  has  in  his  possession  a  certifi- 
cate, signed  by  Generals  Washington  and 
Knox,  certifying  the  membership  of  Colonel 
Prior  in  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati.  The 
father  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Lake  ranked  with 
Major  Prior.  A  sister  of  hers  was  Mrs. 
Landon  Carter,  a  cut  of  whose  home  at  Sabine 
Hill,  Va.,  appeared  in  Munsey' s  Magazine  for 
March,  1897.  She  was  a  Revolutionary  pen- 
sioner for  some  time  previous  to  her  death, 
which  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 
John  M.  Gregory,  Governor  of  Virginia, 
1842-43,  was  an  own  cousin  of  hers. 

When  Flavins  Josephus  Lake  was  a  year  old, 
his  father  moved  to  Virginia.  He  was  edu- 
cated   in   the   private   schools    of    the    city    of 


Richmond  in  that  State.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen years  he  went  to  work  in  the  clothing 
business  for  William  Star,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained for  a  year.  His  father  then  returning 
to  Boston,  he  went  to  work  for  John  Simons,  a 
clothier,  with  whom  he  remained  for  eleven 
years,  starting  at  a  salary  of  two  dollars  a 
week,  and  gradually  advancing  until  he  re- 
ceived twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year.  He 
then  went  into  the  house  of  Whiting,  Kihoe  & 
Galloupe,  of  Boston,  and  was  with  that  firm 
for  twenty  years.  The  firm  then  changed  to 
that  of  Bliss,  Whiting  &  Co.;  and  Mr.  Lake 
became  one  of  the  partners.  Theirs  was 
among  the  business  houses  destroyed  in  the 
Boston  fire  of  1872,  when  Mr.  Lake  lost  all 
he  had  made.  He  next  started  as  partner  in 
the  firm  of  Lake,  Cushing  &  Daniels,  which, 
after  existing  for  one  year,  was  changed  to 
that  of  Davis,  Lake  &  Allen.  At  the  end  of 
five  years  this  company  was  dissolved,  and 
Mr.  Lake  entered  the  employ  of  A.  Shurnan 
&  Co.,  remaining  with  them  for  two  years. 
In  1855  he  came  to  Grantville,  now  Wellesley 
Hills;  and  in  1878  he  started  the  florist  busi- 
ness, in  which  he  has  since  been  engaged. 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  pinks  and  violets, 
and  sells  principally  to  the  wholesale  trade  in 
Boston.  His  hot-houses  cover  about  sixteen 
thousand  feet  of  land.  In  1884  Mr.  Lake  was 
elected  Assessor  of  Wellesley,  and  has  since 
served  the  town  in  that  capacity.  For  three 
years  he  was  on  the  Board  of  Auditors,  and  he 
was  the  chairman  of  the  Building  Committee 
that  erected  the  Shaw  School-house.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  church  at 
Wellesley  Hills,  and  takes  an  active  part  in 
the  church  work.  In  politics  he  is  inde- 
pendent. 

In  1852  Mr.  Lake  married  Mary  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Grant,  of  Richmond, 
who  came  originally  from  England.  The 
maiden  name  of  her  mother  was  Elizabeth 
Wyott  Lark.  The  two  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lake  are:  Walter  and  Alexander.  Wal- 
ter Lake,  born  in  1853  in  Boston,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  Allen  School  at  West  Newton 
and  at  the  schools  in  Wellesley.  He  married 
Mary  E.,  daughter  of  George  Mills,  of  Newton 
Lower  Falls,  and  has  one  child,  May,  born  in 
1880,  who  is  now  a  pupil    in   the   high    school 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


at  Medfield,  where  her  parents  reside.  Alex- 
ander Grant  Lake,  who  was  born  in  Grantville 
in  1865,  and  was  educated  at  the  Allen  School 
and  in  Chauncy  Hall  School  in  Boston,  now 
has  charge  of  the  greenhouses  of  Lake  &  Son. 
He  married  Charlotte  Sarrott,  of  Nova  Scotia, 
who  died  in  1895,  leaving  one  son,  Charles 
Percy  Lake,  to  whom  she  gave  birth  in  1894. 


2EVVIS  ALDEN,  a  well-known  and 
prominent  citizen  of  Holbrook,  was 
^  born  in  this  town,  April  29,  1848. 
He  is  a  son  of  Lewis  and  Abigail 
N.  (Belcher)  Alden  and  a  descendant  in  the 
ninth  generation  of  John  and  Priscilla 
(Mullins)  Alden,  of  Plymouth.  His  parents 
were  natives  of  East  Randolph  (now  Hol- 
brook), Mass.  His  father  died  when  Lewis 
Alden  was  an  infant.  The  boy  grew  to  man- 
hood in  East  Randolph,  acquiring  his  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  town.  He 
finished  his  studies  in  the  high  school  in  his 
eighteenth  year,  and  entered  the  employ  of 
L.  F.  Wilde  &  Co.,  boot  and  shoe  manufact- 
urers of  East  Randolph.  Engaged  in  the 
stock-cutting  department  of  this  concern  until 
1874,  he  was  subsequently  in  the  employ  of 
Rufus  Gibbs  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  jobbers  and 
manufacturers  of  boots  and  shoes.  After 
working  in  their  jobbing  department  for  a 
short  time,  he  was  for  three  years  superintend- 
ent of  their  boot  and  shoe  factory  in  South 
Weymouth,  Mass.  In  1878  he  returned  to 
Holbrook,  and  started  an  independent  busi- 
ness as  a  boot  and  shoe  manufacturer.  In 
1893  Leonard  Belcher  became  his  partner; 
and  the  business  was  conducted  under  the  firm 
name  of  Alden  &  Belcher  until  May,  1897, 
when  the  partnership  was  dissolved.  Mr. 
Alden  has  been  very  successful  in  business. 
He  was  one  of  the  promoters  and  organizers  of 
the  Holbrook  Co-operative  Bank,  and  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  since 
its  organization. 

He  married  Harriet  S.  Hammond,  a  native 
of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  they  have  two  children: 
Mabel  F.,  a  teacher  in  Holbrook;  and  Annie 
L.  In  politics  Mr.  Alden  is  a  Republican. 
A  member  of  the  School  Committee  of  Hol- 
brook  since    1889,    he   has   presided   during   a 


portion  of  the  time  as  chairman  of  the  board, 
and  has  served  as  clerk  and  purchasing  agent. 
He  was  for  nine  years  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Holbrook  Public  Library, 
and  for  some  time  its  president.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  has  presided  as  Moderator  of 
the  Holbrook  town  meetings.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  Lodge  No.  1753,  Knights  of 
Honor,  of  Holbrook,  in  which  he  served  for  a 
number  of  terms  as  Dictator.  He  was  one  of 
the  promoters  and  founders  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  in  this  town,  has  been  class 
leader  since  the  incorporation  of  the  church, 
and  Sunday-school  superintendent  for  twelve 
years. 


§AMES     H.     MURPHY,    a    well-known 
resident   of    Canton,    Mass.,    where    he 
has  served  as  Selectman,  and  is  now  a 
member  of   the  Board  of   Health,    was 
born  not  far  from  his  present  home  in  1855,  of 
Irish  parentage. 

His  father,  the  late  Dennis  Murphy,  grew 
to  manhood  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  whence  he 
emigrated  to  this  country  in  1847.  Settling 
in  Canton,  he  here  made  his  permanent  home, 
winning  for  himself  an  assured  position 
among  the  valued  citizens  of  the  town.  He 
was  an  industrious,  hard-working  man,  and  was 
successfully  employed  as  a  carpenter  and  con- 
tractor until  his  death  in  1890.  For  forty 
years  or  more  he  had  charge  of  the  Catholic 
church  and  cemetery.  He  was  a  Democrat  in 
his  political  affiliations.  To  him  and  his 
good  wife,  Mary  Golden,  seven  children  were 
born,  of  whom  four  are  now  living,  namely: 
Mary,  wife  of  Leonard  Fisher;  Margaret,  who 
married  J.  Lynch;  Annie,  wife  of  Dennis 
Lyons;  and  James  H.,  the  special  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

James  H.  Murphy  received  his  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Canton,  and 
made  further  advance  in  learning  by  attend- 
ance at  a  private  school  in  Sharon.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  began  working  at  the  car- 
penter's trade  with  William  Billings,  and, 
after  serving  his  time,  followed  the  trade  for 
more  than  a  dozen  years.  He  established 
himself  in  business  in  1876  as  an  undertaker 
and   funeral   director,    and    he   continues   sue- 


626 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


cessfully  engaged  in  that  calling.  Since  the 
death  of  his  father  he  has  had  the  care  of  the 
Catholic  church  and  cemetery,  devoting  con- 
siderable of  his  time  to  each.  He  is  also  a 
real  estate  dealer  to  some  extent,  and  often 
acts  as  auctioneer  in  this  and  neighboring 
towns.  In  politics  he  is  a  sound  Democrat, 
never  swerving  from  party  allegiance.  He 
has  contributed  to  the  town's  welfare  and 
progress  by  his  services  for  four  years  as  Se- 
lectman, Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  Assessor, 
also  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health,  on 
which  he  is  now  serving,  this  being  the 
seventh  year  he  has  held  the  position,  al- 
though not  in  successive  terms. 

For  twenty-one  years  Mr.  Murphy  has  been 
a  member  of  Division  2,  A.  O.  H.,  twenty 
years  of  the  time  having  been  treasurer 
thereof.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Canton 
Court  of  Foresters,  of  which  he  has  been 
treasurer  for  some  time;  of  Magnolia  Coun- 
cil, Knights  of  Columbus,  of  Hyde  Park;  of 
the  Maine  Benefit  Association;  of  the  Irish 
Charitable  Association  of  Boston;  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Undertakers'  Association;  and  of 
the  Norfolk  County  Undertakers'  Association, 
in  which  he  is  a  director. 

Mr.  Murphy  was  married  June  16,  1885,  to 
Miss  Jennie  O'Donnell,  who  was  born  in 
Stoughton,  Mass.,  a  daughter  of  John  O'Don- 
nell.     She  died  in  1894,  leaving  no  children. 


{  STeORGE  BIRD  TALBOT,  a  retired 
\  •)  I  merchant  residing  in  Norwood,  was 
—  born  in  Sharon,  Mass.,  February  26, 
1819,  son  of  Josiah  and  Mary  (Richards)  Tal- 
bot. He  traces  his  descent  by  a  long  line  of 
ancestors  to  Peter  Talbot,  who  emigrated 
from  England  at  an  early  date  in  the  Colonial 
period.  His  grandfather,  Josiah  Talbot,  was 
one  of  the  prominent  farmers  of  Sharon  in  his 
day.  The  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Sharon, 
followed  agriculture  with  prosperity  during 
his  active  years.  His  last  days  were  spent  in 
Norwood,  and  he  lived  to  be  eighty-eight 
years  old.  His  wife,  Mary,  who  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jeremiah  Richards,  of  Wilton,  Me.,  be- 
came the  mother  of  eleven  children,  namely: 
Nathaniel,  who  died  in  infancy;  Josiah 
Warren    and    Ebenezer    F. ;    Mary    Ann,    the 


wife  of  Seth  Colburn ;  George  B.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Susan  M.,  the  wife  of  Samuel 
Richards:  Nathaniel  (second),  who  died 
young;  Nancy,  who  married  Amos  Binney; 
Harriet,  the  wife  of  Gustavus  Forbes;  Israel 
F.,  who  is  a  physician;  and  Sarah  W.,  who 
married  Brainard  Darrows. 

George  Bird  Talbot  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Sharon,  where  he  attended  school.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  secured  a  position  as  clerk 
in  Foxboro,  Mass.  He  later  entered  the  store 
of  Oliver  Ames  &  Son,  of  Easton,  Mass., 
with  whom  he  remained  four  years,  working 
his  way  forward  to  the  position  of  head  clerk, 
and  receiving  charge  of  the  buying  of  stock. 
After  establishing  a  general  store  in  West 
Dedham  and  conducting  it  for  a  year,  he  sold 
out,  and  for  the  succeeding  four  years  took 
charge  of  the  estate  of  his  wife's  father  in 
Boxboro,  Mass.  In  1848  he  established  the 
wholesale  grocery  house  of  Talbot,  Winches- 
ter &  Upham,  at  48  Water  Street,  Boston, 
which  became  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of 
its  kind  in  the  city.  He  had  been  the  prin- 
cipal one  of  this  firm  for  twenty-five  years, 
when  he  retired  in  1873.  Mr.  Talbot  took  up 
his  residence  in  South  Dedham  in  1853. 
Since  relinquishing  his  business  in  Boston,  he 
has  been  identified  with  the  progress  and  de- 
velopment of  this  town.  He  has  invested 
quite  largely  in  land,  upon  which  he  built 
dwelling-houses.  These  he  subsequently  sold 
on  the  instalment  plan. 

In  1840  Mr.  Talbot  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Augusta  Bigelow,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Lyman  Bigelow,  of  Boxboro,  Mass.  To  that 
union  were  born  two  children,  one  of  whom 
died  in  infancy.  The  other  child,  Augusta, 
became  the  wife  of  Marshman  W.  Sanborn. 
His  present  wife  was  before  marriage  Martha 
Bicknell,  daughter  of  Thomas  Bicknell,  of 
Melrose,  Mass.  She  is  the  mother  of  six 
children,  namely:  Helen  Maria  and  Mary  Jo- 
sephine; Dr.  George  H.  Talbot,  of  Newton- 
ville,  Mass.;  Martha;  Erastus  W. ;  and 
Jennie  F.  Mr.  Talbot  is  still  active,  and  at- 
tends personally  to  his  numerous  affairs.  In 
politics  he  acts  with  the  Republican  party. 
In  religious  belief  he  is  a  Universalist ;  and 
he  is  a  member  of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
of  Norwood,  Mass. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


)  A  WHENCE  McGINNIS,  a  large  real 
estate  owner,  living  in  retirement  in 
Medway,  was  born  in  Glenfarden, 
Ireland,  March  17,  1831,  son  of 
Alonzo  and  Alice  (McHugh)  McGinnis.  The 
father,  who  was  a  farmer  and  a  grocer  in  Glen- 
farden, spent  all  his  lifetime  in  that  place, 
and  died  in  1864,  aged  eighty-four  years. 
By  his  first  marriage,  which  was  contracted 
with  a  lady  named  McGouty,  there  were  seven 
children.  His  second  wife,  Alice  McHugh 
McGinnis,  who  was  a  native  of  County  Cavan, 
died  in  1850,  aged  sixty-two.  Of  her  six 
children  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the 
only  one  living. 

Lawrence  McGinnis  was  educated  in  Ire- 
land. At  the  age  of  twenty  years  he  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  landing  in  New 
York  City  in  1852.  Thence  he  went  to  Bos- 
ton, where  his  brother,  Barney  McGinnis,  was 
serving  on  the  police  force.  From  Boston, 
after  a  short  stay,  he  went  to  St.  Johnsbury, 
Vt,  and  resided  there  for  five  years.  He 
next  worked  at  shoemaking  in  Hopkinton, 
Mass.,  for  a  year  and  a  half,  after  which  he 
moved  to  Medway.  For  nearly  forty  years  he 
was  connected  with  the  shoemaking  industry 
in  this  town.  During  that  time,  by  carefully 
investing  his  surplus  earnings,  he  acquired 
considerable  property.  He  owns  the  old 
Gladstone  House,  which  he  has  greatly  im- 
proved, and  also  two  dwelling-houses,  which 
yield  a  good  income.  He  has  been  successful 
as  a  real  estate  dealer.  Since  1889,  when  he 
retired  from  active  labor,  he  has  devoted  his 
time  to  the  care  of  his  property.  For  the 
past  thirty-eight  years  he  has  been  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  taking  a  warm  interest  in 
local  affairs  and  the  success  of  his  party.  His 
industry  and  thrift  have  gained  for  him  the 
respect  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 

On  November  19,  1853,  Mr.  McGinnis 
married  Rose  Kaney,  who  was  born  in  Glen- 
farden, Ireland,  June  24,  1833,  daughter  of 
Francis  and  Ann  (McGuire)  Kaney.  Her 
father,  who  was  a  cattle  dealer,  died  in  Ire- 
land. Her  mother  subsequently  emigrated 
with  her  children  to  the  United  States,  and 
died  in  Medway.  Mrs.  McGinnis  is  the 
mother  of  eleven  children,  as  follows:  Ann, 
the  wife  of  Francis   Flinn,  of  Boston;  Alice, 


who  married  John  Keenan,  of  Roxbury; 
Mary,  who  is  now  Mrs.  William  Reardon,  of 
Congress,  N.Y.  ;  John,  a  real  estate  dealer  in 
Congress;  Bernard,  who  married  Kate  Feley, 
of  Holliston,  Mass.,  and  is  a  shoemaker  in 
Medway;  Margaret,  who  is  residing  at  home; 
Rosilla,  the  wife  of  John  Reardon,  of  this 
town;  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Denis  Bresenham, 
of  Boston;  Charles,  who  is  conducting  a  real 
estate  business  in  Medway;  Lawrence,  who 
resides  in  Boston;  and  James,  who  is  attend- 
ing school  in  Notre  Dame,  Ind.  The  family 
attend  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Mr.  Mc- 
Ginnis was  a  liberal  contributor  toward  the 
erection  of  the  church  edifice  in  Medway. 


DWARD  WHITING,  a  prominent  and 
successful  farmer  of  Medway,  was  born 
in  Southboro,  Mass.,  May  22,  1824, 
son  of  Mason  and  Martha  (Amsden)  Whiting. 
Mason  Whiting  was  a  native  of  Dedham, 
Mass.  When  twenty-four  years  old  he  accom- 
panied his  parents  to  Southboro,  where  he 
made  his  home  for  a  long  period,  and  was 
diligently  engaged  in  farming.  His  wife, 
Martha  Amsden,  who  was  born  in  Hopkinton, 
Mass.,  became  the  mother  of  seven  children, 
namely:  Martha;  Edward,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Maria;  George;  Charles;  Abbie;  and 
Henry.  Martha  and  Abbie  are  no  longer  liv- 
ing; Maria  is  the  wife  of  Willard  S.  Gill,  a 
farmer  and  carpenter,  residing  in  Douglas, 
Mich.  ;  George,  who  was  married  and  whose 
home  was  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  died  in  De- 
cember, 1897;  Charles  is  living  in  retirement 
in  California;  and  Henry  is  a  railroad  man  in 
that  State.  Mrs.  Martha  A.  Whiting  died 
February  12,  1857,  aged  fifty-six;  and  Mason 
Whiting,  who  long  survived  her,  spent  his 
last  days  with  his  son  in  Medway,  where  he 
died  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years 
and  three  months. 

Edward  Whiting  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  when  a  young  man  he 
worked  for  a  short  time  in  a  shoe  manufactory. 
He  has  always,  however,  preferred  agricult- 
ural pursuits  to  any  other  calling;  and,  set- 
tling upon  a  farm  in  Southboro,  he  continued 
to  reside  there  until  1S67,  when  he  went  to  a 
farm    in    New    Salem,    Mass.,    where    he    re- 


62S 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


mained  six  years.  From  New  Salem  he  re- 
moved to  Canaan,  N.H.,  and  carried  on 
lumbering  operations  until  1877.  In  that 
year  he  bought  his  present  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  well-improved  land  in  Medway. 
He  devotes  his  energies  to  general  farming  and 
dairying,  and  sells  considerable  milk.  Polit- 
ically, Mr.  Whiting  is  a  Republican.  He  has 
been  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  the  past  ten 
years,  and  has  served  as  Cattle  Inspector  and 
Fence  Viewer,  six  years. 

On  July  2,  1845,  Mr.  Whiting  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Harriet  A.  Woods,  who  was 
born  in  Southboro,  July  6,  1827.  Her  par- 
ents, David  and  Sally  (Arnold)  Woods,  were 
prosperous  farming  people.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  Southboro,  and  her  mother  of  Marl- 
boro, Mass.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiting  in 
the  early  years  of  their  married  life  were  born 
eleven  children;  namely,  Addie  A.,  Edward 
Mason,  Hattie  Maria,  Emery,  Mary  Eliza- 
beth, Francis  Waldo,  Cora,  Nellie  L.,  Jessie 
I.,  Mason,  and  Grace  Emma.  The  following 
is  a  brief  record  of  the  eight  that  are  now  liv- 
ing: Addie  A.,  whose  husband,  Uriah  Howes, 
died  while  serving  in  the  Civil  War,  is  resid- 
ing in  New  Salem;  Emery  is  now  superin- 
tendent of  the  poor  farm  in  Medway;  Mary 
Elizabeth  married  Lendell  Taylor,  and  lives 
in  Albion,  Kennebec  County,  Me.  ;  Francis 
Waldo  resides  in  Southboro;  Cora  is  now 
Mrs.  Searls,  and  her  husband  is  a  lawyer  in 
Boston;  Jessie  I.  married  Charles  Lawrence, 
and  resides  in  West  Medway;  Mason  Whiting 
is  at  home  with  his  parents;  and  Grace  Emma 
is  the  wife  of  W.  Erwin  Smith,  of  Somer- 
ville,  Mass. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiting  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  church. 


ILLIAM  K.  MELCHER,  Inspector 
of  Buildings  at  Brookline  and  the 
chairman  of  the  town  Board  of 
Water  Commissioners,  was  born  February  13, 
181 5,  in  Brunswick,  Me.,  son  of  Samuel  Mel- 
cher.  His  grandfather,  Samuel  Melcher,  Sr., 
spent  his  entire  life  in  Maine,  a  large  part  of 
the  time  having  been  engaged  as  a  carpenter 
and  joiner  in  the  town  of  Brunswick. 

Samuel  Melcher  was  a  house  carpenter  and 


a  ship-joiner,  and  did  a  good  deal  of  work  at 
each  industry.  He  erected  several  churches 
in  different  parts  of  the  State,  but  made 
Brunswick  his  chief  place  of  residence,  living 
there  until  his  death,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty -seven  years.  He  married  Lois  D. 
Dunning,  who  was  born  in  Brunswick,  Me., 
daughter  of  Andrew  Dunning.  Seven  sons 
and  an  equal  number  of  daughters  were  born 
of  the  union.  Of  these  five  children  are  now 
living  —  William  K.,  Jesse  A.,  Margaret, 
Frances,  and  Charles.  The  mother  died  at 
the  age  of  fourscore  and  four  years.  Both 
she  and  her  husband  were  members  of  the 
Brunswick  Congregational  Church. 

William  K.  Melcher  spent  the  first  twenty- 
seven  years  of  his  life  in  Brunswick,  obtaining 
a  practical  education  in  the  public  schools, 
and  learning  from  his  father  the  trade  of  car- 
penter and  joiner.  He  subsequently  followed 
his  trade  as  a  journeyman  for  a  number  of 
years,  first  in  his  native  town  and  then  for  a 
year  in  Boston.  From  Boston  in  1844  he 
came  to  Brookline,  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  In -1849  he  started  in  the  business  of 
carpenter  on  his  own  account,  and  continued 
actively  employed  for  forty  years.  Among 
the  many  buildings  erected  under  his  super- 
vision in  this  locality  is  the  town  hall,  a  very 
handsome  structure,  which  cost  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  He  has  been  Inspector  of 
Buildings  since  1889;  and  he  has  served  con- 
tinuously on  the  Brookline  Water  Board  since 
1886,  having  been  elected  thereto  for  three- 
years  terms  in  1889,  1892,  and  1895.  Dur- 
ing this  entire  period  he  has  been  chairman 
of  the  board,  being  its  oldest  member  in 
point  of  service  and  the  oldest  man  in  town 
holding  office.  He  is  prominently  identified 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  a  charter 
member  of  Beth-Horon  Lodge,  and  he  was  for 
many  years  a  member  of  St.  Omar  Command- 
ery  of  Boston,  of  the  Boston  Council,  and  of 
the  Mount  Vernon  Chapter.  In  the  Beth- 
Horon  Lodge  he  was  the  First  Senior  Deacon. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Charitable  Mechanic  Association,  and  of  the 
Pine  Tree  State  Club  of  Boston.  In  religious 
faith  he  is  a  Congregationalism 

Mr.  Melcher  was  married  January  23,  185 1, 
to  Charlotte  Glazier,  who  was  born  in  Jericho, 


WILLIAM    K.    MELCHER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


631 


Vt,  daughter  of  Jotham  Glazier.  Mr. 
Glazier,  who  removed  from  Jericho  to  Boston, 
for  some  years  kept  a  hotel  in  the  latter  city. 
He  afterward  lived  for  a  time  in  Brookline, 
and  then  settled  in  West  Boylston,  Worcester 
County,  where  he  died  at  a  venerable  age. 
While  living  in  Brookline  he  owned  the  first 
coach  line  running  from  here  to  Boston,  that 
being  the  only  means  of  public  transportation 
for  many  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melcher  have 
three  children  —  Isabel  L.,  William  K.,  and 
George.  Isabel  L.  is  the  widow  of  the  late 
Nelson  A.  Mowton  ;  William  K.,  Jr.,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Boston  Dry-goods  Company,  mar- 
ried Addie  Doane,  and  has  three  children  — 
Louise,  Carl,  and  George;  and  George  mar- 
ried Fannie  Packard,  and  they  have  three  chil- 
dren —  Dora,  Richard,  and  Andrew.  George 
is  chief  engineer  at  Keith's  Theatre  in 
Boston. 


ALTER  R.  FEGAN,  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Fegan  &  Ballou, 
wholesale  dealers  in  granite,  of 
Ouincy,  Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town,  Febru- 
ary 20,  1848.  He  is  of  Irish  parentage,  his 
father,  the  late  Edward  Fegan,  son  of  James, 
having  been  born,  bred,  and  married  in  Ire- 
land, in  County  Meath. 

While  in  his  native  country  Edward  Fegan 
learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  wheel- 
wright, which  he  followed  until  his  marriage, 
when  he  came  to  America.  He  settled  in 
West  Ouincy,  being  one  of  the  first  to  locate 
in  that  part  of  the  town,  and,  resuming  his 
early  occupation,  continued  it  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years.  His  wife  was 
Ellen,  daughter  of  Walter  Forbes,  of  Kildare, 
Ireland.  They  had  seven  children,  all  of 
whom  were  born  in  this  country,  as  follows: 
James  W.  ;  Walter  R. ;  Mary  Ann;  Eliza- 
beth; Ellen;  the  Rev.  Edward  J.,  of  Natick, 
Mass.  ;  and  Theresa  M.  James  Fegan,  the 
paternal  grandfather,  who  was  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, spent  his  entire  life  in  Ireland,  with 
the  exception  of  four  years  passed  in  visiting 
his  son  in  America. 

Walter  R.  Fegan,  after  completing  his  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Ouincy,  fol- 
lowed the  blacksmith's  trade  for  about  sixteen 


years,  and  then  acted  as  treasurer  and  manager 
of  the  Quincy  Co-operative  Granite  Works  for 
ten  years.  On  the  1st  of  July,  1S90,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  John  C.  Ballou, 
under  their  present  firm  name.  They  pur- 
chased their  quarry  and  plant,  which  is  one  of 
the  oldest  established  in  Ouincy,  and  have 
since  conducted  a  thriving  wholesale  business, 
making  a  specialty  of  monumental  work  and 
keeping  some  forty  men  constantly  employed. 
In  politics  Mr.  Fegan  is  a  sound  Democrat. 
Since  1894  he  has  served  as  Assessor. 

He  was  married  April  25,  1871,  to  Miss 
Mary  J.  Hernan,  who  was  born  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Michael  Hernan  and 
B.  M.  Mullen  Hernan.  Mr.  Hernan  and  his 
wife  emigrated  from  the  Emerald  Isle  a  few 
years  after  their  marriage;  and,  settling  in 
Ouincy,  he  was  here  engaged  as  a  custom  boot 
and  shoe  maker  for  several  years.  His  father, 
Bart  Hernan,  did  an  extensive  farming  busi- 
ness in  Galway,  Ireland,  where  Mrs.  Her- 
nan's  father,  Peter  Mullen,  was  a  trader  in 
cattle.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fegan  have  had  five 
children,  namely:  Edward  J.,  who  lived  but 
six  years;  Aloysius  Walter ;  Marie  De  Pazzi ; 
Edward  J.  ;  and  Zita  Mechtilde. 


Z^IIESTER    A.    BIGELOW,    a  constable 
I  Vy'      and    the   owner  of    a    livery   stable    in 

vi?_^-  Wellesley,  was  born  in  Sherborn, 
Mass.,  in  1844,  son  of  Abraham  and 
Mary  (Whitney)  Bigelow.  The  first  ancestor 
of  the  family  concerning  whom  anything  is 
known  came  to  this  country  from  England, 
and  assumed  the  name  of  Bigelow  upon  his 
arrival  here.  Mr.  Bigelow's  grandfather, 
Isaac  Bigelow,  a  native  of  Natick,  who  was 
a  miller  by  trade,  and  died  in  Natick  in  1852, 
married  Fanny  Jackson.  Their  son,  Abra- 
ham (second),  who  was  a  farmer  and  shoe- 
maker, was  born  in  Natick  in  18 10,  and  died 
in  1888.  He  moved  to  Sherborn,  and  in  1848 
purchased  a  place  in  Dover.  His  wife,  Mary 
Brown,  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Whitney,  of 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  who  was  born  in  1S13  and 
died  in  1881,  had  eight  children. 

Chester  A.  Bigelow  was  sent  to  the  public 
school  in  Sherborn  and  Dover.  On  February 
24,  1862,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  enlisted 


632 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


under  Captain  Clark,  in  Company  H,  Thir- 
teenth Massachusetts  Infantry,  commanded  by 
Colonel  S.  H.  Leonard.  He  went  to  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  with  General  McDowell's 
division  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  his 
first  engagement  was  at  Thoroughfare  Gap. 
At  the  second  Bull  Run  he  was  taken  pris- 
oner, was  paroled  at  Gainesville,  and  sent  to 
the  parole  camp  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  On  the 
28th  of  the  following  January  he  was  ex- 
changed, and  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Ma- 
nassas. Taken  prisoner  again  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  he  was  this  time  paroled  on  the 
field,  and  sent  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  General 
Couch's  line,  and  from  there  to  the  parole 
camp  at  West  Chester,  Pa.  On  the  24th  of 
July,  having  been  granted  leave  of  absence, 
he  came  to  Boston  on  a  visit.  He  returned  to 
his  regiment  in  the  following  September,  and 
went  into  winter  quarters  on  the  Rapidan 
River.  In  the  following  spring  he  was  with 
Grant  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  and 
took  part  in  the  engagements  before  Peters- 
burg. In  July,  1864,  he  was  transferred  to 
Company  I  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Massachusetts 
Regiment;  and  on  February  24,  1S65,  he  was 
mustered  out,  his  term  having  expired.  Dur- 
ing the  whole  time  of  his  service  he  was  never 
wounded,  and  he  was  off  duty  but  once.  After 
the  war  he  returned  home,  and  went  into  the 
hat  business,  being  located  at  different  times 
in  Medfield,  Framingham,  Cincinnati,  and 
Newton  Upper  Falls.  Then  he  went  to 
Dover,  where  he  found  employment  in  a  gro- 
cery store  for  a  year.  He  came  to  Boston  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  to  assume  the  position  of 
discipline  officer  in  the  Reform  School  at 
Deer  Island.  Afterward  he  held  a  similar 
position  in  the  school  at  Providence,  R.I.,  for 
a  short  time.  Three  years  later  he  started  in 
the  grocery  business,  forming  a  partnership 
with  C.  H.  Mansfield.  After  one  year  he 
sold  his  share  of  the  business.  Subsequently, 
before  taking  up  his  present  occupation  at 
Wellesley,  he  worked  in  a  hat  factory  at 
Natick  for  a  while.  He  is  now  associated 
with  his  brother  in  the  livery  business. 

Mr.  Bigelow  is  one  of  the  constables  of  the 
town,  having  been  appointed  in  1875,  when 
Wellesley  was  part  of  Needham.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Wadsworth  Post,  G.  A.   R.,  at 


Natick;  of  the  Dalhousie  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M., 
at  Newtonville;  and  of  the  Sincerity  Lodge, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  No.  173,  at  Wellesley,  to  which 
he  was  transferred  from  the  Eliot  Lodge  at 
Needham.  In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Repub- 
lican. He  was  married  in  1868  to  Emma  E., 
daughter  of  Albion  K.  P.  Howe,  of  Dover, 
Mass. 


EV.      FRANCIS      FRIGUGLIETTI, 

pastor  of  St.  John's  Catholic  Church 
at  Quincy,  was  born  in  Italy.  He 
was  educated  for  the  priesthood  in 
Rome,  at  the  College  Propaganda,  and  was 
ordained  in  that  city  in  1859.  Five  years 
later,  in  1864,  he  came  to  Massachusetts, 
and  was  first  located  as  assistant  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Brookline.  Following  that,  he  was 
for  a  time  assistant  pastor  of  the  Gate  of 
Heaven  Church  in  South  Boston.  He  was 
transferred,  with  his  pastor,  Rev.  James  Sulli- 
van, to  Quincy  in  February,  1868.  The  church 
in  which  the  Catholic  population  were  wor- 
shipping at  that  time  had  a  seating  capacity  of 
about  five  hundred,  but  within  four  years  the 
congregation  increased  so  that  larger  accom- 
modations became  necessary;  and  in  1872, 
as  a  result  of  zealous  work  on  the  part  of 
Father  Friguglietti  and  the  hearty  support  of 
his  parishioners,  a  new  building  was  com- 
pleted, having  a  seating  capacity  of  twelve 
hundred,  more  than  twice  that  of  the  old 
structure.  The  new  edifice  stands  on  School 
Street  at  the  corner  of  Gay.  Eight  years 
later,  in  1880,  the  parochial  residence,  a 
handsome  and  commodious  frame  house,  was 
erected. 

In  the  surrounding  towns  Father  Frigu- 
glietti has  four  other  churches  under  his  care, 
and  three  of  these  were  established  by  him. 
The  fourth  is  the  West  Quincy  church,  which 
at  the  time  he  settled  here  had  a  seating 
capacity  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty,  but 
which  has  now  been  enlarged  so  that  it  will 
seat  five  hundred.  The  three  that  he  has 
organized  are  those  in  Atlantic,  at  South 
Braintree,  and  at  Hough's  Neck.  The  Atlan- 
tic church,  built  in  1878,  seats  about  four 
hundred.  The  one  at  South  Braintree,  erected 
in    1S79,    seats    about    three    hundred.       The 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


633 


church  at  Hough's  Neck  was  built  in  1883. 
Roughly  estimating,  it  will  be  seen  that  his 
parishioners  number  about  three  thousand. 
He  has  three  assistants;  namely,  Rev.  John 
P.  Cuffe,  Rev.  F.  A.  Cunningham,  and  Rev. 
J.  Johnston. 

Father  Friguglietti  has  been  settled  over 
the  Quincy  church  for  thirty  years,  a  period 
marked  by  great  changes;  and  he  looks  back 
with  pleasure  and  satisfaction  upon  the  suc- 
cessful accomplishment  of  his  aims  and  plans 
for  his  people. 


|<)RXKLIUS  J.  MURPHY,  a  success- 
ful business  man  of  Norfolk,  and  who 
has  figured  prominently  in  local 
affairs,  is  a  native  of  County  Cork, 
Ireland.  Born  February  2,  1847,  he  is  a  son 
of  Michael  and  Hannah  (Cody)  Murphy,  who 
were  industrious  farming  people  in  the  old 
country.  His  parents  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1848,  and  settled  in  Norfolk.  The 
father,  who  was  much  respected  for  his  hon- 
esty and  industry,  found  employment  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  Ware  for  the  rest  of  his  lifetime. 
He  died  in  June,  1871.  The  mother,  who 
resides  with  her  son,  Cornelius  J.,  has  had 
eight  children;  namely,  Margaret,  Cornelius 
J.,  John,  Jeremiah,  Michael,  David,  Barthol- 
omew, and  Mary.  Margaret,  Michael,  Bar- 
tholomew, and  Mary  are  now  deceased.  John 
resides  in  Norfolk;  Jeremiah  is  in  the  real 
estate  business  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.  ;  and 
David  is  a  railway  employee  in  this  town. 

Cornelius  J.  Murphy  attended  public  and 
private  schools  of  his  native  town.  When  old 
enough  he  was  employed  by  Mr.  Ware  in  the 
lumber  and  wood  business.  Later  he  became 
Mr.  Ware's  partner,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Ware  &  Murphy.  Since  the  death  of  the 
senior  member  the  business  has  been  con- 
ducted under  the  name  of  C.  J.  Murphy.  Mr. 
Murphy  deals  in  all  kinds  of  lumber  and  fire- 
wood, having  a  spacious  yard  in  this  town ; 
and  he  carries  on  an  extensive  business.  In 
politics  he  votes  independently,  preferring  to 
support  the  candidates  whom  he  considers 
most  capable  of  holding  office.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  for  twelve 
years,  was  an  Assessor  for  eight  years;  and  he 


served  as  Highway  Surveyor  for  twenty-one 
years.  In  the  course  of  his  business  career, 
which  has  been  marked  by  a  spirit  of  enter- 
prise and  a  strict  adherence  to  principles  of 
integrity,  he  has  acquired  considerable  prop- 
erty. On  October  1,  1S71,  Mr.  Murphy  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Watson, 
a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Winifred  Watson, 
of  Medway.  Mrs.  Murphy's  parents,  now  de- 
ceased, were  prosperous  farming  people.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Murphy  have  four  children  —  M. 
Frank,  Cornelius  Albert,  May  Gertrude,  and 
Lester  Joseph,  all  of  whom  are  residing  at 
home.  Mr.  Murphy  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Order  of  Foresters.  In  religious  belief 
he  is  a  Roman  Catholic. 


*mJ)/iLLIAM  JOHN  DANA,  a  well- 
Y^A/        known   florist  of   Wellesley,  who   is 

*■">  '"4  also  Town  Constable  and  the  Chief 
of  the  Wellesley  Fire  Department,  was  born  in 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  in  1856,  son  of  Horace  and 
Mary  Catherine  (Burns)  Dana.  The  father, 
who  was  born  in  Grafton,  Vt,  in  181 5,  and 
was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  went  to 
Boston  when  quite  young,  and  worked  in  the 
grocery  business  in  that  city  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  then  removed  to  Braintree,  and 
was  in  the  same  line  of  business  there,  carry- 
ing on,  also,  some  farming.  He  died  in 
Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1897.  His  wife  died  in 
1863. 

William  John  Dana,  who  was  but  seven 
years  old  at  his  mother's  death,  obtained  his 
education  in  the  grammar  schools  of  Roxbury 
and  Braintree.  When  eighteen  years  of  age 
he  began  to  take  contracts  for  the  building  of 
streets,  cellars,  reservoirs,  wells,  etc.,  in  the 
towns  of  Weymouth  and  Braintree.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  took  charge  of  the  Stetson 
estate  of  four  hundred  acres,  as  superin- 
tendent. Later  he  was  elected  Superintend- 
ent of  Streets  in  Braintree.  In  18S5  he  came 
to  Wellesley,  and  became  superintendent  of 
the  Hollis  estate  of  two  hundred  acres.  He 
was  retained  in  this  position  after  the  property 
changed  hands,  by  the  new  owner,  Dr.  Cull  is, 
until  1895,  when  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Selectmen  as  Superintendent  of  Streets.  In 
this  capacity  he  served  for  one  year.      During 


634 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  last  ten  years  he  has  efficiently  filled  the 
office  of  Constable.  For  six  years  he  was 
Chief  of  the  Fire  Department,  in  which  position 
he  showed  marked  executive  ability.  In  1 891 
Mr.  Dana  entered  the  florist  business,  which 
now  occupies  his  chief  attention.  He  started 
in  company  with  Robert  McGorham,  under 
the  style  of  Dana  &  McGorham.  This  con- 
nection had  existed  for  two  years  when  he 
bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr.  McGorham, 
and  received  Denis  Murphy  into  partnership. 
Dana  &  Murphy  did  business  for  a  year,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  Mr.  Dana  became  the 
sole  proprietor  of  the  business,  which  he  has 
since  conducted  under  his  own  name.  He 
makes  a  specialty  of  roses,  pinks,  and  violets, 
which  are  sold  both  by  wholesale  and  retail. 
He  has  about  forty-three  thousand  feet  of  land 
under  glass,  and  his  buildings  are  located  at 
Wellesley  Hills. 

In  1877  Mr.  Dana  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Harriet  D.  Snow,  whose  first  husband  was 
Samuel  N.  W.  Snow,  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  John  Bowditch,  a  prominent  resident  of 
Braintree.  In  politics  Mr.  Dana  is  a  Repub- 
lican. He  is  a  member  of  the  Florists'  and 
Gardeners'  Club  of  Boston,  and  of  the  R.  A. 
at  Natick.  In  1896  he  joined  the  Roxbury 
Horse  Guards,  of  which  his  father  was  a  char- 
ter member. 


§EREMIAH  C.  KITTREDGE,  of  Brook- 
line,  author  of  "Historic  Footprints  on 
British  Soil,"  was  born  in  Boston, 
December  13,  1847,  son  of  Jeremiah 
and  Clarissa  J.  (Chapman)  Kittredge.  John 
Kittredge,  the  first  of  the  family  in  this  coun- 
try, came  from  England  to  Massachusetts  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century;  and  since  1652 
generations  of  the  family  have  been  born  in 
Billerica,  this  State,  and  vicinity. 

Thomas  Kittredge,  great-grandfather  of 
Jeremiah  C,  was  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War  and  in  the  Revolution.  Jeremiah  Kit- 
tredge, Sr. ,  son  of  Thomas,  was  born  in 
Tewksbury,  Mass.,  in  1763,  and  lived  for 
a  number  of  years  in  Billerica.  He  managed 
a  farm  and  kept  a  tavern,  and  for  some  time 
he  served  as  Constable  of  Tewksbury.  Al- 
though   but    twelve    years    old   when    the  war 


broke  out,  he  fought  in  the  Revolution.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Anna  Chapman,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Tewksbury.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five.  They  had  a  family  of  five  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  attained  maturity. 

