USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 7967
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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
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VOLUME XVIII
CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF
PLYMOUTH COUNTY
MASSACHUSETTS
"Biography is the home aspect of history"
BOSTON BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY
1897
ATLANTIC STATES SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS.
The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following : -
I. OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
II. MADISON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
III. BROOME COUNTY, NEW YORK.
IV. COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK. XIV. CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.
V. CAYUGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
VI. DELAWARE COUNTY, NEW YORK.
VII. LIVINGSTON AND WYOMING COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
VIII. CLINTON AND ESSEX COUNTIES, NEW YORK. IX. HAMPDEN COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
X. FRANKLIN COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
XI. HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
XII. LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.
XIII. YORK COUNTY, MAINE.
XV. OXFORD AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES,
MAINE.
XVI. CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
XVII. ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMP- SHIRE.
XVIII. PLYMOUTH COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
MARCH, 1897.
B. R. PUB. CO.,
15 COURT SQUARE, BOSTON.
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PREFACE.
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A VAILING ourselves with all diligence, and in good faith, of the material kindly placed at our disposal, we have pushed forward to its completion a new volume of contemporary biography,-the eighteenth in our Atlantic States Series,- which we take pleasure in tendering to our subscribers, the friends and patrons who have aided in our work, feeling confident that, however it may fall short of the ideal excellence striven after, it will be found to meet a real want, gratify a natural taste of the times, and occupy a place hitherto unfilled. The generation that fails to write its own records will seldom get a fair showing on the pages of history. Here on these western shores, where first
"Common men began to own the world,"
the inherent dignity of human nature, the worth of the individual, have been strongly emphasized. Genealogy, which traces descent, and helps to show the origin and transmission of personal traits, has become an attractive and popular study, and biography, which shows individual character and action, a favorite form of literature. The average newspaper gives undue prominence to the evil done by men of ill-will or misguided passion. To the writer of select biographies falls the cheerful task of setting down what is best deserving of remembrance and emulation in the virtuous lives of earnest workers in divers fields of usefulness.
These pages show what manner of men and women are now, two hundred seventy and more years after the landing on Plymouth Rock, dwelling in the old homes and haunts of the Pilgrims. Many of the worthies here commemorated are " Mayflower" descendants, kinsmen and kinswomen of that good and valiant band, through various lines of ancestry. Others trace from the "Fortune," the
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PREFACE
" Ann," the "Little James," the " Diligent," or later venturous barks, some being valued American citizens of foreign birth, yet as truly imbued with the Pilgrim spirit as was the poet whose forceful lines, already quoted from, choicely set forth the saintly and rugged virtues of the forefathers: -
" A saving remnant they ; Dreamers who work, adventurers who pray !
" They trusted first the universal vote ; The first were they to practise and instill The rule of law, and not the rule of will; They lived one noble test,- who would be freed Must give up all to follow duty's need."
MARCH, 1897.
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY.
Ringmen
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
UFUS PACKARD KINGMAN, late President of the Home Na- tional Bank, of Brockton, was for years closely identified with the most vital interests of this city. where he was an honored resident. He was born in what was then North Bridgewater (now Brockton), November 4, 1821, a few months after the birth of the town.
He was a son of Benjamin and Re- becca (Packard) Kingman, Benjamin being sixth in descent from Henry Kingman, who with his wife, Joanna, and five children, landed in Weymouth, Mass., July 10, 1636, coming from Weymouth, England.
North Bridgewater, in the early part of the century, was a small settlement of farmers and shoemakers. Benjamin Kingman was engaged for some time in the manufacture of shoes, but about 1833 he erected a public house on the present site of Washburn's Block, and went into the hotel business. Later he gave his attention chiefly to farming. He was for a number of years agent for the Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Hingham, Mass. Mr. Benjamin Kingman took an active part in political affairs, and was elected to a number of offices, serving for some time as Selectman of North Bridgewater, and attend- ing the General Court.
