Taunton City (part 4 of 13)

In politics he was a Republican from the organization of that party till 1876, when he became identified with the Prohibition party. In November of 1863 he was elected to the Legislature, and in 1864 was chosen county treasurer, which office he held nine years. He has held the position of agent and treasurer of the Taunton Tack Company since June, 1868, and has been a member of the school committee of Taunton for eighteen years. He married, Aug. 24, 1858, Catharine Prescott Webster, of Cambridge. Children, - Harriet E., Arthur P., Olivia D., Cornelius R., and Thomas M. Cornelius W. Lothrop, father of Thomas J., born in Taunton, March 28, 1812, was for a time engaged in the straw business, and afterwards in farming. He married, Feb. 20, 1831, Eleanor Lincoln, daughter of James and Hannah Smith, of Taunton. Mrs. Smith was a daughter of Joseph Wilbur, a direct descendant of Shadrach Wilbur, who, while holding the office of town clerk of Taunton, was imprisoned by Sir Edmund Andros for refusing to give up the records of the town. (See sketch of Joseph Wilbur.) Both Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius W. Lothrop took great interest in the cause of education, and were highly esteemed.

He was killed in a saw-mill in Raynham, Dec. 8, 1847. His father, Howell Lothrop, born in Norton, April 16, 1787, married Sally White, daughter of Timothy White, of Taunton, and resided on his farm in Taunton until his death, June 9, 1857. His father, Solomon, born in Easton, Feb. 9, 1761, married Mehetable White, of Taunton, Sept. 18, 1782, and resided in Norton. Jonathan, father of Solomon, born in Easton, March 11, 1722, married Susanna Johnson, and resided in his native town. His father, Mark, lived in Easton, and married Hannah Alden, of Middleborough, a great-granddaughter of John Alden, one of the passengers of the " Mayflower." His father was Samuel, and his grandfather Mark, who came from England, settled first in Salem, afterwards in Duxbury, and then in Bridgewater some time previous to 1660. He was a brother of Rev. John Lothrop, who settled in Barnstable, and was the eighteenth child of Thomas Lothrop, of Elton, in England. This Thomas was the son of John, of the parish of Lowthorpe, in the East Riding of York,- which gave name to the family.

ELIJAH UTLEY JONES, M.D.i Elijah Utley Jones, M.D., was born in Augusta, Me., May 2, 1826, the eldest son of Ebenezer and Clara (Mandell) Jones. His father was a native of Charlton, his mother of Hardwick, both in Worcester County, Mass. His grandfather Mandell is remembered as a brave patriot in Revolutionary times. Elijah Utley was fitted for college when fourteen, but did not enter Waterville College (now Colby University) till September, 1841. He was dependent on his own resources for support during his college course, and these were not sufficient to furnish him suitable food. He boarded himself. Poor diet and too much study left him an invalid when he was ready to leave college. After his graduation he persevered notwithstanding his ill health, and taught school, first in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1845, in Slatersville, R. I., in 1846, and in East Douglass, Mass., in 1847, where he remained a year, as principal of the academy, in exceeding poor health, with cough and symptoms of consumption upon him. Obliged to stop for a while, after a little rest he tried teaching again in North Brookfield in 1848. Once more driven from the school-room by failing health, he tried a life insurance agency, so as to have the open air, and the town of Dartmouth, so as to be near the salt water. But all expedients failed, and with little hope of living young Jones goes back to his father's house in Augusta to die. All the family were soon taken sick with a mild form of fever, but a severe typhoid took fast hold of the subject of this sketch. For a long time his life trembled in the balance. The old and the new disease appeared to be contending for the mastery. The new in conquering spent all its force. Of the old disease a chronic laryngitis was left, which decided the choice of a profession, medicine instead of the ministry, for which the father had always expressed a preference.

The advice of Rev. Dr. Tappan, the pastor at Augusta, and Drs. Shepard and Pond, of the Bangor Theological Seminary, confirmed them in this decision. The study of medicine was commenced at once, even before full recovery, under the direction of Dr. William F. Jackson, of Gardiner, Me., to whose substantial and ever kind assistance young Jones was greatly indebted for the success of his student life. From his father's house in Augusta to the office in Gardiner was a distance of seven miles, which he walked morning and night. His health continued to improve, and his long walk grew shorter to him daily. During the winter of 1851-52 he acted as reporter in the Maine State Senate for the Augusta. Age. With the money thus earned he paid for two full courses of lectures at the Maine Medical School. In 1853 he went to Concord, N. H., as assistant to Dr. Alpheus Morrill, but early in the autumn of that year a favorable opening occurring at Dover, N. H., he settled there. In February, 1854, he went to Philadelphia, where he fully graduated at the Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. His practice at Dover was all he could wish, but at the earnest solicitation of Dr. George Barrows, and by the advice of all his friends, the 1st of September, 1854, he removed to Taunton, Mass., where he has been in full practice the past twenty-nine years.

September 26th of this same year he married Sarah S. Crofoot, daughter of Theodore Stone, of East Douglass, Mass., who still survives with one daughter, Kate Handell, married to Edward P. Washburn, of Taunton. A little later he transferred his church relation from Waterville, Me., where he professed religion in 1844, and with his wife united with the church under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Maltby. Of this church he has always been an active member in its Sabbath- school and general church work. For several years he was on its "standing committee," and was its treasurer. Nine years ago, when a Congregational Club was organized in the city, he was chosen its first vice-president, which office he retained for five years, and then served as president two years, declining a re-election.

In 1855 he joined the Homoeopathic Fraternity, a small society, which grew into the present large and prosperous Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, of which Dr. Jones has been an active and influential member. For fifteen years he was on its board of management, for seven consecutive years was its secretary, and in 1876 was elected its president. He edited and published its first and third volumes of Transactions, the first covering a period of twenty years. His monograph in this first volume on the "Early History of Homoeopathy in Massachusetts," is especially valuable as a record of facts not obtainable elsewhere. Dr. Jones has been a constant contributor to the magazines and periodicals in his department of knowledge the last thirty years, being assistant editor for two years of the New England Gazette, still published in Boston. In 1854 he became a member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, of which he is now an honored " senior." He is also a member of the American Public Health Association. He has recently been nominated and confirmed as chairman of the city Board of Health. He is also treasurer of the Old Colony Historical Society.

In 1879 he was appointed lecturer on sanitary science and malarial diseases in Boston University Medical School, a position which he still continues to fill with great acceptance. Professionally and socially, Dr. Jones is in the foremost ranks, and has hosts of friends. His wife is secretary of the Female Charitable Association, and one of the managers of the Old Ladies' Home.

The Williams Family

None of the many important families of the ancient town of Taunton have been connected with its history for so long a period, and none have been more prominently identified with its business interests and prosperity than the Williams family.

Richard Williams may be considered as in some measure the father, although not the founder, of Taunton. He certainly was in the town before the purchase by. Miss Pool. Tradition says he was accompanied by a brother, and came from Scituate. He might have come immediately from Scituate, but there is a strong probability that he was one of those who accompanied Governor Endicott to Salem, for his wife, Frances Dighton, was sister to Endicott's first wife. He might have gone from Salein to Scituate, and thence to Taunton. Richard was a Welshman, and was born as early as 1599. It is not improbable that he was a relative of Roger Williams, and a tradition has always existed among his descendants that he was a blood relation of Oliver Cromwell-, whose family name was Williams, and changed to Cromwell for an estate. It is positively known that one of Oliver's ancestors was a Richard Williams. The Richard settling at Taunton was a man of no mean abilities. He was deputy to the General Court of Plymouth for Taunton in 1646, '48, '50, '51, and several subsequent years. He was first on the list of those who made the South Purchase (Dighton), and also of those who made the North Purchase, viz., Easton, Norton, Mansfield, and a part of Attleborough. He outlived the Plymouth government, dying in 1692. He was a rigid Puritan. When blind and deaf from age he was accustomed to attend public worship, saying, " Although he could neither see nor hear, yet it was consoling to his feelings to know that he was present while the people of God were at their worship." He settled in Taunton in 1637, and the estate he then purchased is largely in possession of his descendants at this day. His children were John, Samuel, Joseph, Nathaniel, Thomas, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Hannah. The children of Joseph were Richard, Joseph, Benjamin, Ebenezer, and Mehitable. Richard had children, - George, Richard, and Ebenezer; George had children, - George, Ebenezer, Richard, Phebe, Sarah, and Anna. This last-mentioned George was the father of Francis Williams, and the line of descent from the Richard who settled in Taunton is Richard1, Joseph2, Richard3, George4 (a captain and colonel in American army in the Revolution), George5, Francis6.

George Williams (fifth generation) was born in Taunton, Aug. 18, 1745, and died Feb. 25, 1814. He married Bathsheba King (born in Raynham, March 31, 1744, died in Taunton, May 26, 1839), Oct. 2, 1766. Their children were Sarah, George, Abiathar, Bathsheba, Melancy, Francis, Narcissus, Enoch, and Samuel K., all born in Raynham, Mass. He was a man of hardy constitution, of force and energy, and was of repute and consequence. He was of fine personal appearance, and during the Revolution was adjutant of a Continental regiment. After the war he labored diligently to improve his estate, and enjoyed a handsome property, which was largely the result of his thrift and industrious habits.

Francis Williams, son of George5 and Bathsheba (King) Williams, was born in Raynham, Mass., Oct. 13, 1779, and inherited one of the numerous farms of his father. He married a worthy daughter of an old family, Louisa, daughter of John Gilmore, of Raynham, May 6, 1804. She was born Sept. 30, 1782. They had eleven children, as follows: Francis K. William H., Martin G., George A., Louisa, Elizabeth D., John R., Edwin, Catharine, Alexander H., and Ruth C. Mr. Williams carried on extensive farming operations, was a large manufacturer of brick, and this was his principal business for over half a centurv. He was a large and vigorous man, well proportioned, and possessed of great vitality, with wonderful powers of endurance. He was social in his intercourse, possessed strong intellect, and was of such an active temperament as never to have known an idle day. He was one of the first men in every public enterprise, and did more, perhaps, than any other man of Taunton in his day to develop the resources of the country, and gave employment to many in his numerous and widely-varied departments of industrial enterprise.

