Westport Town (part 3 of 8)

GEORCiE H. GIFFORD. George Howland Gifibrd, son of Elihu and Barbara (Howland) Gifford, was born in Westport, Mass., Feb. 9, ISOIi. His grandfather, Stephen Gifford, married Rhoda Anthony. He lived on the line of Dartmouth, was a farmer, and died advanced in years, leaving five sons and two daughters. Elihu, one of his sons, was born .Ian. 9, 178.3, married Barltara, daughter of .Tohn and Elizabeth Howland, about 1804. She was born in Westport, Nov. 12, 1782. They had five children, - GeoTije H., Keziah H. (married Henry B. Gifford, lives in Providence, R. I., and has three children now living), Elizabeth (Mrs. Isaac Howland, of Westport), .Tohn H., of Springfield, and George E., of Westport. Elihu was a blacksmith of that early day, ran a forge, made hoes, axes, and other cutting instruments, in connection with his brothers Job and John, and worked at his trade until his early death, Dec. 26, 1809. He was a nervous, impulsive, and impetuous man, hard-working, social, fond of his family, and a member of the Friends' Society. His widow married John W. Gifford, and died Oct. 6, 1867, in her eightyfifth year. She was a woman of great strength of character. Very thoughtful of others, she was universally loved, and was called by every one in her old age "Grandmother Barbara." She learned the trade of tailoress at the age of fifteen, and was very ingenious, making dresses, coats, vests, bonnets, etc. She was erect and quick in her movements, retained her activity until her death, and was noted for her superb horsemanship. She was an elder of the Friends' Society and held in high esteem.

George H. Gifford was educated at common school, and attended the select school, which enjoyed high reputation, under the teaching of George W. Baker, fitting himself for an instructor. He began to teach in 1827, and devoted himself to this for several years, part of the time being in charge of a high school- He married, Dec. 3, 1826, Rebeckah, daughter of .loseph and Judith (Briglitman) Davis. She was born at Westport, Sept. 18, 1806, and died Dec. 21, 1879. Their children were (1) Henry T. (deceased), married Mary E. Ramsdell, and had one child, George H.; (2) Julia S., married William Davenport, has two children, George W. and James H., and lives in Fall River; (3) Naiioij H., married Edwin R. Pool, who died in Salisbury prison while serving as a soldier in the Union army during the late civil war; they had two children, Augusta D. (married C. W. Tripp, and has one child, Edwin P.) and Carrie May ; (4) George D., died in infancy. In the family of Mr. Gifford was reared Frank Seymour Davis, a son of Mrs. Giffbrd's brother ,Iohn and his wife, Emily Wilbur, and he has ever been considered by all a member of the family, and was made an heir of Mr. Gifl'ord equally with his children.

After the death of her husband Elihu, the mother of Mr. Gifford returned with her children to her father's home, and for seventy years thereafter, and until his death, this was Mr. Giffbrd's home. He became a farmer, and purchased the place after his grandfather's death, varying this avocation by sailing, Aug. 23, 1837, on brig "Elizabeth," from Westport, on a whaling voyage which lasted nine months. With this exception, this farm was Mr. Gifford's resi- dence for seventy years and until his death. On his return from this voyage he engaged in manufacturing shingles in connection with forming, and also became a carriage-maker. He bought the Moose Mill, in Westport, and made carriage woodwork, and owned the mill at his death.

But it was his long and active career in public affairs and his prominence in temperance work that most deserves perpetuation. He was much in public life. He was commissioned justice of the peace about 1845, and continued in that office until his death. He held every town office, and represented his town in the Legislature. He settled many estates, and also was chief surveyor of this vicinity for many years. He was often called upon to give advice, and was a wise and sagacious counselor. He was a popular auctioneer, and continued to transact some kinds of business till within a few days of his death. May 19, 1882. He acted at various periods of his life with the Democratic, Republican, and Prohibitory political parties. His temperance history was a marked one. At the formation of the Washingtonian Temperance Society, in 1842, he was somewhat dissipated, but such was the interest in him and desire to secure his aid that when organizing the Westport Society the office of vicepresident was left vacant to be given him if he would take the pledge and join them. He did so, became its first vice-president, and held that office, or that of president, so long as the society existed. He took hold of temperance with all the ardor of his positive nature, and fought the rum-demon everywhere and at all times. He was a forcible speaker, and soon received the sobriquet of the " Old Temperance Warhorse." He had the satisfaction of knowing that tangible and permanent results came from his efforts. He was chief officer of Sons of Temperance and Good Templars for a number of terms. In religion he was liberal and independent, inclining, however, to the Friends' belief He was accurate, methodical, and systematic in all things, and correct in all business matters, and successful in the acquisition of property. He was a kind and loving husband and father, covering a warm heart by an appearance of austerity and gruffness. He was an agreeable social companion, full of humor and laughable stories. Honored by the community, his death was deeply regretted.

William Gifford Axd William H. Gifford

From Eli Wodell's genealogical work - a rare and really ingenious and labored production - we glean something of the North Westport Giffords. Ananias (?) Gifford had at least five children, - Benjamin, Recompence, Abigail, Mary, Kezia. Benjamin was a cooper, died in Westport about 1817. (E. W. says he was son or brother of Ananias Gifford.) He had children, - Nathaniel, James, Stephen, John. Oeorge, and Ruth. ("George Gifford, son of Benjamin and

Susan Sherman, daughter of Sampson Sherman, his second wife, was married four times, and barely escaped two other such cal'imlties. He was to marry Miss Andrews, who died bride expectant. He married Elizabeth Wodell, Susan Sherman, Ruth Cottle, and Mercy Bullock, and escaped Miss Andrews and Mrs. Randall, to whom at his death he was contracted. He was a good and .sensible man, and had considerable literary talent." - Eli Wodell.) George, born Feb. 17, 1772, in Freetown, was a farmer, well read, and a good penman. He acted as clerk at auctions, town-meetings, etc. He was also a schoolmaster, and a worthy and deeply-devoted member of I the Baptist Church. He moved in later life to Grafton, N. H., and in that new country was very useful, and by his aid in forming churches and religious societies, made a permanent impress on the place. By his first wife he had Elizabeth, married Samuel Thurston ; by his second wife, Susan, he had William, Stephen, and Charles (who died at Fort Mahon, Aug. 2, 1828, while in the United States naval service) ; and by his third wife he had one daughter, Caroline. He died at an old age.

William Giffokd was born in Westport, Mass., Feb. 12, 1794. He was reared on the farm, and became a farmer. Married Deborah, daughter of Thomas Freelove, of Troy (now Fall River). She was born Oct. 12, 1791. Their children attaining mature years i were Ruth and William H. Ruth married Jacob Hicks, of Fall River, Mass. Her only surviving [ child, Charles, married Catharine Paine, and had one I son, Charles A., now a practicing physician in Fall j River. Mr. Gifford was an energetic and an industrious man, and possessed good intellect. He taught ! school in early life successfully, and was a farmer the rest of his days. He was one of those earnest and devoted yeomen who did good service in the progress of the better elements of civilization. Quiet and unj demonstrative in manner, he read much, and had clear i and original thoughts and ideas. His judgment was ' sound, and weighed impartially all things, and rarely , was it at fault in its conclusions. He was a Christian, a worthy member of Elder Hicks' (Baptist) Church I at North Dartmouth, where he retained his member- I ship during life. His religion was not the pompous religion that flaunts itself obtrusively in all unseemly places with a Pharisaical pride. It was a portion of his being, and his heart was the prompter of every ! thought, word, and deed, which so worthily adorned this modest child of Christ. It modified all his life. In social, family, and business relations it gave gentleness and kindness, and a sterling love of right for right's sake, and made him the steadfast foe of everything tending to draw men downward. Consequently we find him an active member of the first temperance society (the Washingtonians) organized in this section, and equally as strong and pronounced was he against the monster evil of slavery. He was universally esteemed for his many good qualities, and

William Henry Gifford, son of William and Deborah (Freelove) Gifford, was born Jan. 19, 1827, in Westport, Mass., not much more than forty rod.-* from his present residenise. He had common school education; became a farmer; inherited his father's real estate of about seventy acres, to which by his industry, economy, and thrift he has added largely, owning now about seven hundred acres of land in' this vicinity, beside real estate in Fall River. He has been a worker. From eai'ly morn till late at night he has wrought diligently, and has never eaten the bread of idleness. He has invariably sided with the political and moral forces which promised the elevation of the lower classes and the benefit of humanity. Never caring for nor accepting office, he has done good service in the Republican party, and in the old Washingtonian Temperance Society was one of the most efficient laborers, and secretary of the society in his neighborhood for years. To these principles he still tenaciously adheres. Although lie could realize larger rents for various properties of his in Fall River if he would allow liquor to be sold on the premises, he was true to his principles, refusing to let to such parties, even if they remained vacant. He was at one time somewhat interested in whaling, owning three-fourths of a whaler;, but it did not prove profitable, and he sold out in 1881. He has been stockholder and director of the Barnard Manufacturing Company, of Fall River, from its organization. He married Ruth L., daughter of David and Zilpha (Devoll) Brownell, of Westport. After a short wedded life she died, leaving her infant daughter and namesake, Ruth Louisa, to follow her to the grave in three short months. Although these deaths occurred twenty-five years ago, Mr. Gifford has remained true to his first love and never again married. He is to-day one of the wealthy and -progressive citizens of his town.

