USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 26
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only among his associates but among all the people.
Mr. Fisher married, June 10, 1877, Hannah Slade Horton, of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He has two twin daughters, Gertrude Horton and Grace Ellen, who are now Mrs. Lewis S. Chilson and Mrs. Sam- uel M. Holman, Jr. There are four grandchildren, Robert F. and Howard F. Chilson and Warren F. and Ellen F. Holman.
REV. MANUEL S. TRAVASSOS-For the past seven years Rev. Father Manuel S. Travassos has served as pastor of the Espirito Santo Roman Cath- olic Church of Fall River, and under his care this parish has prospered largely. The work which he has done and the devoted spirit in which he has gone forward as a leader of the people have meant much not only to the church and its growth but to the community and its prosperity. Father Tra- vassos is a man of progressive and benevolent spirit, and his heart is wrapped up in his work.
Father Travassos was born on St. Miguel's Island of the Azores group off Portugal, January 10, 1873. His education was received at Seminary Augra of Terceira Island of the Azores, where he was or- dained to the priesthood, October 1, 1899, the Very Rev. Bishop Francisco Joseph de Brito officiating. Father Travassos was first appointed as assistant priest at the Church of the Holy Cross, Lagoa, St. Miguel's Island, where he served for five years, after which he was appointed pastor of the Church of the Holy Rosary in this same town. After serv- ing for two years in this parish, he came to the United States and was appointed as assistant priest at St. John's Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he served for five years. At the end of this time Father Travassos was appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Taunton, Massa- chusetts, where he served for three years, doing a great work and establishing the congregation more fully in the faith. In the year 1916 he was ap- pointed to this present parish, the Church of Es- pirito Santo, Fall River, where he has since served with signal devotion.
He has done much for his congregation both in leading the people to higher levels of spiritual at- tainment, and in improving and beautifying the parish. He is building at this time (1923) a new and more beautiful church edifice on Cambridge street, Fall River, which will soon be completed and which is more closely in accord with the dignity and importance of the parish. The Espirito Santo parish is a large and influential one, and besides the usual associations and sodalities of the laity, has a fine modern school with an enrollment of nearly four hundred pupils under the care of the Fran- ciscan Sisters. During his stay in this charge Father Travassos has also built a church edifice for St. Elizabeth's Church, Maplewood, which comes within the boundaries of his parish as a mission church. In both these congregations he is deeply beloved, and his work is telling in a very marked degree for the spiritual growth and advance of the people and also for the material prosperity. He
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gives to the many civic and welfare movements of the day the strength of his influence and cordial aid, and both among the people of his congrega- tions and throughout the city he is esteemed and revered.
RALPH P. KENT, M. D .- Among the really noteworthy medical practitioners of Bristol county, Massachusetts, Dr. Ralph P. Kent holds a leading position, and in his activities is bearing a part in the general welfare. Dr. Kent is a member of an old family of Wrentham, a son of Harry P. and Etta Frances (Barney) Kent, both living, but the father now retired from active business.
Ralph P. Kent was born at Wrentham, Massa- chusetts, January 11, 1880. His education was be- gun in the local public schools and he attended high school in Attleboro, his graduation occurring with the class of 1898. Later entering Amherst College, he attended that institution with the class of 1902, but before his graduation, determined upon a career in the medical profession and entered Har- vard University Medical School, from which he was graduated in the class of 1904, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Before the close of the same year Dr. Kent established himself in the practice of medicine in Attleboro and has con- tinued active since along general lines, his success being a matter of definite attainments. Early win- ning this confidence of the people and cordially esteemed by all who know him, Dr. Kent has for years held an 'assured position in the community and is numbered among the really successful men in professional circles in Bristol county. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Attleboro Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally is affiliated with Ezekiel Bates Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; St. John's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bristol Commandery, Knights Templar; Massachusetts Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, in which he holds the thirty-second de- gree; and Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shriine. He is also affiliated with Pythagoras Lodge, No. 170, Knights of Pythias; Attleboro Lodge, No. 1014, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Orient Lodge, No. 165, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Po- konoket Lodge, Improved Order of Red Men; and is a member of the Highland Country Club and the Universalist Church.
