USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 10
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Mr. Houghton married June 5, 1850, Miss Susan Maria Tufts, of Lynn, a daughter of Deacon Richard Tufts. Mr. and Mrs. Hough- ton have had four children, of whom but one, Rodney W. Houghton, is now living.
ATHANIEL RICHARDSON, JR., the treasurer of the Rockport Savings Bank, was born in Rockport, Sep- tember 3, 1840, son of the Rev. Nathaniel and Martha P. (Tarr) Richardson. The Rich- ardsons are of English origin, and are con- nected with the Peregrine White stock. The
Rev. Nathaniel Richardson, a Congregational clergyman, who was also a native of Rockport, died December 3, 1896, aged ninety years. His wife's grandfather, Jabez Tarr, was a Revolutionary soldier, and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Nathaniel Richardson, Jr., acquired his education in the different towns of New Eng- land to which his father was called during his educational period. When he was twenty- one years of age he returned to Rockport to live. From here on February 26, 1864, he enlisted for service in the Civil War. He was enrolled in Company G, Fifty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which regi- ment was incorporated with the Ninth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. During the year he spent in the service he took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and some minor engagements, and was promoted to the rank of Corporal. By that time the hardships of army life had undermined his health to such an extent that he was discharged for disability. On return- ing to civil life he was unable to work for some time. When his health began to mend, he engaged as clerk for an uncle named Will- iam Pickett, who was in trade in Waterbury, Conn., and with whom he remained about two years. He was then for two years a clerk for Daniel A. Wheeler, of Rockport, and a clerk in the Rockport Granite Company's store for three years. Then for twenty-two years he was in the grocery business in Rockport. In 1885 a savings institution, called the Granite Savings Bank, was started in connection with the grocery store, and Mr. Richardson was elected its treasurer. In the spring of 1895 he closed up his grocery business, since which he has given his whole attention to the busi- ness of the bank.
October 2, 1878, Mr. Richardson was mar-
NATHANIEL RICHARDSON.
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ried to Laura E. Witham, of Rockport, daugh- ter of the late William Witham. They have had four children, - Ethel M., Henry A., Elsie G., and Arthur S. Arthur S. Richard- son died in 1884. A Republican in politics, Mr. Richardson represented Rockport in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1881. For two years he was the secretary of the Rockport Board of Selectmen, and he is now serving his fourth year on the School Committee. All esteemed comrade of O. W. Wallace Post, No. 106, G. A. R., he has been Commander of the post for one year. He is also a member of the Order of the Golden Cross. The Rock- port Baptist church has had the advantage of his services in the capacity of treasurer for twenty-eight years and in that of superintend- ent of the Sunday-school for eighteen years.
HESTER W. SCOTT, M.D., who has been a practising physician in Law- rence twenty-seven years and more, was born in Barre, Washington County, Vt., November 10, 1832. His parents were the Rev. Nathan W. and Dorothy Bean (Phillips) Scott. His paternal grandparents, Luther and Esther (Whitney) Scott, were natives of Ver- mont, and lived in Hartford, Windsor County, that State, for a number of years.
Luther Scott was engaged in farming in summer and mending brass utensils and mak- ing brass pins in winter. He died at the age of sixty-two, his widow at the age of eighty- four. They are buried in Greensboro, Vt. Of the twelve children born to them, eleven attained maturity and reared families; and for fifty-four years their number was not diminished by death. The first to pass away was Rachel Ames, who reached the age of fifty-four years. Stephen died at the age of ninety-two, Luther at eighty-seven, John at
eighty-three. Elihu, who was the last sur- vivor of the family, was eighty-three at the time of his decease. The maximum ages of the eleven children made a sum of seven hun- dred and eighty-five years, an average of over seventy-one years. Stephen had a family of nineteen children, and his brother Royal had fourteen.
Nathan W. Scott was born in Hartford, Vt., November 4, 1801. He qualified for the ministry, and was engaged as a Methodist preacher for fifty years, his first regular charge being in Dorchester, Mass. He lived for a few years in New Hampshire and for an ex- tended period in Vermont. He died Novem- ber 8, 1885. On January 29, 1827, he was married to Dorothy Bean, daughter of Jonas Phillips, of Glover, Vt. She, like her hus- band, came of a long-lived family. Her mother attained the age of eighty-seven years, and her mother's mother one hundred and seven. Mrs. Scott died at the age of eighty- six, surviving her husband about nine years. She is buried with him in Glover, Vt. Seven children were born to them. One son died in infancy. The other children are located as follows: Wilber Fiske, in Glover, Vt. ; Ches- ter W., in Lawrence; Martin Luther, M. D., in West Randolph, Vt. ; Nathan Merritt, in Barton, Vt. ; Dorothy Ann, wife of D. C. Scott, in Lebanon, N. H. ; and John Wesley, in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Dorothy Ann was married first to Andrew J. Moulton, who was killed in the Civil War, leaving her with one daughter ; and she has another daughter by her present husband, Mr. Scott.
