Westport Town (part 5 of 8)
Part 5 of 8 of the account of this town in A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Vol. 2), published 1924. 15,787 words, covering 23 settlements. Source changes inside the text are labelled at the exact paragraph where the next book begins.
Contents
3 sectionsThe section headings the book prints inside this chapter, on this part. Each one jumps to where it begins.
Parts
8 pagesThe source prints this as one continuous account. It is split here so no single page grows too heavy to load; the text runs straight on across the parts and nothing is omitted.
The chapter
15,787 wordsReproduced complete and unedited from A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Vol. 2), published 1924. The text is machine-read from scans, so expect recognition errors: misspelled names, dropped words, and stray characters. Nothing has been corrected, because correcting a proper name invents one. The headings below are the books' own; source changes are labelled in place.
David Anthony Brayton was married, in Fall River, May 1, 1851, to Nancy R. Jenckes, daughter of John and Nancy (Bellows) Jenckes. They had five children, namely: 1. Nannie Jenckes Brayton (1853-1905), married (first) Norman Easton Borden, of Fall River; and (second) Henry Wayland. Peabody, of Salem, Massachusetts. 2. David Anthony Brayton, Jr. (1855-1913), unmarried; he became associated with the Arnold Print Works, of North Adams, Massachusetts, and later succeeded his father as treasurer and manager of the Durfee Mills from 1881 until his death in 1913. 3. John Jenckes Brayton (1859-1915), unmarried; for several years he carried on a storage warehouse business and later became the president of the Durfee Mills, serving from 1908 until his death in 1915. 4. Elizabeth Hitchcock Brayton, born in 1865; unmarried. 5. Dana Dwight Brayton, born in 1869; married Florence Elizabeth Davis, of Fall River. He succeeded his brother as president of the Durfee Mills, and is director of several other corporations.
JOHN SUMMERFIELD BRAYTON, son of Israel and Keziah (Anthony) Brayton (q. v.), was born in Swansea, Massachusetts, December 3, 1826, and died in 1904. He attended the district school, fitting himself for teaching duties, and was enabled to continue his studies at Pierce's Academy, in Middleboro, and the University Grammar School, of Providence, Rhode Island. Subsequently, he was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1851, and deciding upon the legal profession, studied law in the office of Thomas Dawe Eliot ,at New Bedford, and in the Dane Law School of Harvard College, being graduated in 1853. On August 8th of the same year he was admitted to the suffolk county bar and began active practice in Fall River. The first year of his professional career was made notable by the fact that he was chosen city solicitor, the first incumbent of that office in the newlyorganized city. Later he served as clerk of courts for Bristol county. In 1864 he reéntered general practice, in association with James M. Morton, who was later one of the justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Mr. Brayton's appointment as financial agent of Mrs. Mary B. Young and B. M. C. Durfee, brought obligations and responsibilities that necessitated his withdrawal from legal practice, and from that time until his death he was a prominent figure in Fall River business circles. As president of the First National Bank and president of B. M. C. Durfee Trust Company, he headed two of the city's most substantial and valuable institutions and to their service he gave himself with a fidelity and devotion that knew no bounds. His helpful influence extended into many spheres of community life and his assistance was at the ready call of his wide circle of friends in both practical and personal relations. Loyalty and dependability were two of his outstanding characteristics and they found notable expression in all of his many and varied interests. Mr. Brayton's public service included representation of Fall River in the Central Court of Massachusetts in 1856, and membership on the governor's council in 1866-67-68 and 1879-80, under Governors Bullock, Talbot and Long. History, general and local, appealed strongly to his studious and scholarly taste and he was also a patron of art and literature. His knowledge of the Narragansett country was equal to that of any expert on the subject, and he was president of the Old Colony Historical Society for several years, a member of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, and from 1898 until his death was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He was a loyal supporter of all forward movements in the cause of education. In 1893 his alma mater, Brown University, honored him with the degree of Doctor of Laws, and from 1898 until his passing he was a Fellow of that institution; he was likewise, from 1882 until 1900, a trustee of Amherst College. He was a man of rare quality, whose nature inclined instinctively to all that is good and true, in whom were admirably blended philanthropic and humanitarian aims and the faculty of practical administration.
John §S. Brayton married, November 27, 1855, Sarah Jane Tinkham, daughter of Enoch and Rebecca (Williams) Tinkham, and they were the parents of three children: Mary Jarrett Bowers, who married Dr. Charles L. Nichols, of Worcester; Harriet Hitchcock; and John Summerfield, whose sketch follows.
"JOHN SUMMERFIELD BRAYTON, son of John Summerfield, a sketch of whom precedes this, and Sarah Jane (Tinkham) Brayton, was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, September 16, 1864, and died there on April 20, 1923. His education was begun in the local public schools, and from the high school he went to Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts, whence he graduated in the class of 1884. Later, in 1888, he graduated from Amherst College, and then studied for a legal carcer at Harvard University Law School, entering upon the practice of law in Fall River, in partnership with the late Hon. Andrew Jackson Jennings and the late Justice James M. Morton. Although he was regarded as one of the promising young lawyers of his day, Mr. Brayton turned from the profession of his early choice after a few years of active practice and entered the banking field in association with his father, John S. Brayton, then president of the First National Bank of Fall River and president of the B. M. C. Durfee Trust Company. Such was the ability of the younger man and so great the public confidence in him that upon the death of his father, in 1904, he succeeded to the presidency of both these institutions. It was one of the noteworthy characteristics of the man that in all his activity in the world of finance he went forward with the quiet dignity and unconscious power which makes the most forceful executives and forms the ablest leadership. His legal training was of incalculable benefit to the institutions with which he was identified, and his keen far-sightedness and cool judgment were constant factors in their great prosperity and permanent stability. Mr. Brayton was extensively interested in the industrial world of Fall River and vicinity, and at the time of his death he was identified with the Border City Manufacturing Company as president and director, also holding the same offices in the Troy Cotton and Woolen Company and the Union Cotton Manufacturing Company. He was a director of the American Linen Company, the Durfee Mills, the Foster Spinning Company, Charlton Mills, the Mechanics Mills and the Sagamore Manufacturing Company. In this center of textile activity he early apreciated the value of vocational education and for many years was one of the most active members of the board of trustees of the Bradford, Durfee Textile School of this city. He was also a trustee of the B. M. C Durfee High School. His long and enthusiastic encouragement and support of the Fall River Boys' Club was a matter of more than routine distribution of benevolence, for he was deeply concerned in the development of the youths who were benefited by its activities and gave his close personal attention to the problems of the organization.
John Summerfield Brayton married, on June 20, 1894, Jessie Curtis Flint, daughter of John D. and Clarissa Curtis (Waterman) Flint, and they are the parents of four children: John S., Jr., Flint, Edith, and Anthony.
The following is quoted from a leading journal as expressive of the universal esteem and appreciation in which John Summerfield Brayton was held and as a contemporary estimate of his place in the community:
Seldom has Fall River received such a shock as falls upon it in the death of John S. Brayton, without the least forewarning. Rarely has a man, active in the business life of Fall River. been called, in a day, from his full share in his responsibilities to the silence of death. According to nature, Mr. Brayton should have had another score of years in the administration of the banking business, which he _ inherited, which he loved, and which he carried forward with success. That business had given him the opportunity, which he had the heart to use, to give not a few men the help in business which they needed, and of which he felt sure they were worthy, looking at their characters as an essential part of the security which they had to offer. Many causes looked to him for assistance, and usually not in vain, if he felt that they were worthy.
State, won marked distinction, and the influence of his long and useful life will bear beneficent fruit for many years to come. Mr. Jennings retired from professional activity and enjoyed the leisure he so richly deserved, but his former associates and colleagues looked up to him as one whose leadership they valued, and he was frequently sought in an advisory capacity among the active members of the profession. Mr. Jennings was one of the best known lawyers in Southeastern Massachusetts, and was a former member of the State Legislature and the Senate. He was at one time district attorney. Possessed of a gift for public speaking, he took part in many patriotic gatherings and was always ready to put his shoulder to the wheel for any movement for the public good. His influence was be hard to fill. One of his last public appearances, if not his last, was as president of the day at the annual Memorial Day exercises on May 30th last.
Andrew J. Jennings came of an old Colonial family, being the seventh in his line of descent from John Jennings, of Sandwich. Subsequent generations lived in Tiverton, where the first ancestcr of the name settled, nearly 200 years ago, and where Mr. Jennings' grandfather, Isaac Jennings, was a well known resident. Andrew J. Jennings was a son of Andrew M. Jennings, who was born in what is now Fall River, Massachusetts, and was a machinist by trade. For thirty-five years he acted as foreman of Hawes, Marvel & Davol Machine Shops, at that time the second largest plant of this kind in the United States. Andrew M. Jennings died in the year of 1882, at the age of seventy-four years. The mother, Olive B. (Chace) Jennings, was born at Freetown, Massachusetts, and died at the age of seventy-six years.