Jeremiah,  Jr.,  named  for  his  father,  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  he  reached  his 
majority,  when,  with  twenty-five  cents  in  his 
pocket  and  with  high  resolve  to  succeed,  he 
walked  over  to  Charlestown  in  search  of  em- 
ployment. Securing  a  clerkship  in  a  grocery 
store,  he  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  re- 
mained there  several  years,  winning  by  his 
diligence,  courtesy,  and  evident  ability  the 
approval  and  good  will  of  his  employers. 
Ambitious  and  energetic,  he,  in  company  with 
a  young  man  named  Wyman,  at  length  started 
in  business  in  Boston,  not  far  from  the  old 
Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  station.  After  a 
few  years  of*  prosperity  the  partnership  was 
dissolved,  and  he  removed  to  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  Boylston  National  Bank. 
Here  he  began  to  engage  in  the  West  India 
trade,  and  in  time  built  a  fleet  of  vessels  that 
sailed  to  the  different  ports  in  the  West 
Indies  and  to  some  of  the  Baltic  ports,  goods 
manufactured  in  the  United  States  being  ex- 
changed for  cotton,  logwood,  mahogany,  coffee, 
and  other  commodities.  In  1835  Mr.  Kit- 
tredge removed  to  the  office  on  Commercial 
Street,  Boston,  where  he  was  in  business  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Here  he  carried  on 
a  large  business  in  naval  stores,  in  addition  to 
the  lines  of  trade  already  established.  Cam- 
phene,  a  burning  fluid  popular  at  that  time, 
was  invented  by  him,  and  brought  him  large 
returns.  Spirits  of  turpentine,  tar,  pitch,  and 
rosin  were  manufactured  and  sold  by  him; 
and  in  the  buying  of  these  products  he  be- 
came intimately  associated  with  Southern  peo- 
ple whose  acquaintance  he  found  agreeable  and 
friendly. 

Although  essentially  a  man  of  practical 
affairs,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Kittredge  was  fond  of 
literature  and  science,  and  found  time  to  grat- 
ify his  tastes  in  these  directions  by  attending 
courses  of  lectures.  He  never  entered  politi- 
cal life,  though  earnestly  requested  to  do  so 
on  various  occasions,  his  wide  experience  of 
men   and  affairs  having  given  him  a  varied  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


635 


practical  knowledge  that  would  have  been  of 
the  greatest  service  to  a  public  official.  He 
also  declined  to  act  as  president  of  the  Black- 
stone  National  Bank,  to  which  position  he  was 
elected. 

In  1843  he  purchased  from  the  other  heirs 
their  rights  in  the  homestead  property  in 
Tewksbury;  and  in  1854  he  removed  the  old 
house,  which  had  stood  there  since  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  built  the  capa- 
cious house  and  barn  now  on  the  estate.  It 
was  his  intention  to  make  Tewksbury  his  sum- 
mer home;  but  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
November  5,   1S55,  prevented. 

He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Lydia  Wood,  who  died  young,  bore  him  three 
children  (now  deceased).  His  second  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  John  Chapman,  a  black- 
smith, who  came  to  Tewksbury  from  London- 
derry, N.  H.,  and  who  was  a  prominent  Free 
Mason.  Mrs.  Chapman  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Tewksbury.  She  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety-nine  years.  By  his  second  wife  Mr. 
Kittredge  had  two  children,  namely:  George 
Albert  and  Jeremiah  C,  who  is  the  only  one 
living  to-day.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Kit- 
tredge were  connected  with  the  Park  Street 
Church  in  Boston,  and  their  sons  were  chris- 
tened there. 

Jeremiah  C.  Kittredge  in  his  youth,  after 
attending  the  Boston  Latin  School,  went  one 
year  to  Phillips  Academy  in  Andover,  then 
took  a  course  of  study  at  the  Chauncy  Hall 
School,  and  later  was  for  some  time  under  the 
tuition  of  a  private  tutor,  Professor  Busbay. 
His  health  failing  then,  he  gave  up  his 
studies;  and  shortly  after,  owing  to  the  death 
of  his  elder  brother,  he  assumed  charge  of  the 
family  estate.  Since  then  he  has  devoted 
himself  to  literary  work  and  the  care  of  his 
property,  and  for  some  time  he  has  also  been 
engaged  in  real  estate  business.  From  1870 
to  1880  he  lived  at  the  homestead  in  Tewks- 
bury. He  then  took  up  his  residence  in  Bos- 
ton, and  in  1889  he  built  his  present  house  in 
Brookline.  He  was  married  in  1874  to  Mar- 
tha A.,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Hiram  A. 
Stevens,  of  East  Boston,  and  has  two  daugh- 
ters —  Florence  Ethel  and  Clarissa  Maria. 

In  politics  the  Hon.  H.  A.  Stevens  was  an 
independent     Republican.       He    was     in     the 


State  legislature,  and  in  1864  was  one  of  the 
committee  sent  to  Gettysburg  to  take  charge 
of  the  bodies  of  the  Union  soldiers. 

Mr.  Kittredge  is  a  man  of  culture,  with  a 
broad  knowledge  of  men  and  things.  He  has 
travelled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States.  He  has  published  a  work  on  the 
Tewksbury  Library,  a  "Library  Guide,"  and 
he  has  written  a  number  of  dramas  and  com- 
edies. He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Li- 
brary Association,  the  Bostonian  Society,  and 
Thayer  Association  of  Chauncy  Hall.  He  is 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Tewksbury  Public  Library.  This  institution 
was  founded  by  Mr.  Kittredge  and  his  brother, 
George  Albert,  and  is  one  of  the  best  libraries 
in  this  part  of  the  State.  He  also  has  a  re- 
markably fine  private  library.  Mrs.  Kittredge 
is  regent  of  the  chapter  of  the  Daughters  of 
the  Revolution  of  Brookline.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kittredge  attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


LIAB  METCALF  POND,  a  retired 
farmer  and  a  highly  respected  resident 
■^  of  Franklin,  was  born  in  this  town, 
October  7,  18 19,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Polly 
(Morse)  Pond.  The  Pond  farm,  which  has 
passed  from  father  to  son  through  four  genera- 
tions, was  settled  by  Ezra  Pond,  the  great- 
grandfather of  Eliab  M.  The  grandfather 
was   Hezekiah,    the    sixth   son   of   Ezra    Pond. 

Jeremiah  Pond,  who  was  born  February  12, 
178 1 ,  died  on  June  2,  1827.  His  widow  mar- 
ried Leonard  Pond,  of  Franklin;  and  both 
lived  on  the  farm  during  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  She  died  in  1863,  and  Leonard 
in  1S53.  The  children  of  Jeremiah  were: 
Lyman,  Eliza  P.,  Moulton,  Asa,  Eliab  M. , 
and  Alfred  D.  Lyman  was  bom  January  9, 
1806,  married  Clarissa  Buxton,  and  died  De- 
cember 11,  1829.  Eliza  P.,  born  November 
1 1,  1809,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  Mark 
D.  Moulton,  who  is  also  deceased.  The 
widow  of  Asa,  who  was  born  January  4,  1815, 
is  living  at  East  Brimfield,  Mass.  Alfred  D., 
born  May  17,   1823,  died  January  3,   1827. 

Eliab  Pond  has  resided  all  his  lifetime  on 
the  old  homestead.  After  leaving  the  com- 
mon schools  he  engaged  in  general  farming, 
and  he  took  charge  of  the  farm   after  his   mar- 


636 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


riage.  On  the  farm  he  keeps  a  dairy.  Be- 
sides the  eighty  acres  of  the  home  estate  he 
owns  other  land  in  town  conjointly  with  his 
son.  At  first  he  voted  with  the  Whigs. 
Since  that  party  went  out  of  existence  he  has 
been  a  Democrat.  He  is  interested  in  local 
affairs,  but  he  has  never  been  an  office-seeker, 
nor  has  he  desired  to  hold  office.  He  attends 
the  Universalist  Church  of  Franklin.  A 
hard-working  man,  he  has  become  comfort- 
ably prosperous,  and  is  well-known  and  re- 
spected. 

In  1845  Mr.  Pond  was  married  to  Miss  Isa- 
bella I.  Lawrence,  a  native  of  Franklin,  and  a 
daughter  of  Leonard  and  Azuba  (Johnson) 
Lawrence.  Mr.  Lawrence  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  lived  and 
died  in  this  town.  Mrs.  Pond  died  April  2, 
1897,  leaving  four  children  —  Eliza  Jane, 
Ella  Gertrude,  Ada,  and  Wilton  A.  Eliza, 
who  was  born  April  17,  1846,  is  the  wife  of 
William  Blake,  a  farmer,  and  resides  near  her 
father;  Ella,  born  August  30,  1853,  is  the 
wife  of  Charles  Weeks,  and  lives  at  Matawan, 
N.J.  ;  Ada,  born  January  2,  1862,  is  now  Mrs. 
Hugh  McMillan,  of  Milford,  Mass.;  Wilton 
A.,  born  July  2,  i860,  lives  on  the  old  home- 
stead with  his  father,  and  is  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  business.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Law- 
rence Clark,  a  sister  of  the  late  Mrs.  Pond, 
keeps  house  for  the  family. 


"CM)  C  BRADF 
vSx/  resident 
*"^>  *"">"     born  in  t 


FORD  WHITE,  late  a 
of  Canton,  Mass.,  was 
this  town  in  1830,  and  was 
the  son  of  James  and  Aurelia  (Howard) 
White. 

His  grandfather  was  Rufus  White,  of  Rayn- 
ham,  Bristol  County,  Mass.  James  White, 
son  of  Rufus,  was  born  in  that  town,  July  1, 
1 798,  and  removed  to  Canton  at  the  age  of 
about  thirty  years.  He  worked  at  the  manu- 
facture of  candle-wicking  for  some  little  time, 
but  later  on  built  a  mill,  and  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  and  satinet,  which  he 
carried  on  for  a  number  of  years.  He  then 
retired  from  active  business  life,  and  took  care 
of  his  property.  In  his  political  views  he 
was  a  liberal.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was   Aurelia    Howard,    was   born    in    Chester- 


field, Hampshire  County,  this  State;  but 
when  quite  young  she  removed  to  Bridge- 
water,  Bristol  County,  where  they  were  mar- 
ried. They  had  eight  children,  four  of 
whom  are  now  living;  namely,  Mary,  James 
F.,  Harriet  D.,  and  Stillman.  Mary  White 
married  Mr.  D.  Makepeace,  but  is  now  a 
widow;  Harriet  also  married  a  Mr.  Make- 
peace; James  F.  White  resides  in  Norwood; 
and  Stillman  resides  in  Providence.  The 
father  died   in    1866. 

W.  Bradford  White,  the  second  of  the  three 
sons  here  named,  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  town;  and  when  about  sixteen 
years  of  age  he  learned  the  machinist's  trade, 
which  he  followed  until  1878.  After  that  he 
was  for  seventeen  years  superintendent  of  the 
braiding-mill  in  the  town  of  Warren,  R.I., 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  lamp-wicking 
and  braids.  He  then  returned  to  Canton.  In 
politics  he  affiliated  with  the  Republican 
party,  having  at  first  been  a  Free  Soiler.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Blue  Hill  Lodge  of 
Masons,  also  of  the  St.  John's  Encampment 
of  Knights  Templars. 

Mr.  White  married  Sarah  Adams,  daughter 
of  Jedediah  Adams.  They  had  one  child,  a 
son,  Herbert,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  White  attended  the  Baptist  church.  Mr. 
White  never  cared  for  public  life,  but  always 
took  a  great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  na- 
tive town.  His  death,  which  occurred  April 
10,  1897,  caused  wide-spread  sorrow  in  the 
community. 


ILAS  ALLEN  STONE,  one  of 
Sharon's  prominent  business  men 
and  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Se- 
lectmen, was  born  in  Norton, 
Mass.,  February  3,  1843,  son  of  Laniard  and 
Caroline  (Allen)  Stone.  His  grandfather, 
Nathaniel  Stone,  born  September  2,  1753, 
who  was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Norton  and  a 
manufacturer  of  iron,  served  as  a  Corporal  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  died  April  11, 
1835.  Nathaniel  married  Rebecca  Wood- 
ward, who,  born  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  June  26, 
1758,  died  September  8,  1806.  They  had 
twelve  children,  as  follows:  Sarah,  born  Feb- 
ruary 20,    1780,    who   died   October  4,    1843; 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


637 


Sibyl,  born  December  1,  1 78 1 ,  who  died 
March  25,  1832;  Rebecca,  born  October  14, 
1783,  who  died  May  1,  1857;  Nathaniel,  born 
June  26,  1785,  who  died  July  26,  1840;  Han- 
nah, born  August  12,  1787,  who  died  June  3, 
1866;  Lydia,  born  October  14,  1789,  who 
died  March  19,  1876;  Lucinda,  born  Decem- 
ber 17,  1 791 ,  who  died  July  20,  1870; 
Betsey,  born  August  4,  1793,  who  died  Octo- 
ber 9,  1880;  Larnard,  born  December  25, 
1794;  Earl  W. ,  born  October  15,  1796,  who 
died  January  28,  1879;  Fanny,  born  July  24, 
1798,  who  died  January  22,  1879;  and  Mason, 
born  May  21,   1800,  who  died  in  1888. 

Larnard  Stone  was  reared  in  Norton. 
When  a  young  man  he  was  engaged  in  ped- 
dling  dry  goods  for  several  years.  In  1834  he 
bought  a  farm  in  Norton,  where  he  resided  for 
a  time.  Later  he  was  foreman  of  his  brother's 
mill  in  East  Newton,  Mass.  Failing  health 
finally  compelled  him  to  retire;  and  he  died 
September  12,  1859.  He  was  a  good  me- 
chanic, doing  considerable  work  in  that  line; 
and  he  also  settled  estates.  His  first  wife, 
Caroline,  who  was  born  in  Mansfield,  Mass., 
November  7,  1806,  died  July  14,  1846.  On 
May  24,  1848,  he  married  for  his  second  wife 
Mrs.  Roxanna  Carpenter  Harris,  who,  born 
in  1801,  died  August  12,  1849.  His  children 
by  his  first  wife  were:  Hiram  L.,  born  Octo- 
ber 23,  1834,  who  died  March  25,  i860; 
Nathaniel  D.,  born  December  15,  1835,  who 
died  February  24,  1858;  Sarah  C,  born  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1839,  who  died  May  14,  1869;  Silas 
A.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  George 
O.,  born  April  29,  1845,  who  died  April  3, 
1847. 

Silas  Allen  Stone  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Norton.  When  nineteen  years 
old  he  began  to  learn  the  blacksmith's  trade 
in  Sharon.  After  serving  his  apprenticeship 
and  working  as  a  journeyman  for  a  time,  he 
went  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  where  he  remained 
a  year.  Returning  to  Norton,  he  followed  his 
trade  upon  his  own  account  for  two  years,  and 
then  built  his  present  shop  in  Sharon.  Here  he 
was  engaged  in  the  general  business  of  black- 
smith and  wheelwright  quite  extensively  until 
1880.  For  the  succeeding  three  years  he  re- 
sided upon  his  grandfather's  old  farm  in  Nor- 
ton, carrying  on  general   farming  and   dealing 


in  horses  and  carriages.  From  1883  to  1892 
he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  car- 
riages and  general  blacksmith  work.  Since 
that  year,  besides  carrying  on  his  farm, 
his  time  has  been  given  exclusively  to  dealing 
in  horses  and  carriages.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Republican  Town  Committee  for  some  time. 
While  residing  in  Norton  he  served  as  a  Se- 
lectman and  Assessor,  and  was  Overseer  of 
the  Poor  for  two  years.  Previous  to  1896  he 
was  a  Selectman  of  this  town,  and  he  was 
elected  to  that  office  for  the  thirteenth  time  in 
1897. 

On  April  29,  1867,  Mr.  Stone  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Mary  L.  Billings,  a  native 
of  this  town.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Sanford 
and  Phoebe  (Lincoln)  Billings,  natives  re- 
spectively of  Sharon  and  Easton,  Mass.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Stone  have  two  children:  Mary  C, 
born  April  26,  1869;  and  Allen,  born  Novem- 
ber 10.  1875.  Mary  C.  is  now  the  wife  of 
Adolph  P.  D.  Piguet,  a  florist  of  West  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.  Allen  is  residing  at  home.  Mr. 
Stone  has  been  a  member  of  St.  James  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Mansfield,  since  1866;  and  of 
Lodge  No.  43,  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  of  Sharon.  Mrs.  Stone  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  church. 


ENRY  S.  WARD,  a  capable  farmer  and 
respected  citizen  of  Franklin,  Mass., 
was  born  in  Wrentham,  Mass.,  Au- 
gust 5,  1869,  son  of  William  S. 
and  Adeline  S.  (Ruggles)  Ward.  The  father, 
who  was  a  native  of  Franklin,  removed  to 
Westbury  in  early  manhood,  and  subsequently 
resided  in  other  towns,  for  the  most  part 
carrying  on  a  business  in  general  repairing. 
Finally  returning  to  Westbury,  he  now  resides 
there,  retired  from  active  work.  His  wife, 
Adeline,  who  was  a  native  of  Wrentham,  died 
in  1869.  They  had  two  children:  William, 
a  promising  boy,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen years;  and  Henry  S.,  whose  name  ap- 
pears at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 

Henry  S.  Ward  was  educated  in  the  public 
school  of  Franklin.  When  he  was  an  infant 
he  was  taken  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  Corbin, 
of  Franklin,  and  brought  up  by  them   as  their 


638 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


own  child.  He  remained  with  his  foster-par- 
ents until  he  was  twenty-three  years  old, 
when  he  came  to  live  on  his  present  farm, 
which  contains  fifty  acres.  He  leases  the 
property  and  carries  on  general  farming,  keep- 
ing poultry  and  paying  special  attention  to 
dairying,  besides  running  a  wagon  in  Frank- 
lin. Energetic  and  industrious,  he  has  met 
with  a  fair  measure  of  success.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  the 
town  in  which  he  lives. 

Mr.  Ward  was  married  May  24,  1893,  to 
Miss  Georgia  E.  Medley,  of  Montreal,  Can- 
ada. Mrs.  Ward  was  born  August  23,  1871. 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Stephen  B.  and  Anna  M. 
(Page)  Medley.  Her  father,  who  is  now  de- 
ceased, was  a  merchant.  Her  mother  resides 
in  Holyoke,  Mass.  Mrs.  Ward  is  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church,  and  attends  service  in 
Boston.  She  is  the  mother  of  one  child, 
Maude  S.,  born  June  27,  1895. 


ENJAMIN  GANNETT,  a  prominent 
resident  and  real  estate  owner  of 
Sharon,  was  born  upon  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  March  29, 
1825,  son  of  Captain  Earl  B.  and  Mary 
(Clark)  Gannett.  The  grandfather,  Benjamin 
Gannett,  who  was  a  native  of  Sharon,  cleared 
from  the  wilderness  the  farm  now  owned  by 
his  grandson.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen.  He  married  April  7, 
1784,  Deborah  Sampson,  the  only  woman  of 
whom  it  is  authentically  recorded  that  she 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
An  interesting  article  in  regard  to  her  ap- 
peared in  the  Boston  Transcript  in  March, 
1897,  showing  that  she  enlisted,  probably  by 
proxy,  in  April,  1781,  at  which  time  she  was 
twenty-two  years  old,  under  the  name  of 
Robert  Shurtleff,  in  a  company  commanded  by 
Captain  George  Webb,  in  the  Massachusetts 
regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Shepherd 
and  afterward  by  Colonel  Henry  Jackson. 
Dressed  in  male  clothes,  she  kept  the  secret 
of  her  sex  until  the  close  of  the  war.  She 
was  at  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  having 
recovered  from  the  immediate  effects  of  a 
wound  received  at  Tarrytown  some  months  be- 


fore, but  from  which  she  died  April  29,  1827, 
after  years  of  suffering.  Some  years  after  her 
marriage,  when  her  wound  began  to  be 
troublesome,  she  applied  for  and  received  a 
pension  from  the  government,  being  success- 
ful in  proving  herself  to  be  the  identical  per- 
son who  had  served  as  Robert  Shurtleff.  The 
pension  ceased  at  her  death,  at  which  time  her 
husband  was  seventy-four  years  old.  Mr. 
Gannett  being  then  in  reduced  circumstances 
owing  to  the  expenses  attached  to  his  wife's 
sickness,  application  was  made  to  Congress  for 
a  special  act  in  his  favor,  which,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  any  law  governing  the  case,  was  not 
granted  until  January  31,  1837,  at  which  time 
the  Committee  on  Pensions  reported  a  bill 
granting  him  a  pension  of  eighty  dollars  per 
year  "from  March  4,  1831,  for  and  during  his 
natural  life."  This  relief  arrived  too  late, 
however;  for  Mr.  Gannett  had  been  in  his 
grave  for  three  weeks  when  the  report  was 
made.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Gannett 
reared  three  children  — -Patience,  Earl  B.,  and 
Mary.  Patience  married  Seth  Gray,  and 
Mary  wedded  Judson  Gilbert. 

Earl  B.  Gannett,  Benjamin  Gannett's 
father,  was  born  in  Sharon,  November  8, 
1785.  He  was  a  stone-cutter  by  trade,  which 
he  followed  in  connection  with  farming;  and 
he  assisted  his  father  in  improving  the  home- 
stead property.  He  held  a  Captain's  commis- 
sion in  the  State  militia,  and  was  favorably 
known  in  this  locality.  He  was  accidentally 
killed  at  a  quarry,  June  9,  1845.  His  wife, 
Mary,  born  in  Sharon,  December  17,  17S8, 
was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Clark,  a  stirring 
farmer  of  Sharon.  The  other  children  of  Mr. 
Clark  were:  Amatha,  Lewis,  Nathan,  John, 
Rhoda,  Susan,  Thomas,  and  Marcus.  Cap- 
tain Gannett's  children  were:  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried Barzilla  Monk,  of  Stoughton,  Mass. ; 
Patience,  who  married  Asa  L.  Drake,  of 
Sharon;  Rhoda,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Elijah  Monk,  of  Stoughton;  Deborah,  who 
died  March  13,  1821,  aged  three  years;  Earl, 
who  successively  married  Susan  Gay,  of  Can- 
ton, Mass.,  and  Jane,  the  widow  of  Henry 
Reid;  Benjamin,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Thomas,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-one 
years;  and  Joseph  Warren.  Of  these  there 
are  three   survivors:    Rhoda,    Earl,    and    Ben- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


639 


jam  in.  Joseph  Warren  Gannett  was  formerly 
auditor  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  at 
Omaha,  Neb.,  and  the  treasurer  of  the  Repub- 
lican Valley  Railroad  Company.  He  married 
for  his  first  wife  Kate  Joslyn  and  for  his  sec- 
ond Fanny  Joslyn.  By  his  second  union  he 
has  one  son,  Earl.  Mrs.  Earl  B.  Gannett 
died  in  March,   1872. 

Benjamin  Gannett  acquired  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  Sharon,  and  was  reared 
to  farm  life  at  the  homestead  where  he  has  al- 
ways resided.  After  his  mother's  death  he 
bought  the  home  farm  of  forty-five  acres.  He 
also  owns  another  farm  of  a  like  size.  He 
has  followed  agriculture  with  good  financial 
results,  and  has  been  successful  as  a  real  es- 
tate dealer.  At  the  present  time  he  leases 
the  greater  part  of  his  property,  retaining  a 
small  portion,  which  he  cultivates.  He  was 
formerly  quite  an  extensive  dealer  in  horses, 
and  he  carried  on  livery  stables  in  various  lo- 
calities. 

Mr.  Gannett  was  first  married  to  Martha 
Jane  Gay,  of  Stoughton,  who  died  May  10, 
1859,  aged  thirty-three  years.  On  May  26, 
1867,  a  second  marriage  united  him  to  Helen 
E.  Thayer,  of  North  Easton,  Mass.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Zebah  and  Prudence  (Stone) 
Thayer,  natives  respectively  of  Bridgewater 
and  South  Easton.  Mr.  Thayer,  who  was  a 
carpenter  by  trade,  died  June  22,  1875,  and 
his  wife  on  March  26,  1888.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children:  Sarah  S.,  Fidelia, 
and  George  G.,  who  are  no  longer  living; 
Lydia  S.  and  Mary;  Lucy  Jane,  who  married 
W.  S.  Martin,  of  Pawtucket,  R.I.;  Mary  A., 
the  wife  of  Charles  Perkins,  of  Fayville, 
Mass.;  Helen  E.,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Gannett; 
and  Lillie  M.,  the  wife  of  Edward  Monks,  of 
Stoughton.  By  Mr.  Gannett's  first  union 
there  were  four  children,  namely:  Isaac  B., 
born  November  28,  1847;  Mary  Jane,  born 
November  28,  1851  ;  Warren,  who  died  in  in- 
fancy; and  Hannah  L.,  born  June  1,  1858. 
Isaac  B.  married  Emily  Trafton,  and  resides 
near  Pawtucket,  R.I.  Mary  Jane  is  the  wife 
of  Frank  Leonard,  formerly  of  Stoughton, 
now  a  coal  dealer  and  contractor  residing  in 
Sharon.  She  has  one  daughter,  Edith  Brad- 
ford. Hannah  L.  is  the  wife  of  Herbert 
Pollard,    of    Sharon,    and    has    one    daughter, 


Ella  Louise.  The  children  of  Mr.  Gannett's 
second  union  are:  Nettie  F.,  born  March  16, 
1868;  Adelbert  Henry,  born  November  14, 
1869;  Benjamin  F.,  born  January  10,  1871  ; 
and  Susan  G.,  born  August  26,  1873.  Nettie 
F.  is  the  wife  of  Walter  Watson,  formerly  of 
Sharon,  now  of  Needham,  and  her  children 
are:  Helen  A.,  Roy  G.,  Warren  D.,  and 
Pearl.  Adelbert  Henry,  a  merchant  who  re- 
sides in  North  Somerville,  Mass.,  married 
Annie  Parker.  Benjamin  F.,  who  is  a  horse 
dealer  in  Dedham,  wedded  Maggie  Burke, 
and  has  three  children  —  Harold  S. ,  John,  and 
Benjamin.  Susan  G.  is  employed  in  a  store 
in  Stoughton. 

Politically,  Mr.  Gannett  is  a  Democrat. 
For  nineteen  years  he  has  served  as  Select- 
man, Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  Assessor;  and 
he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health 
for  thirteen  years.  His  life  has  been  an  ener- 
getic and  industrious  one,  and  he  is  still 
smart  and  active. 


'TEPHEN  H.  REYNOLDS,  resid- 
ing at  71  Central  Avenue,  Hyde 
Park,  Norfolk  County,  was  until 
quite  recently  junior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Hood  &  Reynolds,  manufacturers  of 
dental  instruments  and  dealers  in  dental 
goods,  with  a  factory  in  this  town  and  a  depot 
at  178  Tremont  Street,  Boston.  He  was  born 
March  17,  1835,  in  New  Market,  N.H.,  a  son 
of  Stephen  Reynolds. 

The  emigrant  ancestor  of  the  family,  who 
was  of  English  descent,  came  to  Massachu- 
setts from  Port  Royal,  N.S.,  in  1674,  and 
settled  in  or  near  Haverhill.  One  of  his 
grandsons,  Daniel  Reynolds,  a  progenitor  of 
Stephen  H.  some  generations  removed,  was 
born  in  Bradford,  Mass.,  in  1728. 

Daniel  Reynolds,  second,  the  next  in  line 
of  descent,  was  born  in  Boxford,  Mass.,  in 
1754,  and  in  early  manhood  settled  in  Lon- 
donderry, N.H.,  where  he  was  afterward  for 
many  years  one  of  the  leading  citizens.  He 
served  as  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
first  as  Captain  of  a  company  in  Colonel 
Moody's  regiment,  and  later  as  Colonel  of  a 
regiment  that  he  raised.  In  1780,  1784, 
1786,   and    1788    he  was  a   Representative  to 


640 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  General  Court;  and  in  1785,  1787,  1789, 
and  1792  he  was  Selectman  of  the  town. 
He  died   December   13,  1795. 

His  son,  Daniel,  third,  grandfather  of 
Stephen  H.,  was  born  and  reared  in  Derry, 
N.H.,  where  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade, 
which  he  followed  for  a  time.  He  subse- 
quently gave  that  up,  and  was  engaged  as  a 
teacher  in  the  district  schools  of  Dover  and 
Durham  for  a  number  of  years,  and  later  was 
Deputy  Sheriff  of  Strafford  County.  He  died 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty-eight  years.  His 
wife,  Elizabeth  Leighton,  who  was  born  in 
Durham,  N.H.,  was  a  daughter  of  James 
Leighton,  one  of  Paul  Jones's  "Men,"  and  a 
niece  of  Judge  Thompson,  of  that  town.  She 
died  September  12,  1851,  aged  seventy-one 
years,  having  been  the  mother  of  seven  chil- 
dren, among  them  being  Stephen,  father  of 
Stephen  H. 

Stephen  Reynolds  was  born  and  educated  in 
Durham.  He  chose  shoemaking  as  his  occu- 
pation, and  followed  it  in  his  native  town  and 
in  New  Market  for  a  while,  but  later  removed 
to  Madbury,  N.  H.,  and  purchasing  land  was 
thenceforth  engaged  as  a  farmer,  shoemaker, 
and  station  agent,  living  there  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Sally  Garland,  was  born  in  Durham.  Her 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Garland,  each 
had  an  earthly  life  of  more  than  ninety-five 
years.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was  killed 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Stephen  and 
Sally  (Garland)  Reynolds  reared  eleven  chil- 
dren, namely:  Mary  E.  ;  Lydia,  who  died  in 
1867;  Stephen  H.  ;  James  A.;  Hannah  J.; 
Charles  W. ;  Sarah  M. ;  Josephine  M. ;  John 
D.  ;  George  A. ;  and  Bernice  A.,  who  died  in 
1849.  The  mother  passed  away  at  the  age  of 
threescore  and  ten  years.  She  was  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  of  which  her 
husband  was  for  many  years  a  Deacon. 

Stephen  H.  Reynolds  attended  the  district 
school  until  ten  years  of  age,  when  he  entered 
the  cotton-mills,  where  he  remained  seven 
years,  working  twelve  hours  a  day.  Going 
then  to  Boston,  he  spent  three  years  in  learn- 
ing the  trade  of  a  gold  beater,  receiving  two 
and  a  half  dollars  per  week  wages.  Before 
the  beginning  of  the  late  Rebellion,  Mr.  Rey- 


nolds went  to  Concord,  Mass.,  where  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  Company  G,  Fifth  Mas- 
sachusetts Volunteer  Infantry.  He  served 
throughout  his  three  months'  term  of  enlist- 
ment, passing  through  the  battles  of  Bull  Run 
and  other  engagements.  After  his  discharge 
he  returned  to  Concord,  and  re-enlisted  as  a 
private  in  the  First  Massachusetts  Light 
Battery,  which  was  first  attached  to  the  First 
Army  Corps  and  then  to  the  Sixth.  He  was 
promoted  first  to  the  rank  of  Corporal,  then  to 
Sergeant,  and  was  an  active  participant  in  the 
battles  at  West  Point,  Gaines's  Mills,  Sav- 
age's Station,  Charles  City  Cross-roads,  sec- 
ond Bull  Run,  Grampton  Pass,  South  Moun- 
tain, Antietam,  and  at  Fredericksburg,  where 
on  December  13,  1862,  he  was  severely 
wounded.  He  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  of 
which  he  remained  an  inmate  until  August 
15,  1863,  when  he  received  his  honorable  dis- 
charge. 

Returning  to  Concord,  Mass.,  Mr.  Reynolds 
resumed  work  at  his  trade,  continuing  there 
two  years.  He  then  settled  as  a  gold  beater 
in  Boston,  where  in  1872  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  Hood,  beginning  business  on  a 
small  scale.  This  they  gradually  enlarged, 
eventually  employing  twenty  hands  at  the  fac- 
tory in  Hyde  Park,  of  which  Mr.  Reynolds 
had  the  supervision,  and  a  large  number  of 
salesmen  in  their  office  in  Boston.  Both 
members  of  this  enterprising  firm,  being  men 
of  superior  business  ability  and  push,  kept 
well  abreast  of  the  times  in  regard  to  the 
modern  methods  of  dentistry,  manufacturing 
and  handling  all  instruments,  articles,  and 
materials  used  in  the  dental  profession.  In 
March,  1897,  Mr.  Reynolds  withdrew  from 
the  firm  of  Hood  &  Reynolds,  and,  associat- 
ing himself  with  his  two  sons,  has  since  con- 
tinued the  manufacture  of  gold  foils  and  other 
specialties  for  dentists'  use. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  married  on  the  8th  of 
September,  1866,  to  Miss  Lucy  Adanjs,  who 
was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  the  only  child 
of  George  W.  Adams,  a  clerk.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Reynolds  have  three  children,  namely:  Lizzie 
G. ,  born  in  1868,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
Edgar  Hodgson,  a  jeweller  and  watchmaker  in 
Boston,  and  has  two  children  —  Maurice  and 
Gladys;    George  L.,    who  married   Miss  Ella 


ARTHUR    F.    YOUNG 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


643 


Brown,  and  is  in  the  factory  with  his  father; 
and  S.  Warren,  also  in  the  factory,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Mabel  Jordan.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds have  lost  one  child,  a  son  named  Wal- 
ter, who  died  in  1877. 

In  politics  Mr.  Reynolds  affiliates  with  the 
Republican  party.  He  is  a  member  of  Timo- 
thy Ingraham  Post,  No.  121,  G.  A.  R.,  in 
which  he  has  served  as  Commander,  besides 
holding  all  other  important  offices;  he  has 
held  the  highest  official  position  in  the  local 
lodge  of  Knights  of  Honor;  has  been  treas- 
urer two  years  of  Forest  Lodge,  No.  148, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  ;  and  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Waverly  Club.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds 
are  regular  attendants  of  the  Baptist  church. 
In  1894  they  took  possession  of  their  pleasant 
dwelling,  which  he  had  just  completed;  and 
here  they  entertain  their  numerous  friends  and 
acquaintances  with  a  gracious  hospitality. 


RTHUR  F.  YOUNG,  of  Foxboro,  a 
dyer  and  bleacher,  and  a  manufacturer 
of  felt  and  straw  hats,  was  born  in 
this  town,  November  16,  i860,  son 
of  Asa  H.  and  Sarah  (Atwood)  Young.  The 
father,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Luton, 
Bedfordshire,  England,  learned  to  dye  straw 
goods  in  his  native  town,  and  subsequently 
worked  at  the  trade  until  1859.  Then  he 
came  to  America  to  join  his  brother  William, 
who  was  already  established  in  the  same  busi- 
ness at  Hersey  Place,  Foxboro.  A  few  years 
later  he  accepted  the  position  of  chief  dyer  at 
the  Union  Straw  Works,  where  he  remained 
about  ten  years.  In  1885  he  built  a  large 
shop  near  his  home,  and  taking  his  eldest  son, 
Arthur  F.,  into  copartnership,  he  began  the 
business  of  bleaching  and  dyeing,  in  which 
he  is  an  expert,  and  the  manufacture  of 
straw  and  felt  hats.  Soon  after  coming  here 
he  married  Miss  Sarah  Atwood,  who  is  also  a 
native  of  Luton.  She  has  borne  him  seven 
children;  namely,  Arthur  F.,  Jennie,  Walter, 
Charles,  William,  Harry,  and  Alfred.  Wal- 
ter, who  is  living  in  this  town,  married  Mary 
A.  McGoty;  Charles  married  M.  Lou  Butter- 
worth,  and  has  two  children  —  Leslie  and 
Marguerite;  and  William  married  Miss  Ada 
Forrest. 


Arthur  F.  Young  obtained  a  practical  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  this  town,  and 
under  the  instruction  of  his  father  learned  the 
trade  of  a  dyer  at  the  Union  Straw  Works, 
where  he  was  employed  three  years.  He 
afterward  worked  at  his  trade  with  B.  H. 
Spaulding  in  Milford,  Mass.,  and  for  three 
years  in  Monson,  Mass.,  with  the  firm  of  Mer- 
rick, Fay  &  Co.  In  1885  he  returned  to  Fox- 
boro, and  entered  into  partnership  with  his 
father,  with  whom  he  has  since  carried  on  an 
extensive  and  remunerative  business.  In  pol- 
itics Mr.  Young  has  been  identified  with  the 
Republicans  since  he  cast  his  first  Presiden- 
tial vote  in  1884  for  James  G.  Blaine.  He 
takes  much  interest  in  local  affairs,  and  is 
now  serving  as  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Se- 
lectmen. He  was  made  a  Mason  in  St.  Al- 
bans Lodge  of  this  town.  On  October  14, 
1892,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  N.  Cook, 
daughter  of  George  T.  and  Clarissa  (Stratton) 
Cook.  She  is  a  direct  descendant  and  almost 
the  last  member  of  an  old  and  honored  family 
of  Norfolk  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Young 
have  one  son,  Cecil  Young. 


Tt^NOBERT 
|h-r^  of  one 
|b\         ham, 


GOULD  SHAW,  the  owner 
ie  of  the  finest  estates  in  Need- 
was  born  in  Boston,  June  16, 
1872.  A  son  of  Quincy  Adams  and 
Pauline  (Agassiz)  Shaw,  he  belongs  to  one  of 
the  most  prominent  families  in  Boston. 
Among  his  ancestors  are  numbered  Governor 
Thomas  Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  and  no  less 
than  twelve  famous  divines  of  New  England. 
His  great-great-grandfather,  Francis  Shaw, 
Sr. ,  who  was  born  in  Boston,  March  29,  172 1, 
became  a  merchant  of  Gouldsboro.  In  1  745  he 
married  Lydia  Dickman,  who  died  December 
26,  1746.  A  second  marriage  contracted  by 
this  ancestor  on  September  22,  1747,  united 
him  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Burt,  a 
silversmith,  of  whose  skilful  workmanship 
many  specimens  are  still  preserved.  Francis 
Shaw,  Sr.,  died  October  18,  1784.  His  eld- 
est son  by  his  second  wife,  Francis  Shaw,  Jr., 
born  July  28,  1748,  who  resided  in  Goulds- 
boro, there,  in  1773,  married  Hannah  Nickels, 
who  was  born  October  20,  1754.  In  1770 
Francis  Shaw,  Jr.,  became  agent  for  his  father 


644 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  Robert  Gould,  of  Boston,  in  carrying  on 
extensive  building  operations  at  Gouldsboro. 
He  died  there  April  17,  1785.  His  widow 
subsequently  married  Joseph  Townsley,  and 
died  at  Steuben,  Me.,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one  years. 

Robert  Gould  Shaw,  the  grandfather  of  the 
present  bearer  of  that  name,  was  one  of  Bos- 
ton's merchant  princes.  Born  in  Gouldsboro, 
June  4,  1776,  he  removed  to  Boston  at  the  age 
of  thirteen,  and  there  entered  upon  a  mercan- 
tile career.  He  married  February  2,  1809, 
Elizabeth  Willard  Parkman,  a  very  beautiful 
society  belle,  who  made  him  a  devoted  and 
loving  wife.  She  belonged  to  the  well-known 
Boston  family  of  that  name,  having  connection 
with  the  distinguished  Massachusetts  families 
named  Cheever,  Lathrop,  Breck,  Rogers, 
Dennison,  Appleton,  Woodbridge,  Whiting, 
and  Chester.  Through  a  long  career  Grand- 
father Shaw  was  a  most  honorable  man  in  all 
his  relations.  While  enterprising  and  highly 
successful,  he  was  also  charitable.  His  wife 
died  April  14,  1853.  His  grief  for  her  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  chief  cause  of  his 
death  on  the  3d  of  May  following.  It  is  said 
of  him:  "He  was  very  tender-hearted  to  man 
and  beast.  Prosperity  never  injured  him,  and 
he  retained  to  the  end  of  his  life  a  singularly 
unworldly  and  youthful  spirit."  He  be- 
queathed four  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  a 
fund  with  which  to  found  the  Shaw  Asylum 
for  Mariners'  Children.  His  children  were: 
Francis  George,  Sarah  Parkman,  Samuel  Park- 
man,  Robert  Gould,  Anna  Blake,  Gardner 
Howland,  Joseph  Coolidge,  Elizabeth  Will- 
ard, and  Quincy  Adams.  Francis  George, 
born  October  23,  1809,  married  Sarah  Blake 
Sturgis,  and  died  November  7,  1882.  His 
eldest  son  was  the  famous  Colonel  Robert 
Gould  Shaw,  who  fell  at  Fort  Wagner,  and  to 
whom  a  monument  was  recently  erected  in 
Boston  Common.  Colonel  Shaw,  who  was 
born  October  10,  1837,  and  graduated  from 
Harvard  College  in  i860,  married  Anna  Knee- 
land  Haggerty  soon  after  leaving  college.  In 
April,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
Seventh  New  York  Regiment,  was  rapidly 
promoted,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 
Colonel  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts 
(colored)  Volunteers.      He   was  killed   in   the 


assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  S.  C. ,  July  18,  1863, 
in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  "The  im- 
mortal charge  of  his  black  regiment  reads  like 
a  page  of  the  Iliad  or  a  story  from  Plutarch." 
Sarah  Parkman,  born  March  3,  181 1,  married 
Colonel  George  Robert  Russell,  who  died  Au- 
gust 6,  1866.  Samuel  Parkman,  who  was 
born  November  19,  18 13,  married  Hannah 
Buck,  and  died  December  7,  1869.  Robert 
Gould,  who,  born  September  17,  1815,  died 
December  2,  1853,  married  Mary  Louisa 
Sturgis,  whose  death  occurred  August  9,  1870. 
Anna  Blake,  born  August  6,  1817,  married 
Colonel  William  Batchelder  Greene,  who  died 
May  30,  1878.  Gardner  Howland,  born  June 
10,  18 19,  married  Cora  Lyman,  and  died  May 
1,  1867.  Joseph  Coolidge,  born  January  22, 
1821,  who  became  a  priest  in  the  Catholic 
church,  died  March  10,  185 1.  Elizabeth 
Willard,  born  February  3,  1823,  died  Febru- 
ary 14,  1850.  She  married  Daniel  Augustus 
Oliver,  whose  death  happened  in  the  same 
year  as  hers. 

Quincy  Adams  Shaw  was  born  February  8, 
1825.  He  married  Pauline  Agassiz,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  celebrated  scientist,  Louis  John 
Rudolph  Agassiz,  M.D.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  who 
was  born  May  28,  1807,  near  Lake  Neufchatel, 
Switzerland,  and  who  died  at  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  December  14,  1873.  Mr.  Q.  A.  Shaw 
was  one  of  the  syndicate  that  opened  the 
Calumet  and  Hecla  Copper  Mines,  which  have 
been  a  source  of  wealth  to  several  Boston  men. 
His  connection  with  that  enterprise  enabled 
him  to  make  a  large  fortune.  He  is  now  liv- 
ing in  retirement  in  Boston.  His  children 
are:  Louis  Agassiz,  born  September  10,  1861, 
who  married  Mary  Saltonstall,  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Leverett  Saltonstall ;  Pauline,  born  July 
28,  1863;  Marian,  born  February  21,  1866; 
Quincy  Alexander,  born  July  30,  1869;  and 
Robert  Gould,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 

Robert  Gould  Shaw  prepared  for  college  in 
the  Hopkinson  Private  School  in  Boston,  and 
graduated  from  Harvard  University  in  the 
class  of  1895.  In  1896  he  purchased  the 
property  he  now  owns  on  South  Street,  Need- 
ham.  Here  he  has  built  a  handsome  resi- 
dence and  one  of  the  best  stables  in  the  town. 
He  is  much  interested  in  the  breeding  of  race 
horses  and  polo  ponies.      The  social  gifts  for 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


645 


which  his  family  has  been  famous  are  his  in  a 
marked  degree.  He  is  a  member  of  the  prin- 
cipal clubs  of  Harvard,  of  the  Puritan  Club  of 
Boston,  the  Country  Club,  the  Myopia  Club, 
the  Norfolk  Hunting  Club,  and  the  Deep  Run 
Hunting  Club  of  Richmond,  Va.  His  sum- 
mers are  spent  at  the  seashore,  and  he  passes 
the  winter  at  his  well-equipped  farm  in  Need- 
ham.  On  October  27,  1897,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Nancy  Langhorne,  a  daughter  of 
C.  D.  Langhorne,  of  Richmond,  Va.  Though 
now  leading  a  life  of  leisure,  Mr.  Shaw  has 
shown  those  sterling  qualities  that  distin- 
guished his  ancestors  as  honorable  and  suc- 
cessful business  men  and  brilliant  members  of 
society. 