He was connected prominently with the establishment of the Taunton Copper-Works and various manufactures in Wareham, Dighton, and Providence. He helped establish every bank founded in Taunton during his business life ; was quite extensively interested in whaling. He got out large quantities of oak and pine for ship-timber, and was very successful in all departments of his business. He was an oldliue Whig in politics, and held various positions of public trust, although not a politician, and preferred attending to the many details of his extensive, private business, and avoided public life as much as practicable. He, however, represented Taunton in the Lower House of the Legislature, and was called upon to settle many estates. He was a great lover of equal and exact justice to all, and he enjoyed to a very high degree the confidence of the community for his strict integrity, unassuming ways, and strong, practical judgment. He was broad and liberal to all deserving causes, and a Unitarian in religious belief. He was in a great many respects a remarkable man, and his great industry, foresight, judgment, far-reaching sagacity, and constant attention to business resulted in great wealth. He died July 11, 1868.

Francis K. Williams, eldest son of Francis and Louisa (Gilmore) Williams, was born Jan. 1, 1805. He was educated at the schools of Taunton, and from a very early period in life was accustomed to hard labor in brick-making, lumbering, and farming, remaining at his father's home until he was twenty-three, or rather making that his home, for when but eighteen he went on a trip to New York on a vessel partially owned by his father, under Capt. Francis D. Williams, plying between Taunton and New York, and that was followed by another trip to the same port, and that by others to New Bedford and other ports of coasting trade. In 1828 he took command of the " Hamilton," a coasting vessel, sailing between Taunton and New Bedford, of which he was master for four years. In 1833 he commanded the " Spy" in the coasting trade, and remained as its master for eight seasons, sailing out from New Bedford. He then purchased the farm where he now resides in his seventy-eighth year, and soon after made it his home. He has since been a farmer and brick manufacturer. This last business he carried on for fourteen years. He has been a Whig and Republican in politics ; never desired office, but has taken several minor public positions as a duty. He has been a consistent and active member of the Sons of Temperance since the first organization of that society, and in the local society has held the highest offices and been trustee for many years. He married, April 17, 1836, Rhoda King, daughter of Thomas and Rhoda (King) Tisdale. She was born in Berkley, Mass., Oct. 4, 1805. Their children are Catharine (died young) ; Israel F., who died Sept. 4, 1864, in his twenty -sixth year (he was a graduate of Harvard University and Cambridge Law School, and at the time of his death was a settled minister of the Unitarian Church at Yonkers, N. Y. ; he was agent of the Sanitary Commission during the Rebellion, and while at City Point, Va., on the duties of that office, contracted the seeds of the disease from which he died) ; Samuel K. (served three years in Company F, Seventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, in the great Rebellion, was a brave soldier, and resides now in Taunton, engaged in manufacturing), Edward (died in infancy), Emily C, Seth E., and Charles H. (both of these are now farmers in Berkley).

Thomas Tisdale was born in Berkley ; was twice married, first to Rhoda, daughter of Philip King, of Raynham. They had four children, - Julia A., Caroline L. (died young), Rhoda K. (Mrs. F. K. Williams), and Israel (drowned, aged twelve years). Mrs. Tisdale died in 1814, and Mr. Tisdale married, second, Mary Benton, by whom he had one child, Caroline M. Mr. Tisdale by occupation combined farming with brick-making, and in early life carried his own brick to market by water, commanding his own vessel. He died in 1850, aged seventy-five years. His father, Ephraim Tisdale, was a farmer in Taunton, on a part of the farm now owned by F. K. Williams and wife. The title comes down to Rhoda (Mrs. Williams) direct from her great-grandfather (name not known), through her grandfather, Ephraim, and father, Thomas. Her great-grandfather was a large land-owner and a prominent and active man.

Mr. Williams never was a witness in any court other than that of probate, never had a lawsuit with any one, and never had to secure a bondsman for any other purpose than the customary bonds of a sailing-master. He is a generous, warm-hearted man, and stands high in the regards of community, doing no discredit on the honored name he bears. He is Unitarian in sympathy and belief, and a supporter of that church organization. He is a stockholder of Taunton National Bank, Bristol County National Bank, and holds as an heirloom a few shares of Boston and Albany Railroad left him by his father. Mr. Williams has been for forty-four years a sufferer from rheumatism, which has greatly crippled him, but, with a great fund of cheerfulness, he is passing down to the twilight of life with resignation, cheered in his declining years by a loving wife and affectionate daughters.

John Reed Williams, fifth son and seventh child of Francis and Louisa Williams, was born on the old Williams homestead in Taunton, Mass., June 18, 1817. He was brought up like his other brothers' to work diligently and well at any labor coming to hand, and early was inured to labor. None of his father's household were allowed to eat the bread of idleness, but all were trained to know the necessity and value of the saying, "By the sweat of thy face shalt thou earn thy bread." These industrious habits were not only good acquirements in themselves, but they were preventives of all the various kinds of dissipation which have ruined so many reared in idleness. He received common school and academic education, teaching one term of school when twenty years old. The fall after he was of age he went to Savannah, Ga., and engaged in brick-making, and there made the brick from which Fort Pulaski, afterwards to become so historic, was constructed. He stayed there two winters, and returning home worked for his father until 1842, when, purchasing the place where he now resides, he moved thither in the spring of 1843. For two years he made red brick, and since then has been engaged in manufacturing fire-bricks and stove-linings. Commencing in a small way with only his own personal labor, he now employs about twenty men, and in 1882 the production of his works amounted to fourteen thousand dollars. He has received from them in some years twenty thousand dollars. He made many improvements on his land, now consisting of one hundred acres, and in 1857 completed the commodious and beautiful residence in which he now lives. This is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, and presents a charming view of the surrounding country in almost every direction, and from its retired situation is extremely desirable as a home. Mr. Williams is a director and president of Taunton Iron-Works, which offices he has held for several years ; he is stockholder in two banks, in copper-works, iron-works, etc., always choosing some manufacturing interest at home for investment. He is an active, wide-awake, and progressive man, publicspirited and generous in support of anything tending to build up his native town and city. Whig and Republican in politics, he has never been an aspirant for office. He is Unitarian in religion, and connected with the Congregational Unitarian Church of Taunton. He is member of King David Lodge of Freemasons at Taunton, and King Philip Lodge of Odd- Fellows. He married Sarah, daughter of Abner and Eleanor (Sanford) Pitts, of Taunton. Their children are Francis (died in infancy), Joseph S., Sarah E., E. Louisa, John G., and Sophia P. They all live with their parents, and form a pleasant and intelligent family group. Mr. Williams has a full appreciation of the value of mental culture and development, and has given his children good opportunities for education, which have not been neglected. Sarah and Louisa are successful and highly -appreciated teachers. Joseph is the manager and engineer in his father's works. John G. is traveling salesman for the business. Alexander Hamilton Williams, youngest son of Francis and Louisa Williams, was born on the ancestral home of his great ancestor, Richard, Dec. 26, 1823. He received the same lessons of thrift, industry, aud economy as his elder brothers, and early worked at brick-making, farming, or lumbering, as occasion demanded. His education was derived from the common schools of his native town and its academies. Being the youngest son, it devolved on him to succeed his father in his business operations when the active brain was tired with age and the worn frame succumbed to the weight of years, and during his last years his father lived with Alexander. Mr. Williams was about twenty-five years old when he assumed the management of his father's affairs, and under his energetic labors and youthful ambition they did not lose in magnitude! His has been an active life. Always outspoken and frank in expressing his views, he has labored with earnestness to carry them into practical results. He is a member of the Unitarian Church, a member also of King David Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. Although not a politician, and avoiding as much as possible official preferment, he has held strong political opinions, and was a pronounced Whig and Republican. He has been called on to serve as counselor in the city government of Taunton, is now director in Taunton Brick Company, and also stockholder in various corporations and institutions.

Mr. Williams is the largest manufacturer of bricks (outside the Taunton Brick Company) in this section, so noted for its production of this building material, keeping himself the leader in this direction. He started the Taunton Brick Company in the summer of 1868, and organized the Williams Brick Company in 1872. This business has attained enormous proportions, and his son, Capt. George F. Williams, has been connected with him in this company since 1873. Their production of brick in 1882 was two million nine hundred thousand. In 1880, Mr. Williams contracted with the Conant Thread Company of Pawtucket, R. I., to furnish them five million brick. This he filled, and also furnished them with quite a quantity beside which they needed to complete their work. This was, beyond question, the largest contract for brick ever taken.

Mr. Williams is in possession of about ninety acres of the more than one hundred which constituted the homestead farm of Richard Williams. This historic place is highly valued by him, and affords him a beautiful and comfortable home. It used to be in early times the principal fording-place of the people, and was noted for the shallowness of the river. Mr. Williams married, Jan. 16, 1851, Jane Knight King. She was daughter of Dr. Dan King and Cynthia Pride, his wife. She was born in Charlestown, R. I., June 4, 1826. Their children are: (1) George F., who is book-keeper, overseer, and general business manager of the Williams Brick Company. He was chosen captain of Company G, Taunton

Light Guards, Massachusetts States Militia. He married Adella, daughter of Shubael Bliss, of Taunton, and has one daughter, Emma; (2) Cynthia P., born June 18, 1856, who resides with her parents. Mr. Williams is of fine personal appearance, tall and well proportioned, of light complexion, showing strong Saxon characteristics, and is social and genial by nature, and although careful in financial matters, is at the same time generous and hospitable. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of a large circle for his solid worth and many good qualities.

A. K. WILLIAMS. Abiathar King Williams, the subject of this sketch, is descended from Richard Williams1, the first settler of Cohannet, now Taunton, Mass. This memorable pioneer was from Glamorganshire, Wales, and settled at Cohannet in 1637. Two years later he was one of the founders of Taunton. His wife, Frances Dighton, was from Somersetshire, England. Their third son, Joseph2, and wife Elizabeth, had a son Richard3, who had a son, Col. George Williams4, who resided at South Raynham, and was the father of Abiathar Williams5. The latter was born in Raynham, and married Naucy Dean. They had eleven children, of whom our subject was the seventh in the order of birth. (See history of the Williams family, Taunton.) Abiathar Williams was known as " Capt. Williams." He ran a sloop from Taunton to New York from the time he was thirteen years of age till he was fifty-five. He was a successful and influential citizen, represented his town in the General Court, and held various local offices. He died in June, 1856, and his wife in 1858.