Rufus Packard Kingman attended the public schools of his native town, and also received
private instruction from some of the early teachers of the place - Mrs. Nathan Jones. Deacon Heman Packard, the Rev. Jonathan Coe, and others. He was twelve years old when his father erected his public house, and he began at that time to make himself useful. He afterward worked on the farm until he was eighteen years old, and in 1840 he entered the employ of William F. Brett, proprietor of the leading dry-goods and variety store in the town. This store was in the hotel building, corner of School and Main Streets. In 1846 Mr. Kingman was made a partner in the busi- ness, and the firm name changed to Brett & Kingman. He was never physically strong, and in 1854 he was obliged to retire from active business for a while on account of feeble health. While in the dry-goods trade, Mr. Kingman in 1850 erected the first brick building in the town, on the site of the old Centre schoolhouse, south of the hotel. It was named Kingman's Block, and is now occupied by Howard & Caldwell, clothiers.
Soon after the dissolution of the firm of Brett & Kingman, there was a demand for banking accommodations, and, a bank being established, Mr. Kingman was chosen Cashier. He filled his, position with such signal ability that the bank was a great success, and was only abandoned on the establishment of the United States Banking Laws. It was closed in 1866, on the decision of the Directors that they would not change to a national bank.
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In 1874 a new bank was chartered, called the Home National Bank; and Mr. Kingman being unanimously elected President, filled his office with honor and signal ability for twenty years. In 1876, when the North Bridgewater Savings Bank was closed, Mr. Kingman and Ellis Ames, of Canton, were appointed Trus- tees by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts to wind up its affairs. They performed their duty in such a faithful and judicious manner that they were able to pay the depositors ninety-four and ninety-six one hundredths per cent.
Mr. Kingman, on the death of his father, be- came agent for the Hingham Mutual Fire In- surance Company, and in 1871 he was elected to the Board of Directors. Affairs of great importance were often intrusted to him, and he was never found wanting in honesty and integrity of purpose. His personal success did not warp or narrow his nature. Often consulted on matters of finance, his advice was always freely and honestly given. When the North Bridgewater Board of Trade was estab- lished he was elected a Director; and in 1890, when the Brockton City Hospital was or- ganized, he was elected Vice-President. In 1874 he was one of the corporate members of the Brockton Agricultural Society. He was one of the first Directors of that body, was two years Treasurer, and for some time Vice- President; and in January, 1893, when the Commercial Club was organized, Mr. Kingman was elected President.
He belonged to a family well known for their prominence in local affairs, and he took a personal interest in the welfare of his native place. In politics he was a stanch Whig and Republican. While acting as Cashier of the first bank, he was elected Town Treasurer of North Bridgewater, and faithfully performed the duties of his office for nine years; in 1872
he was chosen Assessor; in 1873 and 1874 was re-elected; and in 1881 he was a member of the Retiring Board of Selectmen, it being the last year of the town government. He had much to do in arranging affairs for the in- auguration of the new city government, and under Brockton's new order of things he was elected to the Board of Aldermen from Ward 2, being made Chairman on the organization of the Board; and he was unanimously re- elected three times. The Hon. William L. Douglas, when mayor of the city, appointed him Chairman of the Board of Sewerage, May 31, 1890; and he was efficiently discharging the duties of this office at the time of his death, which occurred on Tuesday, February 20, 1894.
Mr. Kingman was married August 30, 1852, to Abby, only child of Captain Win - throp Sears and Sally (Hawes) Baker, of Yar- mouth, Mass. "He was fond of home, the life of the social circle, tender and affection- ate," says Bradford Kingman in his History of Brockton, from which the facts here given are taken. "He was plain of speech, honest, straightforward, firm, and decided when deci- sion was needed; had excellent judgment in all matters of business. .. . He had no ambi- tion for public honor or notoriety, and was never active in political strifes, though he was ever ready by his vote to promote the public good. . . . He was most genial and interesting in private, fond of company, had some wit, was always cheerful and buoyant, and quick at repartee. . .. He took great delight in look- ing over the personal history of the King- mans, and when the Kingman Memorial Asso- ciation was organized he took a prominent part, and was elected its Treasurer, filling the office until his death. He caused an elegant monument to be erected at his own expense in Union Cemetery, Brockton, to the memory of
ROBERT B. HALL.
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the ancestors of the Kingman family in Amer- ica. He had further plans, which were pre- vented from fulfilment by his death."
YRUS HOWARD, one of the old and respected citizens of Brockton, repre- senting a prominent and long estab- lished family, was born in North Bridgewater, November 14, 1817. He is a son of Cyrus and Sylvia (Howard) Howard, both descend- ants of John Howard, one of the early colo- nists of New England. and whose first home in this country was near that of Miles Standish. Further information concerning the Howard ancestry may be found in the sketch of George B. Howard.
