USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 2 > Part 52
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Jonathan Mosher, eldest son and second child of Bryce Mosher and his first wife, Peace (Gifford) Mosher, was born in Westport, Massachusetts, Oc- tober 4, 1799, died December 19, 1890. He was a man of high intelligence, self-educated and well- read. For many years he was toll-keeper of the old New Bedford and Fairhaven toll bridge before it was made free, and later bought a farm in Fair-
haven upon which he lived to a good old age, hon- ored and respected. He was an ardent Abolitionist, aiding in the operation of the "Underground Rail- road" by which many slaves escaped to Canada. He married (first) in June, 1824, Catherine Soule, born February 25, 1793, died February 6, 1825, without issue. He married (second) August 7, 1825, Abi- gail Soule, born September 18, 1804, died April 26, 1874, sister of his first wife, both tracing descent to a "Mayflower" ancestor, George Soule. He mar- ried (third) in 1875, Susan Starkey. Jonathan Mosh- er and his second wife, Abigail (Soule) Mosher, were the parents of six sons and five daughters: 1. James E., born October 12, 1828, died Novem- ber 30, 1829. 2. James Edwin, born August 25, 1830, believed to be living in Australia. 3. William Coe, born December 19, 1832, whereabouts un- known. 4. Angeline Caroline, born March 9, 1835, died November 4, 1836. 5. Charles Edward Everett, born May 8, 1836, died November 19, 1915; he mar- ried, July 22, 1875, Mary Elizabeth Briggs, born May 28, 1852; they had two children: Charlotte Shirley, born May 15, 1876, married Walter L. Weeden, born November 28, 1875, and had a son, William Nye Weeden, born July 31, 1904; Brycia Gladys, born August 11, 1886, married Thomas W. Williams, born July 26, 1886. 6. Abbie Catherine, born May 8, 1838, died November 7, 1910; married, July 6, 1865, Charles A. Johnson, who died August 31, 1889, without issue. 7. Mary Ellen, born March 22, 1840, died February 28, 1841. 8. Mary Everline, born November 19, 1841, died July 31, 1915. 9. Cyrus Burleigh, born November 25, 1843, died April 26, 1859. 10. Henry Carroll Wright, of further mention. 11. Eliza Caroline, born October 16, 1847, died August 10, 1848.
Henry Carroll Wright Mosher, youngest son and tenth child of Jonathan Mosher and his second wife, Abigail (Soule) Mosher, and the last survivor of that family, was born in New Bedford, Massa- chusetts, August 12, 1845, and there spent the first seven years of his life. He then was taken by his parents to the farm they had purchased. He was educated in the Fairhaven public schools, finishing with graduation from high school, his brother, Charles Edward Everett, a well known educator of his day, being one of his instructors and lending the weight of his influence in keeping the lad in school. Later he pursued courses of study in Comer's Commercial College, in Boston, beginning his business career as a clerk with Wood, Bright- man & Company, tinsmiths, remaining with that firm for six years, 1864-1870, becoming a clerk in the employ of the Merchants' National Bank, of New Bedford, in August, 1870. After three years in clerical position he was advanced to the post of teller, remaining at that desk twelve years, then in 1885 becoming assistant cashier with Peleg C. Howland, who had been cashier for twenty-seven years, 1858-1885. One month later Mr. Howland died, and Mr. Mosher became cashier. He continued the able, efficient cashier for about fourteen years,
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Milliam O. Freene
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1885-1899, then early in the year 1899, the death of Gilbert Allen, who had been president of the bank for ten years, caused a vacancy in the executive office which was filled by the board of directors electing Mr. Mosher as his successor and the bank's fifth president. At the time of his elevation to the presidency Mr. Mosher had been in the bank's em- ploy for twenty-nine years, 1870-1899. His rise from clerk to president was rapid, and in his course he held every position upon merit, and rose to a higher one through natural selection. That he filled a post for thirty-two years that was honored by that strong and eminent citizen, James B. Congdon, the first cashier of the bank, and another filled by an- other eminent son of New Bedford, John Avery Parker, the bank's first president, is a guarantee of high efficiency and sterling character in itself, while a perusal of the names of the presidents and cash- iers of the bank rivals a list of men who have figured prominently in New Bedford history for the past century and more-men who not less than the institution with which they were connected have been important factors in New Bedford's growth, prosperity and greatness.