A. K. Williams, son of Abiathar and Nancy (Dean) Williams, was born in Taunton, Mass., March 11, 1815. He received his education at the common schools, and at an academy in his native town. In 1828 his father began the lumber business in partnership with D. W. G. Cobb (firm of Williams & Co.), and in connection with this interest young A. K. was brought up, and in 1849 was received by his father as a partner in the firm, which then became A. Williams & Son. It remained under this style till about 1853, at which time the firm-name was changed to A. K. Williams & Co., the company being George B. Williams, and so remained till A. K. Williams retired in 1877.

He married Sarah G. Andrews, daughter of Henry R. and Sarah Parker (Hill) Andrews, of Boston, Mass., Dec. 17, 1857. Their only son, Everett A., died at the age of seven years.

Sylvanus Nelson Staples

Sylvanus Nelson Staples, son of Sylvanus Staples, was born in Taunton, Mass., Aug. 2, 1811. His father was born in the same town Nov. 24, 1783, and married, Aug. 25, 1805, Sally, daughter of Capt. Jacob Phillips. She was born June 25, 1783, in Taunton, Mass. Of this union eleven children were born, viz., (1) Asenath (deceased), married Robert Abell ; (2) Sally A. (deceased), married Jabez Irish; (3) Rebecca A., married Albert Carpenter ; (4) Sylvanus N. ; (5) Eliza N., married Adam Reed; (6) Abiathar I. (deceased), married Esther Jones ; (7) Hopy T. (deceased), married George Edgar; (8) Tila Ann, married Nathan Maker; (9) Deborah (deceased), married Abel Reed; (10) Henry, died unmarried; and (11) John, who was drowned at the age of nine.

Mr. Staples was a brick-maker by trade, and a Democrat in politics. Both Mr. and Mrs. Staples were members of the Baptist Church at Pawtucket, R. I., whither they had gone to live in 1830, and where their two youngest children were born. Mrs. Staples died Sept. 25, 1851, aged sixty-eight years and three months, and Mr. Staples died Feb. 24, 1852, aged sixty-eight years and three months also.

Sylvanus Staples, father of Sylvanus, and grandfather of Sylvanus N., was a native of Taunton, married a Miss Peirce, and had four sons and two daughters, of whom Sylvanus, father of Sylvanus N., was the eldest son. He was a farmer by occupation, and died at a ripe old age. Sylvanus Nelson Staples traces his maternal history back through Sally Phillips and Capt. Jacob Phillips, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was several times taken prisoner, and succeeded in escaping twice at great peril of his life. He was master of vessels, and for many years was engaged in the coasting trade between Taunton, New York, Boston, and many Southern ports. He died at I seventy-six years of age.

Sylvanus N. Staples received a common school education, working with his grandfather, Capt. Jacob Phillips, summers, and attending school winters. He commenced a seafaring life as a cabin-boy when not more than ten years of age, and gradually rose through the various grades till he became master of a sloop at the early age of eighteen. He continued in the coasting trade, visiting the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico till he was twenty-eight. In the mean time he had several vessels built for his trade. In 1836 he commenced dealing in wholesale and retail commission flour and grocery business with Francis D. Williams as partner, under the firm-title of F. D. Williams & Co. After a few years Mr. Staples purchased his partner's interest, and the business was carried on under the title of S. N. Staples & Co., Hiram Burt, a brother-in-law, being the company, though not actively engaged in the business, as he was constantly at sea. After several years Mr. Staples bought his partner's interest, and associated with him Messrs. James M. and Horatio Williams. They had places of business at this place (Weir, Mass.), S. N. Staples & Co. ; at New Bedford, James M. Williams & Co. ; and at Norfolk, Va., under the firm-name of Williams, Staples & Williams. Their business was extended to the West Indies and all along the Atlantic seaboard. Their West India enterprise did not prove altogether successful, and in 1850 the partnership was dissolved.

Mr. Staples began life again at the bottom of the ladder, and by the friendly aid of his friends, built a vessel called the " William Mason," named after William Mason, one of Taunton's most enterprising and wealthy citizens. Mr. Staples ran her a few years, was successful, and gave her to his brother, Abiathar, who ran her until she was sunk in a collision with the " Queen of the West," off Tortugas, in 1801. She was laden with a cargo of sugar, and was the last vessel that left Louisiana at the breaking out of the civil war. Mr. Staples began commercial business, dealing in iron, coal, lime, and the general freighting business with William H. Phillips in 1857, under firm-title of Staples & Phillips. They have been very successful in their business, selling three thousand tons of coal the first year, which has steadily increased, till now (1883) they sell more than one hundred and sixty thousand tons annually. The iron trade has increased also. They are also extensively engaged in the shipping trade, and are large owners in a great many vessels and steamers. Mr. Staples is also interested in various manufacturing enterprises, in all of which he has been successful. He is a director in the Bristol County National Bank, trustee of the Taunton Savings- Bank, president and director of the Dighton Furnace Company, director in Taunton Cracker Company, director in Taunton Iron-Works, and Walliston Foundry, near Boston, president and director of Globe Coal Company, Fall River, president and director of Forest Hill Garden, Fall River, director of Park Mills, Taunton, director of Taunton Cotton Machine Company, and president and director of Empire State Steamboat Company.

In politics he is a Republican. He has held some local offices, but never aspired to official honors, preferring to attend to his own business.

He is a member of the Unitarian Church at Taunton, and one of its liberal supporters. He married, May 22, 1835, D. Adeline Hood, daughter of Nathaniel and Fanny Hood, of Taunton. They have children, viz., (1) Elizabeth A. (deceased), married Stephen A. Jenks, of Pawtucket; (2) Adeline N., married Lewis Williams; (3) Edwin S. (deceased), married Cora F. Cook ; (4) Herbert M., married Alice M. Presbrey ; (5) Harriet F. (deceased) ; (0) AdellL., resides at home.

J. F. Wheeler

Jeremiah Fisher Wheeler, son of Russell and Mary D. Wheeler, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., Jan. 8, 1811. He comes of some of the best New England families of early colonial days, and was himself a good representative of this active, industrious, and enterprising race. His father, Russell, was eighth child in the family of twelve children, and was son of Jeremiah and Betsey Wheeler. He married Mary Davis, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Mason. She was oldest in a family of fifteen children. He was for many years a manufacturer of cotton with his brother Nathaniel, a noted manufacturer, in Dighton, and was of esteemed worth and a useful citizen. He had eight children, - Elizabeth Troop, Joseph Russell, Mary Davis, Ann Mason, Jeremiah F., Submit Anthony, Augustus Mason, and William Mason.

J. F. Wheeler studied civil engineering and mechanics, and became a machinist. He went to New' Orleans as a civil engineer, and took charge of the construction of the canal leading to Lake Pontchartrain, where he employed over two hundred men. He afterwards established an iron foundry and machineshop, in connection with others, and for nearly forty years devoted himself strictly and closely to his business. He was senior partner of the well-known house of Wheeler, Geddes & Co., which did an extensive business in the manufacture of st^am-engines, sugarmills, and all kinds of machinery and iron-work at 208 Girod Street, New Orleans. He amassed a large property, and retired about 1859. He died Jan. 4, 1804, aged fifty-three years. He owned a large estate in New Orleans.

He married, first, Martha Marshall, of Tennessee, who died in 1850, leaving one son, Albert W., who married Mary Manders, and died, leaving one son, also Albert. Dec. 12, 1853, Mr. Wheeler married Louisa, daughter of Ebenezer and Betsey (Crane) Hathaway. The Hathaway family of the entire section of New England traces its origin to Arthur and John Hathaway, who came to America in 1030, from one of the Welsh counties of England. Arthur settled in Plymouth, had a son, Arthur, who married Sarah, daughter of John Cooke, one of the large land-owners of Dartmouth, Nov. 20, 1652; lived first in Duxbury, then in Dartmouth, and died in 1712. He had sons, John, Thomas, Jonathan, and numerous daughters. John, his son, lived on the New Bedford side of the river, and had sixteen children. John Hathaway, the emigrant, in 1638 was a landholder in Taunton (now Berkley), where he died. HissonJb/m2 had two wives and several children, among them Johns. He settled in Freetown, had wife Christian and ten children. Isaac (fourth generation) married Sarah Makepeace, and had eight children. Nicholas (fifth generation), his second son (born 1722, died 1800), married Rebecca Myrick, and had numerous children, among them Stephen (sixth generation), who was born 1745, died 1819, married Hope Pierce, Feb. 12, 1767, and had twelve children. His son Ebenezer (seventh generation), born Aug. 21, 1779, married Betsey Crane, daughter of Ebenezer and Silence (Pitts), Sept. 22, 1805. She was "born March 15, 1786, and died June 7, 1853. Mr. Hathaway died

Mr. Wheeler's only surviving child by his second marriage is Eleanor B., who lives with her mother, and resembles in personal appearance her father.

Mr. Wheeler was of erect and dignified bearing, fine-looking, commanding presence, and an aristocratic mien. He said few words, but no one ever misunderstood him, and under this reserve he carried a warm and kindly nature. He was one of the best types of " self-made" men, of acknowledged probity and integrity and sterling worth. He had a large circle of friends. Since June, 1864, Mrs. Wheeler has made her home in Taunton. She carries her years lightly, and is an agreeable social companion.

PERLEY IDE PERRIN.* Perley Ide Perrin was born in Seekonk, Bristol Co., Mass., March 1, 1812. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation from John Perryn, who came from London in the ship " Safety," Aug. 10, 1635, and settled in Braintree or Weymouth, Mass. His wife's name was Ann. They had five children, of whom Mary, born in Braintree, Dec. 22, 1640, was probably the oldest. She is the only one whose birth is recorded in the Braintree records. The family soon after removed to Behoboth, Mass., where John Perryn was buried, Sept. 13, 1674, and his widow, Ann, March 11, 1688. The line of descent from John Perryn to the subject of this sketch is as follows: John1, John, Jr.2, Daniel3, Daniel, Jr.4, David*, John6, Parley Ide7.