§OEL  P.  HEWINS,  of  Sharon,  died 
June  29,  1897,  in  the  house  where  he 
was  born,  June  13,  1817,  his  parents 
being  Deacon  Joel  and  Polly  (Plimp- 
ton) Hewins,  and  his  grandfather,  Lieutenant 
Enoch  Hewins  of  the  Continental  army. 
Deacon  Joel  Hewins,  born  April  27,  1787, 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  which  he  followed 
many  years  (in  the  shop  still  to  be  seen  oppo- 
site the  head  of  Station  Street)  in  connection 
with  farming,  and  was  an  active,  hard-working 
man.  He  was  prominent  in  public  affairs  in 
town  and  church,  and  a  leader  in  progressive 
public  and  private  undertakings  —  a  fine  ex- 
ample of  old  Puritan  stock  —  and  died  June  23, 
1 8 7 1 .  Polly  Plimpton,  his  wife,  who  was 
born  in  the  west  part  of  Sharon,  April  20, 
1 79 1,  and  died  April  12,  1876,  became  the 
mother  of  three  children:  Joel  P.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Charles,  born  February  12, 
1 8 19;  and  Mary,  born  August  7,  1821. 
Charles,  who  is  now  an  extensive  farmer  in 
Crawford,  Neb.,  married  Lucy  Drake,  of 
Sharon,  and  had  three  children:  Evelyn,  now 
Mrs.  P.  P.  Curtis,  living  in  Penn  Yan,  N.Y.  ; 
and  Mary  and  Charles,  not  now  living.  Mary 
married  William  R.  Mann,  a  cotton  manufact- 
urer of  Sharon,  and  died  in  1878. 

Joel  P.  Hewins  received  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Sharon,  supplemented 
at  the  New  Hampton  (N.H.)  Literary  and 
Biblical  Institute.  In  early  manhood  he 
taught  school,  and  later  engaged  in  the  manu- 


facture of  boots  and  shoes.  Afterward  he 
engaged  in  the  oil  refining  business  in  Penn- 
sylvania, from  which  he  retired  in  1864,  and 
returned  to  the  old  homestead.  Politically, 
he  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party,  but  in  town  affairs  en- 
tirely free  from  political  bias,  serving  for 
many  years  as  member  of  the  Boards  of  Select- 
men, Overseers  of  the  Poor,  and  Assessors, 
also  as  Town  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  and  as 
Representative  to  the  General  Court,  in  an 
unusual  degree  receiving  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  his  political  opponents,  and  invari- 
ably retiring  from  office  of  his  own  motion, 
and  frequently  against  the  wishes  of  all 
parties,  although  inflexible  and  unsparing  in 
his  denunciation  of  wrong-doing  wherever 
found.  He  was  of  a  contemplative  and  studi- 
ous turn  of  mind,  delighting  in  metaphysical 
discussion.  While  not  a  church  communi- 
cant, he  was  active  in  the  Unitarian  Society 
and  its  treasurer  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

On  June  17,  1S42,  Mr.  Hewins  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Sarah  Jane  Dunbar,  born  in 
Mansfield,  Mass.,  March  23,  1820,  daughter 
of  Amasa  and  Nabby  (Pond)  Dunbar.  Mr. 
Dunbar  was  a  native  of  Easton,  and  his  wife 
of  Wrentham.  He  was  an  extensive  manu- 
facturer of  boots  and  shoes. 

They  had  one  son,  Edmund  Hart,  born  De- 
cember 23,  1845  (descended  arid  named  from 
the  builder  of  the  frigate  "Constitution"), 
who  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and 
Stoughtonham  Institute  of  Sharon  and  Law- 
rence Scientific  School  of  Cambridge,  and 
who  now  resides  in  Boston.  On  June  23, 
1870,  he  married  Kate  M.  Potter,  and  has  had 
three  children:  Mary  Angie,  born  April  15, 
1872,  died  September  16  of  that  same  year: 
Edmund  Dunbar  and  Katharine  Potter,  twins, 
born  June  27,   1875. 


,ARROLL  E.  WHITE,  an  enterpris- 
ing manufacturer  and  farmer  of  Bel- 
lingham,  was  born  in  Hopkinton, 
R.I.,  September  5,  1858,  son  of 
William  G.  and  Betsey  Ann  (Ray)  White. 
The  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Mansfield, 
Mass.,  was  brought  up  in  YVatertown,  where 
he  learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith.     After  re- 


646 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


siding  for  some  time  in  Newton  and  Hopkin- 
ton,  R.I.,  he  settled  in  Bellingham  township, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  until  near  his 
death  on  February  15,  1893.  He  married 
Betsey  Ann  Ray,  of  Cumberland,  R.I.,  who 
was  born  in  that  place,  February  2,  1831. 
His  children  by  her  are:  Warren  E.,  who 
married  Grace  Forbes,  and  is  a  fish  dealer  of 
Bellingham;  Anna  F. ,  the  wife  of  Henry  J. 
Keyes,  of  Bellingham,  who  conducts  a  milk 
route  here;  and  Carroll  E.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  The  mother,  who  resides  with  Car- 
roll E.,  under  the  pen  name  of  "Didama"  is 
the  author  and  publisher  of  the  touching  story, 
"Three  Holes  in  the  Chimney."  She  has  also 
written  the  interesting  booklet,  "Richmond 
and  Way  Stations,"  which  is  a  realistic  and 
thrilling  account  of  the  war  experiences  of  a 
private  soldier  of  the  Union  army. 

Carroll  E.  White  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Newton,  Mass.  In  1877  he 
came  with  his  parents  to  Bellingham.  On 
December  25,  1879,  he  married  Miss  Annie  I. 
Forbes,  of  Boston,  where  she  was  born  August 
7,  1862,  daughter  of  William  H.  and  Susan 
E.  Forbes.  Her  father  was  salesman  for  a 
wholesale  dry-goods  house  of  Boston,  and  a 
lifelong  resident  of  that  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
White  have  three  children,  namely:  Waldo 
F.,  born  June  20,  1881  ;  Carroll  F.,  born  No- 
vember 18,  1886;  and  Ralph  Grafton,  born 
September  12,   1896. 

When  Mr.  White  settled  in  Bellingham,  he 
took  a  farm,  and  started  the  manufacture  of 
loom  straps  and  flexible  inner-soles.  In  1888 
he  bought  his  present  estate,  known  as  the 
Andrew  Bates  farm,  containing  about  ninety 
acres  of  land,  which  he  has  since  much  im- 
proved. He  carries  on  general  farming,  raises 
some  poultry,  and  keeps  a  dairy  of  twenty 
milch  cows.  He  still  owns  his  first  milk 
route,  which  was  bought  in  1888,  and  which 
covers  territory  extending  from  Milford  to 
Bellingham.  Another  source  of  income  to 
him  is  dealing  in  second-hand  card-clothing, 
old  leather  hose,  and  old  raw-hide  pickers,  for 
which  he  employs  about  ten  hands. 

In  politics  Mr.  White  is  a  Republican.  He 
was  Assessor  for  one  year.  He  is  the  Cattle 
Inspector  of  the  township,  the  chairman  and 
clerk  of  the  Board   of  Overseers  of  the  Poor, 


and  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  An  es- 
teemed member  of  the  Bellingham  Grange,  he 
has  been  Master  for  several  years.  He  has 
also  been  Master  of  the  Pomona  Grange,  and 
he  belongs  to  the  A.  O.  U.  W.  of  Franklin 
village.  His  wife  and  mother  are  members  of 
the  Baptist  church. 


(5  I  IMC 


IMOTHY   F.  COREY,  one  of  the  most 

4 1  extensive  market  gardeners  of  Norfolk 
County,  Massachusetts,  occupies  the 
old  Corey  homestead  in  Brookline,  where  he 
was  born  on  September  30,  1 86 1 .  His  father, 
Timothy  Corey,  the  third  of  the  name  in  direct 
line,  was  born  in  the  same  house,  March  3, 
1822,  being  a  son  of  Deacon  Timothy  Corey, 
whose  birthplace  was  a  house  standing  not  far 
distant. 

Captain  Timothy  Corey,  great-grandfather 
of  Timothy,  came  to  Brookline  a  few  years  be- 
fore the  Revolution,  in  which  he  served  as  an 
officer,  and  was  noted  for  his  bravery.  He 
purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Brook- 
line, and  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Griggs,  of  Brookline,  and 
reared  two  sons,  one  being  his  namesake,  the 
Deacon  above  mentioned. 

Deacon  Corey  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Brookline,  his  birth  having  occurred  here  dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  Revolution.  He  suc- 
ceeded to  the  occupation  in  which  he  was 
reared,  and  acquired  a  large  landed  property. 
In  1806  he  erected  the  house  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  grandson,  Timothy  F.,  and 
which  adjoins  the  one  he  had  previously 
built  in  1802.  He  married  Mary  Gardener, 
who  was  born  in  this  town,  a  daughter  of 
Caleb  Gardener,  and  a  descendant  of  one  of 
the  five  brave  men  that  defended  the  town 
when  assailed  by  the  Indians  in  early  Colo- 
nial times.  Deacon  Timothy  and  Mary  G. 
Corey  reared  a  family  of  seven  daughters  and 
three  sons,  and  of  these  three  children  are  yet 
living.  Deacon  Corey  died  in  1844;  and  his 
wife,  surviving  him,  died  March  3,  1861,  aged 
eighty  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  of  which  her  husband  was  for 
many  years  the  Deacon. 

Timothy  Corey,  third,  was  educated   in   the 


CHARLES    F.    HOWARD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


649 


schools  of  Brookline  and  Worcester,  and 
under  his  father's  instruction  early  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  various  branches  of  agri- 
culture. On  the  death  of  his  father  he  came 
into  possession  of  seventy-five  acres  of  the 
homestead  property,  which  he  managed  with 
great  success  until  his  decease,  October  4, 
1887.  On  February  17,  1S52,  he  married 
Sarah  E.  Strout,  who  was  born  in  Poland, 
Me.,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Strout,  a  native  of 
the  same  town,  and  a  grand-daughter  of  Nehe- 
miah  Strout,  who  was  born  in  Gloucester, 
Mass.  Her  grandfather  Strout  was  a  pioneer 
settler  of  Poland,  Me.,  whither  he  made  his 
way  from  the  seaport  in  which  he  was  reared 
by  a  route  marked  by  blazed  trees.  He  took 
up  a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land,  con- 
structed a  log  cabin  in  the  woods,  and  by  dint 
of  persistent  toil  cleared  a  good  farm.  He 
built  a  comfortable  frame  house,  which  is  still 
standing,  being  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, notwithstanding  it  has  breasted  the 
storms  of  a  century.  He  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety-four  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Rebecca  Dunn,  bore  him  nine  chil- 
dren. Their  son  Joseph  was  a  farmer,  and 
spent  his  entire  life  of  eighty-four  years  in 
Poland.  He  married  Olive  Downing,  who 
was  born  in  Minot,  Me.,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Ruth  (Emery)  Downing,  both  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  he  having  been  born  in  An- 
dover  and  she  in  Newton,  whence  when  a 
child  she  accompanied  her  parents  to  Maine, 
being  the  first  white  child  in  Minot.  John 
Downing  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary army  when  a  youth  of  sixteen  years, 
and  on  account  of  an  act  of  bravery  was  ap- 
pointed as  one  of  the  body-guard  to  General 
Washington.  Joseph  and  Olive  Strout  reared 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  survive,  as  fol- 
lows: John  A.,  Harriet,  wife  of  Tolman 
Wight;  Sarah  E. ;  Mrs.  Corey;  Charles;  and 
George,  a  resident  of  Maiden,  Mass. 

Of  the  union  of  Timothy  Corey  and  Sarah 
E.  Strout  eight  children  were  born,  namely: 
Lizzie  G.,  the  wife  of  Frederick  R.  Gerry, 
who  is  engaged  in  the  sash  and  door  business 
at  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Timothy  F. ,  the  special 
subject  of  this  sketch,  and  his  twin  brother, 
James  F.,  who  married  Idell  Dodge,  of  London- 
derry,   Vt.,    and    is   now    in   business    in    Bos- 


ton; Harold  D.,  who  married  Mary  H.  Wal- 
lace, of  Newton,  Mass.,  a  commission  broker 
at  53  State  Street,  Boston;  William  K.,  who 
married  Annie  Plummer,  of  Auburndale,  and 
is  an  employee  of  the  Pope  Bicycle  Company 
in  Boston;  P^va  D. ;  Linda  Emery;  and  Tim- 
othy G. ,  who  died  April  4,  i860,  aged  two 
years  and  seven  months.  Mrs.  Corey  has 
been  an  extensive  traveller,  both  in  this  coun- 
try and  Europe,  having  visited  the  principal 
cities  of  each,  her  travels  in  the  United  States 
having  extended  through  twenty  States  of  the 
Union.  She  and  her  daughters  are  communi- 
cants of  All  Saints'   (Episcopal)  Church. 

Timothy  F.  Corey  completed  his  education 
at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Commercial  College, 
where  he  took  a  two  years'  course.  He  then 
turned  his  attention  to  the  pursuit  of  agricult- 
ure, and  since  the  death  of  his  father  has  had 
the  control  of  twenty  acres  of  the  old  home 
farm.  In  addition  to  this  he  leases  about 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Brighton,  and  is  carry- 
ing on  a  very  flourishing  business  in  market 
gardening,  keeping  some  twenty-five  men  em- 
ployed, and  shipping  his  produce  to  Boston. 
In  addition  to  garden  vegetables  he  raises 
large  quantities  of  fruit,  making  a  specialty 
of  currants,  cherries,  and  pears,  all  of  which 
find  a  ready  sale  near  home.  In  politics  he 
is  a  stanch  Republican,  but  has  declined  all 
official  honors.  He  is  a  member  of  Beth 
Horan  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.;  a  charter  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Essen ic  Order;  was  for- 
merly identified  with  the  Order  of  Red  Men; 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Gentlemen's 
Driving  Club  of  Medford. 

Mr.  Corey  was  married  June  13,  1888,  to 
Sarah  T.  Armstrong,  who  was  born  in  Brewer, 
Me.,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Armstrong,  a 
ship-builder  of  that  town. 


AJOR  CHARLES  F.  HOWARD, 
a  veteran  of  the  late  war  and  an 
esteemed  resident  of  Foxboro, 
was  born  April  6,  1823,  in  Taun- 
ton, Mass.,  son  of  John  Howard.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Samuel  Howard,  was  born 
and  bred  in  New  York  State.  In  early  man- 
hood Samuel  moved  to  Bristol  County,  Massa- 
chusetts, settling  in  the  western  part  of  Taun- 


65° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    KEVIFAV 


ton,  where  he  bought  a  farm,  and  was 
thereafter  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
until  his  demise.  He  reared  a  family  of  ten 
children.  John  Howard  was  born  and  edu- 
cated in  Taunton,  and  there  spent  his  entire 
life  of  sixty-six  years.  During  the  whole  of 
his  active  period  he  was  engaged  in  the  gro- 
cery business,  first  as  senior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Howard  &  Woodward,  wholesale  gro- 
cers. Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Woodward  the 
style  of  the  firm  became  Howard  &  Brown, 
and  still  later  Mr.  Howard  carried  on  the 
business  alone.  By  his  first  marriage,  which 
was  made  with  Eliza  Lemist,  there  were  no 
children.  His  second  wife,  Mary  Seaver 
Howard,  had  three  children  —  John  S., 
Charles  F.,  and  Francis.  Marrying  for  the 
third  time,  he  had  by  his  third  wife,  Mary 
Parker  Howard,  one  child,  Mary. 

Charles  F.  Howard  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Taunton  and  at  Bristol 
Academy.  Subsequently  he  worked  for  three 
years  in  a  printing-office.  Then  he  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  until 
1852.  In  that  year  he  became  the  purchasing 
agent  of  general  supplies  for  the  Union  Straw 
Works.      This  employment  he  relinquished  in 

1862,  to  form  a  military  company,  which  was 
attached  to  the  Fourth  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teer Infantry.  Soon  after,  he  was  elected  Cap- 
tain of  Company  F,  which  had  previously  been 
in  service  three  months.  In  January,  1863,  be- 
fore the  regiment  had  left  the  State,  Captain 
Howard  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major,  a 
capacity  in  which  he  served  until  the  expira- 
tion   of    his   term    of    enlistment    in    August, 

1863.  With  his  regiment  he  was  in  the  Gulf 
expedition,  under  General  N.  P.  Banks.  On 
his  return  to  Foxboro  he  resumed  his  former 
position  in  the  Union  Straw  Works,  retaining 
it  until  1888.  Since  then  he  has  devoted  his 
attention  to  the  care  of  a  small  farm  on  Me- 
chanic Street  which  he  had  previously  pur- 
chased, and  on  which,  in  1846,  he  had  erected 
a  fine  set  of  buildings. 

Major  Howard  was  married  November  28, 
1844,  t0  Miss  Mary  Copeland,  daughter  of 
Oakes  and  Polly  (Pettee)  Copeland.  He  has 
two  daughters  —  Genevieve  and  Mabel.  The 
former  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  H.  Burgess,  of 
Wareham,  Mass.,  and  has  one  child,  Ethel  H. 


Mabel  is  the  wife  of  Edward  B.  Swift,  now  a 
resident  of  this  town.  The  Major  is  a  sound 
Republican  in  politics.  He  cast  his  first 
Presidential  vote  in  1844  for  Henry  Clay. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  he  has  been  Mod- 
erator at  the  annual  town  meetings.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  and  Navy 
of  the  Gulf  and  of  E.  P.  Carpenter  Post,  No. 
91,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Foxboro. 


(OrNDREW  MILNE,  the  senior  member 
fl\  of  the  firm  of  Milne  &  Chalmers,  pro- 
/J(A  prietors  of  granite  works  in  Quincy, 
— '  is  actively  identified  with  the  in- 
dustrial and  business  interests  of  this  city, 
where  he  is  held  in  high  esteem.  He  was 
born  April  13,  1842,  in  Aberdeen,  Scotland, 
son  of  James  Milne.  The  latter,  born  and 
reared  in  Aberdeen,  was  engaged  in  tilling 
the  soil  throughout  his  active  period.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Jane  Forsyth, 
likewise  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  had  a  family 
of  five  children,  of  whom  four  grew  to  years 
of  maturity.  These  were:  Elizabeth,  de- 
ceased, who  was  the  wife  of  the  late  John  Tay- 
lor; James,  also  deceased;  Margaret,  the  wife 
of  Alexander  Milne;  and  Andrew,  the  special 
subject  of  this,  sketch.  Both  parents  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
reared  their  children  in  the  same  faith. 

After  receiving  his  education  in  the  parish 
schools  of  his  native  city,  Andrew  Milne  was 
engaged  in  railway  work  in  that  locality  until 
his  emigration  to  America  in  1872.  Coming 
directly  to  Quincy,  he  entered  the  employ  of 
McKenzie  &  Patterson,  and  in  the  five  years 
that  he  remained  with  them  learned  the  pol- 
isher's trade.  The  firm  of  A.  Milne  &  Co., 
formed  in  1882,  was  succeeded  by  the  present 
firm  five  years  later,  when  Mr.  Chalmers  be- 
came the  junior  member.  They  handle  all 
kinds  of  granite,  and  execute  monumental 
work  of  every  description  for  the  local  retail 
trade,  employing  in  the  different  departments 
an  average  force  of  thirty  or  forty  men.  Mr. 
Milne  is  greatly  interested  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  granite  industries  and  in  the  im- 
provement of  Quincy  real  estate,  giving  much 
time  and  attention  to  solving  problems  con- 
nected with  each.      He  is  the  clerk  and  a  di- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


60 


rector  alike  of  the  Quincy  Quarry  Company, 
the  Blue  Hill  Granite  Company,  and  the 
Lyons  Granite  Company;  the  vice-president 
of  President's  Hill  Real  Estate  Trust;  the 
president  and  a  trustee  of  President's  Hill 
Annex  Real  Estate  Trust;  and  a  trustee  of 
Cranch  Hill  Estate  Trust. 

Mr.  Milne  is  a  member  and  Past  Dictator 
of  Merry  Mount  Lodge,  K.  of  H.  In  1866 
he  married  Mary,  daughter  of  George  Taylor, 
of  Aberdeen,  Scotland.  Of  their  children 
James,  Andrew,  Mary  B.  T. ,  Thomas  D.,  and 
Margaret  are  living.  Both  parents  are  active 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  for 
several  years  Mr.  Milne  was  president  of  the 
society  connected  therewith. 


EORGE  KURTZ  BIRD,  formerly  a 
*>  I  well-known  Boston  business  man  and 
/eteran  of  the  Civil  War,  was  born 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  October  12,  1843,  son  of 
Edwin  L.  and  Catherine  (Kurtz)  Bird.  His 
father,  who  was  a  decorator  by  trade,  served  as 
a  Captain  in  a  Massachusetts  regiment  during 
the  Civil  War;  and  a  brother,  John  E.  Bird, 
died  in  the  service. 

George  Kurtz  Bird  was  given  the  advantage 
of  a  good  education.  After  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Rebellion  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
the  Forty-seventh  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  afterward  ap- 
pointed Quartermaster  Sergeant,  and  was  hon- 
orably discharged  as  such  after  serving  one 
year.  Returning  to  Boston,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  James  Edmunds  &  Co., 
importers  of  brick  drain  pipe,  located  on  Fed- 
eral Street,  with  which  concern  he  continued 
fourteen  years,  or  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred at  Dorchester,  Mass.,  April  4,  1877, 
when  he  was  in  his  thirty-fourth  year.  He 
possessed  a  strongly  defined  character,  a 
marked  personality,  and  a  vigorous  intellect, 
and  took  an  intelligent  interest  in  current 
affairs.  In  politics  he  acted  with  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  was  especially  devoted  to  the 
welfare  and  success  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  the  G.  A.  R.  Post  in  Norwood 
was  named  in  his  honor.  He  was  a  member 
of  Orient  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  Norwood, 
Mass. 


Mr.  Bird  married  Hattie  A.  Ellis,  daughter 
of  Jason  and  Martha  A.  (Smith)  Ellis,  the 
former  of  whom  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
West  Dedham.  Since  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band, Mrs.  Bird  has  resided  with  her  parents. 
She  is  the  mother  of  two  sons  —  John  Ellis 
and  George  Kurtz  Bird. 


'ORACH  C.  CHEEVER,  of  Wrentham, 
well-known  publisher  of  local 
newspapers,  was  born  here,  July  24, 
1824,  son  of  John  P.  and  Grace 
(Richards)  Cheever.  The  great-grandfather, 
John  Cheever,  who  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  and  settled  in  Wrentham  in  1765,  first 
erected  a  frame  house  for  his  dwelling.  At  a 
later  date  he  built  the  house  now  standing, 
and  in  which  Horace  C.  was  born.  He 
fought  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  By  occu- 
pation he  was  a  farmer  and  shop-joiner.  His 
son  John,  who  was  also  a  farmer,  worked  at 
the  trade  of  wheelwright  for  many  years,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years.  This 
John  Cheever  married  Caroline  Plymton. 

John  P.  Cheever,  son  of  John,  followed 
farming  throughout  his  active  life.  The 
commander  of  the  old  South  militia  company 
of  Wrentham,  he  was  known  as  Captain 
Cheever.  He  married  Grace  Richards,  of 
North  Attleboro,  who  had  six  children  by  him. 
Of  these  Ellen,  who  is  the  widow  of  James 
D.  Franklin,  resides  at  home;  Emma  married 
Charles  A.  Faas,  of  Plainville,  a  veteran  of 
the  Grand  Army,  who  lost  a  leg  at  Fair  Oaks; 
and  Zeolide,  who  married  J.  P.  Barney,  re- 
sides on  a  part  of  the  homestead. 

After  attending  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  town  for  the  usual  period,  Horace  C. 
Cheever  took  the  teachers'  course  at  the 
Bridgewater  Normal  School,  and  subsequently 
taught  school  for  a  time.  Afterward,  having 
much  literary  talent  combined  with  business 
ability,  he  published  local  newspapers  for 
nearly  twenty  years.  These  journals  were  es- 
tablished in  Danvers,  Mass.,  Rockport,  Mass., 
and  Cape  May,  and  are  still  in  existence.  He 
spent  four  years  in  Minnesota,  between  the 
years  1856  and  i860,  engaged  in  surveying 
lots  in  Minneapolis,  which  was  then  very 
small,  and  where  his  uncle   William   was  one 


652 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


of  the  first  white  men  to  settle.  He  returned 
to  the  home  farm  upon  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  subsequently  served  in  the  late  war  for  six 
months  with  the  band  of  the  Eighteenth  Mas- 
sachusetts Regiment. 

Mr.  Cheever  and  his  wife,  Ann  Austin 
Cheever,  have  two  children  —  Mary  B.  and 
Frederic  L.  Mary  B.  married  Charles  Burns, 
of  Wrentham,  and  has  the  following  children 
—  Emma,  Frank,  Bertha,  Eva,  Charles,  and 
George.  Frederic  L.,  who  married  Kate 
Smiley,  of  Danvers,  has  three  children  — 
Horace,  John,  and  Ellen.  Mr.  Cheever  is 
a  Democrat.  He  cast  his  first  vote  for  George 
B.  McClellan  in  1864. 


RANKLIN  ALTON  PETTEE,  a 
prominent  dry-goods  merchant  of  Fox- 
boro,  was  born  in  this  town,  March  6, 
1859,  son  of  Albert  F.  Pettee.  His  great- 
grandfather, Oliver  Pettee,  was  one  of  the 
original  settlers  of  Foxboro.  A  tablet 
erected  by  the  town  in  the  cemetery  records 
the  fact  that  Oliver  was  a  valiant  soldier  in 
the  Revolution.  Oliver  married  a  sister  of 
Nathaniel  Clark,  who  was  also  an  early  settler 
of  the  town,  and  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-nine  years.  After  their  marriage  the 
great-grandparents  settled  on  the  old  Pettee 
homestead  on  Mechanic  Street,  where  their 
son  Martin,  the  grandfather  of  Franklin  A., 
was  born. 

Martin  Pettee  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of 
181 2,  being  stationed  at  one  of  the  forts  in 
Boston  Harbor.  His  occupation  in  civil  life 
was  that  of  a  manufacturer  of  straw  goods  on 
a  small  scale.  He  resided  for  the  most  part 
in  Foxboro,  and  passed  away  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one  years.  His  wife,  Johanna  Norton 
Pettee,  had  seven  children  that  lived  to  ma- 
turity. Albert  F.  Pettee  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools  of  this  town.  When  quite 
young  he  entered  the  Union  Straw  Works,  in 
which  he  was  employed  until  1887.  Since 
then  he  has  lived  in  retirement.  A  talented 
musician,  he  has  been  for  many  years  a  noted 
teacher  of  music  and  a  chorister  of  the  Con- 
gregational church.  He  married  Miss  Lydia 
Messenger,  daughter  of  Fisher  Messenger,  of 
Wrentham;  and   Franklin  A.  Pettee,   the  sub- 


ject of  this  sketch,  is  their  only  child.  Mrs. 
Pettee  is  a  direct  descendant  of  Peregrine 
White,  the  first  white  child  born  in  New  Eng- 
land after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Franklin  A.  Pettee  completed  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  at  an  early  age.  Soon 
after  he  began  his  mercantile  career  as  a  clerk 
for  L.  C.  Bliss,  a  dry-goods  merchant.  He  was 
retained  in  this  capacity  by  the  successors  of 
Mr.  Bliss,  B.  F.  Boyden,  and  S.  P.  Oliver  & 
Co.  Having  worked  for  the  last-named  firm 
for  four  years,  he  bought  out  the  interest  of 
Mr.  Oliver's  partner;  and  three  years  later,  by 
purchasing  Mr.  Oliver's  interest,  he  became 
the  sole  proprietor.  He  has  since  carried  on 
the  business  alone,  having  a  flourishing  trade, 
which  he  has  won  by  his  honest  and  honorable 
methods  and  his  good  business  tact.  The 
Knights  of  Honor  is  the  only  fraternal  organ- 
ization to  which  he  belongs.  In  politics  he 
is  a  stanch  Republican.  Like  his  father,  he 
has  great  musical  ability;  and  since  he  was 
fifteen  years  of  age  he  has  been  the  organist 
at  the  Congregational  church. 


SALMON  TURNER,  one  of  the  old- 
est and  most  respected  residents  of 
Foxboro,  was  born  May  21,  181 7,  in 
Easton,  Mass.,  son  of  Salmon  and 
Clarissa  (Pierce)  Turner.  The  father,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  same  town,  settled 
in  New  Bedford,  Mas?.,  when  he  was  a  young 
man,  and  there  for  upward  of  twoscore  years 
carried  on  a  store  well  stocked  with  general 
merchandise.  Among  his  regular  customers 
were  many  of  the  old  whalers  of  the  locality, 
whose  home-coming  was  a  gala  day  for  the 
merchants  of  the  town,  especially  if  the 
voyage  had  been  a  prosperous  one.  He  spent 
a  very  few  years  in  Foxboro,  but  died  in  New 
Bedford  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  Of  his 
children,  Elbridge  G.,  Willard  P.,  Salmon, 
Calvin  K.,  and  Clarissa  P.  attained  maturity. 
Elbridge  G. ,  now  eighty-four  years  of  age  and 
the  only  survivor,  is  a  bachelor,  and  lives  in 
New  Bedford. 

Mr.  Turner  had  but  meagre  educational  ad- 
vantages, his  student  life  having  been  confined 
to  a  few  terms  at  the  district  school.  While 
yet  a  boy,  he  worked  at  anything  he  could  find 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


653 


to  do,  often  assisting  his  father  in  the  store. 
After  leaving  home  he  was  employed  for  eight 
years  in  the  Union  Straw  Works  at  Foxboro. 
Being  then  seized  with  an  acute  attack  of  the 
gold  fever,  which  was  raging  throughout  New 
England,  he  started  for  California,  making  the 
journey  by  the  way  of  Nicaragua  Lake.  In 
California  he  prospected  for  a  time  along  the 
Sacramento  River;  but,  not  meeting  with  the 
success  he  had  expected,  he  abandoned  mining 
and  returned  to  Foxboro.  Here  he  resumed 
work  at  the  Union  Straw  shops.  After  some 
time  spent  there,  he  and  his  brother  purchased 
a  cranberry  bog,  which  they  have  since  culti- 
vated with  profit. 

Mr.  Turner  married  Miss  Clementine  L. 
Bird,  daughter  of  Warren  Bird,  of  this  town. 
Of  their  children,  George  S.  is  living.  He 
subsequently  married  Miss  Maria  Grover, 
daughter  of  Lindoll  Grover.  George  S. 
Turner  married  Ruth  Wilson,  who  has  borne 
him  one  child,  Mary.  Mr.  Salmon  Turner 
has  been  identified  with  the  Republican  party 
since  its  formation,  and  is  an  ardent  supporter 
of  its  principles.  He  is  broad  and  liberal  in 
his  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  wor- 
ships at  the  Universalis  church. 


SETER  J.  WILLIAMS,*  of  Quincy, 
Mass.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Quincy 
Fire  Department,  by  occupation  a 
carpenter  and  builder,  is  a  wide- 
awake, progressive  business  man,  highly  re- 
spected by  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  born 
in  this  town,  April  18,  1856.  His  parents 
were  Peter  and  Lydia  (Olive)  Williams. 

The  Williams  family  originated  in  Wales, 
from  whence  some  of  its  early  members  mi- 
grated to  Ireland,  locating  in  the  parish  of 
Inniscarra,  County  Cork.  There  Robert 
Williams,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Peter  J. 
Williams,  spent  his  life  as  a  farmer.  He 
married  Hannah  Harold,  and  had  two  children, 
but  one  of  whom,  namely,  Peter,  grew  to  ma- 
ture years. 

Peter  Williams,  son  of  Robert,  was  born 
October  23,  1826,  in  Inniscarra,  where  he 
lived  until  after  his  marriage,  working  for  sev- 
eral years  at  the  shoemaker's  trade.  When 
twenty-three  years  of  age  he  left  the  Emerald 


Isle,  and,  coming  to  this  country,  settled  in 
Quincy,  which  he  made  his  permanent  abiding- 
place.  He  continued  the  trade  that  he  had 
learned  in  his  youthful  days  until  the  close  of 
his  earthly  career,  February  20,  1897.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Lydia  Olive, 
was  born  in  Bandon,  County  Cork,  being  a 
daughter  of  Robert  Olive.  She  passed  to  the 
higher  life  June  16,  1895.  Both  Mrs.  Will- 
iams and  her  husband  were  devout  members  of 
the  Episcopal  church,  of  which  he  was  for 
more  than  seventeen  years  the  sexton.  They 
had  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom  eight 
are  now  living,  namely:  Thomas  H.,  of  Bos- 
ton; Robert  J.,  of  Quincy;  Peter  J.;  Sarah 
E.,  wife  of  Amos  Lawrence  Litchfield,  of 
Quincy;  George  R.,  a  resident  of  Quincy; 
Lydia  M.  ;  Samuel  E.  and  Frederick  W., 
both  of  Quincy. 

Peter  J.  Williams,  after  obtaining  his  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Quincy,  learned 
the  trade  of  carpenter  and  builder,  beginning 
work  at  the  age  of  eighteen  and  serving  a  full 
apprenticeship.  He  was  subsequently  em- 
ployed as  a  journeyman  carpenter  four  years, 
then  began  contracting  and  building  on  his 
own  account;  and,  meeting  with  good  success 
from  the  first,  he  has  continued  in  the  same 
business.  He  has  built  two  engine-houses 
for  the  city  of  Quincy,  has  erected  a  large 
number  of  fine  private  residences,  and  re- 
stored and  repaired  the  old  President  Adams 
house  for  the  Quincy  Historical  Society. 
His  services  are  always  in  demand  for  first- 
class  work,  and  in  filling  his  contracts  he  em- 
ploys on  an  average  about  twenty-five  men. 

When  a  youth  of  seventeen  years  Mr.  Will- 
iams joined  the  old  Tiger  Engine  Company, 
then  operating  an  old  hand  tub;  and  he  has 
ever  since  been  identified  with  the  local  fire 
department.  During  the  last  three  years  of 
the  existence  of  the  "Tigers,"  he  was  foreman 
of  the  company;  and  when  it  was  disbanded  he 
was  presented  with  the  silver  trumpet  which 
was  given  to  the  company  by  the  citizens  of 
Quincy.  In  politics  independent  of  any  party, 
he  casts  his  ballot  for  the  best  men  for  the 
offices  to  be  filled.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Mount  Wollaston  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
of  this  city,  and  of  the  Knights  of  Honor. 

Mr.    Williams   married  Jessie,    daughter    of 


654 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Angus  McClain,  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 
Of  their  union  five  children  have  been  born, 
and  three  are  now  living;  namely,  George 
Seymour,  Grover  Cleveland,  and  Mary 
Florence. 


EACON  BENJAMIN  BISBEE,*  one 
of  Stoughton's  Civil  War  veterans, 
was  born  in  North  Stoughton, 
where  he  now  resides,  April  io, 
1832,  son  of  Otis  and  Nancy  (Pope)  Bisbee. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  this  town,  as  was 
also  his  grandfather,  Benjamin  Bisbee,  who 
went  from  Stoughton  to  join  the  Continental 
army,  with  which  he  served  four  and  one-half 
years  in  the  war  for  independence.  Grand- 
father Bisbee  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and  a 
well-known  citizen  of  his  day.  He  wedded 
Millie  Vose,  and  reared  six  children  ;  namely, 
Lavinia,  Millie,  Hannah,  Joshua,  Benjamin, 
and  Otis. 

Otis  Bisbee,  son  of  Benjamin,  inherited 
the  farm,  which  he  cultivated  during  his  active 
years,  and  resided  at  the  homestead  from  his 
birth  until  his  death.  He  always  attended 
strictly  to  his  private  affairs,  and  was  deeply 
attached  to  his  home  and  fireside.  Nancy 
Pope,  whom  he  married,  was  a  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Betsey  (Tower)  Pope,  and  was  one 
of  a  family  of  seven  children  :  John,  William, 
Joseph,  Thomas,  Nancy,  Eliza,  and  Clarissa 
Pope.  Her  father  was  in  early  life  a  fisher- 
man and  later  a  farmer.  Otis  and  Nancy 
(Pope)  Bisbee  reared  six  children,  as  follows: 
James  Otis,  who  is  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  in  Stoughton;  Benjamin,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Augusta,  who  married  C.  F. 
Kimball  (both  deceased)  ;  Eliza,  who  is  now 
Mrs.  Milliken,  and  resides  in  Somerville, 
Mass.  ;  Joseph,  who  enlisted  in  the  First 
Massachusetts  Cavalry  for  service  in  the  Civil 
War,  and  died  at  Hilton  Head,  S.  C.  ;  and 
Geraldine,  who  married  George  Milliken,  and 
is  no  longer  living.  Mrs.  Nancy  P.  Bisbee 
died  in  1892. 

Benjamin  Bisbee  acquired  a  common-school 
education  and  resided  at  home  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  Learning 
the  shoemaker's  trade,  he  followed  it  until 
1862,  when   he  enlisted  as  a  private   in   Com- 


pany B,  Forty-fifth  Regiment,  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry,  for  nine  months'  service. 
He  participated  in  the  battles  of  White  Hall, 
Kingston,  Goldsboro,  and  other  engagements, 
and  was  discharged  at  Milton,  Mass.,  in  July, 
1863.  Resuming  his  trade  in  Randolph, 
Mass.,  he  later  returned  to  Stoughton,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  shoemaking  until  1891  ;  and 
since  that  time  he  has  devoted  his  principal 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  homestead 
farm.  He  carries  on  general  farming  and 
dairying,  sells  considerable  milk,  and  is  also 
in  the  express  business  as  local  agent  of  the 
New  York  &  Boston  Despatch  Company.  Po- 
litically, he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  Universalist  church, 
of  which  he  is  a  Deacon,  and  has  long  been 
active  in  its  affairs. 

On  September  24,  1862,  Deacon  Bisbee 
married  Susan  Y.  P.  Monk,  of  Stoughton. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Isaac  P.  and  Mary 
A.  (Packard)  Monk.  Deacon  and  Mrs.  Bisbee 
have  an  adopted  son  — John,  born  September 
22,  1882,  who  is  now  attending  the  Stoughton 
High  School. 


ENJAMIN  J.  WEEKS,  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  Ouincy,  and  the 
superintendent  of  the  Quincy  &  Bos- 
ton Electric  Railway  Company,  was 
born  October  24,  1856.  Exeter,  N.H.,  his 
native  town,  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his 
father,  James  Weeks,  Jr.,  and  of  his  grand- 
father, James  Weeks,  Sr.  The  latter  was  a 
carpenter  and  builder  during  his  life. 

James  Weeks,  Jr.,  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade  from  his  father,  and  followed  that  occu- 
pation until  1872.  During  the  late  Rebell- 
ion he  was  employed  in  the  Portsmouth  navy- 
yard  on  work  for  the  government.  Coming 
to  Massachusetts  in  1872,  he  located  in  Bos- 
ton, forming  a  partnership  with  John  Perkins, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Perkins  &  Weeks,  con- 
tractors and  builders.  This  firm  built  up  an 
extensive  business  reputation,  their  work 
being  noted  for  its  durability  and  superior 
finish.  They  employed  from  forty  to  fifty 
men,  and,  in  addition  to  building  many  fine 
private  residences  in  the  vicinity  of  Dorches- 
ter,   fitted   up   a  good    many    stores  and   club- 


BENJAMIN    J.    WEEKS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


6S7 


rooms  in  the  city.  In  1885  Mr.  Weeks  re- 
tired from  active  occupation,  leaving  the  work 
in  which  he  had  for  so  many  years  been  profit- 
ably engaged  to  younger  hands.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Martha  Morrison,  was 
born  in  Exeter,  N.  H.,  where  her  death  oc- 
curred in  1863.  She  was  a  faithful  member 
of  the  Baptist  church.  Her  children  are: 
Charles  E.,  of  this  city;  and  Benjamin  J. 
Weeks. 

Benjamin  J.  Weeks  received  his  education 
in  the  grammar  and  high  schools  of  Exeter. 
He  learned  the  jeweller's  trade  in  Boston,  and 
worked  at  it  for  a  time  in  his  earlier  years. 
Finding  it  very  trying  to  his  eyes,  and  his 
health  being  also  injured  by  the  close  confine- 
ment, he  sought  outdoor  employment.  Enter- 
ing the  service  of  the  old  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company  in  Boston,  he  was  a  con- 
ductor on  a  horse-car  for  about  four  years. 
His  health  having  in  the  meantime  greatly 
improved,  he  again  started  in  the  jewelry 
business,  opening  a  store  in  Exeter,  N.  H., 
but  was  soon  again  compelled  to  give  it  up  on 
account  of  his  eyes.  In  1886  he  went  to  South 
Framingham  as  an  employee  in  the  Para 
Rubber  Shoe  Factory.  After  remaining  there 
about  a  year,  he  accepted  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  the  Framingham  Union 
Street  Railway  Company,  which  had  just  com- 
pleted its  road,  and  held  it  for  eighteen 
months.  Mr.  Weeks  then  took  a  special 
course  in  electrics  at  the  Thomson-Houston 
Electric  Company's  works,  after  which  he 
was  sent  to  Albany,  N.Y. ,  to  install  the 
power  station  for  the  Albany  Street  Railway, 
at  that  time  the  largest  in  the  country. 
Going  thence  to  Newport,  R.I.,  he  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Newport  Street  Railway  from 
May  to  January,  1891.  On  the  26th  of 
that  month  he  was  appointed  superintend- 
ent of  the  Quincy  &  Boston  Street  Railway 
Company,  with  which  he  has  since  been  con- 
nected. In  1893  the  Manet  Street  Railroad 
was  purchased  and  consolidated  with  the 
Quincy  &  Boston  Railway,  greatly  increasing 
the  facilities  of  the  road  and  benefitting  the 
travelling  public.  In  1895  Mr.  Weeks  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  the  Braintree 
Street  Railway  Company,  and  assumed  the 
management  of  the  road  in  September  of  that 


year.  In  1896,  on  the  completion  of  the 
Randolph  Street  Railway,  he  was  also  made 
its  superintendent. 