Andrew Jackson Jennings was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 2, 1849, died, October 19, 1923. His education was begun in the local public schools, and he later took a preparatory course at the Mowry & Goff School, at Providence, Rhode Island, after which he entered Brown University, whence he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, class of 1872. At Brown he took an active part in athletics, being captain of his class and the university's baseball teams. His higher education being more or less dependent upon his own efforts, Mr. Jennings thereafter taught school for two years in the Warren, Rhode Island, High School, after which he returned to Fall River and began the study of law in the office of James M. Morton. <A short time later, however, he entered Boston University School of Law, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws, with the class of 1876. He began his professional career as a partner of James M. Morton, this association being carried forward under the names of Morton & Jennings until the elevation of the senior member of this firm to the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which. occurred in 1890. Thereupon Mr. Morton's son, James M. Morton, Jr., became Mr. Jennings' associate, and continued in the same capacity until his appointment to the bench of the United States District Court, at Boston, Massachusetts. Another name was also identified with this partnership, that of John S. Brayton. Prior to the coming of Mr. Jennings into the firm, John S. Brayton, Sr., was the partner of the senior Mr. Morton, and on his appointment as clerk of the Superior Court, he still continued his affiliations, not wishing his name to be removed from the office sign. Upon the graduation of his son, John S. Brayton, Jr., from law school, the young man was taken into the firm, and thereby the names of John S. Brayton, as well as the names of James M. Morton and Andrew Jackson Jennings, remained continuously on the door of this office for a period of fifty-three years. ,
From the early years of his practice Mr. Jennings displayed the ability which not only wins personal success but commands the codperation and loyalty of others. This quality was recognized many years ago by the leaders of the Republican party, and in 1878 he was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature, where he served two successive terms. His work in this capacity was that of a man with not only a broadly alert but a definitely constructive mental endowment, and so gratifying to his constituency was his activity as a legislator, that the people of the district elected him to the State Senate in the year 1882. Serving one term as a Senator, Mr. Jennings was thereafter active in his private practice until November, 1894, when he was elected district attorney of the Southeastern District of Massachusetts, in which responsible office he served for a period of four years. As a citizen, a legislator, as a law officer of the government, he was always a tower of strength to the enemies of the drink curse. When a generation since, the Legislature of Massachusetts sent to the people for decision, the question of incorporating prohibition into the State constitution, and when the question was to be met, the friends of prohibition turned to him as a strong helper in the campaign which they were to wage.
Failing in that campaign, those who waged it still had in him a strong helper in the good cause. He was always relied upon for personal aid in no license campaigns. Whenever the city voted "no," he aided in the demand for the enforcement of the law. When, on that issue, the friends of law enforcement went to the State Legislature and obtained the law for the appointment of a police and license commission, Mr. Jennings was their leader. When the law was finally enacted and signed, it was in his law office that the first board of police and license was fashioned for recommendation to the appointing power. Whenever, since that date, the law or the board has been assailed in the Legislature, he has been a leader in defense of the law and of its administration, even down to last winter. As a lawyer he stood in the front rank. He had two fruitful terms in the office of district attorney. He took this position seriously and used it, to the utmost of his power, as an agency for the en- forcement of the law. No one ever offered to buy immunity from him. He used his professional skill with the desire to promote righteous judgment.
Mr. Jennings achieved prominence at the bar and was everywhere recognized as an able, painstaking, and energetic lawyer and advocate, being retained in 'many important cases. local school board for three years, and served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1878 and 1879, and as State Senator in i882. During his three years in the House and Senate, he was an influential member of the judiciary committee and chairman of the joint committee on the removal of. Judge Day by address in 1882. He was active in securing the passage of the civil damage law in the House, and the introduction of the school house liquor law in the Senate. He was a natural orator, of eloquent and pleasing address, and a public-spirited citizen. At the time of the rapid growth of the textile industry in Fall River 1895- 1897, the tariff question became one of importance to the community and Mr. Jennings was retained to represent local manufacturing interests at tariff hearings in Washington. On these occasions he set forth the situation as it applied to the local textile mills and his knowledge of the situation was such that national tariff committees were guided to a great extent by the masterful presentation of the situation as argued by Mr. Jennings. On the day of General Grant's funeral, he was selected to deliver the memorial oration for this city, and on many other occasions, he was called upon to make important and fitting speeches.
Mr. Jennings had been for several years a trustee of Brown University, clerk of the Second Baptist Church, and was president of the Brown Alumni in 1891 and 1892. With the passing of the years Mr. Jennings became widely interested in various affairs in Fall River, Massachusetts, and was for a long period a trustee of the Union Savings Bank. In the industrial world he was a director of the Merchants Manufacturing Company, one of the largest cotton mills of Fall River, and in many branches of social and welfare work he was a noteworthy figure. For a full quarter of a century he served as president of the Fall River Young Men's Christian Association, and gave the weight of his influence to every forward movement. He was interested in and for several years was a trustee of the Fall River Historical Society. He was affiliated with King Philip Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; his clubs, the University, of Providence; and the Quequechan Club, of Fall River. His religious affiliation was with the Second Baptist Church, of Fall River, and he was chairman of the standing committee of the church society, teacher in the Sunday school, and he was devoted in his interest for the welfare of his church home.
Mr. Jennings married, in 1879, Marion G. Saunders, of Warren, Rhode Island, and to them two children were born: Oliver S., a graduate of Brown University, A. B., class of 1905, also a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the degree, Electrical Engineer, now in the employ of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Marion J., wife of Dwight S. Waring, a well known cotton yarn merchant of Fall River, and for some years chairman of the Fall River Fire Commission.
Such, in brief, is the life story of this eminent lawyer and worthy citizen, Andrew J. Jennings, one of the strong men of his day and generation. The sincere effort and constant loyalty to high ideals, which marked both his public service and his individual endeavors, made his life a worthy example for the youth of today, and it is eminently fitting that now, as an honorable and venerable, though fallen figure in Fall River, the people should render to his name full appreciation for the work which he did.
SIMEON BORDEN CHASE - The business career of Simeon B. Chase has been compiled in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, where he holds high office in textile corporations and financial institutions. To a long life of business activity Mr. Chase has added public service to his State and for many years he has been an earnest student of economic questions, giving especial attention to the tariff and the theory of protection as applied to American industry. He has spoken from many platforms in support of the tenets of the Republican party, and is known as an able, forcible and interesting public speaker, vigorous thinker and writer. He receives many requests for lectures and papers from the various literary societies of Fall River and to his quality as a business man and public speaker he adds social qualities and sterling character, which in all complete an engaging personality.
The surname Chase is derived from the French "chasser," meaning to hunt, and the family has been prominent in England since the first use of surnames. The seat of the family in England was at Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, through which runs a rapidly flowing river called the Chess, whence the name of the town and perhaps also of the family. Thomas and Aquila Chase, brothers, whose English ancestry is traced to remote antiquity, are believed to have been cousins of William Chase, the immigrant ancestor, mentioned below. Some branches of this family in America have used the spelling Chace, but the form in most general use is that at the head of this review.
(1) William Chase, a native of England, born in 1595, came to America in Governor Winthrop's fleet in 1630, accompanied by his wife Mary and son William. He settled first in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he became a member of the First Church, presided over by Rev. John Eliot, the ~ Indian Apostle. In the autumn following his arrival he was propounded for freeman, and was admitted May 14, 1634. About 1637 he joined the company which established a new plantation at Yarmouth, in what is now Barnstable county, Massachusetts. There he served as constable in
1639, and continued to reside in May, 1659. In October passed away. William Chase was a soldier against the Narragansett Indians in 1645. He had two children born after his arrival in America, namely: Mary; May, 1637, in Roxbury; and Benjamin, 1639, in Yarmouth.
(II) William (2) Chase, eldest son of William and Mary Chase, was born about 1622, in England, and accompanied his father to Yarmouth, where he lived, and died February 27, 1685. There is no record of his wife. His children were: William; Jacob; John; Elizabeth; Abraham; Joseph; Benjamin, of whom further; and Samuel.
(III) Benjamin Chase, son of William (2) Chase, lived in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and married Amey Borden, born May 30, 1678, daughter of John and Mary (Earle) Borden. She died before 1716. Children: Patience; Elizabeth; Nathan, mentioned below; Benjamin; and Abner.
(IV) Nathan Chase, eldest son of Benjamin and Amey (Borden) Chase, was born January 13, 1704, and lived in Portsmouth, where he married, April 29, 1731, Elizabeth Shaw. Children: Borden; Holder, mentioned below; Amey, Clark, Anna, Content, Benjamin and Hannah.
(V) Holder Chase, second son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Shaw) Chase, was born August 24, 1733, in Portsmouth, and lived in that town, where he died in February, 1820. He married there, February 21, 1760, Freeborn Dennis, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Durfee) Dennis, born August 18, 1739, in Portsmouth. Children: Nathan, died in childhood; Sarah, married Benjamin Mott, of Portsmouth; Nathan, married Anne Sherman, of Portsmouth, daughter of Sampson and Ruth (Fish) Sherman; Anna, married in Portsmouth, John Weeden, of Jamestown, Rhode Island; Eliza; Borden, married (first) September 12, 1802, Sarah Folger, (second) Ruth Bunker, both of Nantucket, Massachusetts; Amey, died in childhood; Abner, born in Portsmouth, married there, October 5, 1803, Deborah Chace, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Almy) Chace; Clark, mentioned below; Freeborn, died unmarried, November 23, 1819.
(VI) Clark Chase, fifth son of Holder and Freeborn (Dennis) Chase, married, in Tiverton, Rhode Island, December 26, 1811, Anne Borden, daughter of Simeon and Amey (Briggs) Borden. Children: Simeon B.; Amey A., married, January 5, 1838, Humphrey Almy; Borden, mentioned below; Philip Briggs, married Sarah, daughter of William Earle and Eunice (Sherman) Cook; Sarah Freeborn, married Stephen Davol, of Fall River; Eliza, married Charles Fowler, of Brooklyn, New York; Charles, married Frances C. Pearce, of Bristol, Rhode Island; Nathaniel B., married Louise M. Pierson; Alfred Clark, married (first) Mrs. Clapp and (second) Ruth Anthony, and had children: Ruth (Mrs. Hedley), and Edmund.
