Plymouth Town (part 28 of 54)

"Tliat all person? liable to bo enrolled in the militia, and residing within the following bounds, viz. : beginning at Shaw's meetiug-hou.-e; thence uortherly by the line winch divides Middleborough from Taunton to the road leading from Tauuton to Plymouth ; thence easterly by said road leading to Plyuiouth by the bouses of Samuel Miilci, George Leonard, and Peter H. Peiree to the road leading from Hridgewater to Wareham near Thomas .Sprout's; thence southeasterly by said road leading to AVarehaui by the bouses of Levi Tinkham and Edward Sparrow to I'^all Brook ; tbeiicu westerly by said brook to Fall brook Furnace; thence Southerly straight to the mouth of the brook near Elias Cushman's at lower Pocksha and Assawamsett Poods to the road leading from Sampson's Tavern in Middleborough to Shaw's meetiDg-bouse ; thence northwesterly by s;iid road tu the hrst-mentionod bounds, bo enrolled in the company of infantry commanded by Capt. Abrahaiu Bryant, aud constitute the Central Company in Middleborough."

This report wns by the Governor antl Council accepted May 13, 1831, aniJ enforced by Geiicnil Oider.s of Slay 30, 1831. The boundaries by this order fixed for tliese thenceforth five instead of seven standing companies in the local militia of Middleboro', remained unchanged until the abolition of the old militia system by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature, passed April 2-i, 1840.

The two light infantry companies in Middleboro', familiarly known as grenadiers, that for many years were flank companies to tlie Fourth Regiment of Infantry, were incorporated into and became parts of the Third Regiment of Light InAintry.

Grand Army of the Republic. - One post of the Mas.saehusetts Department of the Grand Army of the Republic exists in Middleboro', some of its members residing in the adjacent towns of Carver, Freetown, and Lakeville.

The charter of this post bears date of March 13, 1867, and the first meeting was held March 19, 1867, which was also the date of its first election of officers. This order, that has now so largely increased in this State as to be organized into nearly two hundred posts, was then in its infancy, only seven posts throughout this entire commonwealth having been previously formed, and Post 8, therefore, is the oldest in Plymouth County, and among the most " ancient and honorable" of the State. Soon after its formation and organization this post adopted its name, in com[iliment to the writer of this historic sketch, who has ever regarded that act of this body as a high honor, more especially as he at that time was not a member of the order, and the first intimation that he received of the desire or intention of the post to do so w;is a notice that the deed had already been done. This post is therefore known as E. W. Peiree Enc;tmpment, Post 8, Grand Army of the Republic.

This post is in a prosperous condition and provided with good quarters iu the Peirce Academy Building, at the Four Corners Village in Middleboro'.

Chapter Vl Industrial History

The first mill erected iu Middleboro' was designed for grinding corn, and located very near the spot now occupied by the " Star Mills" ; and this fact leads naturally to the conclusion that tiie mill-dam at or near that place was the first or earliest one built upon the stream. Corn was the principal crop cultivated by the Indians before the arrival of the wliite people, and the latter immediately made it their chief crop, and that upon which, more than any other, and perhaps more than all others combined, they relied to obtain bread, being, as it came essentially to be, the white man's " staff of life."

But althougli the white man was so ready to accept the red man's " Indian corn" as his chief article of food, the Cliri?itian was not content to follow the pagan practice of putting it into the form and conditioa of bread by first parching or roasting it in the fire, and then pounding in a mortar till reduced to meal, and resort by the emigrant was therefore quickly had to hard work at a hand-mill or a long and tedious journey with liis grist to the corn-mill operated by water-power iu Plymouth, and he therefore who first put in .successful operation a mill for grinding corn at Middleboro' was doubtless regarded, as in truth he wa.-*, a "roat public benefactor. Nearly two days' tedious journeying to and from Plymouth was thus saved to a householder at Middleboro' every time that a bubhel of corn had to be ground for family use, or a relief from the still more distasteful task of " grinding" at a "hand-mill," where the one operator "taken," whether man or woman, was deemed more fortunate than the other that was left, the misery of the present overcoming all fears concerning the future.

The demand for a grist-mill satisfied by bcitiLT pruvided for, the next, as would reasonably be expected, was expressed in the desire to utilize water-power iu sawing lumber, aud thus preparing materials t'uf building houses and barns, habitations for both men aud beasts, and as a result two saw-mills were soon after j built upon wliat was known as Bartlett's Biook, after I which, in the march of improvement at MiddluLoro', ".log cabins" began speedily, and continueJ ateadily, to disappear, being regarded as obsolete and thoroughly behind the times, and were never more popular as human habitations, or declared to be " the blest or best abodes of civilized man," save during the brief period of the noted Harrison campaign, in 1840, when hard cider was also extolled and declared surpassing a nectar of the gods, and thus the spirit made to control the understanding. Frame buildings were taking tlie place of those constructed of logs at Middleboro' even before the breaking out of King Philip's war, in 1G75, and as in that conflict it is highly pmbable that every house and barn in town was destroyed by the Indians, so in the rebuilding that was commenced after that war frame buildings were in nearly or quite every instance made to take the places of both the log cabins and frame buildings destroyed by the infuriated red man's torch during that bloody and distressing conflict.

What is known as Mattock was probably the second place at which a dam was made to span the stream running from the lakes or great pmids, sucking an outlet through "Taunton Great lliver" into Mount Hope Bay, and at Muttock the water-power was so extensively and successfully utilized that this locality became one of greater enterprise and more numerous industries than any other in town, fir surjiassing what is now the business centre at the Four Corners, and thus continuing for a long term of years. Cut the bu.sy hum of these numerous industries of Muttock was not conducted, or even suffered to be commenced, without opposition from some of the inhabitants, seconded by checks and impediments on the part of the town in its corporate capacity, as strong olijifutioos were made to the building of the Muttock dam on account of the apprehended detriment it might prove to the herring fishery, - that constant and never-ending theme of controversy, - herring then being deemed not only an article of food, but indispeiis.ible to the raising of corn, - a few herring, according to Indian custom, still being applied to each hill to furce the growth of this crop', and herring being in one or more instances relied on to pay some of the town officers for the pevforuiance of tlieir public duties.' Ilorriiiu;, therefore, and all that properly pertained to tlie cucourasi'iiiont and aided iu produciiii; horrin;.:, oui;!it to and did eogross the jealous care of Middleburo' people, and their scruples were difficult to surmount, but were finally so allayed as to allow the erection of the Muttock dam, thus giving irreat impetus to several other industries, and leaving it a still open question whether it was or was not at the expense of an injury done to the herring fishery.

That permission from the town of Middleboro' to erect tlie Muttock dam was obtained in an open townmeetinj; holden March 3, 1734, wheu it was "voted to allow Benjamin White, Esq., and others, liberty to erect a dam across Nemasket River for the benefit of a slitting-mill."

The town at the same meeting voted to permit " Capt. Bennett and Francis Miller, and others to build a dam for iron-works," but at the same time providing that these iron-works must not be permitted or suffered to impede the passage of the alewives or herrings.

Both these permits then obtained are thought to have applied to Muttock and the dam at that place erected as a consequence, and where for a few years the water-power was utilized to carry the machinery of a slitting-mill, and possibly in addition thereto a forge. About ten years after the grant obtained to erect this dam, the arrival and locating iu this town of Mr. Peter Oliver gave great impetus to the business of manufacturers at this point, which thencelbrth was very successfully conducted for the nest and immediately succeeding thirty years.

One of the first or earliest blast-furuaces erected in this section of Massachusetts was probably located upon the dam at Muttock, and carried on by I'cter Oliver, who appears to have discovered that the iron ore taken from the bottom of the great ponds in Middleboro', and dug from the bogs iu town, was not sufficient for all the uses required, as that fact is most conclusively proved by a written correspotidence carried on between Mr. Oliver and the committee of the province for the prosecution of the French and Indian war, a portion of which corrc-^pondcnce has been carefully preserved and is now on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Boston.

" Gesti.kme.v, - Your Favour of 27"" Feb' relating to supplying you with two Ilowbilzers I received on Saturday Nigbf, X now send a Messingcr to acquaint you that bad I known of your having occasion for them 10 Days ago, I could have supplied you, but I finished my IJlast 3 or 4 Days since: which I am sorry for, as I had been at a great Deal of Trouble X Charge to procure ^louutaiu Ore to make warlike Store?, of which ore is of a far better Quality than any we have in these Parts, especially fur Guns and Mortars. I have sent for more Mountain Ore, .t expect to blow again this month, & if you should then want any Stores, I believe I can supply you with those of as good a tiuality as can be made, for I am sensible of the Uisque of making guns and Mortars from Bog Ore that 1 shall n<it attempt them again with that.

What Mr. Oliver spelled " howbitzer" was doubtless a howitzer. It is also intimated that Mr. Oliver had before this date been manufacturing warlike stores, and that his experience in that business had taught him not to trust to the use of bog ore.

" MiDDLEDonouGH, March 8, 1756. " Sin, - I shall be much obliged to you if you would write mo a Line whether X could have the Ballance due to mo from the Treasury; if so I would come down, otherwise I Fhould be loth to come.

** The mortars dt shells I will send immediately. " Mr. De Costar has nigh 100 shells by him already of mine, and the remainder 1 will send from thcuco.

"Sir, - I am sorry to inform you that after the greatest assiduity aud application I am not able to have the \Vartike stores ready that you bespoke by the 1 j^** April.

