A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3, Part 25

Author: Hutt, Frank Walcott, 1869- editor
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 528

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 25

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Birtwell Stafford, son of John Foster and Maude (Birtwell) Stafford, was born in Fall River, De- cember 15, 1899. After attending the public schools of Fall River, he became a student in Westminster School, of Simsbury, Connecticut, from which he was graduated in 1918. In the fall of 1920 he be- came associated with the John F. Stafford Com- pany. His connection with that concern has been maintained to the present time (1923). During the three years which have passed since the death of his father, he has devoted his full time and energy to the advancement of its interests. He is member of King Philip's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he holds the thirty-second de- gree; he is also well known in club circles, being a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Quequechan Club, the Fall River Kennel Club, the Boys' Club, the Young Men's Christian Association, and the Fall River Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation is with the Union Methodist Church.

In Boston, Massachusetts, in June, 1921, Birtwell Stafford married Eleanor D. Lowe, who was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, daughter of Stephen C. and Mary Esther (Carter) Lowe, both natives of Brookline, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs., Staf- ford have no children.

GEORGE ALBERT CHACE-Ten generations of the Chace (Chase) family can be traced in New England, George Albert Chace being of the eighth, Dr. Fenner A. Chace being of the ninth, his son, Fenner Albert (2), of the tenth, beginning with William Chase, who came in 1630 with the Gov- ernor John Winthrop fleet. In England the family is traced as Chase until the middle of the fifteenth century to Thomas Chase, a descendant of the an-

cient family of Chesham. The family was seated in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and bore arms:

Arms-Gules, four crosses patonce argent, two and two, on a canton azure, a lion rampant or.

(1) From this family came William Chase, born in England in 1695, who came to New England in 1630, with his wife Mary and son William, settling first at Roxbury, where he was admitted a freeman, May 14, 1634. About 1637 he joined with others in founding the town of Yarmouth, on Cape Cod, where in 1639 he was made a constable, and there he died in May, 1659. By will he bequeathed to his wife Mary and two sons, William and Ben- jamin. His widow survived him until October, 1659. From William and Mary Chase descent is traced through (II) their son, William Chase, born in England about 1622; (III) his son, Joseph Chase, a member of the Society of Friends, and his wife, Sarah Sherman; (IV) their son, George Chase, and his wife, Lydia Shove; (V) their son, Benjamin Chase, and his second wife, Sarah Cornell; (VI) their son, Robert Chase, and his first wife, De- borah Chace; (VII) their son, Albert Gordon Chace, and his wife, Sarah Shearman Purinton; (VIII) their son, George Albert Chace, and his wife, Sarah A. Brownell, and (IX) their only son, Fenner Al- bert Chace, of Fall River.

George Albert Chace, of the eighth generation, was born in Somerset, Massachusetts, September 16, 1844, and died at Attleboro, Massachusetts, Oc- tober 23, 1907. He enlisted at the age of seventeen in the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Silas P. Richmond, and was in active service until mustered out in July, 1863. He then located at Fall River and there be- came master of the intricacies involved in cotton manufacturing, rising to a position of great respon- sibility. In 1874 he was elected treasurer and man- ager of the Shove Mills, operating 60,000 spindles and 1,500 looms. He also, in 1881, became manager and treasurer of the Bourne Mills of Fall River, which operated 43,000 spindles and 1,260 looms. He resigned his position as manager of the Shove Mills in 1884, but continued manager and treasurer of the Bourne Mills until his death, establishing in that plant a system of profit-sharing, which he warmly advocated the adoption of by other cor- porations. He was a pioneer in that now more popular plan of bridging the gap between the own- ers and their employees, and as a representative of the Association for Promoting Profit Sharing, he delivered a notable address, February 10, 1903, before the Economic Club of Boston, which at- tracted widespread attention.

Mr. Chase was a prime mover in establishing the Boys' Club in Fall River, was its president and ever its warm friend. He was a vice-president of the Young Men's Christian Association; a gener- ous giver to organized charity; a deacon of the First Christian Church, and during the last twelve years of life, superintendent of the Sunday school. He was a lifelong student, one of his chief recrea-

He. A Chance

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tions being the study of languages, he acquiring some proficiency in seven foreign tongues.

