Essex County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (1 of 8 so headed), 1888 (part 1 of 2)

Biographical sketches

The Lynn Bard was born at Lynn, Mass., on the 28th day of August, 1794, and the house in which he was born is yet standing in Boston Street, on the corner of Robinson. He was descended on his father's side from an old Welsh family, a family that traces its lineage, through generation and generation, back to the native princes of Wales, princes that reigned years anterior to the conquests of the Angles and Saxons, and even before the Romans made their appearance in Britain. As the Angles and Saxons absorbed the ancient Briton, so did they, in their turn, become absorbed by the later Normans, and the old Welsh Llewellyn got, in the course of time, to be translated into the more modern Lewis. The first of the family to appear in this country was William Lewis, who came here from Glamorganshire, South Wales, in 1G36. There is more or less French - probably Norman French - influence in the modern family, that undoubtedly crept in at the Norman invasion, and is manifest in the family motto, " courage sans peur." And the evidence of a participation in the crusades under Richard is seen in their crest, a Saracen's head. The Lewis coat of arms is a lion rampant on a field azure. The descendants of this William Lewis are not very numerous, most of the name in this country being of English descent. Governor Morgan Lewis, of New York, son of Francis Lewis, a signer of the Delcaration of Independence, was of the same family, although the latter came to this country a century later than William Lewis. In the matter of genealogies, however, anything ante-dating the Norman conquest, or even the fourteenth century, is liable to dispute.

Mr. Lewis received a sound and thorough education, but not content with the mere instruction of the schools, he pursued his studies, and with vigor, through the whole extent of his life. As a linguist he acquired considerable proficiency in the commoner modern and ancient languages. He had an evident delight for study, and loved to teach, being at one time head-master of Lynn Academy, and at others, of one or two grammar schools in Lynn. In 1831 he established a young ladies' school in Boston, but does not seem to have continued it long. In 1835 he abandoned the profession of teacher.

From his early youth he evidenced a strong poetic temperament, and several of his poems were wi'itten at an early age, some bearing the date of 1811, Mr. Lewis being then but seventeen years of age. In 1823 he collected and printed his first volume of poems, a book of two hundred pages, but, as he says ill the preface, more for private than for public circulation. This volume contained many of his best poems, including " Farewell to my Harp." In 1829 was published the first edition of the Histoiy of Lynn, a work of immense labor. The work was the first in the field of local histories, and is called to this day by good authorities cue of the best local histories ever written. Two years later, in 1831, appeared another volume of poems, containing many of the 1823 edition and others written in the interval. Another edition of the history was published, and in 1834 appeared the last volume of poems, which immediately became very popular and went through fourteen editions, being most favorably received by the critics both in this country and in England.

In addition to the above Mr. Lewis published a small English grammar, and another small work on geometry, beside a descriptive sketch called, " A Picture of Nahant." During his whole life he wrote much for the newspapers and magazines of the time, both in prose and poetry. He edited an anti-slavery paper in Lynn before the appearance of the Liberator, and was once, during the absence of Mr. Garrison, in editorial charge of that paper, as he was also of the Boston Traveler, then the American Traveler. He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a corresponding member of many other historical bodies.

In 1851 he was requested by Ticknor & Co. to write a history of Boston, but does not seem to have complied with the request, as the only thing of the kind of his that I have discovered is a sort of chronological arrangement of the principal events in the history of Boston, called " Annals of Boston." He evidently contemplated another historical work, as a letter of Mr. Whittier's to him in 1833, says: "I hope thee will decide to go on with thy ' Witchcraft.' I certainly think it would be very popular."

That he was more happy in his prose than in his poetry no one can gainsay, and had he written more of the former, and that of a less local nature, his fame would certainly have been less circumscribed. Many of the descriptive parts of the " History of Lynn" are very beautiful, and I know of people that every now and again take up the history and read and reread for the mere pleasure of reading. In the matter of improvement of his native town he took great interest, and many works of a local nature were conceived and carried through, almost entirely by his unaided efforts. The construction of the breakwater and road along Lynn Beach' are due to his efforts, as was also the erection of the light-house on Egg Rock.

In the anti-slavery movement Mr. Lewis took a most active part, being second vice president of the first Anti-Slavery Society, of which William Lloyd Garrison was secretary, and furthering the cause by his writings for the periodicals of the time.

He "^as naturally of a religious nature and lived a consistent Christian life, often denying himself that he might minister to the necessities of others ; and exercising that grandest gift of charity that was lacking in the treatment of him by others. He was for many years the only churchman in Lynn, and walked to St. Peter's, Salem, every Sunday for service. At one time he applied to Bishop Grirwold to be admitted as a candidate for Holy Orders, but does not seem to have carried out his first intention. He continued a churchman for the greater part of his life, being prominent in the establishment of St. Stephen's Parish, Lynn, and was one of the first five incorporators. Before the establishment of St. Stephen's he held services at Glenmere, himself acting as lay reader.

Mr. Lewis was twice married, his first wife being Frances Maria Swan, of Methuen, by whom he had six childrpn, of whom two, Llewellyn and Arthur, are now living. For his second wife he married Annie Ilsley Hanson, of Portland, Maine, by whom he had two children, Ina and Ion, the former dying some months before her father. For the latter part of his life Mr. Lewis lived in the picturesque cottage in Beach Street, close to the water's edge, a place where he loved to sit and study, and where, on the 21st day of January, 1861, he passed away, at the very beginning of that great struggle which resulted in the accomplishment of an object for which he had striven the greater part of his life.

I have here attempted no extended biography, and would say to those who desire more minute particulars and personal reminiscences to consult " The History of Lynn," as continued by Mr. Newhall and published in 1864; and also, Mr. Johnson's charming " Sketches of Lynn," published a year or two ago.

James Robinson Newhall

The brief personal sketch of the individual whose name is placed above, which appeared in the " Centennial Memorial " of Lynn, published by order of the City Council, in 1876, is introduced in these words: " It is a delicate task for one to write of himself, unless he has that in his history, the worthiness of which is patent and not to be questioned, it requiring no poet to assure us that we seldom ' see ourselves as others see us.' " That "delicate task," however, fell to his lot, and to a similar behest, in the present case, he submits.

The name appeared in the "Centennial" at the dictation of the Committee of the Council having the matter in charge, who expressed a desire that sketches of the " two historians," as they were pleased to call them, should be inserted. The fitness of thus honoring the memory of Mr. Lewis could not be questioned, whatever might be said of the one whose name had been so long associated with his in delineating the progress of Lynn, the native and ancestral home of both. The sketch referred to will form the basis of the one now in hand. The supercilious autobiographer may magnify his virtues and the over-modest his errors; but the charm lies in the mean, from which, in the present case, there is little inducement to stray.

The subject of this notice was born in Lynn on Christmas day, 1809, in the old Hart house, that stood on Boston Street, at the southwest corner of Federal, the same which, on the Centennial Fourth of July, 1876, disappeared in a patriotic blaze, amid the shouts and cheers of Young America. All his genealogical lines run back to early Lynn settlers. His father was Benjamin Newhall, who was born in 1774 and died in 1857; Benjamin's father was James, born in 1731, died iu 1801; James' father was Benjamin, born in 1698, died in 1763 ; Benjamin's father was Joseph, born in 1658, died in 1706 ; Joseph's father was Thomas, born in 1630, died in 1687 - the first white child born in Lynn. His mother was Sarah, a daughter of Joseph Hart, who descended from Samuel, one of the first engaged at the ancient iron works established near Saugus River in 1643, said to be the first in America. Both his grandmothers were granddaughters of Hon. Ebenezer Burrill, so conspicuous in colonial times as a Eepresentative and Crown Counselor, and who was a brother of John Burrill, the eminent speaker whom Governor Hutchinson compares with Sir Arthur Onslow, who was considered the most able presiding officer the British House of Commons ever had.

At the age of eleven the writer left the paternal roof, with his worldly possessions in a bundle-handkerchief, to make his way in the wide world, his mother having died a year or two before and his fother having a large family to provide for.

But little worthy of mention occurred until the summer of 1824, when, having worked daily and attended various public schools, he entered the Salem Gazette ofl[ice to learn the art and mystery of printing. And it is pleasing to remark that at the present time, 1887, may daily be seen in that venerable establishment the Hon. Caleb Foote, who at that time, 1824, was busy at the compositor's case. Mr. Foote, however, soon after dropped the composing stick for the editorial pen, an implement which he has wielded to this day with rare ability and acceptance. Would that all editors could realize, as he has, the dignity and responsibility of their public relations. His considerate suggestions and helpful directions to the typographical neophyte have, during these three-score years and three, been gratefully remembered.

After serving in the Gazette office for a few years, he felt desirous of gaining a better knowledge of bookprinting than could be done in Salem at that time, and in furtherance of the desire procured a situation in Boston. Things so prospered that before attaining his majority he was installed foreman of one of the principal book offices there, his duties in a general way being to direct the work and read proofs. Of this period many pleasant recollections are retained. In the office were printed a large number of classical and scientific works, and some of the most eminent men of the time frequently dropped in. Anecdotes almost without number of such men as Dr. Channing, Dr. Bowditch, Francis J. Grund, the Cambridge professors, N. P. Willis, Samuel G. Goodrich, and shoals of the less conspicuous, but not less ambitious literary aspirants, could be related.