" I had got my Hearth secured Ji. procured a vessel to fetch it, but bad Weather & contrary Winds preventing my seuding for it, so that I was obliged to cart it 60 miles, and have but just now got it in, that I cannot blow till the latter end of ne.vt week,

" The lost actt' of stores I received from you I do not think very likely can bo completed untill the lUth .May; if ibat will do X will undertake to send them (unavoidable accidents excepted) from Taunton to New York at my own charge, provided the hon* Committee of War will run the Iti.-que of the ^eas.

** Whether they will be wanted by that Time is not fur me to say; but where they could have been ca.'-t clsewberu sooner I do nut know, for Mr. liarkor, I am informed, has but Just Uuiahed what he contracted for.

'* It would have given me more uneasiness, Sir, had this Delay happened by any Fault of mine, but the .^eason of the year has prevented uiy accomplishing the business.

*' I don't write this simp' to induce the hon<* Committee of War to wait for me to their Loss, prejudice, for I had much rather release the whole than have the least ill cuusequenco attend the affair.

Careaiises are sbilipeil, i I hope will be with yon by tbe 'lime this Leiter arrives, wbieh I ^upiioao arc not en|^a;^e.l. As to the GranaJoe Shells i Moi tars, I have ((uilte.! tbeiu, i. have lent Mr. Darker my P:ittein for the mortars, who uo iluubt will seuJ them soon, .t had it been in my power to have forwarded the matter I should not have been wanting, but I have sent vessel after vessel, at great Expense, and have been daily expeeting one after another with one proper to have a Furnaee in order for stores of .such Consequeneo, whieh, had they arrived, a few Days would have eonveyed to New York sooner than they could be auy other Way, unless they were made to Hand, for I had proeured a Veisell to carry them.

This lower Jam continued to be the property of tiie Oliver family until the war of the American llevolution, and the industries carried on there thus came to be I'amiliarly known as Oliver's works.

The position taken by the Oliver family in the war of the American Revolution was such that it was forced to leave the county, and the far-famed Oliver works passed into other hands, and fur a time were conducted by a Mr. Leach, followed by Gapt. Nathaniel Russell, wlio removed to Plymouth, and was succeeded by Mr. Hushia Thomas.

Then Gen. Abiel Washburn became much the largest of its numerous owners, his share in the property amounting to three-fourths of the entire interest, and an old-fashioned saw-mill was added, and in 1810 a new sliuinguiill built, and at a still later period a shovel-factory that run up to the time (ien. Washburn died, viz., June 17, 1848.

That grist-mill, erected in Middleboro' (near tlie present site of the Star Mills), a little before the breaking out of King Philip's war, was burned by the Indians in that conflict, and rebuilt soon after the return of peace.

Principal among the proprietors of the new gristmill appears to have been Francis Coombs, who was a selectman of Middleboro' in IGTl auJ 1GT5, and re-elected in 1G80-82.

Francis Coombs was also the tavern-keeper at Middleboro',' his license to furnisli entertainment for man and beast bearing date of Oct. 30, UiTS; and he continued thus to provide food and lodging, comfort and rest to wearied travelers and tired beasts until his death, Dec. 31, 1C82. The tavern license was renewed to his widow, Mrs. Mary Couml)s, July 1, 16S4, and his daughters claimed the gri.-t-mill.-

The present mill-Jam, although near to, Joes nut occupy precisely the same site of that ereutuJ mure thau two hundred years ago, on which to operate a grist-mill.

Wool-cards were here operated for a time by a man named Bennett. These wool-cards went under the ; name of carding-iuachine, as wool had formerly been carded by hand.

These wool-cards of the machine turned the raw ' material into rolls suited for spinning upon a wheel at the owner's home, for few hou.ses at that time were : destitute of a spinning-wheel.

Of pianos they had none; of spinning-wheels, many. But although the buzzing sound of the wheel was less harmonious, it is by no means certain that families generally were less happy.

The " Star Mills," so called, now occupy the point ' at or very near which the waters of the Nemasket River were first utilized its a motive power, the Star Mill or Mills being quite a large and extensive woolenfactory that has been in operation something more ' than twenty years.

i On the olst day of May, 17G2, Ignatius l''hns, for I and in consideration of the sum of foity-lwo pounds, i sold to Samuel Thatcher, Elias Miller,^ Nathaniel

'^ The daughters of Fraueis Coombs (deceased) took pos:res3ion of the grist-mill March U, 101)7. (Seo Proprietors' " Ueeord of the Town of Middleboro'.") One of tliosc daughters married a Barrow?, and had a son named Coombs Barrows.

History Of Middlebouo'

Southworth, and Silaa Wood land bordering upon the Nemasket liiver at the place where the upper Jam upon that stream is located, and where that Jam was soon after built, and the water-power thus created utilized for operating a forge.

April 17, 1777, Silas Wood sold one-eighth of the forge to George Leonard, and a few years later, viz., in or a little before 1785, this forge was wholly or in ] part destroyed by fire, as upon the 2Tth of May, 1783, George J^eonard charged for what he had expended in repairing the forgo after it was burnt, but the repairing was so near a rebuilding that the structure came afterward to be called and familiarly known as the '-New Forge," and iu 179G was owned by Benjamin Leonard, Abiel Washburn, George Leonard, and Aboer Bourne. Three yeai-s later the proprietors i were Benjamin Leonard, George Leonard, Abner Bourne, and Levi Peirce. i

In ISOl the owners appear to have been Bourne & Peirce, Benjamin Leonard, George Leonard, and i Abner Bourne & Son, and iu 1809 George Leonard, Maj. William Bourne, and Maj. Levi Peirce.

This forge cuntiuucJ in operation some seventy [ years, but a part of the water-power at this upper ', dam was from 1813 or 1814 used to carry a cotton- i factory, and subsequently here was also added an old- j fashioned saw-mill and a grist-mill.' |

At a later period, the manufacturing of cotton cloth ; being abandoned, the water-power was utilized to carry the machiuery of a shovel-factory.

In what was Jliddleboro' (but since 1853 iu Lakeville), and in the locality familiarly knowu -as the " Tack-Factory Neighborhood," a mill-dam was erected about one hundred and eighty years ago, and a forge located thereon that was operated nearly or ijuite eighty years.' The site has recently been occupied by a tack-factory.

A blaat-furnace was in successful operatiou at Middleboro' in, and perhaps a little before, 1756. The blast-furnace was quite diiferent from the cupola-furnace, as the latter was only capable of melting pig-iron and pot-metal, while the former smelted iron ores that were then in large (juantities dug in Middleboro', aud also takeu from the bottom of .tVssawamseCt Pond.'

^ Maj. Thomas Leonard, of Taunton, was the |>rojector of that «nterprise. lie died Nov. 'JU, 1713. Uu waa father of Ensign Ellianali Leonard and grandfather of the lawyer, Maj. Elkanah Leonard.

^ The right to take this ore from the bottom of the Assawamsot Pond was divided into shares among a kind of stock company thai used to hold regular meetings to regulate what tor a time continued to be a productive industry.

Ores taken out of the ground were designated by the name of " bog ore," and those taken from the bottom of the Assawamsett Lake, " pond ore ;" and another kind was also used that received the name of " mountain ore," which seems to have been brought from afar, requiring transportation in vessels or water craft. How long previous to the year 1756 Peter Olivers blast-furnace was in operation is not now known, but that it was then doing quite an extensive business and was one of the leading manufactories of its kind in the then " Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England" is most clearly shown from the written correspondence that Peter Oliver at that date had with the committee conducting the war then being waged, and which, to distinguish it from other conflicts, has come to be called and knowu in history as the " French and Indian war."

A furnace was erected aud for many years operateil upon the Fall Brook, so called, from which circumstance it came to acquire the name of Fall Brook Furnace. Soon after the close of the war of the American Revolution, Capt. Joshua Eddy put up a furnace upon Whetstone Brook. Neither of these furnaces continue to exist, - that at Fall Brook having been taken down many years ago, aud the Eddy furnace demolished more recently.

TuE Straw Business. - This industry, now so extensively and successfully conducted at IMiddleboro', had its origin in that part of the town that has since become Lakeville. To Ebenezer Briggs, Jr., who resided upon the southerly shore of the great Assawamset Pond, in what was then West Middleboro' and now Lakeville, is due the honor of having intro-

I tive and furnished employment to a large number of ; operatives, in a word, thus putting the latter iu possession of the opportunity and power of earning an i honest living, and for which Mr. Briggs is justly I entitled to the enviable appellation of public bene- I factor. Mr. Briggs commenced this, which was then - generally called the bonnet business, in or near the dissolved his conueetion, and the buaiuess was for a time carried on by Capt. Andrew J. Pickens. The ujain building of the si raw-factory was erected by Pickens Brothers in 1S55.

The straw braid that was at Orst u»ed was all made in this country, but that now used is imported. This bujiuess, that for a time did not amount to uiore than ten thousand dollars a year, has steadily increased until it is estimated at a quarter of a million, and gives employment to nearly four hundred operatives. In the early years of this enterprise all the sewing was done by hand, but is now almost entirely accomplished by machinery.

The house in which Mr. Ebenczer Briggs comlueuced to make straw braid into women's bonnets is still standing upon the Assawaniset Neck, in the now township of Lakeville, and does not give very strong or unmistakable marks of age, and yet here it was that those very small beginnings were made, the legitimate results of which have successfully ripened and brought forth increase until as a final consumma tion is realized an industry employing more operatives than any other in the town of Middleboro', thus proving that truth is sometimes more strange than fiction, and teaching us not to " despise the day of small things."

For these facts presented in the history of this enterprise the writer of this sketch is mainly indebted to the kindness of Capt. Andrew J. Pickens, of Middleboro', who was born and passed his boyhood days in that part of the town which, in 1853, became Lakeville, and was for many years constantly and intimately connected with this straw business, first as an operative and afterwards as a manufacturer.