George A. Chace married, in 1870, Sarah A. Brownell, born June 22, 1843, only daughter of Fenner Brownell, of Fall River. To Mr. and Mrs. Chace was born a daughter and a son: 1. Eleanor Sarah, a graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1894, and of Johns Hopkins Medical School, M. D., 1901; married, January 23, 1907, Dr. Edward Her- bert of Fall River. 2. Fenner Albert, a sketch of whom follows. Mrs. Chace survives her husband and resides in the old Chace home, No. 373 North Main street.

FENNER ALBERT CHACE, M. D .- A gradu. ate of Harvard University, A. B., M. D., Dr. Chace brought to the practice of medicine in Fall River, Massachusetts, the city of his birth, culture, pro- fessional learning and zeal, medicine being his preference in choosing a career. For nearly two decades he has given of that learning and ability to his community, and as a specialist in derma- tology he is serving the city to which his father came in 1863, a veteran of the Civil War. He in- herited from his father a taste and a talent for business, and upon the latter's death in 1907 Dr. Chace succeeded him on the directorate of the Bourne Mills, of Fall River, Massachusetts. But it is as a physician that Dr. Chace will ever be known and remembered, as well as for his humane, sympa- thetic, benevolent nature, which leads him into many forms of private and institutional charities. He is of the ninth generation of the family founded in New England by William Chace in 1630, and of the English family traced to Thomas Chace, who flourished in the middle of the fifteenth century.

Fenner Albert Chace, only son of George Al- bert and Sarah A. (Brownell) Chace (see preceding sketch), was born January 9, 1875, at Fall River Massachusetts, and there he is now (1923) a suc- cessful practicing physician. He passed through the public schools of his city, finishing with gradua- tion from B. M. C. Durfee High School, graduating A. B., class of ninety-seven, and later chose medicine as his profession and prepared at Harvard Medical School, receiving his M. D., class of 1905. He then completed a course of training in the department of skin diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Bos- ton, and in May, 1906, he began practice in Fall River, and eighteen months later he gave up gen- eral practice and has since practiced as a specialist in diseases of the skin, a form of practice in which he has been very successful. Dr. Chace as a der- matologist, is one of the leading physicians of his city and well known throughout Bristol county. He enjoys the respect and esteem of his contemporaries of his profession, the confidence of those who have known him professionally, and the high regard of a large circle of personal friends.

Dr. Chace is connected professionally with Union Hospital of Fall River; is a member of the Fall River Medical Society; Massachusetts Medical So- ciety; American Medical Association; the New

England Dermatological Society, and of the Ameri- can Electro-Therapeutic Society. In the business world he is a director of the Bourne Mills, and in welfare work serves as a director of the Boys' Club, taking a large share of the work and re- sponsibilities of that excellent institution, continu- ing the work formerly carried on in the Boys' Club and in the Sunday school of the First Christian Church, of which he is superintendent. He is sec- ond vice-president of the Association of Community Welfare; a member of the First Christian Church, and interested in many good causes. In politics he is an Independent Republican.

Dr. Chace married, on February 19, 1907, Mary Deane Buffinton, daughter of Charles Darius and Sabrina M. Buffinton, of Fall River. Dr. and Mrs. Chace are the parents of a son, Fenner Albert (2), born October 5, 1908.

BION C. PIERCE-At the head of an outstand- ing enterprise in Bristol county, Massachusetts, Bion C. Pierce holds a noteworthy position as president and general manager of the Pierce Hard- ware Company of Taunton, which is called the second largest hardware store, from the standpoint of complete and well selected stocks, in New Eng- land. Experienced in his present field of commer- cial activity, and possessing natural business ability of a high order, Mr. Pierce has contributed much to the prosperity of Taunton through his thorough knowledge of the business and his boundless energy in carrying this enterprise to its present leading position. A native of this city, he is a member of a family long identified with the progress of this county, and is a son of Simeon A. Pierce, who was born in Dighton, Massachusetts, and was active as a mason contractor until his death, which occurred in 1914. Simeon A. Pierce was a man of more than usual prominence in the community, always interested in all that pertained to its growth and development, and commanded the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. The mother, Mel- issa A. (Reed) Pierce, who was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, died in 1904.