While still under age, in the roving spirit of young printers, he drifted to New York, and soon after his arrival found employment in the Conference office, the largest then in the city ; and with perhaps a little excusable, if not commendable pride, may refer to his reputation there as being the fastest type-setter iu the establishment. This was in 1829. And he has to the present day so indulged his early love for the printer's case as for many years to keep a font or two of type, wherewith to amuse or occupy a vacant hour. Nearly two thousand stereotype pages can be to-day shown as the fruit of these semi-recreative odds and ends of time, much of the matter having been set up without having been previously written. As to the quality of the literary products, he cannot, of course, speak. It may, however, be admitted in regard to some, at least, that if worth is to be measured by pecuniary return, it was not very great. Yet, on the whole, there has been much reason to be satisfied, looking at a " fair average." Exposure to the undeserved adulation of sympathetic friends and the equally undeserved severity of vindictive critics is supposed to be the fate of all writers, great and small. It is well remembered that once, on the eve of the publication of a notable work, the writer overheard a debate between two of the learned editors, of this said one, naming a writer by no means obscure. " Well, I know that," was the reply, " but he never wrote anything worth a place in our book." "That is true," was the rejoinder; "but the omission would greatly offend him and his friends, and might lead to damaging reviews. We must have something." And something was had, prefaced by a laudatory note. It will, of course, be granted that the most ignorant critic knows more than the most learned author.

At the age of twenty-two the writer returned to his native place, and soon became engaged in the office of the 3Iirror, the first printing establishment in Lynn, commenced about five years before by Charles F. Lummus, and at that time still owned and conducted by him. It was very poorly supplied with material. There was but little work and that not well done, and it was not long before the proprietor had succeeded in sinking the little means with which he began. The writer purchased the office and commenced the publication of another paper, but was soon satisfied that much labor would yield but a scanty return, and was induced to let the new paper speedily follow the fate of the old.

After busying himself for a few years in various ways, chiefly in connection with printing and the book business, and once or twice a year taking a lecturing tour, he again found himself in New York, engaged in the editorial department of a daily journal and in writing for one or two weeklies. Of this interval many agreeable recollections are retained, among them pleasant ones of the genial young gentleman, Walter Whitman, now the world-renowned Walt Whitman, the poet, who was engaged on the same daily ; and the friendly suggestions of the venerable Major M. M. Noah, so long and so fitly called the Nestor of the American press, will not be forgotten.

In 1854, meeting a friend who had for some time been in practice as a member of the Essex bar, he was kindly invited to take a student's seat in his office. The invitation was accepted, and the study of law commenced.

Completing a regular legal course, in May, 1847, he was admitted to the bar in Boston, and forthwith commenced a practice in Lynn, which soon became quite satisfactory. He was presently commissioned as justice of the peace and notary public, which offices he still holds. On the 24th of August, 1866, he was commissioned as Judge of the Lynn Police Court, with which he had been connected as special justice from the time of its establishment, in 1849. He was likewise appointed a trial justice of juvenile oflfenders when that jurisdiction was established. The judgeship he resigned August 24, 1879.

At the time he commenced practice there were but three acting lawyers here, - namely, Jeremiah C. Stickney, Thomas B. Newhall and Benjamin F. Mudge. Mr. Stickney was one of the leading lawyers in the county for many years. He died August 3, 1869, aged sixty-four years. Mr. T. B. Newhall commenced practice here in 1837, and now, 1887, after fifty years, may still be found in his well-worn office chair. Of him a personal sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Mudge opened his office in 1842, removed to Manhattan, Kansas, and died there November 21, 1879, aged sixty-two years. He was our second Mayor, inaugurated in 1852. The number of Lynn lawyers has increased during these forty years (1847-87) from three to about forty, while the population has hardly quadrupled. Is this to be taken as evidence that business has increased in a corresponding degree or as evidence that there has been a remarkably increasing love for litigation ?

To return from this divergence. The subject of this sketch has not been much in public office, excepting as connected with the judicial department, though he has served as chairman of the School Board and president of the Common Council.

In the autumn of 1883, at the age of seventy-three years, he took a tour of several months abroad, visiting a number of famous cities and renowned places in Europe, and extending his trip to interesting Levantine points, to Algiers and Malta, on the Mediterranean ; to Alexandria, Cairo and the Pyramids in Egypt. Though the tour was undertaken alone - for if alone one can, without let or hindrance, go how, when and where he pleases - he everywhere received such gratifying civilities as could only lead to regrets that he had not earlier in life thus experimentally learned that, after all, men everywhere will, on the whole, rather contribute to make others happy than miserable. Such experience increases faith in human nature, and ought to diminish self-conceit.

Being interested in historical researches, he published, in 1836, the "Essex Memorial;" in 1862, "Lin, or Jewels of the Third Plantation;" in 1865, "The History of Lynn," comprising the admirable work of Alonzo Lewis, with a continuation embracing some twenty-one years ; in 1883, an additional volume of the "History of Lynn," with notices of events down to the year of publication and other matter on various topics; in 1876, by desire of the City Council, he prepared the " Centennial Memorial of Lynn," embracing an historical sketch and notices of the mayors, with their portraits; and in 1879, also by desire of the City Council, he prepared the work entitled " Proceedings in Lynn, June 17, 1879, being the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement." To these may not improperly be added the sketches of Lynn, Lynnfield and Swampscott, which appear in this " History of Essex County."

If there is any achievement in a literary way with which the writer fancies that he has reason to be satisfied, it comes through his endeavor to contribute something calculated to allure to habits of industry, frugality, temperance and those concomitant virtues, the sure foundation of prosperity, and the sure way towards honorable position. A great many brief biographies and personal sketches of individuals in the various walks of life have appeared scattered about his pages - whether poorly or skillfully drawn is not the question here - sketches of individuals who have acted well their part in promoting the prosperity and extending the good fame of their home, as well as advancing their individual interests. And these personal sketches have a two-fold purpose: first, to perpetuate the names of deserving ones, and, second, to furnish, by their example, encouragement for others to follow on in a like good way. Yet we should all realize that the attainment of mere worldly fame, position or wealth is not the chief purpose of life, and that at the end we shall find there was no great gain in worshipping false gods all our lives.

One other thing has been attempted by the writer, and that is, to illustrate to some extent the romantic and legendary side of Lynn's history. There is a rich store in that direction, and oftentimes it is difficult to distinguish between truth and fiction or know exactly where to draw the line. But the aim has always been to clearly indicate the character of the matter in hand and lead no one astray.

In October, 1837, the writer was united in marriage with Miss Dorcas B. Brown, only daughter of Captain William Brown, of Salem, and by her had one son, who died at the age of ten, his mother having died soon after his birth. In 1853 he was again married, the second wife being Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of Hon. Josiah Newhall, of Lynn, and that relation still, 1887, remains unsevered.

The writer trusts that nothing in the foregoing will tend to place him in the category indicated by our former townsman, Henry Clapp, when he said of Horace Greeley : " He is a self-made man and worships his maker," for in his life, as has been seen, few stirring incidents have occurred, no extraordinary adventures, no remarkable achievements. Whether anything of value has been accomplished is a question for others to decide. Nevertheless, it may be remarked in a general way that very few who are so long in the world lead such barren lives that nothing of usefulness or interest is found. And not unfrequently is it the case that the lessons to be drawn from the lives of those in the less prominent walks are the most widely useful, for the great multitude are companions in those walks, and can the more readily appreciate the obstacles and perceive the snares that beset the way. Every one feels that he has a hand in shaping his own destiny, though it does seem as if

[Note. - It was editorially suggested that this sketch and the accompanying portrait would more appropriately appear among the lawyers of the County. The privilege of being placed in that august company is fully appreciated, though the superior lustre there might be obscuring. But inasmuch as the writer has had a considerable share in illustrating Lynn's history and always earnestly desired her Godspeed, it seemed to him that the more suitable place was in the company of those whose enterprise, industry and dignity of character have so advanced the prosperity of their home and his.]

Hon. George Hood

The Hood family is among the earliest mentioned in the annals of Lynn, being descended from Richard Hood, who emigrated from Essex County, in England, about 1640, and settled at Lynn. Dying in 1695, he left three sons, - Eichard, John and Nathaniel. Richard, the eldest of these, falling heir to the " Nahant road " property - some thirty acres - now bounded in part by Nahant Street, afterwards exchanged it with Jabez Breed for certain land on the peninsula of Nahant, and went thither to live, and there his descendants have ever since resided. This Richard had a son Abner, who had a son Abner, who married Mary Richardson, and they were the parents of the subject of this sketch. While he was an infant the family removed to Nahant, and there, in the little village school, he received all his youthful intellectual training. He learned the trade of shoemaking, and at the age of twenty-two, in company with John C. Abbott, he went to the then far West to seek his fortune. They directed their course to St. Louis, Mo., at that time, in 1829, a small place. In a few days they were established in business, and within a month Mr. Hood, with a part of their stock, went down to Natchez, Miss., and commenced a branch establishment, which he continued to manage until 1835, the principal business, remaining, meanwhile, at St. Louis. In the last-named year he returned to Lynn and established a commission shoe and leather business in Boston, retaining, however, an interest in the western business till 1841. In his Boston business he continued till the time of his decease.