Chester W. Scott spent the time between his ninth and sixteenth years on his father's farm in Greensboro, Vt. The Rev. Mr. Scott then sold the property; and the boy attended the academy a part of the year, dividing the rest of the time between work in the harvest field
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and teaching school. In his nineteenth year he began to study medicine with Drs. Darling and Houghton, at Lyndon, Vt .. Ile prepared for college at Pittsfield, Mass., and Wood- stock, Vt., and graduated March 1, 1854, from the Homeopathic College of Pennsyl- vania at Philadelphia. He began to practise at Irasburg, Vt. After a term of six years there he went to Lyndon, Vt., where he was associated with his old preceptor, Dr. C. B. Darling. Dr. Darling died within a short time, and Dr. Scott followed up his practice for eleven years in Lyndon. In December, 1870, he opened an office in Lawrence, Mass. His office is now at 25 Bradford Street. Dr. Scott has a large and successful practice, and is one of the most popular physicians in this vicinity. He has lived in his pleasant home here twenty-four years, having purchased the property in 1874. From 1864 to 1866 Dr. Scott was demonstrator of anatomy in his Alma Mater at Philadelphia; but the close confinement reduced his avoirdupois forty pounds, and brought on a chronic ailment which troubled him for twenty years. The summer of 1885 he spent abroad with Dr. E. R. Sisson, of New Bedford, travelling through the British Isles and on the Conti- nent; and his health was much improved by the change. The Doctor's normal weight is about two hundred and nineteen pounds. Like his maternal and paternal ancestors, he is built on the broad-gauge plan, physically, mentally, and socially.
Dr. Scott was married May 29, 1854, to Martha Colton, of Lyndon, Vt. She died in her native town in April, 1862, aged twenty- nine years. She left one daughter, Mary L., who became the wife of John D. Morehouse, of Lawrence, Mass., and died at the age of twenty-eight, leaving one daughter. Dr. Scott's second wife was Violet E. Chamber-
lain. She died November 5, 1868, in Lyn- don, Vt., aged about twenty-nine. She bore him three children, one of whom died in in- fancy. The others are: Dana Whitney, who is married and lives in Lawrence; and Nora Hidden, wife of Melvin C. Boice, of Aber- deen, S. Dak. The present Mrs. Scott is Elizabeth, daughter of Moses Gilfillan, a farmer of Barnet, Vt. She is the mother of the following children : Etta Adele, wife of Oliver S. Warden, of Great Falls, Mont. ; Edward S., who died of small-pox at the age of two years and four months; and Walter, a young man of nineteen, a student in the In- stitute of Technology, Boston. In politics Dr. Scott is an independent Republican. He is a Master Mason. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
REDERICK BURNHAM, a well-known resident and native of Manchester, was born April 20, 1855, son of Fred- erick and Louisa (Goldsmith) Burnham, both now deceased. Abel Burnham, the father of Frederick, Sr., was born in Essex, Mass., where a number of generations of the family preceded him, the Burnhams being among the oldest residents of Essex. Frederick Burn- ham, Sr., was a native of Essex. In his in- fancy his parents removed to Gloucester, where he was reared and educated. When a young man he came to Manchester, where the rest of his life was passed, chiefly occupied in farming. His death occurred here in 1883. He was a public-spirited citizen and a liberal contributor to church work, though a member of no church. In politics he was a Republi- can, and he served acceptably in town offices, including that of Collector. His wife, Louisa, a native of Manchester, was in her eightieth year when she died in December,
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1897. Of their children, three are living, namely: Louise, the wife of Horace P. Lam- bert, of Salem, Mass .; Esther, the wife of James K. Pulsifer, of Manchester, Mass. ; and Frederick, the subject of this sketch.
Frederick Burnham acquired his education at the Manchester public schools and at a pri- vate school near here. He spent his boyhood on the home farm, where he gained a practical knowledge of agriculture, to which he has de- voted more or less of his time ever since. He possesses many sterling qualities of char- acter, is public-spirited in his views, and commands the confidence of his townsmen. For ten years he was a Highway Commis- sioner of Manchester, being for nine years of the time the chairman of the board; and he has served in minor town offices. He is a member of Magnolia Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Manchester. In 1876 he was married to Addie C. Dodge. a native of Beverly, Mass., and a daughter of Benjamin F. Dodge. Two sons and a daughter have been born to them - Arthur, Helen, and Benjamin F. Burnham.