Capt. Ben.Tamin Gifford

CAPT. BEN.TAMIN GIFFORD. Capt. Benjamin Gifford, son of Humphrey and Pliebe (Davis) Gifford, was born in Westport, Mass., July 11, 1824. He commenced coasting voyages with his father when but seven years old, so had but little advantages for education except that given by personal application on board of ship, where lie was a diligent student. He sailed on his first whaling voyage on his fifteenth birthday in bark " Hope," his uncle, Capt. Gideon Davis, being master. He returned in November, 1840. He then made three voyages in brig " Mexico," and two in " Dr. Franklin." The last one he commanded the vessel, rising to his position of master by steady promotion. The wages of his first four voyages were taken by his father, for he was under age. He next commanded the bark " Marion," of New Bedford, on a three and one-half years' cruise. His next vessel was the bark " Mattapoisett," of Westport, and the next, in which he made three voyages, was the bark " President," of New Bedford. He afterwards went three voyages as captain in the vessels "Glacier," "Spartan," and "Sunbeam," of New Bedford. He returned from his last voyage Dec. 2, 1879, having accumulated quite a property by his services. He was very conscientious in all things, so much so that an acquaintance remarked once, when the captain was talking of leaving the sea an(i engaging in merchandising, " He never would make a living, for he was too honest." He married, Aug. 14, 1853, Hannah R., daughter of Stephen iind Hannah (Baker) Allen, an estimable and generous lady who survives him.

Capt. Gifford was a Republican in politics, and as such represented Westport two terms in the State Legislature. He died April 18, 1881. He was a remarkably genial man, knowing no difference in his intercourse between the high and the low, the rich and the, poor, and won the love and confidence of all. He was generous to a fault, and never refused to assist any benevolent object. He was dignified in appearance, but with a cheerful courteousness he was a pleasant companion, with many a repartee and ready joke. He was of nervous temperament, and rarely'sat down an hour in his house, but was busy in something he wished to do. He was a devout Christian, belonging to the Friends' Society. When stricken down by paralysis, and forced to leave all active labor by being deprived partially of the use of his right side, he never murmured, but with cheerful content accepted the condition with the remark, " It is all right ; I have already had my share of good health," and during one long year of invalid and suffering life he retained the same cheerfulness, filling the hearts of all who were near him with sunshine, .and when he died a host of friends mourned, and letters of coudolence came to his widow from all quarters of the globe. The New Bedford Mercury, April 19, 1881, contained this short tribute to his memory: "Capt. Benjamin Gifford, of Westport Point, died of paralysis yesterday morning, aged fifty-six. He made quite a number of voyages successfully in whaling, his last one being in the ' Sunbeam,' of this city. He was not a great man ; he was more than that, he was a tjood man. Honest and straightforward in his transactions, and of pleasant disposition, he won the respect of all who knew him. He was a strong advocate of temperance and a Friend. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, 1877-78."

Christopher Borden

Christopher Borden, son of Abraham and Phebe (Barker) Borden, was born Oct. 20, 1815, on the lands possessed by four or five generations of his ancestors in Tiverton, R. I., now Westport, Mass. (For ancesp,^ V^(Cj tral history of Borden family see biography of Cook Borden, Fall River.) The line of descent to Christopher from Richard, the emigrant, is Richard', John-, Richard^, Thomas*, Christopher^, Jonathan", Abraham', Christopher'. Thomas Borden (fourth generation) gave the Cranberry Neck property with other , woodlands to his son Christopher, who became a farmer there, and probably built the first saw-mill on i the site where stands the mill of his descendant Christopher. He was a man of respectability and substance, owning much land and many slaves, married Hannah, daughter of Stephen and Penelope Borden, Dec. 24, 1748, and died suddenly, an old man. His son Jonathan, boi'n May 5, 1761, married Elizabeth , Bowen, and had Hannah, Abraham, Phebe, Thomas, [ Rhoda, Isaac, and Elizabeth. He was a farmer and mill-owner, held some offices, and was social, honest, straightforward, and always full of business, which he uniformly conducted to a successful issue. He died May 19, 1848. Abraham was born near the present residence of Chri.stopher, July 20, 1792, and always lived on the farm where he commenced housekeeping. | He was a man of quiet and undemonstrative nature, yet strongly fixed in his opinions. He never cared for office, but steadily kept the even tenor of his way, undisturbed by political turmoil. By purchase and by legacy he received from bis father two hundred and seventy acres of land. He was engaged in lum- ; bering in addition to farming. He married Phebe, daughter of Lemuel and Maria (Tripp) Barker, of Dartmouth, and had three children, - Christopher, Rhoda (Mrs. Abiel Davis), and Maria R., who died one year after her marriage to Capt. Weston Jenney. Mrs. Borden was a Friend, and Mr. Borden attended their meetings regularly, although not a member of the society. He died Oct. 28, 1864.

Christopher Borden (eighth generation) was educated at common schools and the Friends' school at \ Providence, R. I. He remained with his father after | returning from school, and became associated with and finally .succeeded him in charge of the farm and lumbering interests, which latter has been somewhat e-xtensive in the departments of cedar and shingles. He married Lucy H., daughter of Peter and Sarah S. (Hovvland) Davis, Feb. 11, 18.39. She was a native of Westport, Mass., and born Feb. 11, 1818. They have had six children,^ - Jonathan, married Mary M. (Snell) Estes, has seven children, and lives on the old homestead; Alice A., married George H. Hicks, lias five children, and lives in Fall River; Mary E., married Isaac W. Howland, of Little Compton, R. I., and has one child; Othniel T., a youth of bright promise, who was accidentally and fatally shot in his twentieth year, Jan. 22, 1866 ; Edwin, married Mary E. Young, has five children, and lives near his parents ; Phebe S., married Arthur D. Cornell, has two children, and lives in Fall River.

Mr. Borden has been much in public service. He was a member of the Town Council of Tiverton, has been selectman of Westport year after year, has been on auditing committee for several years, and has also held minor offices. He has been called upon to administer on many estates, and in all his range of official duties and trusts he has ever acted with strict integrity, directness of purpose, and rapidity of execution. He is a pleasant, kindly gentleman, whose many good qualities attract numerous friends. Whig and Republican in politics, he has never swerved from support of those principles. He has been prosperous in business, has been a farmer, and, with his sons, has done much in lumbering. He now leaves the principal part of the labor on younger shoulders, and looks merely after the investments which from time to time he has made. He is a stockholder in Metacomet, Pocasset, and Union Banks, Fall River, and Commercial Bank, New Bedford. He is also a stockholder in the Flint, Barnard, and Weetaraoe Mills, Fall River, and is interested in and a director of the Fall River Manuiacturing Company. He is held in high esteem by his fellow-townsmen and entire circle of acquaintance, and is justly considered one of Westport's leading citizens.

Leonard Macomber

Leonard Macomber, son of John and Mary (Slade) Macomber, was born in Westport, Mass., Feb. 8, 1818. He comes on both sides from early settlers of this section, who have given to their descendants not only good estates but honorable records. His grandfather, Nathaniel Macomber, was a native of Westport (then Dartmouth), and was a farmer and nurseryman. He married Susanna Macomber, and had a large family of children, and bequeathed his farm and nursery to his son John, who for many years carried on the same business as his father. John married Mary Slade, of the old Swansea (Somerset) family. (See biographies of William L. and Jonathan Slade, in history of Somerset, in this volume.) They had eight children, of whom Leonard was the fourth. Leonard had common school education, and attended the Friends' school at Providence, R. I. He married Esther A., daughter of Joshua and Diana (Manchester) Austin, of Little Compton, R. I. They had three children, Elizabeths., John A., and Hannah D. (married George E. Tripp, and has two children).

Leonard lived on a farm adjoining the homestead of his father, and never changed his residence. Like his father and grandfather, he enjoyed a high degree of public confidence, which has been in each generation justly deserved. He was a pleasant neighbor, plain and straightforward in business, and a good citizen. He was of irreproachable character, kind- hearted and generous, and a friend to the poor. In all his public and private transactions he manifested sound judgment, strict integrity and ability, and his unostentatious demeanor won him many friends.

He was strictly temperate in all things, and gave his influence and support to all measures which tended to promote the intelligence and welfare of his fellowcitizens. Although not aspiring to political prominence, yet the people of Westport, in their confidence in his integrity, for quite a number of years intrusted to his care the treasury of the town, to the universal satisfaction of all. He was also tax collector several years, and was often called to administer on estates. In these onerous and complicated duties he was uniformly successful in harmoniously adjusting whatever seemed in disorder, and his clear judgment and wise counsels were often asked for others. He was a birth- [ right member of the Society of Friends, and his life was an example of their peaceful creed. He died Jan. 31, 1873.

Mrs. Macomber was born Feb. 23, 1819, and is now residing at Central village) surrounded by her children and grandchildren, and passing a kindly and cheerful old age.

John A. Macomber (2d), son of Leonard and Diana M.acomber, married Esther A., daughter of Stephen and Ann D. Allen, and has two children. He is at the present writing town clerk of Westport, and is I an honored and useful citizen of his native town.

Ezra P. Brownell

Ezra P. Brownell, son of Jireah and Sarah (Kirby) Brownell, was born in Westport, Mass., Aug. 10, 1819. His paternal grandparents were Benjamin and Abigail (Milk) Brownell. His early education was acquired at common schools, which he supplemented by two terms atPierce Academy, Middleborough, Mass. This he accomplished by teaching in the winter, and using the funds thus acquired in attending the summer sessions of the academy. His early life was in no respect one of ease or wealth, but a constant struggle with adverse circumstances to attain a satisfactory position in society. He was imbued with a desire to benefit his fellow-men, and every action of his kind and philanthropic nature had some aim of this nature in view. His desire to aid in relieving the sufferings and misfortunes of others far exceeded his wish for wealth or personal gratification, as many living can testify. His son states that many are the instances where strangers have met him by chance, and, ascertaining that he was the son of Ezra P. Brownell, have with great emotion recalled some act of his which had materially assisted them in some of the difficult places in their pathway.

Mr. Brownell served faithfully in every station of public trust, - as school committee nineteen years (1845 to 1866), auditing committee, selectman ten years, chairman of the board seven years, member years (1857 to 1869),, State senator in 1861. He was appointed county commissioner in 1865, and served three years. As a member of the Legislature, he won the respect and confidence of all his associates, and by force of his integrity exerted a' marked influence. He was modest and unostentatious, rarely addressing the House, never taking the floor e.xcept when impelled by duty, and then speaking with a simplicity and directness which gained attention. Rarely absent from his seat, he entered into the business of the session with conscientious diligence, advocating those measures he deemed best for the public good, and sometimes carrying them to a successful issue almost wholly by his personal efforts.