Lynn

Not long after his return to the East Mr. Hood became active in the political field. He was a very prominent member of the old Democratic party, fought manfully for its interests, and his valuable servicer were acknowledged by his nomination and frequently by his election to various high positions. In addition to town offices, he was several times chosen a Representative to the General Court, and in that of 1843 was a Senator. In the gubernatorial campaign of 1846 he was the Democratic candidate for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, but that party did not prevail, nor, in fact, hope to, the Whig party at that time and for many years dominating the State.

In 1852 Mr. Hood was nominated by his party for a seat in the National House of Representatives, but was not elected, the Whig candidate, as was then usual in this Congressional district, being chosen. In the next year, 1853, Mr. Hood was a member of the convention for revising the Constitution of Massachusetts.

Continuing, meanwhile, his mercantile business, wdiich he prosecuted with vigor and success, he took a very active part in the establishment of the Shoe and Leather Fire Insurance Company, of Boston, in 1853, and was chosen its first president, which office he continued to hold till his resignation, in September, 1858.

Mr. Hood's activity was not confined to business and political affiiirs, but the great social questions of the day found in him an earnest inquirer and practical worker. He manifested a generous sympathy for the laboring classes, and was one of the foremost to break up the old custom of indefinitely protracted labor, and established the so-called ten-hour system, his favorite motto being, - " The greatest good of the greatest number."

In religious matters he was, during his mature years, a prominent and efficient member of the Unitarian denomination, and a constant attendant upon its public worship.

The crowning public work of Mr. Hood was that of his two years' mayoralty. He had been opposed to the adoption of the city form of government, and in the spring of 1849 had successfully led the oi)position to the acceptance of the charter granted by the Legislature of that year. His ground of objection was that a city government was less democratic - using that word in its broadest sense - than that of a town.

But the agitation was continued, and in April, 1850, another charter was granted, which, on April 19th, was accepted by the people. Despite his opposition to the system he was chosen mayor, though by a small majority of about twenty, over his opponent, Thomas Bowler, the veteran town clerk of the preceding twenty years. Mr. Hood was re-elected in March, 1851, by a large majority, which fact was an undeniable tribute to his fidelity and ability. He was a man of much more than ordinary intelligence, and of indomitable industry. Both in his public and his personal affairs he was a logical thinker and a prompt and practical worker. He died on the 29th of June, 1859, and his body is interred in his family lot in Pine Grove Cemetery. Mr. Hood married, September 11, 1833, Hermione, a daughter of Major Aaron Breed, a prominent citizen of Lynn, who for a number of years was a member of the General Court.

Mrs. Hood died January 20, 1887. They had the following children, - Harriet M., George A., Adelaide M., Edwin E., Julius S., Henrietta A., Henry, Caroline P., Aubrey, Ada H., Edward K. and Mary.

Richard Sullivan Fay

Mr. Fay was born in Cambridge June 15, 1806, the son of Hon. Samuel Prescolt Phillips Fay, judge of probate in Middlesex County. He was educated in the schools of that town, and entered college in 1821, being graduated in 1825 with good distinction as a scholar. Among his class-mates were Charles Francis Adams, Rev. Frederick H. Hedge, Rev. S. K. Lothrop, John L. Sibley, Sears C. Walker, and many others who distinguished themselves by useful and honorable service. At the close of his college career he entered upon the study of law, at the law-school in Northampton, when that institution held a high place under the direction of some of the most brilliant lawyers of the commonwealth. He established himself in business in Boston in connection with Jonathan Chapman, who became a leader at the Suffolk bar, and mayor of the city of Boston.

In 1832 Mr. Fay married Catharine Sanders, daughter of the Hon. Dudley L. Pickman, of Salem, and resided many years in Boston, in the diligent and active practice of his profession. In 1848 he took his family to Europe, and after an extensive journey on the Continent, he took up his residence in England, where he resided several years on an estate in Shropshire, known as Moor Park, one of the most beautiful and cultivated of those landed properties of England, in which are combined the elegance and luxury of a well-appointed home, and the best practical system of agriculture.

It was^ undoubtedly this experience in England which increased Mr. Fay's natural love of rural pursuits, and cultivated tTiose tastes which made him an ardent and useful promoter of agriculture in his native State, to which he returned in 1853. He had previously purchased a large estate in Essex County, known as Lynn Mineral Spring Hotel, comprising more than five hundred acres of diversified land, in which fertile valleys, picturesque and rugged hills and a beautiful lakelet were combined. He commenced at once the improvement of this place, now called Lynnraere, by draining the lands and covering the hills with innumerable trees, many of which he planted with his own hands. He imjjorted larches, maples, firs and pines in large quantities, planted acorns constantly in his walks about the estate, and succeeded in converting a rough aud somewhat unattractive landscape into a variegated forest, through which winds an avenue of great beauty, bordered by deciduous and evergreen trees distributed with great taste, and constituting a charming combination of variety and luxuriance of foliage. The forest which Mr. Fay planted has now become a profitable woodland. The bare hills which he covered with Scotch larches, the rude stone walls and the waste pasture where, originally, there was only a growth of red cedars and huckleberry bushes, through which the approach to the house led, have given way to shadetrees of great variety, which now after forty years are in magnificent beauty. Huge rocks were drawn out of the barren soil, now verdant in lawn, grass-fields and rich crops. The place is one of the most picturesque in New England in natural beauty, and in its present condition is a memorial of the taste and genius of the man who developed and added to its attractions.

In addition to this extensive forest and ornamental tree-culture, Mr. Fay encouraged by precept and practice many of the most important branches of agriculture which belong especially to the practical farmer. While in England he had observed the importance attached to sheep-husbandry, for the production of coarse and middle wools, and for the supply of mutton as a healthful and economical article of food, at that time not in general use in this country. He selected from all the heavy and rapid-growing breeds in England the Oxford Downs, as larger than the South Down, and finer than the Ootswold ; and from his large flocks he made for a long time a wide distribution throughout the country. In this branch of agriculture he was considered as authority ; and in connection with it he encouraged the growing of root-crops, the most improved Swedes and Mangolds, which English flock-masters and cattle-breeders consider indispensable to their calling.

To the establishment of market-days in Essex County Mr. Fay gave early and earnest attention, and contributed much instruction on this system of trade, so common in England, through the agricultural press of the country. His attendance at the meeting of farmers was frequent. As a trustee of the Massachusetts Society for ProTnoting Agriculture, in which body, Robert C. Winthrop, George W. Lyman, Chief Justice Bigelow, George Peabody, of Salem, Charles G. Loring, Stephen Salisbury, George B. Loring, Leverett Saltonstall and others were his associates, he did good service, and edited the first issue of the records of the society. As president of the Essex Agricultural Society, he called around that association the most eminent patrons of farming known in the country, and did much to place it in the position it now occupies. He had a sincere love of rural life, and although connected from time to time with business enterprises, he never forgot that agriculture is the foundation of all our prosperity, and that a knowledge of its economies and a taste for its pursuits add much to one's usefulness and happiness.

Mr. Fay was a man of great determination, strong impulse and wide observation. His natural powers were great. Highly favored by fortune, he never lost sight of the efforts required for the development of human enterprises, and was somewhat impatient of those theories which disturbed society and endangered its perpetuity and success. He lived in a time of great transitions, in which, although occupying no official position, he gave strong expression to his views and equal impress to his exertions. Early in the breaking out of the Civil War he organized at his own expense a company known as the Fay Guards, which did brave and honorable service in the great conflict. This company was attached to the Thirtyeighth Massachusetts, and was in the following engagements: Port Hudson, May 17 to July 9, 1863; Cane River, La., April, 1864; Mansion Plains, La., May, 1864; Winchester, Va., September 19, 1864; Fishers Hill, Va., September 21, 1864 ; Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1864. Mr. Fay lived to see the glorious and happy termination of his country's trial,

Henry Newhall

Henry Newhall was descended from one of the oldest and largest families in Lynn, his earliest paternal ancestor, Thomas N. (the son of Thomas, who came from England and settled in 1630), having been the first child born in the town. He was born March 10, 1797, and was the son of Winthrop and Elizabeth (Farrington). Winthrop Newhall was a tanner. Henry, having associated himself with his older brother, Francis S., in the morocco trade and manufacture, became a prominent merchant, the business of the firm being one of the largest in the town, having its headquarters in Lynn and Boston, with a branch house for a short period in New York. In 1850 ill health compelled him to retire from the firm, and it was several yearo, partly occupied in travel at home and abroad, before he was sufficiently restored to resume the responsibilities of business. Upon the death of his brother Francis, president of the Laighton (now Central National) Bank, in 1858, he was elected to the office and continued to hold it until his retirement in 1876, at the advanced age of nearly eighty years.

Henry Newhall belonged to a family marked for intelligence and capacity, and inherited those sterling qualities of mind and character that always command the respect and confidence of a community. His integrity, his quiet but penetrating insight into human nature, his firmness of character, his careful and intel - ligent judgment, together with his kind and friendly spirit, made him a most useful citizen, especially in business circles. He had, also, a broad and vigorous mind, and if there were any deficiencies of early education they were more than made up through his large aud thoughtful reading, his keen appreciation of the best things in thought and life and his unabated interest in human affairs. Few business men were so well-read in the literature of history, politics, biography and fiction. He was never without a book at hand, and little of the current literature that was worth reading escaped his attention. Then he was known for independent and positive opinions, for which he had no lack of courageous and positive expression ; at the same time he was most tolerant and considerate of others. He was a man of great sincerity and plain-spokenness, and his convictions had weight and influence with those with whom he was associated. In business relations he was remarkable for tact and discretion, and it was a matter of common remark that he never obtruded himself upon the interests of others.