(VII) Borden Chase, second son of Clark and Anne (Borden) Chase, was born April 5, 1816, and resided in Portsmouth, engaged in agriculture until
1875, when he removed to Fall River, Massachusetts. His farm was one of the handsomest of the section, and his home was noted for its bountiful hospitality. In 1871 he engaged in the coal business at Fall River, establishing the Fall River the Church of the Ascension of Fall River, where he died February 20, 1879. He married, in Portsmouth, December 24, 1838, Elizabeth Anthony Thomas, of the city, daughter of Joseph and Hannah S. (Anthony) Thomas. Children: 1. Annie Borden, married William H. Jennings. 2. Frederick, married (first) Louise Tallman, of Portsmouth; (second) Edith Snell. 3. Clark, married Emma F. Boyd, and had children. 4. Simeon Borden, mentioned below.
(VIII) Simeon Borden Chase, youngest son of Borden and Elizabeth A. (Thomas) Chase, was born at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, January 10, 1849, and there spent the first eighteen years of his life, acquiring an education in the public schools. After graduation from business college in Providence, he entered business life as a clerk in the office of the Merchants' Manufacturing Company, in Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1870 he went West, and for eighteen months was located in the State of Nebraska. In 1872 he returned to the employ of the Merchants' Manufacturing Company, of Fall River, remaining until 1875 as a bookkeeper. In the latter year he accepted a position with the Tecumseh Mills and was elected treasurer of the company. In 1882 he resigned that office and returned to the Merchants' Manufacturing Company, but now as treasurer of that corporation. In February, 1885, Mr. Chase was elected treasurer of the King Philip Mills, the largest in Fall River, an office he yet holds. From that time he has been connected officially with many Fall River manufacturing and financial corporations, among them being the Barnaby Manufacturing Company, of which he was president; the Crystal Spring Bleaching and Dyeing Company; the Wampanoag Mills; the Globe Yarn Mills; the Stevens' Manufacturing Company, of which he has been the president since 1898; the Tecumseh Mills, which he serves as treasurer; the Osborn Mills; Davol Mills; Merchants' Manufacturing Company; Stevens' Manufacturing Company; Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company; and the Fall River Manufacturing Mutual Insurance Company. All of these concerns carry his name as a director. He is also president of the Metacomet National Bank, of Fall River. A Republican in politics, Mr. Chase has never desired public office and has only accepted what was a clear duty, membership in City Council and on the Massachusetts State Board of Education, being appointed to the latter office by Governor Draper. He is held in high esteem in the community in which his life has been largely spent, and he reviews a life of great usefulness in aiding the development of that community.
Biographical 31
Simeon B. Chase married, on March 19, 1874, Louise Whitman Hills, born November 2, 1848, daughter of John E. and Mary (Whitman) Hills, and a descendant of William Hills, born in England, who came to New England on the ship "Lyon," September 16, 1632, becoming a resident of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and later of Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Chase are the parents of five children: 1. Mary Whitman (Mrs. William Wilson Heaton), residing at Greenwich, Connecticut, has three children: Mary, Chase and Sarah. 2. Anne Borden, wife of Philip E. Tripp, of Fall River, and they have three children: Borden, Judith, and Mary E. 3. Louise S., married George Hewitt Myers, of Washington, District of Columbia, and they have three children: Persis Chase, Mary Hewitt, and Louise Chase. 4. Genevieve, who married Richard K. Hawes, of Fall River, and they have two sons: Richard K., Jr., and Simeon Borden Chase. 5. Florence, married Paul Gifford, of Fall. River, and they have two children: Benjamin F. C. and Louise Whitman.
JUDGE ARTHUR MARTINEAU ALGER - When in 1876 Arthur M. Alger was awarded his degree in law, he located his home in Taunton, Massachusetts, and continued a devotee of the law until his passing in 1921, at the age of sixtyseven. He was not known as a practitioner to any great extent but as an official and jurist. In his early life he was called to public place, and as clerk, registrar and judge he compiled a rare record of efficiency and usefulness. He was an interested friend and adviser of the younger generation of Taunton lawyers and these young men received valuable aid and help from the veteran. In _ his direction of his court he was courteous and most considerate. A probate court is a revelation in family amenities and scores of open family ruptures were prevented and differences adjusted by Judge Alger by his sympathetic talks with the interested parties, ere the law was evoked. He usually found a common ground upon which a start toward conciliation could be made, and he achieved some surprising results as a peace-maker.
Judge Alger was an accurate student of legal history and devoted much of his time to careful _research work with regard to the sources of information concerning the earlier settlers of the Taunton section. He was an authority on the beginnings of the Cohannet settlement, and familiar with the histories of all the towns of the Old Colony as well as the group to the north. During the year 1878 he wrote a series of articles for the "Bristol County Republican," comprising the biographies of such men as Daniel Leonard, Judge Samuel White and Robert Treat Paine. His great work, however, in this line was a history of the descendants of Thomas Alger, his ancestor. In this work, which he brought down to the year 1875, he traced the line of descent through nearly 1,000 names. From this work it is learned that the American ancestor was Thomas Alger, who came to New England about 1665, Judge Alger being of the eighth American generation. He was a son of Rev. William Rounseville and Anne Langdon (Lodge) Alger, a daughter of Giles and Abigail Langdon Lodge, of Boston. Mrs. Alger was a sister of Henry Cabot Lodge, senior United States Senator from Massachusetts.
The line of descent from Thomas Alger and his wife, Elizabeth Packard, to Judge Arthur M. Alger is through the former's son, Israel Alger, and his wife, Patience Hayward; their son, Israel (2) Alger, and his wife, Susanna Snow; their son, Lieutenant James Alger, and his wife, Martha Kingman; their son, James (2) Alger, and his wife, Hannah Bassett; their son, Nahum Alger, and his wife, Catherine Sampson Rounseville; their son, Rev. William Rounseville Alger, and his wife, Anne Langdon Lodge; their son, Arthur Martineau Alger, whose career is herein traced.
Catherine Sampson (Rounseville) Alger, wife of Nahum Alger of the sixth generation, was a daughter of Rev. William Rounseville, a Baptist clergyman, who for over ten consecutive years represented Freetown in the General Court. She was a granddaughter of Captain Levi Rounseville, who commanded a company of "minute-men" that marched from Freetown to Lexington April 19, 1775, and later was a captain in the Ninth Regiment of the Continental Army. Rev. William R. Alger was a graduate of the Divinity School of Harvard University, whence he was graduated in 1847, later being ordained a Unitarian clergyman. Harvard conferred upon him the honorary degree, Master of Arts, and he filled pastorates in Boston, New York City and other Massachusetts towns. He was famous as a pulpit orator and in demand as a lecturer, the chaplain of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and author of a number of books, one of which, "The Doctrine of a Future Life," passed through fourteen editions. He delivered the oration at the unveiling of the monument to Edgar Allen Poe at the Metropolitan Art Museum of New York and was in close touch with the thinkers and scholars of his day. He married Anne Langdon Lodge, also the descendant of an illustrious member of Congress. One of their sons, Captain Philip R. Alger, was for several years professor of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and one of the foremost experts on ordnance in the country, publishing text books and various papers on that subject. A daughter, Abbie Langdon Alger, who died in 1905, was a remarkable linguist, who translated and published a number of books.
Arthur Martineau Alger, son of Rev. William Rounseville and Anne Langdon (Lodge) Alger, was born in that part of Boston formerly Roxbury, September 23, 1854, died at his home on Somerset avenue, Taunton, Massachusetts, June 2, 1921. He was educated in Boston Latin School, private schools, and in the law department of the Boston University, whence he was graduated in 1876. He read law in the office of F. B. Bryant, of Boston, and was his graduation from law school. He at once located in Taunton, entering the law offices of Judge William H. Fox, continuing with him until he was appointed clerk of the District Court in 1879. He filled that office until 1893 and was chosen register of probate. During this period he also served the city as alderman for one year, as city solicitor for four years,and as mayor, in 1890, declining reélection. In 1911, while still holding the office of register, he was appointed judge of the Probate Court, succeeding Judge William E. Fuller. Judge Alger was endorsed for the judgeship in the form of a petition presented to Governor Foss by John W. Cummings of Fall River, signed by every member of the Bristol county bar. This was an unusual endorsement and well deserved, for during the twenty-eight years that he had served as register he had won all hearts by his courtesy and consideration. He served as judge of the Probate Court until his death ten years later. He sat as auditor and master on several important cases and was recognized as one of the leading authorities in matters on corporation and probate law. He was the author of "Fuller's Probate Law," which began while he was register of probate, which included rulings from Judge Fuller, amplified later by many of his own, and which represented years of application. He was the author of another book which gave him prominence, "A Treatise on Law in Relation to Promotors and the Promotion of Corporations." He was a frequent contributor to the Harvard "Law Review," and the author of several lesser treatises. He was also one of the editors of "Contributions, Biographical, Historical, and Genealogical,' published by the New England Historic and Genealogical Society.
Aside from his law interest and activities, Judge Alger was identified with a number of Taunton financial and industrial enterprises. He was a trustee of the Taunton Savings Bank, and a director of the Taunton National Bank until its merger with the Bristol County National into the Worcester County Trust Company. He was a director of the Corr Manufacturing Company, a director of the Boston Investment Company, of the Massachusetts Real Estate Company, and one of the directors of the Old Colony Historical Society. He-was senior partner of the law firm, Alger, Dean & Sullivan, of Boston, the consulting member of the firm. He was a member of the Masonic order, affiliated with Ionic Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and a member of the Winthrop Club, of Taunton.
In the passing of the Honorable Arthur' M. Alger, the city has lost one of its most distinguished citizens. Many years of honorable public service earned for him the admiration and the respect of those who had occasion to deal with him, and he has long been recognized as an authority on those branches of the law in which he specialized.