Much  interested  in  Masonry,  Mr.  Weeks  is 
a  member  of  Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Quincy;  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  ; 
of  South  Shore  Commandery,  K.  T. ;  of  La- 
fayette Lodge  of  Perfection;  of  Giles  F. 
Yates  Council,  Princes  of  Jerusalem,  of  Bos- 
ton; of  Mount  Olivet  Chapter,  Rose  Croix;  of 
Massachusetts  Consistory  of  Boston ;  and  of 
Aleppo  Temple,  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 
He  also  belongs  to  Mount  Wollaston  Lodge 
and  Manet  Encampment  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.;  to 
Monadiquot  Lodge,  K.  of  P.,  of  Braintree;  to 
the  A.  O.  U.  W.  ;  and  to  the  Granite  City 
Club.  On  November  i,  1886,  he  married 
Miss  Cora  L.,  daughter  of  Ware  Folsom,  a 
native  of  North  Newport,  Me.,  but  later  of 
Exeter,  N.H.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weeks  have  two 
children ;  namely,  Marion  Ethel  and  Earl 
Folsom.  Both  parents  are  members  of  the 
Congregational  church. 


DWARD  B.  NEVIN,*  of  South  Wey- 
mouth, Representative  to  the  General 
Court  in  1897  from  the  Sixth  Nor- 
folk District,  is  a  native  of  York  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  November  10, 
1858,  son  of  John  A.  and  Catherine  J.  (Brown) 
Nevin.  The  Nevin  family  is  of  Scottish  ex- 
traction, and  is  said  to  be  descended  from 
Robert  Bruce.  Many  of  its  members  have 
achieved  distinction  in  Western  Pennsylvania, 
where  the  Nevins  were  among  the  early  settlers. 

George  P.  Nevin,  grandfather  of  Edward  B. , 
was  a  wholesale  coal  dealer.  His  son,  John 
A.  Nevin,  settled  in  Boston,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  wholesale  coal  business.  He 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  and  went  out 
as  Quartermaster  in  the  coal  regiment  of  Penn- 
sylvania, which  was  composed  exclusively  of 
coal  men.  He  died  shortly  after  the  close  of 
the  war.  His  wife,  Catherine,  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania.  One  of  her  grandfathers 
fought  under  Wellington  at  Waterloo.  Jere- 
miah Hess,  a  great-grandfather  of  Edward  B. 
Nevin,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1 81 2. 

When  about  a  year  old,  Edward  Nevin  was 
taken   by    his    parents    to    Philadelphia,    Pa., 


658 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


where  they  remained  for  about  five  years. 
The  family  then  moved  to  Boston,  where,  as 
above  mentioned,  the  father  engaged  in  busi- 
ness; and  in  that  city  Edward  B.  grew  to  man- 
hood and  received  his  school  training.  In 
1873  he  began  his  working  life  as  office  boy  in 
the  employ  of  Day,  Huddell  &  Co.,  wholesale 
coal  merchants  of  Boston,  and  continued  with 
them  until  1876,  when  the  firm  was  dissolved. 
During  the  latter  part  of  this  time  Mr.  Nevin 
was  salesman.  After  this  business  was  closed, 
he  secured  a  New  England  general  agency  for 
the  Pennsylvania  miners.  From  1883  to 
1890  he  was  in  the  wholesale  business  for  him- 
self in  Boston;  and  in  1890  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Edward  M.  Alden,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Alden  &  Nevin,  which  has  re- 
mained a  prominent  firm  to  the  present  time. 
In  November,  1896,  Mr.  Nevin  was  elected  as 
Representative  to  the  State  legislature. 

In  politics  Mr.  Nevin  is  a  Republican.  He 
is  a  member  of  Commonwealth  Lodge,  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  at  Boston;  of 
Columbian  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Boston; 
also  of  Fentalpba  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  of 
South  Shore  Commandery,  K.  T. ,  both  of 
East  Weymouth. 

Mr.  Nevin  married  Bessie  T. ,  daughter  of 
the  late  General  James  L.  Bates,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  old  Twelfth 
Massachusetts  Regiment,  which  was  formerly 
commanded  by  Colonel  Fletcher  Webster,  son 
of  Daniel  Webster.  Mr.  Nevin  resides  at 
South  Weymouth.  His  business  office  in  Bos- 
ton is  in  the  Mason  Building. 


I L  LI  AM  GORSE,  a  resident  of 
Needham  and  owner  of  a  factory  for 
the  manufacture  of  elastic  bandages 
in  Highlandville,  was  born  in  Duffield, 
Derbyshire,  England,  May  26,  1 841 ,  son  of 
Henry  and  Hannah  (Roome)  Gorse.  He  was 
educated  in  the  schools  of  Derbyshire,  which 
he  attended  until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age, 
when  he  went  to  work  in  a  knitting  factory, 
where  he  remained  seven  years.  In  i860  he 
came  to  this  country,  landing  in  Boston,  and 
lived  in  Roxbury  until  1861,  when  he  came  to 
Needham.  From  1864  to  1866  he  was  in 
business  for  himself,  but  subsequently  gave  it 


up  and  entered  the  employ  of  John  and  Mark 
Lee,  with  whom  he  remained  until  1871.  He 
then  went  to  work  for  E.  K.  Hall  in  High- 
landville, making  surgical  elastic  bandages, 
and  remained  in  his  employ  for  about  ten 
years.  In  1881  he  began  business  for  himself 
in  the  same  line,  in  which  he  has  since  re- 
mained engaged.  He  has  a  factory  at  High- 
landville, and  sells  his  products  in  Boston, 
New  York,  and  other  large  cities.  He  was 
the  first  man  to  start  a  machine  for  the  manu- 
facture of  elastic  bandages  here  in  the  East, 
and  was  really  the  introducer  of  the  business 
in  America. 

Mr.  Gorse  is  a  man  who  takes  great  interest 
in  all  public  matters,  especially  those  per- 
taining to  education.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  for  thirty-five 
years,  and  has  passed  through  all  the  chairs. 
During  his  term  of  office  as  Worthy  Patriarch, 
the  division  experienced  a  growth  exceeded  by 
but  one  other.  He  was  a  charter  member  of 
the  United  Order  of  the  Golden  Cross,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.  Mr.  Gorse  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  in  Highlandville,  of  which  he  is  a 
trustee;  and  he  has  been  for  thirty  years  a 
teacher  in  the  Sunday-school.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Gorse  was  married  in  1861  to  Phebe,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Phebe  Shaw,  of  Need- 
ham, but  who  came  from  England.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gorse  have  had  eight  children,  namely: 
Henrietta,  born  in  1862,  who  died  in  1868; 
Louise,  born  in  1864,  who  died  in  1868; 
Frank  W. ,  born  in  1866,  who  married  and 
settled  in  Needham;  Phebe  Lily,  born  in 
1868,  who  married  Arthur  J.  Littlehale,  and 
is  living  in  Needham;  Etta  Louise,  born  in 
1870;  Hannah  May,  born  in  1872;  Minnie 
Mary,  born  in  1874;  and  William  Henry, 
born  in  1878,  who  died  aged  nine  months. 
The  three  younger  daughters  have  been  edu- 
cated in  the  grammar  and  high  schools  of  the 
town;  and  Minnie  Mary  has  also  had  one 
year  at  Burdett's  Business  College  in  Boston. 
They  are  all  living  at  home. 

In  1865  Mr.  Gorse  sent  for  his  father  and 
mother  to  come  and  live  here.  The  father 
was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  North  during 
the  Rebellion,   even   before  he    came   to   this 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


659 


country;  and  his  son  relates  that  in  a  restau- 
rant he  one  day  met  a  man  equally  as  bitter  in 
defence  of  the  South.  They  fell  into  discus- 
sion ;  and  after  hot  words  they  agreed  to  de- 
cide by  their  fists  which  was  right,  North  or 
South,  the  result  from  the  handicuffs  being 
that  the  North  won  by  a  large  majority. 
Henry  Gorse  died  in  1870,  and  his  wife,  Han- 
nah,  in  1872. 


ILLIAM  FOREMAN,*  proprietor  of 
a  thriving  tinware  business  in  Nor- 
wood and  a  veteran  of  the  Civil 
War,  was  born  in  Neponset,  Mass.,  January 
io,  1845.  His  father,  William  Foreman, 
emigrated  from  England  after  marriage,  and 
settled  upon  a  farm  in  Neponset,  where  he 
passed  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  had  a  family 
of  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  William,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Hannah,  wife  of  Jacob  Bonant,  of  Ash- 
land, Mass. 

William  Foreman,  second,  began  to  support 
himself  at  the  age  of  nine  years,  at  which  time 
he  engaged  in  pegging  shoes  at  a  factory  in 
Marsh  field,  Mass.  He  later  returned  to  Ne- 
ponset, where  he  remained  about  three  years. 
He  subsequently  worked  upon  a  farm  in 
Southboro,  Mass.,  for  a  time;  and  still  later 
he  learned  the  tinner's  trade  in  Ashland.  On 
July  21,  1862,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  H,  Thirty-second  Regiment,  Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer  Infantry,  which  was  at- 
tached to  the  Fifth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  This  regiment  was  held  in  reserve 
at  Antietam  ;  but  with  it  Mr.  Foreman  later 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Mine  Run,  the 
Wilderness,  Laurel  Hill,  Spottsylvania  Court- 
house, Cold  Harbor,  Weldon  Railroad, 
Hatcher's  Run,  Five  Forks,  Petersburg,  and 
many  skirmishes,  making  countless  marches, 
enduring  much  hardship,  and  finally  being 
present  at  Appomattox  Court-house  during 
the  ceremony  of  the  surrender  of  General  Lee. 
With  it  Mr.  Foreman  also  took  part  in  the 
Grand  Review  in  Washington,  and  was  mus- 
tered out  at  Arlington  Heights,  June  25,  1865, 
being  finally  discharged  on  July  13  following. 
Returning  to  Ashland,  Mr.  Foreman  resumed 


his  trade,  which  he  followed  there  until  1880, 
when  he  established  himself  in  business  at  his 
present  location  in  Norwood.  He  is  promi- 
nently identified  with  G.  K.  Bird  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  which  he  has  served  in  various 
official  positions,  having  been  its  Commander 
in  1895.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 
Mr.  Foreman  married  Carrie  Bodemer,  and 
has  two  children  :  Carrie  Estella,  wife  of 
E.  L.  Ingraham,  of  Norwood;  and  Freda  A. 
He  attends  the  Universalist  church. 


OBERT  E.  AMES,"  a  retired  manu- 
facturer residing  in  Needham,  was 
born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  in  the 
year  1839,  son  of  Robert  W.  and 
Louisa      (Danforth)     Ames.  His     paternal 

grandfather,  Ezekiel  Ames,  son  of  Joshua 
Ames,  born  in  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  in  1775, 
a  farmer  and  a  well-known  citizen,  married 
Sally  Clark,  and  died  in  1856. 

Robert  W.,  above  named,  son  of  Ezekiel 
and  Sally  (Clark)  Ames,  was  born  in  Milford, 
N.H.,  in  1 8 10.  He  settled  in  Roxbury,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  patent  and 
grained  leather,  doing  an  extensive  business 
and  finally  taking  his  son,  Robert  E.,  into 
partnership.  He  was  a  prominent  business 
man,  and  was  active  in  all  religious  and  re- 
form work,  being  one  of  the  Deacons  of  Tre- 
mont  Baptist  Church,  one  of  the  Aldermen  of 
Roxbury,  and  an  original  abolitionist.  He- 
died  in  September,  1888.  His  first  wife,  the 
mother  of  Mr.  Robert  E.  Ames,  was  the 
daughter  of  Thomas  Danforth,  of  Roxbury. 
She  died  in  1841  ;  and  he  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  Frances,  daughter  of  Thomas  Tilden, 
a  master  builder  in  the  city  of  Boston. 

Robert  E.  Ames  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town,  graduating  in  1857 
in  the  third  class  sent  out  from  the  high 
school.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he 
began  his  working  life  by  going  into  his 
father's  business.  In  1864  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  R.  W.  Ames  &  Son,  their 
factory  being  located  in  Roxbury  and  the  store 
on  High  Street  in  Boston.  In  the  big  fire  of 
1872  the  store  was  burned.  Mr.  Ames  con- 
tinued in  the  business  until  1878,  when  he 
came  to  Needham  and  took  a  farm.      He  finally 


66o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


had  the  farm  laid  out  into  building  lots,  and 
at  length  sold  it  to  Levi  Ladd.  Mr.  Ames  is 
now  one  of  the  Town  Assessors  of  Needham, 
and  his  sound  judgment  is  fully  appreciated  by 
his  townsmen. 

In  1868  he  married  Theoline  L. ,  daughter 
of  Josiah  Richards,  of  Barry,  111.,  formerly  a 
resident  of  Brookline.  Four  children  have 
been  born  of  this  marriage;  namely,  Robert 
E.,  Jr.,  Louise,  Walter  H.,  and  Fred  R. 
Robert,  born  in  1870,  was  educated  in  the 
Needham  town  schools,  and  at  eighteen  years 
of  age  went  to  sea,  sailing  on  bark  "Clyde," 
Captain  Terwelleyer,  bound  for  Madagascar. 
The  bark  was  wrecked  in  port,  and  young  Mr. 
Ames  then  shipped  for  the  return  voyage  on 
a  German  vessel.  This  was  lost,  probably  off 
the  coast  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and  neither 
ship  nor  crew  was  ever  heard  from.  Louise 
Ames  was  born  in  July,  1872,  and  died  in 
1876.  Walter  H.  Ames,  born  March  27, 
1876,  is  now  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness. Fred  R.  Ames,  born  March  22,  1877, 
is  a  photographer   in   Needham. 


§AMES  THOMPSON,  an  influential  cit- 
izen of  Ouincy,  Norfolk  County, 
Mass.,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  John 
Thompson  &  Sons,  granite  manufact- 
urers and  dealers,  was  born  in  the  southern 
part  of  Scotland,  May  18,  1848.  His  great- 
grandfather Thompson  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  a  man  of  consid- 
erable means  and  ability.  He  emigrated  to  this 
country  before  the  march  of  civilization  had 
extended  very  far  westward,  locating  in  West- 
ern Pennsylvania  while  that  region  was  yet 
covered  with  heavy  forests,  through  which  wild 
beasts  roamed  at  will,  and  in  which  the  red  man 
had  his  hunting-ground.  He  maintained  a 
ferry  across  the  river  at  Pittsburg  for  several 
years. 

James  Thompson,  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  James  Thompson  of  Ouincy,  was  for  many 
years  in  the  British  army,  a  part  of  the  time 
being  stationed  at  the  Tower  of  London. 

John  Thompson  was  born  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  May  3,  181 5.  When  a  boy  he 
learned  the  stone-cutter's  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  in   the  old  country  for  several  seasons. 


About  the  middle  of  the  present  century  he 
emigrated  from  Scotland  to  the  United  States, 
and,  having  settled  in  Quincy,  worked  for 
various  firms  until  1872,  receiving  good 
wages  for  his  labor.  In  that  year  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  two  sons  —  William 
and  James  — and  has  since  successfully  con- 
ducted a  large  business.  This  firm,  which  is 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  city,  handles  all  kinds 
of  New  England  granite,  and  makes  a  spe- 
cialty of  monumental  work,  selling  principally 
to  the  wholesale  trade,  keeping  on  an  average 
fifty  men  busy  in  filling  their  orders.  Frater- 
nally, he  is  a  Mason.  He  married  Margaret 
McCormack,  daughter  of  John  McCormack, 
and  Has  four  children,  namely:  William; 
Elizabeth;  James,  the  direct  subject  of  the 
present  sketch;  and  Margaret.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  church,  to  which  his 
wife,  now  deceased,  also  belonged. 

James  Thompson,  the  younger  of  the  two 
brothers,  obtained  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Quincy,  and  then  learned  the  stone- 
cutter's trade,  working  with  his  father.  Soon 
after  attaining  his  majority  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  which  his  father  is  the 
head,  and  he  has  since  ably  performed  his  full 
share  in  maintaining  its  prosperity.  He  is  a 
man  of  prominence  and  influence  in  various 
financial,  business,  and  fraternal  organiza- 
tions, being  a  director  of  the  Ouincy  National 
Granite  Bank;  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Ouincy  Savings  Bank;  a  director  of  the 
Ouincy  Quarry  Company;  president  of  the 
Granite  Manufacturers'  Association,  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  founders,  and  was  for  a  time 
the  secretary ;  a  member  of  Mount  Wollaston 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.;  and  of  the  Granite  City 
Club,  which  he  has  served  as  president  a  num- 
ber of  years. 

He  is  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  for  several  years  has 
been  actively  connected  with  the  Republican 
City  Committee.  During  the  first  four  years 
of  city  government  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Common  Council,  serving  the  first  two  years 
on  the  Committee  on  Sewers,  Drains,  and 
Public  Buildings  and  Grounds,  the  second 
year  being  likewise  chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee,  and  the  succeeding  two  years 
president  of    the  Council.      In    1895    he    was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


66: 


elected  to  the  State  legislature,  where  he  was 
on  the  Committee  on  Fisheries  and  Game; 
and,  being  re-elected  in  1896,  he  served  on 
the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means;  he  was 
also  re-elected  in  1897  and  serves  on  Com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means. 

Mr.  Thompson  married  Lydia  A.  Ford, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  Ford,  a  native  of  Dor- 
chester, Mass.,  but  later  a  resident  of  Quincy. 
Mrs.  Thompson  is  a  descendant  of  James 
Blake,  one  of  the  original  settlers  of  Dor- 
chester, whose  house,  built  in  very  early 
Colonial  times,  is  now  the  home  of  the  Dor- 
chester Historical  Society. 


fUTHER  R.  GROVER,  a  respected 
farmer  residing  in  Foxboro,  was 
^  born  November  io,  1825,  in  Taun- 
ton, Mass.,  son  of  Luther  Grover. 
His  grandfather,  Amasa  Grover,  was  an  early 
settler  of  this  town,  where  he  purchased  a 
tract  of  unbroken  land,  and  converted  it  into 
a  homestead.  The  house  that  Amasa  then 
built  is  still  standing,  and  is  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation  considering  its  age.  He  car- 
ried on  general  farming,  and  also  made  bas- 
kets, an  industry  followed  by  many  of  the 
pioneers  of  his  day.  His  wife,  Olive  Shaw, 
bore  him  a  large  family  of  children,  of  whom 
Luther  was  the  youngest  son. 

Luther  Grover  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  this  town.  When  a  young  man  he 
went  to  Taunton  to  learn  the  blacksmith's 
trade,  and  for  several  years  had  charge  of 
machine  blacksmith  shops,  among  the  last 
few  of  which  was  that  owned  by  the  Grover 
&  Baker  Sewing  Machine  Company.  He  sub- 
sequently engaged  in  manufacturing,  in  which 
he  was  quite  successful.  After  building  a 
house  in  Foxboro,  he  removed  to  Newton 
Upper  Falls,  but  spent  his  last  days  in  Bos- 
ton, dying  there  at  the  age  of  fourscore  years. 
He  married  Miss  Anna  W.  Caswell,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Alvin  Caswell,  and  they  reared  four 
children,  namely:  Luther  R.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Reuben  C,  who  died  in  1880; 
Theodore  L. ,  who  died  in  1896;  and  Elbridge 
H.,  a  resident  of  Boston,  Mass. 

Luther  R.  Grover  attended  the  district 
schools  of   Springfield,  Mass.,  Newton    Upper 


Falls,  and  Foxboro.  He  subsequently  worked 
for  a  few  years  at  the  machinist's  trade. 
Then,  although  he  was  a  quick  and  skilful 
workman,  he  was  forced  to  give  up  an  excel- 
lent position  owing  to  impaired  eyesight. 
For  the  last  forty  years  he  has  been  profitably 
engaged  in  farming.  He  has  lived  in  his 
present  residence  for  over  fifty  years,  com- 
ing here  at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  Here 
his  two  children  were  born,  and  also  two  of 
his  grandchildren.  Here  also  he  celebrated 
his  golden  wedding.  Standing  in  front  of  the 
house  is  an  elm-tree  that  is  alleged  to  be  two 
hundred  years  old,  and  the  largest  in  the 
town.  Mr.  Grover  has  uniformly  cast  his 
vote  with  the  Democratic  party. 

On  May  27,  1846,  Mr.  Grover  married  Miss 
Almina  M.  Twichell,  a  daughter  of  Stillman 
and  Elvira  (Cheever)  Twichell,  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  John  Cheever,  who  was  a  promi- 
nent resident  of  Wrentham.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Grover  have  two  children;  namely,  Elvira 
Anna  and  Stillman  R.  Elvira  A.,  who  was 
formerly  a  school  teacher,  married  John  C. 
Tibbetts,  a  native  of  Hamilton,  Mass.,  has 
had  two  children — Alva  G.  and  John  R. — -and 
is  now  residing  in  Boston.  Stillman  R. 
Grover,  a  tool-maker  in  the  jewelry  trade, 
married  Theodora  Abigail  Ashley.  His  chil- 
dren were:  Edgar  L. ,  who  died  in  infancy; 
and  Esther  E. 


ILLIAM    GRFENLEAF      APPLE- 
TON    PATTEE,      LL.B.,*     attor- 

ney-at-law,  Quincy,  Mass.,  and 
president  of  the  Quincy  Electric  Light  and 
Power  Company,  is  a  man  of  keen  intellect 
and  strong  personality.  He  was  born  in 
Quincy,  August  28,  1854,  a  son  of  the  late 
William  S.  Pattee,  M.D. 

Dr.  Pattee  was  born  January  8,  1824,  in 
Bath,  Me.,  which  was  also  the  birthplace  of 
his  father,  William  S.  Pattee,  Sr.  After 
completing  his  academical  education  he  en- 
tered the  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  im- 
mediately after  receiving  his  diploma  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Quincy.  He 
had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  medicine,  and, 
being  careful,  skilful,  and  prompt  in  attend- 
ance of  cases,  met  with  great  success,  becom- 


662 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ing  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  his  day. 
He  had  decided  literary  tastes,  and  was  a  large 
collector  of  choice  books,  his  private  library 
being,  with  one  exception,  the  largest  in  town. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  early  settle- 
ment of  Norfolk  County,  and  gave  to  the 
public  the  knowledge  he  acquired  in  his  re- 
searches through  the  volume  entitled  "'A  His- 
tory of  Old  Braintree  and  Quincy,"  which  he 
prepared  and  published,  and  which  is  an  ac- 
knowledged authority  on  the  subjects  treated. 
He  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  town  as  a 
member  of  the  School  Committee  for  several 
years,  and  also  as  one  of  the  organizers  of  what 
is  now  known  as  the  "Crane  Memorial  Li- 
brary" and  as  a  member  of  its  first  board  of 
Trustees.  He  likewise  contributed  valuable 
articles  relating  to  local  history  to  various 
papers  and  magazines.  He  was  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  invariably  interested  in  public  af- 
fairs, and  had  frequent  complimentary  nom- 
inations to  State  offices.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical   Society. 

Dr.  Pattee  married  Mary  Emily,  daughter  of 
William  Greenleaf  Appleton,  and  had  two 
children,  namely:  William  G.  A.,  the  special 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Elizabeth  Green- 
leaf,  who  married  Edwin  G.  Peterson,  of  New 
York  City,  and  died  in  early  womanhood. 
Both  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  were  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Unitarian  church,  and  he  was  for 
several  years  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school. 

William  Greenleaf  Appleton,  Mrs.  Pattee's 
father,  was  born  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  In 
early  manhood  he  went  to  Baltimore,  Md., 
where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business  for 
many  years,  accumulating  a  good  property. 
He  then  returned  North,  settling  in  Quincy, 
where  he  lived  retired  until  his  demise.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  force  of  character,  taking 
an  active  part  in  local  and  State  affairs.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Unitarian  church.  His 
first  wife  was  Mrs.  Ann  Hall  Adams,  born 
Greenleaf,  formerly  of  Newbury,  Mass.,  and 
later  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  After  her  death 
he  married  her  cousin,  Eliza  Greenleaf,  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  Greenleaf,  for  twenty-four 
years  a  member  of  the  State  legislature. 
Thomas  Greenleaf  was  a  grandson  of  William 
Greenleaf,  who  was  Federal  Sheriff  of  Suffolk 


County  during  the  Revolution,  in  which  ca- 
pacity the  duty  of  promulgating  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  devolved  upon  him.  The 
Greenleaf  family  originated  in  England.  Ed- 
mund Greenleaf,  the  common  ancestor  of  the 
family  in  New  England,  came  to  Massachu- 
setts and  settled  at  Newbury  in  1635.  His 
daughter  Judith  married  Tristram  Coffin,  Jr., 
and  going  to  Nantucket  was  with  him  among 
the  first  settlers  of  that  island. 

The  Appleton  family  were  also  of  English 
ancestry,  one  Samuel  Appleton,  of  whom  Mr. 
Pattee  is  a  lineal  descendant,  having  come 
from  Waldingfield,  Suffolk  County,  England, 
to  Ipswich,  Mass.,  in  1635. 

William  G.  A.  Pattee,  who  was  named  for 
his  maternal  grandfather,  was  fitted  for  college 
in  the  Chauncy  Hall  School,  Boston,  and  was 
graduated  at  the  Harvard  Law  School  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  in  1876,  and 
three  years  later  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  For 
a  time  he  was  associated  with  Augustus  Rust 
as  a  clerk,  afterward  being  his  assistant  from 
1876  until  1882.  In  1879  Mr.  Pattee  opened 
an  office  in  Quincy,  where  he  has  built  up  a 
lucrative  practice,  which  since  1882  has  re- 
quired his  entire  time  and  attention.  He  was 
attorney  for  the  town  before  its  incorporation 
as  a  city,  and  was  city  solicitor  the  first  two 
years  it  was  under  municipal  government.  He 
has  a  large  corporation  practice,  being  attorney 
for  the  Quincy  &  Boston  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany and  other  street  railway  companies;  is 
president  of  the  Quincy  Electric  Light  and 
Power  Company,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
organizers;  and  he  was  also  one  of  the  organ- 
izers, and  for  several  years  a  director,  of  the 
Quincy  Street  Railway  Company.  He  has 
also  been  actively  identified  with  other  public 
enterprises,  being  a  charter  member  of  the 
City  Hospital,  and  a  prime  mover  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Quincy  Historical  Society,  of 
which  he  is  one  of  the  curators.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Harvard  Law  School  Associa- 
tion. 

Mr.  Pattee  is  one  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  Democratic  party,  having  been  one  of  the 
promoters  of  the  Young  Men's  Democratic 
Club  of  Massachusetts,  and  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Elections  since  its  formation  in 
1888,  and  having  also  dune   valuable  work  on 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


663 


the  stump.  He  has  often  served  as  Moderator 
at  town  meetings;  and  he  presided  at  the  town 
meeting  which  accepted  the  city  charter, 
which  he  assisted  in  framing.  He  also  sug- 
gested the  design  of  the  seal  of  the  city  of 
Ouincy,  which,  with  the  addition  of  the  in- 
scription, was  unanimously  adopted.  In  1883 
and  1884  he  represented  the  town  in  the  State 
legislature,  serving  both  years  on  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  and  being  chairman  of  the  Demo- 
cratic organization  in  the  House. 

Mr.  Pattee  married  Laura,  daughter  of 
Richard  Saltonstall,  of  Boston,  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  Lord 
Mayor  of  London.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pattee  have 
two  children;  namely,  Richard  Saltonstall 
and  Elizabeth  Greenleaf.  Mrs.  Pattee  is  a 
communicant  of  Christ  Church  (Episcopal)  of 
Ouincy. 


rm 


EORGE  HARVEY  FIELD,  Deputy 
\    '*>  I       Sheriff,    Ouincy,    Mass.,   has   been   a 

—  lifelong  resident  of  this  town,  where 
his  birth  occurred  December  23,  1839,  and 
where  his  great-grandparents,  Joseph  and  Abi- 
gail (Newcomb)  Field,  spent  their  entire 
lives.  His  grandfather,  Joseph  Field,  Jr.,  a 
farmer,  married  Relief  Baxter,  daughter  of 
Daniel  Baxter,  of  Boston;  and  their  son  Har- 
vey was  his  father. 

Harvey  Field  was  born  in  Ouincy,  January 
20,  1800.  After  completing  his  studies  in 
the  public  schools,  he  began  butchering  with 
his  uncle,  and  was  engaged  in  that  business 
until  1S36,  when  he  turned  his  attention  to 
speculation  in  real  estate.  In  that  year  and 
the  year  following  he  represented  Ouincy  in 
the  General  Court.  He  was  very  prominent 
in  local  affairs,  serving  as  Selectman  of  the 
town,  and  also  in  various  other  offices  of 
minor  importance.  Energetic,  far-sighted, 
and  progressive,  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in 
the  inauguration  of  many  enterprises  that 
were  of  public  benefit.  Through  his  efforts 
were  secured  all  the  stockholders  of  the  Na- 
tional Granite  Bank,  of  which  he  was  the  orig- 
inal projector;  and  he  was  also  the  chief  pro- 
moter of  the  ship  canal,  which  at  the  time  of 
its  building,  before  the  days  of  railways,  was 
of  inestimable  advantage  to  the  town,   being 


used  to  transport  granite.  He  found  money 
to  start  the  Ouincy  Patriot,  which  was  carried 
on  for  a  number  of  years  under  the  editorship 
of  Mr.  Green.  He  erected  the  first  ice-house 
in  Ouincy;  and,  having  acquired  a  large  prop- 
erty in  land,  he  built  many  fine  dwellings  in 
the  town.  He  was  very  generous  and  open- 
hearted,  delighting  to  entertain  his  many 
friends,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by 
his  fellow-men.  His  active  career,  so  full  of 
promise,  was  brought  to  a  sudden  termination 
in  1837  by  injuries  received  from  his  being 
buried  in  a  well,  which  caved  in  upon  him. 
Epilepsy  ensued,  resulting  in  his  death  a  few 
years  later. 

He  had  eight  children  by  his  wife,  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Ebenezer  Goddard,  of  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.  A  brief  record  is  as  follows: 
Eliza  Greenfield,  wife  of  Albion  King  Paris 
Dearborn,  of  Bridgewater;  Susanna  Goddard; 
Lucy  Ann,  who  married  John  J.  Floyd,  of 
this  city;  Relief  Baxter,  the  wife  of  George 
Porter  Floyd;  Mary  M.  ;  John  Q.  A.;  Mehit- 
abel  Adams,  whose  first  husband  was  Charles 
Sanderson,  of  Lynn,  she  being  now  the  wife 
of  Dr.  Edward  Newhall,  of  that  city;  and 
George  Harvey,  whose  personal  history  is  out- 
lined below.  Both  parents  were  members  of 
the  Unitarian  church,  whose  house  of  worship 
is  the  Adams  Temple. 

George  Harvey  Field  attended  the  public 
schools  until  about  fourteen  years  old,  when 
he  began  working  on  a 'farm,  and  was  there- 
after a  tiller  of  the  soil  until  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1882.  In  March  of  that  year  he  was 
elected  Selectman  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  on 
the  Republican  ticket,  and  rendered  the  town 
such  efficient  service  that  he  was  kept  in  those 
offices  the  next  five  years.  In  1886  he  be- 
came Deputy  Sheriff,  a  position  which  he  has 
since  filled  with  commendable  fidelity. 
Under  the  new  city  government  he  was  ap- 
pointed Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  served  from 
1888  till  1893.  He  has  also  been  largely  in- 
terested for  a  number  of  years  in  the  insur- 
ance business,  having  successfully  represented 
the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New 
York. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Field  is  a  member  of 
Rural  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Ouincy; 
of     St.     Stephen's     Chapter;     and     of     South 


664 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIEW 


Shore  Commandery.  He  possesses  good 
business  tact,  and  is  now  one  of  the  di- 
rectorate of  Mount  Wollaston  Bank  and  presi- 
dent of  the  O.  S.  Rogers  Granite  Company. 

Mr.  Field  married  Mary  Abbie,  daughter  of 
Alonzo  G.  Davis.  One  child  has  been  born 
of  their  union,  Maud  Davis,  now  the  wife  of 
Edward  H.  Dewson,  of  Quincy.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Field  are  Unitarians  in  belief,  and  at- 
tend the  Adams  Temple  Church,  of  which  he 
has  been  collector  for  a  number  of  years. 


T^NHARLES  M.  FULLER,  M.D.,  a 
I  Ks  prominent  physician  of  Medfield,  was 
\A>_  born  in  West  Medway,  Mass.,  Oc- 
tober  1 8,  1854,  son  of  A.  M.  B. 
and  Nancy  D.  (Forbush)  Fuller.  The  father 
was  for  several  years  a  jeweller  and  watch- 
maker in  West  Medway,  Mass.  Nancy  D. 
Forbush,  who  became  his  first  wife  and  was 
born  in  Upton,  Mass.,  died  in  1854,  leaving 
one  son,  Charles  M.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  For  his  second  wife  he  wedded  Mrs. 
Mary  Ann  (Tarleton)  Ingram,  the  widow  of 
Alphonso  Ingram.  By  this  union  there  were 
two  children  —  George  Arthur  and  Mary 
Louise  —  both  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

Charles  M.  Fuller  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools;  and  he  attended 
college  in  West  Newton,  Mass.  His  medical 
studies  were  pursued  at  the  Boston  Univer- 
sity, from  which  after  a  four  years'  course  he 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1878.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1879,  he  located  in  Medfield,  where  he 
resided  until  1886.  Then  he  moved  to  Bos- 
ton, and  continued  to  practise  his  profession 
for  nine  years.  He  returned  to  Medfield  in 
1895,  establishing  himself  in  the  village;  and 
he  has  since  acquired  a  large  and  increasing 
practice.  He  is  a  medical  inspector  for  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New 
York.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  he 
has  served  the  community  as  medical  examiner 
for  the  Board  of  Health. 

On  February  2,  1881,  Dr.  Fuller  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Lillian  J.  John- 
son. She  was  born  in  West  Sumner,  Me., 
November  24,  1856,  daughter  of  Cyrus  W. 
and  Elizabeth  C.  Bates,  neither  of  whom  is 
now    living.      Her    first    husband,    Arthur    S. 


Johnson,  died  in  1877,  leaving  her  with  one 
son,  George  Arthur,  born  in  May,  1874. 
George  married  Mabel  Nason,  of  Somerville, 
Mass.,  and  is  now  employed  in  the  city  water 
department  of  Louisville,  Ky.  Dr.  Fuller  is 
an  Odd  Fellow,  and  he  was  formerly  con- 
nected with  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen.  In  1889  he  was  the  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Massachusetts  Surgical  and  Gy- 
naecological Society  of  Boston,  Mass.  Both 
he  and  Mrs.  Fuller  are  members  of  the 
Berkeley  Temple  in  Boston.  As  a  physician 
he  has  gained  the  confidence  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  patients  throughout  this  section  of  the 
county. 


INSLOW  LEWIS  MORSE,*  one  of 
Norwood's  able  and  successful  agri- 
culturists, was  born  in  the  house 
where  he  now  lives,  October  8,  1841,  son  of 
John  Lewis  and  Caroline  (Winslow)  Morse. 
He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Samuel  Morse, 
who  was  born  in  England  in  1585,  came  over 
in  1635,  and  settled  in  Dedham  in  1636,  and 
died  in  1654.  His  brother  Joseph  settled  at 
Ipswich,  Mass.  Seven  persons  named  Morse 
are  said  to  have  settled  in  America  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 

John  Morse,  great-grandfather  of  Winslow 
L. ,  was  born  in  Dedham,  March  25,  1753. 
He  was  the  owner  of  a  large  farm  in  South 
Dedham,  a  part  of  which  is  now  the  property 
of  his  grandson  ;  and  the  active  period  of  his 
life  was  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits.  His 
children  were:  Lewis,  Mary,  John,  and  Jabez. 
Lewis  Morse,  W.  L.  Morse's  grandfather,  was 
born  here,  January  16,  1785.  He  engaged  in 
farming;  and  he  also  drove  a  team  between 
Boston  and  Providence,  South  Dedham  being 
a  way  station.  On  January  21,  1812,  he  mar- 
ried Nabby  Fisher,  who  bore  him  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  John  Lewis,  Olive  Ellis, 
Albert  (first),  Albert  (second),  and  Caroline. 
Olive  Ellis  married  John  H.  Brooks,  of 
Worcester,  Mass.  ;  and  Caroline  married  Isaac 
H.  Upton,  of  Worcester. 

John  Lewis  Morse,  father  of  Winslow  Lewis, 
was  born  at  the  homestead,  January  20,  18 14. 
He  was  reared  upon  the  farm,  which  he  in- 
herited at  his  father's  death;  and  the  present 


CHARLES    M.    FULLER 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


667 


residence  was  erected  by  him  in  1837.  He 
married  Caroline  Winslow,  who  was  born  in 
Brewster,  Mass.,  October  14,  1814;  and 
Winslow  L.  Morse,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
is  the  only  child  of  their  union. 

Winslow  Lewis  Morse  obtained  his  element- 
ary education  in  the  old  Eagle's  Nest  School- 
house,  located  near  his  home;  and  he  com- 
pleted his  studies  at  the  village  school  in 
South  Dedham.  At  an  early  age  he  began  to 
assist  in  carrying  on  the  farm,  and  for  some 
time  he  drove  a  milk  wagon.  After  his 
father's  death  he  sold  the  milk  business,  and 
has  since  given  his  attention  to  general  farm- 
ing. 

On  November  12,  1S68,  Mr.  Morse  was 
joined  in  marriage  with  Adeline  Virginia 
Bateman,  daughter  of  William  and  Harriet 
Newell  (Smith)  Bateman,  of  this  town.  Mrs. 
Morse  is  the  mother  of  five  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Addie  J.,  born  in  1869,  now  the  wife 
of  William  Henry  Drugan,  of  Cambridgeport, 
Mass.;  Edwin  L. ,  born  in  1871;  Arthur  W., 
born  in  1872;  Ida  F. ,  born  in  1874;  and 
Caroline  W.,  born  in  1884. 

Mr.  Morse  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
The  family  attend  the  Congregational  church. 


lHARLES  HENRY  CURRIER,* 
inventor  and  manufacturer  of  dye 
stuffs  at  36  Berry  Street,  Hyde 
Park,  was  born  in  Waterloo,  N.  V., 
March  1,  1858,  son  of  Perry  L.  and  Martha 
(Bryant)  Currier.  His  father  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-eighth 
Regiment,  New  York  Volunteers,  with  which 
he  served  through  the  Civil  War,  and  was 
mustered  out  as  a  Lieutenant.  He  returned  to 
New  York  State,  and  a  year  later  engaged  in 
the  hotel  business  in  Titusville,  Pa.  Selling 
his  property  there,  he  finally  removed  to 
Georgetown,  Col.,  and  for  many  years  was 
engaged  in  mining.  His  wife,  Martha  Bry- 
ant, who  was  a  native  of  Amherst,  Mass.,  died 
when  her  son,  Charles  II.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  their  only  child,  was  four  years  old. 

Charles  Henry  Currier  spent  his  childhood 
and  early  youth  in  Waterloo  and  Auburn, 
N.Y. ,  and  attended  school  until  he  was  eigh- 
teen  years  old.      He    then  went  to    Holyoke, 


Mass.,  where  he  served  a  three  years'  appren- 
ticeship at  the  dyer's  trade  in  A.  T.  Stewart's 
woollen-mill ;  and  after  that  he  was  employed 
as  a  journeyman  dyer  at  an  ivory  button  manu- 
factory in  South  Hadley,  Mass.  He  subse- 
quently followed  his  trade  in  Holyoke  and 
Huntington,  Mass.,  Birmingham,  Conn.,  and 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  While  working  in  the 
Quaker  City  he  invented  some  new  dye  stuffs  ; 
and  in  company  with  his  cousin  he  engaged  in 
their  manufacture  at  Walpole,  Mass.  Two 
years  later  he  sold  a  three-quarters'  interest  in 
his  patents;  and  after  remaining  out  of  busi- 
ness for  a  time  he  connected  himself  with 
A.  Klipstein,  a  manufacturer  of  dye  stuffs  in 
Boston.  Having  perfected  other  inventions 
in  his  line,  he  engaged  in  business  for  himself 
and  established  his  factory  at  Hyde  Park  in 
1S94.  His  business  has  become  one  of  the 
most  extensive  in  this  locality,  employing 
eleven  men  at  the  works  and  three  salesmen 
upon  the  road.  fc 

Mr.  Currier  married  Minnie  E.  Higgins, 
daughter  of  Ira  Higgins,  of  Washington, 
Mass.  Three  children  have  been  born  to 
them;  namely,  George  Robert,  Essie  L. ,  and 
Charles  Raymond. 

In  politics  Mr.  Currier  is  a  Republican. 
He  is  treasurer  of  the  Town  Committee  and 
the  Republican  Club.  He  is  a  thirty-second 
degree  Mason,  being  a  member  of  Hyde  Park 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  Norfolk  Chapter,  Royal 
Arch  Masons;  Hyde  Park  Council,  Royal 
and  Select  Masters;  Cypress  Commandery, 
Knights  Templar;  La  F"ayette  Lodge  of  Per- 
fection; Mount  Olivet  Chapter  of  the  Rose 
Croix;  Giles  Faneuil  Hall  Council,  Princes  of 
Jerusalem;  Mecca  Temple  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine;  and  the  Massachusetts  Consistory. 


EORGE  CHAPMAN,*  a  practical, 
>>  I  prosperous,  and  progressive  agricult- 
urist of  Canton,  Norfolk  Count)', 
Mass.,  was  born  in  Plymouth,  N.H.,  in  1824, 
son  of  Noah  and  Abigail  (Currier)  Chapman. 
Noah  Chapman  was  born  and  reared  among 
New  Hampshire's  hills,  and  there  remained  a 
resident,  spending  the  larger  part  of  his  life  in 
Plymouth,  his  native  place.  The  currier's 
trade,  which    he   learned   when  a   young    man, 


668 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


was  his  habitual  occupation.  He  married 
Abigail  Currier,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Cur- 
rier, a  well-known  and  prominent  citizen  of 
Plymouth,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  of  whom  but  two  survive,  namely: 
George,  the  special  subject  of  this  brief  bio- 
graphical sketch;  and  Laura,  now  Mrs.  Brad- 
ley, of  New  York. 