The Shoe Business. - The first or earliest shoe manufacturer at Middleboro' appears to have been Mr. Stephen B. Pickens, who carried it on in a small way compared with the present manner of conducting this industry, and having for a time Capt. Earl Sproat fur a partner in business. Their workshop was in the building still standing upon the northeast coiner at the Four Corners Village.

The next manufacturers were Leonard it Eaton, who occupied a rather small one story wooden building: that was removed to Court I'lnd to iiive iilace to the erection of Murdock's Block, as it is now called, but then known as Wells' Block, as Dr. W. K. Wells was the original proprietor. The building removed had sometime been paiured green, and at Court End was used by a Mr. Thomas for a grocery store.

Next the firm of Ward & Doggett commenced the manufacture of boots and shoes, and both probably became rich from the profits that they thereby realized. These partners were Maj. George Ward and Mr. William Elkanah Doggett. Ward & Do;.;- gett sold out to Bassett & Dunbar, and they in turn to Sampson & King, these three firni.s currying on the shoe business in the then Wells' Block but now Murdock Block.

Sampson & King removed with this business to the " American Building," so called. This lirm consisted of IMaj. Joseph Sampson, Jr., and Col. Nathan King. The next firm engaged in the business in the then Wells' (now Murdoek'sJ Block was that uf Leonard & Barrows, who were subsequently joined by Mr. Calvin D. Kingman, and at about the same time Leonard & Eaton commenced in the building just northerly of the hotel.

This business has also been carried on quite extensively in the Titicut part of Middlchuru', and by the following-numed persons and firms: Deacon ]']lijali E. Perkins, Lyaander Richmond, Philo S. iMurdock, Keith & Pratt, Stetson & Hammond.

The firms now engaged in the shoe manufacture at the Four Corners Village, in Middleboro', are those of Leonard & Barrows and Calvin D. Kingman &, Sons, both of which are carrying un an extensive business, and thus greatly adding to the prosperity of the community and town generally.

The Hat Business. - In or near ihe year ISliO, Jabez Sherman employed some six nun in the labor of making men's hats, and he was succeeded therein by Henry H. Robbins; but this business hero has long since been abandoned.

Newspapers. - The first or earliest newspaper ever printed in Middleboro' was known as the O/d Co/- oiiy Dtmocrat, and was started in Plymouth but removed to 3Iiddleboro' just about half a century ago. Maj. Benjamin Drew, Jr., a praclical printer, was editor, printer, and proprietor. This did not prove a success, and ere long it was discontinued. Maj. Drew owed his military title to the fact that upon the 14th of February, 1835, he was jiromoted to the ofiice of major of the First Regiment of Plymouth County Brigade. Charles Soule, late of Middleboro', was then colonel of that regiment, Joshua Brewster (2d), of Duxbury, lieutenant-colonel, and Tlujmas F. White, of Duxbury, adjutant.

printer. This paper was first issued Oct. 7, 1852, Samuel P. Brown, editor and proprietor. The size of its slieet was seventeen by twenty-four inches. Some time in 1854. Mr. Brown sold tiie A^riiuisJ:tl Gazelle to Rev. Stillman Pratt, wlio changed its name to MiJdleLoro' Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser. Mr. Pratt died Sept. 1, 1SC2, after which tiio paper was for a time published by his son, Mr. Stillman B. Pratt. In February, 18(59, Mr. James M. Coombs, the present proprietor, purchased the paper, and at ditferent times has enlarj;ed it until now it has reached the size of tweuty-suveu by forty-two inelies, and lias become a representative local paper, published in the interests of the town of Middleboro', and one of the oldest and best in the county of Plymouth.

The Middleboro' News was established in October, 1881, by Mr. H. H. Sylvester, its present proprietor. It is Republican in politics and a forty-eight-column slieet. It has an extensive circulation.

This history, were we to go minutely into its ; numerous details, would thereby be shown to be very siiuilar to that of other New England towns, ' for the educational story of one is, with slight varia- I tions, that of all the others, and those variations j have generally been the results of the dates of their I occurrence rather than a great or e.ssential diiference j in the real character, modes of thought or action, of ' the several communities or towns, and the school- \ murm's story of " Cape Cod Folks" might with equal truth have been applied to many other communities, and as justly described other localities in Barnstable or Plymouth County towns. Our educational chapter i will, therefore, be chiefly remarkable on account of its brevity. Soon after the resettlement of Middleboro', just after King Philip's war, at a town-meeting held Aug. 30, 168C, the town " made choice and approved of Isaac Howland to keep ye ordinary," which in modern parlance would have been rendered the hotel, and at the same time "made choyce of Mr. John Tomson and Isaac Howland, to agree with Jonathan Washburn, or any other, to make u pound, whipping-post, and stocks," and at about the same date went so far as to define the duty of each householder as to the number of blackbirds that he should kill, and present the heads of the slain birds to some I of the town authorities, failing to do which said householder should bs amerced in and compelled to pay a fine. But lest blackbirds in some sections should prove too scarce to furnish six heads as propiciating sacrifice for the relief of each householder, the heads of crows might, to some extent, be made to take the places of blackbirds, and when it is thus shown how careful those early pioneer settlers were to provide for the punishment of crime, the killing of crows and blackbirds, confinement of brutal men and breachy beasts, it does seem not a little strange that the records fail to show them to have been careful to provide for the education of children, to teach their young ideas how to shoot in a proper direction, and bring them up with such nurture and admonition that the whipping-post and stocks might soon have proved useless appendages and obsolete superfluities.

The neglect, too, was something more than seeming, but real, as the grand jury of Plymouth County, in 1709, found a bill against the town of Jliddleboro', for not having, or rather being provided with, a schoolmaster according to law.

The legal authorities now so bestirred themselves that we find conclusive evidence to prove that as early as 1716 four schools were established in as many different parts of the town, each school to continue a part of the year, and all to be taught by Thomas Roberts, who in town-meeting had been elected as the town's schoolmaster.

How long Thomas Roberts continued to perform that " delightful task" at Middleboro' it is now diflScult to determine, but the following extracts from the public records of the adjoining town of Freetown serve to throw some light upon that subject, for the legal voters of Freetown, being assembled upon the 15ih day of May, 1718, took public action, of which the following was the record :

" At a, IcguBl town-meeting in freetown, Voted to set up n school to learn ubildren to read and right, and mude clioyce of Jucob liuth\?ay to seek for a scbooliuutjter."

And he sought in such a manner as to find and induce the Middleboro' schoolmaster to change the fields of his labors to Freetown, and thus did Hathaway prove himself to have been not only a wrestling Jacob, but a prevailing Israel. The same record further testified :

"Oct. the 8 duy, voted to allow tbomas robcrts :!0 pounds for one year's service to keep the school at tbreo sevenil places, - the public ineeting-bouse, Waller Chase's, also at or near to John bowland's."

" fcbruary the Nth day, 1720-21, voted and agreed to suck out for a schoolmaster, us the last year's schoolmaster, Huberts, and the town did not agree."

main in no one place very long at a time, belongiu'i to a class that ia those days tried to get a living by teaching a little and preaching a little, but doing nothing a great deal, and to whom might properly be applied, -

It is not reasonably to be supposed that Thomas Roberts was Middlcboro's first or earliest schoolmaster, but the earliest who has come to the knowledge of the writer of this sketch, and because the earliest, rather than for anything about him good or great, he has received this particular notice.

Peirce Academy. - This once flourishing and still widely-kuowu institution of learning took its name from Capt. Job Peirce, the founder and donor, who, when in his generous heart he devised this liberal act, was a man of more than threescore years, and made his son, Maj. Levi Peirce, to be the dispenser of the benefit, and which act last named has of late years led some to suppose that the son was indeed the civer instead of the distributor of his father's generous gifl.

The original cost was two thousand five hundred dollars. The formal act of dedicating the academy building to its intended use was upon the 18th of August, 1808; but no act of incorporation was obtained until 1835, or nearly twenty-seven years after. In 1850 the original building was sold and removed and converted into some kind of a manufactory, and subsequently burned. A new academy building was erected iu 1850, and ten thousand dollars raised to aid this institution, which was mainly a result of the unyielding and untiring industry, indefatigable energy, and great enterprise of Professor John W. I. Jenks, then the principal of this school, but now a professor in Brown University, at Providence, R. I.

The academic school ia not at present in operation, and some of the building is used by one of the town schools, and a large part of the second floor by E. W. Peirce Encampment Post and Grand Army of the Republic.

The Pratt Free School is a flourishing institution of learning, founded by the liberality of a son of Middleboro', Mr. Enoch Pratt, of Baltimore, Md. The school building is pleasantly located near the green at Titicut, in North Middleboro'.

" Made choice of Richard Sampson, Capt. Joiiathau Cobb, Harrison Staples, Arad Bryant, and Zutiu Pickens, and on the 1st of October, 1840, it was further voted to locate the High School in the li\%; selectmen's districts to be kept alternately in each district two months, and that the school committee select the place and district where the school ii to comiuence, and that the school be commenced on or before the first Monday iu December next."

The selectmeu's districts referred to were at that time as follows: Sampson'.-; district, EJdyville district, Fall Brook, Titicut, and Beach Woods, the last named being now in Lakeville, ami the Titicut was to include the village known as Four Corner?.

This high school was commenced iu the I'^ddyville district, kept in the chapel at the green, and taught by Rev. Ephraiiu Ward, Jr., a graduate of Bniwn University, at Providence, R. 1. lie continued to teach the school two months each in lour ul' tiie tivu districts specified, but the last, kept near the Kock station, was taught by Rev. Thomas Symouds. a graduate of Waterville College. This high achool w.i., soon after discontinued, and was not revived or reestablished for the term of about seventeen years, and owing, probably, mainly to the fact that. Ijy the setting off that part now Lakeville, this town became mi reduced in the number of its inhabitants .is to be n.i longer by law required to support a high school.