One of his especial characteristics was a strong patriotism. And from the first he believed in antislavery, and, though prudent and conservative by nature, was an ardent supporter of the cause of humanity at a time when it was most unpopular. Indeed, he was a patient listener to every reform, an admirer of fair play in the advocacy of opinions and principles, and a believer in the honesty of human nature and the progressive tendencies of society.

In religious matters his convictions were not so much traditional as founded upon the dictates of conscience and reason. Of Quaker extraction, he was one of the leaders of the liberal movement in Lynn which culminated in the formation of the Unitarian Society, of which he was a constant and liberal supporter. The mottoes of his life may be said to have been sincerity, honor and fidelity, good-will and justice towards men, and there was nothing toward which he expressed a severer repugnance than their opposites.

He held few public offices, but was identified with most of the important business institutions of the city, - the Lynn Institution for Savings, the Lynn Gas-Light Company, the old Mechanics' Insurance Company, was president of the Exchange and Lyceum Hall Associations, held a number of offices under the old town government, and was one of the first commissioners of the Lynn City Hall and City Debt Sinking Funds, a benefactor of the Lynn Public Library in fact, a friend and adviser in all the business interests of the city.

In his old age his mind was remarkable for its vigor and clearness, while his warmth and kindliness, his patience with sickness, his serenity and cheerful temper drew around him a host of admiring friends. To the young he was as companionable as to the old. He died July 15, 1878, in his own home, situated upon Naliant Street, upon land that had been occupied by many generations of his ancestors, and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.

Isaiah Breed

Isaiah Breed was born in Lynn October 21, 1786, and was the son of James Breed, of that place. Like his father, he entered into the shoe business and pursued it successfully for nearly fifty years, becoming one of the most extensive and wealthy manufacturers in that busy and thriving town. Mr. Breed was one of the first directors of the Eastern Railroad, and president /or more than thirty years of the Lynn Mechanics' Bank. He was also, at one time, a Representative in the State Legislature, and in 1839 a State Senator. He took an active interest in the welfare of his native town, and was one of the organizers of the Central Congregational Society, of which he was for some years a deacon. He was a liberal, public-spirited man, of great strength of character, and always distinguished in all the relations of life, as not merely an honest man, but one of deep convictions of duty and a high sense of honor. He was one of those sterling men who gave life and spirit to Lynn as a town, and so added to the wealth add population as to finally establish it as a city of enterprise and continuous growth.

D. C. Baker

The immediate ancestors of Daniel Collins Baker lived in Dighton, Mass., and were engaged in farming. Elisha Baker left his father's farm at an early age and went to Lynn, where he married Ruth, daughter of Samuel Collins. Both Mr. and Mrs. Baker were members of the Society of Friends. He had five children, of whom Daniel Collins, the oldest son and the subject of this sketch, was born in Lynn October 12, 1816. His early education was such as the town school of his native town, under the care of Master Hobbs, afforded, and afterwards, for a year and a half, he attended as pupil the Friends' Boarding School at Providence, R. I. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to the shoemaking trade, to which he applied himself with such an earnest desire to master its details that while yet a young man he established himself in the manufacture of shoes on his own account, and by his industry and skill soon built up a successful business.

From the manufacture of shoes he became interested in the leather and shoe finding trade, and became a partner in the firm of F. S. Newhall & Co., of Boston, in that business. In later years he resumed the manufacture of shoes, and at the time of his death was doing business in the South, having a shoe house established in New Orleans. He died in New Orleans July 19, 1863, whither he had gone to gather up something of the fortune which the war had scattered and swept away. He married, December 19, 1838, Augusta, daughter of John B. Chase, of Lynn, and had three children, - William E., who married Lydia M. Marshall, and is an esteemed and successful merchant in Lynn ; Helen A., who married A. Mitchel Collins, of Georgia ; and Sarah E., who is unmarried.

Mr. Baker, aside from his legitimate business, always felt a deep interest in public affairs, and possessed qualities specially fitting him for their administration. In earlier times he was an active member of the Whig party, and his services were acknowledged by his nomination and election to various prominent positions. As a member of the Whig State Central Committee, which was always 'composed of the most useful men in the different sections of the State, he performed his full share in promoting the interests of the political organization which it represented. In 1849 and 1850 he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate, and in 1852 was a Presidential elector, and cast his vote for Win field Scott. He took a leading part in the controversy, which resulted in the adoption of the act incorporating the city of Lynn, passed April 10, 1850, and as a friend of the charter was chosen a member of the first Common Council, and made its president. In 1853 he was chosen mayor over John B. Alley, his opposing candidate. In both of these positions he exhibited the highest qualities of an executive and presiding oflScer, and won the confidence and respect of both political friends and opponents.

As president of the Council his services were especially valuable in putting the wheels of municipal machinery, in the first year of the life of the city, successfully in motion. As a speaker he was logical and effective, and always ready without apparent preparation. As an administrator of public affairs, he was as prudent and economical as he was liberal and free in his private life. The public schools of the city reaped the advantages of the warm interest he felt in their welfare ; perhaps all the warmer because his own opportunities for education in early life were not such as he felt every youth should possess.

He was also a member of the Bunker Hill Association, and his fondness for decorative gardening and for the choicest fruits and flowers, led him to become a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and enabled him to do a good work in developing and cultivating higher tastes among those about him.

As a wise and careful financial manager Mr. Baker was recognized by those in charge of money institutions, and his services were sought as director of the

Exchange Bank of Boston on its establishment in 1847, and as president of the Howard Banking Company of that city, when it went into operation in 1853.

Though many years have elapsed since his death, he is remembered for his genial disposition, his generous impulses and his large benevolence, which endeared him to his neighbors and friends, and for the faithful and competent service in the performance of every public trust.

Ezra Warren Mudge

Ezra Warren Mudge was born in Lynn December 5, 1811, and was the son of Ezra and Ruth (Chadwell) Mudge, of that town. Ezra Mudge, the father, was born in Lynn April 10, 1780. He was first a shoe manufacturer, then a dealer in dry-goods in Lynn, afterwards a wholesale and retail dealer in shoes in New York City, and later a weigher and gager in the Custom-House in Boston, where he died May 25 1855. He served the town of Lynn for sixteen years as Eepresentative from 1807, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1820, a member of the Council, and was, in the War of 1812, the captain of the Lynn Artillery Comj^any, in the formation of which he was specially active. He married, first, June 28, 1801, Betsey, daughter of Captain John and Mary Brewer, of Salem ; second, December 20, 1804, Ruth, daughter of Harris and Ruth Chadwell ; and third, November 1, 1819, Hannah Bartlett, daughter of Lemuel and Sarah (Bartlett) Drew, of Plymouth. By his second wife he had Ezra Alden, November 17, 1805; Eliza Brewer, November 5, 1806; Ruth Chadwell, May 9, 1809; Ezra Warren, Decembers, 1811 ; Nathan and Hannah, twins, September 12, 1814; and- Sarah Wiggin, March 2, 1819. By his third wife he had Lemuel Drew, August 6, 1820 ; William B., May 3, 1822 ; Hervey Mackay, October 3, 1823 ; Sarah Elizabeth, May 25, 1825; Sarah Caroline, January 1, 1827 ; Jane and Evelina, twins, March 14, 1829 ; Mary Evelina, November 21, 1830 ; Maria Augusta, March 2, 1833 ; and Robert Rich, June 14, 1835.

The father of Ezra Mudge was Nathan Mudge, who was born in Lyunfield September 21, 1756. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in Lynn February 8, 1831.

The father of Nathan was John Mudge, who was born in Maiden December 30, 1713. He was a farmer, and settled in Maiden, but afterwards removed to Lynnfield. He married, May 4, 1738, Mary, daughter of Samuel and Anna Waite, of Maiden, and had Samuel, March 22, 1739 ; Mary, April 20, 1740 ; Lydia, February 28, 1742; John, December 3, 1743; Simon, April 8,1748; Ezra, April 7, 1752; Enoch, August 1, 1754; Nathan. September 21, 1756; Samuel, February 1, 1759. He died in Lynnfield November 26, 1762.

The father of John was John Mudge, who was born in Maiden November 21, 1686. He was a farmer, and always lived in Maiden. By a wife, Lydia, he had John, December 30, 1713 ; Joseph, May 28, 1716 ; Lydia, January 7, 1718-19. He died in Maiden November 26, 1762.

The father of the last John was John Mudge, who was born in Maiden in 1654. He was a farmer and tanner, and always lived in Maiden. He married, in 1684, Ruth, daughter of Robert and Hannah Burditt, of Maiden, and had John, October 15, 1685; John again, November 21, 1686 ; and Martha, December 25, 1691. He died in Maiden October 29, 1733.

