USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 2 > Part 51
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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 of- fice 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 twenty- one years, retiring from active business in 1892. At different times he was a trustee of the Border City Manufacturing Company, president of the Meta- comet 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 Re- bellion. He was twice a member of the Legislature, alderman, assessor, fire warden, and from 1862 until his death in 1901, held a commission as jus- tice 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 ap- peared in the list of the 115 members of the Church of the Ascension, which he later served as vestry- man, superintendent of the Sunday school, parish treasurer (forty-five years), and senior warden (un- til his death), while for nearly sixty years he rep- resented 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 Han- nah, born June 17, 1849, died September 16, 1853; Caroline Clinton, born July 22, 1852, married Ed- ward 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 Fran- ces (Alden) Durfee, was born at Fall River, Massa- chusetts, 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 en- tered 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 Wampan- oag 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 Manu- facturing 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 Manufactur- ing 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 Na- tional Association of Cotton Manufacturers during the war period, 1917-18; was an ex-treasurer of the Fall River Cotton Buyers' Association, and promi- nent in all departments of city life.
In politics Mr. Durfee was a Republican and served three years as councilman and alderman, be- ing 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 Dio- cesan Convention for many years, and it is interest- ing to note that the combined services of father and son in these offices covered a period of eighty -. two years. He was a member of the Fall River
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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 Associa- tion of Cotton Manufacturers." He often repre- sented 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 cooperative lines for the benefit of the industry. Mr. Durfee was local chair- man 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 Chal- oner, 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 Barn- stable. 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 town- ships 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 Dart- mouth had been made at Russell's Mills by the Rus- sells, 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 own- ers in 1652, perhaps only five or six became settlers. The lands were taken up mostly by Friends or Quakers, not particularly identified with the Puri- tans. 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 Nan- tucket, 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-
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BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
land; married Dionis Stevens; immigrated in 1642 and lived at Salisbury, Haverhill and Salisbury, and in 1662 removed to Nantucket; was patriarch of 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 Samuel Wing, of Sandwich; Jethro, of further mention.
(IV) Captain Jethro Hathaway, son of Thomas Hathaway, was born in July, 1720, and died June 15, 1803. The Hathaways were extensive land- owners, 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 Bed- ford to Acushnet, Jethro Hathaway, as well as his father and grandfather, was a prominent man in the early history of Dartmouth, and the handwrit- ing 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.
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(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 Au- gust 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; Hep- zibeth, born April 13, 1777, married, September 1, 1802, Pardon Howland; Alice, born November 13, 1779, married, September 24, 1800, Asa Russell, and died February 12, 1802; Nathaniel, born February 18, 1781, died at Charleston, October 26, 1802; Elizabeth, born December 9, 1782, married, Novem- ber 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, died May 2, 1821. He married, December 27, 1787, Abi- gail 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 men- tion; 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, mar- ried Joshua C. Stone, of Boston, and died in 1903; Francis, born in 1829, married, in 1854, Susan (Shoe- maker) 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 be- queathed his property, considered a large one for those days, equally to his brother, Thomas S., and the heirs of his brother Nathaniel. Horatio Hatha- way became possessed of a considerable fortune at the death of Thomas S. Hathaway, in 1878. Out- side 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 ex- acting 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
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BIOGRAPHICAL
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 Bed- ford 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. Rich- mond.
.. 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 Institu- tion for Savings. He was also interested in other manufactories in New Bedford and Fall River. It was one of Mr. Hathaway's strongest personal char- acteristics 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 man- ners were always unaffected and unpretentious, and courteous to a marked degree. He was preemi- nently a man of scrupulous honesty and in his business transactions preferred to appear to disad- vantage rather than to resort to any kind of de- ception. 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 mem- ber 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 Schuy- ler; Horatio, born in 1870, married, in 1898, Mabel Lovering, daughter of Henry M. Lovering, of Taun- ton, they the parents of one child, Lovering, born in 1898.
JOHN T. COUGHLIN-Among the early set- tlers 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 execu- tive, an office, it may be said, that he filled most capably and efficiently, so capably and efficiently that he was twice reelected. 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, Massa- chusetts, 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. Du- buque, 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. Du- buque, 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 reelected 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 re- ligious 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 Massa- chusetts, by act of June 18, 1825. The history of the institution during its ninety-three years of ex- istence is entwined with the lives and doing of New Bedford's foremost citizens, its list of presi- dents beginning with that sterling citizen, John Avery Parker, who ruled from incorporation, in 1825, until 1854, he giving way to Charles R. Tucker,
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BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
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 Manches- ter, and London, England, five brothers by the name of Mosher or Mosier-viz: William, John, Thomas, Stephen and George. Three of these broth- ers 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. En- sign Hugh Mosher, the ancestor of Henry C. W. Mosher, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to whom this review is inscribed.
Rev. and Ensign Mosher, son of Stephen Mosher, of Manchester, England, arrived in Boston in 1636, and settled first at Salem, going thence to Rhode Island, with his friend, Roger Williams, the early Apostle of religious freedom, who was pastor of the Salem Church before settling the colony in Rhode Island, at Providence, Hugh Mosher aid- ing him. He married Lydia Maxon or Masam, they leaving sons: Hugh (2), John, Nicholas, Joseph, Daniel and James. The line of descent is through Rev. Hugh (2) Mosher, born in 1633, died in 1713, who married (first) Rebecca Harndel. Rev. Hugh (2) and Rebecca (Harndel) Mosher were the parents of: Nicholas, John, Joseph, Mary, James, Daniel and Rebecca, the line continuing through the fifth son, Daniel. Daniel Mosher was born in 1678, and died in 1751. He married, in 1704, Elizabeth Ed- wards, and they were the parents of eleven chil- dren; the next in direct line being their son, Ben- jamin Mosher, born April 19, 1706, who was suc- ceeded by his son, George Mosher, born October 11, 1740, married, about 1765, Meribah Brightman, born May 11, 1746, died June 29, 1823, being killed in a runaway while being driven by her son, Bryce. George and Meribah (Brightman) Mosher were the parents of a large family including a son, Bryce Mosher, born February 28, 1777, died March 9, 1863. He married (first) in December, 1797, Peace Gifford, born March 31, 1780, died November 1, 1840, the mother of twelve children. He married (second) Rozilla Decker, they the parents of five children.
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