Chapter Viii

It is not au easy task always to determine piecisely who were the lawyers of a Plymouth Colony town, nor did that degree of obscurity which veiled this matter and led to the uncertainty entirely cease when those towns came to constitute parts of the province of the Blassachusetts Bay in New ICuglaiid. And there is no disguising or mistaking the f.ict tli.it in the earliest years of the history of Plyinoutli Colony professional lawyers were by many, if not indeed by most, of its inhabitants regarded with distrust, which in some instances amounted to a repugnance, that caused lawyers to be characterized as even worse than useless appendages to civilized society ; iu short, mischief-makers, and hence the general .--cntiment of Old Colony communities doubtless was " woe unto you lawyers;" and a very general belief entertained that the greater the number of the lawyers in any community the more numerous, a? a

Liberty is granted by this Court to any person to improve one or two Attornies to help hint in his Pleas provided tiiey be persons of good repute, and such us the Court, approve, and the said Attornies are reijuired to be faithful to their Client, so also as to avoid fraudulent pleas that may have a tendency to mislead the Court or darken the case."

That court at the same session also enacted : -- It is ordered by tills Court that there shall not be allowed above live shillings cost for any attorney or attorueyes to any one action, and where there sliuU happen to be but one attorney entertained but one day in any one action, then to have two shillings and sixpence only allowed him for costs therein.'

Concerning Middleboro' lawyers, it may not here and in this connection be inappropriate or improper to sug^'est that Samuel Prince, Esq., might have been regarded as one of these, but if so, he was cue of the most high-minded and honorable of that profession, being a well-read, thorough scholar, a reliable and safe counselor, who had neither the occasion nor desire to stoop to the deceptive practices or degrading arts of a pettifogger. Of Mr. Prince it has been stated that " he lived in Sandwich, then at Rochester, of which he was principal proprietor, and was successively representative of each of these towns. He was religious from his youth, and much improved in scriptural knowledge, of a public spirit and open heart."

Mr. Prince, with his wife, who was a daughter of Governor Tliomas Hinkley, came to live at Middleboro' in or near the year 1723, and they here resided with Rev. Peter Thatcher, who was their son-in-law. Mr. Prince and wife were the parents of ten children, viz., seven sons and three daughters. One of these sons wa.s that eminently distinguished chronologist, Rev. Thomas Prince, pastor of the old South Church, in Boston. Samuel Prince, Esq., with Mercy, his wife, were admitted to membership in the First Congregational Church at Middleboro", Oct. 25, 1724. He died July 3, 1728, aged eighty. Mercy, the wife, died April 25, 1736, aged seventy-three. A newspaper, called the Ntw England Weekly Journal, in its bsue of July 15, 1728, said of Samuel Prince, Esq., of Middleboro' : " He was one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and five of the Justices of the county and an ancient captain of the town were bearers at his funeral."

buried under the shade of two noble old oak-trees then standing at the west end of the public cemetery, but the corpse was afterward disinterred and deposited in a family tomb, and by the loss of this justly distinguished man the people of Middleboro' were brought in a degree to realize those feelings of bereavement of the sacred historian when he wrote, - " And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all tlie aiiir/ing men anil singing women spoke of Jusiali in iheir lamentations." (2 Chronicles xxxv. c/iap. 25 verse.')

If Samuel Prince, Esq., was the first, then was Maj. Elkanah Leonard the second counsellor and attorney-at-law who located for the practice of that profession in Middleboro', and the former home of the latter, although iu his lifetime in Middleboro', is now in Lakeville.

That ancient house, greatly modernized in its external appearance, wherein Maj. Elkauah Leonard formerly resided is still standing near the dam of the old forge and tack-factory in what is now familiarly known as the Tack-Factory Neighborhood in Lakeville, but the successful effort to keep that time-honored old mansion in good repair has been cijually successful iu divesting it of its original luarks of honorable old age, and could the former owner and occupant return he would find it difficult to recognize his ancient home, and be forced to realize the humiliating assurance that upon the very spot whore he so often and signally triumphed he is practically, if not, indeed, entirely, forgot.

Maj. Elkanah Leonard was a son of Ensign Elkanah Leonard, of that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville. Ensigu Elkanah Leonard was a sou of Maj. Thomas Leonard, of Taunton, and born at Taunton, May 15, 1077, and died in Middleboro', Dec. 29, 1714. Maj. Thomas Leonard was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Bristol from 17U2 to 1713. He died Nov. 24, 1713, aged nearly seventy-three years. Ensign Elkanah Leonard was an enterprising and useful man at Middleboro', where he was one of the selectmen and a commissioned officer in the local militia, but died when only thirty-seven years of age. Of Maj. Elkanah (son of Ensign Elkauah and grandson of Maj. Thomas) Leonard, the Rev. Dr. Fobes said that be was " one of the most distinguished geniuses of bis name and day," and another authority stated that " he practiced law in Middleboro', in which place he was the first and ouly attorney ;" and Rev. Dr. Fobes added, " He possessed strong powers of investigation, a sound judgment, and an uncommon brilliancy of wit ; and his inventive powers were not surpassed, if equaled, by any of his time. His assistance iu the defense iu criminal pros- , law in the office of Hon. Wilkes WooJ, and aoon after ecutious was luucii sought .for, and bis abilities were bis adiuissiun to tbe bar was elected as a represeutauever more conspicuous than in these defenses." He tive to the State Legislature, and appointed clerk of was several times elected to represent tbe town of tbe county courts. In or about 1814 he removed to Middleboro' in the Le<iislalure, and in or near 1741 ; A^sonet villa<;e, in Freetown, where he was made colwas commissioned as major of tbe First Regiment of one] of a regiment, collector of tbe customs, member Plymouth County militia. | of the Governor's Council, and for seven sessions

During tbe latter part of his life bis mind was ob- represented that town iu the Genural Court. Rescured. Tradition says that his insanity showed turning to Middleboro' in 1828, he was again elected itself in bis declaration that the world bad turned up- ; a representative, and was for a time eiiu'aged in carryside down, and hence he insisted upon wearing his i ing ou tiie trade of a store in a building which, when shoes bottom side up. j enlarged, received tbe name by which it is still known,

Society, and which inscription few ever take the: tbe first who held the office of captain of the ."^liddlepains to decipher, aud a still smaller number task ! boro' Grenadier Company. He w;ls a representative the sou's minority were passed, enjoying the privi- From the most reliable evidence now attainable, tbe leges of the common schools iu Middleboro', together mind of Maj. Elkanah Leonard appears to have be- with those of Peirce Academy, thus titting for colcome weakened and his intellect beclouded at least lege, and graduating at Amherst in ISol. llestuilied thirty years before his death, and if so, Middleboro' law with Hon. Jacob H. Loud, at Plymouth, and was did not have resident lawyers for some forty-five or ! admitted to tbe bar in 1S31J, and in June of that fifty years. I year located iu Middleboro' for practice.

Hon. Wilkes Wood commenced tbe practice of law ' His first commission was tliat of aide-de-camp to at Middleboro' about the beginning of tbe present | his father, who was then brigadier-iicneral of tbe cenlury, and was made judge of tbe Probate Court. '- Plymouth County Brigade. That commission cou- His personal history will doubtless receive a proper ' ferred tbe rank of a captain, and bore date of Dec. notice from an abler pen than mine in the chapter : 'J, 18:^8.

entitled Bench and Bar, as will also the biography I He was reappointed to the same position upon tbe of Zachariab Eddy, Esq., and Hon. William H; 1 staff of Brig.-Gen. Henry Dunham, of Abington, Sept. Wood. I 14, 1842, promoted to lieutenant-coloeiel of the Third

James Washburn, Esq., of that part of Middle- : Regiment of Light Infantry Sept. 15, 1843, colonel boro' that became Lakeville, practiced law for a time July 10, 1844, and brigadier-general of the Second in tbe place of bis nativity, acquiring considerable : Brigade in the First Division of Massachusetts Volcelebrity as a counselor and advocate, but be finally unteer Militia April 8, 1850, which last position removed to and continued bis practice in New Bed- named he held until Oct. 9, 1855. ford, which he represented for several sessions in tbe Gen. Eliab Ward has ever been a reliable and con-

State Legislature. He was the first or earliest who | sistent Democrat, and while that party was in the held tbe office of postmaster in Middleboro'. He was i political ascendant in Middleboro' he received olt-iea son of Capt. Amos Washburn, aud born in or near the year 1767, and died Nov. 19, 1815. His grave is in Lakeville, and the spot is marked by a stone bearing an inscription.

peated assurances of its respect and confidence, being as he was elected to represent that town in the State Legislature for the sessions of 1838 and 1830, and again in 1842, and the nest year he was elected to a seat in the State Senate, and sent again to the House in 1852.