The father of the last John was Thomas Mudge, who was born in England about the year 1624, and was in Maiden as early as 1654. By wife, Mary, he had James; Mary, 1651 ; Thomas, 1653 ; John, 1654 ; George, 1656 ; Samuel, 1658 ; Jonathan and Martha, 1662.

Ezra Warren Mudge, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools and the Lynn Academy. He first partially learned the book-binder's trade in Fall River, and in 1828 entered the dry-goods store of Chase & Huse as clerk, where he remained until 1838, when he took the business and conducted it alone until 1842, at which time he became partner in the house of William Chase & Co. In 1849, when the Laighton Bank was incorporated, he was selected as its cashier, and he continued to hold that office until 1868, three years after the bank became the Central National, when, on account of failing health, he resigned.

Mr. Mudge was a selectman of Lynn in 1843 and 1844, a member of the school committee in 1843, '46, '56 and '57, town treasurer, treasurer of the city for six years after its incorporation, and in 1856 and '57 was mayor of the city. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1862, "63 and '64, a member of the board of trustees at its organization in 1862, and its president in 1865. His religious views were those of the Universalists, and he was one of the founders of the First and Second Universalist Societies of Lynn.

Notwithstanding the early training of Mr. Mudge was purely a business one, he was by nature a man of refinement, to whom habits of elevated thought naturally came, and he early in life formed habits of study, which moulded him into a man of literary taste and more than ordinary culture. His honorable and thorough business methods, controlling the routine of his active life, were supplemented by the graces and jjleasures which attach to a life of study. He was a thoroughly rounded man, and when he died, September 20, 1878, if it can ever be said of any one, it can be said of him that death closed a finished life.

Mr. Mudge married, January 23, 1836, Eliza R., daughter of John and Margaret Bray, of Salem, and had Ezra Warren, April 18, 1837 ; William Ropes, July 18, 1839; Mary Chadwell, August 13, 1841; Hervey Mackay, October 6, 1843 ; Howard Murray, December 9, 1845 ; Florence Howard, November 28, 1850 ; Arthur Bartlett, December 14, 1853 ; Benjamin Gushing, February 10, 1856; and Kate Gertrude, June 30, 1857.

Mrs. Eliza R. Mudge, the widow of Mr. Mudge, has since died, and the living children are Dr. Arthur Bartlett Mudge and Benjamin Cushing Mudge, both living in Lynn, and Florence Howard and Kate Gertrude, the latter of whom is a practicing physician in Salem.

Benjamin Cushing Mudge was educated in the common schools and gi'aduated at the Lynn High School. He afterwards entered the Institution of Technology, Boston, and graduated in 1867, taking the degree of S.B.

Mr. Cushing was four years assistant agent of the Washington Mills, Lawrence, Mass., which are the largest in the world. He started the selling agency of the Dean Steam-Pump Company, Boston, and built up a very large business, was then called to the Boston office of the hydraulic works of Henry R. Worthington, becoming their New England salesagent, increasing their business five-fold, in addition, organizing and constructing from four to five large water companies each year, and is now officiating as their treasurer. He has recently been elected the president and director of Pascoag and Webster Railway Company of Rhode Island.

Mr. Davis was born in Lynn, on the 22d of June, 1808. His parents were Hugh and Elizabeth (Bachelor) Davis, the latter being a descendant from Rev. Stephen Bachelor, first minister of the Lynn Church, settled in 1632.

The subject of this sketch received his education partly in the public schools of Lynn and partly in the academy ; which latter he left in 1826. He was soon after appointed clerk of Lynn Mechanics' Bank, and in that position remained till he became of age. His health being now such that a change of residence seemed desirable, he removed to Philadelphia, and commenced business as a commission merchant. There he remained till 1833, when Nahant Bank was established ; and being offered a position in that institution, accepted, and returned to his native place. In the bank and in the Union Insurance Company he continued till 1837, and then resigned.

Soon after leaving the bank he began business as a shoe manufacturer, but relinquished that and returned to the institution on being appointed cashier, and remained till its affairs were finally closed up. He then spent several years of enforced idleness on account of ill health, though occupying a part of the time as book-keeper. Subsequently he was appointed to a place in the United States Bonded Warehouse, in Boston. In 1861 he entered as a clerk in the State Auditor's office, and from that time to the present he has remained in the same department, filling the offices of first and second clerk.

Mr. Davis was, in early manhood, something of a military man ; was in 1835 elected major of the Regiment of Light Infantry attached to the First Brigade of Essex County, and remained in commission as major and lieutenant-colonel, most of the time in command, till 1843.

He was one of the early adherents to the antislavery cause, and never deserted it. The " Lynn Colored People's Friend Society " was organized in 1832, having "for its object the abolition of slavery in the United States, the improvement of the character and condition of the free blacks and the acquisition to the Indians and blacks of the enjoyment of their natural rights in an equal participation of civil privileges with white men." In 1835 this society numbered one hundred and eighty-five members, and we find Mr. Davis named as corresponding secretary.

In 1838, being an active member of the old Whig party, Mr. Davis was elected Representative to the General Court, and soon after the formation of our city government was elected to the Council. In 1852, '53, '56 and '57 he was president of the Common Council. It was in 1859 and 1860 that he was called to fill the mayor's chair, and down to the last date had been six years ex-officio member of the school committee. In 1834 he was commissioned as a notary public, and in 1837 as a justice of the peace, which last office he now fills.

In his religious views Mr. Davis has, from his youth, been a consistent Episcopalian ; and that church is indebted to him, probably, more than to any other, for its establishment in this place. From the organization in 1834, until the present time, he has continued to manifest his devotion to her by labor and by pecuniary contribution, and in the parish of St. Stephen's still continues in an important ofiicial position.

During his administration as mayor several projects of public interest were accomplished. The city debt was funded ; the first street railroad located ; the more systematic grading of the public schools commenced ; and the substitution of brick schoolhouses for those of wood decided on - two of the former material being erected while he was in office. But perhaps the most notable, at least the most stirring event, was the great shoemakers' strike, which commenced in February, 1860. No occurrence of the kind in this part of the country, probably, ever before created such a sensation. The whole country seemed to have their eyes momentarily turned on Lynn, and through the daily journals and illustrated weeklies her travail was magnified to an extent far beyond what was dreamed of in her own borders. Nevertheless, it was a serious affair, and required the exercise of prudence and coolness in its management. The city was in a ferment for some seven weeks ; processions were frequently moving along the streets ; large meetings were held ; and the drum could be heard at almost any hour. After all, however, there was little actual violence committed. The object of the strikers was the same that is common in all such movements, namely, the obtaining of more adequate remuneration for labor ; and perhaps, on the whole, the occurrence was not injurious to the general interests of the place. During this disturbance Mayor Davis, by his prudence, foresight and forbearance, often exercised against the strong urgency of those in favor of more forcible measures, probably saved the city from the odium of violence, and himself and friends from lasting regrets.

The habits of Mr. Davis were somewhat retiring, and he may be said to lead the life of a thinker quite as much as that of an actor. Having a taste for literature, he has collected, doubtless, the largest and most valuable private library in the city ; and among his books he spends many pleasant and studious hours. He has also collected a variety of interesting objects of fine art. Agreeable manners, intelligence and freedom from low prejudices mark his daily walk ; and few can spend many hours in his society and not feel improved.

In 1836 be married Elvira, daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Martha (Chadwell) Newhall, both belonging to old Lynn families, but has no children.

Mr. Davis took great pride in the Lynn Public Library, and rendered to it valuable service. He was first elected trustee in 1878, and in 1880 became chairman of the board, which position he held until his death. He was a member of the Historic Genealogical Society, and of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in both of which institutions he manifested a lively interest. His acquaintance with public men, authors, artists, clergymen and politicians, was quite extended, and h's correspondence very large. It is said he preserved a copy of every letter he has written for half a century. His death, though not unexpected, will be most sincerely regretted, not only in his native city but by many in distant places. It may be said of him that all his acquaintances were his friends, and the death of such a man is felt as a loss by the whole community.

Stephen N. Breed

The subject of this memoir was one of Lynn's most honest citizens. He was a man of sterling integrity of character, independent in his habits of thought, and fearless, though not ostentatious, in the utterance of his opinions, whether those opinions had received the stamp of public approval, or Avhether their advocacy subjected him to the adverse criticism of the majority.

He naturally, therefore, took kindly to the reforms of the day, carefully discriminating between the narrow and visionary schemes of so-called reformers, and those measures of social improvement that base their demands upon the principles of justice that appeal to man's uncorrupted moral sense. His wide reading had taught him that majorities were often wrong, and that of necessity reform must begin with the minority. Whatever such a view cost him, he was willing to bear.

Accordingly he was found in the ranks of the abolitionists when to be such made men sneer and raise the cry of fanatic. While he well knew that the world would not hear too much reform at once, he realized that such an essential villainy as human slavery struck at the fundamental rights of man. Therefore he was a Garrisonian abolitionist, though never standing on the extreme non-voting ground ; being a decided Whig in his early years, and later an earnest supporter of the Republican party. No compromise must be made with slavery, no toleration must be given to it, nothing but its destruction would meet the demands of justice.