His love for his country and its free institutions caused him to take a deep interest in aiding the government in its efforts to suppress the Rebellion, and in the capacity of recruiting officer he was one of the most active in the cause of the Union. To this he gave his thought and time night and day. He advocated good pay and large bounties for the enlisting soldiers, guaranteed that their families should be taken care of, and the widows and orphans supported, and his promise was by him fulfilled down to the day of his death. His untiring eflbrts, patriotic labors, and rare discretion attracted the notice and won the hearty commendation of Governor Andrew. He saved the town from draft by placing in service the full quota of men. All this valuable service was done without any compensation.

As a county commissioner, he enjoyed the implicit confidence of his associates, who bear willing testimony to his soundness of judgment, his patience in investigation, his wise economy, and his conscientious fidelity to every trust. He did not escape detraction, and was violently assailed atone time with the charge that he h.ad not accounted for money of the town which had been placed in his hands. His vindication was complete, however, and the assault only served to strengthen him in the regards of his townsmen, who answered the charges by re-electing him the same year to the Legislature, casting for him four hundred and seven votes, the largest number ever given any one in the town. He died Sept. 6, 1870, from shock arising from amputation of his left leg, rendered necessary by a cancer from which he had suffered seventeen years. He was a Universalist in religion, and no stronger proof was needed of the strong hold he had upon all classes than to witness the unanimity with which his townspeople of all parties and creeds attended bis funeral services, which, through the kindness of the Society of Friends, was held in their meeting-house, and which a bereaved community filled with mourners, who seemed to consider his death not only a personal bereavement but a public calamity.

West Port

Benjamin Franklin Tripp, son of John and Beersheba (Potter) Tripp, was born in Westport, Mass., March 23, 1804. He is of English ancestry. The name was early connected with Dartmouth, Joseph j and James Tripp being among those who were named as proprietors in the confirmatory deed of William Bradford, Nov. 13, 1694. The descendants of these ]Honeer settlers are very numerous, and are mostly worthy scions of the sturdy stock from which they sprung. John Tripp, the grandfather of Benjamin F., was born in 1727, in that part of Dartmouth now Westport ; was a farmer on a few acres, a diligent, thoughtful, industrious man, of deep religious principles, which were perhaps too exaggerated. He was a follower of Anna Wilkinson, and, it is said, so injured his health by trying to fast forty days as to fall I a victim to measles, in consequence thereof, in his sixty-fourth year, dying in 1791. He married Penelope Brightuian, and had five children, - Phebe, Mary, Thankful, Peace, and John. His farm of about forty acres was located a short distance north of Central village, near the cemetery where he and his wife lie buried. John, his son, born July 8, 1761, was a farmer, of au exceedingly ingenious mechanical turn of mind. He was a much better educated man thau most of his townsmen, was a great reader, particularly of history, and, in connection with farming, used to make the wooden plows then so much in use. He married, in April, 1786, Beersheba, youngest daughter of Stokes and Phebe (Spooner) Potter. They had eight children attaining maturity, - Amy, Penelope, Cynthia (married Cliristopher Weston), Carmi, Marina (married Hilliard Gifford), Wilkesou, Anna (married William Potter), and Benjamin F. All of these are dead but Marina and Benjamin F.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tripp were independent in religious thought; were members of no church organization, although regular attendants at the Friends' meeting-house. Mi-. Tripp had imperfect vision in one eye, and was slightly lame from birth. These freed him from military duty. He brought up a large family well, did not, although a hard-working, industrious man, accumulate much property. He was a Whig in politics, but avoided office. His oldest son lived with him in his latter years on his small farm, where he died June 30, 1851, very nearly ninety years old. His wife, born in Westport, Feb. 5, 1765, was youngest daughter of a large family. Her father, Stokes Potter, was a shoemaker, and died about 1809. Mrs. Tripp died in 1854.

B. F. Tripp had only the very meagre opportunities of book education aflbrded by a few weeks' attendance each winter, from the time he was nine until he wa.s fifteen, at the country schools of that period. Robust in health, he was fond of work, and aided his father ' in his farm-work, the older brothers being away at work for themselves. He remained at home until he was of age, when he engaged one season during haying to mow for a farmer in Little Compton, R. 1. The next year he w^orked eight months for John Macomber, near Central village, on the farm and in the nursery. For nine consecutive seasons he was thus employed. He passed the winters at his father's, chopping cord-wood. He married, Dec. 11, 1834, Patience, daughter of Richard and Rebecca (Cook) Gittbrd, who was born June 2, 1806, in Westport. Her line of ancestors on her father's side is (1) Christopher, (2) William, (3) Richard, (4) Rebecca, (5) Patience. William, son of Christopher, was a man of consideration and inn-keeper at Hicks' Bridge, which he owned and maintained as a toll-bridge. He married Patience Russell, and lived to be old. Of his children, Richard lived just south of Westport Centre, married Rebecca, daughter of Pardon Cook, of Tiverton, R. I. He had five children, of whom Mrs. Tripp was youngest.

The children of B. F. and Patience Tripp are Rebecca Cook, born Dec. 9, 1835 ; Phebe Dwelly, Sept. 19, 1837; Edwin Irving, Nov. 20, 1838; Mary Almy, June 16, 1840; Cook Gifford, Feb. 16, 1844; and John Richard, May 24, 1850. Rebecca married Barney Giflford, lives in Adamsville, E. I., and has four children, - Ella V., Emma C, Frederick B., and Lena G. Mary married Charles H. Brownell, lives in New Bedford, and has two childreji, - Elma W. and Ulysses G. Cook G. married Ellen M. Snell, and has two children, - Anna K. and Benjamin F. Edwin I. married Mary E. Brownell, no children. John R. married Mary E. Mosher, lives on his father's place, and has four children, - Florence D., Clara P., Eddie I., and Lottie E.

Mr. Tripp began housekeeping the summer after marriage, moving to the house he now occupies, which he has changed and repaired and completely altered. From a date found on the planking the house was evidently built in 1727, and it was occupied, if not erected, by Capt. Philip Taber, an officer of the Revolution. Mrs. Tripp died Jan. 23, 1878, aged seventy-one. She was an estimable woman, ruled well her household, and is honored by her descendants. Mr. Tripp has been highway surveyor many years, and was one of the committee of public landing for twenty-five years. He has never sought, but rather avoided oflice of importance, but has merited and enjoyed the confidence of both political parties, so as to receive the full suffrages of the town when he was a candidate. He has been a great reader and thinker, and an inflexibly honest man. He has a very accurate and strong memory, and a wonderful fund of knowledge, which he takes pleasure in giving to others. He is an amiable, pleasant, warm-hearted gentleman, with very many friends. He is independent in politics, and thoroughly independent also in religious thought, with strong tendency to Universalism. He has been a hard-workinoman all his life, but has husbanded his strength and health, and never had to call a physician but twic in his life. He has built a great deal of stone wall, and has stoned about one hundred cellars. He has been prosperous financially, owns seventy-five acres of good land, and has a competency to supply all wants of his declining years. Blest with a cheerful disposition, surrounded by affectionate descendants, and the regards of all who know him, Mr. Tripp is passing with honor to the close of an active and useful life. _

Samuel T. Sanford

Samuel Tripp Sanford, son of Capt. Thomas Sanford and Charity D. Capron, his wife, was born in Troy, now Fall River, Mass., May 2, 1825. His father was born in Westport, Jan. 1.5, 1772, and from a common sailor rose to be master before he was twentyone. He commanded vessels many years, mostly on trading voyages to South America. At one time he invested all his property in a large brig and cargo, which was almost entirely owned by himself. She was lost, and Capt. Sanford lost everything, not even saving a suit of clothes. There was no insurance on either vessel or cargo, and the labors of years were swept away. Of strong mind and physique, he went to work with a will, and soon more than made good his loss. He married Charity Davis Capron, Oct. 2, 1797. She was born in Freetown, Aug. 18, 1780. They had nineteen children, seventeen of whom lived to maturity. They were Hannah W., married John Bowcock; Ruth Gilford, married John Lindsay; John C, Thomas, Edwin, Rhoda, Samuel R., David, Hope, Almanza, Brunette, married George W.Chase; Emmeline, married Lloyd N. Pierce; Caroline, married David A. Mason ; Hope Ann, Amanda B., Melvina F., married John H. Wady ; Newton F., adopted, and Samuel Tripp. Capt. Sanford built, in 1798, the laro-est house in Troy, now Fall River, and he shrewdly predicted that the water-power here would build up a large city, being one of the very few who were clear-sighted enough to see this. He was a positive man, of much originality of thought. He was skeptical in religion, and his opposition to the creeds of the churches tended to injure him financially. He was a good logician and well read in the Bible. He condensed his religion into this nutshell: "Give sixteen ounces to the pound, keep your pigs and chickens out of your neighbors' yards, help your neighbors when in need without telling everybody you meet about it." He died Jan. 2, 1847, aged seventy-four. His wife died Oct. 24, 1871, aged ninety-one. While in South America he purchased a very valuable recipe for preparing a blood-purifier, and, under the name of "Sanford's Great Spanish Remedy," it won success in this country, and caused him and (after his death) his son Samuel to devote much time to its manufacture.