They have been farmers throughout their generations. David5 married Abigail, daughter of Thomas Cooper, of Attleborough, Mass., and had twelve children, of whom John, the father of our subject, was one. David died Feb. 15, 1825, aged eighty-five years, three months, and twenty-three days. His wife, Abigail, died Feb. 3, 1830, aged eighty-five years, three months, and twenty-five days. John6, son of David, was born Feb. 6, 1786 ; married Huldah, daughter of Capt. Jacob Ide, of Attleborough, Mass., and had two sons, - A.nson E. and Perley Ide. He married for his second wife Widow Hannah W. Bucklin, daughter of Ephraim Walker, of Seekonk, Mass. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the Congregational Church. He died at about seventy-eight years of age, July 1, 1864, and was buried in East Providence Cemetery.

The subject of this sketch received a common school education, and has always been a thoughtful reader and a close observer. He is therefore well informed on all the current events and questions of the day. His mother died when he was about two years old, and he was cared for by his aunt, Sarah

Kent, and his grandmother, Perrin. At nineteen he left home for Pawtucket, R. 1., where he spent three years in learning the trade of a machinist, when he went to Bridgewater, Mass., and at the expiration of one year to Lowell, and thence to Newark, N. J. In Lowell he had worked at locomotive building, and this was also his occupation in Newark, where he was among the first employes of Seth Boyden. After several years he returned to Pawtucket, R. I., where he worked on the farm and in the shop until he went to Philadelphia and worked a while on stationary engines, returning again to Pawtucket, where he established a small shop in the spring of 1841. He, however, conducted this business only about a year, when he was called to his native town to take care of his uncle David, a farmer and bachelor. After his uncle's death he married Eunice Kent, daughter of Seba and Abigail Kent, Oct. 10, 1843. She was*born in Seekonk, May 27, 1812. Their children are Emily Frances, born July 28, 1-S44 ; Huldah Ide, born Dec. 16, 1846, married Everett D. Godfrey Oct. 7, 1868, and has two children, Edith I. and Chester S.

Mr. Perrin remained on the farm some two years after his marriage, and then went to Providence, R. I., where he again embarked in the business of a machinist, remaining till June, 1846, at which time he removed to Taunton in the employ of the Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Company as foreman and draughtsman. He next became general superintendent, and succeeded to the position of agent and treasurer in 1877. After a few years he became interested in the business, and is now one of the stockholders of the company. For five years Mr. Perrin served efficiently as an alderman, in the City Council, and for six years was president of the board of directors of the Taunton Water-Works. He is one of the trustees of the Taunton Savings-Bank, and a liberal supporter of the Baptist Church, of which he is a member.

One of the strongest personal traits of Mr. Perrin is energy of character, and this is guided by good sense and sound judgment. Few men are more highly esteemed, and few enjoy more fully the comforts of a happy home.

Eli H. Eldridge

Eii H. Eldridge, senior partner in the firm of Eldridge & Co., was born in Taunton, Mass., May 26, 1828. He is the son of Eli and Charlotte (Curtis) Eldridge, of Barnstable County, Mass., where the ancestors have for several generations resideil. Like most young men of his day in that part of the country where he was brought up, Mr. Eldridge had but limited educational advantages. About three months of each year at the public school of his town (Harwich) was the most he could hope for, and after his fifteenth year even that was denied him. His early boyhood was spent on the farm ; at about fourteen years of age he sought and obtained employment in the britannia-works of Reed & Barton, at Taunton, as a general employe, learning the different branches of the trade. Here he continued till seventeen years old, when he went to Dorchester, Mass., and obtained employment with Roswell Gleason, in whose shop Eli Eldridge, Sr., was superintendent. Here he spent the next three years, when both he and his father returned to Taunton and began, in a small way, the manufacture of various small articles in britannia. In 1860 they began making a specialty of coffinplates, which to the present time has been one of the leading features of their business. Upon the decease of Mr. Eldridge's father, in September. 1875, he took his son John H. into partnership with him. They operate under the firm-name of Eldridge & Co., and manufacture coffin-plates, hinges, lining-tacks, etc. They employ a number of hands, and their trade reaches all through the Eastern, Middle, and Western States to California. They have the latest improved machinery adapted for their particular kind of work, and are continually adding to and increasing their facilities. They do first-class work only. Mr. Eldridge married, May 2, 1850, Lydia A., daughter of John and Deborah Thrasher. They have two children living, one deceased, - John H., born Jan. 7, 1853; Alice B. (deceased) ; Albert S., born Nov.. 15, 1859. Both of the sons are married, and are connected with their father in the manufacturing business. Mr. Eldridge is a Republican in politics, and an ardent temperance man.

men of Taunton to-day, and can and does perform a hard day's work with greater ease than many men much his junior in years. He is conservative and cautious, and is a thoroughly successful "self-made" man, enjoying the satisfactory results of his energy, economy, and thrift. In politics, like his father and grandfather, he is Democratic. He would never accept office, other than highway surveyor. He married, first, Caroline, daughter of George and Hopy (Payne) Briggs, of Freetown. They had six children, - Charles F., who went into the military service during the last war in a Rhode Island regiment, and has never returned ; Andrew G.1 (died young) ; Gustavus L., a soldier, also in the Rebellion, now a farmer in Raynham. He went out as a private, served three and a half years, and when mustered out was a lieutenant. He received a wound in the foot from which he still suffers. Andreio G.2; Alfred, now with his father, assisting in brick manufacturing and farming ; Ann Janette, married Henry Lincoln, and lives in Norton ; and Georgianna (died young). Mrs. Dean died March 19, 1872. In February, 1879, Mr. Dean married Mrs. Sarah A. Chase, widow of Robert Chase, and daughter of David Perkins, of Freetown. She has one son, Algernon, by her first marriage.

Elbridge G. Dean

Elbridge G. Dean, son of Abel2 and Mehitable Dean, was born in Taunton, Mass., Dec. 9, 1811. His father was only son of Abel1 Dean, a farmer and shoema

Source changes here: from History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, by Hurd, Duane Hamilton, [from Old Catalog] Ed, published 1883; 52,247 words in this source stream.

Taunton City

fice was laid Aug. 19, 1851. The Iiouse wa« finished in- the eiJHuiiig year, and dedicated Bept. 29, 1852." , In 1853 and 18G8 meniberg were digmiKsed to aid in : onHtituting churchen in Ea^t Taunton and Whittcnton.

" In 1870," continucH the .Manual from which we have already (|uoted, " alter forty-five years of service with the one church of his ministry, Mr. Maltby resigned the active duties of his pasUirate. During his long service he had received eight hundred and sixty members into the church, and bapti/X'd six , hundred and eighty-six persons. J{y vote of the church the pastoral relation was not formally dissolved, and he still remained p<iMor emerilmi. I

"In 1871 the church extended a call to Mr. Stephen M. Newman, a mpmber of the graduating class of Andover Seminary, and he was ordained October 17th.

" In 1872 a parsonage wa« erected on School Street, \ and in 1877 some important alterations and improvements were made in the audience room of the houae of worship. |

" After an interval of nearly two years. Rev. Herman P. De Forest, of Westborough, Mass., accepted the call of the church and society, and was installed April 14, 1880.

The memory of some of the earlier members of the church, who were chosen its deacons, is still very precious, - Jexaniah Sumner, William Reed, Joseph Wilbar, Richmond Walker, Francis Richmond, Benjamin ('. Match.

The Winslow Church. - The ii< xt church distinctively Congregational organized in Taunton was named, alter the street where it worshiped, the Spring Street Church. Its membership of forty-four,, with the exception of two from the West Taunton Church, came entirely from the Trinitarian Congregational Church, whose history has just been given. Its organization was in 1837, January 12th. S. Hopkins Emery, who studied at Amherst and Andover, wiis ordained and installed its first pastor Nov. 23, 1837, continuing in that relation until called to Bedford, January, 1841. Rev. Lathrop Taylor, a graduate of Middlebury College in 1839, succeeded him May 16, 1843, and resigned in July, 1845. He has been many years a most successful minister of the gospel in Illinois. The first pastor of the church was recalled and reinstalled Jan. 0, 1847, remaining i)astor until the latter part of 1855, when he left to take the [jastorate of the First Congregational Church in Quincy, 111., where he remained fourteen years, preaching afterward for limited periods in Chicago, Providence, I'.riilgcport, Conn., and North Middleborough, Mass. He was called to Taunton for the third time, and is now serving as secretary and superintendent of the

Associated Charities of Taunton. The Spring Street Church on leaving its first place of worship in 1853, March 23d, for its new sanctuary, dropped its first name, and, in memory of Governor Edward Winslow, who in 1021 journeyed through the place, became the Winslow Qhurch. Rev. Mortimer Blake, then the minister of Mansfield, was called to this church in 1855, and has remained its pastor twenty -seven years, with the manifest approval of heaven upon his labors. Dr. Blake, born in Pittston, Me., but early removed to Franklin, Mass., graduated from Amherst College in 1835, and studied theology with Rev. E. Smalley, D.D., of Franklin, afterward of Worcester and Troy, N. Y. He was first installed in Mansfield Dec. 4, 1839, and over the Winslow Church Dec. 4, 1855.

The membership, at first but forty-four, has since increased to four hundred and ninety-four, of whom more than half have died or removed, leaving now two hundrefl and ten members. The church building was enlarged in 1872 to accommodate its growing CQPgregation, and was repaired and modernized within in 1882. It has been from the beginning a strong and united body, ready for every good word and work. There are names in its early history which should never be forgotten, - Roswell Ballard, John, William, and Hodges Reed, Philander W. Dean, and their wives, with others of precious memory. The present deacons of the church are Edgar H. Reed and Andrew S. Briggs.

The Congrregational Chttrch' (Trinitarian), East Taunton. - Thi^ was the next church of this order in Taunton. Organized with thirteen members the 16th of June, 1853, it has been served by pastors as follows: Rev. N. Richardson, who commenced labor in a school-house in the month of April prior to the organization. He continued with the church only one year, preaching in a chapel, built by the Old Colony Iron Company.

He was followed by Rev. James R. Cushing, who began his ministry May 7, 1854, and closed it in 1861. A church edifice was built and dedicated early in his ministry, which, with some alterations, is still in use. From 1861 to 1863 the pulpit was supplied, principally by Rev. Mr. Harding, of Bost<jn, without becoming a resident pastor.