Mr. Breed was a member of the old Silsbee Street Debating Society, so famous in our local annals, and occasionally took part in the debates ; but he usually preferred to listen. He had a fine sense of humor, and though undemonstrative in its manifestation, the few who knew him well saw how clearly he perceived the incongruities which lie at the root of man's humorous instincts, and how keenly he appreciated any demonstrations that presented the witty side of human nature. He was a genial, instructive companion. His tenacious memory furnished him with a storehouse of facts and reminiscences running back to the early years of the century.

Mr. Breed was born and bred in the Quaker communion, but in early life became a regular attendant at the Unitarian Church just then organized, until the establishment of the Free Church, when he attended the ministry of Samuel Johnson. In the later years of his life he again attended the Unitarian Church. He never dogmatized in matters of religion, feeling assured that there were many things concerning it which he did not know, and many more about which there was more or less uncertainty.

His prudent habits and sound judgment gave him marked success in business. He took charge of the lumber trade established by his father - an industry then in its infancy - and laid the foundations of what became in after years, with the aid of his sons, one of the most extensive retail lumber establishments in New England, yielding its owner an ample fortune. He was a man of strict business integrity, and he will be long remembered by the multitude of his patrons, for the unpretending kindness of his manners, and for his leniency when misfortune made them his debtors.

Mr. Breed was a son of James and Phebe (Nichols) Breed, and was born in 1806. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick and Betsey Breed, and had six children, viz. : Mary Elizabeth, James F., Albert H., Harriet M., Stephen F. and Ella F. Of these four are living, viz. : James F., Albert H., Stephen F. and Harriet M., now Mrs. Walcott. Mr. Breed died April 8, 1886.

Isaac Newhall

One of Lynn's prominent and widely-known citizens, was born January 4, 1814, and died February 22, 1879. He was a native of Lynn and of Quaker parentage, his mother being one of the eminent preachers of that denomination.

Mr. Newhall was greatly instrumental in advancing the welfare and prosperity of the city, and was at all times interested in the municipal affairs of the city, beingamember of the Board of Aldermen in 1851 and 1875 ; and the present success of many institutions and enterprises in Lynn is due to his indefatigable efforts, particularly the building of the Lynn City Street Railway, of which he was a director.

He was a man of indomitable will and perseverance. He was singularly constituted as a business man, and pursued an independent course, apparently regardless of public opinion. He had decided opinions and was not inclined to court the good opinion or the favor of only his intimate friends, apparently courting opposition, and he seemed to take great pleasure in combating public sentiment. In public and local affairs he interested himself earnestly, having filled various public positions, rarely going with the current, at times advocating sentiments adverse to those expected from a man of his comprehension and intelligence.

He was unostentatious, while frugality and abstemiousness characterized him through life, and his faith in the future welcomed the end. He early engaged in the shoe business and became one of Lynn's largest and successful manufacturers. Later still, after machinery became necessary, he kept up with the progress of the age, until, becoming largely interested in real estate operations, he gradually left the shoe business, occasioned, no doubt, by failing health, suffering intensely from neuralgia.

which no medical or surgical skill could alleviate. The last few weeks of his life were weeks of intense suffering, which he bore with remarkable patience and Christian resignation. No complaint would fall from

James M. Nye, M.D.

The old town of Salisbury, one of the most historic sections of the Commonwealth, has been prolific in the number of her sons who have attained hongrable and leading positions among their fellow-men. Such an one is the subject of this sketch - Dr. James M.

Dr. Nye came to Lynn in 1841 and established himself in the practice of his profession, which he continued with marked success until his death. He was ever alive to the interests of his adopted city, and all measures tending to advance its welfare found in him an earnest advocate. His genial disposition, large sympathies and acknowledged skill in his profession, soon gained him an extensive practice, and his benevolence was plainly manifest in the large numbers of poor people whom he attended professionally, receiving no compensation except that arising from the inner consciousness of having performed a charily pleasing to himself and in accordance with the divine teachings of which he was, through lile, a consistent

Dr. Nye manifested a deep interest in educational matters and served for several years, with ability and honor, upon the school-board of Lynn, resigning his position only when compelled to by the pressure of his professional duties. His interest in matters of education was not alone confined to Lynn, but extended to the freedmen of the South, for whom he supported several teachers during the last years of

Dr. Nye was a consistent Christian, and during his residence of thirty-one years in Lynn he was one of the most prominent members of the First Baptist Church, and an earnest worker in its behalf. He was superintendent of the Sunday-school and clerk of the society for a long period. Modest and unassuming in his disposition, strictly moral in his character, upright in his dealings with others, he left the example of a true Christian gentleman, and died one of Lynn's most esteemed and honored citizens.

Dr. Nye was born September 26, 1818, and died April 21, 1872. He married Hannah C. Peaslee, of Newton, N. H., June 29, 1842, who still survives him.

John B. Alley

John B. Alley belongs to one of the oldest Essex County families, and is descended from Hugh Alley, who, with his brother John, settled in Lynn in 1634.

Hugh Alley was a farmer, and exhibited the same energy, activity and shrewdness which have characterized his descendents. He is believed to have been the first to take up land, and settle on it, in that part of Lynn which is now Nahant. The grandfather and great-grandfather of Mr. Alley inherited from their ancestor a desire for the possession of land, and were the largest owners of that kind of property in Lynn. John Alley, the father of Mr. Alley, and son of Hugh Alley, lived in Lynn, as did all his ancestors, and was a thriving business man. He married Mercy, daughter of Jonathan Buffum, of Salem, and sister of the late Jonathan Buffum, of Lynn, who for many years was one of its honored and distinguished citizens. Mr. Alley was born in Lynn January 7, 1817, and attended the public schools of that town. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a shoe manufacturer, and at nineteen received the gift of his time. At this early age he displayed those habits of industry and fidelity which have mai'ked every step of his successful career. Possessing by nature a clear head, a cool temperament, a sound intellect and a good judgment, he knew that to succeed in life, industry and fidelity were the only remaining requisites for success.

Immediately, or soon, after the close of his apprenticeship he went to Cincinnati, and there purchased a flat-boat, which he loaded with merchandise and carried to New Orleans. In so young a man the enterprise and skill essential to profitable results in such an undertaking are unusual. But they were possessed by Mr. Alley, and it may be truly said that the fruits of this expedition, with the lesson of selfreliance which it taught him, laid the foundation of the fortune, which he has since acquired.

At the age of twenty-one he returned to Lynn and began the manufiicture of shoes. In five years, at the age of twenty-six, he was the owner of one of the largest enterprises in a city full of active, bol-d, shrewd men, with whom he had entered on a race for wealth. In 1847 he established a house in Boston for the sale of hides and leather, and was the acknowledged peer of the most successful men in the trade. At various times he has been the senior partner in the firm of Alley, Choate & Cummings, the firm of John B. Alley & Co., in which Griffin Place, an able and successful man, was the partner, and more recently in the firm of Alley Bros. & Place, in which the two sons of Mr. Alley and Mr. Place were the partners. In 1886 this last firm was dissolved, and after a business career of forty-eight years Mr. Alley retired, leaving with his former partners a special capital for the continuance of the business. He is now absent on a European tour, enjoying his first vacation in a life of seventy years, free from the burdens and responsibilities of a business which required his constant and conscientious attention and care.

Aside from his legitimate career as a merchant, he has always felt a deep interest in public affairs, and in large operations involving heavy responsibilities, requiring heroic courage, and promotive of the welfare and growth of the country. In his earlier years, before the birth of what was called the Free-Soil party, in 1848, he was attached to the Liberty party, imbibing as he did from the Society of Friends, with which his father was associated, anti-slavery sentiments, which never abated until, by the proclamation of President Lincoln, the slave was made free. At the Presidential election in 1848, when Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams were the Free-Soil candidates for President and Vice-President, he was one of the candidates for electors on the Free-Soil ticket. In 1851, during the administration of Governor Boutwell, he was one of the Executive Council. In 1852 he was in the State Senate, serving as chairman of the Committee on Railroads. In 1853 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and for several years was an active and influential member of the Republican State Central Committee. In 1858 he was chosen Representative to Congress, serving four terms, during two of which he performed with industry and ability the duties of chairman of the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. His service in Congress covered the whole period of the war, and no man of the Massachusetts delegation was more devoted and faithful to jjublic duties. His speeches, though not frequent, were well-timed and always clear, well-expressed, strong and persuasive. Those more worthy than others of mention were a speech delivered on the 30th of April, 1860, vindicating the Republican party, one delivered on the 26th of January, 1861, on public affairs, one delivered January 23, 1862, on the State of the Union, and one on the 6th of February of the same year, on the Treasury Note Bill.

Mr. Alley was one of the first to appreciate the remarkable qualities of John A. Andrew. Mr. Andrew had been a member of the House of Representative of Massachusetts in the winter of 1860, and was little known by the people at large until, in the latter part of the session, Caleb Cushing, who was a member, took occasion, in a speech as remarkable for beauty of diction and powerful logic as for its peculiar spirit and sentiment, to arraign the Republican party for a want of loyalty to the Union. As when Hayne delivered his eloquent speech in the Senate of the United States, and Massachusetts men wondered how and by whom he would be answered, so the Republican members of the Legislature listened with amazement to this Democratic champion, and though they knew he must be answered, they knew not from whose lijis the answer would come. But they were not doomed to be disappointed. After the recess at the noonday hour John A. Andrew rose, as Webster rose in the Senate, with the assured air of defiance on his brow, but with his clansmen full of doubt. But the power and eloquence were in him, and the time had for the first time come for their full display. It is sufficient to siy that with a triumphant oratory rarely heard Mr. Cushing was answered, and the party of which from that time John A, Andrew was the champion was nobly vindicated. In the autumn of that year he was chosen Governor of the commonwealth, and in defending from attacks made on the floor of Congress, Mr. Alley said, in his speech of Jatiuary, 1861 : " Massachusetts has had twenty-one Governors since the adoption of her State Constitution, in 1780, all of them able and distinguished, some of them illustrious, but in everything which constitutes true greatness of character and mind, not one among them all, in my judgment, was the superior of John A.Andrew."