Cyrus Howard, Sr., a well-to-do farmer of North Bridgewater, who owned a good farm of one hundred acres, spent his life in this place, and died at the age of eighty years. His wife. Sylvia, was a daughter of Colo- nel Caleb Howard, of North Bridgewater, who was descended from Ephraim and Mary (Keith) Howard, through Ephraim, born March 25, 1697, and George, son of Ephraim, born January 31, 1721. The latter, who died April 3, 1815, was married in 1745 to Abigail, daughter of Jonathan Copeland. She was born December 9, 1724, and died March 26, 1809. George and Abigail (Cope- land) Howard were the parents of eleven chil- dren, namely: Hannah, born July 26, 1746; Abigail, September 26, 1748; Betty, May 9, 1751; George, September 8, 1753; Oliver, December 21, 1755; Job, May 17, 1758; Caleb, December 15, 1760; Rachel, April 20, 1763; Patte, August 2, 1765; Asaph, March 19, 1768; and Nehemiah, born August 20, 1770. Colonel Caleb Howard, who was an officer in the State militia, and served in many town offices, died January 4, 1831. He
was married December 7, 1780, to Sylvia, daughter of Daniel Alger. She was born No- vember 13, 1761, and died September 17, 1819, at the age of fifty-seven. Her children were: Hannah, born May 9, 1782; Apollos, August 23, 1784; Abigail, March 23, 1786; Sylvia, June 9, 1788; Vesta, May 17, 1790; Chloe, January 19, 1793; Nancy, January 10, 1795; Welcome, April 17, 1797; Olive, July 24, 1799; Caleb, June 8, 1802; and Thomas Jefferson, July 20, 1804. Mrs. Sylvia (How- ard) Howard died February 14, 1822. She was the mother of two children, of whom Cyrus was the younger.
Cyrus Howard was educated in the common schools of North Bridgewater. He first worked at shoemaking, the leading industry of this section of Plymouth County. After several years of indoor labor, he found a more healthful occupation as driver of a market wagon. In managing sales for another he saw the opportunities for profit in the produce trade, and eventually started a market of his own, which he successfully managed for fifteen years. Mr. Howard is now retired from active business. He was married November 6, 1844, to Hannah, daughter of Zopher Field, of Brockton. She died October 14, 1873, leaving two children. Of the latter, Isabella A., the wife of Thomas W. Frost, of Wolfe- boro, N.H., now survives. Mr. Howard has been long affiliated with the Republican party and its lineal predecessors, having cast his first Presidential vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840. He attends religious service at the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Church.
ON. ROBERT B. HALL, formerly of Plymouth, who during his life- time served his fellow-men in the double capacity of minister of the gospel and
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legislator, was born in Boston, Mass., in the year 1812. Hle acquired his education in Boston and in Yale University, where he grad- uated from the School of Divinity. Early in his life he was a member of the Congrega- tional church, in whose ministry he spent seven or eight years. His religious views un- derwent a change some years later, and he entered the Episcopal church, receiving orders, and becoming a priest according to its rites and canons. For some time after his ordination lie was rector of the church in Newport, R.I., and also had charge of the parish of Plymouth, where through his efforts a church edifice was erected.
The logical force of his reasoning, and the conscientious motive of his efforts, gave him the same strong influence in municipal affairs that he exerted from the pulpit. When he was elected by the people of his district to rep- resent them in the legislative halls of the State, he was as potent in advocating a high standard of national morals as he had been in inculcating purity of individual life. Closing his connection with the State legislature with a year of service in the Senate, he was elected member of Congress, the duties of which office hc discharged faithfully and honorably for four years. The Senator-Priest of Plymouth delivered his message to the world from plat- form, pulpit, and press, enunciating the doc- trines of truth, purity, and honesty, and pointing steadily to the one perfect type of humanity. The contributions from his pen to various American magazines remain to in- struct and tell what manner of man he was. One of his most eloquent addresses was de- livered at the dedication of the Masonic Temple in Boston.