Samuel T. Sanford, from early boyhood, manifested a great inventive genius. He was always suggesting an easier way of performing work or of lightening household labor. He had a very active brain, which, joined to a not very vigorous body, made his health always delicate. He invented several valuable machines and improvements, among which was a machine for punching copper (for which he received five thousand dollars), a self-opening and closing gate, a shingle-cutting machine, an apple-parer, a shoe-fastener, and an oscillating water-meter, which he patented in April, 1879, only about a month

I before his death. He married, Sept. 10, 1858, Susan, daughter of Rescom and Henrietta (Sanford) Borden. She was born at Westport, Mass., Sept. 10, 1837, and studied medicine two years at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia. Her family (the Bordens) can trace its ancestry for about one thousand years back through England and the Norman conquest to the village of Bourdonnay, France, where for centuries they were landed proprietors. She is descended from Richard Borden, who came to America in 1635. (See biography of Cook Borden, Fall River, on another page of this work.) This union was blessed with four children, - Bordena ; Charitta L., born April 16, 1863; Threlia D., March 13, 1871 ; and Samuel N. F., Aug. 2, 1872. Mr. Sanford began housekeeping in the same house where his mother resided in Fall River immediately upon his marriage. The house is still standing, yellow in color, on the corner of Bedford and Quarry Streets, on the .same lot as the Staffcrd Mills. Here their oldest child, Bordena, was born, Oct. 28, 1859.

Mrs. Sanford having inherited a large landed property of about one thousand acres from her father (a portion of the purchase made by her ancestors over two hundred years ago), they removed to ^Vestport, both to look after her property and for Mr. Sanford's health, which became very poor. Here they lived about ten years, Mr. Sanford following agriculture in connection with his inventive endeavors. Here also were born the other children. Deeming their children worthy of better education than Westport could give them, in the fall of 1873 they removed to Norton, and for five years gave their children the advantages of the celebrated Wheaton Seminary. They then removed to the present residence of Mrs. Sanford in Fall River, which has since been the family home, and where he died May 8, 1879. Mr. Sanford was a hearty supporter of everything tending to advance, educate, or elevate humanity. He took an active part in agricultural matters, and was a close investigator into the origin and philosophy of the operations of nature, and wanted to demonstrate the i truth of every theory, not by the word of some individual, but by logic, reason, and science. He was of a warm and affectionate nature, fond of society, and with a large fund of vivacity, was the gayest of the gay. He was a devoted husband, and an indulgent and affectionate father. Loyal in his friendships, the closer ties of the family relation were the most firmly attached to his nature, which, sympathetic and loving,

Source changes here: from A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Vol. 2), by Hutt, Frank Wolcott, published 1924; 81,054 words in this source stream.

Westport Town

It is only within the past quarter of a century that the Acoaxet country, the Westports, has witnessed any appreciable changes from the farm and community conditions that had existed nearly the same for a century or more. Within the twenty-five years, many descendants of old settlers, branching out into business relations elsewhere and seeking new homes, have disposed of homesteads that had been in families for generations; and people of other nationalities, leaving the factories and the fishing, have been purchasing lands and providing new homes for themselves in this old Quaker country. Within two decades, road building on modern lines has become universal in the town, even to its southernmost limits, through the seashore resorts and along by the shores. The district school building is rapidly disappearing, and the present-day structure that is taking its place is overflowing with the increasing school population. Upon the foundations of the first homes, everywhere has arisen the cottage of today; the Portuguese and French arrivals have established their neighborhoods and churches; and along the shore have come a multitude of summer home makers.

North Westport has witnessed just such changes as_ these, - the Beulah or Greenwood section having been built up within a half dozen years, with its new $12,000 public school in process of construction in 1923; and in this part of the town is a school that was built only ten years ago to provide for the' growing educational interests. A Congregational church and the postoffice have their location here; and the Watuppa Grange was instituted in 1921, with a large membership of farmers and townsfolk in general.

Westport Factory is no longer the scattered hamlet, but rather a steadily increasing village both of natives and many newcomers in the vicinity of the plant of the Westport Manufacturing Company. Here, just about halfway between the cities of New Bedford and Fall River, is the old water power privilege of a succession of mills; the Union school,, built within fifteen years; the Union Christian Church, built about the year 1908; and the Catholic church for the French residents, just over the Dartmouth line, and in process of building in 1923. Beyond, is the small but comparatively new settlement of Brownell's Corners, where a_ public schoolhouse was being built in 1923, and where a Congregational church has long been established. The Head of Westport, known as the "Head," is a live part of the town, with its library, Congregational church, schools and postoffice. Central Village is a small section of the town where the high school had been established about eight years. Here there is a Friends meeting, a Portuguese Catholic church, postoffice, primary school, and where a new schoolhouse was being built in 1923. Westport Point, formerly a whaling port, is now almost entirely a summer resort, with church, school and postoffice. Horseneck Beach, where an extensive causeway was under construction in 1923, is entirely a community of summer homes, with a postoffice open during three months of the year; and South Westport is all farming district.

The town's assessed valuation in real estate in 1922 was $4,125,375; in personal, $552,450. Edward L. Macomber was town clerk, Charles H. Gifford treasurer. The Free Public Library, Miss Annie R. Howland, librarian, had a circulation of 2526 books in 1922; the Westport Public 'Library, Miss Emily F. Sisson, librarian, had a circulation of 3502 books.

Past and Present - Westport, the Acoaxet Indian plantation, was incorporated under its present name in 1787, it having originally been part of the Dartmouth territory. Portions of Dartmouth were ceded to the town February 25, 1793, and March 4, 1805, and again a part of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1861. The first townhouse was built on Ichabod Potter's land, and the first town meeting held there April 6, 1789. No historian of this southland was better informed with regard to the foundations of the first white men's homes here than the late Henry B. Worth, Esq., who had made a thorough study of deeds relating to the township of Dartmouth and Westport. Mr. Worth, who was secretary of the Dartmouth Historical Society, and had written and read many papers concerning this part of the State that are to be found among the publications of that society, was of opinion that the first settler at the head of Westport was Richard Sisson, who had located his home on the west side of the river and at the south side of the main highway, and was elected surveyor of town roads in 1671. He has stated that Richard Gifford, also an early settler, was a land king of Acoaxet, and in the 1712 apportionment at the head of Westport he received nearly 400 acres. Previous to that, George Lawton, Benjamin Waite and John Tripp had secured seventy acres of land along the river, and in 1712 they formed a combination to utilize the water power north of the present village. They built two mills, that on the west side of the river, known as Lawton's mill, that on the east side as Waite's mill, and later as Tripp's or Chase's mill. Joseph Peckham and Beriah Goddard were also first purchasers in this part of the town, as well as Mary Hix, who was owner of the Hix ferry that was conducted by her and her sons until 1745, when William Hix built the first bridge there. Nicholas Howland was a purchaser of lands in this section, so was Paul Cuff, a slave who had received his freedom in 1765. The Giffords lived at Horseneck and at Westport Point.

The Friends were tenacious of their beliefs and of their religious rights from the first settlement of the section, or from the time when the Quakers and the Baptists began to assert that privileges should be accorded them apart from the Congregationalists, and that they should be relieved from paying the Congregational ministerial tax. Thus they began their meetings, and they have maintained them to this day. Again we quote from the papers of the late Henry B. Worth, whose information concerning the Friends was based upon his life study of the township in general. He has stated that Acoaxet was strongly Quaker, and has held tenaciously to that form of belief even to modern times. They had a meeting-house seventy years before New Bedford, at Central Village. In 1761 there was a demand by them for a place of worship in the north part of the town, so a building was erected at George H. Gifford's Corner, and called the Centre Meeting-house, which was maintained until 1840, when it was removed to the north side of the road, about a quarter of a mile west of the bridge. This was discontinued about thirty years ago (1878).

Just what happened, says Mr. Worth, in 1840, to induce the Friends to move their meeting-house nearer the village may be inferred from some hints to be found in the records. In 1830 George M. Brownell purchased from Dr. J. H. Handy a lot of land which in 1845 was conveyed by John QO. Brownell to the First Christian Baptist Society. 'There had then been a meeting-house on this lot, which in 1859 is described as "the old meetinghouse." 'There is some reason to infer that it may have been built soon after 1830. Evidently the Quakers felt that it was necessary to have a meeting-house nearer the dwellings of their members, or they might attend the other meeting.

The First Christian Church in Westport was organized in 1819, and the church was built in 1824, with Peleg Sisson for the minister. The society was incorporated January 9, 1844, and the church joined the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Christian Conference in September, 1862. The Second Christian Church at South Westport was organized September 18, 1838, and the church building was dedicated February 1, 1876. The Third Christian Church was organized at Central Village, June 10, 1839, and the church was erected in 1842. The Fourth Christian Church, at Brownell's Corner, was organized July 4, 1843, and the church building was opened and dedicated the same day. The First Christian Church at North Westport was organized January 1, 1858. The Pacific Union Congregational Church was organized in May, 1855.

The most extensive business in the section and one of the oldest in the county, is that of the Westport Cotton Manufacturing Company, at Westport Factory, employing many hands and producing at full capacity more than 1,500,000 pounds of goods annually. In 1789, William Gifford and Lemuel Milk bought the site for an iron forge; and in 1854 the property was purchased by William B. Trafford, who transferred it to the Westport Manufacturing Company, Mr. Trafford having been associated with Augustus Chace at Globe Village. In the early sixties, Mr. Trafford in company with his two half-brothers, George and Ilijah Lewis, reorganized the concern, Mr. 'lrafiord remaining as manager to the time of his death in 1880. William C. Trafford was made treasurer in 1872. The incorporation took place-in April, 1916, and to that date the business had been managed by five men - William B. Trafford, Ilijah R. Lewis, George W. Lewis, Andrew R. Trafford (who died October 20, 1917), and William C. Trafford, who died March 8, 1922. Upon the death of the latter, Henry L,. Trafford was elected president, in May of the same year. 'The capital is $600,000 - $400,000 preferred and $200,000 common. 'he mill was built in 1812. In May, 1919, the company took possession of its modern up-to-date cotton waste plant in Fall River, a three-story structure, 70 by 126 feet. At Westport Factory, the old office building standing since 1872, has been removed and an elaborate new office building has been constructed, modelled upon the lines of the mill structure.