This encomium, as extravagant as it seemed at the time, showed Mr. Alley to possess an insight into character then shared by few, so far as Andrew was concerned, and his words have been more than vindicated in the universal judgment of men.

Since the retirement of Mr. Alley from Congress he has been engaged with others in large railroad enterprises in the West and South. His connection with the Union Pacific is well known, and since the completion of that gigantic undertaking he has been more especially interested in railroad extensions in Iowa and Texas. Mr. Alley is one of that body of courageous men to whose capital the country is indebted for the development of a vast section, which, without facilities of travel and transportation, would be still looking to the future for its prosperity and wealth. Nor has the investment of his capital been confined to railroads. He has become also largely connected with land property in New Mexico, and is to-day the largest owner in three ranches which together contain more than forty thousand head of cattle. It is needless to say that he is a very wealthy man, and that his wealth is exceeded by that of few in the State.

Edward Newhall

Edward Newhall, son of John and Delia (Breed) Newhall, was born in Lynn, July 22, 1822, His family belonged to the society of Friends, and his early education was received at the Friends' Institute, in Providence. In 1845 he began the study of medicine under Dr. C. H. Nichols, since distinguished as the superintendent of the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum, in the city of New York. He afterwards entered the Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1848. The next two years he spent in Europe attending lectures and walking the hospitals in Paris and as a student in the famous Lying-in Hospital of Dublin. lu 1850 he returned home and settled in Lynn, where his thorough medical education and devotion to his profession soon secured to him a wide I'eputation and practice. He is held in no less esteem by his professional brethren than by the community in which he lives, and has been presi-

He married, October 23, 1853, Eliza F. Beaumont, of Canton, Mass., who died in June, 1870, having been the mother of three sons and one daughter. In 1873 he married Mrs. M. A. (Field) Saunderson, of Quincy, Mass., by whom he had two sons and a daughter. Dr. Newhall, now sixty -five years of age, is still possessed of a physical and mental vigor which years have not impaired, and he neither seeks nor needs any relaxation from his continuous and arduous professional work.

Edward Winslow Hincks

Edward Winslow Hincks was born in Bucksport, Me., May 30, 1830. He was the son of Captain Elisha Hincks, who was born in Provincetown, Mass., September 28, 1800, and who was lost at sea January 14, 1831. In 1802 the father of Elisha removed with his family to Buckstown (now Bucksport), and there Elisha was brought up, and married, October 9, 1824, Elizabeth Hopkins, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah (Rich) Wentworth, of Orrington, Me., and had the following children : Temperance Ann, April 23, 1826 ; Elisha Albert, May 1, 1828 ; Edward Winslow, May 30, 1830.

The father of Elisha was Elisha Hincks, who was born in Truro, Mass., July 14, 1774, and died in North Bucksport, Me., March 15, 1851. In early life he followed the sea, but in April, 1802, he, with his family and brothers, Winslow and Jesse, removed from Provincetown, where they then lived, to Buckstown (now Bucksport), Me. There he bought wild land, Avhich he cleared and improved, and on which he died. He married fir^t, in March, 1796, Temperance, daughter of Sylvanus and Hannah (Cole) Smith, of Eastham, Mass., and had Anna, born in Provincetown January 11, 1797. He married second, December 22, 1799, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Anna (Rich) Treat, of Truro, and had Elisha, September 28, 1800 ; Temperance Smith, born in Bucksport June 24, 1803; Mary, July 30, 1805; Sarah, January 30,1807; William Treat, March 30, 1809 ; Sylvanus Treat, November 21, 1810; Hannah, August 5, 1812; Naomi, May 16, 1816; Ezekiel Franklin, August 10, 1820.

The father of the last Elisha was Samuel Hinckes, who was born in Portsmouth, N. H., about 1728, and shortly removed with his father to Boston, and there lived until 1753. He afterwards taught school in Truro, where he married, about 1756, Susanna, daughter of Jonathan Dyer, of Truro, and where he continued to live until 1795, when he removed to Bucksport, and there died in 1806.

date, and graduated at Harvard in 1701. In 1716, while a resident in Portsmouth, he was sent as a Representative of the province of New Hampshire to the Indians at the eastward, was a captain in the Indian wars and commanded Fort Mary, at Winter Harbor, from 1722 to 1727, when he removed to Boston. He died in Portsmouth shortly after 1753. He married Elizabeth (Winslow) Scott, a widow, previous to 1715. Elizabeth Winslow was a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Winslow, and granddaughter of John Winslow, who married Mary Chilton, one of the passengers in the " Mayflower".

The father of the last Samuel was John Hinckes, who came from England about 1670, who was Councilor for the province of New Hampshire and assistant in the Court of Chancery from 1683 to May 25, 1686, when he became a Councilor in the government of President Joseph Dudley, having been named for the office by James the Second, in his commission to Dudley, dated October 8, 1685. He was also chief justice of the Court of Pleas and General Sessions in New Hampshire from 1686 to 1689. In 1692 he was named as Councilor of New Hampshire and made president of the Council. In 1699 he was appointed chief justice of the Superior Court, and remained in office as Councilor and chief justice until 1708. He was living in New Castle, N. H., in 1722, and had deceased April 25, 1734. He married, at an unknown date, Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel and Christian Fryer, and had Samuel, a daughter who married a Gross, Christian, Barbara, Sarah and probably Elizabeth.

Edward Winslow Hincks, the subject of this sketch, having received the rudiments of his education in the public schools of his native town, in 1845, at fifteen years of age, removed from Bucksport to Bangor, Me., where he served as an apprentice in the office of the Bangor Daily Whig and Courier until 1849, when he removed to Boston, where he was engaged in the j^rinting and publishing business until 1856. He was a Representative from the city of Boston in the Legislature of 1855, and in the same year was a member of the City Council from the Third Ward. Early in 1856 he was appointed a clerk in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and prepared for publication the State census of 1855. He remained in the secretary's office until the firing upon Fort Sumter, employing his leisure hours in the study of law, with the intention of making that his profession, being encouraged and assisted in his purpose by Hon. Anson Burlingame, of whom he was an ardent friend and supporter. Having removed to Lynn in 1856, he was chosen librarian of the Lynn Library Association, and until the outbreak of the war actively promoted the interests of that organization, whose collection of books subsequently became the nucleus of the present Public Library in that city. He was also prominently connected with the Sabbath-school of the First Baptist Church in

Lynn. On the 18tli of August, 1859, he was appointed adjutant of the Eighth Eegiraent of Massachusetts Militia, - the Essex County regiment.

This appointment, trivial as it no doubt seemed at the time, proved the turning-point in his life, and was the opening door to a military career in which he won lasting fame.

At the outbreak of the war he was placed by this appointment in a position whose duties he had performed with enthusiasm, and from which he could reasonably hope to receive advancement. On the 18th of December, 1860, he wrote to General Anderson, then stationed at Fort Moultrie, the following letter, which shows him to have been the first volunteer of the war :

"Major; In case of attack upon your command by the State (or would-be nation) of South Carolina, will you be at liberty to accept volunteers to aid in the defence of Fort Moultrie ?

"lam confident that a large body of volunteers, from this vicinity, can be put afloat at short notice to aid in the defence of the post entrusted to your command, if necessity shall demand and the authorities permit it.

"Indeed, the men who have repeatedly responded to the call of the authorities to protect the officers of the law in their work of securing to the owners, from whom it had escaped, the chattel property of the South, will never hesitate to respond to a call to aid a meritorious officer of our Federal Republic, who is engaged not only in protecting our national property, but in defending the honor of our country and the lives of our countrymen.

"Sir : I thank you, not only for myself, but for the brave little band that are under me, for your very welcome letter of the 18th in.st., asking whether, in case I am attacked, I woirld be at liberty to accept volunteer aid in the defence of Fort Moultrie.

" When I inform you that my garrison consists of only si.xty effective men ; that we are in a very indifferent work, the walls of which are only about fourteen feet high, and that we have within one hundred and sixty yards of our walls sand hills which command our work, and afford admirable sites for batteries and the finest covers for sharp-shooters ; and that, besides this, there are numerous houses, some of them within pistol-shot, you will at once see that if attacked by a force headed by any one but a simpleton, there is scarce a possibility of our being able to hold out long enough to enable our friends to come to our succor.

'- Your letter, which I received two days before I moved over to Fort Sumter, was the first proffer of aid which was made me whilst in Charleston Harbor.