Bion C. Pierce was born in Taunton, Massa- chusetts, November 23, 1864. Receiving a broadly practical education in the local public schools, he started life, when still scarcely more than a boy, in the employ of F. R. Washburn, with whom he remained for about five years. He then associ- ated himself with P. W. Hewins, who was at that time one of the leading hardware dealers of Taun- ton. In November, 1887, Mr. Pierce and Mr. Crapo bought the business and operated it as a partner- ship under the name of the Pierce Hardware Com- pany. The business has been operated as a cor- poration since the year 1892, and until 1912 Mr. Pierce acted as treasurer, but since the latter date he has been president of the organization. He has been general manager ever since, originally taking over the interest from Mr. Hewins. Its location at No. 15 Main street has never been changed, but from time to time additions have been made to

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the original structure to meet the constantly grow- ing demands of the business, and the interior fit- tings and equipment have been modernized as rap- idly as the movement of the times suggested im- provements. In addition to the usual stock of hardware, of which the most complete assortment is always on hand, they handle paints, agricultural machinery, electrical materials, supplies, tires, iron and steel hanger pulleys, batteries, manufacturers' and mill supplies of every description, and it is hardly possible to think of any article which could logically be included in the general group termed hardware which is not to be found in their stock. In addition to the great main store and offices on Main street, they also occupy a building on Weir street, which is used as a shipping department, and a large warehouse. They employ upwards of thirty- five people, and while the bulk of their business is within the city, their trade extends to a radius of fifteen miles.

Mr. Pierce has other important business affilia- tions, being a director of the New England Hard- ware Association, a trustee of the City Investment Trust Company and the Taunton Co-Operative Bank. He is a member, director, and one of the organizers of the Chamber of Commerce. He was at one time a member of Company F., Massa- chusetts Volunteer Militia. Fraternally he is a member of Charles H. Titus Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; St. Mark's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Taunton Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters; St. John Commandery, Knights Templar, of Providence; Palestine Temple, Ancient Arabic Or- der Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and is also a member of Sabbatia Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His clubs are the Winthrop, the Rotary and the Segregansett Country. His religious affiliation is with the Congregational church.

Mr. Pierce married, in 1887, Abbie M. Leonard, of Taunton, Massachusetts, daughter of William F. and Clara (Nickerson) Leonard. Mrs. Pierce's grandfather was one of the first men to manu- facture stoves in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce are the parents of two children: Bion L., a gradu- ate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; was captain of the High School Cadets, now soc- retary of the Pierce Hardware Company; and Earl A., a graduate of the high school, and also served as lieutenant of the High School Cadets.

LEWIS SHEPARD CHILSON, vice-president and treasurer of the J. M. Fisher Company, has been identified with the jewelry business since com- pleting his education. He is a son of Jonathan Draper and Jane (Shepard) Chilson, and his father, who was born in Bellingham, Massachusetts, is a railroad man. The mother, who was a school teacher, was born at North Easton, and died June 18, 1900.

Lewis Shepard Chilson was born at Attleboro, Massachusetts, January 10, 1887. His education was begun in the local public schools, and following his completion of the high school course he entered

the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Provi- dence, Rhode Island. Mr. Chilson's first business experience was in the factory of the Watson Com- pany, where he learned the trade of jeweler and was active for about three years. He then became identified with the S. O. Bigney Company as super- intendent, and after three years in this connection he accepted a position with the Bliss Brothers Com- pany, where he remained until the year 1914. Mr. Chilson then affiliated himself with the J .M. Fisher Company as vice-president and treasurer, which offices he still ably fills. Mr. Chilson is a member of the Attleboro Chamber of Commerce, and is the first vice-president of the board of directors. As a young man he was active as a member of Company M, Massachusetts State Guard, serving two years with the rank of corporal. Fraternally he is af- filiated with Ezekiel Bates Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Attleboro; King Hiram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Attleboro Council, Royal and Select Masters; Bristol Commandery, No. 29, Knights Templar, of which he is 2 past commander; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; Massachusetts Con- sistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is past president; a member of the board of directors of the North Purchase Cemetery, and his religious affiliation is with the Second Congregational Church. He was a director of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Board of Trade of Providence during the years 1918-1921; and is secretary of the Attleboro Sani- tarium, Inc.

Mr. Chilson married, in 1913, Gertrude Horton Fisher, of Attleboro, daughter of John M. and Hannah Slade (Horton) Fisher, her father a native of Fisherville, Massachusetts, and her mother of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Chilson are the parents of two children: Robert Fisher, born April 24, 1915; and Howard Fisher, born Sep- tember 20, 1918.