Outside of the factory, farming, poultry raising and fishing are the industries of the town. A large proportion of the farms are productive and well located for market-gardening, and include the properties of Edmund Gifford, Nelson Gifford, Frank Perry, John Costa, Nason Macomber, William Hicks, Joseph Bone, John, George and William Smith.

relating to school affairs in this part of the town in the early days, there is no way of knowing about that arrangement. Previous to 1840 it is not possible to find the record of any purchase of land for school purposes in Westport. The schools throughout the town in 1923 were as follows: The high school, whose four-year arrangement had been completed in 1923; the schools at North Westport, Sanford Road, Beulah Road, Factory, Head, Brownell's Corner, Macomber's Corner, Point, South Westport, Horseneck, Acoaxet. There were 774 pupils, and the amount of appropriation for schools maintenance was $45,000. Edward L. Hill was the superintendent.

Family And Personal History

JAMES MADISON MORTON, A.M., LL. D. - For nearly a quarter of a century Judge Morton Was an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, his work as a jurist being characterized by ability, learning and sound judgment. He resigned his position on the bench in December, 1913, and received in response a letter from Governor Eugene N. Foss, granting his request to be relieved, in which the governor said in part: "You are fully entitled to retire from the arduous duties of the Supreme Court, and while I sincerely regret that the commonwealth is no longer to have the benefit of your wisdom and experience upon the bench, I nevertheless recognize the justice of your request, and in congratulating you upon your long record of splendid public service I accept your resignation."

Learned in the law, with the record of many years of successful practice at the Bristol county bar, of judicial temperament, a dignified bearing, and a warm love for his fellow-men, no man ever ascended to a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts with a better equipment than Judge Morton. He came of a notable family which included Governor Marcus Morton, who was also a Member of Congress; Chief Justice Marcus Morton, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; and Judge Marcus (2) Morton, of the present Superior Court.

The founder of the family in New England was George Morton, who came from England to New England in 1623 on the ship 'Ann," settled in Plymouth and wrote the first history of Plymouth Colony, published in England, entitled "A Relation or Journal of the Beginnings and Proceedings of the English Plantations Settled at Plymouth in New England." His son, Nathaniel, was secretary of Plymouth in 1647-1685, and the author of that valuable work, "New England Memorial," compiled from the writings and observations of Governor William Bradford and himself. George Morton married, in Leyden, Holland, Juliana Carpenter, who bore him sons and daughters. George Morton died in 1624. The line of descent to Judge James M. Morton is as follows:

(1) George Morton and his wife, Juliana Carpenter; (II) their son, Lieutenant Ephraim Morton, and his first wife, Ann Cooper; (III) their son, Eleazer Morton, and his wife, Rebecca Dawes; (IV) their son, Nathaniel Morton, and his wife, Rebecca (Clark) Ellis; (V) their son, Major Nathaniel Morton, and his wife, Martha Tupper; (VI) their son, Job Morton, and his wife, Patience Purrington; (VII) their son, James Madison Morton, and his wife, Sarah M. A. Tobey; (VIII) their son, James Madison (2) Morton, and his wife, Emily F. Canedy; (IX) their only son, James Madison (3) Morton, and his wife, Nancy J. B. Brayton; (X) their children: James Madison (4), died 1908; Brayton; Sarah; Hugh.

Major Nathaniel Morton, of the fifth generation, was a lieutenant of a company of "Minute Men" of East Freetown, later was commissioned captain and then was made major. Job Morton, of the sixth generation, was a graduate of Brown University, class of 1797. For twenty-four years he was a selectman of Freetown and for eleven years a deputy to the General Court. James Madison Morton, of the seventh generation, was postmaster of Fall River under President Pierce, and in early life was treasurer of the White Cotton Mill, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He married, May 30, 1830, Sarah Maria Ann Tobey, who was born March 23, 1807, and died ninety-four years later. James Madison Morton was their oldest child.

James Madison Morton was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, September 5, 1837, and died at his home in Fall River, Massachusetts, April 19, 1923. His father was at one time treasurer of the White Cotton Mills of Fairhaven, but later moved to Fall River, and here the son was educated in public and private schools. In 1856 he entered Brown University for a special course, receiving his Bachelor's degree at graduation in the class of 1859. He prepared for the profession of Law at Harvard Law School, whence he was graduated LL. B., class of 1861. He at once began practice at Fall River in the office of Judge Louis Lapham. He was city solicitor in 1864-1867, and in 1864 formed a partnership with John §. Brayton under the firm name of Brayton & Morton, which continued until Mr. Brayton was elected clerk of courts. Mr. Morton practiced alone from 1873 to 1876, when he formed a partnership with Andrew J. Jennings, which continued until Mr. Morton's appointment to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1890. During the period of 1863-1890 he was connected with much of the important litigation in the courts of his section, and by common consent came to be regarded as the leader of the Bristol county bar. In 1890 he was appointed by Governor Brackett an associate judge of the Supreme Judicial Court, and for twenty-three vears he sat upon the bench of that court, rendering distinguished service. His retirement was regarded as a distinct loss to the judiciary of the State, the press commenting upon it in terms most flattering to Judge Morton. The Boston "Transcript" said:

It will seem somewhat strange not to have a Morton upon the Supreme bench of Massachusetts. The people of his generation in the State have not known it without one. From 1869 to 1891 Judge Marcus Morton was a member of that 'court, during later years its chief justice. At about the time of his retirement Judge James M. Morton, who has just re signed, was appointed, and for twenty-three years has proved himself a worthy representative of a family that has been unusually prominent because of the number of judges of the higher courts that have come from it.

Time has laid a hand gently upon Judge Morton, who retires soon, at his own request, from the Supreme Court, where he has served the people of Massachusetts with distinguished ability for nearly a quarter of a century. He is seventy-six. Bench and bar and public will unite in wishing the eminent jurist an old age bright and serene - he has earned it.

During his term on the Supreme bench Judge Morton continued his residence at Fall River, and after his long and faithful service on the bench he enjoyed. a life of contentment and ease for several years. He then was persuaded to accept an election in 1917 as a delegate to the convention which served the constitution of the State of Massachusetts. He took a very active part in the proceedings of that body, being chairman of the judiciary committee, and serving with ability and zeal. He was deeply interested in the deliberations of the convention, whose work, a redraft of the Constitution, was approved by the voters upon submittal to them.

Though always a lawyer, allowing nothing to come between him and the full duty he owed his clients and the public, Judge Morton while practicing law at Fall River was identified with its development and acquired important business interests. He was president of the Union Mills Company, a director of the B. M. C. Durfee Trust Company, the First National Bank, and of several cotton mill operations, but withdrew from all these offices when appointed to the Supreme bench. After retiring from his judicial position he again served as a director of the B. M. C. Durfee Trust Company, the First National Bank and the Union Mills, holding these positions until his death, in April, 1923.

Judge Morton was a lifelong member of the Unitarian church and greatly devoted to its welfare, attending its services very regularly. He was a member of the Unitarian Society, which he served at times as moderator and chairman of its standing committee. In politics he was a Republican. His clubs were the Union of Boston, the Quequechan of Fall River, and he was a member of the Bunker Hill Association, and the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences.

On November 6, 1866, Judge Morton married Emily Frances Canedy, daughter of John Luther and Elizabeth (Read) Canedy, and a direct descendant of Alexander Canedy, a Scotchman, who came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, about the year 1700.

(1) Alexander Canedy; (II) his son, William Canedy, and his wife, Elizabeth Fuller; (III) their son, Lieutenant William (2) Canedy, and his wife,

Charity Leonard; (IV) their son, William (3) Canedy, and his wife, Mary Brown; (V) their son, John Luther Canedy, and his wife, Elizabeth Read; (VI) their daughter, Emily Frances, and her husband, Judge James M. (2) Morton; (VII) their son, James M. (3) Morton, and his wife, Nancy J. B. Brayton.

To Judge and Mrs. Morton three children were born: 1. James Madison (3), a sketch of whom follows. 2. Margaret, married Willard F. Keeney, a lawyer of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she died in 1920. 3. Anne, resides with her mother at the family home at No. 487 Rock street, Fall River. Judge Morton received from Brown University, in 1882, the degree of A. M., and in 1894 that of LL. D. In 1917 the Boston "Herald" thus spoke of him:

James Madison Morton, for years one of the most distinguished members of the Massachusetts bench, retired from his position as associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1913. Although he is past eighty years of age, he is very much in the forefront of Massachusetts affairs, for he is a delegate to the constitutional convention and is taking an active part in its proceedings.

He likes pictures, and he likes books. History and biography are his favorite subjects. His public experience has been confined largely to the bench until his election to the constitutional convention, where he is now gaining experience in the making of governments, after his long career in the administration of justice.

"My hobby ever since I completed my law course has been the study and_ practice of law,'' were his own words on his personal life. ''My favorite pastime is salmon fishing, and my greatest happiness is when I am with my wife and children."

Such was the life of Judge James M. Morton, who died honored by the bench and the bar, esteemed in his city, and loved by his friends and by all who knew him.

JAMES MADISON MORTON (3) - When James Madison Morton, Sr., resigned the seat upon the Supreme Bench of the State of Massachusetts, in December, 1913, that he had occupied for nearly twenty-five years, there was still a Judge James Madison Morton in active service, for that eminent jurist and his son had been contemporaries upon the bench although in different courts. James M. Morton (3) was appointed United States District Judge for Massachusetts by President Taft on August 9, 1912, an office which he still holds. He is the eighth District Judge of the United States in Massachusetts since the establishment of the court in 1789, on the adoption of the Constitution. Learned and sensible in the law, with the qualities of character that command respect and confidence, and with unusual ability in legal administration, Judge Morton, who assumed judicial office in his eighteenth year of practice, has peculiar qualifications for the high office he fills.