Hon. Francis M. Vaughan was born March 30, ! 183G, and attended the comuioii schools of Middleboro', beiiij; fitted for college at Puirce Academy. I

He entered Brown University at Providence, R. I., 1 in 1857, where he remained as a student two years, i and llioii commenced the study of law in the office of | Hon. William H. Wood, at Middleboro', and was admitted to the bar at Boston in 1S61, and in 187-i j was appointed judge of the Fourth District Court in '. the county of Plymouth, which position he still continues to hold. I

Physicians. - A noted jurist who died a few years | since is said to have studied all three of the so-called I learned professions. He first studied divinity, and | tried to preach, but soon finding that people generally cared less for their souls than for their bodies, gave up preaching and prepared himself for the practice of medicine, when he further learned that fallen man cared even more for gratifying his own stubborn will than for the saving of both soul and body, and so he abandoned practicing medicine and applied himself to the practice of law, where he was never in want of customers or employment, and thus were his labors crowned with eminent success. The early New England clergy were in numerous instances also the physicians of their parishioners, and such may in some degree have been the case in Middleboro', aa we learn that no sooner had the Rev. Thomas Palmer, the second minister, been deposed from his ministerial office and ejected from the pulpit than he, without delay, turned his attention to the practice of medicine, for those who distrusted his piety were glad to get his pills, and such as had no confidence in his ability to lead them to heaven did trust him to restore them to health, and we deem it therefore quite safe to conclude that Thomas Palmer was the first or earliest person located at Middleboro' who devoted his whole time to the alleviation of the woes that human flesh is heir to, and shall therefore consider him the first doctor. An aged lady handed down the following traditional anecdote :

His patients had to furnish him, and when one day he returned from the West Precinct' on his patient's horse, that the animal might not be impounded on its way back he tied up the bridle, with these lines attached :

Another stone bearing the same inscription, to which Was also added the following stanza, was laid upon the cemetery wall not far from this grave :

The reasonable explanation is that the stanza was distasteful to the family and friends of Dr. Thomas Palmer, and another stone prepared to take the place of that one, which it appears was then made to form a part of the cemetery wall.

Peter Oliver, Jr., a son of the chief justice, Peter Oliver, settled for the practice of medicine in Middleboro', about twenty-one years after the death of Dr. Thomas Palmer. Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., married Sarah Hutchinson, a daughter of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who was so much distinguished as a historian and loyalist.

lu a work recently published under the title of " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.," we find upon pages 03 and G9 the following extracts from a diary kept by Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr. :

"Peter Oliver, 3d son of Peter and Mary (Clark) Oliver, was burn in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, June 17, 1741, 0. S. From this time till 1750 be was back and forwards from Boston to Middleborough, his father moving to Middleborougli, in the counly of Plymouth, in the year 1744.

"July the Ist he went to the school in Newark, Now Jersies, about 2U0 miles from his father, with a very heavy heart. However, lived in Mr. Burr's family, one of the best in the country.

"The autumn of 1756 I studied under a new schoolninster, a Mr. Smith, & lived & studied with him till Septr. 30, 1757, when Mr. Burr, the President, died of a fever.

" I come first to Brunswick i took pas^age in a schooner, Capt. Gibba, for Rhode Island; was about U days in my passage thither ; exceedingly sea-sick.

"In Novr., about the 2d week, I went to liofcton with my father & mother, lodged at Milton at (1. Hutchinson's, who was then only Mr. Hutchinson, or, perhaps, Lieutenant-Uovr.

" Nothing very particular while at College, only I ;pent moat i of my time very agreeably, beeame uiuch acquainted with Mr. , Hutchin:^on'd family (Elidha and I living together thu greater i part of my last two years), S. especially with Sally. She had a very agreeable way in her behavior which I remember pleaded me beyond any other of luy female aeiiuaint", though I had not , the least thouglit uf any connection with her. !

'* I had no care or trouble on my mind, lived euay, db became ac([uainted with an agreeable young lady in the Deighborhood, but only on a friendly footing. I

" In March 21, 1764, I left D"^ Stockbridge's and went to Boston to reside at the Castle, to understand thu natureof the small pox, under D' Gelston.

** I staid there till the hut of Ap' foilow«, when I cleared out, as tliey term it; went to Middleborough in May; and in June | set up for myself in the practice uf physic amidst many dilH- | culties ti: obstructions.

" In June, 17G3, first pay'** my aildresses to Miss S. H., and obtained leave of her father in Aug' follow*, being just before his House WU8 tore down, ho losing every thing ho had in his House; bis Daughters &, rest of the family likewise shared the same fate.

Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., in this diary, notices the fact tliut his father had built for him a small shop, that doubtless was an apothecary shop, and to this a tradition adds that the father also caused to be erected for the son that house recently occupied by the late Capt. Earl Sproat.

Under date of June 1, 1774, Dr. Peter, Jr., en- I tered in his diary, *' The Gov', Ellbha, and Peggy sailed for England just as the Mandamus Counsellors ' were ordered to take their oatha by G. Gage, who succeeded the Gov' H, Nothing but mobs and riots all this summer." I been Edson], N. Ray Thomas, and a number of others in the Province, as wu imagine, as His Majesty's Council upon the now E:jtabliahment. Col. Watson says ho bids farewell to all peace and comfort in this world. I never sec him so uiieusy in my lifo.

" Aiij. 2;J. - Well, Col. Wiitson is sworn in to be one of His Majesties Council ; he has got home ; they left the Meeting to the number of 40.

** Sept^ 2. - li men deputed from 40 Middlebg. brutes came to the Judges house the 24'^ to know ab^ these ditticulttes, and they went away as dissatislied as they came.

" I dread to think of the conseC{uenees Cliiit uiiisC follow our behavior here whether ever so mild matters aie struck upon by the ministry.

" If the ministry give way to us we are an undone people; and if they set out to punish us according as wu deserve it there will be bloodshed enough before they can reduce us.

" I never knew what mobbing was before. I am si«--U uni>ugli of confusion and uproar. I long for un asylum, - some lile^^ed place of refuge.

"They proceeded and increased their nuiuber to SU, and attuck'd M"" Silas Wood, carried him oH", ami threatened his life if he would not sign their paper to stand by the Old Clmrter, and give up tlie Protest he had then in his pocket.

"lie linally yielded. The next day they visited ab"- 10 ur 12 people who are called Tories, and made them resign to their unwarrantable demands."

This letter as also the diary that precedes it luis been copied from that very interesting and valuable historic production abounding in local facta and untitled " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas liutehinson, Esq."

Id may be said, and that truly, thi^ matter funiis no part of the professional history of Middleboro*, but it forms a very important part of the Revolutionary history of this town, and a part in which Dr. Peter

Oliver acted in so conspicuously, thut it justly and properly constitutes a portion of his biograpiiy, which is the writer's excuse for presenting the same here. Few readers of the present day get an opportunity to read wore than one side of the story of our Revolutionary conflict, and that is the patriot or Whig side. There was another side to this question that caused a resort to arms, and was then decided in bluod, and that was the Loyalist or Tory side, from which stand-point Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., viewed and re'.;ardeJ the matter.

Hon. Peter U. Peirce

Hon. Peter H. Peirce was the youngest of the numerous children of Capt. Job Peirce and wife, Elizabeth Rounseville, and born in that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville, March 25, 1788.

Precociousness has usually been considered a bad sign, and that those who have been wise above their early years proved correspondingly weak or wanting at maturity is undeniably true in very many instances, and perhaps furnishes the rule rather than the exception, and yet, in the greatest, wisest, and best of men, precociousness has been their bow of promise and harbinger of highest hope.

It is proverbially true tbiic the bi)y is father to the \ mail, and tiius in this case tlie .sequel proved, for those remarkable qualities of head and heart that through life I sinnally distinguished Hon. Peter H. Peirce, and made liim the man of mark that he was, were so well defined as inherent po.ssessions. and the results came forth so spontaneously, that several years before he attained to his majority he had built up for himself and ! became the master of a permanent, well-conducted, sue- i eessful, and very lucrative busines.s in his native town, and which as a merchant caused him to rank alnoll^ I the first ill the soulhem parts of Massachusetts, where lie had few equals and certainly no superiors, and the I one great mistake of his life now clearly appears to i have been that instead of remaininp; in Middleboro' he had uot sought ample scope for the development of his mercantile ability In a much larger, broader, and far more extended field of action.

His political influeuce at home was UDequaled at the time, had never by any other resident of Middleboro' been attained to before, nor lias it been equaled since ; and this he enjoyed for some forty years, during all of which he was more of a patriot than politician, ever ready to practice self-sacrifice for the attainment of a good principle, and never seeking the pomp of power, or desiring the spoils of otBcc.

In dispensing benefits to benevolent and reformatory objects he was ever very liberal, but so regulated his charitable bestowinents that the right hand might not know the act of the left, ever seemingly thoroughly realizing that lie was never an office-seeker, although his power to obtain office was almost unbounded, and hence he held few offices, and tlie.se were at tiiit in the militia, when ease and pleasure were for the time supplanted by fatigue and danger. He led a company of the coast guard in active service in the last war with England, and was subsequently promoted to the office of lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Regiment of infantry in Plymouth Couuty Brigatle, from which circumstance was derived the familiar appellation of Col. Peirce, by which he was generally known.

He was several limes elected to a seat in the State Senate, where the committee upon which he was appointed to serve shows that his ability was recognized and respected, and in which body he made for himself an honorable record. His death occurred upon the 27th of January, 1861, leaving a wife and eight children to emulate his virtues and mourn his loss.

Isaac Pratt

Isaac Pratt was born March G, 177G, in North Middleboro', Mass., Titicut Parish. North Middleboro' and a part of Bridgewatcr were incorporated into a precinct called Titicut in honor of a tribe of Indians who had inhabited that locality.

He was descendant from Phineas Pratt (seventh generation), who came over in lG2o, either iu the third ship " Ann" or in the '- Swallow." He died at Charlestown, April 9, IGSO, at the age of eighty-sevuii years.

Phineas had a son Joseph, and he a Joseph (_'2dj, and he a son Benjamin, and he a Benjamin ("id), and Benjamin (2d) had a son, Williuni, who was the father of Isaac. He was a farmer, and m.inied Mary King, of Raynham. He lived and died in North Middleboro'. He had one daughter and seven .sons, viz., Calvin, born in 1774; Isaac, in 177G ; Sally, iu 1778; Enoch, in 1781 ,' Givenleaf, in 17S:-i ; Benjamin, iu 1785; William, in 17SS; Zelmlon K., iu 1791.