George  Chapman  grew  to  man's  estate  in 
Plymouth,  acquiring  his  book  learning  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  town,  in  which  he  was 
a  pupil  until  about  fifteen  years  old.  From 
that  age  he  became  a  self-supporting  member 
of  the  community,  earning  his  own  living  as 
best  he  could  by  working  for  the  neighboring 
farmers  or  at  any  honorable  employment.  In 
1842,  bidding  good-by  to  the  companions  of 
his  youth,  he  came  to  Norfolk  County,  Massa- 
chusetts, and,  settling  in  Milton,  was  success- 
fully engaged  as  a  wood  and  lumber  dealer  for 
fifteen  years.  Mr.  Chapman  then  invested  a 
part  of  his  money  in  the  Bailey  farm  at  Ponka- 
pog,  and  has  since  been  prominently  identified 
with  the  agricultural  and  business  interests  of 
this  community.  To  his  extensive  farming 
operations  he  has  added  other  lines  of  indus- 
try, dealing  to  a  considerable  extent  in  wood, 
having  about  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
Canton  and  vicinity  in  his  possession.  He  is 
an  earnest  supporter  of  the  Republican  plat- 
form, but  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for  politi- 
cal office. 

Mr.  Chapman  married  Miss  Rosanna  Young. 
Their  children  are:  Laura;  Mary,  wife  of 
Francis  Ellis;  Henry,  a  resident  of  South  Bos- 
ton ;  Frederick  C. ,  of  Canton;  and  Sarah, 
wife  of  Charles  Crowe]  1.  Mr.  Chapman  and 
his  family  attend  the  Unitarian  church. 


1842. 


AVID  HENRY  WHITTIER,*  an 
able  farmer  of  Sharon,  Mass.,  is  a 
native  of  Canaan,  Kings  County, 
N.  S.  He  was  born  October  9, 
His  parents  were  Edward  D.  and  Re- 
becca (Ward)  Whittier,  lifelong  residents  of 
Kings  County;  and  his  father  was  a  prominent 
farmer  in  that  section  of  the  province.  Ed- 
ward D.  Whittier  died  in  1877,  and  his  wife 
died  in  1893.  They  had  these  children, 
namely:  Unas;  David   H.  ;   Eunice  Ann,  who 


died  at  the  age  of  eighteen;  William  L.,  who 
married  a  Miss  Bishop;  Mary  E. ,  who  became 
Mrs.  Bishop;  Ebenezer;  Abbie  E.  ;  Urias, 
second ;  Harriet  A.  ;  Samuel  E.  ;  and  Maggie. 
Of  these  David  Henry,  Mary  E.,  Ebenezer, 
Samuel  E. ,  and  Maggie  are  living 

David  Henry  Whittier,  the  second-born 
son,  was  educated  at  a  private  school,  and 
resided  at  the  parental  home  until  he  was 
twenty-two  years  old.  He  then  came  to  Mas- 
sachusetts; and,  securing  a  position  as  foreman 
of  a  large  farm  in  Dedham,  he  remained  there 
until  1887.  For  the  succeeding  eight  years 
he  took  charge  successively  of  the  poor  farms 
in  Easton  and  Sharon,  and  in  1895  he  bought 
the  Philip  Drake  farm  in  this  town.  This 
property,  which  consists  of  ninety-six  acres, 
he  has  greatly  improved  ;  and  aside  from  carry- 
ing on  general  farming  he  deals  quite  largely 
in  wood. 

On  May  28,  1S72,  Mr.  Whittier  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Mary  Jane  York.  She  was 
born  in  Boston,  August  22,  1843,  daughter  of 
Captain  George  and  Mary  (Gates)  York.  Her 
father  was  in  early  life  a  sea  captain  and  in 
his  later  years  a  mason.  He  died  in  1866, 
and  Mrs.  York  is  now  residing  with  one  of  her 
daughters  in  Massachusetts.  Mrs.  Whittier's 
parents  had  a  family  of  eight  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Stephen;  Charles;  Mary  Jane;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  Lewis  Warner,  of  New  Llaven, 
Conn.  ;  Melissa,  wife  of  PTank  Parker,  of  the 
same  city;  George,  who  married  Sarah  Ste- 
phens, and  is  now  employed  in  Ouincy  Mar- 
ket, Boston ;  Grace,  widow  of  Augustus 
Ward,  late  of  St.   Louis,  Mo.  ;  and  Annie. 

Politically,  Mr.  Whittier  is  a  Republican. 
He  is  connected  with  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen  and  with  the  grange  in 
Sharon.  He  is  an  industrious,  energetic,  and 
capable  farmer;  and  he  has  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Whittier  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church. 


ILLIAM  T.  COOK,  a  successful 
business  man  of  Foxboro,  was  born 
May  22,  1826,  in  Wakefield,  N.  H. 
His  father,  Jesse  Cook,  who  was  also  born  in 
Wakefield,    grew    to    manhood    in    his    native 


WILLIAM    T.    COOK, 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


671 


town,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  for 
some  time.  Later  Jesse  removed  to  Dover, 
N.H.,  and  there  continued  in  his  chosen  oc- 
cupation until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty 
years.  He  married  Hannah  Trickey,  who 
bore  him  four  children  —  William  T.,  Sarah 
N.,  Emily  C,  and  Amasa  N.  Sarah,  who 
married  Louis  Merriam,  died  leaving  three 
children  —  Nellie  A.,  Emily  C,  and  William 
N.  Emily  is  the  wife  of  Henry  A.  Mellen, 
of  the  firm  of  Norcross,  Mellen  &  Co.,  of 
Boston,  Mass.  Amasa  N.  Cook,  who  deals  in 
hats,  caps,  and  furs,  on  Washington  Street, 
Boston,  married  Mary  A.  Cheever,  daughter  of 
Dr.  John  Cheever,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  and 
has  two  children.  The  latter  are:  Alice,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  James  Shepard,  residing  in  Brook- 
line,  who  has  an  office  on  Park  Street,  Bos- 
ton; and  Newell  Cheever,  who,  through  the 
illness  of  his  father,  has  recently  given  up 
his  studies  at  Harvard  College  to  attend  to 
the  business  of  the  Boston  store. 

William  T.  Cook  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Wakefield  and  Dover,  N.  H.  In 
the  latter  town  he  subsequently  began  his 
mercantile  career  as  clerk  in  a  store.  Here, 
being  enterprising  and  ambitious,  he  quickly 
outgrew  his  environment,  went  to  Boston,  and 
was  there  engaged  as  a  clerk  until  he  had  be- 
come somewhat  acquainted  with  city  ways. 
He  then  embarked  in  the  hat,  cap,  and  fur 
business,  locating  at  15  and  17  Court  Street, 
where  he  remained  for  four  years.  During 
the  following  eight  years  he  was  a  member  of 
the  well-known  firm  of  Greenough,  Cook  & 
Co.,  of  Boston,  taking  the  place  of  Mr. 
Jameson,  whose  interest  he  purchased.  At 
the  same  time  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Covell,  Steele  &  Co.,  of  Portland,  Me.,  the 
two  firms  doing  a  business  of  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  a  year.  About  two  years 
previous  to  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Cook  entered 
into  partnership  with  Charles  Rice,  of  Pearl 
Street,  Boston,  and  engaged  in  the  sale  of 
straw  goods  both  for  themselves  and  for 
the  Union  Straw  Works  of  Foxboro,  Mr. 
Rice  having  previously  been  engaged  in  that 
business  for  himself.  Soon  after  the  out- 
break of  the  war  they  moved  to  New  York 
where  they  continued  in  the  same  business  for 
about  three  years.      Subsequently  he  returned 


to  Boston,  and  joined  the  lumber  firm  of 
Trickey,  Jewett  &  Cook,  of  which  the  senior 
member  was  his  uncle.  They  carried  on  an 
extensive  business  until  after  the  close  of  the 
Rebellion,  selling  immense  quantities  of  lum- 
ber for  use  in  the  construction  of  war  vessels 
at  the  Charlestown  and  Kittery  navy-yards. 

In  July,  1866,  Mr.  Cook  came  to  Foxboro. 
One  year  later  he  entered  into  partnership 
with  Mr.  E.  P.  Carpenter,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Union  Straw  Works.  A  few  years 
afterward  Mr.  Carpenter  retired  from  the 
business,  and  for  seventeen  years  Mr.  Cook 
was  its  manager  and  responsible  head.  Later 
a  stock  company  was  formed,  when  the  Union 
Straw  Works  was  merged  into  one  corporation 
with  the  Bay  State  Works  of  Middleboro, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  Mr.  Cook  was  made  .president. 
The  business  was  continued  in  Foxboro,  under 
the  firm  name  of  W.  T.  Cook  &  Co.,  as  long 
as  the  work  was  carried  on  for  the  Union  and 
Bay  State  Manufacturing  Company;  and  the 
same  business  was  carried  on  in  another  large 
factory  at  Middleboro,  Mass.,  under  the  style 
of  Albert  Alden  &  Co.  Mr.  Cook  sold  to' the 
State  the  property  now  occupied  by  the  Ine- 
briates' Home  in  Foxboro,  and  which  he  at 
one  time  used  as  a  stock  farm.  He  built  a 
private  trotting  park  on  the  farm  while  it  was 
in  his  possession,  and  raised  many  fine  trot- 
ting horses,  at  one  time  selling  forty  head. 
He  also  raised  full-blooded  Jersey  cattle  in 
large  numbers.  Afterward  he  bought  the 
old  Warren  homestead,  which  was  originally 
owned  and  improved  by  a  brother  of  General 
Joseph  Warren  of  Bunker  Hill  fame.  He 
now  owns  a  well-improved  and  finely  equipped 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  lying 
between  Foxboro  and  Mansfield,  and  does  a 
good  deal  of  fancy  farming.  He  is  a  director 
in  the  Foxboro  Co-operative  Bank  and  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  investment;  a  trustee  in 
the  Foxboro  Savings  Bank  and  a  member  of 
the  board  of  investment;  and  a  stockholder 
and  director  in  the  Mt.  Washington  Cold 
Spring  Manufacturing  Company  of  Boston. 
He  has  always  been  a  straightforward  Repub- 
lican, but  has  never  been  induced  to  accept 
public  office.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote   in    1848   for   Zachary   Taylor.      He   is   a 


672 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


member  of  the  local  grange,  of  the  Knights  of 
Honor  of  this  town,  and  of  the  Norfolk  Club 
of  Boston;  and  he  belongs  to  the  Congrega- 
tional Society  of  Foxboro. 


/  STlLBERT  C.  FISHER,*  one  of  the 
V  3  I  leading  farmers  of  Franklin,  Mass., 
^— - *~  the  son  of  Adin  and  Mary  (Clark) 
Fisher,  was  born  in  this  town,  April  15, 
1827.  From  the  Dedham  Historical  Register, 
October,  1892,  we  learn  that  Anthony  Fisher, 
son  of  Anthony  of  Syleham,  County  Suffolk, 
England,  with  wife  and  children,  came  to 
Massachusetts  in  1637,  bought  land  in  Ded- 
ham, and  died  in  Dorchester  near  the  Dedham 
line  in  1671  ;  that  his  brother  Joshua  came 
over  in  1640,  settled  first  in  Dedham,  and 
in  1650  went  to  Medfield  ;  and  that  a  Thomas 
Fisher  from  England,  not  known  to  be  related 
to  the  foregoing,  came  in  1634,  and  settled  at 
Dedham. 

Timothy  Fisher,  Jr.,  son  of  a  Timothy 
Fisher  of  Dedham,  was  the  father  of  Adin 
Fisher.  He  went  to  Medway  when  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age  to  learn  the  blacksmith's 
trade;  and  when  the  Revolution  broke  out  he 
enlisted  in  the  Continental  army,  and  served 
his  full  term.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  and  in  many  other  important  engage- 
ments. After  his  term  of  enlistment  expired, 
he  returned  to  Franklin,  and  was  for  many 
years  engaged  in  teaming.  He  was  a  strong 
temperance  man,  was  very  enterprising,  and 
was  successful  in  his  business.  Atone  period 
he  used  to  drive  an  ox  team  from  Boston  to 
New  York  City.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years,  in  the  house  where  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  He  was  mar- 
ried three  times;  and  Mr.  Fisher's  father, 
Adin  Fisher,  was  the  son  of  the  third  wife. 
He  remained  at  home,  and  took  charge  of  the 
old  homestead,  engaged  in  farming  and  team- 
ing. He,  too,  was  a  successful  man  of  busi- 
ness, and  did  a  great  deal  of  teaming.  In  his 
later  years  he  removed  to  Franklin  village, 
where  he  built  several  buildings.  He  died 
there  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  His 
wife,  Mary  Clark,  of  Franklin,  was  the 
mother  of  five  children:  Gilbert  C,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  sketch;  Marshall,  now  engaged  in 


farming  in  Medfield;  Edmund  T.,  a  pedler, 
living  in  Pawtucket,  R.I.  ;  Mary  Ann,  the 
widow  of  James  Bond,  living  in  Franklin  vil- 
lage; and  one  that  died  in  infancy. 

Gilbert  Fisher  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Franklin.  When  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age  he  was  engaged  in  driving 
an  ox  team  for  fifteen  cents  a  day,  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  went  to  live  with  a  doctor  in 
Franklin  village.  After  remaining  with  him 
one  year,  he  returned  to  the  old  homestead, 
where  he  has  been  ever  since.  He  now  owns 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres  of 
land  in  the  old  farm,  and  carries  on  general 
farming  to  a  considerable  extent,  although 
teaming  is  his  main  occupation.  He  married 
Emily,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Keith,  of  South 
Walpole,  Mass.  They  had  five  children, 
namely:  Eugene,  now  living  in  Franklin  vil- 
lage; Emma,  the  wife  of  Edward  Coben,  of 
Hopkinton,  Mass.;  Ida,  deceased;  Charles, 
a  fireman  on  the  New  England  Railroad,  liv- 
ing in  Franklin;  and  Frank  H.  Mrs.  Fisher 
died  July  24,  1874. 

Mr.  Fisher  does  not  live  in  the  old  farm- 
house at  the  present  time,  but  boards  near  by 
in  the  village.  He  is  a  public- spirited  citi- 
zen, and  at  one  time  he  served  the  town  as 
Highway  Surveyor.  In  politics  he  was  in 
his  early  days  a  Whig,  and  he  is  now  a  stanch 
Republican. 


ERNARD  F.  COLBURN,*  organist 
at  the  Universalist  church  at  Nor- 
wood and  a  well-known  teacher  of 
advanced  pianoforte  playing  in  Bos- 
ton, was  born  in  Waltham,  Mass.,  February  9, 
185 1,  son  of  Isaac  and  Catherine  (Farwell) 
Colburn.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Nathaniel  Colburn,  who  came  to  Dedham  soon 
after  the  settlement  of  the  town,  and  joined 
the  church  in  1641.  His  great-grandfather, 
Isaac  Colburn,  was  probably  a  native  of  West 
Dedham,  where  his  grandfather,  Isaacus  Col- 
burn, was  a  prosperous  farmer  and  a  lifelong 
resident. 

Isaac  Colburn,  second,  son  of  Isaacus  and 
father  of  Bernard  F. ,  was  born  in  West  Ded- 
ham, and  for  some  time  was  connected  with 
the  South  Dedham  Iron  Works.      He  was  later 


LUTHER    S.    ANDERSON. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


675 


engaged  in  the  shoe  and  leather  business  in 
Boston;  and  in  1854  he  settled  in  what  is  now 
Norwood,  where  he  resided  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years. 
Catherine  Farwell,  his  wife,  was  a  daughter  of 
Peter  Farwell,  of  Waltham.  She  became  the 
mother  of  three  children,  namely:  Bernard 
F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Frank  D.  ;  and 
Isaac  Colburn. 

Bernard  F.  Colburn  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  being  graduated  from  the  Ded- 
ham  High  School.  The  unusual  musical 
talents  which  he  evinced  at  an  early  age  were 
fostered  and  encouraged  by  his  parents,  who 
placed  him  under  the  care  of  Mrs.  Mary  Boy- 
den  ;  and  so  rapidly  did  he  advance  in  piano- 
forte playing  that  while  still  attending  the 
high  school  he  had  several  pupils.  He  pur- 
sued a  long  course  of  advanced  musical  train- 
ing under  Professor  Fritz  Zuchtmann,  of  Bos- 
ton, a  musician  and  teacher  of  considerable 
celebrity  in  his  clay;  and  in  1S70,  when  Pro- 
fessor Carlyle  Petersilea  opened  his  musical 
school,  Mr.  Colburn  was  engaged  to  teach 
pianoforte  playing.  For  seventeen  years  he 
continued  to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the 
corps  of  instructors  of  that  excellent  school, 
and  since  1887  he  has  devoted  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  to  private  pupils  in  Boston.  For 
the  past  twenty-eight  years  Mr.  Colburn  has 
officiated  as  organist  at  the  Universalist 
church,  Norwood,  which  has  been  his  place  of 
residence  during  his  entire  musical  career. 
He  has  composed  and  published  several  instru- 
mental pieces  of  a  high  order,  and  about  nine 
years  ago  he  was  secured  as  conductor  by  the 
Norwood  Brass  Band.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum  and  of  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen. 

In  1878  Mr.  Colburn  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Maria  E.  Hartshorn,  daughter  of  Caleb 
Hartshorn,  of  Norwood.  Mrs.  Colburn  is  a  lady 
of  literary  tastes  and  attainments,  and  is  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Norwood  Public  Library. 


-t^CTHER    STETSON    ANDERSON, 
Ijl       superintendent   of   the   Ouincy  Quarry 
_LJ?       _  Company    at     Ouincy,     Mass.,    was 
born    April   9,    1858,    in   the   neigh- 
boring town  of   Braintree,  son  of    Luther  Wil- 


son Anderson,  a  well-known  educator.  He  is 
of  Scottish  extraction,  and  descended  from 
early  settlers  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  where 
his  paternal  grandfather,  Robert  Anderson, 
who  was  a  native  and  lifelong  resident  of  that 
historic  town,  formerly  known  as  "Nuffield," 
operated  a  saw-mill.  Among  the  sixteen 
original  proprietors  of  Londonderry  in  April, 
1 7 19,  were  James  Anderson,  who  had  seven 
children,  and  Allen  Anderson,  who  was  child- 
less. John  Anderson,  with  his  wife  and  four 
children,  came  over  and  settled  in  London- 
derry in  1725.  Robert  Anderson,  born  in 
1789,  and  presumably  a  descendant  of  James 
Anderson,  died  in  Londonderry,  N.H.,  in 
1835.  Mr.  Anderson *s  probable  genealogy 
is  as  follows:  James',  David2  (married  a  Miss 
Wilson),  Robert-1  (married  Naomi  Aiken), 
Robert4,    Luther  Wilson?,    Luther   Stetson6. 

Luther  Wilson  Anderson  was  born  in  Lon- 
donderry, N.H.,  in  1821.  He  was  left 
fatherless  when  a  lad  of  fourteen  years,  and 
his  services  were  needed  to  aid  in  supporting 
his  widowed  mother  and  her  little  family. 
He  performed  his  various  tasks  cheerfully 
and  manfully;  and,  notwithstanding  the  many 
drawbacks  and  obstacles  he  had  to  contend 
with,  he  fitted  himself  for  Dartmouth  College, 
pursued  the  full  course,  and  was  graduated 
with  the  class  of  1846.  During  his  college 
career  he  partly  paid  his  expenses  by  teach- 
ing, but  also  spent  some  of  his  leisure  time 
in  the  study  of  medicine.  He  abandoned 
the  idea  of  becoming  a  physician,  however, 
and  took  up  the  vocation  of  teacher,  for 
which  he  was  particularly  adapted.  His  first 
school  after  his  graduation  was  in  East  Brain- 
tree,  where  he  taught  two  years,  going  thence 
to  the  Charlestown  High  School  as  principal, 
and  in  1852  becoming  master  of  the  English 
High  School  in  Boston.  This  position  he 
held  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1887, 
a  period  of  thirty-five  consecutive  years.  He 
had  a  remarkable  gift  of  imparting  knowledge, 
was  progressive  in  his  methods,  and  quick  to 
meet  every  demand  of  the  new  and  higher  ed- 
ucational life.  He  was  also  somewhat  inter- 
ested in  literary  pursuits,  at  one  time  doing  a 
good  deal  of  writing  for  Harper  Brothers:  and 
he  was  associated  with  the  late  Benjamin  F. 
Tweed,    for   some    years   a    supervisor    of    the 


676 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Boston  schools,  in  the  publication  of  a  series 
of  illustrated  primers.  In  1881  he  was 
chosen  treasurer  of  the  Reece  Button-hole  Ma- 
chine Company,  an  office  in  which  he  served 
as  long  as  he  lived;  and  he  was  also  manager 
of  the  Adams  Academy  from  its  establish- 
ment in  1871  until  his  decease,  and  for  many 
years  was  a  trustee  of  the  Thomas  Crane  Pub- 
lic Library.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  the 
lodge  at  East  Weymouth. 

He  married  Annie  Warren,  daughter  of 
Amos  Warren  Stetson,  of  East  Braintree. 
Four  children  were  born  of  this  union,  and 
three  are  now  living,  namely:  Luther  Stetson; 
Jeannie  Wilson,  wife  of  Edwin  S.  Bennett, 
of  Dorchester,  Mass.  ;  and  Amos  Warren. 
For  many  years  both  parents  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Union  Congregational  Church 
of  Weymouth  and  Braintree,  in  which  the 
father  was  a  Deacon;  and,  after  coming  to 
Quincy  in  1868,  he  was  identified  with  the 
First,  or  Unitarian,  Congregational  Church. 

Luther  Stetson  Anderson  received  his  ele- 
mentary education  in  private  schools,  attend- 
ing first  one  in  Weymouth  and  afterward  that 
of  Miss  Wright  in  Quincy.  In  1869  he  en- 
tered the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  became  a  pupil  of  the  English  High, 
from  which  he  received  his  diploma  in  1873. 
The  succeeding  two  years  he  was  so  much  out 
of  health  that  he  was  forced  to  give  up  his 
studies.  In  1875  he  was  enrolled  as  a  student 
at  Adams  Academy,  where  he  was  graduated 
in  1878;  and  in  1882  he  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  College.  In  September  of  that  year 
he  secured  a  situation  in  the  general  freight 
office  of  the  Old  Colony  Railway,  where  he 
worked  in  various  capacities  for  three  years. 
On  September  30,  1885,  Mr.  Anderson  be- 
came assistant  to  the  president  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway  Company.  In  addition  to 
that,  on  April  30,  18S8,  he  was  made  assist- 
ant treasurer  of  the  company,  and  in  the 
month  of  June,  1889,  was  also  appointed  its 
assistant  secretary.  All  these  positions  he 
held  concurrently,  and  for  a  short  time  in 
1890  he  was  likewise  purchasing  agent  of  the 
same  company.  From  February,  1891,  until 
the  following  autumn  he  was  business  man- 
ager of  the  New  England  Conservatory  of 
Music.      In  1893  he  supervised  the  construc- 


tion of  the  Quincy  Quarry  Railway,  of  which 
he  was  subsequently  made  the  superintendent, 
a  responsible  position,  which  he  is  still  ably 
filling. 

Mr.  Anderson  is  treasurer  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational, or  Unitarian,  Church  and  one  of 
the  parish  assessors.  He  is  an  unswerving 
Republican  in  politics,  and  served  in  the 
City  Council  in  1893,  1894,  1896,  and  1897, 
the  latter  year  being  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Finance. 


§OSEPH  CHASE,  Jr.,  M.D.,*  a  repre- 
sentative professional  man  and  a  lead- 
ing physician  and  surgeon  of  East 
Weymouth,  was  born  in  Boston,  No- 
vember 25,  185 1,  son  of  Dr.  Joseph,  Sr.,  and 
Clara  (d' A. -Luce)  Chase.  The  family  is  of 
English  origin,  and  was  settled  in  America  in 
the  early  days  of  the  country's  history. 

Dr.  Chase's  great-grandfather  Luce  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  and  was  a  man  of  noted 
patriotism  and  bravery.  The  elder  Dr. 
Chase,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
resides  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  which  was  his 
wife's  native  place.  He  is  now  eighty  years 
of  age.  He  practised  dentistry  for  years  in 
Boston,  where  he  was  born,  and  later,  until  he 
retired  from  active  pursuits,  was  identified 
with  manufacturing  interests. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  in  his  youth  attended  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  of  Boston,  and  was  gradu- 
ated from  the  English  High  School.  After 
receiving  considerable  private  instruction,  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine  at  the  Boston 
University  Medical  School  in  1875,  and  was 
graduated  from  that  institution  in  1878  as 
valedictorian  of  his  class,  a  fact  sufficiently 
attesting  his  superior  rank  in  scholarship. 
During  the  year  succeeding  his  graduation 
he  practised  medicine  in  Hingham,  and  later 
was  in  Boston  and  in  New  York  City,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion and  in  pursuing  post-graduate  courses. 
He  was  then  settled  at  Concord,  N.H.,  for  six 
years,  and  in  1887  came  to  East  Weymouth, 
where  he  has  won  a  widespread  reputation  for 
skill  as  a  medical  practitioner,  and  has  built 
up  a  lucrative  and  constantly  increasing  busi- 
ness.     Dr.  Chase  married  Carrie  A.  Blaisdell, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


677 


of  Concord,  N.  H.,  a  lady  of  taste  and  culture. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  School  Committee  of 
Weymouth,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the 
improvement  and  welfare  of  the  public  schools. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Boston  Homoeopathic 
and 'the  Massachusetts  Homoeopathic  Medical 
Societies,  and  of  the  Massachusetts  Surgical 
and  Gynaecological  Societies.  Dr.  Chase  is 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  always  glad 
to  help  in  furthering  the  spread  of  Republican 
principles.  He  is  identified  with  three 
branches  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  at  East 
Weymouth,  with  the  United  Order  of  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  and  with  the  American  Order  of 
United  Workmen. 


JDMUND  P.  CASSELL,*  accountant,  a 
/ell-known  resident  of  Dedham,  was 
born  May  7,  1838,  in  Boston,  a  son 
of  Edmund  D.  Cassell.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, James  Cassell,  was  born  in  England 
of  Huguenot  ancestry.  In  his  early  life  he 
was  for  many  years  a  sea  captain;  and  prior 
to  his  marriage  he  settled  in  Boston,  Mass. 
He  subsequently  removed  to  Cape  Cod,  mak- 
ing his  home  in  Truro  until  his  death,  which 
was  caused  by  falling  downstairs.  He  was 
ninety-three  years  of  age  when  he  met  with 
this  fatal  accident,  but  was  a  hale  and  hearty 
old  gentleman,  with  every  prospect  of  enjoy- 
ing many  more  years  of  life  on  earth. 

Edmund  D.  Cassell  was  born  in  Boston, 
being  one  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  and  in 
that  city  spent  many  years  of  his  life.  While 
yet  a  boy,  during  the  War  of  18 12,  he  stood 
on  Pemberton  Hill,  and  watched  the  encoun- 
ter between  the  "Chesapeake"  and  "Shan- 
non," when  the  gallant  Lawrence,  having 
received  his  mortal  wound,  uttered  the  memo- 
rable words,  "Don't  give  up  the  ship."  After 
completing  his  education  he  learned  the  trade 
of  house  and  sign  painter,  and,  beginning 
business  for  himself  in  1829,  was  successfully 
engaged  therein  for  many  years.  At  an  early 
age  he  entered  the  military  service  as  a  pri- 
vate, and  being  promoted  was  for  some  time 
Captain  of  the  Lafayette  Guards.  He  was  a 
wide-awake,  keen  business  man.  In  politics 
he  was  a  strong  Republican  from  the  forma- 
tion  of  his   party,  and   prior  to   that   time   he 


cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  General 
Jackson.  In  1863  he  retired  from  active  pur- 
suits; and  he  passed  his  last  years  in  Dedham, 
dying  here  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years  in 
1888.  Strictly  honorable  and  upright  in  his 
dealings,  he  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
and  respect  by  his  fellow-men.  He  was  a 
typical  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  courtly 
and  polished  in  his  manners,  and  at  all  times 
a  genial  companion. 

He  married  Miss  Sophia  Parker,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Esther  (Lawrence)  Parker,  her 
mother  being  a  relative  of  Abbott  Lawrence, 
who  was  United  States  Minister  to  England, 
1849-52.  Of  the  five  children  born  to  Ed- 
mund D.  and  Mrs.  Cassell,  four  grew  to  ma- 
ture life,  and  three  are  still  living,  namely: 
Sophia,  who  married  Seth  Caldwell,  Jr.,  pres- 
ident of  the  Girard  National  Bank  of  Phila- 
delphia; Edmund  P.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Mary  A.,  wife  of  Henry  T.  Mc- 
Clearn,  who  is  engaged  in  the  real  estate  busi- 
ness in  Boston,  but  is  a  resident  of  Dedham. 
The  mother  preceded  her  husband  to  the  life 
eternal,  passing  away  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three  years.  Both  were  connected  with  the 
Baptist  church. 

Edmund  P.  Cassell  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  and  was  grad- 
uated from  the  Latin  School  with  the  class  of 
1856.  He  soon  after  became  a  clerk  for  the 
firm  of  Kimball,  Robinson  &  Co.,  boot,  shoe, 
and  leather  dealers,  with  whom  he  remained 
eight  years.  In  1865  he  gave  up  the  posi- 
tion, and  started  in  a  similar  business  on  his 
own  account,  forming  a  partnership  with  a 
Mr.  Parker,  under  the  firm  name  of  Cassell  & 
Parker,  and  for  ten  years  carrying  on  a  suc- 
cessful trade  in  boots  and  shoes.  Since  that 
time  he  has  followed  the  lucrative  profession 
of  an  expert  accountant  in  Boston,  although 
he  has  continued  his  residence  in  Dedham, 
where  he  settled  in  1865. 

In  1865  Mr.  Cassell  married  Miss  Josephine 
H.  Kingsbury,  of  Dedham.  Her  father, 
Lewis  H.  Kingsbury,  was  accidentally  killed 
by  a  runaway  team  in  Boston  in  1893,  in  the 
seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Kings- 
bury was  for  forty  years  president  of  the  Ded- 
ham National  Bank;  and  for  thirty  years  he 
served    as    Town    Treasurer,    besides    holding 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


other  public  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
He  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Eunice  Haven,  reared  seven  children,  of 
whom  four  are  still  living.  Mrs.  Kingsbury 
was  born  in  Boston,  and  died  in  Dedham,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cassell  have  the  following  children:  Jennie 
K.,  wife  of  Lewis  D.  Smith,  a  provision 
dealer  in  Boston,  but  a  resident  of  Dedham, 
where  he  is  Past  Master  of  the  local  lodge  of 
Free  Masons;  Edmund  P.,  Jr.,  is  engaged  in 
the  real  estate  business  in  New  York;  and 
Mabel  J. 

In  politics  Mr.  Cassell  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can. He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  belonging  to  Constellation 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  first  members;  and  to  Hyde  Park  Chapter, 
of  Hyde  Park.  He  is  an  attendant  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  of  which  Mrs.  Cassell  and 
the  daughters  are  communicants. 


LFRED  C.  SMITH,*  a  rising  young 
lawyer  of  Dedham,  and  also  a  practi- 
tioner at  the  Suffolk  County  bar  in 
Boston,  was  born  in  this  old  Nor- 
folk County  town,  January  11,  1873,.  son  of 
Alfred  M.  and  Mary  J.  (Heagan)  Smith. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Webb  Smith,  was  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Cornish,  N.H.,  lived  to 
be  eighty  years  old,  and  was  the  father  of  thir- 
teen children. 

Alfred  M.  Smith,  son  of  Webb  and  father 
of  Alfred  C.  Smith,  was  born  in  Cornish,  and 
reared  upon  the  homestead  farm.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  went  to  Lowell,  Mass., 
where  he  was  employed  for  a  time  as  night 
watchman  in  a  cotton  factory;  and  he  then  be- 
came an  employee  of  the  Boston  &  Lowell 
Railroad  Company.  He  later  entered  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Boston  &  Providence  Railroad 
Company,  was  assigned  to  duty  on  the  Ded- 
ham division,  and  was  appointed  a  conductor 
in  1861.  He  is  still  in  active  service,  and 
with  one  exception  is  the  oldest  conductor  on 
the  Dedham  branch.  He  has  resided  here  for 
forty  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Mary  J.  Heagan,  was  born  in  Egypt,  Me., 
daughter  of  James  and  Amelia  Heagan,  the 
former  of  whom   was   an    industrious   tiller  of 


the  soil.  Mrs.  Smith  has  reared  two  chil- 
dren, namely:  Adelaide  N.,  who  is  female 
probation  officer,  with  headquarters  at  the 
State  House,  Boston ;  and  Alfred  C,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  M. 
Smith  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Alfred  C.  Smith  was  graduated  from  the 
grammar  school  in  1886  and  from  the  Ded- 
ham High  School  in  1890.  His  law  studies 
were  pursued  under  the  direction  of  Judge 
Grover,  of  Canton;  J.  J.  Teely,  Assistant 
District  Attorney  for  Norfolk  and  Plymouth 
Counties;  and  James  E.  Cotter,  who  has  re- 
cently acquired  considerable  distinction  for 
his  able  management  of  the  defence  in  the 
Bram  murder  trial.  Mr.  Smith  finished  his 
course  at  the  Boston  University  School  of 
Law,  June  7,  1893,  and  was  the  youngest 
student  ever  graduated  from  that  department. 
On  January  11,  1894,  his  twenty-first  birth- 
day, he  was  admitted  to  the  bar;  and,  immedi- 
ately opening  an  office  in  Dedham,  he  prac- 
tised his  profession  alone  until  1895,  when  he 
became  associated  with  J.  J.  Teely  at  95  Milk 
Street,  Boston. 

In  politics  Mr.  Smith  is  a  Democrat.  He 
has.  been  a  member  of  the  Town  Committee 
since  1894,  and  as  a  campaign  speaker  is  elo- 
quent and  forcible.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Park  Commission,  and  was  a  candidate  for 
Representative  to  the  legislature  in  1896. 
In  Masonry  he  has  advanced  to  the  Royal 
Arch  degree,  being  a  member  of  Constellation 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Norfolk  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.,  of  Hyde  Park.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Norfolk  County  Bar  Association.  Mr. 
Smith  attends  the  Congregational  church. 


UGUSTUS  WHITTEMORE,  a  retired 
business  man  residing  on  Carleton 
Street,  Brookline,  was  born  in 
Weymouth,  February  12,  1821,  son 
of  James  and  Hannah  (Stevens)  Whittemore. 
The  first  ancestor  of  the  Whittemores,  who 
are  of  English  origin,  settled  in  Somerville, 
Mass.,  where  a  branch  of  the  family  still  re- 
sides. Samuel  Whittemore,  grandfather  of 
Augustus,  was  a  farmer  of  West  Cambridge. 
James   Whittemore   for  many  years  kept  a 


AUGUSTUS    WHITTEMORE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


general  store  in  Weymouth,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Tufts  &  Whittemore.  The 
Tufts  family  were  related  to  John  Quincy 
Adams,  whom  James  Whittemore  remembered 
very  well.  James  went  into  the  insurance 
business  later  in  life.  He  also  became  Post- 
master of  the  town  and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  was  known  as  Esquire  Whittemore. 
Upon  retiring  from  public  life,  he  removed  to 
Cherry  Valley,  Mass.,  where  he  died  in  the 
eighty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Calvin  Stevens,  who  was  a  farmer 
of  Hillsboro,  N.H.,  and  the  father  of  fourteen 
children.  Of  the  six  children  born  to  James 
Whittemore  and  his  wife  four  reached  matu- 
rity and  Sarah  Jane  and  Augustus  are  still 
living.  Sarah  Jane  married  John  E.  Bruce. 
Both  parents  were  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  The  mother  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years. 

Augustus  Whittemore  spent  his  early  youth 
in  Weymouth,  finishing  his  education  at  Wey- 
mouth Academy.  He  then  entered  his 
father's  store  as  a  clerk.  When  nineteen 
years  old  he  went  to  Boston,  and  became  a 
clerk  in  the  silk  goods  jobbing-house  of 
Francis  H.  Blanchard  &  Co.,  in  1846  becom- 
ing a  member  of  the  firm.  In  1852  he  re- 
signed to  become  a  clerk  in  an  adjoining  con- 
cern. Here  he  had  been  employed  for  four 
years,  when  the  firm  was  succeeded  by  that  of 
Ordway,  Bradish  &  Co.  In  1857  this  firm 
went  out  of  business,  and  Mr.  Whittemore 
started  a  commission  business,  in  which'he  con- 
tinued until  1 884,  when  he  permanently  retired. 

Mr.  Whittemore,  in  1848,  contracted  his 
first  marriage  with  Sarah  B.,  daughter  of 
Samuel  H.  Babcock,  a  Boston  merchant.  She 
died  in  1852,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  hav- 
ing borne  her  husband  two  children.  Of 
these,  Ida  H.  married  Richard  H.  Soule,  the 
superintendent  of  locomotive  power  on  the 
Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad  in  Virginia,  and 
has  two  children — Windsor  and  Augustus 
Whittemore  Soule.  Mr.  Whittemore  subse- 
quently married  Sarah  C.  Appleton,  daughter 
of  John  Burnham,  a  lawyer  of  Hillsboro,  N.H. 
By  her  he  has  one  child,  Ethel  M. ,  now  the 
widow  of  Charles  F.  Wentworth,  who  was  an 
architect  of  the  firm  of  Cram,  Wentworth  & 
Goodhue,  and  died  February  8,   1897. 


Mr.  Whittemore  formerly  belonged  to  the 
old  Whig  party,  and  is  now  a  Republican. 
He  has  been  a  Selectman  of  the  town  of 
Brookline  for  one  year.  He  has  travelled  ex- 
tensively, and  is  well  known  in  social  circles. 
The  members  of  his  family  attend  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  his  daughters  take  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  church  affairs.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  New  England  Guard  and  of 
the  Home  Guard,  and  since  1864  of  the  An- 
cient and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of 
Boston.  When  that  famous  body  attended 
the  dedication  of  the  Washington  Monument 
in  the  national  capital,  Mr.  Whittemore,  who 
was  then  its  Captain,  was  called  upon  by  Gen- 
eral Sheridan,  and  personally  complimented 
upon  the  fine  form  of  his  command. 


~fr?)TENRY  K.  SHATSWELL,  D.D.S.,* 
I  '  I  a  prominent  dentist  of  Norfolk 
\is  I  County,    whose    office    is    in    High 

^~"  Street,  Dedham,  over  the  post- 
office,  was  born  December  4,  1858,  in  Ipswich, 
Essex  County,  Mass.,  in  the  very  house  in 
which  his  father,  John  H.  Shatswell,  his 
grandfather,  John  Shatswell,  and  his  great- 
grandfather Shatswell  first  opened  their  eyes 
to  the  light  of  this  world.  This  house  was 
built  in  1636,  and  has  ever  since  that  time 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  Shatswell  fam- 
ily, being  now  owned  by  the  Doctor's  aunt. 
It  has  been  the  birthplace  of  nine  generations 
in  direct  descent  from  the  original  owner. 

The  Doctor's  grandfather  succeeded  to  the 
ownership  of  the  old  homestead,  becoming  an 
extensive  farmer  and  a  large  land-owner,  and 
there  spending  his  seventy-five  years  of  life. 
He  had  six  children,  four  daughters  and  two 
sons,  all  of  whom  are  still  living. 

John  H.  Shatswell  was  brought  up  on  the 
old  homestead,  receiving  his  education  in  the 
Ipswich  schools.  When  a  young  man  he 
turned  his  attention  to  seafaring  pursuits, 
going  first  on  whaling  voyages;  and  he  was 
afterward  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade  as 
master  of  a  vessel  for  twenty  years.  Captain 
Shatswell  subsequently  settled  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  is  now  living  retired  from  ac- 
tive business.  He  is  a  genial,  whole-souled 
man,  notably  just  and   honest,  and   eminently 


682 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


worthy  of  the  high  respect  in  which  he  is 
held.  He  has  been  a  steward  and  class  leader 
of  the  Methodist  church,  of  which  his  wife 
also  was  a  devoted  member;  and  he  is  very 
prominent  in  Masonic  circles,  belonging  to 
the  John  F.  Hurd  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
which  he  was  Master  six  years;  to  the  Royal 
Arch  Chapter;  and  to  the  Knights  of  Malta 
Commandery.  He  married  Miss  Harriet  A. 
Hills,  who  was  born  and  bred  in  Ipswich,  a 
daughter  of  Albert  and  Eunice  A.  (Perkins) 
Hills.  Her  father  was  a  country  merchant 
and  for  many  years  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  of  the  town.  He  reared  two  chil- 
dren, namely:  Harriet  A.  (Mrs.  Shatswell), 
who  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years;  and  a 
son  who  is  still  living.  Mrs.  Shatswell  was 
the  mother  of  three  children,  of  whom  the 
Doctor  is  the  only  survivor. 

Henry  K.  Shatswell  spent  his  early  years 
in  the  parental  home.  He  acquired  his  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools,  and  then  went  to 
work  in  a  printing-office  in  Ipswich.  Later 
he  started  a  paper  called  the  Ipswich  Inde- 
pendent, which  he  published  about  eighteen 
months.  During  this  time  he  had  studied 
medicine  to  some  extent ;  and  on  giving  up  his 
paper  he  went  to  Chicago,  111.,  and  attended 
the  Chicago  Medical  College.  Returning  to 
New  England,  he  practised  for  a  time  with  a 
local  physician  in  Northern  Vermont.  He 
then  went  back  to  Chicago,  and  in  t888  re- 
ceived his  diploma  from  the  Medical  College. 
Locating  his  office  for  practice  at  Park 
Square,  Boston,  Dr.  Shatswell  shortly  took  up 
the  study  of  dentistry,  and  in  1891  was  gradu- 
ated from  the  Boston  Dental  College.  Since 
that  time  the  Doctor  has  been  one  of  the  most 
busy  and  successful  men  of  the  clay.  He  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  both  branches  of  his 
profession  for  a  year,  at  the  same  time  occupy- 
ing the  position  of  teacher  of  chemistry  in  the 
Dental  College  and  of  superintendent  of  the 
Suffolk  Dispensary,  later  connected  with  the 
College  of  Physicians.  In  1892  he  came  to 
Dedham,  and  opened  his  present  office,  at  that 
time  the  only  office  in  the  place.  He  has 
here  won  an  extensive  and  lucrative  patronage, 
his  business  necessitating  the  aid  of  two  as- 
sistants. With  the  energy  and  enterprise  for 
which  he  has  always   been   noted,    Dr.    Shats- 


well has  opened  two  other  dental  offices,  one 
in  Medfield  and  one  in  Mattapan,  in  both  of 
which  he  has  a  good  practice.  He  has  also 
the  appointment  of  visiting  surgeon  at  the 
Boston  Oral  Hospital. 