Mr. Kent married, on November 8, 1905, Eva Louise Brown. Mrs. Kent was born in Attleboro, and is a daughter of Cecil W. Brown, and they are the parents of one son, Ralph P., Jr., born in 1913.
SIDNEY OSBORNE BIGNEY, of the S. O. Bigney Company, manufacturing jewelers, of At- tleboro, Massachusetts, was born in Lower Went- worth, Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, Novem- ber 4, 1854. He is the son of James and Sarah Jane (Black) Bigney. On the paternal side he comes from old historic French ancestry, being a
lineal descendant of Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigne, an eminent author and a brave and dashing sol- dier. On the maternal side, he is of Scotch de- scent, and a lineal descendant of Adam and Charles Black, of Edinburgh, well known in connection with Sir Walter Scott's works. The founder in this country was William Black, who came from Had- dersfield, England, to Nova Scotia, in 1774. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1727, whence he emigrated to England, and thence to Nova Scotia. William Black, Eng., Wesleyan divine, founded the Wesleyan Church in Nova Scotia, and became gen- eral superintendent of Wesleyan missions in Brit- ish America.
Mr. Bigney received his education in his home town. At the age of eighteen, he left home and went to the United States. He served eight years in learning all branches of the jewelry industry. At the age of twenty-six, he formed a co-partnership with Charles A. Marsh, under the firm name of Marsh & Bigney. Later, he bought out Mr. Marsh, and the firm was known as the S. O. Bigney Com- pany. His progress in the jewelry world was rapid. Today, he is the owner of one of the finest and largest jewelry plants in the country. He is president and treasurer of the S. O. Bigney Company, president and treasurer of the Bigney Real Estate Company, and a director of the Moss- berg Pressed Steel Company. He belongs to a number of secret societies. He is a member of the Republican Club of Massachusetts, the Home Market Club, the Middlesex Club of Boston, the Intercolonial Club, and the Canadian Club of Bos- ton. He was elected a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1904; was a delegate-at- large to the National Convention in 1908. He was selected to represent Massachusetts to notify Judge Taft, of Cincinnati, of his nomination for the presi- dency, and, at that time, he presented Judge Taft with a life-sized portrait of himself, from his friends in Massachusetts.
Colonel Bigney became prominent in 1906, as an advocate of tariff for a fixed minimum rate, and the maximum to be placed in the hands of the Presi- dent, to be used at his discretion. He was elected to serve on Governor Guild's Council, from the Second District of Massachusetts. He was elected president of the first Board of Trade of Attleboro. He has been the representative of Massachusetts manufacturers on several occasions, when important legislations have been pending at Washington.
A jewelry manufacturer of international note, a public servant of broad usefulness, and a remark- able example of physical fitness in a day when too frequently a man's usefulness is over, soon after the half-century mark, Colonel Sidney O. Bigney is a distinguished and largely noteworthy Ameri- can. Colonel Bigney's travels have given him a wide grasp of affairs and conditions in every part of the world and his utterances on various phases of human progress contain the sound sense of the eminently practical man and the keen vision of the progressive and lofty spirit. Rising in the field of
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his choice by the usual steps which lead to the level of executive responsibility Colonel Bigney has now, for many years, stood at the head of the S. O. Bigney Company, manufacturing jewelers, whose activities have done much toward establishing and continuing the importance of the city of Attleboro as a center of this line of production.
