Bristol County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (1 of 5 so headed), 1883 (part 3 of 3)

He was a man of very fine taste in art, and was a rare judge of paintings, statuary, and other kindred works. He was very fond of pets, had a great fancy for fine horses, pigeons, fowls, etc., and raised many of them. He was an enthusiastic lover of flowers, and engaged with all the ardor of his nature in horticulture. He was a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and was awarded a silver medal for his collection of " Nymph;eas" in its annual exhibition in 1881. Among the lovers and cultivators of flowers he took a high rank. He was a man of positive character, carrying nearly everything he undertook to completion. He had a pleasant, winning manner, and treated every one with the most perfect courtesy. He was firm in opposition to anything he deemed wrong, but equally as strong in advocating anything for the improvement and elevation of mankind. He was generous and hospitable to a fault, and many acts of his kindness are known only to those who received the benefits of his broad charity. In many things Mr. Haskell was sensitive to the utmost degree. His love for the beautiful was manifested in everything, in the adornment of home and grounds, in the decoration of his place, in personal appearance and dress, in artistic display of goods, etc. In the home circle he was a loving husband, and a father who gratified, if possible, every wish. He was a strong friend, a very pleasant and social companion, with a large number of personal friends in the leading circles of society. He gave at all times his time and money freely for church and benevolent purposes. A fluent and effective speaker, he was always ready to respond when asked to speak for any good cause, and was one of the most unselfish of men, seeming only to be fully happy when doing something for the happiness or benefit of others. In him the poor lost a true friend, and New Bedford one of her keenest business men and public-spirited citizens.

Frederick Parker

Frederick Parker was the son of the well-known merchant of New Bedford, John Avery Parker. He was born during the residence of his parents at Westport, the 15th of May, 1806. On the completion of his collegiate course at Brown's University, Providence, R. I., he entered his father's office, and in a short time became a co-partner with him, under the firm-name of John A. Parker & Son.

In business affairs he possessed in a marked degree the power of discerning the abilities of men. This acuteness of judgment enabled him to select for employment those of such character and efficiency as led to a remarkable uniformity of success. He remained in business with his father until 1848, when on his change of residence to the city of New York, the copartnership was dissolved.

The death of John Avery Parker in 1853 recalled him to New Bedford to fulfill the duties incumbent upon him as one of the executors of his father's estate, the final settlement of which he did not live to see. From this time until his death he resided there engaged in the commission and whale-fishery business.

In 1854, on the resignation of the Hon. James Arnold, he was elected a director of the Bedford Commercial Bank (now the National Bank of Commerce), which position he held until his death.

Mr. Parker married a member of one of the old families of New Bedford, Abby Coggeshall, daughter of Haydon Coggeshall, on Feb. 11, 1829. They visited Europe in 1832, and again in 1841, remaining over a year each time. He erected in 1859 on Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford, a handsome residence. He had lived in it but a few months when a sudden accident terminated his life.

Mr. Parker had no children, but be adopted at an early age the orphan daughter of his wife's eldest brother, who had been his most intimate friend. To her and her son he bequeathed his fortune.

Mr. Parker was striking in appearance, being six feet in height, of very handsome physique, and fine erect carriage. He was a stanch friend to those dear to him, and was well known for his generous hospitality. His place in the estimation of the public was high, as the following, from the New Bedford Daily Mercury of Oct. 22, 1861, shows :

" Frederick Parker, Esq., of this city, died about three o'clock yesterday afternoon. His death, so sudden, produced a shock in our community, where Mr. Parker has so long resided and in which he has been so prominent. It is a public loss which will be keenly felt, not alone by those who formed the circle, and that was large, of Mr. Parker's personal friends, but by the mass of our citizens, who more or less will be affected by it. A man of wealth, money was not his idol ; it was not an end with him but a means, and he dispensed it with a liberal hand. Those who knew him most intimately speak in warm terms of his unaffected kindness and of his forgetfulness of self in his unwearied devotion to those dependent upon him."

Conclusion. - We cannot more fittingly close our history of this grand old municipality than by quoting the language of one of her most illustrious and honored citizens, the Hon. William W. Crapo:

" Beautiful, indeed, for situation is this city of New Bedford. Few places are there on this continent, or elsewhere, which so well unite the institutions, benefits, and advantages of the city with the freshness and simplicity and comfort of rural life. Lying between green pastures on the one hand and the still waters of the river on the other, fronting upon this bay. which i> as charming as the Bay of Naples, and rising with the elevation of conscious pride from its shores, its physical condition and position are delightful beyond exception. We rejoice to observe and remember that those who have shaped its outward fortunes have been studious to make it attractive and healthful as the home of a cultured and enlightened people. Its well-made and well-kept avenues and streets, shaded by long lines of trees, which our lathers have planted ; its complete and cleanly drainage, which the incoming and outgoing tides make perfect and efficient; its abundant and pure water, distributed and available for all the purposes of domestic, mechanical, and protecting use; its trained, alert, and electric fire department; its well-diffused system for gas-lighting ; its schools, its churches and chapels, and bethel ; its hospital, its home for orphans, its many unions of hearts and hands for good works; its comfortable and pleasant homes, after the best methods of New England life, combine to make this municipality worthy of our best affections and of our constant effort for its prosperity and peace."