Mr. Hall married Miss Abbie N. Davis, a daughter of Nathaniel M. Davis, whose only sister married the distinguished historian,
George Bancroft, in 1843. William T. Davis, the historian, and Judge Davis, of Plymouth, both well known in the world of letters and jurisprudence, were cousins of Mrs. Hall. Mrs. Hall has one child, a daughter. Mr. Hall died in April, 1868, aged fifty-six years. Mrs. Hall is still a resident of Plym- outh, where the memory of her husband's good deeds lives after him.
ON. PELEG McFARLIN. - Peleg McFarlin, son of Sampson and Polly (Shurtleff) McFarlin, was born in Carver, Plymouth County, Mass., October 18, 1843. His early education, acquired in the public schools of his native town, was supple- mented by private study, and by attendance at a commercial college.
At the age of nineteen years he accepted a position as clerk in the Boston office of Mat- thias Ellis & Co., iron founders, whose manu- fatory was located at South Carver. Mr. McFarlin developed strong traits as a business inan, and came to occupy such a prominent position in the administration of the affairs of the company that in 1870 he was admitted to partnership by the firm which seven years before had first employed him as an inexperi- enced clerk. Mr. McFarlin then returned to his native town, and practically assumed full charge of the iron foundry, and for more than a quarter of a century he has guided and con- trolled its interests.
These works constitute a sort of historic landmark. They antedate the Revolution, having been established as far back as 1757, and having been, it is said, in almost contin- uous operation since that period. It is claimed that the first iron tea-kettle manu- factured in this country was cast at these works. Shot for the Revolution was made
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here, also for the War of 1812-14. A mem- ber of the company also engaged in supplying shells for the suppression of the Rebellion of I861. Of course. the foundry has passed through many vicissitudes incident to the march of progress, and its products to-day, under Mr. McFarlin's management, are strictly modern, consisting of ranges, fur- naces, parlor stoves, improved hollow ware, etc .. while no vestige remains of those anti- quated and now obsolete commodities, the production of which once engaged the full capacity of the works.
A public-spirited citizen, Mr. McFarlin since his return to his native town, has recog- nized his civic duties, and has been active along various lines of usefulness, having been called by the votes of his fellow-citizens to occupy many positions of responsibility and honor. For more than twenty years he has served as sole Trustee of the Benjamin Ellis School Fund. He has likewise served as a member of the School Committee, and in other town offices. He has been Postmaster of South Carver, without interruption for twenty years. Governor Talbot appointed Mr. Me- Farlin a Justice of the Peace, and his com- mission as Justice has never lapsed, having been renewed by Governor Robinson, and again renewed by Governor Russell. Mr. McFarlin is a Trustee of the Wareham Sav- ings Bank Corporation.
In the memorable Garfield campaign of 1880, Mr. McFarlin was nominated as a can- didate for Representative to the General Court from the Fourth Plymouth District, then in- cluding the towns of Carver, Plympton, Kingston, and Duxbury. He was elected, and, at the opening of the legislative session, was appointed a member of the Committee on Manufactures. He was prominent in the de- bates of the session, and served with such ac-
ceptance that the following year he was taken up by the citizens of the First Plymouth Dis- trict as a candidate for Senatorial honors, and with such unanimity that he received every vote in the nominating convention. For three years he remained a member of the State Senate, and enjoyed the rare distinction of being thrice nominated without a dissenting vote, and thrice elected by large and increas- ing majorities. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Manufactures in 1882 and 1883, and as Chairman of the Railroad Com- mittee in 1884.
The Hon. Charles T. Gallagher, the dis- tinguished Boston lawyer, published in the Middleboro Gasette a review of the Senate of 1882, of which he was himself a member, and in it paid the following graceful tribute to Mr. McFarlin : "I desire to express my admiration for the sterling qualities of character and at- tainment that he exhibited all through the session. To speak of his genial good nature, his manly character and bearing, his sterling integrity, and his business ability, would be but to repeat what is already well known by his constituents and friends. But, as a legis- lator, he shone out as an unusually bright and efficient man in the right place, not only for his general good judgment and knowledge of affairs of legislation, but as a debater on the floor, where, from the delivery of his speech on the presentation of the General David Cobb portrait, early in the session, to his able and lucid argument on the Judge Day case near its close, in the many times that he spoke at the Senatorial Board, he was recog- nized as one of the clearest, most interesting and conscientious speakers .of our number; and he added to his record of diligence in committee work the capacity to present his reports with clearness and ability before the full Board. As a companion, his beaming
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good nature, his ready wit, his off-hand prac- tical references and original productions passed around the Board at some incident oc- curring in the process of business, won him to the hearts of all his associates."