Colonel Bigney's rare breadth of mind and be- nevolence of spirit are his most salient character- istics. Whatever interests the world interests him, and his constant thought is for the majority along whatever line of endeavor his attention may be claimed. It is most natural for Attleboro to think of him as one of the city's foremost public men, for in his services as a member of Governor Guild's Council his clear vision and forward-reaching atti- tude were of inestimable benefit to the people of the State. Colonel Bigney has always taken the deepest interest in national affairs and international relations and was one of the few men of this coun- try to visualize before the catastrophe the recent troublous times which involved the leading nations of the world in war. While his views and prophe- cies were listened to with the respect which he in- variably commands, the verity of his prophecies were questioned even by the most serious and broadminded thinkers of the epoch just prior to the war. At the dedication of the Attleboro Armory, December 16, 1910, when the governor of Massa- chusetts and various members of his staff, as well as a large group of military men were present, Colonel Bigney voiced a comprehensive outline of his beliefs with regard to world peace and the necessity for armed preparedness on the part of every nation. Although very few hearers agreed with his words, none doubted his absolute serious- ness, and subsequent history made his words of more than passing significance; they were in part as follows:
It is a singular coincidence that this very moment, while we are dedicating this great armory to war for the purpose of training men to fight, that Andrew Carnegie is erecting a mag- nificent building at the Hague, where all questions of dispute between nations are to be settled, and also giving millions toward bringing about that era which has been so long hoped for, "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
It is well that we are making an effort in a small way to prepare for emergencies. The most of you may not agree with me, from the fact that at the present moment there is a feel- ing and sentiment throughout the land that there will be no more wars, that the great differences between nations will be settled by arbitration. This to my mind, is impossible. The warring nations of the earth have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars, each preparing to destroy the other. There can be no "Peace on 'Earth' until that spirit of conquest, which is inbred and has come down to us through the ages, and is still alive in the human breast, is thoroughly cowed.
The boy in the school yard, if he feels he is a little bigger than his fellow, will attack him and rob him of his possessions. This same spirit of conquest is alive in the breast of humanity today. There will be in the near future one of the most ter- rific combats between nations the world has ever seen or dreamed of, the destructive engines of warfare which are the products of the greatest geniuses of the ages must and will be tried out, from the clouds and under the water, on land and sea will come forth the most deadly missiles of destruction that the world has ever conceived of.
The outcome will be so appalling and so dreadful in its de- structiveness that it will astound and stagger humanity, and when the smoke has cleared away perhaps the civilized world
will cry out, "Enough! Enough!" Then it may be possible that all future differences between nations will be settled by arbitration, which will be the beginning of that era which we have all hoped and prayed for.
If I am correct in my deductions, then I want to say to you, my fellow-citizens, that this great and resourceful nation, in its unpreparedness to protect its own interest, will face a humility unthought of. Unpreparedness invites disaster, pre- paredness prevents it. It costs a whole lot more to get out of trouble than it does to keep out of trouble. Therefore the time is opportune to begin this preparedness. Think it over.
The Republican party has always commanded the unswerving allegiance of Colonel Bigney, and in his leadership, Republican circles in Massachu- setts have found a strongly beneficent force. He has filled many important commissions, but the party looks forward toward his acceptance of even higher positions and feels that the nation has need of his activities in largely responsible offices. Col- onel Bigney was delegate-at-large at the National Republican Convention in 1908 and his services on that occasion were only an augur of the later bril- liant achievements which have made his name one of lasting significance to the commonwealth of Massachusetts. That such a life should be extended beyond the usefulness of the average man in period of time is due to the rational and practical theor- ies by which Colonel Bigney has governed his own habits and customs. He looks back to a point at forty-five years of age when he felt that he had reached the height of his possible achievements. At that time he had the excellent sense to take council with himself and formulate a mode of liv- ing which, in the subsequent years, has proved his wisdom. In an interview published in the Boston "Traveler" for Sunday, March 10, 1923, Colonel Bigney gave a fundamental rule of living, with characteristic vigor, as follows:
First, we have got to learn to be commander-in-chief our- selves. We have got to order ourselves to do things and then see that we do them. It is this procrastinating state of mind that gets people nowhere. When' you order yourself to do a thing, do it at once, and never put it off until tomorrow. 'To- morrow so seldom comes.
He goes on to say in this connection:
WE EAT TOO MUCH:
I am not a faddist on this question of eating, but the sim- plest kind of reasoning will quickly prove that we are all eating too much. People are eating because what they eat tastes good. That is the method employed by the drunkard who drank him- self to death. I can eat three times as much as I do eat and enjoy the taste of it. But life is more than intemperate taste.