In his younger years he was elected to the highest office within the gift of the citizens of Taunton, that of Mayor; and in his later years, as Judge of Probate, he maintained the high
Judge Alger married, April 22, 1882, Lelia C. Sanders, daughter of George B. and Elizabeth S. Sanders. She died October 24, 1895, leaving two daughters: Mary Lodge, wife of John D. Sullivan, graduate of Harvard University and of Harvard Law School, a practicing lawyer of Boston, member of the firm Alger, Dean & Sullivan; and Anne Langdon, wife of a Mr. Sherman, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Both of these daughters survive their father, whose estate they inherit.
HON. WILLIAM A. COPELAND, A.B., A. M., LL.B. - Professionally prominent as a lawyer in Bristol county, Massachusetts, and with forty-three years of practice to his credit, Hon. William A. Copeland holds an outstanding position in the town of Mansfield, where he was born and where the greater part of his life has been spent. With professional interests in both Boston and Mansfield for many years, Mr. Copeland has won an enviable position in his chosen field of endeavor. Mr. Copeland is a member of one of the very old and honored families of Mansfield. He is a son of Almon and Elizabeth (Allen) Copeland, both natives of Mansfield. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died at an early age in 1880, but the mother survived him for many years, passing away at an advanced age in 1907.
William A. Copeland was born at Mansfield, Massachusetts, October 23, 1855. His education was begun in the local public schools, and he later attended Bristol Academy, at Taunton, Massachusetts, where he prepared for college. Entering Amherst College, he was graduated in the class of 1877, and received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the arts from that institution. Later entering the Boston University Law School, his graduation occurred in the class of 1880, and he received the Bachelor's degree in the law. In December, 1880, Mr. Copeland was admitted to the bar of his native State, and took up the practice of his profession in Boston under his own name. Continuing independently until 1905, he then became a member of the law firm of Macleod, Calver, Copeland & Dike, with offices at No. 350 Trement building, Boston. He is still affiliated with this professional organization, and they specialize on patents and trade marks. In this field of legal advance they hold a leading position and Mr. Copeland has come to be recognized as an authority. For a number of years he conducted an office at Mansfield, but the importance of his interests in a number of years ago. Mr. Copeland was, for nearly forty years, a trustee of the local public library. A Republican by political affiliation, Mr. Copeland was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature for the years of 1882-1883, serving with honor and distinction in the deliberations of that body. He was a member of the Mansfield School Committee for six years, and was moderator of the town for fifteen years. His acceptance of public responsibility, however, has been only as it has been presented to him as a duty, for he has never sought the honors or the responsibilities of office. During the World War he served on various boards governing the activities of the time.
Mr. Copeland takes a deep interest in historical subjects, particularly those touching upon the early records of the town of Mansfield. He has gathered a great deal of material on these subjects and at various times has delivered addresses of a historical nature, particularly regarding Bristol county's honored past. He is one of those men who holds the highest esteem and confidence of every one of his fellow-citizens. Fraternally Mr. Copeland is affiliated with St. James' Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; Key-tone Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bristol Commandery, Knights Templar; and Massachusetts Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he holds the thirty-second degree; he is also a member of Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Copeland early affiliated himself with the religious advance and has long been a member of the Congregational church. He sang in the local church choir for twenty-five years, for twenty-three years was superintendent of the Sunday school and is now a deacon, having served as a member of the general committee for a long period of time.
Hon. William A. Copeland married, on Octob r 26, 1904, Lucy S. Fairbanks, of Mansfield, daughter of Henry H. Fairbanks, of this place, a veteran of the Civil War, and for many years a clerk in the department of the State Board of Charity, his death occurring in 1918. The mother, Emma L. (Day) Fairbanks, was born in Upton, Massachusetts, and died a number of years ago.
JOSEPH ABRAHAM BOWEN - Of permanent and benevolent significance to the city of Fall River was the life of Joseph Abraham Bowen, useful citizen, successful business executive, and efficient public servant. He lived to be nearly eighty-two years of age, and from childhood until his passing, his life was one of more than ordinary usefulness. Entering the world of men and affairs as a young lad, Mr. Bowen acquired sanity of judgment and breadth of wisdom with every experience, and up to the end of his long life he felt a keen interest in public events and exercised a guiding hand in the conduct of the large coal business he had developed. Nearly a decade has passed since the streets of Fall River have known his footfall, but the inspiration of his worthy career still lives in the memory of all whose privilege it was to know him.
The Bowen family became identified with the progress of the community now known as Fall River at a very early period in the history of the settlement. John Bowen, Mr. Bowen's great-greatgrandfather, was in Freetown as early as 1739. He was presumably a descendant of Richard Bowen, who came from Kittle Hill, Glamorganshire, Wales, to Weymouth, Massachusetts, in the year 1638, later settling permanently at Rehoboth. The family touches through intermarriage, since the day of
John Bowen, several of the important families of this city and of New England - Borden, Durfee, Winslow, Cook, Read, Corey, Bennett, Valentine, Bliss, Briggs and Sweet, a group of Colonial Revolutionary names extending to the earliest period of English settlement in New England and through every department of the public, professional, and buiness life of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
John Bowen, the pioneer of Fall River, was a man of large business ability, who used for the general welfare, as well as for his individual interest the practical force and excellent judgment with which he was endowed. He became the owner of extensive tracts of land in what is now the Southern part of the city of Fall River. His homestead is still standing on South Main street, near the eminence formerly known as Bowen's Hill, although many changes have been made since the days when it was occupied by John Bowen and his family. John Bowen married, on July 3, 1739, Penelope Read Borden, the record of this fact being the first concerning the family in the Fall River district.
Nathan Bowen, son of the pioneer and greatgrandfather of Joseph A. Bowen, rendered military service in behalf of the Colonies during the Revolutionary War. His influence in the community was always for progress, and he reared his children to lives of usefulness and distinction. Nathan Bowen married Hannah Cook.
Abraham Bowen, the next in line, became one of the pioneer cotton manufacturers of Fall River, and was active in the production of cotton cloth from 1813. In 1822 he became one of the eight corporators of the Pocasset Manufacturing Company, the history of which concern is an important chapter in the brilliant record of industrial achievement in Fall River. In association with Oliver Chace and Dexter Wheeler, Abraham Bowen incorporated the Watuppa Reservoir Company, and was a leader in all that contributed to the welfare of the people. Evidence of the esteem in which he was held is found in the fact that he was for several years chosen to represent his district in the General Court. At the time of his death, which occurred March 9, 1824, he had. filled the office of postmaster of Fall River for eight years. He married Ruth Graves, and their home was at the northeast corner of Main and Bedford streets.
Abraham (2) Bowen, son of Abraham and Ruth (Graves) Bowen, took an influential part in the business and intellectual activities of his time. Engaged in a teaming business for a number of years, his more important commercial activity was as a member of the grain and shipping firm of Read & Bowen. For a long period of time he edited and published a periodical entitled "All Sorts," and his editorial comments upon the fancies and foibles of his time were eminently illuminative and constructive. His death, which occurred January 24, 1889, removed from Fall River a citizen whose usefulness was by no means to be measured by the number of his years, even though he lived to a ripe age. Abraham (2) Bowen married Sarah Ann
Read, daughter of Major Joseph Evans and Sibyl (Valentine) Read, a direct descendant of John Read, of Newport, Rhode Island, Abraham (2) Bowen himself built the house on Rock street, in which he resided for about sixty years. There his children were born, and there his daughter, Sarah V. Bowen, has resided throughout the entire period of her life to the present time (1923). She completed her eighty-fourth year, December 8, 1923.
Joseph Abraham Bowen, only son of Abraham (2) and Sarah Ann (Read) Bowen, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, October 10, 1832, and died at his summer home in Warren, Rhode Island, September 30, 1914. He lies buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, in Fall River. As a young man, Mr. Bowen attended both the public and private schools of his native city, but from his eighth year spent much time in his father's printing office, where he was employed when not engaged with his studies. In the year 1849 he became a student at the Fall River High School, thereby entering the first class to pass through the courses of that institution. In 1856 Mr. Bowen engaged in an independent business as a coal dealer. He first leased Morgan's Wharf, at the foot of Walnut street, then later bought Slade's Wharf, still later purchased a half interest in Morgan's Wharf, using both in his business operations. His energy and ability, together with his policy of personally supervising all his own affairs, carried him to large prosperity, and for fifty-three years he directed successfully the development and growth of an enterprise which became one of the most important in this city. In this connection Mr. Bowen's fearless spirit is clearly apparent, also his ingenuity in overcoming difficulties and at the same time.bending his achievement to the widest possible use. He built and managed a fleet of sea-going vessels, and in order that he might bring coal direct by ship to his own yards in Fall River, he had extensive harbor dredging done at his own expense. That was the initial movement which resulted in harbor improvement at Fall River, the immediate and also the permanent benefit derived from his efforts counting largely in the recognition of this city as a progressive and enterprising civic center. In 1883 Mr. Bowen began shipping Pocahontas Coal from the mines at Bluefield, West Virginia, and until his death he handled coal from that district. His first cargo was shipped from Norfolk, Virginia, and was the earliest shipment of Pocahontas coal received in New England from that port. It was distributed among the cotton mills of Fall River.