In addition to his bank responsibilities, Mr. Mosh- er is a director of the Kilburn Mill, and the Grinnell Mill, both of New Bedford, the Borden City Mill, of Fall River, Massachusetts; New Bedford and Agawam Finishing Company, of East Wareham, Massachusetts, and has other interests of import- ance. He is a Republican in politics, active in its interest, but as a citizen never holding nor desir- ing public office. He is a member of Star of the East Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Adoniram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; New Bedford Coun- cil, Royal and Select Masters; Sutton Commandery, Knights Templar. Now the veteran banker of over half a century, and past life's summit, Mr. Mosher takes no advantage of the years he owns, but de- votes the business hours of the day to the duties as bank executive, and is the strong, virile, level- headed man of affairs. His business life has been spent with the Merchants' National, and the name of the institution and the executive are synonymous in New Bedford.
Mr. Mosher married, June 17, 1869, Evelyn E. Gerrish, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two children: 1. Grace Matilda, born April 23, 1870, married, June 2, 1896, James H. Coffin, born March 31, 1865. 2. Harry Gerrish, born February 25, 1873, engaged in the life insur- ance business in New York City; he married, in October, 1896, Sarah A. Dunham, born September 1, 1878, their only child being Gwendolyn Eliza- beth, born March 30, 1898, she of the tenth Ameri- can generation of the family founded by Rev. and Ensign Hugh Mosher.
WILLIAM STEDMAN GREENE, M. C .- In the year 1875 William S. Greene, of Fall River, Massachusetts, was elected a member of the Com- mon Council of Fall River, and during the near half-century of years that has since intervened his
record of public service has been practically con- tinuous, city, State, and Nation having the benefit of his public spirit and devotion to the cause of the public good. His Congressional career began in 1898, and he has been a member of every Con- gress of the United States from the Fifty-fifth (1898-99) to the Sixty-seventh (1922-23). He is per- haps best known nationally for his connection with the Ship Subsidy Bill, of which he was the "father," and which he ably defended on the floor of the House during the session of the Sixty-seventh Congress, his speech delivered on November 23, 1922, being a masterly presentation of the case of the bill. That it failed of passage was not due to faults of the bill nor to weakness on the part of its friends, but to a political situation in Congress most deplorable. In closing his speech, after with- standing most ably a storm of questions, Mr. Greene said:"Those who are against this measure and have no substitute or alternative of their own are against the dearest interests of all America."
Mr. Greene is of the ninth generation of the family founded in New England by Dr. John Greene, a surgeon, born on his father's estate at Bowbridge Hill, Parish of Gillingham, Dorsetshire, England, son of Richard and Mary (Hooker) Greene, grandson of Richard Greene, and great- grandson of Robert Greene, all residents of Bow- bridge Hill in their day. Surgeon John Greene, born about 1590, married at Salisbury, the Shiretown of Wilts, in St. Thomas' Church, November 4, 1619, Joanne Tattershall, and with his wife and six children (all of whom were baptized in the church in which their parents were married) sailed on the ship "James" for New England, arriving in Boston, June 3, 1635. He settled at Salem, where he was associated with Roger Williams and became the medical practitioner in Providence, Rhode Island, and was one of the eleven men baptized by Roger Williams, these twelve forming the membership of the First Baptist Church on the American Continent. Surgeon Greene bought land, 700 acres, upon which he lived and which remained in the faniily until sold by his great-great-grandchildren, one hundred and forty years later. He was a prominent man in the colony, took active part in public affairs, and held office until the summer preceeding his death in January, 1659. His children were all by h's first wife, who died soon after the removal to Rhode Island. The line of descent is thus traced to William Stedman Greene, of Fall River, Massachusetts; Surgeon John Greene and his wife, Joanne Tattershall; their son, James Greene (a man of note), and his wife, Deliverance Potter; their son, James (2) Greene, and his wife, Mary Fones: their son, Fones Greene, and his wife, Rebecca Tibbetts; their son, Job Greene, and his wife, Mercy Greene; their son, Job (2) Greene, and his wife, Mercy Dexter; their son, William Fones Greene, and his wife, Abby Sheldon; their son, Chester Washington Greene, and his wife, Abby Stone Stedman; and their son, William Stedman Greene, of Fall River.