Rev. Frederic A. Reed, a native of Taunton, after supplying the pulpit three months, became pastor Nov, 1, 1866, and so continued till June, 1876.

In June, 1861, E. W. Cain and Cyrus Caswell were chosen deacons, Deacon Cain having served in that capacity from the beginning without formal appointment. Deacon Caswell died Feb. 11, 1875. D. C. Wentworth was chosen to that office March 7, 1875.

The Union Congregational (Trinitarian) Church' in Taunton was organized in the year 1868. For many years efforts had been made to sustain public worship in Whittenton and vicinity, the Baptist and Methodist denominations having occupied the ground at different times. At a meeting held Nov. 14, 1867, the Union Society of Whittenton was formed for the maintenance of public worship, and a constitution' was adopted. At a meeting of this society held Dec. 25, 1867, it was voted to invite Rev. Isaac Dunham, of Westport, Mass., to preach the gospel here. Mr. Dunham accepted the invitation, and commenced his labors early the following year, and steps were at once taken towards the regular formation of a Church of Christ.

At a meeting held March 16, 1868, at the house of Charles L. Lovering, Rev. Isaac Dunham, chairman, and C. L. Lovering, scribe, on motion of Barnes L. Burbank, it was voted to adopt a confession of faith and covenant which had been drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Dunham. The substance of this confession aud covenant is the same as that usually adopted by churches of the same faith. It was then voted ^to send invitations to the Trinitarian Congregational, Winslow, and West (Taunton) Churches, to the church in Assonet, and to the Second Congregational Church in Dorchester, and also to the Rev. Henry B. Hooker, D.D., of Boston, to assemble in council here at some appointed date to give advice, and to take action, if expedient, in the matter of the formation of a church.

It was also voted that a committee, consisting of Rev. I. Dunham, B. L. Burbank, and N. N. Gleason, be appointed to issue the letters missive, and to make other necessary arrangements for the formation of a church.

The council called by these letters missive was convened at Whittenton, Thursday, April 2, 1868, and consisted of the individual and the pastors and delegates of the churches already indicated. Rev. E. Maltby was chosen moderator of the council, and Rev. F. H. Boynton scribe.

The usual steps being taken, the persons desirous to constitute a new church, twenty-four in number, bringing letters from other churches, were constituted an Evangelical Christian Church.

At a meeting of the church held April 17, 1868, B. L. Burbank was chosen deacon ; Rev. I. Dunham, clerk; and Messrs. Dunham, Burbank,, and Lovering were chosen to prepare by-laws and make regulations for the government of the church, which by-laws and regulations were duly prepared and accepted.

Rev. Isaac Dunham resigned his office as acting pastor of the church Jan. 6, 1873, and Rev. H. Morton Dexter was called to the pastorate, his ordination and installation taking place April 30, 1873. At the same time also the new and beautiful house of worship, at the corner of Britannia and Rockland Streets, was dedicated with appropriate services.

The affairs of the church, temporally and spiritually, have been prosperous from the first. At one time twenty-four persons were added, at another time twenty-five, and on another occasion forty-seven. This increase was almost wholly "on confession."

Rev. Edward N. Pomeroy was invited to serve the church as acting pastor for six months, commencing^ Jan. 1, 1882, at the expiration of which time he accepted an invitation to the pastorate, and was installed Oct. 18, 1882.

William Holmes was elected deacon Nov. 26, 1873, and Elijah Tolman, Nov. 23, 1876. The clerks of the church have been Rev. Isaac Dunham, Rev. Morton Dexter, Rev. John W. Ballantine, and Frank L. Fish. Samuel W. Grimes has been the clerk of the society. Charles L. Lovering has been the superintendent of the Sunday-school.

The whole number of names upon the church rolls is (Jan. 1, 1883) two hundred and thirty-seven. The actual membership is one hundred and eightyfive. The membership of the Sunday-school is two hundred and twenty-five. The number of families connected with the congregation is one hundred and fifty.

We have alluded to the separate meetings set up in the new towns set off from Taunton in 1711, 1712, 1725, 1731, 1735, and 1736, but the.se were all of the Congregational order. Other forms of polity and faith found favor with the people in due time, and in different parts of Taunton other denominations of Christians became known. Some of these have disappeared and their history is all in the past. Early as 1720, Rev. Mr. Danforth, in a letter to Cotton Mather and other Boston ministers, alludes to a meeting distinct from his own " in a corner" of his parish. This was a meeting of a Society of Friends, which has not existed for many years. The Sandemaniaus

Taunton

A Six-Principle Baptist Church was organized in 1789, holding their meetings first in North Rehoboth, and afterwards in West Taunton, to which Rev. Josephus W. Horton preached a considerable length of time. But this church and their meetings have come to an end.

So also in the present century the Christian Baptists built a church and worshiped many years on Trescott Street, but the organization no longer exists, although their place of worship remains the property of Mr. O. S. Wilbur.

The Free- Will Baptists for some years struggled to sustain a meeting in their new church at the corner of Weir Street and Somerset Avenue, but relinquished the field to the Methodists.

The St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church. - Fortunately the foundation laid in about 1700 by Capt. Thomas Coram for a Protestant Episcopal Church was for many generations. Coram had a ship-yard in South Dighton. Things did not go to suit him in this new land, and he returned to the mother-country, founding in 1739 in the city of 'London a hospital " for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children." Nor did he forget New England. Before he left it he " employed Mr. Attorney-General Newton, of Boston, to prepare amply strong and in due form" a deed making over certain lands to the inhabitants of Taunton should they ever become " sufficiently civilized to want a Church of England built among them." That time came at length, and even in Coram's lifetime, and he forwarded to the church from England a library gathered from various sources, a portion of which is still preserved, including a " Book of Common Prayer, given by the Right Honorable Arthur Onslow, Esq., Speaker of the Hon. House of Commons."

The original church building of this parish was on the glebe, in Oakland, West Taunton. It is remembered to have been there till 1815, when it was blown down in the September gale of that year and never rebuilt. The sacred inclosure, where lie the buried dead, marks the spot which should be held dear by the flourishing St. Thomas' Church, who now worship in a costly stone edifice elsewhere. The glebe was conveyed to the wardens of the church and their associates by deed bearing date March 19, 1743. It was purchased by subscription '' for the sole benefit and profit of the Rector, for the time being, of St. Thomas, standing near Three-Mile River, in Taunton." The subscribers to the glebe were twenty-six, to the amount of £528 10.v. Thomas Cobb was the largest donor, his subscription amounting to £120. Rev. John Lyon was the " first resident minister." There were occasional supplies, of whom Rev. John Graves is mentioned. Mr. Lyon's first recorded baptism was in 17<55, but he may have begun labor earlier. The people paid him his salary " to his good acceptance" we are told, an example of promptness which was needed in those times,

Tlie record of this ministry as given by Rev. Mr. Bent, in a historical discourse, reads well, - " A most estimable man and exemplary minister of Christ." He was mindful of the good morals of the community, distributing copies of a tract, entitled " Admonition to the Drinkers of Spirituous Liquors." He left some time before the Revolution and went Si>uth, where he died. His successor was Rev. William W. Wheeler, whose first recorded baptism was in 1786. He preached in other towns as well as Taunton, - "an estimable man and an intelligent divine," but crippled in his ministry by political causes, and at length removed to Scituate, where he preached, and 1 died in 1810. The St. Thomas Parish had no resident rector from 1798 to 1829, when Rev. John West, a native of Boston and a graduate of Cambridge in 1813, commenced labor with good success. His successors have been Rev. Messrs. Henry Blackaller, Samuel Hazzard, Edmund Neville, N. T. Bent, Theodore W. Snow, Edward Anthon, Edmund Neville, once more, Thomas H. Vaill, Robert C. Rogers, and the present rector, Charles H. Learoyd, who entered upon his rectorship April 1, 1872. '

One member, and the last of the committee, appointed in 1828 " to inquire into the expediency of establishing Episcopal worship in this town," has just\passed away (Feb. 10, 1883), the Hon. Samuel L. Crocker. He and his brother William were largely instrumental in the reviving of the Episcopal Church, which had slumbered since the present century came in, and it was through their influence a church building was erected, at a cost of seven thousand five hundred dollars, and consecrated in June, 1829. " Marcus Morton and Francis Baylies were wardens of the parish," writes Rev. Mr. Learoyd in , his "'parochial history, embodied in a sermon preached the Sunday after Christmas, Dec. 28, 1879," and quoting from an earlier historical sermon by Rev. Mr. Bent, " then rector, delivered on Easter day, 1844."

It was during Mr. Snow's rectorship that, at the suggestion of Mr. Edmund Baylies, who promised one thousand dollars, a rectory was built on Harrison Street; also more than thirty thousand dollars were subscribed toward a new church, which was not completed, however, till March 3, 1859, when its consecration took place during the rectorship of Rev. Mr. Vaill. When Dr. Vaill was called to the office of a bishop elsewhere, he records as the result of his ministry of five years and nine months in Taunton, the baptism of one hundred and forty-six infants, thirty adults, and the confirmation of one hundred and seventeen. The number of communicants on the register were two hundred and seventy-five.

church, which had been built at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, was opened with appropriate services. In 1873, during the rectorship of Rev. Mr. Learoyd, the church, which \iad been renovated and decorated at an expense of eleven thousand five hundred dollars, was reopened, the bishop of the diocese, with many of the clergy, being present.

The St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church. - " As early iis 18()3," writes Rev. Mr. Learoyd, " church services began to be maintained at Hopewell by a lay reader, and a Sunday-school was gathered of about fifty. This movement resulted in the formation of the parish of St. John's, and in building the fine church it now occupies. The money for that purpose, about twenty-five thousand dollars, was contributed within this city with the exception of about three thousand dollars." For the following facts I am indebted to Mr. Henry M. Lovering:

Rev. Mr. Miles resigned July, 1873. Rev. Louis De Cormis was rector from July, 1873, to June, 1875. Rev. Edward H. True was rector from July, 1875, to Feb. 19, 1877. Rev. S. S. S|iear was rector from July, 1877, to July, 1881 . Rev. Francis Mansfield, the present rector, commenced his labors April -2, 1882.