Dr.  Shatswell  is  known  as  one  of  the 
brightest  and  most  promising  members  of  his 
profession  in  this  part  of  the  State,  his  knowl- 
edge of  medicine  as  well  as  of  dental  surgery 
being  of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  his 
work;  and  he  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Dental  Society.  He  is  active  in 
fraternal  circles,  belonging  to  Allan  Lodge, 
No.  126,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Hyde  Park,  and 
being  Commander  of  the  Knights  of  Malta 
Commandery  of  the  same  place.  He  is  an  at- 
tendant of  the  Unitarian  church,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  American  Yacht  Club. 


£f|-AMES  S.  JONES*  was  born  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  February  7,  1806,  son  of  Elisha 
and  Betsey  (Thayer)  Jones,  of  that 
city.  On  his  mother's  side  he  was  a 
descendant  in  the  seventh  generation  of  John 
and  Priscilla  (Mullins)  Alden,  of  the  Plym- 
outh Colony.  His  grandfather,  Colonel 
Elisha  Jones,  held  a  commission  under  King- 
George;  but  at  the  first  outbreak  of  hostili- 
ties between  the  American  colonies  and  the 
English  government  he  resigned  it,  and  ac- 
cepted a  similar  position  in  the  Continental 
army.  On  the  day  of  the  Concord  fight  some 
British  troops  were  encamped  upon  the  lawn 
in  front  of  the  Jones  mansion.  Colonel 
Jones,  having  been  detailed  to  guard  the 
stores,  valued  at  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which 
had  been  sent  to  Concord  by  Elbridge  Gerry, 
was  fired  upon  by  the  British;  but  the  balls 
missed  their  mark,  and  entered  the  wall  of  the 
house,  where  the  bullet  holes  may  be  seen  to 
this  day.  Colonel  Barrett,  who  commanded 
at  Concord  on  that  clay,  was  a  cousin  of  Colo- 
nel Jones. 

Elisha  Jones,  father  of  James  S.,  was  a 
prominent  commission  merchant  and  importer 
of  foreign  goods  of  Boston.  He  died  in  Con- 
cord at  the  old  homestead,  and  was  buried  in 
Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery.  His  wife,  Betsey 
Thayer  Jones,  of  Braintree,  traced  her  family 
back  to  a  Thayer  who   left   Gloucester,  Eng- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


683 


land,  in  161 8.  She  also  claimed  descent  from 
John  and  Priscilla  (Mullins)  Alden,  thus  es- 
tablishing a  connection  with  the  famous 
Adams  family  of  Massachusetts.  Her  mother 
was  Dorothy  Hunt,  whose  ancestors  left  Wey- 
mouth, England,  in  1610.  One  of  her  mater- 
nal ancestors  was  Captain  Ephraim  Hunt,  who 
took  an  active  part  in  the  early  French  and 
Indian  wars  in  Canada,  and  received  a  grant 
of  a  whole  township  as  a  reward  of  his  mili- 
tary services.  Mrs.  Jones  is  buried  in  the  old 
Copp's  Hill  Burying-ground  in  Boston. 

James  S.  Jones  received  his  early  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools  of  Boston.  He 
was  then  sent  to  Day's  Academy  at  Wren- 
tham,  where  he  fitted  himself  for  the  position 
of  a  teacher.  When  quite  a  young  man  he 
went  to  reside  upon  the  old  family  estate  in 
Concord,  which  has  been  in  the  possession  of 
the  family  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years.  Here  he  took  care  of  an  aged  uncle 
and  aunt  until  their  death,  when  he  became 
their  sole  heir.  The  estate,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  historic  Concord,  is  now  the 
home  of  his  daughter  Mary  and  her  family. 
Mr.  Jones  died  June  1,  1887.  His  wife, 
Elmira,  was  a  daughter  of  Ariel  and  Abbie 
Cheever,  representatives  of  one  of  the  old 
families  of  Concord,  who  trace  their  ances- 
try back  to  one  of  two  brothers,  Daniel  and 
Bartholomew  Cheever,  who  came  to  this  coun- 
try from  Canterbury,  England,  in  1637. 
Daniel  took  up  and  brought  under  cultivation 
twenty  acres  of  goverment  land  in  what  is  now 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  reared  two  children  — 
Alice  E.  and  Mary  E.  Alice  married  Horace 
Hawes,  a  member  of  an  old  Wrentham  family 
of  that  name;  and  they  have  two  children  — 
Elizabeth  J.  and  Horace.  Mary  became  the 
wife  of  Owen  Bearse,  of  Cape  Cod,  a  son  of 
Captain  Bearse,  whose  ancestors  fought  for 
American  independence. 

Mr.  Owen  Bearse  died  in  the  fall  of  1896. 
He  and  his  wife  had  four  children,  of  whom 
two  are  now  living — Mary  P.  and  Alice  H. 
Lillian  A.  died  in  childhood,  and  Mark  L. 
met  his  death  by  accident  while  the  family 
were  on  a  pleasure  trip  in  the  South.  Mrs. 
Bearse  and  her  two  surviving  children  reside 
at  the  old  homestead  in  Concord. 


T^LBRIDGE  NASH,*  a  well-known  phar- 
pl  macist  of  South  Weymouth,  was  born 
in  Weymouth,  Mass.,  October  8, 
1841,  son  of  William  G.  and  Dorothy  B. 
Nash.  The  father  was  a  merchant  at  Nash's 
Corners  for  many  years.  The  grandfather, 
William  G.,  is  still  living,  in  the  eighty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age. 

Elbridge  Nash  attended  the  public  and  high 
schools  of  South  Weymouth.  He  subse- 
quently spent  two  years  as  a  clerk  in  a  cloth- 
ing store.  August  29,  1862,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  K,  Forty-fourth  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  which  was  attached  to  the 
command  of  General  Foster,  and  operated 
mainly  in  North  Carolina.  With  this  regi- 
ment he  took  part  in  the  actions  at  Kingston, 
White  Hall,  and  Goldsboro.  He  was  also  with 
the  besieged  troops  at  Little  Washington, 
N.C.  He  returned  with  his  regiment  to  New- 
bern,  N.C,  and  discharged  provost  duty  there 
until  honorably  discharged,  June  18,  1863. 
For  several  years  after  the  war  Mr.  Nash  was 
in  his  father's  employ  as  clerk  in  his  general 
store  at  Nash's  Corners.  In  1876  he  engaged 
in  the  drug  business  at  South  Weymouth, 
where  he  has  since  located;  and  during  this 
period  of  twenty  years  he  has  built  up  an  ex- 
cellent trade.  He  married  first  Elizabeth 
Harty,  of  Gloucester,  Mass.,  who  is  now  de- 
ceased. His  present  wife  was  in  maidenhood 
Mary  J.  Harty. 

Mr.  Nash  is  an  active  member  of  the  Rey- 
nolds Post,  No.  58,  G.  A.  R.,  and  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  has  been  its  Quartermaster.  On 
various  occasions  also  he  has  served  as  treas- 
urer of  the  G.  A.  R.  fairs  held  by  that  post  at 
East  Weymouth.  He  is  a  member  of  Wildey 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F..  at  South  Weymouth;  and 
is  also  connected  with  Orphans'  Hope  Lodge, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  East  Weymouth. 


§AMES  MICHAEL  FOLAN,*  a  pros- 
perous boot  and  shoe  merchant  of  Nor- 
wood, was  born  in  South  Dedham, 
February  14,  1865,  son  of  Michael  and 
Catherine  (Flaherty)  Folan.  The  father  emi- 
grated from  County  Galway,  Ireland,  to  the 
United  States  in  1861,  and  located  in  South 
Dedham    in    1863.      His  wife,  Catherine,   who 


684 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


is  a  daughter  of  James  Flaherty,  of  Ireland, 
became  the  mother  of  five  children;  namely, 
Delia,  Margaret,  Patrick,  John,  and  James  M. 
James  Michael  Folan  attended  the  Everett 
School  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  then 
began  to  contribute  toward  his  own  support  by 
working  in  a  foundry.  He  was  later  em- 
ployed in  a  tannery,  still  later  worked  at  the 
jeweller's  trade  for  ten  months  in  North 
Attleboro,  Mass.,  and  subsequently  served  an 
apprenticeship  to  the  house  painter's  trade. 
Ambitious  and  progressive,  he  decided  to 
enter  mercantile  life;  and,  though  without  ex- 
perience or  credit,  he  at  length  succeeded  in 
establishing  himself  in  the  shoe  business  at 
the  corner  of  Washington  and  Railroad 
Streets.  His  upright  character  and  the  regu- 
larity with  which  he  has  met  his  obligations 
have  gained  for  him  the  respect  of  business 
men  and  won  the  confidence  of  the  public. 
He  has  made  some  successful  real  estate  deals, 
thus  strengthening  his  financial  standing; 
and,  as  a  rising  young  business  man,  his 
future  is  bright  and  promising.  He  takes  a 
lively  interest  in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
his  native  town,  and  is  a  leading  spirit  in 
forwarding  all  practical  measures  for  its  im- 
provement. He  is  a  member  of  the  Business 
Men's  Association  and  of  the  local  court  of 
the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters.  On  June 
2,  1892,  Mr.  Folan  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Julia  A.  Ford,  daughter  of  James  and 
Julia  Ford,  of  Needham,  Mass.,  and  has  one 
son,  Leo  M. 


§ARED  N.  HAYES,*  a  carpenter  and 
builder  of  Foxboro,  was  born  October 
5,  1830,  in  Granby,  Conn.,  the  birth- 
place of  his  father,  Chauncey  Hayes, 
and  of  his  grandfather,  Dudley  Hayes.  He 
is  of  distinguished  ancestry,  being  a  kinsman 
of  a  President  of  the  United  States,  Ruther- 
ford B.  Hayes.  A  complete  record  of  the 
Hayes  family  has  been  preserved  in  the  work 
entitled  Genealogy  of  the  Hayes  Family, 
recently  published  at  Buffalo,  N.Y.,  by  the 
Rev.  Charles  Wells  Hayes,  rector  of  St. 
Peter's  Church  of  Westfield,  N.Y.,  and  a 
member  of  the  historical  societies  of  Maine, 
Wisconsin,    and    Buffalo,    N.Y.,    and    of    the 


New  England  Genealogical  Society.  Dudley 
Hayes  entered  the  Revolutionary  army  when  a 
lad  of  eighteen  years,  and  in  one  of  the  en- 
gagements of  that  war  received  a  wound  that 
made  him  a  cripple  for  life.  He  owned  a 
farm  in  Granby,  and  there  carried  on  general 
farming  until  his  death,  at  the  venerable  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  He  married  a  Miss 
Dewey. 

Chauncey  Hayes  early  chose  farming  as  his 
life  occupation,  and  purchased  land  adjoining 
the  homestead  of  his  parents.  He  cleared 
and  improved  a  valuable  farm,  which  is  now 
in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  sons.  Active 
and  enterprising,  he  for  some  years  carried  on 
a  substantial  business  in  manufacturing  lum- 
ber, having  built  a  saw-mill  on  his  estate. 
He  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  passing  away  in 
1 88 1.  He  married  Savilla  Rose,  of  Gran- 
ville, Mass.,  and  they  reared  eight  children, 
as  follows:  Maria,  Chauncey,  Wealthy,  Jared 
N.,  Lavinia,  Mills,  Chloe,  and  Hiram. 
Chloe  lives  in  Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  and 
Hiram  resides  on  the  old  homestead  in  Granby, 
these  two  and  Jared  N.  being  the  only  surviv- 
ing members  of  the  family. 

Jared  N.  Hayes  obtained  a  practical  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools  of  his  native  town, 
and  on  the  home  farm  was  well  trained  in  the 
science  of  agriculture.  Not  caring  to  spend 
his  life  in  tilling  the  soil,  however,  he  served 
an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  at  the  trade 
of  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  after  which  he  em- 
barked in  business  for  himself  at  Winsfed, 
Conn.,  and  later  in  Great  Barrington,  Mass. 
His  first  work  in  the  latter  place  was  a  large 
brick  block,  which  has  been  recently  burned. 
On  the  completion  of  that  building  he  went  to 
New  Lebanon,  N.Y.,  where  he  was  employed 
by  the  Shakers  ten  years  as  a  carpenter.  In 
1 861  he  returned  to  Great  Barrington,  remain- 
ing there  actively  engaged  until  his  removal 
to  Foxboro  in  1882.  Since  coming  here  he 
has  had  charge  of  the  construction  of  some  of 
the  finest  residences  in  this  locality,  and  has 
rebuilt  his  own  dwelling-house,  making  it  one 
of  the  most  attractive  of  any  in  the  town,  and 
an  ornament  to  that  part  of  Cocasset  Street 
on  which  it  is  located. 

Mr.  Hayes  first  married  Miss  Lucinda 
Couch,  who  was  born  in  Walpole.      After  her 


WILLIAM    J.    GRIGGS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


687 


death  he  married  for  his  second  wife  Miss 
Sarah  Hale,  who  lived  but  a  few  years  after 
their  union.  He  was  subsequently  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Lucy  M.  Farwell,  a  most 
estimable  woman,  noted  for  her  social  and 
domestic  virtues.  Mr.  Hayes  has  lost  two 
children,  one  by  his  first  marriage  and  one  by 
his  second.  He  is  a  strong  Republican  in  his 
political  affiliations,  having  joined  that  party 
on  its  formation.  He  cast  his  first  Presiden.- 
tial  vote  in  1852  for  Franklin  Pierce.  While 
living  in  Great  Barrington  he  served  as  police 
officer  for  several  years,  and  for  the  past  six 
years  he  has  been  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Fox- 
boro  Fire  Department.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having  ad- 
vanced as  far  as  the  Commandery.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church. 


ILLIAM  TURNER  CHADWICK,* 
a  successful  farmer  of  West  Ded- 
ham,  was  born  at  the  North  End, 
Boston,  May  8,  1823,  son  of  William  Chad- 
wick.  His  father  was  a  native  and  lifelong 
resident  of  Boston.  The  grandparents  came 
from  England,  where  two  of  their  daughters 
were  born.  William  Chadwick  had  three 
children:  William  Turner,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Joseph  H.,  the  founder  of  the  Chad- 
wick Lead  Works,  a  large  Boston  concern; 
and  Rhoda  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Francis  Free- 
man. 

William  Turner  Chadwick  spent  his  early 
years  in  Boston.  He  commenced  when  quite 
young  to  be  self-supporting,  finding  employ- 
ment at  the  age  of  eight  with  a  Mrs.  Brewer,  a 
dressmaker,  for  whom  he  delivered  bundles, 
working  outside  of  school  hours.  Afterward 
he  worked  in  a  store  until  ten  years  old,  at 
which  time  he  returned  to  the  shelter  of  his 
parents'  roof,  and  for  two  years  was  a  regular 
attendant  at  school,  first  at  the  Mayo  and 
later  at  the  Dudley  Street  School.  He  next 
secured  a  position  with  an  omnibus  line  as 
conductor,  which  occupation  he  followed  about 
a  year.  After  that  he  clerked  in  different 
stores  until  sixteen  years  old,  at  which  time 
he  began  learning  the  shoemaker's  trade. 
This    did    not    prove    a  congenial  occupation; 


and,  an  opportunity  offering,  he  learned  the 
trade  of  a  tannner  and  currier,  which  he  fol- 
lowed during  the  rest  of  his  minority,  board- 
ing at  home  with  his  widowed  mother.  The 
next  three  years  he  bought  and  curried  leather 
on  his  own  account,  selling  the  finished  prod- 
uct ;  and  when  about  twenty-seven  years  old 
he  became  a  confidential  clerk  in  the  large  es- 
tablishment of  his  brother,  the  Chadwick  Lead 
Works,  where  he  remained  about  ten  years. 
Close  confinement  to  office  work  injuriously 
affecting  his  health,  he  bought  and  conducted 
a  shoe  store  in  Chelsea,  Mass.,  for  about  three 
years.  He  also  dealt  to  some  extent  in  real 
estate,  buying  and  selling  land  and  houses  in 
Boston,  Everett,  and  other  places.  In  1863 
he  came  to  Dedham,  and  settled  on  the  farm 
where  he  has  since  resided. 

At  twenty-five  years  of  age  Mr.  Chadwick 
was  joined  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mehitable 
C.  Sloman,  daughter  of  Captain  John  Sloman, 
of  Wiscasset,  Me.,  who  was  of  English  parent- 
age. One  son  has  been  born  of  their  union, 
William  Edward,  who  married  Bessie  M. 
Lyon,  and  has  four  daughters.  This  son  with 
his  wife  and  family  reside  on  the  farm,  the 
business  of  which  he  superintends. 

Mr.  Chadwick  has  long  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  the  temperance  cause.  He  is  also 
interested  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, with  which  he  connected  himself 
when  a  young  man.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
his  political  views. 


ILLIAM  JONES  GRIGGS,  a  prom- 
inent citizen  of  Brookline,  residing 
on  the  old  Griggs  homestead,  was 
born  there  on  June  6,  1821,  son  of  Deacon 
Thomas  and  Harriet  (Fuller)  Griggs.  The 
Griggs  family,  which  is  one  of  the  oldest  in 
this  section  of  the  State,  traces  its  origin  to 
Thomas  Griggs,  who  settled  in  Roxbury  in 
1635.  Thomas  had  two  wives.  The  first  was 
Mary,  who  died  in  1639,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren-—John,  Joseph,  and  a  daughter.  The 
maiden  name  of  the  second  was  Mary  Green, 
whom  he  married  on  August  26,  1640. 
Thomas  died  on  May  23,   1646. 

Joseph  Griggs,  youngest  son  of  Thomas  and 
Mary,  a  native  of  England,  born  in  1625,  died 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


February  10,  in  1 7 14  or  171  5.  He  was  a  very 
prominent  man,  having  been  Selectman  of 
Roxbury  for  five  years,  Deputy  to  General 
Court  in  1681,  and  an  important  man  in  the 
church.  He  was  first  married  to  Mary  Crafts, 
of  Roxbury,  who  died  June  30,  1653.  His 
second  marriage  was  contracted  with  Hannah 
Davis  on  November  8,  1654.  She  died  Janu- 
ary 9,  1683.  Ichabod  Griggs,  son  of  Joseph, 
was  born  September  27,  1675.  Nine  chil- 
dren were  born  to  him  and  his  wife,  Margaret. 
Their  son  Thomas,  who,  born  in  171 5,  died 
July  7,  1782,  on  September  1,  1743,  mar- 
ried Margaret  Williams,  who  bore  him  ten 
children.  A  cordwainer  by  trade,  Thomas 
worked  at  that  calling  for  many  years  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Downer  house,  which  was 
built  by  him.  He  afterward  sold  this  estate, 
and  purchased  one  on  Harvard  Street. 
Thomas's  son,  Samuel  C,  the  grandfather  of 
William  J.  Griggs,  was  born  on  December  23, 
1753,  and  died  on  January  16,  1 8 14.  Samuel 
was  a  farmer,  carrying  on  an  extensive  trade, 
and  spent  his  entire  life  here.  His  wife,  who 
was  Beulah,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Lucy 
(Jones)  Hammond,  of  Newton,  died  August 
21,  1847,  having  been  the  mother  of  nine  chil- 
dren. 

Deacon  Thomas  Griggs,  father  of  William 
J.,  was  born  April  5,  1788,  on  the  Griggs 
farm,  where  he  resided  until  the  death  of  his 
father.  He  had  a  part  of  the  original  farm. 
Later  he  purchased  more  land,  and  in  1845 
built  upon  his  property  the  house  now  stand- 
ing. Some  time  after  he  removed  to  a  house 
on  Washington  Street,  situated  on  a  part  of 
the  same  farm,  and  there  spent  the  last  years 
of  his  life,  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-nine 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  influential  citizens  of  Brookline,  having 
served  the  town  in  various  capacities,  and 
always  caring  for  the  public  interests  with 
sound  judgment  and  with  a  high  order  of  ex- 
ecutive ability.  He  was  Selectman  for  many 
years  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  and  Assessor. 
His  wife,  Harriet,  was  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Fuller,  of  Needham.  The  first-born  of  a 
family  of  six  children,  she  was  the  first  of 
them  to  die,  which  event  occurred  August  13, 
1S67,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years;  and  the 
deaths  of  her  brothers  and  sisters  followed   in 


the  order  of  their  respective  ages.  Deacon 
Thomas  Griggs  and  his  wife  had  a  family  of 
seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living. 
They  were:  Caroline,  born  January  27,  1820, 
now  the  widow  of  the  late  David  Sullivan 
Coolidge;  William  J.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Mary  Jane,  born  September  18,  1822, 
now  the  wife  of  Hezekiah  Shailer,  of  Had- 
dam,  Conn.;  Ellen,  born  May  5,  1824,  now 
the  widow  of  Charles  Jewett  Saxe,  of  High- 
gate,  Vt. ;  Thomas  B.,  born  May  1,  1826; 
Amanda,  deceased,  born  May  26,  1828,  who 
married  Hezekiah  Smith  Chase,  of  Boston; 
and  Francis  Henry,  born  November  14,  1834, 
who  is  now  a  prominent  man  in  Davenport,  la. 

William  J.  Griggs  attended  the  common 
schools  and  later  Worcester  Academy.  From 
Worcester  he  returned  home  to  assist  his 
father.  When  the  latter  removed  to  the  house 
on  Washington  Street,  Mr.  Griggs  took  pos- 
session of  the  old  home  and  some  fifty  acres  of 
land,  which  he  cultivated  as  a  vegetable 
garden.  He  subsequently  sold  a  number  of 
building  lots,  and  has  now  but  about  twenty 
acres  of  the  original  farm.  He  deals  in  real 
estate,  and  does  market  gardening.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican.  The  first  town  office 
to  which  he  was  elected  was  that  of  Highway 
Surveyor,  which  he  held  for  four  years.  In 
1862  he  was  elected  Selectman,  and  he  held 
that  responsible  position  for  eight  consecutive 
years.  He  has  also  been  Overseer  of  the 
Poor,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Water 
Commissioners  during  the  first  ten  years  sub- 
sequent to  the  formation  of  the  board.  It  was 
during  his  term  of  office  that  the  high  service 
was  introduced. 

In  1865  Mr.  Griggs  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  Gipson,  a  native  of  South  Boston. 
Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Griggs,  three  of  whom,  Mary,  Sarah,  and 
Lucy,  are  living.  Mary,  who  married  Dr. 
Scott  Dow,  of  Allston  Street,  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty,  leaving  two  children  —  William  and 
Edmund.  Sarah  married  Charles  Dyer,  a 
provision  dealer,  and  has  one  daughter, 
Louisa.  Lucy  married  Dr.  Bowker,  of  Brook- 
line,  a  Harvard  graduate,  and  has  one  child, 
William  H.  Mr.  Griggs  and  his  family  at- 
tend and  support  the  Baptist  church,  and  his 
daughters  are  members  of  the  church. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


6S9 


LONZO  W.  DUNBAR,*  painter  and 
decorator  of  Hyde  Park,  was  born  May 
4,  1850,  in  Springfield,  Mass.  He 
is  a  son  of  Marvin  and  Sophia 
(Gritman)  Dunbar,  his  father  being  a  native 
of  Vermont  and  his  mother  a  native  of  New 
York. 

Marvin  Dunbar  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Vermont,  living  on  the  pa- 
rental farm  through  the  years  of  his  boyhood 
and  early  manhood.  On  leaving  home  he 
went  first  to  Connecticut,  where  he  spent  a 
few  years}  going  thence  to  Springfield,  Mass. 
Later  he  came  to  Norfolk  County,  taking  up 
his  abode  in  that  part  of  the  town  of  Dedham 
now  included  within  the  corporate  limits  of 
Hyde  Park.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a 
painter;  and  in  1885  he  removed  to  New 
Hampshire,  where  he  is  still  working  at  his 
chosen  vocation.  Four  children  were  born  to 
him  and  his  wife,  Sophia;  and  three  of  them 
are  now  living,  one  being  a  daughter,  Mary  H. 
The  parents  are  connected  with  the  Baptist 
church. 

Alonzo  W.  Dunbar  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Springfield  until  he  was  fifteen 
years  old,  when  he  entered  the  United  States 
Navy,  and  went  to  sea  under  Admiral  Farra- 
gut.  He  was  thus  engaged  for  three  and  one- 
half  years,  being  in  European  waters  two 
years.  Returning  to  Springfield,  he  learned 
the  moulder's  trade;  and  later  he  worked  with 
his  father  as  a  painter,  continuing  with  him 
after  the  removal  of  the  family  to  this  town. 
In  1872,  some  years  before  his  father  went  to 
New  Hampshire,  Mr.  Dunbar  assumed  the 
management  of  the  business  which  he  has 
since  conducted.  He  carries  on  a  very  exten- 
sive business  in  painting  and  decorating,  em- 
ploying about  thirty  men,  and  has  won  an  ex- 
tended reputation  as  an  artistic  and  skilful 
workman,  having  had  charge  of  the  decorating 
and  painting  of  some  of  the  finest  buildings  in 
Hyde  Park  and  surrounding  towns  and  cities. 

Mr.  Dunbar  was  first  married  in  1875  to 
W.  Dora  Stevens,  who  was  born  in  West  Ded- 
ham, and  was  a  daughter  of  John  Nelson 
Stevens.  Her  father  was  for  many  years  a 
noted  teacher  in  West  Dedham,  whence  he  re- 
moved to  Readville,  where  he  spent  his  de- 
clining years.     At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  at 


a  comparatively  short  time  after  her  marriage, 
Mrs.  Dora  S.  Dunbar  passed  to  the  life  im- 
mortal. Mr.  Dunbar  afterward  married  Miss 
Hannah  McCloskey,  his  present  wife,  who  is  a 
native  of  Boston.  Of  the  five  children  born 
to  them  three  are  living;  namely,  Alonzo 
Conness,  Gertrude  S.,  and  Louisa  A. 

In  politics  Mr.  Dunbar  is  a  straight  Repub- 
lican. Fraternally,  he  belongs  to  Allyn 
Lodge  of  Hyde  Park,  also  to  the  Neponset 
Tribe  of  Red  Men,  No.  132,  and  was  formerly 
connected  with  the  Waverly  Club.  He  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Union  Evangelical,  or 
Congregational,  Church,  and  has  been  clerk 
and  treasurer  of  the  society. 


QY     FENTi 
LA       the    £ 

MV        Ban! 


FENTON  BULLOCK,*  president  of 
South  Weymouth  Co-operative 
ik  and  manager  in  the  South 
Shore  district  for  Fleischmann  & 
Co.,  manufacturers  of  compressed  yeast,  has 
been  a  resident  of  South  Weymouth  for  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century.  He  was  born  June 
14,  1837,  in  Stanstead,  P.O.,  Canada,  where 
his  father,  Noble  Bullock,  was  a  farmer  and 
an  early  settler. 

Mr.  A.  Fenton  Bullock  lived  in  his  native 
county  until  about  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
acquiring  a  limited  education  in  the  schools 
of  the  neighborhood,  his  book  knowledge 
being  supplemented  in  after  years  by  observa- 
tion and  business  experience.  At  twenty-one 
he  came  to  South  Weymouth,  and  for  a  time 
engaged  in  general  work  for  Deacon  Josiah 
Reed,  being  also  employed  in  a  shoe  factory. 
Afterward  he  was  employed  for  a  period  of  two 
years  in  general  work  about  the  store  and 
stables  of  J.  Austin  Rogers,  merchant  and 
livery  stable  proprietor.  Mr.  Rogers  then 
sold  out  his  business;  and  Mr.  Bullock  was 
engaged  for  a  time  by  his  successor,  Freeman 
Curtis.  The  next  five  years  were  spent  in  his 
native  place,  where  for  two  years  he  carried  on 
an  express  business  between  Stanstead  and 
Derby  Line,  Vt. ;  and  then,  in  company  with 
his  brother,  Francis  F.  Bullock,  he  established 
himself  in  general  mercantile  business,  the 
firm  of  A.  F.  Bullock  &  Co.  existing  for 
about  three  years.  After  that  the  brothers 
went  West  to  Cloud  County,  Kansas;  and  Mr. 


690 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


A.  F.  Bullock  there  devoted  some  attention  to 
agriculture,  and  was  also  engaged  for  two 
years  in  mercantile  business  at  Glasco,  Kan., 
in  partnership  with  J.  M.  Copeland.  In  1872 
he  returned  to  South  Weymouth,  and  for  about 
twelve  months  was  employed  in  the  shoe  fac- 
tory of  C.  &  P.  H.  Tirrill,  of  South  Wey- 
mouth. He  then  entered  his  present  busi- 
ness, first  as  salesman  for  N.  &  E.  Rosenfeld, 
general  agents  for  Fleischmann  &  Co.,  of 
New  York,  with  whom  he  was  associated 
twenty-one  years:  and  since  that  time  he  has 
been  employed  directly  by  Fleischmann  & 
Co.,  the  Boston  office  having  been  given  up. 

Mr.  Bullock  is  a  trustee  of  the  South  Wey- 
mouth Savings  Bank  and  one  of  the  incorpo- 
rators of  the  Co-operative  Bank,  of  which  he 
has  served  as  president  since  its  organization. 
He  is  a  director  of  the  South  Weymouth  Agri- 
cultural and  Industrial  Society.  He  is  a 
member  of  Wildey  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  a  Past 
Grand  of  the  order,  and  is  now  serving  as 
chaplain.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Orphans' 
Hope  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  East  Wey- 
mouth, and  has  served  as  a  trustee  in  that 
lodge.  Mr.  Bullock,  as  is  seen  from  his  rec- 
ord, is  a  public-spirited  citizen.  He  married 
Hattie  M.  Farrington,  daughter  of  Jason  Far- 
rington,  of  this  town.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Universalist  church,  and  is  on  the  Prudential 
Committee  of  the  society. 


§OHN  L.  WAKEFIELD,*  of  the  Bos- 
ton law  firm,  Rand,  Vinton  &  Wake- 
field, resides  in  Dedham,  Mass.,  where 
he  was  born,  July  3,  1859,  son  of 
Thomas  L.  and  Frances  A.  (Lathrop)  Wake- 
field. On  the  paternal  side  he  comes  from  a 
long  line  of  American  ancestry  of  English 
origin,  the  branch  of  the  family  to  which  he 
belongs  having  been  represented  in  this  coun- 
try more  than  two  hundred  years.  His  grand- 
father, Thomas  Wakefield,  was  a  pioneer 
farmer  of  Londonderry,  Vt.,  where  he  died  at 
a  venerable  age.  He  reared  five  children,  one 
of  them  being  Thomas  L.  Wakefield,  the 
father  above  named. 

Thomas  L.  Wakefield  was  born  in  London- 
derry, Vt. ,  June  15,  18 1 7,  and  was  brought  up 
on  the  home  farm.      Having  fully  determined 


to  enter  upon  a  professional  career,  he  fitted 
for  college  at  the  academy  in  Chester,  Vt., 
and  entering  Dartmouth  was  graduated  with 
the  class  of  1843.  He  first  practised  law  in 
Bordentown,  N.J.,  and  later  in  New  York 
State,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1845,  anc'  Ior  a  time  was  associated  with  A.  S. 
Gannon.  He  subsequently  went  to  Allen- 
town,  N.  Y. ,  and  from  there  to  Fulton  County, 
where  he  was  District  Attorney  two  years. 
He  was  well  known  throughout  Eastern  and 
Central  New  York,  as  he  served  some  years 
while  in  that  State  as  Dean  of  the  Albany 
Law  School.  In  1850  he  removed  his  office 
to  Boston,  where  he  continued  his  practice 
as  long  as  he  lived,  having  his  home  for  a 
while  in  Chelsea,  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  being  a  resident  of  Dedham.  On  first 
locating  in  Boston  he  was  in  partnership  with 
his  brother,  John  H.  Wakefield,  and  from  the 
time  of  his  brother's  death  until  1884  he  was 
alone.  In  that  year  he  took  into  partnership 
his  sons,  Thomas  H.  and  John  L.,  the  busi- 
ness being  subsequently  carried  on  until  his 
death,  in  1888,  under  the  firm  name  of  T.  L. 
Wakefield  &  Sons.  In  1865  and  1866  he  was 
a  Representative  to  the  General  Court  and  in 
1 87 1  and  1872  State  Senator.  While  in  the 
Senate  he  was  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee, and  also  of  the  commission  to  build 
the  State  Reformatory  at  Concord,  Mass.  In 
his  legal  practice  he  made  a  specialty  of  pat- 
ent cases,  acting  as  auditor  and  referee  in 
many  important  cases.  Among  the  young 
men  who  pursued  the  study  of  law  under  his 
instruction,  and  who  have  since  attained  emi- 
nence in  the  profession,  may  be  mentioned, 
besides  his  two  sons,  George  Fred  Williams, 
Charles  W.  Carrow,  and  Frank  W.  Shorey. 

Thomas  L.  Wakefield  was  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  formerly  Miss  Jane  Perry,  was 
born  in  Fayetteville,  Vt.,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
William  Perry.  She  died  in  1853,  having 
borne  him  three  children,  namely:  Gertrude, 
who  died  in  childhood;  Thomas  H.,  who  died 
November  9,  1896,  having  been  for  many 
years  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Boston;  and  Jane 
Maria,  wife  of  Clifton  D.  Baxter,  of  Dedham. 
His  second  wife,  Frances  A.  Lathrop,  who 
was  born  in  Boston,  was  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  John   P.  and   Maria   M.   (Long)  Lathrop. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


691 


Her  father  was  an  ordained  minister  of  the 
Methodist  church  in  Burlington,  N.J.,  and 
was  for  many  years  a  chaplain  in  the  United 
States  Navy.  His  union  with  Miss  Long  was 
solemnized  in  British  Guiana;  and  they  after- 
ward settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  Mr. 
Lathrop  died  December  29,  1843.  Of  the 
second  marriage  of  Mr.  Wakefield  there  were 
four  children,  as  follows:  John  L.,  the  special 
subject  of  this  biographical  sketch;  Frank 
M. ,  a  cotton  broker  in  the  office  of  Stephen 
Wells  in  Boston;  Julius  Ross,  who  is  in  the 
office  of  the  Amoskeag  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany; and  Ella  Marguerite.  The  mother, 
Mrs.  Frances  A.  Lathrop  Wakefield,  is  still 
living,  making  her  home  in  Dedham. 

John  L.  Wakefield  in  his  boyhood  and 
youth  attended  successively  the  common 
school,  a  private  school  in  Dedham,  the  high 
school,  and  Harvard  College,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1880.  He  subsequently  pursued 
his  law  studies  with  his  father,  and  in  1884 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  accepted  the 
position  of  assistant  manager  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Title  and  Guarantee  Company,  with 
which  he  was  connected  in  a  legal  capacity 
until  1895,  when  he  resigned  to  become  a 
member  of  the  enterprising  and  well-known 
law  firm  of  Rand,  Vinton  &  Wakefield,  which 
is  located  on  Milk  Street,  Boston,  and  carries 
on  an  extensive  business. 

Mr.  Wakefield  is  one  of  the  foremost  men 
of  his  community.  For  nine  years  he  has 
rendered  the  town  efficient  service  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Board.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Dedham  Historical  Society,  and  is 
president  of  the  Dedham  Boat  Club  and  a 
member  of  the  University  Club  of  Boston. 
He  is  a  stanch  Democrat  in  politics.  He  is  a 
vestryman  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church, 
with  which  his  father  was  connected  as  vestry- 
man, warden,  and  treasurer  for  thirty  years. 


"ON.  LOUIS  T.  CUSHING,  attor- 
ney and  counsellor  at  law,  was  born 
in  Boston,  May  31,  1849,  son  or 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  A.  (Bald- 
win) Cushing.  His  immigrant  ancestor, 
Matthew  Cushing,  came  to  this  country  in  the 


ship  "Diligent"  in  1638,  and  settled  in  Hing- 
ham,  Mass.  One  of  his  ancestors  on  the  pa- 
ternal side,  Colonel  Henry  Lee,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  army.  His  mother's 
grandfather  also,  Enoch  Baldwin,  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  subsequently 
fought  under  Washington.  Thomas  Cushing, 
father  of  Louis  T.,  was  a  well-known  teacher, 
and  for  half  a  century  was  identified  with  the 
Chauncy  Hall  School  in  Boston. 

Louis  T.  Cushing  grew  to  manhood  in  Bos- 
ton, and  fitted  for  Harvard  College  at  the 
Chauncy  Hall  School.  Entering  Harvard  in 
1866,  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  class  of  1870.  After 
spending  three  years  in  Wisconsin,  raising 
grain  and  live  stock  near  Madison,  he  re- 
turned home,  and  entered  Boston  University 
Law  School,  at  which  he  graduated  in  1875, 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws.  That 
same  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  Suffolk  bar, 
and  began  to  practise  at  Cohasset,  then  as 
now  his  place  of  residence.  He  later  opened 
an  office  in  the  John  Hancock  Building.  Bos- 
ton ;  and  his  place  of  business  is  now  at  423 
in  that  building. 

In  1 87 1  Mr.  Cushing  was  married  to  Mary 
R.,  daughter  of  Major  William  B.  and  Sarah 
A.  (Fabens)  Johnson.  Major  Johnson,  who 
died  in  1872,  was  born  in  Boston.  His  wife 
was  a  native  of  Salem,  Mass.  Six  children, 
all  living,  have  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cushing;  namely,  Thomas  ].,  Charles 
B.,  William  F.,  Robert  L.,  Richard  W. ,  and 
Sally  Fabens  Cushing.  Mr.  Cushing  is  an 
ardent  Republican,  his  first  Presidential  vote 
having  been  cast  for  General  U.  S.  Grant. 
He  has  served  on  the  Republican  Town  Com- 
mittee since  1874  as  chairman  or  secretary, 
and  is  at  present  chairman  of  the  First  Plym- 
outh Senatorial  Committee  and  a  member  of 
the  Republican  State  Committee  for  that  dis- 
trict. During  the  long  session  of  1883  Mr. 
Cushing  was  in  the  legislature,  representing 
Cohasset,  Scituate,  and  South  Scituate.  He 
has  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  Cohasset  Public 
Library  since  its  establishment,  and  has  been 
an  earnest  friend  to  the  library.  He  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  schools  of  his  town,  and  is 
always  ready  to  aid  the  cause  of  education,  as 
shown  by  his  twenty  years'  service  as  a  mem- 


6g2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ber  of  the  Cohasset  School  Committee,  during 
which  time  he  has  held  every  office  on  the 
board.  Mr.  Cushing  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Church  (Unitarian)  of  Cohasset. 


"ENRY    ELIJAH    FARNSWORTH,* 

proprietor  of  a  large  bakery  in  Nor- 
wood, Mass.,  was  born  in  Halifax, 
Vt.,  October  16,  1843,  son  of 
Elijah  B.  and  Abigail  (Woodard)  Farnsworth. 
The  family  is  said  to  be  of  Scotch  origin,  and 
ancestors  of  Mr.  Farnsworth  were  early  set- 
tlers in  the  Green  Mountain  State.  His 
great-grandfather,  Joseph  Farnsworth,  who 
was  probably  a  native  of  Vermont,  served  as 
an  officer  in  the  Continental  army  during  the 
Revolutionary  War;  and  the  sword  that  he 
wore  is  still  in  the  family's  possession. 
Thomas  Farnsworth,  son  of  Joseph  and  grand- 
father of  Henry  E.,  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Halifax,  Vt. ,  and  followed  the  blacksmith's 
trade. 

Elijah  B.  Farnsworth,  son  of  Thomas,  was 
born  in  Halifax,  and  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade  with  his  father.  He  followed  this  occu- 
pation in  connection  with  farming  in  Vermont 
for  a  number  of  years;  and  then,  moving  to  the 
northern  part  of  New  York  State,  he  operated 
a  saw-mill  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  His  first 
wife,  Abigail  Woodard,  who  was  a  daughter 
of  Benjamin  Woodard,  of  Halifax,  became  the 
mother  of  two  children,  namely:  Henry 
Elijah,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Abi- 
gail Woodard,  wife  of  R.  J.  Wallace,  of 
Kansas.  Elijah  B.  Farnsworth  married  for 
his  second  wife  Martha  Briggs,  and  by  this 
union  had  one  daughter,  Lizzie,  who  married 
William  Bosworth,  of  Mooers,  N.Y. 

Henry  Elijah  Farnsworth  was  educated  in 
his  native  town,  and  when  seventeen  years 
old  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  New  York 
State.  He  assisted  his  father  in  the  mill 
until  he  was  twenty-one,  when  he  went  to 
Essex,  Vt.,  and  for  the  next  two  years  was 
there  employed  as  a  farm  assistant.  After 
that  he  resided  in  Weston  and  Lexington, 
Mass.,  for  a  short  time;  and  in  May,  1S68,  he 
began   work   in    his   cousin's   bakery   at    Hyde 


Park.  After  an  experience  of  fourteen  years, 
he,  in  December,  1882,  established  his  pres- 
ent bakery  in  Norwood,  where  he  has  since 
resided,  his  business  being  both  extensive  and 
profitable.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Business 
Men's  Association,  and  takes  an  active  inter- 
est in  all  measures  relating  to  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  town.  In  Masonry  he  is 
well  advanced,  being  a  member  of  Orient 
Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  Hebron  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.  ;  and  Cyprus  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  of  Hyde  Park  —  having  filled  va- 
rious important  chairs  in  each  of  these  organi- 
zations. He  is  also  connected  with  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen,  and  is  a 
charter  member  of  Tiot  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. 

Mr.  Farnsworth  married  Miriam  Parker, 
daughter  of  George  Parker,  of  Hyde  Park. 
Of  four  children  born  to  this  union  three  are 
living;  namely,  Frank  Henry,  Gertrude  Eva- 
line,  and  Ruth  Parker.  In  politics  Mr. 
Farnsworth  supports  the  Republican  party, 
and  in  his  religious  views  he  is  a  Congrega- 
tionalism 


EVI  LADD.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of 
this  sketch  to  write  a  history  of  the 
Ladd  family  in  America.  But  to 
note  a  few  facts  and  incidents  along 
the  pathway  of  the  generations  from  father  to 
son,  that  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  ago 
had  in  America  a  beginning,  may,  to  the  biog- 
rapher of  the  future,  to  him  who  chases  facts 
for  the  information  they  contain,  and  to  the 
descendants  of  the  emigrant,  be  of  interest. 
Also  to  make  a  brief  record  of  Appleton,  the 
ancestors  of  Mrs.  Ladd,  and  of  Nancy  Young, 
the  mother  of  Levi  Ladd. 