JOHN MELATIAH FISHER-Few names have borne greater significance to the city of At- tleboro than that of John Melatiah Fisher, whose activities in the industrial world have followed lines parallel with advance in every field of social, civic and benevolent progress. Beginning life with only the advantages of a common school education and identified early with the jewelry industry, Mr. Fisher won his way to a largely influential position as the leading executive of his own important en- terprise, and his farsighted wisdom in governing the affairs of the business was no less a factor in the success than the benevolence with which he met the cooperation of every associate and em- ployee. At the time of his death Mr. Fisher pos- sessed countless friends, and his loss was keenly felt in the community-at-large, as well as in the business circles in which for so many years he had been known.

The Fisher family is an old one in Bristol county,

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Massachusetts, and Samuel Emulus Fisher, father of John M. Fisher, was a farmer of Fisherville in this county, a man of highest integrity, devoted to his family, and a man whose every relation in life brought out his worthiness. He lived on the old Fisher homestead located in what is now a part of Attleboro and known as Fisherville, the homestead being located on the line dividing At- tleboro and North Attleboro. Samuel E. Fisher married Cordelia Dorothy White, and they were the parents of eight children, of whom two sons and two daughters died in childhood and four grew to maturity. Tisdale Fisher, an elder brother of John M. Fisher, served for eleven months in the Civil War as a member of the Forty-seventh Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

John Melatiah Fisher, youngest child of Samuel E. and Cordelia D. Fisher, was born at the family homestead in Fisherville, October 23, 1850. Secur- ing a practical, although limited, education in the public schools of Attleboro, he gained his first business experience in the employ of John M. Bates, where he assisted an elder brother making sabers which were used in the army. He was only twelve years of age when he took up this activity, and following the close of the war and the ces- sation of the industrial activities incident thereto he entered the employ of Hayward & Briggs, jewelers of that day, and in this position his wages amounted to the munificent sum of five cents per hour. Mr. Fisher's first independent venture in the business world was in the dry goods field. For a time he had been in partnership with Henry Stetson, but the two agreed that the business was not suffi- ciently prosperous to warrant the attention of more than one executive. Accordingly they de- cided upon selling one to the other through sealed bids, and upon the opening of the bids it was found that Mr. Fisher offered $1 and Mr. Stetson had enclosed in his envelope a blank. Thereby the business became Mr. Fisher's sole possession, and his ability was quickly demonstrated by the fact that it immediately began to thrive. Later Mr. Fisher established an innovation in Attleboro in the form of a five and ten cent store in the basement of his dry goods store, and this added largely to the success of the enterprise. Mr. Fisher eventually engaged in the manufacture of jewelry, and for several years Mrs. Fisher conducted the store, attending to the purchase of stock and all other details of management. The store was finally sold to Harry Deacon. In 1879 Mr. Fisher, in partnership with Charles R. Harris, established the firm of Harris & Fisher for the manufacture of jewelry. Beginning business on the top floor of a structure then known as the Old Bailey Carriage shop, the first brick factory on Railroad street, they soon developed a prosperous interest. "Cap- tain" Josiah Ryder was associated with them for a time. The growth of the business extended their plant to a part of the middle floor of the original building, then with the erection of the first brick building on Union street in 1880, they removed to

that building. The withdrawal of Mr. Harris in 1885 left Mr. Fisher alone for a short time, but he soon received into equal partnership Stephen A. Briggs, the firm name becoming J. M. Fisher & Company. Twelve years later Mr. Briggs with- drew and at that time Frederick W. Lincoln, Ernest J. Qvarnstrom and John W. Simmonds purchased an interest in the firm, the firm name remaining the same. Mr. Qvarnstrom withdrew in the year 1899. The other associates went forward as a partnership until April 1, 1909, when the interest was incorporated as the J. M. Fisher Company, and the following year the plant was removed to the present headquarters in the Leach Garner building at the corner of Pearl and James streets. The retirement of Frederick W. Lincoln and John W. Simmonds occurred in 1914, and later Lewis S. Chilson and Samuel M. Holman, Jr., purchased stock, Mr. Holman becoming vice-president and Mr. Chilson treasurer, Lizzie W. Perry acting as secretary. J. M. Fisher continued through all these changes as president of the concern, and through his wise leadership and the inspiration of his ex- ample and counsel the interest was carried to a leading position in the jewelry industry in Attle- boro. The product of this company is comprised of medium and high grade jewelry, comprising at the beginning charms and lockets, but year by year new lines were added until many products are turned out, including nature jewels, pencils, knives, bracelets, novelties, belts and buckles, silk and metal fobs, and silk guard chains.