The Free-Will Baptist Church, North Taunton. - For the notice of this church I am largely indebted to the faithful researches of Rev. Mr. Tozer, the present pastor.

There were a few Baptists in that part of Taunton as early as 1747, according to the statement of Backus in his history of that denomination. Mr. Jeremiah Bas.sett obtained permission from the church in the northeastern part of Rehoboth, to which Elder Richard Round ministered, " to hold worship on the Lord's day in his own house." This house was situated about thirty rods east of the junction of Bay and Field Streets, on the latter street. Here, therefore, the first stated preaching of the gospel in North Taunton was established, and the few believers of the place were, as in primitive times, a " church in his house." This Mr. Bassett was a son of Joseph, the son of William Bassett, who came over in the brig " Fortune" soon after the first landing of the pilgrims. Jeremiah had a son bearing the same name, who became influential in the church and occasionally preached. The descendants are numerous, in this region.

The little company to whom Mr. Bassett ministered were so prospered that in 1767 they built a meetinghouse on the corner of what are now Bay and Field Streets, which remained until 1837, when it was removed to the Weir, and became a warehouse, at present occupied by the Messrs. Church. In 1769, the proposition came from the Baptists of Norton, who had no meeting-house and had assembled in private houses for their meetings ever since they left Rev. Mr. Avery's church, as Separatists or New Lights, in 1747, to unite and form one society. The proposition pleased the Baptists of Taunton. Hence the union took place and they agreed in calling to the pastoral work, the care and oversight of the church. Rev. William Nelson, who married the daughter of- Rev. Isaac Backus, pastor of a church in that part of Middleborough called Titicut, who had often preached in Norton and Taunton, and \fras influential with the people. Mr. Nelson was one of three brothers, all preachers. He was a graduate of what is now Brown University, a man of good learning and excellent Christian character. He was ordained by council Nov. 12, 1772, his father-in-law, Mr. Backus, giving the charge, and Elder Ebenezer Hinds preaching the sermon. His pastorate continued more than thirteen years, and was much blessed. Discipline was faithfully administered, and great care taken to preserve' the purity of the church. Two deacons were chosen in Mr. Nelson's time, Ebenezer Burt and Joel Briggs, the last of whom afterward became pastor of a church in Braintree.

The health of Rev. William Nelson failing in 1785, his brother Ebenezer was called to the pastorate, but he was not installed till 1790, when Elder Backus was again present with other ministers, and acted as moderator. This pastorate continued to March 10, 1795, and, like that of his brother, proved one of profit to the people. But for some years afterwards the church was in a low state and was without stated preaching. In 1805 two deacons were chosen, Timothy Briggs and Noah Clapp.

About this time Rev. Zephaniah S. Crossman was among them, who, after preaching with a good deal of zeal and apparent success, drew off" more than forty of the members to a separate meeting, whicli was continued two years. And now again there was no stated preaching nor settled ministry for some years, but occasional supplies, among whom Rev. Silas Hall and Dr. Shubael Lovell are mentioned. It was through the last named, as acting pastor, the request of seven members was presented, in May, 1819, to be dismissed to form a part of a new church at the centre of Taunton. These were William Stall, Elias Parry, Abiathar Phillips, Mary Johnson, Rhoda Godfrey, Nancy Stall, Mary Hall.

In 1822 an element which had been at work many years took an organized form, and was known as the Free-Will Baptists, occujiying the meeting-house alternate Sabbaths~with the Calvinist branch, which in -1835 removed to Norton and built a church, under the leadership of Rev. Henry C. Coombs. The pastor of the portion which remained in Taunton was Rev. Reuben Allen, who was succeeded in 1832 by Rev. .Tames F. Mowry, remaining six years. He was followed April 7, 1838, by Elder Folsoiii, remaining till 1840. Then came Elder Thomas Brown in 1841, continuing till 1845, highly esteemed by the people. Kev. T. H. Bachelder was his successor, remaining nine years, and was much beloved. He closed his labors in April, 1855. Rev. S. D. Church was the next pastor, remaining six years, and meeting with good success. He resigned in 1861, followed by Rev. George G. Hill, who remained till 1866. Rev. George W. Richardson was pastor from 1868 to 1873. Rev. J. N. Rich and Rev. George H. Chappell followed, the former for two, and the latter for one year. May 13, 1876, Rev. S. D. Church returned to the church, remaining till 1881, when the pastorate was assumed by Rev. R. H. Tozer, who still remains, and has furnished the writer with many of the preceding facts.

The Calvinist Baptist Church, Winthrop Street. - This church at its organization, June 16, 1819, was called the "Second Baptist Church in Taunton," recognizing the existence of the earlier church in JJorth Taunton, whose history has just been given. Seven of its original sixteen members came from that church. Previous to this time meetings had been held with the occasional help of ministers from abroad, of whom Elders William Barton, William Bentley, Shubael Lovell are particularly mentioned. The lay brethren who encouraged their coming were William Stall, James Olney, Elias Parry, Thomas C. Brown, Abiathar Phillips, and Abiathar Hall. The meetings were held "in private dwellings, school-houses, and sometimes in the town hall." They resulted in the calling of a council for the recognition of the church as above stated, of which Rev. Dr. Stephen Gano, of Providence, was moderator, and Rev. David Benedict, of Pawtncket, was scribe. The church leased and occupied Armory Hall for most of the time till their first house of worship was built on High Street, near the corner of Weir Stree:t, in 1824. " Prayer and conference meetings were maintained, aud occasional preaching as ministering brethren came along." It was not till 1825 a stated supply was enjoyed, - the ministrations of Caleb Benson, a licensed preacher. The first pastor was Rev. Silas Hall. The date of his acceptance, Nov. 21, 1826. The date of his dismission, March 10, 1830. There was a net increase of eighteen during his ministry. There had been seasons of spiritual refreshing in 1822 and 1826. Rev. Benjamin C. Grafton, the second pastor, received his call June 7, 1831, and remained until May 26, 1834. Eleven members were added during his ministry, and the church removed from High Street to a new and " more commodious edifice, sixty-five by forty-four feet, on Market, now Winthrop Street. This meeting-house was dedicated Oct. 10, 1832, and for the following thirtythree years was the Sabbath home of the church and congregation and the spiritual birthplace of many souls."

was called to this office June 30, 1834, and ordained August 27th of the same year. "The settlement of this devoted young minister," remarks Rev. Andrew Pollard, D.D., in a "historical sketch" of the church from which I have already quoted, " opened a new era in the history of the church. His hearty consecration to his work, his meek and gentle spirit, his sound discretion, and his earnest labors for the spiritual welfare of his people won their love and confidence. And though his earthly labors were limited to the short period of two years, his influence was eminently favorable to religious prosperity, and his memory is still fragrant and blessed. There were added to the church under his ministry thirty-seven members."

Rev. Henry Clark, the fourth pastor, was installed Dec. 29, 1836, and continued liis official labors till June 30, 1839. During this pastorate forty-eight were added to the church.

The sixth pastor, Rev. James F. Wilcox, was installed Dec. 21, 1842, continuing in that relation till Nov. 27, 1848, nearly six years. In 1845 the parsonage on Winthrop Street, nearly opposite the church, was provided, largely through the liberal contribution of Mr. Albert Field, and in 1847 tbe meetinghouse was enlarged and otherwise improved.

The seventh p.astor. Rev. Andrew Pollard, D.D,, was installed Oct. 24, 1849. During the first year of his pastorate fifty-four were added to the membership. In 1858 there was a powerful work of grace, which greatly quickened and strengthened the church. More than one hundred were added to its number. The large increase in 1862 suggested the need of a new church building, which was begun that year, and was dedicated Oct. 10, 1865, just thirty-three years from the dedication of the old house. It was built of brick and freestone, in the early English style of architecture, one hundred and fifteen feet long by sixty-four wide, of fine proportions, beautiful finish, a credit to the denomination and an ornament to the city. In 1866, sixteen years after his settlement, Dr. Pollard reported two hundred and eighty-four additions to the church as the fruit of his ministry, with a present membership of three hundred and sixteen. The deacons of his church were Ebenezer Staples, Edward Wilcox, Calvin Woodward, Anson J. Barker, Lemuel L. White.

Dr. Pollard's was a long and useful pastorate of more than twenty-two years. His connection with the church and society clo.sed Dec. 31, 1871. He resigned to accept a call to the Fourth Street Bapti.st Church, South Boston, where he remained until he entered upon a secretaryship in denominational work, for which he was eminently fitted by his exact method and unusual executive ability, a position which he still fills.

Wightman, the eighth pastor, April 1, 1873, a man of fine scholarship and eminent pulpit talents, who served the people faithfully and well until Aug. 6, 1882, when he was invited to relinquish the pastoral office for a public trust, that of preparing a new version of the Scriptures, for which, of all other men in the denomination, he was regarded best qualified. But other service awaited him. He had a call to go up higher. While his family were on their way to Europe, and before he had entered on his work in New York, the news reached Taunton that Eev. Mr. AVightman had breathed his last at Tiverton. It was a sorrowful assembly which filled the Winthrop Street Baptist Church, one summer day in August, 1882, when one minister after another bore testimony to the worth of the departed, and with " much lamentation devout men took him up and buried him."

In December, 1882, the church and ))eople with great unanimity called to the pastorate Rev. Joseph Kennard Wilson, of New London, Conn., who has entered on his work with great promise of success.