One  of  the  pioneers  in  the  great  work  of 
founding  this  free  and  prosperous  nation  was 
Daniel  Ladd  of  County  Kent,  England,  the 
progenitor  of  the  Ladd  family  in  America, 
who  took  the  oath  of  supremacy  and  allegiance 
to  pass  to  New  England  in  the  "Mary  and 
John  "  of  London,  Captain  Robert  Sayres, 
Master,  March  24,  1633.  He  first  settled  at 
Ipswich,  Essex  County,  Mass.,  where  he  built 
a  house;  in  1639  he  moved  to  Salisbury  and 
in  1645,  Daniel  Ladd,  William  White,  Sam- 
uel  Gile,  James  Davis,    Henry  Palmer,   John 


LEVI    LA  1)1). 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


69S 


Robinson,  Christopher  Hussey,  John  Will- 
iams, Richard  Littlehale,  Abraham  Tyler, 
Joseph  Merrie  and  Job  Clements  ascended  the 
Great  (Merrimack)  River  to  the  Wild  Woods 
of  Pentucket  (Haverhill)  and  were  the  origi- 
nal settlers  of  that  town. 

Chase,  in  his  History  of  Haverhill,  says: 
"Daniel  Ladd  doubtless  found  farming  quite  a 
different  thing  from  what  most  farmers  of  the 
present  day  find  it.  His  house  lot  was  in  the 
village,  his  planting-ground  in  two  places,  a 
part  of  it  on  the  Great  Plain,  from  one  to  two 
miles  east  of  the  village,  and  the  other  part  up 
the  Great  River  as  far  on  the  west  of  the  vil- 
lage; while  his  meadow  lands  were  in  seven 
lots  and  as  many  distinct  meadows.  East 
Meadow  was  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  town, 
three  miles  from  his  home  lot;  while  Spicket 
Meadow  was  at  least  eight  miles  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  Pond  Meadow  was  two  miles 
north-east,  Hawkes  Meadow  some  three  miles 
west,  Primrose  Swamp  two  miles  north-west, 
and  Mistake  Meadow  somewhere  in  the  west- 
erly part  of  the  town.  When  we  reflect  that 
in  those  days  highways  were  at  best  but  primi- 
tive cart-paths  through  the  woods,  with  stumps 
still  standing,  hills  ungraded  and  streams  un- 
bridged,  and  that  the  land  was  new,  rough, 
and  worked  only  by  great  labor,  we  may  have 
a  faint  idea  of  some  of  the  hardships  of  our 
first  settlers.  Had  they  not  been  men  of  iron 
nerve,  tireless  muscle,  and  indomitable  energy 
and  perseverance,  our  now  beautiful  town, 
with  its  unsurpassed  mosaic  of  cultivated 
fields,  green  hills,  smiling  lakes,  its  majestic 
river,  and  murmuring  streams,  would  still  be  a 
waste  and  howling  wilderness,  the  home  of 
wild  beasts  and  the  hunting-ground  of  the 
miserable  aborigines." 

In  1646  Daniel  Ladd  was  taxed  forty  pounds 
(.£40).  At  a  town  meeting,  July  12,  165 1,  it 
was  ordered  that  Hugh  Sherratt,  Theophilus 
Shatwell,  Bart  Heath,  James  Fiske,  and  Dan- 
iel Ladd  shall  view  the  upland  that  is  fit  to 
plough  by  the  last  of  March  or  the  10th  of 
April  next,  and  that  they  bring  in  their  intelli- 
gence to  the  town  at  that  time.  In  1659  Dan- 
iel Ladd  and  Theophilus  Shatwell,  having 
received  liberty  from  the  town,  erected  a  saw- 
mill on  Spiggot  (Spicket)  River.  It  was 
built    within    the    present    limits    of     Salem, 


N.  H.,  and  was  the  first  one  erected  upon  that 
stream.  The  proprietors  were  required  to  pay 
the  town  five  pounds  (j£$)  per  annum  for  the 
privilege.  In  1668  Daniel  Ladd  was  one  of 
the  Selectmen  of  Haverhill.  In  1675  Daniel 
Ladd,  Peter  Ayers,  and  Thomas  Whittier  were 
appointed  to  designate  what  houses  should  be 
garrisoned.  In  1683  Daniel  Ladd  voted 
against  building  a  new  meeting-house  upon 
the  lot  where  the  old  meeting-house  stands. 
He  was  a  very  energetic  and  enterprising  man, 
and  held  many  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility. The  records  indicate  that  he  was  an 
extensive  farmer,  and  that  he  de"alt  largely 
in  land.  He  died  at  Haverhill,  July  27, 
1693.      His  wife,  Ann,  died  February  9,  1694. 

Nathaniel  Ladd,  son  of  Daniel'  and  Ann 
Ladd,  was  born  at  Haverhill,  March  10,  165  1  ; 
and  when  a  young  man  he  removed  to  Exeter, 
N.H.  He  married  July  12,  1678,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Gilman,  who  in 
1679  was  appointed  by  the  Crown  one  of  the 
Council  for  the  government  of  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  was  later  a  Delegate  to 
the  Assembly  and  Speaker  of  the  House.  In 
the  summer  of  1690,  an  expedition  was  fitted 
out  in  Massachusetts  with  a  contingent  from 
New  Hampshire  to  protect  the  more  eastern 
settlements,  in  which  Nathaniel  Ladd  was  one 
of  the  volunteers  from  Exeter.  On  Septem- 
ber 22,  the  party  landed  at  Maquoit,  near  Cape 
Elizabeth,  and  soon  fell  into  an  ambush,  and 
in  the  fight  which  ensued  were  compelled  to 
retreat  to  their  boats.  These  being  aground, 
the  Indians  made  a  bold  effort  to  take  them  ; 
but  after  a  hard  fight  they  were  repulsed,  with 
a  loss  to  the  English  of  eight  killed  and 
twenty-four  wounded.  Of  the  latter  was  Na- 
thaniel Ladd,  who  died  of  his  wounds  at  Exe- 
ter, N.H.,  August  11,  1691. 

Captain  Daniel  Ladd,  son  of  Nathaniel 2  and 
Elizabeth  (Gilman)  Ladd,  born  at  Kingston, 
N.  H.,  March  iS,  16S6,  married  Mehitable 
Philbrook,  of  Kingston,  N.  H.,  Stephen  Ladd, 
son  of  Captain  Daniel'  and  Mehitable  (Phil- 
brook)  Ladd,  born  at  Kingston,  N.H.,  August 
30,  172S,  married  Abigail  Webster,  of  Kings- 
ton, N.H.  Samuel  Ladd,  son  of  Stephen4 
and  Abigail  (Webster)  Ladd,  born  at  Brent- 
wood, N.H.,  April  7,  1765,  married  Comfort 
Dow,  of  New  Hampton,  N.  H. 


696 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Samuel  Ladd,  son  of  Samuel 5  and  Comfort 
(Dow)  Ladd,  was  born  in  New  Hampton, 
N.  H.,  December  12,  1803— where  he  lived 
the  life  common  to  former  boys  of  his  time 
until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  —  when  his 
father  died,  leaving  a  large  family  of  children 
—  and  on  him  at  this  tender  age,  guided  by 
the  counsels  of  his  loving  mother,  fell  the 
burden  of  care.  In  1818  the  family  removed 
to  Tuftonborough,  N.H.,  where  they  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  on  the  easterly  side  and 
adjoining  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  on  which  they 
erected  buildings.  Success  followed  hard 
work  and  good  judgment,  more  land  was  added 
to  the  farm,  an  island  in  the  lake  was  pur- 
chased, a  new  house  was  built,  and  additions 
to  the  barn  were  made,  until  it  was  the  town 
saying  that  Sam  Ladd  owned  the  best  farm  in 
town.  He  was  a  very  energetic  man,  of  strong 
mind,  adhesive  to  principle,  a  teetotaler,  a 
Christian  gentleman  by  profession  and  daily 
practice.  He  married  June  24,  1830,  Nancy, 
daughter  of  John  and  Hannah  (Ham)  Young. 
(It  may  in  this  connection  be  interesting  to 
note  and  worthy  of  record  that  four  Ladd 
brothers  married  four  Young  sisters,  showing 
quite  conclusively  that  the  brothers  were  fond 
of  young  company.)  She  died  September  1, 
1840,  he  died  June  26,  189 1,  and  was  buried 
in  the  family  burying-ground  upon  the  farm, 
which  when  a  young  man  he  set  apart  and 
dedicated  to  this  sacred  use.  He  married  for 
second  wife,  Mary  Moulton,  who  survives  him. 

Children  by  First  Wife: 

John  A.  born  September  1,  1832.  Levi,  born 
May  20,  1834.  Lyman  S.  born  January  25, 
1836.  He  was  a  shoe  manufacturer  in  Hamil- 
ton, Canada  West,  when  President  Lincoln  is- 
sued the  call  for  six  hundred  thousand  men. 
He  was  so  incensed  at  the  secession  talk  of 
the  Canadians  that  he  closed  up  his  business, 
came  over  to  the  States,  and  enlisted  at 
Worcester  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Regiment,  Mas- 
sachusetts Volunteers.  But  his  strength  was 
not  equal  to  a  soldier's  life.  His  health 
began  to  fail  soon  after  leaving  Washington  ; 
and  he  became  a  victim  of  the  Convalescent 
Camp  at  Alexandria,  Va. ,  and  was  discharged 
when  just  ready  to  die.  He  reached  home 
January  27,   and  died  February  9,    1863. 


Children  by  Second  Wife: 

Nancy,  born  June  12,  1842;  Eliza  E.,  bum 
June  21,  1844;  Sarah,  born  February  9,  1846; 
Matilda,  born  April  8,  1848;  Mary  E.,  born 
April  19,  1850;  and  Martha  A.,  born  Ma)-  31, 
1853- 

Levi  Ladd,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the 
second  son  of  Samuel6  and  Nancy  (Young) 
Ladd;  was  born  at  Tuftonboro,  N.H.,  May  20, 
1834.  His  youth  up  to  eighteen  years  of  age 
was  passed  upon  the  farm  ;  and  like  most  New 
Hampshire  farmer  boys  of  his  time,  except  on 
those  never-to-be-forgotten  occasions,  "the 
husking  party, "  "the  spelling  bee",  "the  old 
singing-school",  "the  annual  fall  muster", 
and  the  "circus," — when  it  came, —  his  life 
was  not  much  varied.  His  education  was  ob- 
tained in  the  public  schools  of  his  town. 

In  the  spring  of  1853  he  obtained  a  clerk- 
ship in  a  wholesale  store  in  Boston  :  and  on' 
Monday  morning,  March  28,  he  bade  the  fam- 
ily, the  neighbors,  and  the  old  home  good-by, 
and  commenced  his  journey  upon  the  stage- 
coach to  the  great  city  of  Boston,  then  with  a 
population  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  thou- 
sand. It  was  during  this  journey,  at  Dover, 
N.  H.,  that  he  made  his  first  acquaintance 
with  and  had  his  first  ride  upon  the  steam- 
cars.  This  clerkship  of  nearly  eight  years 
was  very  enjoyable;  but  the  great  change 
from  the  outdoor  life  of  the  boy  to  the  indoor 
life  of  the  clerk  was  slowly  but  surely  under- 
mining a  strong  constitution,  and  had  to  be 
given  up. 

After  recruiting  about  a  year,  he  again 
entered  mercantile  business,  this  time  as 
travelling  agent,  selling  goods  in  the  New 
England  and  New  York  States,  remaining  here 
until  August,  1865,  when  he,  with  Charles  M. 
Clapp  and  Robert  D.  Evans,  formed  a  copart- 
nership for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  rubber 
goods,  then  a  comparatively  new  industry,  Mr. 
Ladd's  department  being  to  look  after  the 
Western  business,  which  necessitated  much 
travel  over  a  large  area,  embracing  most  of  the 
States  in  the  Union.  This  copartnership, 
after  seven  years  of  successful  business,  was 
terminated  October  1,  1872;  and  the  Ameri- 
can Rubber  Company,  consisting  of  Mr.  Ladd, 
Mr.  Evans,  and  John  H.  Rogers,  was  formed. 


DIOCRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


697 


The  success  of  this  company  was,  indeed, 
flattering  to  the  founders,  the  sales  increasing 
in  a  few  years  from  a  small  beginning  to  over 
a  million  dollars  annually. 

In  1873  Mr.  Evans,  Mr.  Ladd,  Henry  W. 
Burr,  and  George  H.  Hood  formed  the  Eagle 
Rubber  Company,  a  corporation  expressly  es- 
tablished for  the  manufacture  of  wringing- 
machine  and  print  cloth  rolls,  this  continuing 
until  its  consolidation  in  1879  with  the  Amer- 
ican Company.  Mr.  Ladd's  department  in  the 
American  Company,  of  which  he  was  the 
senior  member,  necessitated  much  close  con- 
finement, the  result  of  which  was  to  bring 
back  with  increased  force  the  old  troubles  that 
in  1861  compelled  obedience  to  fate,  and 
which  had  many  times  during  the  past  year, 
given  the  unmistakable  warning  that  either 
health  or  business  must  be  surrendered.  Act- 
ing upon  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  he  chose 
the  latter,  thus  with  much  reluctance  termi- 
nating a  profitable  business  with  pleasant  asso- 
ciates. 

In  the  winter  of  1869  he  purchased  a  farm 
bordering  on  the  Charles  River  in  Needham, 
Mass.,  and  the  following  spring  moved  to  it 
from  his  home  in  Cambridge.  It  was  here, 
after  his  retirement  from  business,  that  much 
pleasure  was  enjoyed;  and  no  less  so  was  this 
the  case  with  Mrs.  Lack!  and  the  children. 
He  is  much  interested  in  everything  that 
tends  to  the  improvement  of  his  town,  of 
which  he  has  been  the  Treasurer  with  one 
intervening  year  from  1881  to  the  present  year, 
1898. 

Mr.  Ladd  became  a  member  of  the  Prospect 
Street  Congregational  Church  of  Cambridge  in 
1868,  and  has  since  been  a  member  of  this 
denomination.  In  early  life  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. Casting  his  last  vote  in  this  party 
for  James  Buchanan  for  President,  since  that 
time  he  has  been  a  Republican.  He  is  a 
firm  believer  in  high  tariff,  reciprocity,  and 
protection  to  American  workmen  as  the 
true  and  only  sure  foundation  for  permanent 
prosperity. 

From  the  family  records  on  his  mother's 
side  the  following  is  obtained:  William 
Young,  born  April  25,  1728,  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  War;  John  Young,  son  of 
William,    born    December    12,     1776;    Nancy 


ARMORIAL     BEARt 


APPLETON. 


Young,  daughter  of  John  and  mother  of  Levi 
Ladd,  was  born  June  18,   1S07. 

Mr.  Ladd  married  at  West  Newbury,  Mass., 
June  1,  1S59,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Dr.  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Messer)  Appleton.  Dr.  Apple- 
ton  comes  of  a  very  ancient  and  distinguished 
ancestry. 

The  following  is  from 
"1    „    '1  \  the   Appleton    Family 

Genealogical  Register 
and  Monumental  Me- 
morials. 

John    Apulton   of    Wald- 
ingfield    Magna,    Suf- 
folk,    England     died 
1414. 
John  Appulton   of  Wald- 
ingfield,   England,    son 
of  John'  living  1459. 
John  Appulton  of  Wald- 
ingfield,    England,    son 
of  John2  died  1481. 
Thomas  Appulton   of    Waldingfield,    England, 

son  of  John5  died  1  507. 
Robert    Appulton   of    Waldingfield,    England, 

son  of  Thomas'  died  1526. 
W'illiam   Appulton    of   Walding,  England,  son 

of  Robert5  died  1538. 
Thomas    Appleton   of    Waldingfield,    England, 

son  of  William''  died  1603. 
Samuel    Appleton    of    Waldingfield,    England, 
son  of  Thomas7  born  1586. 

He  emigrated  to  New  England  in  1635, 
settled  at  Ipswich,  Essex  County,  Mass.  He 
died  in  1670. 

Captain  John  Appleton,  the  eldest  son  of 
Samuel  Appleton8,  the  emigrant,  was  born  in 
Little  Waldingfield,  Suffolk,  England,  in 
1622,  baptized  November  17,  and  came  with 
his  father  to  America  in  1635,  being  then 
thirteen  years  of  age.  He  was  a  Deputy  to  the 
General  Court  for  many  years,  between  1656 
and  1679,  was  the  Treasurer  of  Essex  County,  - 
and  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Inferior  Court  of 
Pleas.  A  petition  signed  by  the  freemen  of 
Ipswich  in  1667  represents  him  as  a  gentle- 
man fully  orthodox  in  his  judgment  as  to  mat- 
ters of  faith  and  points  of  religion  professed 
among  us,  right,  good,  honest,  pious,  and  pru- 
dent in  his    conversation,   true    and    friendly, 


J  / 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


faithful  to  the  interests  of  the  colony  and 
government.      He  died  November  4,   1699. 

Colonel  John  Appleton,  son  of  Captain 
John',  was  born  in  Ipswich,  October  17,  1652. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
President   John   Rogers,    of    Harvard   College. 

The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Appleton,  D. D.,  son  of 
the  Hon.  John1"  and  Elizabeth  (Rogers) 
Appleton,  was  born  at  Ipswich,  December  9, 
1693.  He  graduated  from  Harvard  College 
in  1712,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  He 
was  ordained  over  the  First  Church  in  Cam- 
bridge, October  9,  171 7;  and  after  an  emi- 
nently successful  ministry  of  sixty-seven  years 
and  useful  service  as  a  member  of  the  corpora- 
tion of  Harvard  College  for  sixty-two  years, 
1717-79,  he  died  February  9,  1784.  He 
received  the  second  degree  of  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity conferred  by  the  college  in  1771. 
Appleton  Chapel,  Harvard  University,  has 
since  been  erected  by  the  trustees  under  the 
will  of  Samuel  Appleton. 

John  Appleton,12  son  of  the  Rev.  Nathan- 
iel,11 D.  D.,  was  born  in  Cambridge,  March 
29>  1 739,  O.  S.  He  graduated  from  Harvard 
College  in  1757.  About  the  year  1761  he  be- 
came engaged  in  the  importation  of  European 
merchandise  at  Salem,  in  which  business  he 
continued  until  within  a  few  years  of  his 
death,  which  took  place  March  4,  1817.  His 
son,  John  Sparhawk  Appleton,''  A.M.,  Salem, 
for  many  years  kept  a  book-store  on  Essex 
Street,  Salem.  John  Appleton,'4  M.D.,  son 
of  John  Sparhawk  and  father  of  Mrs.  Ladd, 
was  born  at  Salem  on  January  9,  1809.  In 
February,  1833,  he  graduated  from  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  taking  the  Boylston 
prize.  He  was  actively  and  most  successfully 
engaged  in  his  profession  until  1S55,  when  he 
relinquished  the  practice  of  medicine  and  de- 
voted the  remainder  of  his  life  to  literary 
pursuits.  At  one  period  of  his  life  he  was 
a  successful  lecturer,  not  only  upon  subjects 
relating  to  his  profession,  but  upon  biography 
and  temperance,  of  which  he  was  an  ardent 
advocate,  and  also  upon  music. 

He  was  an  accomplished  musician,  one  of 
his  highest  ideals  being  his  church  choir, 
often  performing  his  own  compositions  and 
alike  affording  much  pleasure  to  his  audience 
and  profit  to  the  church.      His  lectures  upon 


the  organ  were  interesting  and  entertaining, 
as  also  was  his  performance  upon  this  instru- 
ment;  he  had  great  love  for  sacred  music, 
especially  oratorio.  He  was  a  linguist  of 
rare  ability  and  an  unusually  well-informed 
antiquarian,  and  was  the  author  of  several 
works  upon  this  subject;  indeed,  if  he  had  an 
"ism",  it  was  antiquarianism.  He  was  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society  and  for  a  time  a  member  of 
the  Cambridge  School  Board.  He  was  a 
Christian  gentleman  of  rare  possessions,  and 
his  kind  and  genial  companionship  was  a  con- 
tinual benediction. 

Children  of  Levi  and  Elizabeth  Ladd: 

Elizabeth  Appleton,  born  February  26, 
i860;  Georgania  Young,  born  April  24,  1865, 
died  March  9,  1869;  Alice  Welling,  born  De- 
cember 24,  1869;  Samuel  Appleton,  born  No- 
vember 15,  1S72;  Martha  Eleanor,  born 
January  12,  1875;  John  Lyman,  bom  August 
24,  1879. 

Total  number  of  children  in  the  seven  gen- 
erations, sixty-one;  male,  twenty-six;  female, 
thirty-five.  Married  males,  twenty-two;  fe- 
males, twenty-eight. 


§AMES  McGILL,*  proprietor  of  Fair- 
view  Farm,  Dover,  and  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Selectmen,  was  born  in 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  September  16,  1857, 
son  of  Thomas  and  Jane  (Smiley)  McGill. 
His  parents  were  both  natives  of  Scotland,  his 
father  of  Edinburgh  and  his  mother  of  Glas- 
gow. Thomas  McGill  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  when  he  was  twenty-two  years 
old,  and  for  a  time  was  employed  upon  a  farm 
in  Keene,  N.H.  He  then  went  to  Lawrence, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  furniture  mov- 
ing business  until  1864,  when  he  came  to 
Dover,  and  bought  the  farm  which  is  now 
owned  by  his  son  James.  He  tilled  the  soil 
for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  died  February  11, 
1 88 5.  His  wife,  Jane,  whom  he  wedded  in 
this  country,  became  the  mother  of  ten  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  James,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Jonathan,  his  twin  brother,  who  died 
in  infancy;  Martha,  who  resides  at  the  home- 
stead;    Catherine,     a    nurse;    Jeanette,     who 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


699 


forms  one  of  the  family  circle  at  the  home- 
stead;  Annie,  wife  of  A.  P.  Morse,  of  Sher- 
born,  Mass.  ;  Agnes,  who  married  William 
Dale,  a  coal  dealer  in  South  Natick;  Mar- 
garet, a  school  teacher  in  Natick;  Thomas,  a 
farmer  in  Sherborn;  and  John  A.,  who  is  re- 
siding at  the  homestead.  The  mother  died  in 
April,   1894. 

James  McGill  acquired  a  common-school  ed- 
ucation, and  at  an  early  age  began  to  make 
himself  useful  upon  the  farm.  He  took 
charge  of  the  property  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  and  has  since  made  a  specialty  of  deal- 
ing in  milk.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  keeps  an  average  of  thirty 
cows;  and  milk  from  Fairview  Farm  is  deliv- 
ered by  him  to  regular  customers  in  this  and 
the  adjacent  towns.  Mr.  McGill  is  an  earnest 
advocate  of  the  temperance  cause,  and  sup- 
ports the  Prohibition  party  in  politics.  He 
is  now  Third  Selectman,  and  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  four  years.  He  takes  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  all  movements  relative  to  the 
improvement  of  the  town,  and  is  at  the  present 
time  Master  of  Dover  Grange,  No.  117.  He 
and  his  sisters,  Martha  and  Jeanette,  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church.  Mr. 
McGill  is  unmarried. 


fOSEPH  R.  TOTMAN,*  a  retired  shoe 
manufacturer  of  East  Weymouth,  was 
born  in  this  town,  October  2,  1839,  son 
of  Joseph  and  Lucy  (Burrell)  Totman. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Scituate,  and  the 
mother  of  Hingham,  Mass.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  Benjamin  Totman,  moved  from 
Scituate  to  East  Weymouth,  where  he  spent 
his  later  years. 

Joseph  Totman,  father  of  Joseph  R.,  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen  he  began  to  learn  the  shoemaker's 
trade,  which  he  followed  as  a  journeyman  for 
several  years;  but  eventually  he  engaged  in 
manufacturing  upon  his  own  account,  and  be- 
came one  of  the  foremost  business  men  of  his 
time  and  locality,  employing  an  average  force 
of  two  hundred  men.  His  death  occurred 
about  1886.  A  public-spirited  citizen,  he  did 
his  utmost  to  develop  the  general  resources  of 
the  town,  and  was  one  of   the  founders   of  the 


East  Weymouth  Savings  Bank,  of  which  he 
served  as  president  for  some  time.  Politi- 
cally, he  was  in  his  earlier  years  a  Whig  and 
later  a  Republican.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  was  a  generous  contrib- 
utor toward  the  support  of  the  Congregational 
church,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  He  was 
also  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  for 
sixteen  years.  There  are  but  two  of  his  chil- 
dren living,  namely:  Clarissa  P.,  wife  of 
Avery  S.  Howe,  of  South  Weymouth  ;  and  Jo- 
seph R.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Joseph  R.  Totman  attended  the  town 
schools,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  entered  his 
father's  shop  as  an  apprentice.  As  a  jour- 
neyman he  did  the  first  stitching  on  a  shaving 
machine,  which  his  father  was  the  first  to  in- 
troduce into  this  town.  When  twenty-eight 
years  old  he  became  a  partner  in  the  enter- 
prise, which  then  took  the  firm  name  of  Tot- 
man &  Son;  and  he  remained  in  business  until 
1890,  at  which  time  he  retired.  He  owns  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  besides  other  real 
estate,  and  is  actively  interested  in  all  move- 
ments calculated  to  increase  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  town.  He  is  connected  with  the 
Odd  Fellows  Lodge  in  East  Weymouth,  and 
is  both  prominent  and  popular  socially.  Mr. 
Totman  married  Lucinda  Pratt,  daughter  of 
the  late  Solomon  Pratt,  of  Weymouth,  and 
has  one  son,  Silas  B.,  a  resident  of  East  Wey- 
mouth. 


{WZo 


EORGE  T.  STAPLES,*  superintend- 
\  '•>  I  ent  of  the  Dedham  Water  Works  and 
a  highly  respected  citizen  of  this  old 
Norfolk  County  town,  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Boston,  December  25,  1S46,  son  of  John  and 
Abbie  (Barrel  1)  Staples. 

John  Staples  was  born  in  Assonet,  now 
called  Freetown,  Bristol  County,  Mass.  His 
parents  had  four  other  children,  two  sons 
named  David  and  Gilbert,  and  two  daughters 
named  Bettie  and  Sarah.  John  Staples  was  a 
machinist  and  engineer,  and  lived  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  in  Cuba,  where  he  was  employed 
on  a  large  sugar  plantation.  He  died  there. 
His  wife,  Abbie,  was  a  native  of  Bridgewater, 
Mass.,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Barrell,  who 


700 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


was  born  in  Scituate,  Mass.  Eight  children 
were  the  fruit  of  their  union.  Two  of  them 
died  in  childhood,  and  three  sons  and  three 
daughters  grew  to  maturity,  namely :  John, 
Jr.,  who,  like  his  father,  was  an  engineer  on 
a  sugar  plantation  in  Cuba,  and  died  there; 
Charles,  a  draughtsman,  living  in  Cambridge, 
Mass.;  Mary;  Abbie;  Emma,  the  wife  of 
Rufus  W.  Gifford,  of  Sturbridge,  Worcester 
County,  Mass.;  and  George  T. ,  of  Dedham, 
further  mentioned  below. 

The  boyhood  years  of  George  T.  Staples 
were  spent  in  South  Boston,  where  he  was  a 
pupil  in  the  day  and  night  schools,  afterward 
attending  Comer's  Commercial  College  two 
terms.  When  seventeen  years  old  he  began 
learning  the  machinist's  trade  with  Aquila 
Adams  in  South  Boston,  under  whom  he 
worked  two  years;  and  the  third  year  of  his 
apprenticeship  he  served  with  John  Souther. 
From  that  time  he  was  employed  in  a  number 
of  different  machine  shops  until  1881,  when 
he  came  to  Dedham  as  engineer  on  the  Ded- 
ham Water  Works,  where  in  1S93  he  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent.  He  has  since  filled 
the  position  very  satisfactorily. 

In  1868  Mr.  Staples  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Sarah  L.  Kingman,  the  only  child 
of  William  T.  and  Sarah  (Smith)  Kingman. 
She  was  born  in  Boston,  as  were  both  her 
father  and  mother.  Her  maternal  grand- 
father, William  Smith,  came  to  this  country 
from  England.  Three  of  the  eight  children 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Staples  died  in  child- 
hood. The  living  are:  John  F.,  who  married 
Miss  Minnie  Vanbuskirk,  of  Nova  Scotia; 
Grace  M.;  George  T.  ;  Florence  S. ;  and 
Sadie  K. 

Mr.  Staples  is  independent  in  politics. 
He  is  a  Mason  of  long  standing,  having  joined 
King  Solomon  Lodge  of  Charlestown,  Mass., 
thirty  years  ago.  He  and  his  family  are  at- 
tendants of  the  Unitarian  church. 


'REDERICK  W.  TIRRELL,  a  car- 
riage and  harness  manufacturer  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  was  born  in  this  town, 
March  31,  1865.  He  is  the  elder  son  of  the 
late  Charles  Philip  Tirrell,  and  belongs  to  the 
old    Weymouth    family   of   Tirrells,  descended 


from  William,  Boston,  who  married  in  1655 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  Captain  Nicholas  Simp- 
kins,  first  commander  at  the  Castle,  had  four 
children,  including  two  sons  —  William,  Jr., 
and  Gideon  —  and  removed  to  Weymouth. 
(See  Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary.) 

Nathan  Tirrell,  of  a  later  generation  (son  of 
Joseph  and  grandson  of  Samuel,  son  of  Will- 
iam, Jr.,  if  we  mistake  not),  married  Abigail 
Hunt,  she  like  himself  being  a  native  of 
Quincy.  Their  children  were  as  follows:  Ed- 
ward Church  Tirrell,  who  married  his  cousin 
Miriam,  daughter  of  Thomas  Tirrell;  Re- 
becca; John  Adams;  George  Washington; 
Nancy  and  Jane,  twins;  Job;  and  Charles 
Price,  the  grandfather  of  Frederick  W. 
Tirrell. 

Charles  Price  Tirrell  was  born  in  the  old 
fort-house  on  Fort  Hill,  Quincy,  in  1800, 
and  in  this  town  spent  his  fourscore  years. 
When  a  young  man  he  was  employed  as  a 
coachman  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  took  a 
friendly  interest  in  him  because  of  his  intelli- 
gence and  natural  ability,  and  paid  the  ex- 
penses of  his  apprenticeship  as  a  carriage- 
maker.  In  1822  he  had  acquired  the  trade, 
and  started  in  business  for  himself;  and  this 
business,  having  been  since  continued  by  his 
descendants,  is  one  of  the  oldest  established 
in  the  town.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  business 
capacity  and  a  noted  singer,  having  a  pure  and 
rich  voice,  which  for  many  years  was  heard  in 
the  different  church  choirs  of  the  place.  He 
married  Jerusha  Field,  and  had  three  children, 
but  two  of  whom  grew  to  mature  years; 
namely,  Quincy  and  Charles  Philip.  Quincy 
married  for  his  first  wife,  Anna  Moulton,  who 
bore  him  two  sons  —  Charles  Edgar  and 
George  Guilford:  and  by  his  second  wife 
also,  Harriet  Dunbar,  he  had  two  sons — ■ 
Harry  Dunbar  and  Henry. 

Charles  Philip  Tirrell  was  born  in  Quincy. 
Mass.,  January  28,  1837.  Having  completed 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  this 
town,  he  learned  the  trade  of  carriage-maker 
with  his  father  and  brother,  later  forming  a 
partnership  with  them  under  the  name  of  Tir- 
rell &  Sons,  continuing  in  the  same  business 
until  his  death,  February  20,  1892.  He  was 
a  man  of  broad  and  liberal  views,  taking  an 
intelligent  interest  in  all  the  leading  questions 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


701 


of  the  day,  and  was  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Unitarian  church.  He  married  Laura,  daugh- 
ter of  Lemuel  and  Eliza  (Bonney)  Dunbar, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  four  children, 
of  whom  three  are  living,  as  follows:  A.  Cora, 
wife  of  Jesse  F.  Curtis,  of  Ouincy;  Frederick 
W.,  subject  of  the  present  sketch;  and 
Charles  F.,  also  of  Ouincy. 

Frederick  W.  Tirre.ll,  after  obtaining  his 
early  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Ouincy,  served  a  four  years'  apprenticeship  at 
the  saddlery  and  hardware  business  in  Boston. 
He  then  took  a  commercial  course  of  study  at 
Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College,  subse- 
quently learning  his  trade  of  woodworker. 
Having  served  his  time  at  this,  he  became 
superintendent  of  his  father's  factory;  and 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1S92,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business,  which  had  been  started 
seventy  years  before  by  his  grandfather.  Mr. 
Tirrell  is  an  independent  thinker,  well  en- 
dowed with  native  sense,  and  a  man  of  firm 
and  decided  views. 

He  married  Miss  Riah  E.  Dennen,  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  W.  and  Sadie  A.  (Johnson) 
Dennen,  of  Ouincy.  Joseph  VV.  Dennen  was 
born  in  Gloucester,  Essex  County,  Mass., 
February  1 1,  1843.  He  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Mary  (Bray)  Dennen,  and  a  grandson  of 
Joseph  Dennen,  a  lifelong  farmer  of  Glouces- 
ter. Nathaniel  Dennen  was  a  ship-carpenter 
by  trade,  and  followed  that  occupation  in  con- 
junction with  tilling  the  soil  the  greater  part 
of  his  life,  his  farm  being  located  in  the  west 
part  of  his  native  town.  He  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  P.  Bray,  the  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  old  families  of  Gloucester. 
Nathaniel  and  Mary  Dennen  reared  six  chil- 
dren, namely:  Mary;  Joseph  W. ;  Julia,  wife 
of  George  A.  Parsons,  of  North  Beverly; 
Lucy  A.,  wife  of  Alvin  Parsons,  of  Salem, 
Mass.  ;  Emma;  and  Howard,  of  West  Glouces- 
ter. The  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Uni- 
versalis! church. 

Joseph  W.  Dennen  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Gloucester,  remaining  with  his  parents 
until  nineteen  years  of  age.  He  then  learned 
the  trade  of  currier,  but,  not  liking  the  occu- 
pation, soon  abandoned  it;  and  on  the  3d  of 
October,  1863,  he  began  driving  a  milk  cart 
for   E.    S.    Poor,  of   Peabody,  Mass.      Being  a 


young  man  of  push  and  energy,  he  attracted 
the  attention  of  his  employer;  and  three 
months  later  he  was  appointed  to  the  position 
of  superintendent  of  the  large  farm  belonging 
to  Mr.  Poor.  Mr.  Dennen  remained  there 
until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Ouincy  as  super- 
intendent of  the  Mount  Wollaston  Farm  of 
three  hundred  and  thirty-nine  acres.  Fifty 
acres  of  this  are  tilled,  and  on  it  he  cuts  from 
two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  tons  of 
hay  per  annum.  He  keeps  seventeen  horses 
and  one  hundred  cows,  employing  thirteen 
regular  hands,  besides  hiring  extra  help  in  the 
summer.  He  has  two  large  milk  routes,  one 
in  Boston  and  the  other  in  Ouincy;  and  he 
also  raises  large  quantities  of  garden  truck, 
which  he  markets  in  Ouincy.  In  politics  he 
is  independent.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member 
of  Mount  Wollaston  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and 
of  the  Knights  of  Honor.  Mr.  Dennen  mar- 
ried Sarah,  daughter  of  Alexander  Johnson; 
and  their  only  child  is  Maria  E.,  wife  of  Mr. 
Frederick  W.  Tirrell. 


§OSEPH  D.  TUFTS,*  who  owns  and 
cultivates  a  productive  farm  in  Med- 
field,  is  a  native  of  Nathan,  Somerset 
County,  Me.,  born  May  25,  1816. 
His  parents  were  John  and  Sally  (Hight) 
Tufts,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Lee, 
N.H.,  July  25,  1779,  and  the  latter  in  Maine, 
October  6,  1784.  John  Tufts  settled  upon  a 
farm  in  Nathan  when  he  was  twenty-one  years 
old,  and  resided  there  until  his  death.  His 
wife,  Sally,  became  the  mother  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
John,  a  resident  of  Grinnell,  la.  ;  Joseph  D., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Clymena,  who 
is  a  resident  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.  Those 
deceased  are:  Nancy,  Sally,  Hannah,  Zacba- 
riah,  Hanson,  Horace,  David,  Benjamin,  and 
Jackson. 

Joseph  D.  Tufts  acquired  a  common-school 
education,  and  resided  with  his  parents  until 
becoming  of  age.  He  then  went  to  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  where  he  drove  an  ox  team  for  a  time. 
He  subsequently  secured  employment  upon  a 
farm  in  Canton,  Mass.,  which  was  owned  by  a 
lawyer  of  Boston.  After  remaining  there 
eight  years  he  went   to   Jamaica   Plain,  Mass., 


702 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


where  he  resided  for  quite  a  number  of  years. 
In  1875  he  settled  upon  his  present  farm  in 
Medfield,  which  consists  of  twenty-four  acres 
of  excellent  tillage  land,  which  he  has  since 
improved  and  brought  to  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation, and  on  which  he  carries  on  general 
farming  with  success. 

On  December  i,  1852,  Mr.  Tufts  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Mary  A.  Abbott,  a  native  of 
Norway,  Me.,  and  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Eliz- 
abeth Abbott,  prosperous  farming  people  of 
that  town.  She  died  November  10,  1882, 
leaving  two  daughters,  namely:  Mary  E. , 
born  October  7,  1855;  and  Alice,  born  Au- 
gust 21,  1S65,  both  of  whom  reside  at  home 
with  their  father.  Mr.  Tufts  retains  his 
mental  and  physical  powers  to  a  degree  re- 
markable in  one  who  has  passed  the  age  of 
fourscore,  attending  to  his  every-day  duties 
about  the  farm  with  the  energy  of  a  much 
younger  man.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republi- 
can ;  and  he  and  his  daughters  attend  the  Uni- 
tarian church. 


§AMES  R.  WILD,  a  carriage  manufact- 
urer of  Ouincy,  Mass.,  was  born  in 
this  town,  August  13,  1849,  a  son  of 
John  O.  A.  Wild.  He  is  the  direct 
descendant  of  John  Wild,  an  early  settler  of 
Ouincy,  who  married  Sarah  Hayden,  grand- 
daughter of  Richard  Thayer,  who  purchased 
the  land  now  included  within  the  limits  of 
Ouincy  from  the  Indians.  Samuel  Wild,  son 
of  John  and  Sarah,  was  born  in  old  Braintree, 
March  iS,  1693,  and  married  Bethiah  Cope- 
land.  Micah  Wild,  their  son,  was  born  May 
5,  1734,  and  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution 
was  a  soldier  in  the  American  army,  taking 
part  in  several  battles.  His  son  Barnabas, 
born  October  20,  1770,  was  the  great-grand- 
father of  James  R.  Wild,  of  Quincy.  Barna- 
bas Wild  married  his  second  cousin,  Eunice 
Wild,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Wild,  who  mar- 
ried Hannah  Bass,  a  direct  descendant  of  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullins.  Jonathan  Wild 
was  also  a  patriot  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
and  was  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

Barnabas  Wild,  Jr.,  son  of  Barnabas  and 
Eunice  Wild,  was  born  May  10,  1791,  in  Ran- 
dolph, Mass.,  but  spent  a  large  portion  of  his 


life  in  the  town  of  Milton.  He  had  large 
landed  possessions,  and  for  many  years  man- 
aged a  large  dairy  farm,  running  a  milk  route 
from  Milton  to  Boston.  He  lived  to  the  age 
of  seventy-one  years  and  eight  months,  dying 
January  15,  1863.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Susan  Stoddard.  She  was  born  in 
Hingham,  Mass.,  a  daughter  of  Captain  Sam- 
uel Stoddard,  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary 
navy.  He  was  captured  by  the  British,  and, 
being  conveyed  to  Dartmoor,  England,  was 
confined  there  two  years,  while  his  brother 
Reuben  died  in  Dartmoor.  Captain  Stod- 
dard's wife  was  Susan  Mansfield,  a  daughter 
of  Joseph  Mansfield,  who  likewise  fought  in 
the  Revolution.  Captain  Samuel  Stoddard 
was  of  the  fifth  generation  in  descent  from 
John  Stodder,  or  Stoddard,  who  had  a  grant  of 
land  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1638,  the  line 
being:  John,'  Samuel,-  Jeremiah,3  Reuben,4 
Samuel.5  Reuben  Stoddard,  the  Captain's 
father,  married  Elizabeth  Glover.  Samuel 
Stoddard2  married  Elizabeth  Gill,  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  Gill,  whose  wife,  Hannah  Otis, 
was  the  daughter  of  John  Otis,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Hingham. 

John  O.  A.  Wild  was  born  in  Milton, 
Mass.,  May  6,  1824.  He  obtained  his  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools  of  that  town,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  a  carriage-maker  in  Bos- 
ton. He  subsequently  followed  his  chosen 
occupation  in  Taunton  for  a  time,  but  soon 
after  his  marriage  came  to  Ouincy,  where  he 
continued  in  the  same  employment  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  subsequently  embarked  in 
the  granite  business,  operating  one  of  the  fin- 
est quarries  in  this  locality,  and  making  a 
specialty  of  monumental  work  of  all  descrip- 
tions. He  not  only  quarried  the  stone,  but, 
taking  the  material  in  the  rough,  turned  out 
completed  monuments  and  tablets  at  his  own 
works,  employing  about  forty  men.  He  was 
very  successful  in  this  business,  which  he  car- 
ried on  until  his  decease,  August  1,  1880. 
He  married  Caroline  A.  Thrasher,  a  daughter 
of  Elkanah  Thrasher,  of  Taunton,  Mass.  Of 
their  ten  children  six  grew  to  mature  years, 
as  follows:  Lucy  Caroline:  James  R.  ;  Erank 
M. ;  Susan  U.,  wife  of  Robert  Johnson,  of 
Boston;  Sarah  A.  ;  and  Emily  C. 

James    R.    Wild   received    his   education    in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


7°3 


the  public  schools  of  Quincy,  and,  having 
learned  the  trade  of  a  carriage-maker  from  his 
father,  subsequently  succeeded  him  in  the 
business.  He  keeps  a  force  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  men  employed  at  his  works,  having 
especial  departments  for  the  wood  work,  for 
the  painting,  and  for  the  blacksmithing.  He 
makes  a  specialty  of  the  latter  industry,  being 
the  leading  horseshoer  in  the  city.  He  is  a 
man  of  great  push  and  energy,  and  since  ob- 
taining control  of  the  business  he  has  added  to 
his  stock  a  complete  line  of  harnesses  and 
trimmings  of  all  descriptions.  He  also 
handles  bicycles  of  different  makes  and 
grades. 

Mr.  Wild  married  Miss  Jeannie  M.  John- 
son, daughter  of  Robert  Johnson,  of  Boston, 
Mass.  They  have  four  children;  namely, 
Ruth,  Jeannette,  Eleanor  Pierce,  and  James 
R.,  Jr.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wild  attend  the  Uni- 
tarian church. 


HERBERT  WOODSUM,*  a  tack 
and  nail  manufacturer  of  South 
Braintree,  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
B.  H.  Woodsum  &  Co.,  was  born  in 
Randolph,  October  4,  1857,  son  of  Rufus  and 
Caroline  (Clark)  Woodsum.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  Sumner,  Me.,  and  his  mother  of 
Randolph,  Mass.  The  Rev.  William  Wood- 
sum,  the  paternal  grandfather,  was  a  well- 
known  Baptist  clergyman  in  the  State  of 
Maine  for  a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years. 