James Madison Morton (3), son of Judge James Madison and Emily Frances (Canedy) Morton, and of the ninth generation of the family in New England, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 24, 1869. He prepared in the city schools, Phillips Exeter Academy, and then entered Harvard University, from which he was graduated A. B., (1891), A. M. and LL. B., receiving the last named degrees, class of 1894, and being the law orator at that commencement. He began professional practice at Fall River, immediately after graduation from Harvard Law School, and became a law partner of Andrew J. Jennings, who had been his father's partner from 1876 until the latter's appointment to the Suprme Bench in 1890. From 1896 until 1912, Mr. Morton practiced his profession at Fall River and won high standing as a lawyer of learning and skill. From 1903 to 1912, he was a member of the Board of Police Commissioners of Fall River and was largely instrumental in bringing the police force up to a very high standard of efficiency. The Great War threw upon the federal court many new, delicate, and difficult questions of law and of administration which Judge Morton handled with marked success. He still retains Fall River as his home.

In politics Judge Morton is a Republican, and in religious faith a Unitarian. He is President of the Sagamore Manufacturing Company; chairman of the directors of the Wentworth Institute of Boston; director of the Boys' Club of Fall River; and a member of the following clubs: Union, Tavern, Har- .vard of Boston, Fall River Country, and Quequechan of Fall River. He is known as a yachtsman and fisherman.

Judge Morton married, June 10, 1896, Nancy J. B. Brayton, daughter of Israel Perry and Parthenia (Gardner) Brayton, of Fall River. Four children were born to them: 1. James M. (4), born June 10, 1897, died May 14, 1908. 2. Brayton, born October 24, 1898; a graduate of Harvard, A. B., 1920, who afterwards studied at Cambridge University, England, and at Harvard Law School; during the war with Germany, + 1917-18, he served in the Royal Air Force as a flight officer. 3. Sarah, born September 29, 1902; now a student at Smith's College. 4. Hugh, born September 10, 1906; now a student at Williams' College.

ZEPHANIAH W. PEASE, a contributor to this work, was born in New Bedford, August 21, 1861, the son of Peleg and Joanna Morton (Thomas) 'Pease. He is of "Mayflower" and Revolutionary ancestry, being of the eighth generation from John Howland, and a descendant of Noah Thomas, a Revolutionary soldier, who was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill.

Peleg Pease, father of Zephaniah W. Pease, was born in New Bedford in 1822, the son of Zephaniah and Mary (Spooner) Pease. He died: in 1879, Mary (Spooner) Pease was the daughter of the captain of a merchant ship, and was born in Plympton, Massachusetts, in 1828. She is still living.

Peleg Pease was an assistant editor of the "Mercury" in 1876, and a writer of verse and many humorous articles that appeared in the local newspapers. He was for many years a member of the School Board.

Mr. Pease graduated from the high school in 1877, and after a brief experience on a Fall River newspaper became a reporter on the morning "Mercury," of New Bedford, in the fall of 1880. In

1895 Mr. Pease became editor of the "Mercury," a position he has since occupied. The same year Mr. Pease was appointed by President Cleveland collector of customs for the Port of New Bedford, an office he held until 1900. Mr. Pease has also served on the New Bedford Water Board, and is a member of the selective service board of Division No. 3. Mr. Pease is the author of "The Catalpa Expedition," published in 1897, a "History of New Bedford," and "Life in New Bedford A Hundred Years Ago," and has contributed many special articles to various publications.

Mr. Pease married (first), October 24, 1888, Anna F. Bryden, of Fairhaven, who died in 1921, and has one son, Bryden Pease, who is with George H. Mc- Fadden & Brother, cotton merchants of Philadelphia. In October, 1922, Mr. Pease married (second) Eliza C. White, of Fairhaven.

early education was obtained in the public and high schools of Gloucester, following which he matriculated at Trinity College, and subsequently, at Boston University. He was then employed for some years as private secretary to the famous sculptor, William Ordway Partridge. After his resignation from this position Mr. Hutt followed his innate flair for literature and was engaged for many years as a journalist for a number of publications throughout Eastern Massachusetts. While residing in Lynn, Massachusetts, and covering a period of five years, he had charge each week of a page of illustrated historical articles for the Lynn "Daily Item," concerning the history of Lynn and its environs. So thorough was Mr. Hutt in this connection and so great his scope of research, that he was honored by election to the Lynn Historical Society. Later, while a resident of Taunton, and for the same unusual and constant application to historical research and study, he was elected as secretary to the Old Colony Historical Society. He is also a member of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. _

The name of Frank Walcott Hutt is not unknown among the American literati He is the author of many plays, musical comedies and short stories that have been published in various magazines, and specimens of his excellent verse are included in a number of anthologies pertaining to the lyric side of prosody. Perhaps his greatest and most monumental work in the literary field is the compilation of the historical data that goes to make up this "History of Bristol County" - the most comprehensive, withal compendious, historical account of this section extant. As editor-in-chief, author of the greater part of the contents, and _ supervisor of the work of a corps of assistant writers, Mr. Hutt has achieved and given a bequeathment to future generations of an history that has no peer in this very specialized and exacting field of literary endeavor.

RICHARD JACKSON BARKER - The following is the record of the lines of Barker and Lawton, united in the marriage of Richard Jackson Barker and Eliza Harris Lawton.

(1) The American founder of the Barker branch herein recorded was Robert Barker, who was born in 1616, and came to this country at an early date with John Thorp. In 1641 he was one of those who bought from Jonathan Brewster, son of Elder Brewster, a ferry and one hundred acres of land at Marshfield. Later, he settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he served as surveyor for several years. He died about 1691. He married Lucy Williams, who died March 7, 1681 or 1682. Children: 1. Robert, born February 27, 1630, died September 257/29. cee rancis,edied sinmly 20 mesa lsaaceemen - tioned below. 4. Abigail, died in May, 1718. 5. Rebecca, died in 1697.

(II) Isaac Barker, son of Robert Barker, was a surveyor of Duxbury in 1674, and a constable in 1687. He married, December 8, 1665, Judith Prince, daughter of Governor Thomas and Mary (Collier) Prince. In 1710 his widow married William Tubbs, of Pembroke. Children: 1. Samuel, born September 2, 1667, died February 1, 1738-39. 2. Isaac, mentioned below. 3. Robert, born in 1673, died September 6, 1765. 4. Jabez. 5. Francis. 6. Rebecca, 9/. Mary. 8) Lydia.) 9s Judith. 10) Martha: 11. Bathsheba.

(III) Isaac (2) Barker, son of Isaac and Judith (Prince) Barker, seems to have been a man of great business ability, as he was interested in numerous enterprises, owning a grist mill on the Herring brook, engaging in merchandising, in farming, in laying out roads and erecting water works. He was a great student for his day and was a member of the Society of Friends. He died May 7, 1754. He married, October 23, 1707, Elizabeth Slocum, of Dartmouth, daughter of Peleg and Mary (Holden) Slocum; she was born February 12, 1687, and died August 18, 1774. Children: 1. Mary, born August 1, 1708, died in 1788. 2. Sylvester, born in May, 1710. 3. Peleg, born in August, 1712. 4. Prince, mentioned below. 5. Elizabeth, born December 9, 1719. 6. Lydia, died August 13, 1754.

(IV) Prince Barker, son of Isaac (2) and Elizabeth (Slocum) Barker, was born February 9, 1716, and died January 27, 1784. Prince Barker was a very hospitable man and was noted for his honesty. He married, November 6, 1746, Abigail Keen, of born October 26, 1747. 2. Isaac, born May 1, 1749. 3. Abigail, born January 29, 1751. 4. Deborah, born January 29, 1753. 5. Benjamin, mentioned below. (V) Benjamin Barker, son of Prince and Abigail (Keen) Barker, was born November 30, 1756, and was a prominent and wealthy man. In 1773 he took half the Barker fulling mill, near the homestead, and later bought the homestead and farm in Scituate. Also he owned considerable property in Tiverton, and was very well-to-do when he died, June 19, 1837. He married (first) January 31, 1785, Ann Barker, daughter of Abraham and Susannah (Anthony) Barker, of Tiverton; she was born August 29, 1750, and died August 16, 1789. He married (second) June 23, 1791, Rebecca Partridge, of Boston, daughter of Captain Samuel Partridge; she was born in 1752, and died August 11, 1835. Children by first wife: 1. Abraham, mentioned below. 2. Susan Ann, born April 27, 1788, died March 5, 1861. By the second wife: 3. Samuel Partridge, born August 2, 1792, died in the far West.

(VI) Abraham Barker, son of Benjamin and Ann (Barker) Barker, was born November 16, 1786, and died February 24, 1855. He married, January 7, 1819, Margaret Buffum, daughter of David and Hepsibah (Mitchell) Buffum; she was born at Newport, Rhode Island, August 27, 1785, and died November 4, 1839. Children: 1. Benjamin, of whom further. 2. Eleanor, born December 4, 1824, died November 29, 1869. 3. Elizabeth Huntington, born August 11, 1826, died May 8, 1900. 4. Margaret Buffum, born April 9, 1829. 5. Anne, born July 20, 1832, died December 15, 1857.

(VII) Benjamin Barker, son of Abraham and Margaret (Buffum) Barker, was born September 24, 1822, and died April 14, 1897. He lived in Tiverton and was extensively engaged in the lumber business. He was highly honored and respected by those who knew him. He married, December 1, 1847, Catherine Jackson Dennis, daughter of James and Hannah (Jackson) Dennis, of Cranston, Rhode Island. She was born December 7, 1829. Children: 1. Richard Jackson, mentioned below. 2. Benjamin, born July 19, 1858. 3. Catherine Wheaton, born January 25, 1863, married Effingham C. Haight, of Fall River, Massachusetts.