" Whether descendants from Rystoii Hall or of Cabra Castle, the Pratts have been of eoiisideralion in different parts of England and Ireland," .-ays Burke, " from a remote period, some of knightly degree and baronets."^ It may be added that tiny have distinguished themselves in the highest places in all the professions, not only in Great Britain but in the United States. Benjamin Pratt was born in Boston in 1709, and died iu 1763. He was a gradii.ite of Harvard University (1737); he represented Buston in the Legislature in 1757-59, and subsequently bec.ime chief justice of New York. Charles Pratt (Lord Camden) was made Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor of England, and who, during the American Revolution, made himself illustrious for all time. The comprehensive heraldic motto of his lord.shij) - Judicium, parium out lex terrse. - (" the judgment of our peers or the law of the laud") would not be an inappropriate motto of all who bear the name of Pratt.

Isaac Pratt married Naomi Keith, a most estimable lady. May 19, 1804. She was the daughter of Jeremiah Keith, of Bridgewatcr, a descendant from Rev. James Keith, who came to Mas.sachusetts from Scotland iu the year 1662, and was the first settled min-

^ Enoch \vu8 a graduate of Bruwn irnivei'sity in ISO;!, and became a cler;;yuian. Ho \vii3 settled at Weal Uarnstable, Mass., in 1SU7, and resigned his position in ls:{j. He died iu IStiO. He was the author of tlie " Cuiu|irehensive History, Ecclesiastical and Civil, of Easthuui, \Velltlcet, and Orleans" (I vol. 8vo), said to be a faithful record of their orij^in and progress.

Mr. Pratt was educated at the common .school, which at his period was limited to two or three months of the year. Most of his life was spent upon the farm, in connection with a saw-mill and a country store. The more active part of his life, however, was given to the manufacture of nails, which he made a branch of his business. Id 1818, or before, his nephew, Jarud Pratt, was made a partner, and the business was conducted under the firm of I. & J. Pratt.

They purchased the Swedish and Russia iron which was reduced to nail-rods, and these were placed in the hands of resident farmers, when not otherwise employed, to be hatuuiered into nails. This was made quite a profitable industry.

About the year 1816, Jesse Reed invented, or perfected, a machine that would cut and head nails from plates at one operation. After many expensive failures of attempted nail-uiachiues, this proved a success. Mitchell, in his " History of Bridgewater," says, "The first nails manufactured by machinery in the United States were made here ; probably the first nail completely cut and headed by machinery at one operation in the world was made in E;ist Bridgewater by the late Samuel Rogers." '

III 1821 or 1822, Jonathan Crane and Charles Wilbur were made partners, and the firm was altered to I. (fc J. Pratt & Co. ' They purchased the right to use the Reed nail-machine, gave up their store and business iu North Middleboro', and removed to Wareham, Mas.s. Here they erected a rolling-mill and nail factory, now known as the " Parker Mills." They were among the first to undertake this business on a large scale.

In 1829 they obtained an act of incorporation under tlie name of " The Wareham Iron Company," with a capital of $100,000. Jared Pratt was made treasurer, though the business of the company was conducted under the direction of the firm.

It is difficult to describe the peculiar and sterling elements of Mr. Pratt's character. He was eminently a practical man. In his transactions and intercourse with others he had no occasion fur troublesome disguises or indirect methods. His miud and hand were as open as day for action, whether in business or charity. He was quick to speak, and with a ready good-natured wit was always prepared to redeem in practice what he professed in words. Of liim, it may be said more than of any other man, that he was the founder of the industrial pro.sperity of Wareham. At the time of his death a truthful obituary was published in the Boston Evening Traveller, which we quote as due to his memory :

" Oar readers id Plyinoutb County will read with regret the unnouQceuvnt of the decease of Isaac Pratt, of NortU Middleboro', who died at the advanced ugc of ci;^lity-iiiue years. . . . He was industrious, frugal, and unostentatious ; benov- j the Cunf^re^^ational Church. Although ho adhered to the tenets of his faith with steadfastness characteristic of his Puritan ancestry, he was neither bigoted, dogtnatlcal, nor ascetic. He was conservative, but liberal Id his views. He will be rcmciuberod as a fine type of a class now rapidly passing away, - the

I Enoch Pratt

: Enoch Pratt was born in North Middleboro', I Mass., Sept. 10, 1808. He is the son of Isaac Pratt I and Naomi Keith, whose record and that of his ancestors is given in the sketch of his respected father I contained in this volume.

A position waa soon secured for liim in a fiist-class house in Boston, where he remained till he was twenty-one years of age. In this place he had tiie benefits of tiie old-fashioned training in business peculiar to Boston. He had the influence of the examples of good men to aid him in developing those remarkable endowments of mind which have distingui.-hed him from boyhood to manhood and tlirough life. His unexceptionable habits and tireless application to business ; his quick perception of what was right and what was wrong, and his undeviating integrity ; the simplicity of his methods, and his unbounded confidence in the principles of common sense and in the results of legitimate industry, gave him an early reputation for sound judgment of far greater value than the possession of money as a capital, with its dangerous tendency to mislead in the choice of doubtful projects of speculation. The slow and sure methods of acfjuisition afford the most profitable information in respect to the fundamental laws of trade and the means of success. No young man more thorouglily mastered these laws and observed them than the sub ject of this notice.

In 1831, Mr. Pratt removed to Baltimore and established himself as a commission merchant. He founded the wholesale iron-houses of Pratt & Keith and Enoch Pratt & Brother, which now consists of himself and Henry Janes. No firms have been more successful in business, though much of the time of Mr. Pratt has been given to industrial enterprises of a public nature and to financial institutions. He has been director and president of the National Farmers' and Planters' Bank for forty-five years, director and vice-president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, twenty-seven years a director of the Savings-Bank of Baltimore, and of numerous other institutions.

He had no hesitation in taking a large block of the i-tock of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company in its early days, by which action he identified himself with a line of railway which in its e(|uipments and accommodations to the public is unsurpassed, - an achievement largely attributable to his wise foresight and good judgment.

With an expanding heart beyond the selfish calls of the mere ambition for gain, he has ever manifested a deep interest in the cause of education, religion, reform, and charity, and in public improvements. He has expended much time and money in supporting sucii institutions, and always with a cheerful spirit.

He is now president of the House of Rofurmation and Instruction for Colored Children at Clieheiihaui, Prince George County, Md., and of the Maryland School for the Deaf and Dumb, at Frederick, which was started by his energy and means. But fur his liberality and perseverance the institution at C'liekenham would not have been establi.-^hed. He saw with deep concern that there were numerous colored children swarming in the streets of Baltimore, homeless and friendless, and abandoned to g'ow up in idleness and vice. He donated seven hundred and thirty acres of his farm property as u site, and with the aid of a few kindred spirits the institution was established, and he has lived to see a thousand or more of poor colored children made happy and prepared to be useful members of society.

Mr. Pratt has taken a lively interest in the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts. The costly bell and clock in the tower of the institute buildin;' were his gift. As the treasurer of the Peabody Institute, he was highly complimented by the late eminent banker who founded it, as one oi' the ablest financiers he had ever known. The ease and .mjcccss with which he conducted the great trust of millions without loss, and with a skill to secure all po.inible legitimate gains, affords a singular cuntra>t to modern examples of administrative weakness.

In 1877 he was unanimously elected by the City Council one of the Finance Commissioners of Baltimore, a post of honor and great responsibility. This was truly a high compliment, for the reason that he was politically opposed to the dominant party, and was the only one ever invited by a Deuiocruiic council to accept the position. His services as commissioner proved to be invaluable in shaping the financial policy of the municipality, but the pressure of his private affairs aeon compelled him to withdraw from the board.

Although Mr. Pratt is an acute observer of men and events, and takes an intelligent interest in politics and legislation, particularly when the general welfare is involved, he has manifested no desire for oflice. He has been approached to be a candidate for Congress, for Governor of the State, and mayor of the city, and for other offices, but he has declined all positions that give mere distinctions of honor, and with but lew opportunities for usefulness. Absolutely he has no taste for notoriety. He is ever prompt to be useful, but he is opposed to the mere display of pride. It was with difficulty that his consent was obtained for the insertion of his name in this volume.

is an eclectic, believing in the rule of God, and findinir ^ood in all tilings. His scale of duty is not measured by time, and io his acts of to-day he religiously provides for the future. He is an active member of the Unitarian Society of Baltimore, but he looks fur a man's religion in his deeds. He may be spoken of, in the language of Tennyson, as one

But the reader will be amazed when told that, after such recitals of Mr. Pratt's acts of munificence, the noblest of all are yet to be stated.

Three years ago he gave notice to the city governlueut of Baltimore of his purpose to establish a free circuhiting library, to be called the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore City, on certain conditions of co-operation on the part of the city, which were proiu]itly and officially accepted. He proposed to expend a million of dollars. He proceeded immediately to erect suitable buildings for the library and its four branches, and they were completed and conveyed to the city July, 1883. These buildings were planned and erected under his personal supervision at a cost of $300,000. In addition to these buildings, he gave his check on his bank, July 1, 1883, for $833,333.33 to the city for a penuaneiit six per cent, endowment of $50,000, payable quarterly forever, making the grand total of $1,133,333.33.

It would be exceedingly interesting to describe the library buildings, to show their solid foundations and fire-proof superstructures, their superior conveniences, and the elaborate and beautiful decorations of their interiors; but the limits of this article do not permit. The jiapers of Baltimore have been eloquent upon the subject, and its citizens have manifested their delight ill the prospect of enjoying for themselves and their children the privileges of such an institution.