In addition to his many and important business responsibilities Mr. Bowen found time for notably efficient and valuable local public service. He was elected a member of the Common Council in 1862- 63, and of the Board of Aldermen in 1869-70. As chairman of the committee to consider the advisability of establishing a city water system, he rendered service which is still benefiting the community. He not only "reported favorably" and used his energy and his ability to arouse the interest and codperation of others in securing an adequate water supply, but when this measure was adopted, served as a member of the first board of water commissioners, in which capacity he took an active and efficient part in the construction of the city water supply system. For two years Mr. Bowen was president of the Fall River Board of Trade, and in addition to the development of his prosperous coal business he was also interested in a number of industrial enterprises, chiefly along the line of cotton manufacture, which contributed largely to the economic prosperity of the city. Thus his part in the development and growth of this city was an important one from his early life to the close of his long career, and to all who were closely associated with him it was a great source of gratification that he was spared to see his hopes for the city realized. Mr. Bowen's acquaintance was wide, both within and without the city, and he was sought for leadership and counsel as long as he lived. Energetic, clear-sighted, benevolent and kindly in spirit, his friends were legion and his influence for good unbounded. His pleasing personality and his sterling qualities of character won and held the regard of all who were associated with him in his varied activities. During the greater part of his lifetime he was identified with the Central Congregational Church, and he gave his hearty support to its work.
Joseph Abraham Bowen married, on January 19, 1865, at Fall River, Massachusetts, Fanny Maria Corey, who was born in Fall River, August 21, 1840, daughter of Jonathan and Clarissa (Bennett) Corey. Mrs. Bowen is a direct descendant of William Corey, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a deputy to the General Court, a captain of Militia, and a man of importance in his town, who died in 1682. The line of descent was through his son, John (1); his son, John (2); his son, Thomas; his son, Benjamin; and his son, Jonathan, Mrs. Bowen's father. In every generation the members of this family bore a worthy part in the progressive activities of the time. Two children were born to Joseph A. and Fanny M. (Corey) Bowen: Joseph Henry, of further mention; and Fanny Corey, born in the old house built by Abraham Bowen, a graduate of Fall River High School and of Smith College, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Joseph Henry Bowen, only son of Joseph A. and Fanny Maria (Corey) Bowen, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, March 18, 1866, and died April 16, 1918. He was a graduate of Fall River High School (1883), Phillips-Exeter Academy (1884), and Harvard University (1888), receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts cum laude from the university. Following the completion of his education Mr. Bowen became associated with his father in the coal business, and upon the death of the founder assumed executive responsibility, remaining as head of the enterprise until his death. He was also a member of the board of directors for several corporate interests in Fall River. A man of sound judgment and signal ability, highly esteemed by his contemporaries, Mr. Bowen willingly bore his share of the burden of public service, not only in official capacity as a member of the municipal council, but as an active promoter of all projects which seemed to him to be wisely planned for the advancement of the general welfare. He was deeply interested in, and to the end of his career gave considerable time and attention to all sorts of outdoor sports. He was also a home-loving man and much of his leisure was devoted to the interests of his family. He married, on June 19, 1890, Mary S. Whitney, a daughter of Edward H., and Jennie (Hooper) Whitney, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Three children were born to Joseph H. and Mary S. (Whitney) Bowen: 1. Joseph Whitney, born May 18, 1891, was educated in the Fall River public schools, grade and high; Phillips-Exeter Academy, class of 1908; and Harvard University, degree of Bachelor of Arts, class of 1912. He was associated with his father in the coal business until the death of the latter, then succeeded him, and is now the third in direct line to be identified with the enterprise founded by Joseph A. Bowen in 1856. He is now president of the Joseph A. Bowen Coal Company, also treasurer of the Laurel Lake Mills, manufacturers of cotton print cloth, a director of the Fall River National Bank, and trustee of the Five Cent Savings Bank. He married, November 16, 1915, Florence Horton, daughter of Melvin Borden Horton, of Fall River. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen are the parents of two children: Joseph Horton, and Richard. 2. Harold Corey, born May 26, 1896, educated in the Fall River public schools, grade and high, and Phillips-Exeter Academy, now treasurer of the Joseph A. Bowen Coal Company. He married Edith M. Kidd, daughter of Dr. F. O. Kidd, of Fall River. 3. Edward Hooper, born October 14, 1899, educated in the Fall River schools and Phillips-Exeter Academy, now engaged in the cotton business as a member of the firm of Gifford & Bowen. He married Isabel Carpenter, daughter of Frank L. Carpenter, of Fall River. Mrs. Fanny Maria (Corey) Bowen survives her husband; her home is the old Bowen residence in Fall River, where also her daughter, Fanny C. Bowen, resides. Mrs. Bowen is a charter member of the Quequechan Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and has been for more than fifty years a very devoted member of the Central Congregational Church. The summer home is "Juniper Farm," Warren, Rhode Island.
JAMES G. MORAN, LL.B. - A _ distinguished figure in Bristol county, Massachusetts, and, indeed, in the State of Massachusetts, is Senator James G. Moran, of Mansfield, whose professional achievements have been won by his own efforts, his degree of Bachelor of Laws having been gained after he was active for some years in the business world. 'Mr. Moran is one of those men whose activities contribute in a large degree to the general welfare, and whose lives bear out in consistent advance the theories and principles of which they are the exponents. Senator Moran's public service, which has covered a period of some thirteen or fourteen years, is a record of broad usefulness, and those who are most familiar with his activities are the most cordial in commendation of the man, both in his professional capacity and as a progressive citizen. He is well appraised by the slogan which contributed largely to his popularity during his campaign for senator, "Ask the man who knows him."
William N. Moran, father of Senator Moran, was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and for many years was active as ticket agent at the local office of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company. A man of the highest integrity and public spirit, he was for many years active in the civic affairs of the community, and while he did much for local advance in an unofficial way, he served also for some years as a member of the Board of Registrars. He was widely known in fraternal circles as a leading member of Saint James Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which for a long period he was secretary. He died in Mansfield, in the year 1894. The mother, Marion T. (Tobit) Moran, was also born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and survived her husband for many years, passing away at an advanced age in the year 1921.
James G. Morgan, son of these parents, was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, May 2, 1870. His education was begun in the local public schools, and he was graduated from the Mansfield High School in the class of 1887. Thereafter having the advantage of a course at Lawrence Academy, Groton, Massachusetts, he was graduated from that institution in the class of 1892. In the year 1893 Mr. Moran entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but on account of the death of his father, he was obliged to leave the institution at the end of his first year of study. He then entered the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, in the capacity of fireman, and after two years in this work he was made a towerman, at Boston, where he was active for ten years in the same capacity. Mr. Moran was employed during the night, and his early evenings were spent at the Young Men's Christian Association Law School, at. Boston, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Then followed Mr. Moran's appointment as postmaster of Mansfield, which office he received from President Taft, and in this responsible office he served for a period of four years. In the year 1916 he was admitted to the bar of his native State, and has since been active in the practice of law in Boston with a branch office at Mansfield, where he receives his clients in the evening. He handles a general line of practice in an independent way, and has won large success.
Widely known as he is in both Boston and Bristol county, James G. Moran was very naturally brought forward in the public service, and in the year 1910 was a member of the Republican State committee, serving for two years. He has also for several years been a member of the Bristol county committee, and chairman of the Republican town committee. His ability and his broad famil- iarity with current conditions and affairs led the people of this section to look to him for higher service than that of a local nature, and in 1917 he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, as representative of the second Bristol district. He served three successive years in this capacity, and during his activity in the House was appointed to the committee of legal affairs, upon which he served for one year, and was later appointed to the judiciary committee, serving for two years. The excellent record of Representative Moran and _ his broad usefulness in the House of Assembly, both in the service of his constituents and in forwarding the general good of the commonwealth, placed him very high in the estimation of the people. It was only in logical sequence of events that he was elected senator of Bristol county in the year 1922, and is now serving in the Upper House of the State Legislature, as the successor of Silas D. Reed, of Taunton, Massachusetts. No more concise and dignified statement can be made of the significance to Mansfield of this election than was printed in the election folders scattered broadcast at the time. The pride of the people in the elevation of their townsman to this position of dignity and honor is therein well expressed:
Mansfield had not named a candidate for Senator since 1866 - a period of fifty-six years. She presents a self-made man and one who can and will serve the district with honesty and integrity, free from any and all entangling alliances, and one
During the World War, Senator Moran was active as a member of the Legal Advisory Board, and his natural ability as a speaker found large breadth of usefulness in his constant activity as a "four-minute"' man. He received a certificate from the United States Government for services rendered during that trying time. Interested in every phase of community and general advance, Senator Moran stands among the leaders of wholesome thought and progressive sentiment, and the work that he is doing is a part of the beneficent and formative influences of today, which will count more and more definitely for the public welfare as the years pass on. He is a director of the Mansfield Credit Union, and fraternally is affiliated with Saint James Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Mansfield. He is one of the leading members of the Winthrop Club, and his religious affiliation is with the Congregational church.
Senator Moran married, in 1903, Jane E. Chase, of Mansfield, daughter of Albert and Elizabeth (Goward) Chase, her father a blacksmith of Mansfield, Massachusetts.
WALTER PELLINGTON WINSOR - Otur national prosperity depends upon the solid business men of the country. The story of their success is our best text-book for the inspiration of the young. As president of the First National Bank of New Bedford, Walter P. Winsor held a position of importance in his community, one to which he had risen through a quarter of a century in the scarcely less responsible position of cashier. Mr. Winsor was a Fairhaven boy, belonging to a family of sea captains and mariners, his father, Captain Alexander Winsor, and his grandfather, Captain Zenas Winsor, were thoroughly representative of a class of hardy, upright men who would have graced any station in life.