Had business alone commanded the attention of J. M. Fisher, his life work would indeed have been well worth while, but scarcely any movement of a worthy nature in Attleboro has been carried forward for many years without his definite and cordial cooperation. The campaign for prohibition was perhaps the work nearest his heart. When still a very young man he identified himself with the Good Templars and other organizations of that day, looking toward this end, and in the campaign for John P. St. John as president in the year 1884, Mr. Fisher's efforts were largely responsible for the fact that he received fifty-eight votes in the Attleboros. From the early years of the move- ment Mr. Fisher had the utmost confidence in the eventual triumph of what he believed to be right, and it was with the joy of the conqueror in a worthy cause that he watched from the lobby of the United States Senate the vote to submit the Eighteenth Amendment to the Nation for ratifica- tion. Mr. Fisher's financial contributions to every effort for the prohibition cause were lavish, and al- ways forthcoming at the moment when it seemed that it would do the most good. One of his latest public acts was the gift of $1,000 to the Board of Temperance and Prohibition, having headquarters at Washington, District of Columbia. Mr. Fisher's personal ambitions as a public servant were the least of his care, but in the year 1900 he was nomi- nated for Governor of the State of Massachusetts on the Prohibition party ticket, and on that oc-

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casion he won more votes in his home town than the Democratic nominees, receiving two hundred · and fifty-eight, a plurality of eighty-four over the Democratic nominee. The was the only public office for which Mr. Fisher ever accepted the candidacy. He was for many years an honorary member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and re- tained his keen interest in temperance work until the last.

Mr. Fisher was affiliated with the Manufacturing Jewelers' Board of Trade of Providence, Rhode Island, and served as a director during the years 1891, 1892 and 1893. He was a member of the At- tleboro Chamber of Commerce, and served as di- rector of the Attleboro Trust Company. Fraternally he was affiliated as a charter member with the

Benevolent Ancient Order of United Workmen. and social advance always commanded his earnest attention, and he was a leading member of the Young Men's Christian Association in the early days when the organization met in a rear room adjoining Harding's Drug Store. Although during the last few years of his life he was no longer a member, he continued his interest in the organ- ization and gave liberally to its support until his death. He was also president of the Board of the Attleboro Sanitarium II. The sanitarium was built by Mr. Fisher at an expense of over $500,000 and was given by him to the Board of Foreign Mis- sions of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1918 to be used by that organization as a place where "tired folks get rested and sick folks get well." At the age of about sixteen years Mr. Fisher af- filiated himself with the Methodist Episcopal church of Attleboro, Rev. H. D. Robinson being one of his first pastors. When the first church edifice of this society was built in Attleboro, in 1866, Mr. Fisher pledged $100 for the building fund, although he was then only sixteen years of age. He has since con- tributed many thousands of dollars to the support of this church, and endowed the church with the sum of $10,000, giving a similar amount to the cen- tenary fund, also to the Attleboro Sanitarium, and to the Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal church. Added to these benefactions were many annual gifts to missionary and charitable ob- jects, both connected with the church and with the city government, but he always felt that the first pledge of $100 to the erection of the church building was the most significant of his career, as it was not a gift from funds which he held but must be saved from a small weekly wage. Not long be- fore his death he gave $1,000 to the conference claimant fund of the Methodist church. Mr. Fisher's passing removed from the city of Attleboro one of those men whose every daily act counted for pro- gress and well being in the community. His gifts of money to the various purposes were only the concrete expression of his lifelong dedication of himself to the highest purposes and the noblest ideals. His career was an example not only of high achievement but of largely worthy beneficence, and his memory will long be cherished in Attleboro not

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A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3, Part 25

Author: Hutt, Frank Walcott, 1869- editor Publication date: 1924 Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 528

Author: Hutt, Frank Walcott, 1869- editor
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 528