NDREW WALLACE PEABODY, well known in Middleton and adjoin- ing towns as a capable man of busi- ness, was born here, May 7, 1838, son of An- drew and Mary (Pettingil) Peabody. The Peabodys, who have lived in Middleton for four generations, are descended from Lieuten- ant Francis Peabody. The grandfather of Andrew W., Captain Nathaniel Peabody, a lifelong resident of the town, built the house now owned by his grandson, one of the oldest in the village, but in good repair. His wife was Ruth Elliott Peabody. Andrew Pea- body, son of Captain Peabody, was reared to agricultural pursuits. He purchased a farm on the south side of Ipswich River, a mile
distant from the old homestead, passed the rest of his days there in farming, and died at the age of sixty-two. He married Mary Pet- tingil, of Salem, who died in 1882, at the age of eighty-two years. Her children were : Jesse W., Andrew Wallace, and Eunice G. Eunice married Joseph Fletcher, and resides on the father's farm.
Andrew Wallace Peabody, though brought up to be a farmer, has not confined his atten- tion to agriculture. He has been engaged in various enterprises throughout his active life, and always successfully. At one time he car- ried on a provision business. It was in that period of his career that he purchased a part of the Batchelder estate in the village, and there erected a fine set of buildings. This property he afterward exchanged for the Western homestead, one of the finest places in Essex County, pleasantly located on the shores of a beautiful lake. He has dealt quite exten- sively in live stock, especially since this last transaction ; and he has given some attention to the lumber business. He married Susan C. French, of Boston, who had one child, Helen Florence. Helen married Mr. G. Fuller, of Boston, and died at the age of twenty-three, leaving one child, Marion Fuller Peabody. The child was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Peabody, and now attends school in Mid- dleton. Mr. Peabody is Republican in poli- tics, and has served his town very faithfully as Selectman, Overseer, and in other capaci- ties.
OSEPH R. WILSON, an able and in- telligent agriculturist of Ipswich, Mass., was born April 16, 1858, on the farm he now occupies, son of Henry Wil- son, Jr. This property, which formerly be- longed to the old Captain Appleton estate, was purchased in 1845 by Henry Wilson, Sr.,
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the grandfather of Joseph R. The grand- father, born in Maine, was for many years prosperously engaged in the fish business, buying shiploads of fish obtaincd at Deer Is- land, Mc., and sending them to different ports along the coast in cxchange for West India goods. After living on the farm for a few years, he removed to North Beverly, where he lived to a very advanced age, retaining his vigor of mind and body to the last. He was but a day or two less than ninety-seven years old when he died, his funeral having taken place on April 1, 1892, the ninety-seventh anniversary of his birth.
Henry Wilson, Jr., a native of Maine, in- herited his father's farm. After retiring from the fish business, which he followed in early life, he carried on mixed husbandry until his demise, January 22, 1893, at the age of seventy-seven years. He married Lucy Patch, a daughter of Benjamin and Fanny (Brown) Patch, who owned the adjoining farm, and who there reared their three children - Lucy, Ephraim, and Jemima, the last named of whom did not marry. Henry Wilson, Jr., and his wife had seven children, namely : Lydia, who died at the age of forty, and was the wife of George Kimball; Lucy, who mar- ricd George Cate, of Lynn, Mass., and died leaving two children; Martha, the wifc of Al- bert Kimball, who died at a comparatively carly age; Carrie, who died young, and was the wife of George Plummer, of Lynn; Mar- garet, who is the wife of E. K. Brown, of this town; Henry A., a grocer, in Newbury- port; and Joseph R., the spceial subject of this sketch. The mother is still living, an active and bright woman of seventy-eight ycars.
Joseph R. Wilson has been successfully en- gaged in agriculture from an carly age, work- ing with characteristic industry and cncrgy to
improve his property. A man of much forec of character and ever ready to support meas- ures designed to benefit his native town and county, he holds a firm position in the esteem of the community. He is a member of Agawam Lodge, No. 52, I. O. O. F., of Ips- wich; and of the Chebacco Tribe of Red Men. In politics he is a Republican, following faithfully in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom were adherents of that party. On November 8, 1893, he mar- ried Miss Annie Harold, of Maine. They have two children, namely: Arthur Harold, four and one-half years old; and Henry Ever- ett, two years old.