But in favoring his adopted city Mr. Pratt did not forget his native town in Massachusetts. lu 1867 he endowed an academy in North Middleboro', and made it free to children within a certain distance, in the sum of thirty thousand dollars. In 1858, when the Congregational Church of Titicut was burned, he aided them to rebuild and presented them with a clock and bell. Other uobie acts might be enumerated, but if we were to make a full record of Mr. Pratt, the materials would fill a volume.

Of his happy domcbtic relations it may be proper to add that he was married Aug. 1, 1839, to a most interesting lady, Maria Louisa Hyde, whose paternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Massacliusetts, while, on the mother's side, she is descended from a German family, who located in Baltimore more than a hundred and fifty years ago. They are childless. The circle of his home, whether large or small, is made as happy as the means of wealth can command and the presence of a noble and cheerful mind can inspire.

Mr. Pratt is in the full posse.ssion of mental and physical vigor, and is enjoying, without display nr ostentation, the rewards of an unspotted career and a life of unclouded prosperity. No man is more unassuming in his manners, or more modest in speaking; of what he has done, or of his personal merits. It cannot be seen that good fortune adds to his vanity or good deeds to his pride, or tliat occasional losses annoy him. He dislikes flattery and unnecessary ceremony, and in his intercourse with his neighbors and friends he has a kind and ready greeting for all classes, uttered with an unchangeable dignity that is the natural lansiuaire of high motives and uiidistiuised sincerity.

Isaac Pratt, Jr., brother of Enoch, wxs born in North Middleboro', June 27, 1814. His father was Isaac Pratt, sod of William, and his mother, Naomi Keith, daughter of Jeremiah Keith, of Bridgewater. His ancestors are given in the sketch of his worthy father, contained in this volume. He lived with his parents, and was educated at the common school, and at Bridgewater Academy. When sixteen years of age he entered the counting-room of I. & J. Pratt & Co., Wareham, his father being the senior partner. They were extensive nail manufacturers. At the age of eighteen he was made the chief clerk of the concern. He kept the books, and all the business of the counting-room was placed under his direction. The business of the firm at this time was not less than five hundred thousand dollars per annum.

He remained with this firm till 183-1, when it was dissolved. After adjusting its closing affairs, lie accepted a clerkship in the house of Warren Murdock, Commercial Street, Boston.

In 1835 he was offered a clerkship in the house of Benjamin L. Thompson, merchant on Long Wharf, Boston, with the understanding that in due time he would be made a partner. Mr. Thompsou had been connected with I. & J. Pratt & Co., and was well acquainted with the character and higli merits of Mr. Pratt aa a young man of much promise, and he was made a partner in 1830.

Tlie firm consisted of BeDJamin L. Tlioiupson, George L. Oakes, and Isaac Pratt, Jr., under the title of Tlioiupson, Oakes & Co. Their ehict business was the nianufacturiii;; and selling nails, made from Swedish iron, and in buying and selling hops.

In 1S41 Mr. Thompson retired, and the business was continued under the firm of Oakes & Pratt until February, IS-io. At this time an entire ciiange had taken place in the manufacture of nails. Instead of Swedish bar-iron, pig-iron was used. By cutting the nails with the grain of the iron, a good, tough nail was produced etjual for most work to that of the Swedish iron, and at a much less cost. This improvement was adopted by the Weymouth Iron Company, and Mr. Pratt was made agent to take charge of their store on Milk Street, Boston, which position he has held for forty years, with great advantage to the company.

In January, 18GC, he was elected a director in the Atlantic National Bank, Boston, and when his financial skill was seen he was made its president in 1869. Under his direction the bank has not only been able to declare good and uniform dividends, but to accumulate a creditable surplus. For more than twenty-five years he has been a director in the National Bank of Wareham, Mass., and during the years 1872 and 1873 he was president of that bank, being president of two banks at the same time.

At the present time, 188-1, Mr. Pratt is president of the Bridgewater Iron Company, the Weymouth Iron Company, Charles River Embankment Company, and treasurer of the East Boston Company.

In 1875 he was elected representative to the State Le>'islaiure from the Brighton and Newton district. He was very properly placed on the Joint Standing Committee on Claims, and his associates liad ample evidence in his examples of prompt attention to his ofiicial duties, and of his keen capacity to scrutinize tlie equity of the numerous demands made upou the Stale treasury. He had the courage to say No when necessary, and to insist upon impartial justice to all claimants when made evident.

Mr. Pratt has voted the ticket of the Republican party, although he has not had much time to give to it as a member. He has often been solicited to be a candidate for office, but such otters have been declined.

June 'J, 1840, Mr. Pratt married Hannah Thompson, the accomplished daughter of Benjamin L. Thompson, his former partner. They have had five children, one daughter and four sons, viz., Ellen Jane Oakes, born March 27, 1841 ; Isaac Lowell, born Oct. IS. 1843; David Guruey, born Nov. 7,

Mr. Pratt and his entire family are in good health and in the enjoyment of all those blessings which follow good examples and a life of successful industry. He is a man of few words and of great modesty. He was born with a natural capacity for business. This was made ev.ident in his early youth. He was a sedate boy, and preferred trade to jilay when he luid choice of opportunities, though always ready to enjoy the wit and pleasantries of others. As a man ainl merchant he has distinguished himself as a careful observer of men and things, and discovered a sound judgment in all the enterprises he has undertaken and with gratifying results. He is quick to solve a business problem, and no one has ever had reason to complain of him for duplicity or want of candor. He possesses the same elements of character that distinguished his venerable father and his respected brother, Enoch, - three as honest and successful men as ever were born on the soil of the old Bay State.

Their record does great honor to the land of the Pilgrims, - the county of Plymouth. I We do not say self-made men, for this term, .so common among writers, in our humble opinion, is an arrogant one. Whoever has the strength and genius to rise above the circumstances of life, to acquire knowledge however opposed by difficulties, to elevate his character above that of his associates, to advance his own station beyond his inherited rank, and to secure for him.self the commanding position of affluence, integrity, and eminent usefulness, is a favored child of his Maker, and is a chosen instrument of his beneficence. The genius that is within raises him above the level of life. He sees, he hears, he feels, he thinks, and knows, and he acts. lie is diligent in the use of his talents, and, like the faithful steward, is ever ready to be called to his account.

Jaued Pratt

Phineas and Joshua Pratt wore early New England emigrants. Phineas settled at Weymouth; Joshua, from whom probably Jared Pratt derived his descent, had descendants who settled in Vermont, from which State they came to Bridgewater, where Josiah, father of Jared, was a farmer. lie niarriud Bethiah, daughter of Jeremiah Keith. (.lerijniiali Keith was a descendant in the fourth feneration of

Rnv. Jumes Keitli, tlie old Scotcli " first minister" of Bridi;ewater (see history of Bridgewater). The Hue is James', John*, Daniel^, Jeremiaii*. By liis first wife, Agatha Bryant, Jeremiah had five children, - Jeremiah, Btthiuh, Naomi (Mrs. Isaac Pratt), Betsey (Mrs. Benjamin Tucker), and Susanna (Mrs. Zebulon K. Pratt). He was early engaged in the iron business, owning a foundry, and doing much iron work for those days. He made cannon, which were cast solid to bore, being drilled out afterwards. He is said to have cast the first cannon made in Bridgewater. He was a strong, resolute man, of active temperament, with all the persistence and energy of his Scotch ancestry.) Jo.siah Pratt had three children, - Jared, Lydia (first wife of Charles Wilbur), and Agatha B. (second wife of Charles Wilbur). He died Dec. 12, 1843, aged seventy-six years. Jared Pratt received his education at public and private schools, and he devoted himself to his studies assiduously. When nineteen he taught public school in Taunton for one year. He engaged for some time as clerk for Crocker & Richmond in their nail-manufactory in Taunton, and served in the same capacity for other manufacturers. He married Jemima Williams, daughter of Job and Zipporah King, of Taunton, Jan. 1, 1818, and commenced housekeeping at North Middleboro', in close proximity to the present residences of his sons, and began his successful business life there as proprietor of a general country store in company with Isaac Pratt, the firm-name being I. & J. Pratt. Country merchandising at that time meant participation in all branches of business carried on by the people, so, in 1819, we find the firm had a forge, or "bloomery," in operation at Wareham, doing a moderate business, under the personal care of Mr. Wilbar, the resident partner at Wareham of the firm which then was known as Pratt, Crane & Wilbar. .From this small beginning in ironwork grew up the extensive manufacture of nails so long conducted in Wareham by the Wareham Iron Company, doing business as I. & J. Pratt & Co., which soon threw into the shade and superseded the little mercantile bu.~iiness at North Middleboro'. (See biography of Isaac Pratt.)

Jlr. Pratt's business ability and shrewd financial skill rendered him an important factor in this rapidlydeveloping industry, and he removed to Wareham in 1S24 ; and to his shrewdness, energy, and skilllul conducting the monetary affairs, and as treasurer of the Wareham Iron Company, the firm was greatly indebted for its success.

which were made nails, bar-iron, plates, etc. This was a successful enterprise, and was conducted with great profit until 1859. About 1842 his son, Christopher C. K., became connected with him, and the firm was thenceforward J. Pratt & Son. In 1859 Mr. Pratt returned to North Middleboro' as a retired business man, and passed bis closing years in the midst of the pleasant rural scenes of that beautiful little village, and in the spacious house which he had erected in accordance with his taste in 1848, and which was one of the splendid mansions of the town. He died July 4, 1864. Mrs. Pratt, who was born May 15, 1794, is still living, in possession of remarkable physical and mental strength. Their children arc Christopher C. K., Maria 0. (Mrs. Albert Washburn), Augustus, Eliza Ann, Julia, and Louisa.