The glutton is infinitely worse than the drunkard. When drinking was at its height, one person died because of over- drinking as against seven from overeating. One cannot over- eat constantly, simply because he cannot resist the taste, and then hope to find perfect health in bottles sold in drug stores. That is the line of least resistance, and nothing worth while can ever hope to be obtained without effort.
Proper posture and diet are the secrets of good health. The simplest study will allow one to regulate his diet properly, and a few exercises each morning on rising will take care of the posture. And one must adhere strictly to the program.
Such a program immediately put me in shape. I have far greater endurance today than I had at forty-five. I can walk from Attleboro to Boston-thirty-two miles-without fatigue. I can dance from eight in the evening until two A. M. without a tired muscle. I have a ballroom in my home at Attleboro, you know. I play tennis and thrill with the glow of it. And it is all due to the simple fact that I followed a set program.
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Anyone can do the same if he will only make up his mind to do so. People are lazy and are not taking advantage of the wonders which life has to offer -- that is all.
Colonel Bigney's choice of recreative interests is travel, and he has spent many months in various parts of the world, seeking out-of-the-way places, as well as enjoying the well worn lanes of travel. The hardships of exploration have no terrors for him, and some years ago he spent considerable time in an expedition through South America up the Rio Congo river. He is intimately familiar with the Panama Canal zone and has motored through many of the States of his own country. He has traveled in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and other countries in Europe.
In June, 1876, Mr. Bigney married Henrietta Stevens, the adopted daughter of Benjamin Stevens, of Wentworth, Nova Scotia. Of this union was born Harold Osborne Bigney.
GEORGE WILLIAM RANKIN-Opportunity
to pay tribute to the Fall River librarian, George William Rankin, for direction, counsel and the pro- vision of an abundance of literary and historical ma- terial in sourcework for this publication, herewith presents itself.
Mr. Rankin, this present year (1924) rounds out a half-century as bibliophile, custodian of books, and public adviser for their selection and reading; and, as one of the inevitable results, his friendships are many and well proven throughout the county and State, among librarians, literati and the citi- zenry-at-large. During the greater portion of these fifty years, it has been Mr. Rankin's aim to broaden and extend the influence of the library in the com- munity, and it is largely due to his practical vision, his well known executive energy, and his unbi- ased belief in the increasing popular needs in the bookish world that the public library has become a peerless Fall River institution, and one that main- tains a high place among the libraries in the State. Always accessible to the inquiries of the reading public, of whatever station in life, and having com- pletely in hand the minute details of the present- day institution which he has been instrumental in establishing, he is also an absorbent reader of works that have world-wide purpose, both in science and in general literature. Fall River folk, there- fore, hold in equal regard both the institution and the man at its head.
As to Mr. Rankin's parentage and birth. His father, George Rankin, was born in Lebanon, York county, Maine, December 4, 1806. His earlier years were passed in Maine; later he removed to Boston, Massachusetts, where he became engaged in the retail lumber business which he carried on suc- cessfully until 1862; after the outbreak of the Civil War, on account of the general financial depres- sion which followed, he gave up his business and returned to Maine, where he purchased a residence in Berwick, near the old homestead; there he lived, retired, until his death in 1884. While in business in Boston he resided for some years in Dorchester,
and represented his district in the General Court. He married, on August 22, 1839, Laura A. Grant, born in Warren, Rhode Island, October 11, 1817, who died April 6, 1852, in Boston, Massachusetts.