On the 15th of April, 1861, when the news was received of the attack on Fort Sumter, he hastened to Boston, and tendered his services to Governor Andrew, and at the same time urged the acceptance of the Eighth Regiment as a part of the contingent of fifteen hundred men called for by the President. His offer of service was accepted, and his request at once complied with. Under orders promptly issued, he, that evening, rode to Lynn, Salem, Beverly and Marblehead, and despatched messenger to Newburyport and Gloucester, notifying the various companies of his regiment to rendezvous in Boston for instant duty. The next morning, April 16th, he marched into Faneuil Hall with three companies from Marblehead, the first troops in the country en route for the seat of war.

On the 17th of April he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Regiment, which marched on the 18th for Washington. At Annapolis, Md., on the 21st of April, a detachment from the regiment, under command of Colonel Hincks, boarded the frigate "Constitution," then lying aground, and first lightening her of her guns, floated her and worked her to sea. Leaving the ship at midnight, he learned the next morning from General Butler that Colonel Lefferts, of the New York Seventh Regiment, had, after consultation with his officers, declined to advance his command and take possession of the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, through apprehension of an overpowering rebel force. He at once said to General Butler: "Give me the selection of two companies for the purpose and I will perform the duty." He was at once placed in command of a detachment consisting of Captain Knott V.Martin's Marblehead company. Captain Geo. T. Newhall's I;yun company and several picked men, engineers and mechanics from other companies under command of Lieutenant Hodges, of Newburyport, and marched to the station, of which he took possession, with the rolling stock, materials, books, papers, etc., there found. Without delay he began the work of repair on the engines and track, the former having been disabled and the latter seriously broken up. During the first day an advance of five miles was made, and after a night's bivouce the work was resumed and continued until the road was in running order. For this service the regiment received the thanks of Congress in the following resolve :

"Resolved, That the thanks of this House are hereby presented to the Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, for their alacrity in responding to the call of the President, and for the energy and patriotism displayed by them in surmounting obstacles upon sea and land, which traitors had interposed to impede their progress to the defence of the

Reaching Washington on the 26th of April, Colonel Hincks was that day appointed a second lieutenant of cavalry in the regular army, the only rank in which, at that time, an officer could enter the regular service. From the date of his entrance into the regular army his military history is borne on the records of the office of the adjutant-general, as follows :

" Appointed second lieutenant Second Cavalry April 2G, 18G1 ; colonel Eighth Massachusetts Volunteers May 16, 1861 ; colonel Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers August 3, 18G1 ; brigadier-general United States Volunteers November 29, 1862 ; brevet major-general United States Volunteers March 18, I860, for gallant and meritorious services during the war ; resigned volunteer commission June 30, 1865 ; appointed lieutenant-colonel Fortieth United States Infantry July 28, 18C6 ; transferred to the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry March 15, 1869 ; breveted colonel United States Army March 2, 1807, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Antietam, Md. ; and brigadier-general United States Army for gallant and meritorious services in the assault of Petersburg, Va. ; retired from active service for disability resulting from wounds received in the line of duty December 15, 1870, upon the full rank of colonel United States Army.

^'Service. - With Regiment Eighth Massachusetts in the State of Maryland until August 1, 1861 ; with Kegiment Nineteenth Massachusetts in the Army of the Potomac from August, 1861, to June 30, 1862, when wounded in action at White Oak Swamp, Va. ; absent wounded to August 5, 1862 ; commanding Third Brigade, Sedgwick's division, Army of the Potomac, to September 17, 1862, when twice severely wounded in the battle of Antietam, Sid. ; on leave of absence wounded to March 19, 1863 ; on court-martial duty as brigadier-general at Washington, D. C, April 2 to June 9, 1803 ; and under orders of War Department to July 4, 1863 ; commanding draft rendezvous at Concord, N. H. ; acting assistant provost marshal, general and superintendent of the Volunteer Kecruiting Service for the State of New Hampshire to March 29, 1804 ; commanding district of Saint Mary's and camp of prisoners of war at Point Lookout, Md., April 3 to 20, 1864; commanding Third Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, to July, 1864, when wounded ; on court-martial duty to September 22, 1864 ; commanding draft depot and camp of prisoners of war at Hart's Island, New York Harbor, to February, 1865 ; on duty at New York City as acting assistant provost marshal general, superintendent Volunteer Recruiting Service, and chief mustering and disbursing officer for the Southern Division of New York to March, 1865 ; and on the same duty at Harrisburg, Pa., for the Western Division of Pennsylvania to June 30, 1805 ; governor of the Military Asylum to March 6, 1867 ; en route to, and in command of, Fort Macon, N. C, until April 13, 1807 ; on special duty at headquarters Second Military District at Charleston, S. C, to April 27, 1807 ; provost marshal general Second Military District North and South Carolina to January 16, 1868 ; commanding Fortieth regiment and the Bubdi-^trict and port of Guld-boro', N. C, to July 13, 1868; on sick leave of absence to December 4, 1868 ; commanding regiment in North Carolina and Louisiana until April 20, 1869, when he assumed command of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, and remained in command of that regiment and the post of New Orleans, La., until August 14, 1809 ; on sick leave of absence to December 4, 1869 ; and in command of regiment in New Orleans and en route to and at Fort Clark, Texas, from that date to December 15, 1870."

Such is the record borne on the pages of the army books, and no narrative could set forth the military life of General Hincks so clearly and eloquently as these authoritative words. Aside from the leading well-known generals of the war, few officers can boast of a more varied and gallant and useful career.

In concluding the narrative of the war experience of General Hincks, while the repeated testimony of his superior officers in their general orders to his gallantry will be omitted, the list of battles in which he was engaged must not fail to be mentioned.

The services of General Hincks after the war were only less important than those during its continuance. Under General Sickles and General Canby the aid he rendered in perfecting and carrying out the reconstruction measures of the government in North and South Carolina, forming what was called the Second Military District, was recognized by his superior officers as efficient and valuable.

On the 15th of December, 1870, the general was retired from active service upon the full rank of colonel in tlie United States Army on account of wounds received in battle, and on the 7th of March, 1872, he was appointed, by the board of managers of the National Homes, deputy-governor of the Southern Branch of National Homes, at Hamjjton, Va. On the 1st of January following he was transferred to the Northwestern Branch, near Milwaukee, Wis., and resigned October 1, 1880.

After the resignation of his position as deputygovernor of the National Home at Milwaukee, General Hincks remained in that city until June, 1883, and was largely influential in the organization of the Milwaukee Industrial Exposition, a corporation then formed and still in existence, having for its object the promotion of the industrial interests of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin. Since 1883 he has lived in Cambridge, Mass., enjoying a period of welldeserved peace and comfort. He occupies a stately old mansion, said to be more than two hundred years old ; and the books and pictures and quaint old family china and furniture with which it is replete reveal the culture and taste of its occupants.

In the autumn of 1862, after having been severely wounded in the battle of Antietam, General Hincks was urgently requested by many independent Republicans to run for Congress in the Sixth District, then represented by Mr. John B. Alley, but he po.sitively declined to be a candidate for any office that would prevent his return to the field as soon as he should sufficiently recover from his wounds. He was sergeant-at-arms of the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia in 1872, when General Grant was nominated for a second term ; and again at Cincinnati, in 1876, when General Hayes was nominated for President. In the Cincinnati Convention he was nominated by the chairman of the Michigan delegation " for his many wounds received in battle," and was unanimously elected.

General Hincks is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order, a companion in the National Commandery of the Loyal Legion and a member of the New England Historical Genealogical Society.

General Hincks has been twice married, - first, January 25, 1855, to Annie Rebecca, daughter of Moody and Clarissa (Leach) Dow, of Lynn, who died in Lynn August 21, 1862. Her only child was Anson Burlingame, who was born in Lynn October 14, 1856, and died in Rockville, Md., January 27, 1862.

Peirce, daughter of Georf2;e and Susan (Treadwell) Nichols, of Cambridge, whose only child, Bessie Hincks, bora in Cambridge April 11, 1865, died in Cambridge July 5, 1885. i

The death of this daughter was peculiarly sad. She had graduated in 1883 from the Milwaukee College, and had entered the Harvard Annex full of hope and promise. While walking in the street her dress took fire from a burning cracker, and she Avas burned to death. Her sweet and loving character, blended with high literary attainments, lent a joy and grace to her parents' home, since shadowed in perpetual gloom. It is only necessary, before closing this sketch, to add a word of explanation concerning the family name of General Hincks.

The common ancestor of the Hincks family in this country. Councilor and Chief Justice John, uniformly wrote his name Hinckes, but when copied by clerks it was usually written Hinks, and so frequently appears in the Council Records of Massachusetts and the Archives of New Hampshire. Captain Samuel, who graduated at Harvard in 1701, and his son Samuel, Jr., the schoolmaster on the Cape, uniformly wrote their names Hincks ; but Elisha and his son. Captain Elisha, Jr., the father of the general, appear to have dropped the c, and to have written their names Hinks ; and in early life the general also wrote his name without the c (Hinks), and it so appears in the Army Register and the official records of the war, although other branches of the family wrote their names with a c ; but in 1871, under authority of law, the general restored the letter c to his name, and has since written it Hincks, and all the branches of the family descended from Chief Justice John now conform to this style. It will be noted that all of this family in this country bearing the name of Hincks are descended through the Winslows from Mary Chilton, who came in the " Mayflower," and Anne Hutchinson, the Quakeress.