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Potowomut was the home of James Greene, of the second generation, there his great-grandson, General Nathanael Greene, of Revolutionary fame, was born, and there descendants resided for two centuries. James Greene was a member of the Gen- eral Court of Rhode Island, as was his son, James (2) and his grandson, Fones Greene. Rhode Island was the home of the first seven generations, but Chester Washington Greene, of the eight generation, married Abby Stone Stedman, daughter of Judge Bial Sted- man, of Belpre, Washington, county, Ohio, and for a time was a resident of Tremont, Illinois, returning to Massachusetts in 1844 and locating at Fall River, where he was a properous busi- ness man and one time postmaster. He died August 24, 1896, leaving a daughter, Anna Ormsbee Greene, who married Eliphalet S. Brown, and a son, William Stedman Greene, of this review.
William Stedman Greene, only son of Chester Washington and Abby Stone (Stedman) Greene, was born in Tremont, Tazewell county, Illinois, April 28, 1841, but in 1844 Fall River, Massachusetts, became the family home, and there he attended the public schools until fifteen years of age, then began his business career as clerk in a millinery and fancy goods store. In March, 1858, he entered the em- ploy of John P. Slade, insurance, continuing with him until May, 1865. For a year he was unsettled in residence, living in Providence, Buffalo, and New York City, but in all these cities continued in the insurance field of activity. In 1866 he returned to Fall River, and became associated with his father, and, as Greene & Son, they conducted an extensive auction, insurance and real estate business, William S. Greene continuing the business after the death of his father in 1896 until the present, 1923, real estate being his specialty.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Greene, from early life, took an interest and active part in public affairs and always has zealously supported party candidates and principles. In the fall of 1875 he was chosen to represent the Fifth Ward of Fall River in the Com- mon Council, and held that office through successive reëlections for four years, being president of council during the last three years of his term. He was also, in 1876, chairman of the Republican City Com- mittee. In 1879 the Republican City Convention nominated Mr. Greene for mayor, by acclamation, his election following in November by less than 500 majority. He conducted the affairs of the city econ- omically yet efficiently, vetoing several appropriation bills, one of which council passed over his veto. During his term the ordinance was passed creating the office of superintendent of public buildings; inspector of buildings; establishing a fire district regulating build- ing construction throughout the city, and creating the office of city engineer. He was reelected mayor in 1881 by nearly triple the majority of his first elec- tion, but he resigned the office in March, 1881, hav- ing received from President Garfield appointment as postmaster of Fall River, an office he held for four years, assuming the duties of the office April 15, 1881. In 1880 Mr. Greene was an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention which nomi-
nated James A. Garfield for President. In 1886, upon the expiration of his term as postmaster, he was again elected mayor of Fall River, and became known all over the State as a clean, fearless and efficient executive. In 1887 and 1888 he was defeated for reëlection, and in 1888 Governor Ames appointed him State superintendent of prisons, an office he ad- ministered most zealously and efficiently for one year, was one year under Governor Brocate, and two and a half years under Governor Russell, a Democrat. Mr. Greene was the unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Fall River in 1894, but in 1895 was elected by a majority of 734, reelected in 1896 by 1514 ma- jority, and in 1897 by 3121, and declined renomina- tion in 1898. He was appointed postmaster of Fall River in 1898 by President Mckinley, and on April 1, 1898, entered upon the duties of that office, only to resign them May 31, 1898, having been elected to represent the Thirteenth Massachusetts District in the National House of Representatives, to fill out an . unexpired term of John Simpkins, deceased, that dis- trict, now the Fifteenth, including in Bristol county the cities of Fall River, Taunton and Attleboro, and the towns of Berkeley, Dighton, Freetown, Mans- field, South Attleboro, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, and Westport; and in Plymouth county, the town of Lakeville, the popula- tion of the district in 1920 being 217,307. He took his seat in the Fifty-fifth Congress, was reelected and served in the Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, Fifty- eighth, Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, Sixty-first, Sixty-second, Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth, Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses, serving in these bodies on important regular and special committees, and in the Sixty-seventh Congress was chairman of Merchant Marine and Fisheries, that committee reporting fa- vorably the Ship Subsidy Bill, which Mr. Greene fathered and pressed for passage.