George William Rankin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 23, 1847. He received his edu- cation in the public schools of Boston and Dor- chester, and for a brief period thereafter he was variously employed in Maine and in Boston. He came to Fall River in 1870, where directly he ap- plied himself to reading for study's sake, with an inclination towards historical research and travel. In carrying on his studies he made extensive use of the public library, and thereby he became acquainted with the late Hon. Charles J. Holmes and other members of the board of trustees, to the end that he was later employed as a clerical assistant in the preparation of a new catalogue of the library in 1873. On May 16, 1874, he was appointed by the trustees as assistant librarian and cataloguer. Thus was initiated lifelong interest and a consecrated labor in his ever-broadening field of educational work. And thus he has shared in the upbuilding of an institution whose books alone, in fifty years, have increased in numbers from about 10,000 to 125,000 volumes. It was on December 9, 1905, that Mr. Rankin was appointed librarian, and he has
held that position continuously to the present time. He is master not only of the range of contents of his library, but is recognized as an authority con- cerning the varying values of general literature. His membership with both the American Library As- sociation and the Massachusetts Library Club is highly regarded in both organizations. In the re- public of books, democratic, generous, resourceful, he is more than a local leader.
Mr. Rankin married, at Fall River, on August 6, 1891, Hattie Amanda Sharples, born on March 29, 1857, in Webster, Massachusetts, and who died on October 24, 1920, in Fall River. She was the daughter of William E. and Sarah J. (Briggs) Sharples, the father being of English parentage.
REV. GEORGE F. CAIN-A thoroughly repre- sentative figure in ecclesiastical circles in Bristol county, Massachusetts, is Rev. George F. Cain, whose position as pastor of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, of Taunton, is not only of honor to himself but of large significance to the community. Father Cain's usefulness in the city of Taunton, as well as in the congregation over which he has charge, is well known to all who are familiar with the civic progress of this municipality, and worthily to review the many endeavors by which he has endeared himself to his people would be impossible in the limits of a work of this nature. But in the hearts of the people, the esteem and confidence which are yielded to his leadership are vital influ- ences in the local advance. Father Cain is a son of Michael and Mary (St. Onge) Cain, esteemed farming people of Massachusetts, both deceased, the father's death occurring in 1898 and that of the mother in 1913.
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Rev. George F. Cain was born at Abbottsford, Canada, October 4, 1870. His early education was received in the public schools of his birthplace and he took up his classical studies at St. Rafael's Col- lege, at Nicolet, Canada, after which he entered upon his studies in philosophy and theology at the Grand Seminary, in Montreal, Canada, from which he was ordained. Father Cain's first appointment was as assistant at St. Anthony's Church, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he served for seven years. He was then appointed assistant pastor of Sacred Heart Church, at North Attleboro, Massa- chusetts, where he served for six months, then St. Ann's Church, New Bedford, then was transferred to St. Matthew's Church, in Fall River, Massa- chusetts, serving there as pastor for one year. He was then appointed to St. Paul's Parish, in Taunton, and in connection with his duties as pastor of this church he has charge of the mission parish of St. Mary's in Norton. In all his activities Father Cain has given to the work placed in his hands the large natural ability which he has consecrated to the furtherance of Christian work, and his devoted en- deavors have been productive of great and lasting good. Ceaseless in his efforts for the up-building of his parish and for the individual welfare of every member of his congregation, both spiritually and materially, he is deeply beloved among his own people and commands the respect of every ecclesi- astical worker, regardless of denominational differ- ences. He is a leader in all those societies of the laity which cement the activities of the church into one large group. He is a leader in the Taunton Council, Knights of Columbus, and in every move- ment for the public advance, he is a definite and constructive worker.
HARRY E. HULL, born and reared in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and having spent his life- time in the jewelry industry in this section, has won high rank in this field of endeavor, and his ability as an executive is finding ample scope in his present position as vice-president of the Le Stage Manufacturing Company, of North Attle- boro, Massachusetts. Mr. Hull is an eminently practical man, and in his constant endeavors to for- ward the interests of this enterprise, he is con- tributing also to the general progress of the city.
Harry E. Hull is a son of John G. and Nancy M. Hull. The elder Mr. Hull was born at Water- bury, Connecticut, and was a jeweler by occupa- tion throughout his active career. He is still liv- ing, although retired from business, and is one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil War, hav- ing served with honor and distinction in that struggle as a member of Company I, Seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
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