Mr. McFarlin has been a contributor to current literature, and is more or less in de- mand as a public speaker. His Memorial Day addresses, his speeches on political topics, and his literary productions, notably his con- tribution to King's "Tributes to Garfield," have given him prominence before the public as a speaker and writer. Mr. McFarlin was married in Carver in 1875 to Eldoretta, daugh- ter of Levi and Elizabeth (Look) Thomas. Of this union, two children are now living - Donald and Helena McFarlin. Winthrop, an infant son, died January 10, 1889.
Mr. McFarlin's home life is all that could be desired. He has a fine residence at South Carver, situated amid scenes of great natural attractiveness. Here he is content to dwell, with his well-cultivated farm, his well-stocked library, with troops of friends, and an inter- esting family zealously devoted to his happi- ness.
In preparing this brief biography, we are forcibly impressed with the thought that Mr. McFarlin's career demonstrates anew that we live in a land where a young man may, from comparatively feeble beginnings, by diligence and force of character, constantly improve his condition, and crown his life with worthy achievements.
RED F. FIELD, junior member of the well-known shoe manufacturing firm of Packard & Field, Brockton, was born in the part of Brockton known as Montello, May 11, 1861. He is the youngest child of William L. and Mary Dennison (Holmes)
Field. William L. Field was for many years extensively engaged in farming in Montello, where he owned a large tract of land, much of which is now occupied by thriving factories. Another of his sons, Daniel Waldo Field, who is a wealthy shoe manufacturer, erected and gave to Montello its pretty Congregational Church, and is identified with many other public enterprises.
Fred F. Field received his early education in the common schools of Brockton. His father had a large milk route, and the boy was early put on the wagon to serve customers, thus learning practical business methods when quite young. He subsequently took a course of study at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, Boston, and then entered the employ of Burt & Packard, of Brockton, in answer to their advertisement for an office boy. His diligent attention to business won the confi- dence of his employers, and he was promoted step by step from the position of office boy and porter to that of assistant to Mr. Packard in his factory. He was afterward made superin- tendent ; and when he had filled that position some two or three years, Mr. Burt having re- tired on account of ill health, Mr. Field be- came junior partner, under the firm name of Packard & Field. The firm of Burt & Packard was well known to the public through its phonetic form of advertising, "Korrect shape," and controlled an extensive and pros- perous business. It has been still further de- veloped since Mr. Field became actively con- nected with the business. He is active man- ager of the concern, buying all the stock, and attending to all financial details, Mr. Packard acting as silent partner. The firm employs some three hundred men, and turns out about six hundred pair of shoes daily, supplying cus- tomers both in this country and abroad.
Mr. Field was married February 20, 1884,
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to a daughter of Fred Packard, of Brockton, and has now one child. Fred F. In politics he is a Republican, but he takes no active in- terest in political affairs. He is an honored and popular member of the Commercial Club, and has been on its Executive Committee since its organization. In religious belief he is a Unitarian, and he attends the Church of the Unity.
OHN A. RICE, an old and honored resident of Rockland, was born Janu- ary 29, 1830, at Northfield, Vt., a son of Alphonso and Mary (Cardell) Rice. His father. Alphonso Rice, who was a manufact- urer of Northfield, and later a farmer of Brookfield, in his later years moved to Brook- lyn, Ia., where he died at the age of seventy- eight. His wife, Mary, was a native of New York State, having been born near Lake George.
John A. Rice was the eldest of a family of nine children. He was brought up on the farm, working in the summer, and attending the district schools in the winter. At the age of seventeen he began to teach school, an ex- ample which was subsequently followed by his brothers and sisters. He taught in his native State for four winters, and afterward in Massa- chusetts for two winters. At the age of twenty-one, desiring to begin life for him- self, he went to the West, where he spent some time in various employments. Return- ing home, he went to work in the general store of his brother-in-law at East Stoughton, now called Avon. As this relative of Mr. Rice's was also the Postmaster of the place, Mr. Rice attended for a while to the work of the post-office. Leaving East Stoughton, he went to New York City, where, however, he remained but a short time, returning in a few months to Vermont. At this time he
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