Possibly influenced by his knowledge of postal af- fairs gained during his years of service as postmas- ter, Congressman Greene was the champion of sev- eral important bills affecting the post office depart- ment. This called forth in June, 1906, the following resolution from a branch of the National Associa- tion of Letter Carriers of New Bedford, Massachu- setts, the following resolutions, which had been unanimously adopted :
WHEREAS: Our Congressman, the Honorable William S. Greene, having done an immeasurable amount of work with the Post Office Department to have the new census accepted and to have the carrier service re-classified, and in having the compensation of our mounted carriers raised to equal that of the same branch of the civil service in other cities; it is therefore
Resolved, That as he has always shown a deep interest in everything pertaining to the letter carriers, both in and out of Congress, that we, the members of Branch No. 18, National Association of Letter Carriers, do hereby express our gratifica- tion and tender to him our heartiest thanks for the interest he has always taken in our welfare; and
Resolved, That we extend to our honored friend our wishes for his long continuance in the responsible place he has so honor- ably filled in the service of his country.
Mr. Greene is a member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church; member and a past master of Mount Hope Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; is a companion of the Royal Arch; a cryptic Mason, and a sir knight of the Commandery; also an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and a Forester.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Mr. Greene married, March 8, 1865, Mary E. White, daughter of Pardon A. and Elizabeth W. (Spink) White, of Fall River. Mr. and Mrs. Greene are the parents of three children: Mabel Lawton, Chester White, and Foster Ragnier. These children are of the tenth generation of the family founded in New England by Surgeon John Greene, in 1635.
HERBERT FRANCIS SHERWOOD, A. M .- A man of wide experience and great versatility, Mr. Sherwood has won prominence as a writer and lec- turer on immigration and sociology; as a special writer to newspapers and magazines; as a war worker and an after the war worker in adjusting post-war problems, and finally in Chamber of Com- merce work, in which he has been eminently suc- cessful both in organization and management. He came to Fall River in January, 1923, as manager of the Chamber of Commerce of that city.
The Sherwoods of England, a name perpetuated for all time by Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood, trace in the thirteenth century to the de Shirewode family, and from that ancient English line came Thomas Sherwood, one of the early settlers of Fair- field, Connecticut. Through intermarriage of de- scendants of Governor William Bradford, Elder Wil- liam Brewster, John Alden and Richard Warren with Sherwoods, a line of "Mayflower" ancestry is traced from Herbert F. Sherwood to those of the Plymouth Colony in 1620.
Herbert Francis Sherwood . was born at West Cornwall, Litchfield county, Connecticut, son of John Cotter and Ellen Clarissa (Hart) Sherwood, his father a commission merchant long established in New York City, and a descendant of Thomas Sherwood of Fairfield, Connecticut. His mother was daughter of Nathan Hart, of Cornwall, Connecticut, a descendant of Stephen Hart, one of the settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, and of John Whittlesey, one of the founders of Saybrook, Connecticut. Herbert F. Sherwood spent his boy- hood days chiefly in Washington, Connecticut, where he attended the famous Gunnery School. He is yet connected with that school through its alumni association, of which he is now (1923) president. His early manhood years found him a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, where John C. Sherwood had established the family home after retiring from his New York business.
Herbert F. Sherwood was early attracted to jour- nalism as a profession, and after serving an appren- ticeship on the Stamford "Advocate" entered the employ of the New York "Tribune" as a staff mem- ber. That was in 1899 and for sixteen years he was connected with the "Tribune," for a large part of that time as a special writer. During the first two years on the "Tribune" staff he was ship news re- porter and during that time became interested in the problems involved in the development of the port of New York. His familiar knowledge of the harbor and its problems caused his selection by the Board of Education of New York City as a lecturer, and he spoke to more than two hundred audiences in
every part of the city, his theme "New York Har- bor." His experiences led him to take a deep inter- est in the subject of immigration, and its importance as one of his country's fundamental problems was forced upon him. In 1907, in the pursuit of know- ledge on the subject, he made a European tour with the United . States Immigration Commission and visited Italy, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Galicia, Germany and Belgium.