Herbert  Woodsum  removed  to  South  Brain- 
tree  with  his  parents  when  he  was  six  years  of 
age,  and  he  was  educated  in  the  grammar  and 
high  schools  of  that  place.  When  in  his  six- 
teenth year  the  death  of  his  father  obliged 
him  to  earn  his  living,  and  he  began  work  in 
the  tack  factory  of  Messrs.  Stevens  & 
Willis,  where  he  remained  employed  for  about 
eleven  years.  In  1883  he  became  a  partner 
in  the  firm  of  Simmons  &  Woodsum,  tack 
manufacturers  at  East  Braintree,  which  firm 
existed  for  several  years,  the  business  being 
subsequently  carried  on  under  the  name  of 
B.  H.  Woodsum  &  Co.  In  December,  1890, 
the  business  was  removed  to  South  Braintree: 
and  in  1893  it  was  incorporated  under  its 
present    title    of    B.    H.    Woodsum   Company. 


Mr.  Woodsum  is  in  the  truest  sense  of  the 
term  a  self-made  man,  his  success  in  life  hav- 
ing been  due  primarily  to  his  own  industry 
and  enterprise.  His  factory  is  located  on  the 
Monatiquot  River,  and  has  a  capacity  of  forty- 
five  hands,  being  well  equipped  with  the  best 
machinery  for  the  manufacture  of  tacks  and 
small  nails.  He  married  Mina  E.  Mansfield, 
a  native  of  Camden,  Me.,  by  whom  he  has 
three  children  —  Benjamin  H.,  Edna  E.,  and 
Edith  F. 

Mr.  Woodsum  is  a  Republican  politically, 
and  at  the  present  time  is  chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican State  Committee.  For  the  past  ten 
years  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  Republican 
Town  Committee  of  Braintree.  He  served  as 
Representative  from  Braintree  during  the 
legislative  sessions  of  1891  and  1892,  during 
his  first  term  acting  on  the  Committee  of 
Printing,  and  in  1892  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Liquor  Laws.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Puritan  Lodge,  No.  179,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
of  which  he  is  a  Past  Grand.  He  is  also 
identified  with  the  Royal  Arcanum,  and  is  one 
of  Braintree's  best  known  and  most  respected 
citizens. 


LFRED  O.  CRAWFORD,*  of  the 
firm  of  A.  O.  Crawford  &  Co.,  manu- 
facturers of  folding  paper  boxes  at 
South  Weymouth,  was  born  in 
Thomaston,  Me.,  June  6,  1853,  son  of  Captain 
Rufus  and  Isabella  (Edgerton)  Crawford,  both 
parents  being  natives  of  Maine.  The  father 
was  a  well-known  sea  captain  of  his  time,  sail- 
ing mostly  from  Thomaston,  Me.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  State.  In  1871  he  came  to  South  Wey- 
mouth and  obtained  employment  with  E.  Ro- 
senfeld,  a  dry-goods  merchant  here,  as  sales- 
man, which  position  he  held  for  several  years. 
He  subsequently  left  Mr.  Rosenfeld  to  go  into 
the  dryrgoods  business  in  Holbrook,  where  he 
carried  on  a  store  for  two  years,  or  until  the 
great  fire  which  occurred  in  that  town  on 
Christmas  Eve,  1S87,  when  he  shared  in  the 
common  misfortune  of  being  burned  out. 
Returning- to  South  Weymouth,  he  bought  out 
the  dry-goods  business  of  A.  H.  Wright,  and 
engaged    again    in    the    dry-goods   and    notions 


7°4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


business,  in  which  he  continued  for  a  time. 
His  next  venture  was  in  the  job  printing 
business,  and  while  thus  engaged  he  began  the 
manufacture  of  folding  paper  boxes,  eventually 
selling  out  his  interest  in  the  printing  estab- 
lishment, and  devoting  all  his  energies  to  the 
development  of  his  present  business.  His 
plant  is  situated  on  Central  Street,  South 
Weymouth,  includes  the  latest  improved  ma- 
chinery, and  employs  from  fifteen  to  thirty 
men,  according  to  the  season  of  the  year. 

Mr.  Crawford  married  Mary  N.  Wade,  daugh- 
ter of  David  N.  and  Mary  (Hudson)  Wade,  of 
South  Weymouth,  and  has  three  children  — 
Uavid  N.,  George  O.,  and  Frank  W.  Mr. 
Crawford  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but  with 
independent  proclivities.  He  served  the  town 
for  eight  years  as  Tax  Collector,  and  is  one  of 
the  stockholders  of  the  South  Weymouth  Co- 
operative Bank.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Order 
of  the  Golden  Cross.  He  belongs  to  the  Old 
South  Congregational  Church  at  South  Wey- 
mouth, in  which  at  the  present  time  he  is 
serving  as  clerk. 


{  ^TeORGE  D.  BULLOCK,  M.D.,*  a 
\  '•)  I  leading  physician  and  surgeon  of 
v*-— *~  Weymouth,  was  born  in  Taunton, 
Mass.,  December  6,  1859,  son  of  Dr.  Andrew 
D.  and  L.  Frances  (Robinson)  Bullock.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Taunton  ;  and  his  mother, 
who  was  born  on  Cape  Cod,  was  a  descendant 
of  Elder  John  Robinson,  a  member  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony.  Dr.  Andrew  D.  Bullock 
was  educated  for  the  ministry,  but  not  or- 
dained. Entering  the  field  of  journalism,  he 
was  for  a  time,  during  the  war,  connected  with 
the  editorial  department  of  the  Springfield 
Republican.  Subsequently  fitting  himself  for 
the  medical  profession,  he  practised  it  in 
Providence  and  Hopkinton,  R.I.,  for  a  number 
of  years,  or  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1874. 

George  D.  Bullock  attended  the  New 
Hampton  (N.H.)  Literary  Institute,  at  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1881.  After  pursuing 
his  preliminary  medical  studies  with  Dr.  John 
D.  Kenyon,  of  Hopkinton,  R.I.,  he  attended 
lectures  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  at 
Philadelphia,    from    which    he    was    graduated 


with  the  class  of  1S86.  While  preparing  him 
self  for  his  profession  he  paid  his  way  by 
clerking  in  a  drug  store.  Locating  in  Ports- 
mouth, R.I.',  after  receiving  his  diploma,  he 
practised  in  company  with  Dr.  Benjamin 
Greene  until  January,  1887,  when  he  came  to 
Weymouth,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He 
has  acquired  a  large  and  lucrative  practice, 
and  has  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Weymouth  and  vicinity.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  of  Wey- 
mouth, and  also  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

In  November,  1890,  Dr.  Bullock  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Eva  F.  Macauley,  of  this 
town,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  daughter  — 
Leila  E.,  who  is  no  longer  living. 


RRIN  T.  LEACH,*  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Norwood,  Mass.,  and  a  vet- 
eran of  the  late  Civil  War,  was  born 
in  Bridgewater,  Vt. ,  on  May  1,  1842, 
son  of  Henry  W.  and  Roxelane  (Thompson) 
Leach.  His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Leach, 
was  a  farmer  in  Bridgewater,  Vt.  ;  and  his 
father,  Henry  W.  Leach,  was  born  in  that 
town,  but  died  in  Pomfret,  aged  eighty-three 
years.  IT i s  wife,  Roxelane,  was  the  daughter 
of  David  Thompson  and  a  grand-daughter  of 
Noah  Thompson,  a  descendant  of  John  Thomp- 
son, who  was  bom,  it  is  said,  in  1616  in 
the  north  of  Wales,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try, as  some  have  thought,  in  1623.  John 
Thompson  married  in  1645  Mary  Cooke,  whose 
father,  Francis  Cooke,  came  over  in  the  "May- 
flower" in  1620.  Henry  and  Roxelane  Leach 
were  the' parents  of  four  children;  namely, 
Samuel,  Orrin  T. ,  Austin  K.,  and  Henry  C. 
Orrin  T.  Leach  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Bridgewater,  Vt.,  and  after  completing  his 
term  of  schooling  worked  on  a  farm  until  Au- 
gust 15,  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company 
C,  Sixth  Vermont  Regiment.  They  were 
sent  to  the  front,  and  their  first  experience  of 
active  service  was  on  December  11  at  the  first 
battle  of  Fredericksburg.  After  this  the  men 
were  in  camp  until  spring.  During  the  fight 
at  Gettysburg,  they  were  ordered  to  advance, 
and  arrived  at  the  scene  of  battle  on  the  second 
day  of  the  engagement,  but  were  not  called 
into  action.      Shortly  after   this  was   the   skir- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


7°5 


mish  at  Beaver  Creek,  Md.,  in  which  Mr. 
Leach  took  part.  He  was  then  sent  North, 
and  for  three  weeks  was  encamped  in  Tomp- 
kins Square,  New  York  City,  and  subsequently 
for  a  week  was  in  Kingston.  Returning 
to  the  front,  he  rejoined  the  Union  army  in 
Virginia,  and  in  October  of  that  year  took 
part  in  the  engagement  at  Rappahannock,  his 
regiment  being  then  part  of  the  Second  Divi- 
sion of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps.  Going  into 
camp  again,  he  remained  until  May,  1864, 
when  the  campaign  was  organized  which  cul- 
minated in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  Spott- 
sylvania  Court-house,  and  the  other  memorable 
engagements  that  followed.  Mr.  Leach  was 
in  active  service  during  all  this  time,  and 
vividly  recalls  the  thrilling  experiences  of 
those  days.  He  was  then  assigned  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  massed  for  the  defence 
of  the  national  capital,  and  took  part  in  vari- 
ous engagements  that  followed.  Near  the 
close  of  the  war  he  was  at  Brookville  Junction 
for  a  week,  then  at  Danville,  Va.,  for  three 
weeks,  and  later  for  a  few  days  at  Richmond. 
From  that  city  he  took  up  the  line  of  march  to 
Washington,  and  upon  arriving  there  was 
mustered  out  under  general  orders  on  June  19, 
1865. 

Returning  to  the  restful  quiet  of  his  old 
home,  he  remained  there  until  October,  when 
he  came  to  Massachusetts,  and  was  engaged  in 
farming  in  Bridgewater  for  a  year  and  a  half. 
He  afterward  learned  the  carpenter's  trade, 
and  subsequently  worked  at  that  for  about  fif- 
teen years.  In  1880  he  came  to  Norwood  and 
began  work  in  the  tannery,  in  which  he  has 
been  employed  up  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Leach  married  Sarah  B.,  daughter  of 
H.  H.  Alden,  of  Bridgewater,  Mass.  Four 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  and  of  these 
two  are  living;  by  name,  Emily  A.  and  Viola 
B.  Mr.  Leach  is  a  Baptist  in  religious  faith. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Order  of 
United  Workmen,  and  is  Commander  of 
George  K.   Bird   Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Norwood. 


rmo 


EORGE   W.  WHITE,*  of  Weymouth, 
Vte  I       Deputy    Sheriff    of    Norfolk   County, 
—        was  born    in   this   town,    January    18, 
1819.        His    parents,    George    W.,     Sr.,    and 


Betsey  (Burrill)  White,  were  both  natives  of 
Weymouth.  His  father,  who  was  a  profes- 
sional musician,  died  in  the  eighties.  He 
was  a  son  of  Captain  Jonathan  White,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 

George  W.  White,  second  of  the  name, 
whose  course  in  life  we  are  now  tracing,  grew 
to  manhood  in  Weymouth,  and  obtained  his 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  the  town. 
When  about  fifteen  years  of  age  he  began  to 
work  at  the  shoemaker's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  some  fifteen  years.  He  received 
his  first  commission  as  Deputy  Sheriff  on 
March  10,  1855,  and  has  since  served  continu- 
ously in  that  capacity,  by  his  ability  and  effi- 
ciency having  gained  the  entire  confidence  of 
the  public.  For  twenty-four  years  also  he 
was  Postmaster  of  Weymouth,  and  the  length 
of  his  term  of  office  amply  demonstrates  that 
the  public  was  well  and  satisfactorily  served. 

Mr.  White  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  Hannah  Hayden,  of  Weymouth, 
bore  him  six  children:  Lorenzo;  Sarah  A.; 
Ann  R.,  wife  of  John  E.  Hunt;  Ada,  wife  of 
Walter  C.  Gutterson  ;  Herbert  L.  ;  and  George 
L.  The  present  Mrs.  White  was  formerly 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Wales.  Her  father,  Hervey 
White,  of  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  was  the  son 
of  Nehemiah,  a  soldier,  Drum  Major  and  later 
Sergeant  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was 
a  noted,  musician,  as  have  been  many  of  the 
family,  a  talent  for  music  being,  as  it  would 
seem,  a  birthright  inheritance.  Hervey  White 
was  an  axe  manufacturer  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
had  an  extensive  trade  throughout  the  West, 
and  was  widely  known  in  his  line  of  business. 
By  her  first  husband,  Samuel  Wales,  Mrs. 
White  has  two  children:  Sarah  W.,  wife  of 
George  March,  a  banker  of  Chagrin  Falls, 
Ohio;  and  Charles  A.,  an  oil  refiner  in  Wash- 
ington, Pa.  Mrs.  White  has  been  president 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  at  Weymouth  for  six 
years,  and  is  an  active  and  leading  member  of 
the  Union  Literary  Society  of  Weymouth. 

Mr.  White  is  identified  with  the  Univer- 
sal ist  church.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
served  for  about  three  years  as  Deputy  Provost 
Marshal.  He  has  been  for  many  years  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace;  and  during  the  war  he  held 
the  position  of  Deputy  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue    in  his  Congressional   district,    under 


706 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  Hon.  B.  W.  Harris,  then  Collector  of  the 
district.  About  1 860,  when  Judge  White  was 
Probate  Judge  of  Norfolk  County,  Mr.  George 
W.  White  was  by  him  appointed  as  an  officer 
in  his  courts,  and  has  continued  to  hold  this 
position.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
this  town,  and  enjoys  the  esteem  and  full  con- 
fidence of  the  business  community  as  well  as 
of  a  large  number  of  warm  personal  friends. 


SHANNON  DAVIS,*  a  progressive 
and  enterprising  business  man  of  Nor- 
folk County,  residing  in  Brookline, 
is  engaged  as  a  real  estate  and 
mortgage  broker,  with  his  office  in  the  Ames 
Building,  at  1  Court  Street,  Boston.  He  was 
born  January  28,  1857,  in  Brookline,  a  son 
of  Robert  Sharpe  Davis,  second.  The  first 
progenitor  of  the  family  in  this  country  was 
William  Davis,  who  came  from  Wales  when 
a  young  man,  and  settled  in  Roxbury,  Mass., 
where  he  was  three  times  married.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Apostle  Eliot's  church,  as 
was  also  his  wife  and  most  of  his  children. 
He  died  December  9,  1683.  His  grandson, 
Ebenezer  Davis,  a  blacksmith  by  occupation, 
was  the  first  of  the  family  to  settle  in  Brook- 
line,  where  he  made  large  purchases  of  land, 
and  settled  on  property  which  he  had  previ- 
ously purchased  in  1746.  He  died  in  1776. 
He  had  a  grandson,  Ebenezer,  who  was  the 
father  of  Robert  Sharpe  Davis,  first,  the 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Rob- 
ert Sharpe  Davis,  first,  reared  five  children  — 
Samuel  Croft,  Robert  Sharpe,  Phineas  Stearns, 
Sarah,  and  Lucy. 

Robert  Sharpe  Davis,  second,  was  born  in 
Brookline,  February  18,  181  1.  About  1825 
he  entered  the  employ  of  the  well-known   pub- 


lishing firm  of  Crocker  &  Brewster,  of  Boston, 
with  whom  he  remained  a  few  years.  He  then 
became  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Lincoln,  Ed- 
munds &  Co.,  in  1835  becoming  sole  proprie- 
tor of  the  business.  Among  his  publications 
were  the  mathematical  works  of  Benjamin 
Greenleaf.  He  remained  in  business  for 
many  years,  and  was  very  successful.  He 
was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Brookline,  where  he 
died  February  23,  1873.  He  married  in 
1837  Mary  Harriet  Shannon,  of  Portsmouth, 
N.H.,  and  their  children  were:  Mary  Shan- 
non, Lucy  Stearns,  Sarah  Comstock,  Laura 
Wood,  Caroline  Elizabeth,  and  Langdon 
Shannon. 

L.  Shannon  Davis  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon and  high  schools  of  Brookline.  He  left 
school  abruptly  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  succeeding  to  the  business  of  the  elder 
Davis  carried  it  on  until  able  to  dispose  of  it 
advantageously.  In  1883  he  began  dealing  in 
real  estate,  both  in  Boston  and  in  Brookline, 
opening  an  office  on  State  Street,  Boston. 
He  has  since  gradually  enlarged  his  opera- 
tions; and  to  meet  the  demands  of  his  con- 
stantly increasing  business  he  removed,  not 
long  ago,  to  his  present  office  at  Room  52, 
Ames  Building.  He  is  connected  with  some 
of  the  largest  land  companies  in  New  England, 
being  agent  of  the  Goddard  Land  Company, 
and  agent  and  manager  of  the  Brookline  Land 
Company.  He  also  transacts  much  business 
for  M.  P.  Kennard  and  other  men  of  promi- 
nence in  the  financial  world,  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber and  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Real  Estate 
Exchange.  In  Brookline  he  has  built  a  large 
number  of  houses  of  the  better  class,  which  he 
has  sold  to  people  of  means,  in  this  manner 
helping  greatly  to  improve  and  develop  the 
town.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Merchants'  Club 
of  Boston.      In  politics  he  is  independent. 


INDEX. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


A 

Abbott,  J.  Yarnum 35 

Abbott,  Josiah  G 184 

Adams,  Moses  C 250 

Alden,  Abner 3S6 

Allien.  Lewis 625 

Allen,  Cyrus  M 528 

Allen,  Joseph  A 441 

Ambler,  Francis 83 

Ames,  Robert  E 659 

Anderson,  Luther  S 675 

Arnold,  E.  Watson 230 

Arnold,  Henry  F 161 

Austin,  Henry  C 509 


B 

Babcock,  Francis  L 299 

Bacon,  George  VV 557 

Badger,  Charles  L 223 

Bagley,  George  F 368 

Baker,  Benjamin  F 379 

Baker,  M.  Wales 225 

Baker,  Thomas  J 17S 

Balkam,  Stephen  B 473 

Barker,  William  P 18 

Barnicoat,  Frederick      ....  39 

Bateman,  George  H 545 

Bates,  Allen  C 459 

Bates,  Edmund  G.         ....  136 

Bates,  Leavitt 103 

Bates,  Philander 319 

Beals,  Charles  E 461 

Beals,  Isaac 497 

Belcher,  Charles  H 590 

Belcher,  Charles  Henry     ...  81 

Belcher,  Clifford        259 

Belcher,  Henry  A 37 

Belknap,  George  E 516 

Bennett,  Alonzo  F 239 

Bicknell,  Henry  F 38 

Bicknell,  Zechariah  L 78 

Bigelow,  Chester  A 631 

Bigelow,  Henry  C 536 

Bigelow,  John  P 48 

Bigelow,  Joseph  S 14 


Bird,  Albert  H 259 

Bird,  George  K" 651 

Bisbee,  Benjamin 654 

Blackman,  Henry 196 

Blanchard,  David  H 3S7 

Blasdale,  Henry 443 

Bleakie,  Robert 534 

Bonney,  Daniel 128 

Bowdish,  Sanford  P 71 

Bowers,  Edgar  H 210 

Bowker,  Watts  H 36S 

Bowman,  Alonzo 245 

Boyd,  Alpheus  P 151 

Boyd,  Moses 4S9 

Boyden,  Benjamin 13 

Boyden,  Porter  S 364 

Boyden,  Urn  ah  W 531 

Brackett,  Albert  A 504 

Bradlee,  J.  Walter 360 

Bragg,  Francis  A 313 

Brainard,  Amos  H 296 

Breed,  Walter  R 97 

Brett,  Frank  W 39 

Bright,  Warren  H 306 

Britton,  Emery  C 155 

Britton,  Joshua 435 

Brooks,  John  F 569 

Brooks,  William  W 162 

Brown,  Daniel 250 

Brown,  George  H 260 

Brown,  Herbert  L 37S 

Bullard,  John 310 

Bullock,  A.  Fenton 689 

Bullock,  George  D 704 

Bullock,  Francis  F 491 

Bunton,  Henry  S 168 

Burdakin,  John  H 425 

Burgin,  Clarence  ......  14 

Burt,  John  H 171 

Byam,  Raymond  S 329 

C 

Callanan,  P.  H 483 

Candage,  Rufus  G.  F 447 

Capen,  Oliver 74 

Capen,  Samuel  H 510 

Carpenter,  David 304 


Carpenter,  Erastus  P 390 

Carpenter,  Robert  W 359 

Carrington,  Henry  B 272 

Carter,  William 21 

Cashman,  John 119 

Cassell,  Edmund  P 677 

Chadwick,  William  T 6S7 

Chapman,  George 667 

Chapman,  George  W 412 

Chase,  Augustus  L 78 

Chase,  John  W 99 

Chase,  Joseph,  Jr 676 

Chase,  Samuel  D 164 

Cheever,  Horace  C 651 

Chick,  Charles  G 364 

Churchill,  Amos 50 

Churchill,  Chauncey  C.      ...  471 

Clarlin.  Rupert  F 109 

Clark.  Edmund  N 541 

Clark,  John 576 

Clark,  Stanley  A 081 

Clark.  Willard  P 249 

Clifford,  Oliver  H 1 1 1 

Cobb,  Jonathan     .     .          ...  230 

Colburn,  Allen 343 

Colburn,  Bernard  F.       ....  672 

Comey,  William  M 409 

Cook,  Louis  A.      ......  292 

Cook,  Whitman '  507 

Cook,  William  T 66S 

Coolidge,  Henry  S 423 

Corey,  Timothy  F 646 

Cousens,  John  E 535 

Cowing,  Francis  H 333 

Craig,  Robert 610 

Cram,  Arthur  X 498 

Crane,  Charles  T 49t 

Crane,  Orlando  B 316 

Crawford,  Alfred  0 703 

Crehore,  Jeremiah 122 

Crocker,  Benton  P 255 

Crocker,  Luther  0 223 

Crocker,  William  B 596 

Cunningham,  Richard    .     .     .     .  515 

Currier,  Charles  H 667 

Cushing,  Ira  B 5S5 

Cushing,  Joseph  A 103 

Cushing,  Louis  T 691 


708 


INDEX 


D 

Dana,  William  J 633 

Daniels,  Albert  J 216 

Daniels,  James  W 347 

Daniels.  Lucius  W 320 

Daniels,  Thomas  J 488 

Darling,  Francis  W 353 

Davenport,  Albert 200 

Davis,  David  L 177 

Davis,  L.  Shannon 706 

Dean,  Oliver 476 

Deans,  Charles  H 614 

Dearborn,  George  F 60 1 

Dearing,  T.  Haven 199 

Dexter,  Charles  B 437 

Dinegan,  John  H 32 

Doane,  Ephraim  H 127 

Doble,  Enoch  H 188 

Drake,  Edgar  F 610 

Drake,  Frederick  P 326 

Drake,  W.  A 152 

Draper,  Henry  S 149 

Draper,  Leonard 319 

Drew,  Eugene 381 

Drinkwater,  A.  C 460 

Drugan,  William  F 619 

Dunbar,  Alonzo  W 689 

Dunbar,  Francis  D 403 

Dunbar,  John  H 528 

Dunbar,  Thomas 150 

Durgin,  Alonzo  G 17 

Dyer,  Jacob  S 28 

Dyer,  Joseph 74 


E 

Eager,  Edward  R 12 

Eastman,  Julia  A 241 

Eaton,  William  N 67 

Elliott,  Samuel  T 522 

Ellis,  Charles  H 156 

Emerson,  Luther  0 182 

Everett,  Francis  E 371 

Everett,  John 285 

Everett,  Oliver 413 


F 

Faas,  Charles  A 472 

Fairbanks,  Calvin 338 

Fairbanks,  Henry  0 88 

Fales,  Frank  A 570 

Fales,  Silas  E 411 

Farnsworth,  Charles  L.      .     .     .  131 

Farnsworth,  Henry  E 692 

Faunce,  Thomas  E 472 

Faunce,  Winslow 541 

Fegan,  Walter  R 631 

Field,  George  H 663 

Field,  John  O.  A 115 


Fisher,  Albert  F 394 

Fisher,  Amory 65 

Fisher,  Frederick  L 5S1 

Fisher,  Gilbert  C 672 

Fisher,  Joseph 190 

Fisher,  Milton  M 469 

Fisher,  Nathan  W 436 

Fisher,  William  0 461 

Flint,  James  H 363 

Fogg,  Ralph  M 94 

Folan,  James  M 683 

Foreman,  William 659 

Foster,  George  W 84 

Frampton,  Robert  L 149 

French,  Bela 116 

French,  Charles  H 570 

French,  Zenas  A 98 

Friguglietti,  Francis       ....  632 

Fuller,  Charles  M 664 

Fuller,  Chauncey  G 535 

Furnaid,  Napoleon  B 47 


G 

Gale,  James  A 429 

Gannett,  Benjamin 63S 

Gay,  George  W 532 

George,  Thomas  A 343 

Gibbs,  Emery  B 430 

Gill,  George  L 9 

Gillett,  Nancy  D 246 

Gleason,  Willard  F 605 

Glover,  Frederick  P 444 

Glover,  Joseph  M 155 

Glover,  Theodore  R 167 

Gorse,  William 658 

Gould,  Clarke  S 449 

Gove,  Andrew  J 106 

Granger,  Frank  C 268 

Gray,  Lewis  E 501 

Greene,  Charles  0 314 

Gridley,  George  F 562 

Griggs,  William  J 687 

Gross,  Charles  A 226 

Grover,  Luther  R 661 

Guild,  Julius 37° 

Guild,  Samuel  E 590 

Guild,  William  F 5°§ 

Gurney,  Edwin  P 527 


H 

Hagan,  David  T 575 

Hale,  Jeremiah  B 305 

Haley,  Charles 577 

Hall,  William  F 551 

Hamant,  Francis  D 557 

Hancock,  William  H.  H.  .     .     .  62 

Harding,  Joseph 1 1 1 

Harlow,  Rufus  K 474 

Harris,  John  M 476 


Hartshorn,  Charles  H.       ...  399 

Hartshorn,  George  W.       .     .     .  606 

Hartshorn,  James  A 420 

Hastings,  Charles  W 132 

Hawes,  Bradford 59 

Hawes,  Elisha 40 

Hayden,  Joseph  W 73 

Hayes,  Jared  N 684 

Hayward,  J.  Parker       ....  554 

Hazelton,  Isaac  H 326 

Heaton,  Joseph  W 578 

Hedges,  Albert 467 

Hedges,  Clifford  J 467 

Henderson,  David  F 54S 

Henry,  Charles  C 482 

Hewett,  Walter 623 

Hewins,  Joel  P 645 

Higgins,  Eben 334 

Higgins,  Jedediah  W 423 

Hill,  George 355 

Hitchcock,  George  H 56 

Hoar,  John  E 474 

Hodge,  Dwight  M 351 

Hodges,  Charles  W 212 

Hodges,  Marcus  P 211 

Hodges,  William  L 542 

Holbrook,  E.  Everett    ....  120 

Holbrook,  Elihu  A 123 

Holbrook,  George  E 255 

Holbrook,  George  H 164 

Hollis,  Alvin 546 

Holmes,  Joseph 163 

Holmes,  William  B 142 

Holtham,  William 520 

Home,  Irving  W 2S3 

Houghton,  Ralph 60 

Howard,  C.  Elbert 481 

Howard,  Charles  F 649 

Howard,  Dorus  F 417 

Howard,  Milton  H 496 

Howard,  Richard 386 

Howe,  Oliver  H 612 

Howland,  Charles  A 286 

Humphrey,  Henry  B 181 

Hussey,  George  F 38 


J. 

Jenckes,  Arnold  A 602 

Jenks,  Henry  F 431 

Jenness,  Charles  M 55 

Jenney,  Charles  F 539 

Jenney,  Edwin  C 195 

Johnson,  Benjamin 68 

Johnson,  George  H 418 

Jones,  James  S 6S2 


Keith,  James     . 
Keith,  Merritt  S. 


419 
266 


INDEX 


709 


Keleher,  Daniel  J 249 

Kenrick,  Benjamin 324 

Kimball,  Charles  F 356 

King,  William  F 521 

Kingsbury,  Frederick  H.        .     .  337 

Kittredge,  Jeremiah  C.       ...  634 

Knowlton,  Charles  F I  58 


L. 

Ladd,  Levi 692 

Lake,  Flavius  J 624 

Leach,  Orrin  T 704 

Lennon,  James  T 569 

Leonard,  Emmons 5S2 

Leslie,  Freeland  D 241 

Lewis,  Bradford 620 

Lewis,  Joshua  F 609 

Lincoln,  Charles  W 65 

Lincoln,  Louis  N 105 

Lincoln,  William  E 389 

Linfield,  Edwin  P 372 

Littlefield,  Loring  G 77 

Lothrop,  Caleb 93 

Loud,  Oilman  B 215 

Lovell,  Asahel  F 503 


M. 

Mackintosh,  James 382 

Magee,  George  T 194 

Mann,  Charles  S 49S 

Mann,  Elbridge  L 514 

Mann,  George  R 266 

Mann,  Royal  T S4 

Mann,  William 300 

Mann,  William  E 560 

Mann,  William  R 266 

Mansfield,  Henry  T 2S3 

Marsh,  Louisa 82 

Mason,  George  P 552 

Mayberry,  Edwin  N 207 

Mayhew,  Will  W 525 

Mayo,  John  F.  J 262 

McAvoy,  James  D 251 

McDonnell,  Thomas      ....  66 

McDonnell,  Thomas  H.     ...  no 

McGill,  James 69S 

McGinnis,  Lawrence      ....  627 

Mcintosh.  Davis  G 388 

McKay,  James 547 

Melcher,  William  K 628 

Melius,  John  T 309 

Merrill,  John  F 131) 

Metcalf,  Alfred  G 245 

Metcalf,  Francis 232 

Metcalf,  Lewis  D 509 

Miles,  George 141 

Miller,  Albert  E 372 

Miller,  Albert  M 193 

Miller,  Hermon  B 203 

Miller,  Vesta  D 377 


PAGE 

Milne,  Andrew 650 

Miner,  Henry  B 540 

Moffette,  Edward 315 

Morey,  George  P 561 

Morse,  Albert  F 539 

Morse,  Charles  N 256 

Morse,  Elijah  A 240 

Morse,  Franklin  G 230 

Morse,  Richard 442 

Morse,  Winslow  L 664 

Morton,  George  W 207 

Moseley,  Randolph  P 136 

Moseley,  Samuel  R 354 

Murphy,  Cornelius  J 633 

Murphy,  James  H 625 


N. 

Nash,  Elbridge 683 

Nash,  Henry  A 106 

Nash,  Thomas  J 31 

Nash,  William 105 

Nead,  George  W 582 

Neal,  Burton  W 561 

Neal,  David 142 

Nelson,  George 411 

Nevin,  Edward  B 657 

Newcomb,  Thaddeus  H.    .     .     .  27 

Newell,  Albert  J 60 

Newell,  John  A 573 

Newell,  Stillman  E 533 

Nickerson,  George  K 552 

Norcross,  Ellis  T 599 

Norris,  Andrew  J 146 

Norris,  William  H 481 

Noyes,  Samuel  B 567 


Owen,  Timothy 145 


P. 

Packard,  Abner  B 229 

Packard,  Frank  C 158 

Packard,  James  H 568 

Packard,  Jonathan  R 594 

Paige,  Albert  S 455 

Palmer,  Walter  L 605 

Parmenter,  Freeman  A.      .     .     .  309 

Pattee,  William  G.  A 661 

Penniman,  James  T 513 

Perkins,  David 370 

Perkins,  Elias  A 61 

Perrin,  Marshall  L 219 

Perry,  John  W 492 

Pettee,  Franklin  A 652 

Phillips,  Francis  0 300 

Phillips,  Hiram  W 617 

Pickering,  Henry  W 611 

Pierce,  David  J 172 


Pierce,  Frank  0 548 

Pitcher,  Ellis  J 225 

Pitman,  John  T 395 

Plimpton,  Eugene  C 487 

Plummer,  Jedediah  P 57S 

Pond,  Eliab  M 635 

Pope,  Arthur  W 587 

Porter,  Charles  1 286 

Porter,  Elbridge  F 87 

Porter,  Frank  H 617 

Porter,  Franklin 612 

Porter,  George  W 220 

Post,  George  E 405 

Pottle,  Charles  L 425 

Powers,  Wilbur  H 600 

Pratt,  Aaron 414 

Pratt,  Charles  H 23 

Pratt,  Ira  B 424 

Pring.  James  F 176 

Pulcifer,  John 502 

Putnam,  Sidney  C 3S5 

Putney,  Lyman  K 271 


R. 

Radford,  Frank  H 419 

Randall,  Davis  D 28 

Ray,  Francis  B 596 

Raymond,  John  A 55 

Reamy,  Milton  H 430 

Reed,  George  E 48 

Reynolds,  Stephen  H 639 

Rhodes,  Orville  C 344 

Rice,  Charles 490 

Richardson,  Edward  B.      .     .     .  290 

Richardson,  George  V.       ...  330 

Riley,  Charles  H 135 

Ripley,  Walter  H 410 

Robbins,  George  W 565 

Robinson,  Frederick  E.      .     .     .  220 

Rockwood,  Stephen  T.       ...  467 

Rogers,  Orville  M 413 

Russell,  Henry  S 453 


S. 

Sampson,  Josephus 426- 

Sandberg,  Edward  J 575 

Sanford,  George 526 

Sawin,  Benjamin  N 404 

Sawyer,  R.  Kinsman      ....  606 

Scott,  William  W 157 

Sears,  William  B 396 

Shatswell,  Henry  K 681 

Shaw,  Robert  G 643 

Shepard,  Addison  S 316 

Sheppard,  Joel  F 420 

Sherman,  George  B 495 

Sherman,  Roscoe  J 93 

Shumway,  Benjamin  F.      .     .     .  303 

Shurtleff,  Augustine       ....  587 


•jio 


INDEX 


Simmons,  Charles 49 

Simons,  Stephen  B 503 

Simpson,  J.  Albert 204 

Slafter,  Carlos 99 

Smith,  Alfred  C 67S 

Smith,  Charles  H 486 

Smith,  Daniel  P 560 

Smith,  J.  Everett 175 

Smith,  Joseph 362 

Smith,  Nathaniel 11 

Smith,  Timothy 112 

Smith,  William  R 330 

Snell,  Eugene 71 

Snow,  J.  Lewis 437 

Souther,  Edward  B 31 

Souther,  Harry  VV 196 

Southgate,  George  A 323 

Southworth,  Gurdon      ....  496 

Spear,  Charles  H 232 

Spear,  Horace  B 348 

St.  John,  Joseph 492 

Standish,  Lemuel  W 72 

Staples,  George  T 699 

Stearns,  Charles  H 432 

Stearns,  William 323 

Stetson,  Arthur  W 352 

Stetson,  John  H 54 

Stevens,  James  T 200 

Stone,  Silas  A 636 

Sutton,  Samuel 593 

Swan,  Reuben  S 398 

Swithin,  John 220 

Swithin,  Thomas 220 


T. 

Tailby,  Joseph 338 

Talbot,  George  B 626 

Terry,  Henry  B 284 

Thayer,  Charles  W 265 

Thayer,  E.  Newton 613 

Thayer,  Elisha 44 

Thayer,  Franklin  D 235 

Thayer,  Ruel  F 502 

Thayer,  Rufus  A 121 

Thayer,  S.  Austin 92 

Thayer,  Tyler 361 

Thayer,  William  M 43S 


PAGE 

Thomas,  Henry  A 24 

Thompson,  James 660 

Thorndike,  Samuel  W.       .     .     .  280 

Tilton,  John  A 204 

Tirrell,  Frederick  W 700 

Tirrell,  James 22 

Tirrell,  John  W 562 

Totman,  Joseph  R 699 

Tower,  Abraham  H 21 

Tower,  Daniel  N 47 

Tower,  Frederick 53 

Tower,  Newcomb  B 116 

Tucker,  Aaron  E 380 

Tucker,  Nathan 44 

Tucker,  William  H 24 

Tufts,  Joseph  D 701 

Turner,  Salmon 652 

Turner,  Willard  W 342 

Tuttle,  Samuel  A 236 

Twigg,  John  L 17S 


U. 

Underwood,  Edward  L.      .     .     .     468 


Van  Ness,  Henry 66 

Vorse,  Albert  B 513 


W. 

Wade,  William  H 310 

Wadsworth,  Edwin  D 291 

Wadsworth,  Dexter  E 131 

Waite,  Enoch 325 

Wakefield,  John  L 690 

Wall,  John  F 341 

Wallace,  William  J 553 

Ward,  Henry  S 637 

Warner,  Samuel 546 

Wanen.  Daniel 334 

Wattles,  Joseph  W 5S6 

Webster,  Irving  C 485 

Weeks,  Benjamin  J 654 

•Deceased  January  20,  iSyS. 


PAGE 

Wentworth,  Edward  E.      .     .     .  595 

Weston,  Walter  S 261 

Whelan,  Timothy  J 620 

Whetton,  John  J 553 

Whipple,  Charles  H 459 

Whitaker,  Arthur 226 

White,  Adoniram  J 53 

White,  Carroll  E 645 

White,  Daniel  B 215 

White,  Edmund 104 

White,  George  W 705 

White,  Henry        ......  74 

White,  Newton 121 

White,  W.  Bradford      ....  636 

White,  William  0 124 

Whiting,  Edward 627 

Whiting,  George  E 470 

Whitney,  Samuel  S 456 

Whittemore,  Augustus       .     .     .  678 

Whittier,  David  H 668 

Wight,  Frederick  H 344 

Wight,  George  H 371 

Wild,  James  R 702 

Wilde,  George  T 92 

Willard,  John  K 123 

Williams,  Francis  D 525 

Williams,  Fred  H 507 

Williams,  George  F 450 

Williams,  Peter  J 653 

Williams,  Silas  G 618 

Williams,  Thomas  L 43 

Willis,  Sarell  J 454 

Willis,  George  D 497 

Wilson,  Charles 82 

Wilson,  Ephraim 400 

Woodsum,  B.  Herbert  ....  703 

Worster,  Edwin  P 119 

*  Wortliington,  Erastus      .     .     .  406 

Worthington,  Erastus,  Jr.       .     .  443 


Young,  Arthur  F. 


Zirngiebel,  D.  Denys 


643 


34S 


PORTRAITS. 


Abbott,  J.  Varnum 34 

Anderson,  Luther  S 674 

Bacon,  George  W 556 

Badger,  Charles  L 222 

Bates,  Leavitt  .......  102 

Belcher,  Clifford 25S 

Bennett.  Alonzo  F 238 

Bicknell,  Zechariah  L 79 

Bigelovv,  Henry  C 537 

•Bigelow,  Joseph  S 15 

Blackman,  Henry 197 

Boyden.  Benjamin  F 530 

Brackett,  Albert  A 505 

Brainard,  Amos  H 297 

Britton,  Joshua 434 

Bunton,  Henry  S 169 

Capen,  Samuel  H 511 

Carpenter,  Erastus  P 391 

Carpenter,  Robert  W 35S 

Carter,  William 20 

Cashman,  John 11S 

Chase,  Samuel  D 165 

Chick,  Charles  G 365 

Clarlin,  Rupert  F 10S 

Comey,  William  M 40S 

Cook,  Louis  A 293 

Cook,  William  T 669 

Coolidge,  David  S 422 

Cram,  Arthur  N 499 

Crocker,  William  B 597 

Deans,  Charles  H 615 

Doane,  Ephraim  H 126 

Draper,  Henry  S 148 

Dyer,  Joseph 75 

Fairbanks,  Henry  0 89 

Field,  John  O.  A 114 

Fisher,  Amory 64 


Fogg,  Ralph  M 95 

Fuller,  Charles  M 665 

Gill,  George  L 8 

Glover,  Frederick  P 445 

Glover,  Joseph  M 154 

Griggs,  William  J 686 

Guild,  Samuel  E 591 

Hartshorn,  George  W 607 

Hastings,  Charles  W 133 

Hawes,  Elisha 41 

Hazelton,  Isaac  H 327 

Heaton,  Joseph  W 579 

Henderson,  David  F 549 

Hitchcock,  George  H 57 

Hodges,  Charles  W 213 

Hodges,  William  L 543 

Holbrook,Mr.and  Mrs. George  E.  254 

Howard,  Charles  F 64S 

Howland,  Charles  A 287 

Humphrey,  Henry  B 180 

Johnson,  Benjamin    ......  69 

Keleher,  Daniel  J 248 

Kingsbury,  Frederick  H.  .     .     .  336 

Ladd,  Levi 693 

Leonard,  Emmons 583 

Lewis,  Bradford 621 

Mann,  Royal  T 85 

Mansfield,  Henry  T 282 

Melcher,  William  K 629 

Merrill,  John  F 13S 

Metcalf,  Alfred  G 244 

Metcalf,  Francis 233 

Miller,  Albert  E 373 

Miller,  Albert  M 192 

Miller,  Vesta  D 376 

Morton,  George  W 206 


Nash,  Thomas  J 30 

Neal,  David 143 

Newell,  John  A 572 

Packard,  Frank  C 159 

Parmenter,  Freeman  A.     .     .     .  308 

Perrin,  Marshall  L 218 

Pratt,  Aaron 415 

Putnam,  Sidney  C 3S4 

Putney,  Lyman  K 270 

Bobbins,  George  W 564 

Rockwood,  Stephen  T.       ...  466 

Sampson,  Josephus 427 

Shepard,  Addison  S 317 

Sherman,  George  B 494 

Shumway,  Benjamin  F.      .     .     .  302 

Smith,  J.  Everett 174 

Smith,  William  R 331 

Spear,  Horace  B 349 

Stevens,  James  T 201 

Thayer,  Charles  W 264 

Thayer,  Elisha 45 

Thayer,  William  M 439 

Thomas,  Henry  A 25 

Tower,  Frederick 52 

Wade,  William  H 311 

Wadsworth,  Dexter  E.       ...  130 

Wall,  John  F 340 

Weeks,  Benjamin  J 655 

Whipple,  Charles  H 45S 

Whiting,  George  E 478 

Whittemore,  Augustus  ....  679 

Wight,  Frederick  H 345 

Williams,  Francis  D 524 

Williams,  George  F 451 

Wilson,  Ephraim       401 

Young,  Arthur  F 642 


ACME 
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DEC    16  1987 

100  CAMBRIDGE  STREET 
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