Mr. Pratt was a sergeant of Capt. Keith's Company of East Bridgewater in the war of 1812; his widow now receives a pension for his services. He also held a commission as captain of the militia for many years, by which title he was familiarly known. He was intimately connected with, and a warm supporter of, all matters of interest arising in the community or in the town, and being a business man of the highest order, his advice was of great value and eagerly sought. He was careful and cautious, but at the same time positive, holding a well-grounded faith in his own opinions. As a man and citizen he was esteemed, as a friend and associate he was beloved, and his memory is cherished by a large circle of friends. The engraving accompanying this sketch is taken from a painting representing him at thirty years of age ; it is the only likeness extant, and is said to be a remarkably good one of him at that age. The autograph is taken from a letter written in 1S4G, when he was fifly-four years old.

Albert Alden

ALBERT ALDEN. John Alden, the first of the Pilgrim band to stop on Plymouth Rock, and the last male survivor of those who came in the " Mayflower," whose romantic lovestory has been so beautifully told by our great poet, Longfellow, and whose merits have been so faithfully recorded in old records, was the ancestor of the numerous family of Aldens in America, lie pusscs.sed much versatility of talent, and by his intelligence, refinement, and decision of character early obtained a strong influence over his associates. He Was secretary to the Governor for many years, and in every position performed his duties satisfactorily. He was born in 1599, and emigrated from Southampton, England. In 1621 he married Priscillu MuUins, who was celebrated for her beauty and domestic accomplishmeuts. After a few years they made Duxbury their residence, on the north side of tiie village, on a farm which is still in the possession of their descendants. John Alden died at Duxbury Sept. 12, 1G87. " In a i;ood old a!.'e, an old man, and full of years ; uud was gathered to his people, and his sons buried him." The line of descent to the present generation is John', Joseph-, Joseph", Samuel*, Samuel', Daniel ^ Otis', Albert".

Albkr.'!' Alden, son of Otis and Harriet (^Vdams) Aldtn, was born at Jay, Me., Oct. 24, 1817. His parents moved to North Bridgewater, Mass., a few mouths after his birth, wiiere they died. His mother was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Adams, who, when young, was in the Revolutionary war, and whose father was one of the earliest settlers of the family of Adams that settled near Boston. Rev. Joseph Adams was for many years a prominent Baptist clergyman. He was for a long period of time a settled pastor of Jay, Me., and tilled various pulpits to the acceptance of the people, making many friends outside of his own denomination. He married Mercy Gadiiig, daughter of Rev. William Gading, then holding a pastorate near Boston.

His grandmother on his father's side was the daughter of Jonathan Gary, wiio was a descendant from John Gary, who came over from England about 1634 and joined the Plymouth Golony.

Albert Alden is a worthy example of the class of self-made men. Left an orphan at seveu years of a"e, he lived with an uncle on a farm until he was thirteen, when he began life i'or himself, having received very limited schgol advantages. With all these deprivations, however, he has gained wealth and an honorable position in society, and may be classed among the truly successful men of this county. Before he was twenty-one he was owner of an express or baggage route between Boston and Providence and Boston and Poxboro'. His devotion to principle has ever been marked. He never would sacrifice his ideas of right for the sake of gain, and, although at that time it was against public sentiment to be opposed to liquor, he placed himself while a youth on the strongest temperance platform, and would not allow liquor intended for intoxicating purposes to be carried in any of his wagons. In 1840 he sold out his teams, and started in a small way in the straw business at Foxboro', being among the earliest ones in that trade. With various partners he continued manufacturing until the fall of 1849, when he entered the employ of the Garpcuters, and remained with them and the Union Straw-Works, iu which corporation he was a stockholder, until 1856, for eighteen months being in charge of a branch manufactory at Nantucket. During 1856-57 he was employed by Thomas White it Co., Philadelphia, to superintend their factory.

After purchasing the straw-factory of Pickens Brothers, at Middleboro', Mr. Alden moved to this place Nov. 20, 1858, and, from that time to the present, with the exception of a few months, has been a resident of and identified with the business progress and interests of Middleboro'. From a small and inconvenient building he has built up one of the largest manufactories in the State. He named his factory the Bay State Straw-Works, admitted William King as partner in 1850, and, in ISGO aUo admitted Hiram Plumnier. Selling out his interest in 1861 to Plummer & King, he moved again to Foxboro', but did not remain long, for in 1862 he repurchased the Bay State Straw- Work.s, and continued the manufacturing alone until 1865, when II. K. White was given an interest in the business, which interest was purchased by Mr. Alden in 1871, and liis sou, A. B. Alden, admitted into partnership. In 1872, David T. Hartshorn also became a partner, and, iu 1S76, the Bay State Straw-Works were sold to a corporation, of which Mr. Alden was one of the incorporators and directors. It was the Union and Bay State Jlauufac-

I works, and manufactured goods for the corporation until August, 1882, when Sir. Alden retired from active business, and the works were leased to A. B. Alden, who formed a partnership with D. T. Hartshorn. Mr. Alden gave his counsel and assiatauee to the new firm (which still continues the lessee of the wurksj, having no interest in the business. In I8ri3, he purchased again the Bay State Straw-Wurks. From the one small building with which he couimeuccd, the trade has increased to such an extent as to compel the erection of building after building, each of several stories, and fitted with expensive machinery. From a forest the land contiguous to the works has become a pleasant village, Mr. Alden having erected houses for the convenience of his employes, and set out and cared for numerous trees on the highway that have become a source of great pride to the whole village.

Mr. Alden married, May 14, 1837, Charlotte B. Comey, of Foxboro', Mass., daughter of Aaron and Charlotte (Skinner) Comey, who died April 29, 1849. They had five children, - Charlotte L., who married F. Marion Vaughan, lawyer of Middleboro' (Mrs. Vaughan died March 13, 1884) ; Albert Henry, who died at sea, Aug. 3, 1862 ; Harriet E., died July 24,

1846; Leslie, died April 5, 1847; and Arthur B., the only one living at the present time, who married, in 1874, Mary H. Soule, of iMiddleboro".

Whig and Republican in political sentiment, Mr. Alden has preferred to devote his time and energies to business, and aside from voting h:i3 meddled little with politics. He has been a progres.sive man, and continually advocated improvements needed by the town ; ho was one of the first to advocate a new townhouse, which was finally built, he being one of tlie committee appointed to superintend ita building. He has also been prominent in advocating water-works for the town. He was one of the directors of the Middleboro' and Taunton Railroad, now consolidated with ! the Old Colony Railroad. He is a director in the I Machinists' National Bank of Taunton, one of tlie : trustees of the Middleboro' Saviugs-Bank, and di- ' rector and president of the Union Needle Company. Acquiring a strong physique and iron constitution by hia early exposure and hard labor, Mr. Alden is yet vigorous and capable of accomplishing more than many men much younger than he. Steady and persistent, yet weighing all things well, his judgment has proved an excellent guide, and liis perseverance lias carried his undertakings almost uniformly to success. He united with the Baptist Church in 1842, and has always been a consistent member. Of unswerving integrity and uncompromising in the discharge of duty, Mr. Alden is also kind and unassuming, pleasant and social ; ba.'j a warm heart and a generous purse for the relief of suffering, and for religious and benevolent institutions. He has many friends, and as citizen, workman, and employer, in church circles, and in the family relation, he has discharged the duties imposed on him with honor to himself and with the esteem of all who know him. The old blood of John Alden flows in all its purity through his veins.

Horatio Barrows

HORATIO BARROWS. No history of Middleboro' would be complete without a sketch of the life of Horatio Barrows. He was the son of Charles and Mary (Cobb) Barrows, and was born in Carver, Mass., May 12, 1824. He was educated at Peiree Academy, and then learned the carpenter's trade with his father, and for some years was engaged in building. His last work in this line was in erecting the store now occupied by Mr. Thomas W. Pierce, which was completed in the fall of 1853, and was immediately used by Noah C. Perkins, Charles E. Leonard and himself as shoe manufacturers, under the firm-name of Perkins,

Leonard & Barrows. This firm continued for several years, and in April, 1860, Leonard & Barrows sold their interests to Mr. Perkins, and purchased what is now known as Murdock's block, and C. D. Kingman became associated with them under the firm-name of Leonard, Barrows & Co. At the expiration of five years the connection waa dissolved, and Leonard & Barrows made large additions and improvements to their manufactory. They introduced steam-power, added another story and a basement; remained here until 1874, when their largely-increasing business demanded greater space, and they erected the building now occupied on Centre Street, where the manufacture is still carried on by Charles E. Leonard, the interest and firm-name remaining the same. They employ from two hundred to two hundred and fifty operatives, and it is one of the leading houses in this line in the county. During the first years of their bu.sinesa they manufactured largely for the Southern trade, but at the breaking out of the Rebellion that market was destroyed, and new ones were sought in the West, and ladies' shoes were made a specialty.

With that characteristic shrewdness and foresight which has built up this extensive business, it waa seen that an entirely different class of goods would be demanded in the West, and the change was adopted successfully. In establishing these new markets Mr. Barrows was obliged to travel extensively in the West, and by his honorable dealing, strict attention to business, he secured to the firm a reputation which has enabled them to manufacture goods to order to the full capacity of their factory without personal solicitation. In 1854, Mr. Barrows married Abbie M., daughter of Benjamin aud Waitstill (Murdock) Leonard, of Middleboro". They had one son, Fletcher Lawton, born July 15, 1871.