(VIII) Richard Jackson Barker, son of Benjamin and Catherine Jackson (Dennis) Barker, was born at Tiverton, Rhode Island, January 27, 1849, and died November 26, 1921. He was named for his maternal great-grandfather, Hon. Richard Jackson, who was a member of Congress from Rhode Island and very prominent in the State. Hon. Richard Jackson was the founder of the Washington Insurance Company, served on the Board of Fellows of Brown University, and filled numerous important offices in the State. He was the father of Governor Charles Jackson, of Rhode Island. Mr. Barker was a descendant of four Colonial governors, including Governor Prince, of Massachusetts, and he traced his ancestry likewise to Roger Williams. He was educated at the Friends' School in Providence, the Eaglewood Military Academy at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and the Rensselear Institute, Troy, New York. While a student at the military academy, he enlisted in the Union Army in the Civil War, although then but a boy, and toward the end of the conflict, when only eighteen years of age, he was appointed judge advocate of the First Brigade, Rhode Island Militia, by General Burnside, and served on his staff. In later life, his most cherished possessions were two swords worn while attached to General Burnside's staff when he held the rank of major. Upon the completion of his education, he entered business with his father, and upon the death of the elder man, continued the Fall River Lumber business alone, in his later years having as his associate and partner his son, Richard Jackson Barker, Jr. Mr. Barker was the founder and the first president of the Warren Trust Company; was prominent in local financial circles; and his reputation in business as in private life was one based upon the strictest integrity. His political faith was Democratic, although. his tendencies were independent, and _ his attitude towards public questions was always marked by a keen desire for public welfare above party success. He served as a member of the Tiverton Town Council, and was its president at one time; and twice was the candidate of his party for the State Senate from Warren. Mr. Barker was a lover of art and all things beautiful. In the communities whose life he touched he is respectfully and affectionately remembered as a man of high principle -and kindly spirit.

Richard Jackson Barker married, October 9, 1873, Eliza Harris Lawton (see Lawton VIII). Mr. and Mrs. Barker were the parents of a son, Richard Jackson, Jr., mentioned below.

(IX) Richard Jackson Barker, Jr., son of Richard Jackson and Eliza Harris (Lawton) Barker, was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was graduated with honors from the English and Classical Private School in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1894, and entered Brown University, class of 1898, attending two years. After leaving college he was associated with his father in the lumber business in Fall River, Massachusetts, and is now conducting the enterprise, succeeding his father, the Hon. Richard Jackson Barker, with great success. He is the third in a direct line to engage in the lumber business in _ Fall River, known as the Barker Lumber Company, and now carries on the business very successfully. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Quequechan Club, the Sons of Brown, and the University Club.

Richard Jackson Barker, Jr., married, October 6, 1917, Jessie Satterlee Durfee, a granddaughter of Hon. Nathaniel B. Durfee, member of Congress from Rhode Island. Jessie Satterlee (Durfee) Barker, wife of Richard Jackson Barker, Jr., is also a lineal descendant of Governor William Green, Colonial Governor of Rhode Island. The ceremony was performed in Grace Church, Providence. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Lawton, born February 7, 1919.

(1) George Lawton, the early ancestor, was among the first settlers at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, being admitted an inhabitant of the Island of Aquidneck in 1638. He was a descendant of Admiral George Lawton, of the Royal Navy. In 1639 he was one of the twenty-nine persons who signed the compact for a body politic. In 1748 he received a grant of forty acres near that of his brother Thomas, and the same year he was admitted freeman, and was deputy from Portsmouth in 1665- 72-75-76-79-80. He was assistant in 1680-81-82-83- 84-85-88-89-90. He also held many other important positions, showing his capability and prominence in the colony. He married Elizabeth MHazard, daughter of Thomas and Martha Hazard, and he died October 5, 1693, being buried in his orchard.

(II) George Lawton, son of George and Elizabeth (Hazard) Lawton, married, January 17, 1677, Naomi Hunt, daughter of Bartholomew and Ann Hunt, and lived in Portsmouth. He died September 11, 1697, and his widow married (second) October 11, 1701, -Isaace Lawton. Children: ) 1 Elizabeth; born November 15, 1678. 2. George, mentioned below. 3. Robert, born October 14, 1688. 4. Job, born January 22, 1692.

(III) Captain George Lawton, son of George and Naomi (Hunt) Lawton, was born April 30, 1685, and married, February 26, 1707, Mary Gould, of Newport, the ceremony being performed by Governor Samuel Cranston. He died April 11, 1740. Children, born in Portsmouth: 1. Robert, mentioned below. 2. George, born April 20, 1710. 3. Job, born December 28, 1712, died December 11, 1713. 4.. Job, born April 26, 1717.

(IV) Hon. Robert Lawton, son of Captain George and Mary (Gould) Lawton, was born February 4, 1708, and married, November 11, 1742, Mary Hall, daughter of William Hall. Children, born at Portsmouth: 1. George, mentioned below. 2. Mary, born March 31, 1747. 3. Elizabeth, born July 4, 1750. 4. Phebe, born March 30, 1752. 5. Robert,

(V) Hon. George Lawton, son of Hon. Robert and Mary (Hall) Lawton, was born April 12, 1744. He served in the Revolution in 1777, as a private in the Rhode Island regiment commanded by Colonel John Cook, and while the command was on duty at Fogland Ferry, Rhode Island, Mr. Lawton was wounded in the leg and left arm by a cannon shot from a British ship lying in the Seaconnet river. He married, April 10, 1766, Ruth Brownell. He may have married (second) Anne Borden. Children, born in Portsmouth: 1. Robert, born January 22, 1767. 2. Thomas Brownell, born September 16, 1768. 3. George, mentioned below. 4. Mary H., born April 5, 1772. 5. William, born September 16, 1774. 6. Joseph, born April 2, 1776. 7. Ruth, born October 17, 1786, probably by his second wife.

(VI) Captain George Lawton, son of Hon. George and Ruth (Brownell) Lawton, was born June 7, 1770, and married, January 31, 1808, Patience Turner Lawton, daughter of Hon. Robert and Patience (Turner) Lawton. Patience (Turner) Lawton was the daughter of Dr. John Turner, a Revolutionary surgeon of eminence. Children, born at Portsmouth: 1. Robert N., born October 7, 1808. 2.

(VII) Moses Turner Lawton, son of Captain George and Patience Turner (Lawton) Lawton, was born at Portsmouth, December 25, 1817. His father moved to Tiverton soon after his birth, and here he grew up. His father was a large landowner of Tiverton. Mr. Lawton was a Republican in politics. "Although a man of quiet tastes, his pleasing disposition had made many friends for him during his life of over three score years and ten." He married Elizabeth Tillinghast Harris, descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast and Roger Williams, who was one of the early graduates of Warren Seminary, Warren, Rhode Island. He died August 26, 1893, and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River. His wife was active in church and educational work, being one of the first women in the United States to be elected on a school board, an office which her daughter, Mrs. Barker, held for twenty-one consecutive years as the chairman of the school board of Tiverton. Children: Hon. George Robert, born December 31, 1858; Eliza Harris, mentioned below.

Richard Jackson Barker (see Barker VIII). She completed her school life at Vassar College. She has always been keenly interested in educational affairs, and in 1885 was elected to the school committee of Tiverton, serving as clerk until she made her home in the South. Upon her return to Tiverton, she was again elected to the school committee in 1896, and served as chairman for twenty-one consecutive years. She resigned from office at the end of this time and was most agreeably surprised by a reception tendered her by the townspeople in the parish house of the Central Baptist Church, when she received many testimonials of esteem and numerous gifts, loving cups, paintings, gavels and leather chairs in memory of the occasion. From the founding of the Women's College in Brown University, she has been one of the corporation. Mrs. Barker has been active in patriotic work, and has long been prominent in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was regent of the Gaspee Chapter, of Providence, with a membership of more than three hundred, having been the first woman not a resident of Providence to hold that office. Previously she served the chapter as_historian for fourteen years, and during that time the office of State historian was created, which she filled for a six-year term under Three State Regents. She was elected by an uhusually large vote in the National Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution to the high office of vice-president general in April, 1906, and during her term of office served upon the most important committees, being chairman of the Magazine Committee, chairman of the Furnishing Committee, member of the Auditing Committee, secretary of the Patriotic Educational Committee, and chairman of the program committee, and secretary of the Philippine Scholarship

Committee. When she resigned the regency of Gaspee Chapter to accept the office in the national organization, she was presented with a_ silvermounted gavel in Colonial style, made of wood from the old Gaspee room. Mrs. Barker is an honorary member of several Massachusetts chapters, and is also honorary regent of Gaspee Chapter and honorary State regent of Rhode Island. During her State work she was chairman for thirteen years of the Gaspee Prize Committee at the Women's College of Brown University, and she was chairman for New England for the Daughters of the American Revolution exhibit at the Jamestown Exposition. She has also been historian of the Rhode Island Society of Colonial Dames. Mrs. Barker is State regent for Rhode Island of the Pocahontas Memorial Association, and was a speaker at the turning of the first sod for the monument, when she was presented with the gavei used on that occasion. She is chairman in Rhode Island for the Sulgrave Institute, and a member of the Women's Committee, of which Mrs. Alton Brooks Parker is chairman. She is likewise a member of the Colonial Wars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a former organizing State regent of the Daughters of the American Colonists.