The first Winsor of record in this branch is William Winsor, who is said to have come to Boston from Devonshire, England. The line of descent is traced through his son Samuel, to his son Peter. Peter Winsor was born August 21, 1761, at Duxbury, removed to Kingston, Massachusetts, and there died April 19,. 1845. His son, Captain Zenas Winsor, was a sea captain of Duxbury, Massachusetts, whose eldest son was Captain Alexander Winsor, born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, August 11, 1810, who began his seafaring life at the age of fourteen years, making his first voyage on the vessel of which his father was captain. He continued as seaman and mate until his twenty-fifth year, when he was appointed to command the new ship "Molo." His first voyage as master was to Stockholm, Sweden, a voyage made in safety, but after delivering his ship over to the pilot, through some error in judgment or calculation, the "Molo" was wrecked upon Gotland, a large island in the Baltic Sea, belonging to Sweden, and both ship and cargo were lost. He returned to the United States feeling that his career as master was ended, but when he met the owner, Thatcher Magoun, in Boston, he was surprised and delighted to find that another ship, loaded and ready for sea, awaited him. With this ship, the "Timolean," he made many voyages, and in turn commanded the merchantmen (some of them clipper ships of renown) "Susan Drew," "Audubon," "Gertrude," "Hussar," "Sea Nymph," "Flying Cloud," "Sea Serpent," and "Herald of the Morning." The last ship, which he commanded until his retirement in 1872, was owned by Thatcher Magoun, who was also owner of the "Molo," the first ship he commanded. Captain Winsor belonged to that olden school of clipper ship masters of whom no finer ever tread a quarter deck. He married Sarah Pellington Allen, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and there made his home. They were the parents of: Alexander (2), born April 27, 1845; Walter Pellington, of further mention; Sarah Frances, born June 1, 1851, married Thomas B. Fuller.
Captain Alexander (2) Winsor was a commander of ships in the China trade, and for half a dozen years was Captain of one of the largest steamships running between Hong-Kong and Shanghai, then for twenty-two years sailed under the flag of the China Merchant Steam Navigation Company. During the war between China and Japan his steamer was used by the government. In recognition of daring and gallant service in rescuing a fleet of Chinese steamers from a perilous situation during a naval battle, the Chinese government, through Li Hung Chang, prime minister, presented Captain Winsor with the emblem of the Chinese Double Dragon. He married Carrie I. Bailey, and died in Fairhaven, June 7, 1899.
Biographical 37
Walter Pellington Winsor, second son of Captain Alexander (1) and Sarah Pellington (Allen) Winsor, was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, October 12, 1846, and died there December 8, 1911. He was educated in the public schools of Fairhaven, and in the John Boadle private school in New Bed: ford, continuing his studies until seventeen ycars of age. He then began as bookkeeper for a Broadway firm in New York City, but six months later returned to New Bedford, taking a position in a grocery store as bookkeeper. At the age of eighteen he became junior clerk in the First National Bank of New Bedford, and for two years retained that position. At the age of twenty he accepted a clerk's position with the Union Mutual Marine Insurance Company of New Bedford, continuing with that company eight years until 1874, having risen to the position of secretary-treasurer. The heavy loss of ships in the Aretic Ocean in 1871, and the lack of business through the death of the whaling industry, caused the company to liquidate in 1874. This brought Mr. Winsor to the next and by far the most important phase of his career, his connection with the First National Bank. He was elected cashier of that bank in June, 1874, and for twentyfive years he held that important post, gaining expert knowledge of the laws governing natioral finance, and the practical knowledge to make his learning effective. He won the confidence of the public, and the high regard of the bank officials to a degree which made him their unanimous choice for the presidency upon the death of Edward S. Taber, in March, 1899. In the executive position his long training and preéminent ability were demonstrated, and for twelve years until his death, December 8, 1911, he was the ideal financier and bank president.
Mr. Winsor was a Republican, and was one of the selectmen of Fairhaven for thirteen years. He was a member of the Unitarian church of Fairhaven, and was closely identified with its work and interests, to which he was very devoted. A close friend of the late Henry H. Rogers from boyhood, he represented Mr. Rogers in his Fairhaven undertakings. Upon the death of Mr. Rogers, he became one of the executors of the vast estate; was a director of the Virginian Railway Company, whose road was built by Mr. Rogers; vice-president of the Atlas Tack Company; director of the Wamsutta Mills; director of the Union Street Railway Company; and treasurer of the Millicent Library at Fairhaven. An estimate of the worth of Mr. Winsor's life appeared editorially in the New Bedford "Mercury," under date of December 11, 1911:
In the death of Walter P. Winsor there passes out one who has been for nearly forty years a prominent figure in the large financial affairs of this community. Mr. Winsor was a son of one of that splendid race of captains who controlled the destinies of the great clipper ships that were once the glory of the seas. From that inheritance a type of man was developed, of commanding figure and bearing, impressive in a physical sense of resourcefulness and reliability. Throughout his long business career no act of Winsor's was ever at variance with that first impression which his noble appearance inspired. His ability as an accomplished banker and financier was high, but the surpassing trait was his exalted honor and trustworthiness, and his judicious conservation in handling the important affairs and the responsibilities entrusted to his management and care. That the late Henry H. Rogers selected him as an executor of his vast estates and interests indicates that one of the greatest and most discerning of the financiers of this age regarded Mr. Winsor's endowments as uncommon.
He was the executor of many estates and entrusted with many affairs of business outside of those in his regular line of duties as a banker, and he was faithful in all. Outside of his business career he lived the life of a gentleman of quiet and refined taste, one who loved flowers and simple pleasures and his home above all.
Of soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title and who lost no friend.
Mr. Winsor married Mary G. Bancroft, daughter of Joseph B. and Sylvia W. (Thwing) Bancroft, of Hopedale, Massachusetts. Mrs. Winsor survives her husband, continuing her residence at Fairhaven. Mr. and Mrs. Winsor were the parents of a daughter and three sons: 1. Walter Pellington (2), born April 20, 1879, died June 29, 1911; a graduate of Harvard University and Law School. 2. Anna Bancroft, born May 22, 1881; married Carl Clapp Shippee, and removed to Red Bank, New Jersey. Mr. Shippee is a member of the firm of Shippee & Rawson, brokers, of New York City, members of the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. and Mrs. Shippee are the parents of three sons: Winsor, born January 18, 1908; Robert, July 3, 1910; Donald, born December 1, 1915. 3. Bancroft, born June 26, 1889; graduate of the Fairhaven High School, and attended Worcester Polytechnic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He married Beatrice Dunham, daughter of Crawford L. and Anna Dunham, of Fairhaven. They are the parents of two children: Sylvia, born in May, 1914, and Philip, born in November, 1915. Bancroft Winsor is now operating the Winsor farm at Acushnet, Massachusetts. 4. Allen Pellington, born February 12, 1892; graduated Harvard University, Bachelor of Arts, 1914; Harvard Medical School, Doctor of Medicine, 1918; has enlisted in United States Medical Corps. He married Vira Holcomb, daughter of Clarke W. Holcomb, of New Bedford, and resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
RANDALL NELSON DURFEE - In 1660 Thomas Durfee migrated to America, settling in Rhode Island, and thus founding the family in this country. Randall Nelson Durfee was of the sixth generation of that family, tracing his descent through Walter Chaloner Durfee and his wife, Jane Frances Alden; Samuel Durfee and his wife, Hannah Anthony; Thomas Durfee and his wife, Patience Borden; Benjamin Durfee and his wife, Prudence Earle, to Thomas Durfee, the founder, and his first wife. Both Thomas Durfee and his son, Benjamin, acquired considerable land, so that Thomas Durfee, of the third generation, inherited a large landed estate, including the farm upon which he lived and died, and where all his children were born. That farm consisted of all that part of the present city of Fall River which lies north of Elm street and south of Turner street, extending from the shore to Watuppa lake. He owned other large tracts, and lived in a manner befitting his wealth. I+ is interesting to note that he was the host to Lafayette at the time of his visit to this vicinity, and during the Revolution spent a large portion of his fortune to aid the cause of Independence. He died July 9, 1796, in his seventy-fifth year.
Walter Chaloner Durfee, of the fifth generation, a grandson of the above, was born February 24, 1816. He married Jane Frances Alden, a daughter of Cyrus and Mary Margaret (Jones) Alden, and a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from the "Mayflower" Pilgrims, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. She was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, October 4, 1821, moving at the age of five years, with her family, to Fall River, where she died, April 24, 1907, aged eighty-five years, six months, twenty days. She was a woman of most lovable character, her memory blessed. Walter Chaloner Durfee, until 1862, was teacher, clerk, bookkeeper, principal of a private evening school, manager of the Globe Print Works, and wholesale provision dealer. In August, 1862, he received from President Lincoln an appointment as collector of internal revenue for the First Massachusetts District, an office he held until 1866. He was again in business until 1871, when he was made treasurer of the Wampanoag Mills, serving in that office for twentyone years, retiring from active business in 1892. At different times he was a trustee of the Border City Manufacturing Company, president of the Metacomet National Bank, trustee and president of the Metacomet National Bank, trustee and president of the Fall River Five Cents Saving Bank, director of the Wampanoag Mills and of the Fall River Mu: tual Insurance Company.
Walter C. Durfee was in early life a Lieutenant of militia and on active duty during the Dorr Rebellion. He was twice a member of the Legislature, alderman, assessor, fire warden, and from 1862 until his death in 1901, held a commission as justice of the peace. His earliest religious associations, through his mother, were with the Society of Friends, but in his youth he became a member of the Episcopal church, and in 1841 his name appeared in the list of the 115 members of the Church of the Ascension, which he later served as vestryman, superintendent of the Sunday school, parish treasurer (forty-five years), and senior warden (until his death), while for nearly sixty years he represented the parish in the Diocesan Convention. His married life covered a period of sixty years, his gentle wife surviving him more than five years. Walter Chaloner and Jane Frances (Alden) Durfee were the parents of eleven children, as follows: Frances Eudora, born December 28, 1841, died January 14, 1844; Eliza Chaloner, born January 31, 1845, died May 17, 1917; Walter Sherwood, born August 4, 1847, died August 21, 1848; Mary Hannah, born June 17, 1849, died September 16, 1853; Caroline Clinton, born July 22, 1852, married Edward O. Stanley; Jeannie Farquhar, born April 13, 1855, died February 25, 1871; Winthrop Carver, born
April 23, 1858, a graduate of Brown University and a manufacturing chemist, married Sylvia Whitney; Annie Marvel, born June 6, 1860, died January 28, 1921, married David F. Slade; Harriet Alden, born April 4, 1863; Randall Nelson, of further mention; Margaret Russell, born November 3, 1871, married Rev. J. E. Johnson.