ILBRIDGE M. MORSE, a retired wood and lumber dealer, and a member of one of the most prominent families of Merrimac, was born here, January 31, 1819, on his present farm on Bear Hill. He is a descendant of Anthony Morse, who was born in Marlboro, Wiltshire, England, in 1608. Anthony, who came with the first settlers to Newbury, Mass., in 1635, dicd October 12, 1686. Deacon Benjamin Morse, son of An- thony, was born in Newbury in 1640, and be- came Deacon of the Second Church of that place, now the First Church of West New- bury. He married Ruth Sawyer, whose son William, born January 23, 1674, was also a Deacon of the church for many years. Will- iam in 1696 married Sarah Merrill, and died March 10, 1749. His fourth son, Benjamin, born August 8, 1703, was a Deacon of the church in his time. Benjamin married Mar- garet Bartlett on October 3, 1726, and re- moved to Amesbury, where he became a farmer. His large estate was divided among his four sons. John Morse, born June 21, 1750, was the tenth child of Benjamin. His
ELBRIDGE M. MORSE.
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wife, Patience Sargent Morse, made him the father of Benjamin Morse, who was the father of Elbridge M. Morse. Benjamin Morse, born June 24, 1782, lived on the old home- stead until about the time of his marriage, when he moved to the farm now owned by his son. In ISOS he married Sally Nichols, who bore him three children.
Elbridge M. Morse received the little edu- cation obtainable in those days at a school- house, twenty feet square, into which some- times were crowded eighty scholars. In his younger days he worked on the farm. After- ward he dealt extensively in wood and lumber, doing a large business, especially in the former article, before coal was used in this section. He owns a large tract of land, beau- tifully situated on the southern bank of Lake Attitash, the lovely sheet of water made famous by the poet Whittier. On November 2, 1846, he married Eliza Johnson, a daughter of William Johnson, of Johnson's Corner, now Merrimac. His children were : Mary F., who became a graduate optician, and is the wife of H. G. Hudson, of Amesbury; Etta M., who is a milliner of Merrimac; Abby C., who married Wesley C. Howe, of Fitchburg, Mass. ; Benjamin, the youngest, who is a resi- dent of Cambridge, Neb. ; and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Morse died July 16, 1891.
Mr. Morse is actively interested in public affairs, and has figured prominently in local politics for the past thirty-five years. He was a member of the Board of Selectmen during the Civil War, was Collector and Treasurer of the town for eleven years; and in the winter of 1858-59 he represented the district in the General Court, having, among other able men, Caleb Cushing and Benjamin Butler for col- leagues. During that year two sessions were called on account of the revision of the statutes. After Merrimac was set off with a
separate town government, Mr. Morse served three years on the Board of Selectinen, and was sent as delegate to various State and Senatorial conventions. He has been a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F. for many years. Al- though nearly eighty years of age, he is still vigorous and active, retaining to a remarkable degree his physical and mental endowments. He comes of a sturdy, long lived race, many members of which have lived in health and strength for twenty years beyond the allotted time of man. The family has had many gen- erations of respected, God-fearing men; and, to quote what a pastor of the church has said of it, "It is as natural for Morses to be pious as for others to be vicious."
UGUSTUS NINIAN CLARK, a ven- erable and honored resident of Bev- erly, was born March 23, 1811, in Hancock, Hillsboro County, N.H., son of Ninian Clark. His paternal grandfather, William Clark, was a son of Robert Clark, who emigrated from the north of Ireland to New England, and in 1725 became a pioneer settler of Londonderry, N.H. The father, who was born in New Boston, N. H., in 1769, died at his late homestead in Hancock, N. H., in 1844, aged seventy-five years. He married Sally Warner, a daughter of Warham and Hannah (Ware) Warner and a lineal descend- ant of William Warner, who came from Eng- land to Massachusetts with the early settlers, and who prior to 1670 was enrolled as a citi- zen of Brookfield. Of Ninian Clark's eight children, two by his first wife and six by his second wife, Augustus N. is the sole survivor.
Having been educated in the district schools of Hancock, Augustus N. Clark at the age of seventeen years came to Beverly, where he was engaged as a clerk in the dry-
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goods and apothecary store of William Endi- eott for four years. On attaining his major- ity he engaged in the business of druggist on his own aecount, following it until 1858. Then he beeame interested in the manufacture of machine leather belting as senior member of the firm A. N. Clark & Co. This, with other enterprises, kept him busily employed for twenty-five years, at the end of which he retired. For fourteen years he was the treas- urer of the Steam Gauge Company, and for fif- teen years he held a similar position in the United Nickel Company of New York, at the same time retaining his residence in Beverly. He is now a member of the Investing Com- mittee of the Beverly Savings Bank, which is a prosperous institution.