The TJniversalist Church, corner of Spring and High Streets. - Rev. Mr. Quinliy, in a historical sermon in 1851, expresses the opinion that the way was prepared for such a church by the preaching of " the venerable Murray" some sixty years before, and Rev. John Foster, a minister in Taunton at the beginning of the century, is credited with those views. The religious society was incorporated, with Charles Foster and twenty-one others as subscribers, in February, 1825. Their first settled minister was Rev. John B. Dods, who remained with them from 1831 to 1835. He organized a church of thirty members in 1832. Dr. Alfred Baylies, a leading physician of Taunton, was a prominent member of the society, serving as its clerk. They worshiped in the old meeting-house of the town ; removed from the " Church Green" in 1831 to a spot on Spring Street. After the resignation of Mr. Dods, in 1835, preaching services were suspended until 1839, when the society was reorganized with many new members, and Rev. William Fishbough was called to the pastorate. Religious services were held in halls hired for the purpose, when in 1842 the parish built, on the corner of Spring and High Streets, a church which they occupied for nearly forty years. On the removal of Rev. Mr. Fishbough in 1844, Rev. W. R. S. Mellen entered on a brief pastorate. He was followed by Rev. George W. t|uinby, of Saco, Me., who remained from October, 1846, to November, 1851. He was called to Cincinnati, Ohio, but afterwards returned to his native State, and is conducting a denominational paper in Augusta, Me., influential in that part of New England. Rev. J. S. Brown was his successor in Taunton, who died in the pastoral office, abounding in labors which endeared him to the people. He was followed by Rev. Messrs. James E. Bruce, U. M. Fiske, and Charles Mellen, the last named, like his predecessor, Brown, dying in his Taunton pastorate.

to the great grief of the church, and his grave is in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He was followed by Rev. Messrs. Everett L. Conger and Russell P. Ambler. It was during Mr. Ambler's ministry that the church edifice of 1842 was taken down and on the same spot a new building erected, attractive and pleasant. Mr. Ambler is now in Medford, with the church of which he <vas formerly pastor, and the Taunton people are united in Rev. Alpheus B. Hervey, who came hither from Troy, N. Y., in September, 1879.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church, Taunton. - This church was organized in that part of Taunton called the Weir in 1830, and has been served in accordance with the system of itinerancy by many ministers. Their names, as I have learned them, are Rev. Messrs. S. W. Coggsliall, E. B. Bradford, Lewis Bates, J. D. Butler, D. Webb, J. Parkinson, William Livesey, J. M. Worcester, Paul Townsend, S. C. Brown, George M. Carpenter, Sanford Benton, Henry Baylies, Charles Nason, J. T. Benton, N. P. Philbrook, J. D. King, Charles H. Titus, L. B. Bates, Charles Young, Angelo Canoll, E. McChesney, H. A. Cleveland, and 0. W. Gallagher, the present incumbent.

This church, for more than half a century, has lived and wrought a good work under the leadership of these twenty-four pastors and teachers in that part of the city called the Weir. Other denominations of Christians in their vicinity have co-operated with them in a friendly spirit, and a strong, vigorous church has been built up, one of the largest and most influential in the denomination. Its present officebearers are William H. Merrill, Henry F. Cobb, Jacob Burt, Lemuel T. Talbot, Samuel Miller, George W. Barrows, Abel W. Parker, William N. Parker, Charles H. Lincoln, Luther B. West, William E. Walker, Zenas Knapp, Abram Simmons, Job C Chace, Richard L. Hewitt, John P. Crane.

The Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Cohannet Street, organized in 1853. Its ministers have been Rev. Messrs. William H. Stetson, C. H. Titus, A. C. Atwater, S. F. Upham, J. A. M. Chapman, J. Mather, J. Howson, E. H. Hatfield, F. Upham, J. W. Willett, H. D. Robinson, A. Anderson, A. P. Palmer, O. H. Fernald, J. E. Hawkins, and Edward Edson, the present incumbent.

This church was demanded by communicants who could not visit the Weir, and finds in the dense population around it an important field for useful labor. Its present office-bearers are J. G. Luscomb, William Hutchinson, Ezra Hamlen, J. H. Codding, E. H. Eldridge, J. W. Thayer, Otis L. Baker, J. F. Park, A. S. Round, James Hailley, G. H. Thayer, L. E. Dickerman, G. H. Park, Thomas Lawrence, John Lawrence, George E. Dunbar, W. H. Waitt, F. H. Miett, Leonard Luce, S. O. Sherman.

The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, corner of Weir Street and Somerset Avenue, organized in 1874. Its ministers have been Rev. Messrs. William T. Worth, Samuel J. Carroll, and Edwin D. Hall, the present incumbent. With active and efficient ^Vork this church has grown and prospered, recently paying ofiF a large indebtedness, and with better promise of permanency than ever before. Its present office-bearers are Israel Allen, Asa N. Dyer, John L. Merigold, Edward F. Anthony, Joshua Parsons, H. M. H. Taylor,-Jonathan J. Stanley, William H. Field, William H. Phillips, J. F. Montgomery, Peleg B. Hart, Addison Taylor, Samuel G. Hicks, Ira W. Maxham, Samuel T. Turpin, Henry L. Babbitt.

Its brick church building was first occupied by a Free Baptist Church, which has ceased to exist as a separate organization. Its pastor, Rev. Mr. McKeown, served it faithfully for several years.

The Advent Christian Church. - It is but recently this church has been organized (in 1880), and its only resident minister has been Rev. A. W. Sibley, who is now preaching elsewhere. Their Sabbath and weekday services are held in Cedar Street Chapel, and their supplies of preaching are from abroad.

The Roman Catholic Church. - The parishes of this church in Taunton belong, as do some others in Massachusetts, to the diocese of Providence, of which the Right Rev. Thomas Francis Hendricken, D.D., is bishop.

The first occasion of divine service according to the ritual of the Catholic Church of which we hear in Taunton was that at which the Rev. Father Woodley officiated in 1827. There was, however, no permanent pastor until some time in 1830, when tlie Rev. John Curry celebrated mass in a private house, and about fifteen heads of families, mostly of persons employed in the Taunton Print-Works, assisted. After this service a subscription was begun looking towards the purchase of ground and the erection of a church. So well did the collections succeed that before the close of 1831 a lot near the intersection of Washington Street and Broadway, adequate for a church and burial-place, had been bought, and the old St. Mary's was erected thereon during the same winter. In about three years Father Curry found it necessary to enlarge the church, and an addition was made which brought it out flush with the sidewalk.

No subsequent event of special importance appears to have occurred in the parish until after the arrival of the Rev. Dr. Wilson in 1846, except the everrecurring one of accessions from abroad, notably from Irelatid, which, if appropriately termed the " Niobe of Nations" at home, it may with equal propriety be said has reason to moderate her grief in view of the good fortune which attends her children in other lands. "Sunny France" did not furnish her contingent of those who adhered to the ancient faith till later on, and then through the overflow of her more immediate colonization point. Lower Canada. The Portuguese and other nationalities have also from time to time found homes and employment here, as our growing manufacturing enterprises demanded skilled labor from similar establishmeuts in Europe. At the present time it may be observed that the Catholics of Taunton are creditably represented not only in the mechanical and manufacturing employments, but in mercantile and professional pursuits as well.

During the intermediate period St. Mary's was supplied by the Rev. Fathers Wylie, Ryan, and O'Byrne. An anecdote has come. down to us from Father Ryan's day which is worth preserving. During his pastorate some young men of the parish called on the late Dr. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston, to which diocese St. Mary's then belonged, for the purpose of asking a change of pastors, on the score that altiiough Father Ryan was a worthy priest he was not a pulpit orator. The bishop heard their request, and not seeing adequate reason for granting it, bade the young gentlemen return home and attend to their own spiritual duties like good boys. The wisdom of this decision was shown a few months later, when the bishop found a parish in greater need of such a shepherd, in the reluctance with which the people of St. Mary's parted with their spiritual director.

In consideration of the increasing numerical strength of the parish. Dr. Wilson determined in 1849 on the erection of a brick church, having purchased the lot on the opposite side of Washington Street for that purpose; but the walls when built were deemed insecure, and the materials were consequently used in the construction of the present St. Mary's, standing on the same site, the erection of which was begun about June, 1854, during the succeeding pastorate of the Rev. Daniel Hearne. Father Hearne devoted himself very zealously to the undertaking, but did not live to finish his pious work. After seeing the edifice inclosed he was finally laid to rest beside its front entrance (his body having been temporarily deposited in Mayflower Hill Cemetery), deeply regretted by the people he had served.

There was still much to be done, not only to complete the church - floors, altars, stained-glass windows, pews, etc. - but al.so to reduce a double debt arising out of the erection of two structures, all of which devolved on the succeeding pastor, the Rev. Thomas H. Shahan, who arrived some time in 18(34. This legacy of debt and responsibility was resolutely met by the formation of a Church Debt Society, pledged to monthly contributions, and by holding a church fair, to which generous contributions were made by Christians of other names.' The church as it now stands, built of bluestone in the Gothic style of architecture, compares favorably with any similar edifice in New England.

Although the immediate objects were accomplished, the parish was so weakened by the then general business depression that Father Shahan did not attempt to carry out a project which he had very much at heart, - the establishment of a parish school ; and having been called to Boston in 1871, the Rev. Edward J. Sheridan, the present pastor, was sent to fill the vacancy. A vigorous effort is now being made in the parish towards the attainment of the latter object, the school to be placed under the charge of one of the religious orders which have proved so efficient elsewhere, not only in imparting secular knowledge, but in so cultivating the moral and religious nature of their pupils as to exert a permanent influence for good on their lives and conduct.

During the pastorate of Father Hearne his mission, besides Taunton proper, included East Taunton, Middleborough, Norton, Westville, North and South Dighton. During Father Shahan's, Middleborough and Norton were separated from the Taunton parish, and during Father Sheridan's, Weir Village, East Taunton, and Dighton have also been detached, the Rev. Hugh J. Smyth having been appointed the first pastor, succeeded by the Rev. James K. Beaven, the present incumbent, and a school-house having been adapted to the purpose of a church for the congregation. Recently the Rev. James Roach has been performing mission duty among the French and other residents in Whittenton, with the ultimate intention of erecting a church, but at the present writing no territorial boundaries have been assigned him.

Father Wilson was assisted by Father Elwards ; Father Hearne by Fathers McPhillips and J. Tracy; Father Shahan by Fathers Foley, F. A. Quinn, M. J. Burns, Hugh J. Smyth, Hugh Smith, and Bruton ; Father Sheridan by Fathers William D. Kelly, James Smith, Thomas Grace, William Hines, James A. Ward, James Fogarty, William Pyne, and Martin F. Kelly. The two last-named gentlemen are still connected with the parish. Father Beaven is at present assisted by the Rev. Michael F. Cassidy.

During Father Hearne's pastorate the Young Catholics' Friend Society was formed ; during Father Shahan's, St. Mary's Benevolent Society, a Young Men's Lyceum, and a temperance society ; and during the present pastorate a Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was organized.