Randall Nelson Durfee, of the sixth American generation, son of Walter Chaloner and Jane Frances (Alden) Durfee, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, October 13, 1867, and died November 24, 1923. He completed his public school study with graduation from high school in 1884, was graduated at Phillips-Exeter Academy in 1885, and then entered Harvard University, graduating in the class of 1889 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On leaving college he immediately entered upon a business career in the city of his birth, first serving as a clerk in the offices of the Wampanoag Mills, and later at the Stafford Mills. In 1894 he resigned his position as bookkeeper of the Stafford Mills and entered the office of Andrews & Horton, cotton brokers, remaining until June, 1895, when he engaged in the same business under his own name. Mr. Durfee remained a cotton broker until 1913, when he was elected treasurer of the Border City Manufacturing Company, which position he held at the time of his death. These years of hard and earnest work brought Randall N. Durfee success and a high reputation as a business man and a citizen. He aided in the development of many enterprises that have added to the wealth and importance of his city. He was a director in the First National Bank, the B. M. C. Durfee Trust Company, the Foster Spinning Company, Sagamore Manufacturing Company, and director and treasurer of the Border City Manufacturing Company, all of Fall River. He was also a trustee of the Fall River Five Cent Savings Bank. He was a director in the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and the Northwest Metals Corporation, both of Boston. He was a member of the cotton committee of the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers during the war period, 1917-18; was an ex-treasurer of the Fall River Cotton Buyers' Association, and prominent in all departments of city life.
In politics Mr. Durfee was a Republican and served three years as councilman and alderman, being president of the Common Council in 1894, and elected alderman in 1895. He was a trustee of the Fall River Public Library from 1908 to 1923, and was one of the organizers and first president of the Fall River Historical Society. He succeeded his father as treasurer of the Church of the Ascension, serving in this position from 1890 to 1911, when he became junior warden of the parish, which office he held at the time of his death. As his father before him, Mr. Durfee was a delegate to the Diocesan Convention for many years, and it is interesting to note that the combined services of father and son in these offices covered a period of eightytwo years. He was a member of the Fall River
Biographical 39
Country Club, the Rhode Island Country Club; the Episcopalian Club, of Massachusetts; the Harvard Club, of Boston; the University Club, of New York; the Harvard Club, of New York; the Quequechan Club, of Fall River; the Bowling Green Club, of Fall River; and the Arkwright Club, of Boston. He was also a trustee of the B. M. C. Durfee High School, and a vice-president of the Children's Home. Although Mr. Durfee's interests were many, his family and home always came first. His knowledge of the textile industry was thorough, and he gave freely of his time in an effort to better conditions in all phases of the cotton cloth industry. In 1919 the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers voted him their medal, presented annually to the man who in their opinion had done the most for the industry. It reads: "To Randall N. Durfee, Fall River, Massachusetts.. In recognition of his efforts to secure better methods for the financing of cotton. April 25, 1919. The National Association of Cotton Manufacturers." He often represented the cotton manufacturers of New England in conference at Washington. In fact his last public appearance was as their representative before the Federal Trade Commission at Washington in a cotton situation, the week before his death. He was a successful manufacturer and a man of the highest standing in the industry, always ready and willing to do his share along codperative lines for the benefit of the industry. Mr. Durfee was local chairman for the Near East Relief and a zealous worker in all that pertained to it. Of him it was said by the State chairman: "No man in the State was more helpful." His pleasures were close to nature and he revelled in his beautiful garden, which gave delight to all.
Randall N. Durfee married, June 12, 1895, Abby Slade Brayton, born November 10, 1870, at Fall River, Massachusetts, daughter of Hezekiah A. and Caroline E. (Slade) Brayton. Mr. and Mrs. Durfee were the parents of four children: Randall Nelson, Jr., born March 13, 1897; Bradford Chaloner, born August 12, 1900; Caroline, born March 12, 1904; and Mary Brayton, born March 4, 1909.
HORATIO HATHAWAY - This name in early times was written as it was usually pronounced, Hodaway. According to Swift's "Barnstable" four of the name came over: Arthur, who settled in Marshfield, and afterward removed to Dartmouth; John and Joseph, of Taunton; and John, of Barnstable. J. D. Baldwin, in the N. E. H. and G. Register, Volume XXXII, page 92, has Arthur Hathaway coming to America in 1630 from one of the Welsh counties of Great Britain and settling in Plymouth and appearing to have remained there; gives him a son, Arthur, Jr., who he has marrying in Duxbury in November, 1652, Sarah Cook; there two of their children were born, and thence they removed to Dartmouth soon after 1655. It is with some of the descendants of Arthur Hathaway, the Dartmouth settler, this article is to deal. It should be borne in mind that Dartmouth originally was about thirteen miles square and included the present towns of Dartmouth, Westport, New Bedford and Fairhaven. It was bought of the Indians in 1652. At the division of Dartmouth in 1787 New Bedford and Fairhaven formed the township or town of New Bedford and Fairhaven, bearing the name of New Bedford. They were divided into separate townships or towns in 1812. New Bedford, the me tropolis, as it were, of Dartmouth, takes its date from 1761, when the first house east of the county road was built by John Lowden; nearly a hundred years prior to this, however, the settlement of Dartmouth had been made at Russell's Mills by the Russells, Ricketsons, Slocums, Smiths, and others; and at Acushnet on the east side of the river by the Popes, Tabers and Jenneys. It may be of interest, too, to note here that all of the original purchasers of Dartmouth were passengers in the "Mayflower," but no names of those who 'came in that vessel were among the early settlers there. Out of the thirty-six original purchasers of the town, its owners in 1652, perhaps only five or six became settlers. The lands were taken up mostly by Friends or Quakers, not particularly identified with the Puritans. This much for the early home country of the Hathaways.
(II) Arthur Hathaway, Jr., was in Marshfield in 1643, and in what is now Plympton in 1656. In 1660 he and Sergeant Shaw were appointed by the court of Plymouth to put those who had lands in Dartmouth in some way for the levying and paying of the tax levied upon Cushna. In 1664, on the incorporation of the town, he was on the grand inquest, and had previously been appointed to such. He was many times selectman, etc., from 1664 until 1684, his name disappearing from the records in 1688. He married, November 2, 1652, Sarah, daughter of John Cook, he of the "Mayflower" (married Sarah, daughter of Richard Warren, of the "Mayflower"'). Their children were: John, born September 17, 1653; Sarah, born February 28, 1656; Thomas, of further mention; Jonathan, born in 1671; Mary, became the wife of Hammond; Lydia, died June 23, 1714; Hannah, became the wife of Cadman.
(III) Thomas Hathaway, the second son of Arthur Hathaway, Jr., was a Quaker. He died in 1748. He married Hepzibeth Starbuck, of Nantucket, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Coffin) Starbuck, the latter-named the great preacher. Mary (Coffin) Starbuck was the daughter of Tristram Coffin, and was married at seventeen years of age. She was accustomed to attend town meetings and took an active part, "was a Deborah among the people, for little of moment was done without her"; "usually began her remarks with some allusion to her husband as 'my husband thinks'." In 1701, during a religious visit of the celebrated English preacher, John Richardson, she was converted to Quakerism and became a "mighty instrument" through which large numbers were brought into the faith. Tristram Coffin was the son of Peter and Joan Coffin, born in Brayton, Devonshire, Eng- land; married Dionis Stevens; immigrated in 1642 and lived at Salisbury, Haverhill and Salisbury, and in 1662 removed to Nantucket; was patriarch ot the town. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway: Antipas, born October 5, 1698, married, September 13, 1729, Patience Church, of Freetown; Apphiah, born May 13, 1701, married, October 18, 1718, Adam Mott, son of Jacob Mott, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Pernal, born June 3, 1703, died October 6, 1715; Elizabeth, born October 18, 1706, married, June 27, 1727, John Clerk, of Rhode Island; Mary, born October 3, 1709, married, November 7, 1734, Thomas Kempton; Thomas, born December 5, 1711, married, January 25, 1750, Lois Taber; Nathaniel, born June 23, 1715; Hepzibeth, born March 18, 1718, married
Hathaway, was born in July, 1720, and died June 15, 1803. The Hathaways were extensive landowners, derived from John Hathaway, who held a share in the eight hundred acre division. Their lands were situated on both sides of the Acushnet river, commencing about half way from New Bedford to Acushnet, Jethro Hathaway, as well as his father and grandfather, was a prominent man in the early history of Dartmouth, and the handwriting of the former, who was one of the committee on surveys from 1758 to 1773, is remarkably handsome and rarely equalled by the professors of penmanship at the present day. Captain Hathaway married, September 3, 1741, Hannah West, daughter of Stephen West. She died September 26, 1798. He married for his second wife Judith Howland. His children were: Elizabeth, born April 3, 1742; Stephen, of further mention; Clark, born October 21, 1747, married, June 17, 1770, Lois Akin.