For many years Mrs., Barker has been __vicepresident of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, and has served upon its important committees. During the Spanish-American War she was one of the chairmen of the Rhode Island Sanitary Relief Association, was vice-president of the Tiverton branch of the Rhode Island Anti-Tuberculosis Society, was a commissioner at the Atlanta Exposition, is a director of the Woman's Union, and on the board of the Woman's Exchange in Fall River, as well as serving as secretary of the Emergency Hospital of the city until it was merged with the present Union Hospital. Since that time she has served upon the board and as secretary and vicepresident of the Union Hospital. Mrs. Barker is a former visitor to the Rhode Island State College, having served for several years. She is a member of the Republican State Central Committee for Newport county, embracing Newport, Jamestown, Middletown, Little Compton, Portsmouth and Tiverton; and of the Republican Women's Executive Committee, appointed by the Men's Republican State Central Committee. She is also on the executive board of the Newport County Republican Club; a former member of the board of governors of the. Rhode Island Women's Republican Club; and a member of the Women's Club of Fall River. Mrs. Barker is a charter member of the Republican Club of New York, and on November 27, 1923, was appointed a member of the executive board of the Republican Finance Committee of Rhode Island, having already been a member of the Finance Committee and the only woman from Newport county so honored. In the course of her civic and patriotic activity, Mrs. Barker had contributed articles to several magazines and she is also the author of a _ historical volume, "The Daughters of Liberty." Mrs. Barker's mother, Elizabeth 'Tillinghast (Harris) Lawton, the first woman school board member in the United States, was a woman of prominence and usefulness in educational affairs in Rhode Island. Her mantle fell upon her daughter, and the choice of Mrs. Barker as the speaker of the day upon the fortieth anniversary of the Rhode Island Normal School was a tribute to the service of both. Mrs. Barker possesses great executive ability, is a graceful presiding officer and a ready public speaker." She is a woman of splendid presence, and has lent her support and influence to many worthy patriotic and Civic causes.

The former home of Mrs. Barker is well named "The Outlook," and has an unrivalled location in Tiverton, overlooking Narragansett Bay and the surrounding country about Mount Hope Bay. The grounds were artistically laid out by Mrs. Barker, and the mansion was tastefully and beautifully appointed. They had a fine library and have collected treasures from all parts of the world. Mrs. Barker's collection of more than 11,000 book plates, said to be one of the best in this country, and the first made by a woman, was exhibited at the Atlanta Exposition and was awarded a medal.

NATHAN DURFEE - The importance of the position Nathan Durfee holds, plant executive and assistant treasurer of the American Printing Company, can be better appreciated by knowing that the corporation whose destinies he guides operates 500,000 spindles in its mills, manufacturing cotton cloth, and converting it into prints and percales in its print works, which is the second largest plant in the United States in the number of printing machines in use and the largest in production, 5,600 hands being employed. Mr. Durfee is a native son of Fall River, and of a family long connected with the manufacturing, financial and civic interests of that city; in fact, Durfees were large landowners at Fall River long before the building of the town. In addition to the large holdings inherent in the family, Thomas Durfee, of the third generation, married Patience Borden, daughter of Joseph Borden, of Freetown, and united the fortunes of two of the leading families of the district. The early Durfees were landowners and agriculturists, but in the fourth generation Charles Durfee became prominent in public life, and his son, Dr. Nathan Durfee, a physician, finally retired from his professional work and became identified with the moral and religious life of Fall River. His son, Holder Borden Durfee, gave himself to cotton manufacturing, as has the latter's son, Nathan Durfee, to whom reference was made in the opening paragraph. He is of the seventh American generation of his family and has won high standing in the business world, worthily representing this ancent Fall River family.

(1) The family history begins in England, where Thomas Durfee, born in England in 1643, settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1660, He later acquired title to lands at what is now the city of Fall River, his tract covering the area from Rodman to Osborn streets on the south, and from the shore to Eight Rod Way. He bought that tract of

(11) Benjamin Durfee, son of Thomas Durfee, in addition to the lands given him by his father, purchased more, becoming one of the largest landowners of the city. He married Prudence Earle in 1699, and to his son Captain William Durfee, he gave the land given him by his father. Among the children of Benjamin and Prudence (Earle) Durfee was a son, Thomas, of further mention.

(III) Thomas Durfee was born in_ Tiverton, Rhode Island, November 5, 1721, and became one of the magnates of his day, living in a manner commensurate with his wealth. The farm on which he lived and died he inherited from his father, it including all that part of the Fall River of the present day lying north of the line of Elm street and south of Turner street, extending from the shore to Watuppa Lake. He owned other large tracts, and on the death of his father-in-law, Joseph Borden, of Freetown, he came into possession of valuable water power. He enclosed a large park, in which he maintained a herd of deer, and at his home he entertained with generous and warm-hearted hospitality. Among his guests was General Lafayette, who upon his return to France acknowledged his entertainment by the Durfees by the gift of a pair of blooded French hounds. A high-minded, upright and intelligent man, he was calied to high place in the public service, and during the Revolution he used a large portion of his estate to further the cause of independence. He represented Freetown (now. Fall River) for many years in the Great Court and in the General Court; sat in the State Senate thirteen sessions by election; was a member of the governor's council six years, and judge of the Court of Sessions for Bristol county several years. He died at his home July 9, 1796. Thomas Durfee married, August 9, 1747, Patience Borden, of Freetown, daughter of Joseph Borden, and they were the parents of a large family, including a son, Charles, of further mention.

(IV) Charles Durfee was born in _ Tiverton, Rhode Island, November 20, 1761, became one of the leading citizens of Fall River, and there died February 8, 1812. A man of. means, he gave his time to the care of his private estate and to the public service. He served as local magistrate (justice of the peace) for many years, was selectman of the town, and in 1803 called to meet in his office the citizens who wished to discuss the advisability cf incorporating the town of Fall River. He married, in Freetown, Massachusetts, November 23, 1792, Welthe Hathaway of Freetown, born there in 1771, died at Fall River in February, 1851, daughter of Gilbert and Mary (Weaver) Hathaway. She survived her husband, and married (second) at Fall River, June 7, 1820, Silas Payne. Descent is traced in this branch through Dr. Nathan, eldest son of the ten children of Charles and Welthe (Hathaway) Durfee.

(V) Dr. Nathan Durfee was born in then Freetown, now Fall River, Massachusetts, June 18, 1799, and died there April 6, 1876. After public school courses he entered Brown University, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1824. Later choosing a profession, he prepared at Harvard Medical School and in 1831 was awarded the degree of M. D. by that institution. He practiced his profession for a time at Fall River, also, and for several years, conducted a drug store located in the first brick structure erected in the township. Later, after building his own brick residence at the northeast corner of Bank and North Main streets, he established his drug store in that building. Dr. Durfee did not enjoy his professional work and finally retired from beth his profession and the drug business, and while he was most of his active life interested in Fall River Mills and manufacturing he had, like his ancestors, a great love for the land and gave himself to the care of his estate, owning :t is said about 1,000 acres at one time. Among the manufacturing and transportation corporations which he served as a director were the Iron Works; American Print Works; the Old Fall River railroad and the Cape Cod railroad. He was one of the owners of the Bay State Steamboat Line; was principal owner of the Massasoit Steam Print Works, which burned in 1875; was interested in several banks, and after the fire of 1843 he built the Mt. Hope block, to be used as a hotel.

Dr. Durfee was a member of the Congregational church, a founder of its Sunday school, and a leader in moral thought, his activities covering a wide range. He was also a leader in civic affairs, held several city offices, and represented his district in the State House of Representatives. His large estate was divided by a will probated June 18, 1876, among his children, generous bequests being also made to the Foreign and Home Missionary societies. He was a man of broad sympathies, publicspirited and progressive, few men leaving a more beneficial impress upon the life of Fall River than DOr. Nathan Durfee.

Dr. Durfee married at Fall River, April 24, 1827, Welena Borden, born May 5, 1801, and died January 30, 1863, daughter of Captain George Borden, of the prominent Borden family. Dr. and Mrs. Durfee were parents of five children, all born at Fall River: Mary Maria, born July 8, 1829; Minerva, born January 24, 1836, died May 11, 1837; Harriet M., born July 20, 1838; Holder Borden, of whom further; and Annie G., born May 6, 1842.

(VI) Holder Borden Durfee, only son of Dr. Nathan and Delena (Borden) Durfee, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, September 20, 1840, died in the city of his birth March 4, 1919. He was a man of education and sterling business quality, growing into prominence as a cotton manufacturer and having intimate connections with several large corporations. He was one of the founders and a director of the Montauk Mills (later known as the Osborn Mill No. 2); held the same relation to the Annawan Manufactory and to the Narragansett Mills, he also serving the last-named as president. He took a deep interest in municipal affairs, and in 1875 served as chief engineer of the Volunteer

Fire Department. He was an official member of Central Congregational Church, and a member of the building committee in charge of the erection of the church edifice dedicated December 13, 1875. He met all the responsibilities of citizenship fairly, shirking no duty and meeting to the full every obligation imposed upon him.

Holder B. Durfee married, at Fall River, October 25, 1865, Sylvia B. Durfee, born September 6, 1844, died October 8, 1882, daughter of Joseph and Minerva (Chace) Durfee. Mr. and Mrs. Durfee were the parents of a son, Nathan, of whom further; and a daughter, Anne D., born May 5, 1871.

(VII) Nathan Durfee, only son of Holder Borden and Sylvia B. (Durfee) Durfee, was born at Fall River, the home of his ancestors for two and cne-half centuries, and the birthplace of his grandfather, Dr. Nathan Durfee, whose name he bears. He was born September 11, 1867, and there yet resides, the years having brought him the responsibilities of the manufacturer and financier as well as their rewards. After completing public school study with graduation from B. M. C. Durfee High School, Fall River, in 1885, Nathan Durfee entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whence he was graduated B. S., class of 1889. He then spent one year as civil engineer with the Masaschusetts Sewerage Commission, then was with the Thompson- Houston Electric Company of Boston, and after the merging of that company with the General Electric Company he was for a year located in Schenectady, New York, with the latter company. He then returned to Fall River, where in 1895 he became a member of the cotton brokerage firm, Bassett & Durfee, an association that continued until 1912, when he became assistant treasurer and plant executive of the American Printing Company. He is also a director of the American Printing Company; Fall River Iron Works Company; the Metacomet National Bank; Fall River Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company; Fall River Electric Light Company; Fall River Gas Works Company; and is a trustee of the Fall River Five Cent Savings Bank. He is vice-president of the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers, and by virtue of his office a member of the executive committee. He-ably fills his place in the business life of his city, where so long the name of Durfee has been so well and so favorably known, and in his keeping the best traditions of the family are secure.