A publie-spirited man, Mr. Clark is inter- ested in the welfare of the community, and has been most generous in his contributions to the churches, both of Haneoek and Beverly. He attends the Dane Street Congregational Church of Beverly, which he presented with a handsome ehapel about two years ago, and in which he was musical director for several years. He has also been aetive in promoting the industries of the town, and has done mueh to inerease its prosperity. In 1861 he was a Representative to the State legislature. He was a Presidential cleetor in 1880, when he east the vote of Massachusetts for General Garfield. Formerly he was a Whig in poli- ties, and in 1840 he espoused the anti-slavery cause, beeoming a follower of Garrison and Phillips. Sinee the formation of the Repub -. liean party he has been one of its firmest ad- herents. On August 23, 1838, he married Hitty, daughter of Eben and Lydia (Ray) Smith. Of his four children, two died in childhood. Augustus, the fourth ehild, born in 1850, who was educated in the publie schools of Beverly, the Andover Phillips
Academy, and at the Institute of Technology in Boston, died in 1872, soon after eom- ing of age. Mrs. Clark, too, passed away in May, 1888. The surviving child is a daugh- ter, who lives with her father.
VERETT HENRY DUNBAR, of Lynn, an enterprising boot and shoc manu- facturer and retail dealer, was born in Brockton, Mass., June 8, 1845. His grandfather, Martin Dunbar, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His par- ents, Hiram and Lydia Weston (Diekerman) Dunbar, were natives of Broekton. The father, who was a well-known shoemaker of Broekton, died there, October 20, 1878, aged fifty-seven years.
Leaving the publie schools when he was twelve years old, Everett Henry Dunbar began to learn shocmaking. In 1862 he came to Lynn, where he found employment as a journeyman shoemaker. Four years after he engaged in business on Munroe Street as a eustom shoemaker and retail dealer. So rapidly did his trade inerease here that in 1870 he required a force of twenty-five work- men to fill his orders, and he was then one of the largest manufacturers of eustom work in New England. In 1874 he sold out to two younger brothers, and he was afterward en- gaged in the same business in San Franeiseo, Cal., for three years. Returning to Lynn in 1877, he purchased his former business, and has since earried it on very successfully.
Mr. Dunbar eontracted the first of his two marriages on October 22, 1868, with Addie M. Hoyt, of Lynn, who died in November, 1871. The second, on November 20, 1879, united him with Julia Emma Wooley, of this eity. In polities he is a Republican; and he was a member of the Common Couneil in the
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years 1883, 1884, and 1885, serving on the Committees on Streets, Grounds, and Public Property. A thirty-second degree Mason, he is connected with Golden Fleece Lodge, F. & A. M .; Sutton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Olivet Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is a charter member. He is also a member of Bay State Lodge, No. 40, I. O. O. F. ; of Sagamore Tribe, No. 2, Im- proved Order of Red Men; a charter member of Lynn Council, No. 516, Royal Arcanum, which he has represented in the Grand Lodge for the past fourteen years; has been a mem- ber of Lynn Lodge, No. 117, Order of Elks; and is connected with Mystic Lodge, No. 19, Ancient Order of United Workmen: and with the Oxford Club.
AVID M. HILTON, the proprietor of a large livery stable and trucking business, and a very highly re- spected citizen of Gloucester, was born in this city, November 3, 1835, son of Francis and Mary Eliza (Pew) Hilton. Having received his education in the public schools of Glouces- ter, he began to drive a team for William Henry Young, in whose employ he continued for about three years. During the following eighteen months he worked on the schooner "Banner," owned by Charles and George Wood, and used for freighting merchandise between Gloucester and Boston. In 1856 hc bought of John Kendall a horse, harness, and cart, for four hundred and fifty dollars, and thereafter spent two years at teaming for Joshua Sanborn. At the end of that time he bought all of Mr. Sanborn's teaming outfit for fifteen hundred dollars, going into debt for a large part of the sum, but paying in full soon after.
About that time Mr. Hilton added the busi-
ness of a stevedore to his teaming, which he continues to follow. He also built a stable on Mansfield Street. This line of business has steadily increased in importance. His present finely equipped stable at the corner of Main and Pierce Streets is the largest in the city. The main stable is one hundred and fifty by one hundred and forty feet, while the building devoted to the trucking department covers an area of seven thousand square feet. He keeps on an average forty horses for work- ing and driving, and has trucks, harnesses, etc., in proportion, so that he is able to fur- nish any sort of team required for the heaviest trucking. He employs thirty men constantly, and has a yearly business of fifty thousand dollars or morc.
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