(V) Stephen Hathaway, son of Captain Jethro Hathaway, was born February 28, 1743, and died November 4, 1825. On August 9, 1764, he married Abigail Smith, daughter of Humphrey and Mary (Wilcox) Smith, and to them were born fourteen children, viz: Humphrey, of further mention; Jethro, born September 13, 1766; Mary, born December 20, 1767, married, November 26, 1800, John Taber; Hannah, born June 22, 1769, married, June 11, 1791, Thomas Nye, Sr.; Thomas, born January 30, 1771, died in Saratoga in 1793; Rebecca, born August 18, 1772, married David Dillingham in 1792, and died in 1848; Abigail, born March 15, 1774, married, October 10, 1793, Weston Howland, and died in 1867; Stephen, born September 4, 1775, married Lydia Swain, daughter of Thaddeus and Ruth (Huzzy) Swain, and died July 1, 1822; Hepzibeth, born April 13, 1777, married, September 1, 1802, Pardon Howland; Alice, born November 13, 1779, married, September 24, 1800, Asa Russel], and died February 12, 1802; Nathaniel, born February 18, 1781, died at Charleston, October 26, 1802; Elizabeth, born December 9, 1782, married, November 10, 1805; Jireh Swift, Jr.; George, born in 1787, married Eliza Lyon; Silvia, born September 28, 1790, married, December 18, 1811, Gideon Nye.
(VI) Humphrey Hathaway, son of Stephen and Abigail (Smith) Hathaway, born April 13, 1765, diea May 2, 1821. He married, December 27, 1787, Abigail Smith, daughter of George Smith. Children: Humphrey, born in 1790, died in 1805; Ezra, born in 1793, was drowned at sea in 1810; Thomas S., born in 1796, died in 1878; Nathaniel of further mention; Andrew, born in 1801, died in 1828, married Ruth Dillingham; Francis S., born in 1803, died in 1869; Alice, born in 1806, married, in 1826, Elisha Haskell, and died in 1880; Humphrey, born in 1808, died the same year. Of these, Francis S. and Thomas S. were prominent and rich merchants of New Bedford.
(VII) Nathaniel Hathaway, son of Humphrey and Abigail (Smith) Hathaway, was born in 1798, and died October 27, 1836, aged thirty-eight years. He was a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1818. He and his brothers engaged in the merchant trade; he was one of the substantial men of his day, as evidenced by the records of the various enterprises and institutions of the city. He married Anna Shoemaker, born in 1794, and died September 2, 1833, aged thirty-nine years. Children: Caroline, born in 1822, married, in 1841, Samuel Griffiths Morgan, and died in 1883; Richard, born in 1824, died in 1826; Elizabeth, born in 1827, married Joshua C. Stone, of Boston, and died in 1903; Francis, born in 1829, married, in 1854, Susan (Shoemaker) Paxson; Horatio, of further mention.
(VIII) Horatio Hathaway, son of Nathaniel and Anna (Shoemaker) Hathaway, was born May 19, 1831, in the old Hathaway homestead at the corner of Elm and Purchase streets. He prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and in 1846 entered Harvard University from which institution he was graduated four years later. A year or two after he went in the merchant ship "Horatio" on a voyage to China and was absent about two years. The firm of which Thomas S. Hathaway was a member was. originally composed of the _ three brothers, Nathaniel, Thomas S. and Francis S. Hathaway. They were importers of tea and other eastern products and the business grew to be a successful one. Francis S. Hathaway spent much of his early life in China attending to the interests of the business there. He died in 1869 and bequeathed his property, considered a large one for those days, equally to his brother, Thomas S., and the heirs of his brother Nathaniel. Horatio Hathaway became possessed of a considerable fortune at the death of Thomas S. Hathaway, in 1878. Outside of Mr. Hathaway's connection with the tea business in his earlier years he had cares that the management of a large estate entailed which made him a very busy and active man. He was at one time appointed treasurer of the Potomska Mills, but with his other duties found it to be too exacting and resigned after a brief trial.
Early in his career Mr. Hathaway took a lively interest in all questions which concerned the civic welfare of the city. His sound discretion, executive powers and broad culture gave him the confidence of his fellow-citizens and he was sought for places of trust in the city government. In politics he was first a Whig, and when the Republican party was organized joined its ranks, and ever remained a most loyal and conservative adherent. Mr. Hatha- Way was a member of the city council of New Bedford in 1866-67-68-69-77 and president in 1868 and 1869. In this capacity his voice was always on the side of wise economy. In 1869 he was a candidate for mayor and was defeated by George B. Richmond.
Mr. Hathaway's opinions on all questions of finance and economy were always held as authority. He was president and a director of the Acushnet Mills and Hathaway Manufacturing Corporation. He was a director of the Mechanics' National Bank, the Potomska Mills and the Wamsutta Mills, and also a member of the board of investment of the Institution for Savings. He was also interested in other manufactories in New Bedford and Fall River. It was one of Mr. Hathaway's strongest personal characteristics that he would never accept any position which he had not sufficient time or opportunity to properly attend to, and he never attempted any work which was not thoroughly performed. He was known to be a man of most conservative opinions. His tastes were of marked simplicity and his manners were always unaffected and unpretentious, and courteous to a marked degree. He was preéminently a man of scrupulous honesty and in his business transactions preferred to appear to disadvantage rather than to resort to any kind of deception. He always maintained a high standard of morals and had the courage to live and act up to his convictions in the face of any opposition.
Mr. Hathaway was actively interested in the founding of St. Luke's Hospital, its president from its inception and a liberal contributor to its support until his death. He also gave liberally of his time and means to other charitable organizations of New Bedford. He was a constant attendant and member of Grace Church. He formerly attended the Unitarian church, but its modern liberalism was not in-accord with his tastes. His benefactions to Grace Church and the parish house were most liberal. He was senior warden of the church for many years prior to his death.
In 1859 Mr. Hathaway married Ellen Rodman, daughter of Samuel Rodman. Children: Samuel Rodman, born in 1860, died in 1863; Ellen Rodman, born in 1862; Elizabeth, born in 1864, married, in 1899, Charles Osmyn Brewster, died in 1913, and their children were: Horatio Hathaway, born in 1900, and Elizabeth, born in 1903; Thomas Schuyler; Horatio, born in 1870, married, in 1898, Mabel Lovering, daughter of Henry M. Lovering, of Taunton, they the parents of one child, Lovering, born in 1898.
JOHN T. COUGHLIN - Among the early settlers of Irish birth in Fall River, Massachusetts, were Thomas Coughlin and Margaret Foley, both born in County Cork, Ireland, who, about 1840, left
Ireland and came to the United States, both then unmarried, They met at Fall River, Massachusetts, there were married, reared a family and passed the remainder of their lives, and died, honored and respected by all who knew them. Among their children was John T. Coughlin, a native son and an eminent lawyer, who has been honored by his townsmen with their highest endorsement, by being elected by their votes, to the office of chief executive, an office, it may be said, that he filled most capably and efficiently, so capably and efficiently that he was twice reélected. As a lawyer, he has won high standing at the Bristol county bar, and serves a clientele both large and influential.
John T. Coughlin, son of Thomas and Margaret (Foley) Coughlin, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, January 1, 1873, and there has spent the half-century of years which have since elapsed. He completed grade and high school courses of public school study, read law with Judge Hugo A. Dubuque, entered Boston University Law School, and received from that institution his LL.B. with the graduating class of 1900. The same month and year he was admitted to the Boston bar, and in September, 1900, to the Bristol county bar, and then began practice at Fall River. For a_ short time he was associated with Judge Hugo A. Dubuque, his former preceptor, but since sundering that connection he has practiced independently. He is one of the strong men of the Bristol county bar and has the respect and confidence of all who know him. For eight years, beginning with 1915, he has served as counsel to the Fall River Water Department and is also legal counsel to many firms and individuals.
From youth, Mr. Coughlin has been active in public affairs, affiliated with the Democratic party. In 1904 he was elected mayor of Fall River for a two years' term, was reélected in 1906 and again in 1908, his entire service as mayor covering a period of six years, during which Fall River was wiseley and efficiently governed in all departments, Mayor Coughlin surrounding himself with men of capacity, who administered their departments as he administered the executive function, wisely and well. Mr. Coughlin is a member of Fall River Lodge, No. 118, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Boston City Club (charter member); and his religious faith is that of a Roman Catholic.
HENRY CARROLL WRIGHT MOSHER - When, in 1899, Henry C. W. Mosher came to the presidency of the Merchants' National Bank, New Bedford, Massachusetts, he was the fifth man to hold that responsible position, that bank having been chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by act of June 18, 1825. The history of the institution during its ninety-three years of existence is entwined with the lives and doing of New Bedford's foremost citizens, its list of presidents beginning with that sterling citizen, John Avery Parker, who ruled from incorporation, in 1825, until 1854, he giving way to Charles R. Tucker,
1854-1876, Jonathan Bourne then succeeding, 1876- 1889. The fourth president was Gilbert Allen, 1889-1899, he being succeeded in the latter year by Henry C. W. Mosher.
Mr. Mosher is a descendant of Ensign Mosher, who came to Boston, in 1636, and died at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1694. Of the origin of this Hugh Mosher the following is written:
Prior to the year 1600, there were in Manchester, and London, England, five brothers by the name of Mosher or Mosier - viz: William, John, Thomas, Stephen and George. Three of these brothers had sons named Hugh, who were distinguished men. 1. Hugh, son of John Mosher, went to India, where he amassed a fortune, and on his return to England was knighted and created a baron. He died in London, leaving no children. 2. Hugh, son of Thomas Mosher, sailed for New England in 1632, and finally settled at Falmouth, Maine. 3. Ensign Hugh Mosher, the ancestor of Henry C. W. Mosher, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to whom this review is inscribed.
Provenance
Text from A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Vol. 2), published 1924, in the public domain in the United States and digitised by the Internet Archive. The settlements listed against this township are matched by point-in-polygon test of each Geographic Names Information System coordinate against the Census Bureau's county subdivision boundary, not by name.