The present Catholic population of Taunton is estimated at six thousand souls. For the preceding full account of the Roman Catholic Church, I am indebted to a kind friend in that communion.

The Oakland Union and Arlington Street Society and Sabbath-School, - Beside the regularly organized churclies in the city, there are union meetings sustained, as at Oakland and Arlington Street Chapel. There was once a Six-Principle Baptist Church in that part of Taunton called Oakland, organized in Rehoboth in 1789, but removed to Taunton on the death of Elder Round, in 1824, and worshiped in a school-house. In 1840, Rev. Josephus W. Horton became their minister, and a small meeting-house was built. Mr. Cliesbrough, connected with the Oakland Mill, was in.strumental also in building a small chapel where Episcopal services were held. Both these meetings in time were discontinued, and in 1874 what was called the Oakland Union was organized, uniting mo'st of the Christian elements, and sustaining with a good measure of success a Sabbath-school and a regular Sabbath preaching service by the diiferent ministers of tlie city. The oflicers of the union the present year are, George T. Bullock, president; L. L. Short, vice-president; .T. Gegenheimer, secretary ; John Willis, treasurer ; Joseph S. Tidd, Alfred Stall, Oliver H. Grossman, S. L. Reed, E. 0. Wilmarth, Lorenzo Bushee, Alfred Wilmarth, executive committee; Allen Burt, trustee for three years.

The Arlington Street organization is on the same union principle. They sustain a Sabbath-school, but no preaching service on the Sabbath, only on Wednesday evening. Their recently-elected board of oflicers are, J. A. Matthews Wilbur, president ; George H. Fairbanks, vice-president; George Chace, clerk; Edwin M. Hills, treasurer ; P'rank G. Lindsey, collector; William Carsley, Edwin Leonard, William McKendrick, executive committee; Charles L. Levering, Seth C. French, Dr. J. S. Andrews, Dr. N. M. Ransom, Jeremy B. Dennett, trustees.

The officers of the Sabbath-school are, Edwin M. Hills, superintendent ; Thomas W. Sherman, assistant superintendent ; Mrs. Emma Leonard, secretary; George H. P''airbanks, treasurer ; George Williams, librarian; William Williams, assistant librarian; Miss Clara Wilbur, organist ; Miss Gertrude Sherman, assistant organist; Mrs. A. F. Hersey, Mrs. H. C. Kennicutt, Miss Maria D. Hills, William Carsley, Edwin Leonard, executive committee of the school. ^

The Taunton Union Mission and the Associated Charities - Cedar Street Chapel. - This mission, which included no church organization but represented all the churches, was organized in March, 1861, and began to occupy its chapel, built by Mr. Joseph Dean, in 1867. It has been served by Rev. Messrs. Josliua A. Stetson, Reuben H. Cobb, George M. Hamlen, and S. Hopkins Emery. In 1881 the mission carried on its work under a new name, - The Associated Charities of Taunton, - and in January, 1883, it received a charter of incorporation from the commonwealth, with the following list of officers: President, Samuel L. Crocker;' Vice-Presidents, Mortimer Blake, Joseph Dean ; Secretary and Superintendent, S. Hopkins Emery ; Treasurer, Orville A. Barker ; Directors, Samuel L. Crocker, Henry G. Reed, A. King Williams, A. B. Harvey, George A. Washburn ; a board of managers consisting of the above-named and William C. Lovering, H. P. De

1 The Hon. Samuel L.Crocker having died Feb. 10, 1883, the Uirectora, March 12th, unanimously elected h8 president Blr. Henry Goodwin Reed, of the iirm of Reed & Barton, who, from the beginning, has been deeply interested in the work of the Mission and the Associated Charities.

Its aim and work, approved by all the churches, are well expressed in the "agreement" of the corporators in these words, " To assist the needy, and raise them as far as practicable above the need of relief; to prevent street-begging, imposition, and the existence of a pauper caste ; to secure the united action of the different charities, and of all benevolent persons in one harmonious system of wise aid to the poor."

were cut by crude machines compared with the present, and the heading was done by hand ; the nails being taken out in job lots by farmers for that purpose. It was a slow process, but soon after machines were invented for heading by a jerk of the foot and blow of a hammer. A few years later machines were made by Rogers and Odeon, which greatly improved the process of manufacture by cutting and heading the nail at one operation. Jlelvin 6tis, of Wareham, invented a machine, improved by Jesse Reed, of Marshfield, in 1815, which made still further improvements, superseding the former by gripping and spring nippers to complete the heading as well as pointing of nails. These machines are in use at the present day in all nail establishments. There was some controversy as to whom the merit of the patent belonged, but both have shared the honor and benefit.

In 1807 the above firm added another story to the Whittenton Nail-JIill, and put in machinery for spinning cotton yarn. This was packed in skeins and taken out by farmers' families within a radius of one to fifteen miles, to be woven into cloth by the domestic hand-loom and shuttle generally in vogue in those days, which gave employment to hundreds of women at their looms.

In Novend)er, 1811, the yarn and nail-mill was burned and the machines destroyed. The enterprising proprietors immediately erected another factory on the same site, seventy by thirty, three stories, with mule-room attic. It was said that the timber growing two months before wag converted into lumber for the factory ready for the machinery for spinning cotton yarn. It was then war embargo time, and cotton fabrics were in quick demand.

A few years later some forty power-looms were added, of the Slater construction, recently imported by patterns from England, and this was the first mill in this region, it was said, which made good cloth by the power-looms. Barney Lincoln, now an octogenarian of eighty-five, was an overseer in the spinning-room in 1818, and Elijah Caswell, since an ingenious tack mechanic, now in his seventy-fifth year, but then a lad of ten years, worked in that mill.

Meanwhile another nail-mill had been built on the east bank of the dam, the site of the old saw-mill of a century before, a short distance above the present office of the Whittenton Mills Company. An avenue, with dwellings thereon, led up to the mill, where nails were made in 1821 by the modern machines superseding the former slow process. Elisha Gilmore had charge of the mill and the previous one destroyed by fire for eighteen years. Albert Field, Warren Burbank, and others were employed, and made their first nails there by the modern process; the former lias passed away, the latter is a veteran of seventy-eight. The nail business was relinquished over fifty years ago, and the old buildings then occupied by that department have been removed some distance to the rear, and are used for storage by the company.

Whittenton Mills. - In 1824 the Whittenton Mills became incorporated with the property of the Taunton Manufacturing Company, but under the management of James K. Mills & Co., of Boston. In 1831-32 a new stone mill was built a short distance east of the former, containing seventy looms for making finer goods. This mill may now be seen segmented between the large brick structures more recently erected. The property remained under the control of the Taunton Manufacturing Company until May, 1835, when Mills & Co. severed their connection, and resumed proprietorship of the mills and appurtenances.

In September, 1836, the late Willard Lovering, a practical manufacturer, was called to the agency of Whittenton Mills, and becoming joint proprietor, made many improvements in the manufacture of goods. In January, 1839, the older mill referred to was destroyed by fire. A building for mule-spinning now occupies the site and raceway of the old gristmill and forge of two hundred years ago, and where stood the original nail- and yarn-mill of 1811, and subsequent cotton-factory built by Crocker, Bush & Richmond seventy years ago.

The legitimate manufacturing business of the last proprietors had been successful and prosperous under Mr. Lovering's management; but James K. Mills & Co., of Boston, having embarked in larger enterprises elsewhere, which proved unfortunate in the tidal wave of disaster of 1857, they yielded to the pressure and closed their business.

In 1858, the estate having been settled, Mr. Lovering, associated with his sons, purchased the franchise, property, privilege, dwellings, and appurtenances of the Whittenton Mills Corporation, and under their management commenced a career of improvement and enlargement of unprecedented record in manufacturing enterprise. A few years before the death of the senior proprietor, Willard Lovering, which occurred Dec. 15, 18?5, his sons, Charles L., William C, and Henry Morton Lovering, succeeded to the proprietorship of Whittenton Mills, which now in- I eludes one of the largest and most capacious establishments in New England.

It includes some twenty substantial brick and stone buildings two to four stories, besides ten or twelve smaller ones, comprising four hundred thousand square feet, or nine acres of flooring. The model weaving shop occupies fifty-five thousand square feet, over an acre and a quarter of flooring, and contains in one room, lighted by electric lamps, nearly one thousand looms, and over three hundred in the room beneath. The machinery in these large structures is moved by five Corliss engines aggregating twelve hundred horse-power, in addition to the water-wheels of two hundred and fifty horse-power, requiring in the establishment the consumption of about eight thousand tons of coal, and consuming about eight thousand bales of cotton annually in producing the great variety of textures of fabrics of innumerable styles, - cottonades, ginghams, dress goods, fancy tickings, shirtings, canton flannels, denims, etc., - providing employment for eleven hundred hands, a large portion of whom reside in the dwellings belonging to the company, of which there .are over a hundred, and two hundred tenements, comprising a large village of residences. The yard exclusively of their manufactories occupies an area of fifteen acres, and about eighty acres, conveniently laid out in avenues, is the area for the dwelling-houses and appurtenances, a vast change from the modest Whittenton Mills village of half a century ago. The Old Colony Railroad curves directly through the village a convenient distance from the manufactories, alfording ample facilities for delivering coal, cotton, and other materials, and transporting thence the thousands of cases of goods annually which find a ready sale in all the markets of the country.

Britanniaville. - The location of this prosperous village of industrial enterprise on Mill River, half a mile below Whittenton, was occupied a century and a half ago by a grist-mill, situated on the south of Britannia Street dam, and a saw-mill a few rods below, owned by Capt. James Leonard^ and others. He conveyed his portion of the privilege and mills in 1776, for one hundred and sixty pounds, to John Adam, an enterprising merchant of Taunton, who built a dam, rolling- and slitting-mill, some distance below the above mills, by Danforth Street cro.ssing. There was also a small saw-mill and fulling-mill above this bridge. The enterprise of Mr. Adam did not prove successful. In 1791 he disposed of the slittingmill, dwelling-house adjoining, privilege and appurtenances (a portion of which he had previously purchased of Abiather and Samuel Leonard) for three hundred and thirty-seven pounds.