While abroad, Mr. Sherwood wrote a series of circular letters, regarding conditions, to a group of persons which included President Eliot, of Har- vard, Archbishop Ireland, Bishop Potter, of New York, Jacob I. Schiff and others. Upon his return he began contributing to the "Outlook," "Inde- pendent," "Review of Reviews," "Collier's" and other periodicals on social topics, chiefly immigra- tion. One of these articles, published in the 'Out- look" in January, 1908, following the great exodus of immigrants in 1907, is considered to have been the first to show that (prior to the war) the flow of American immigration was regulated by the law of supply and demand, and that the figures of the eastward and westward movement formed an index of the American labor market. In 1908 he made a study of the Italian colonies of the chief cities of Connecticut for use at a Congress held in Rome that year.
Becoming more definitely interested in social questions, and desiring ultimately to devote his time to them in a constructive way, he took post- graduate work at Columbia University, and studied at the Bureau of Municipal Research of New York City. In 1911, following a lecture on Immigration, a subject in which he came to be a recognized authority, he received from Dickinson College the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
Mr. Sherwood left the staff of the "Tribune" in 1915 with the expectation of taking up special com- munity welfare organization work. The same sum- mer, in New York, he was associated with the first movement for the expansion of the American Red Cross from the small organization headed by Clara Barton. Following participation in the first and only Naval Civilian Cruise in August of that year, he joined the staff of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as assistant secretary. He re- mained associated with this organization in this cap- acity for more than two years, and during the six months prior to the signing of the armistice was also a member of the staff of the United States Committee on Public Information, in charge of the examination of motion pictures intended for export, with the object of preventing improper propaganda from going abroad.
A few days after war was declared in 1917, he joined the "Shippan" Company of the Connecticut State Guard in Stamford, Connecticut, where he was living, as it was evident that his age would not admit him to the military service of the country in any other capacity. He served for nearly two years, also acted as publicity director in all of the most important war drives in Stamford, and was
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BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
secretary and a member of the executive committee of the citizen body formed to promote a readjust- ment of workers in war industries in Stamford.
He wrote for publication in the New York "Trib- une" in the spring of 1918 an article which des- cribed a movement headed by Dr. Thomas Masaryk, afterward president of Czecho-Slovakia, for the de- velopment of a group of small nations extending from the Adriatic to the Baltic to serve as a bulwark between Russia and Germany. This brought out the fact, at the time little recognized, that a very strong feeling existed among the Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the House of Hapsburg which could be capitalized in favor of the cause of the Allies. This article, without the knowledge of Mr. Sherwood, was circulated through- out the press of the United States. Later, on the arrival of Dr. Masaryk in this country, he wrote another full page article for the "Tribune" con- cerning Dr. Masaryk, recognized abroad as one of the great statesmen of the world but little known in this country, although his wife was an American. This led to a personal acquaintance with Dr. Masaryk.
During the latter part of the war and for a year afterward, Mr. Sherwood was the American corres- pondent of the "New Europe," a magazine pub- lished in London by a group of distinguished states- men and publicists representing all the Allied coun- tries, for the purpose of promoting a better Europe following the war. In his articles Mr. Sherwood, having learned through his earlier contact with Eur- ope and Europeans, something about their general lack of knowledge of America, sought to clarify their views regarding the psychology and institutions of America as a guide to a better understanding of the problems of readjustment.
Following the close of the war, Mr. Sherwood took up the activities for which he had been fitting himself. Long possessed of the desire to put into practice some of the things he had been describing as a writer (and believing in the need of the capitalization of the spirit of cooperation and service developed through the war) he entered Chamber of Commerce work. He became attached to the staff of the American City Bureau of New York, an organization developed to help Chambers of Com- merce to serve their communities in a larger way and to provide training for executives for such organizations. During the three years he was at- tached to the staff of the Bureau he assisted in the reorganization of Chambers in the cities of Lowell, Lawrence, Northampton, Holyoke and Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; New Lon- don, Connecticut; Newburgh, New York; the Broad- way Association of New York City; Camden and Perth Amboy, New Jersey; Donora, Pennsylvania; Frederick, Maryland; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Americus, Georgia, Knoxville, Tennessee; Topeka. Kansas; Hamilton, Ontario; and Saskatoon, Sas- katchewan. He was instructor in Publicity and Community Advertising at the summer schools for commercial organization executives at Eagles Mere,
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