USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 14
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George Harvey Sampson obtained his pre- liminary education in the public schools of East Boston, after which he took a three years' course at the English High School of Boston, being graduated from there with the class of 1875. When eighteen years of age he secured a position in a gentlemen's fur- nishing goods store, and two years later he be- came a clerk for the Maverick Oil Company in East Boston. He was subsequently pro- moted to the office of foreman, and then to that of assistant superintendent. He contin- ued with the company from 1885 until 1889, supervising the erection of plants in Lynn, Stoneham, Brockton, Natick, and North An- dover, work for which his mechanical and executive ability especially adapted him. Since 1889 he has been the manager of the Lynn and Salem branches of the Standard Oil Company.
Mr. Sampson was a member of the Common Council in 1894 and 1895, and of the Board of Aldermen in 1896 and 1897. In 1894 he was on the Finance and Water Supply Com- mittees, and in the following year on those of Finance, Street Lights, and Electricity. He served in 1896 on the Finance, Streets, Lay- ing Out, Altering Streets, Street Assess- ments, and License Committees, and was chairman of those on Street Lights and Elcc- tricity. A "true-blue Republican," he is an active worker in the party. In 1894 and 1895 he was a member of the Lynn City Republi- can Club, being its treasurer in the latter year. Now he is a member of the Lynn Re- publican Club. In May, 1898, he was elected chairman of the Republican City Committee. He was the regular nominee of his party for Mayor in 1897. He is an Odd Fellow
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of East Lynn Lodge, No. 207; a member of Central Lodge, No. 25, A. O. U. W., of East Boston; a member of the Lynn Lodge of Elks, No. 117; and he belongs to the Alter Ego Club, to the Lynn Veteran Firemen's Association, and to the Lynn Press Club. On December 23, 1880, in East Boston, he mar- ried Miss Mary L. McAuley, who was born in Everett, Mass. They have three children - George W., Lawrence F., and Edith May. ;
HARLES W. MEARS, a prosperous farmer and well-known ice dealer of Essex, was born in this town, Feb- ruary 28, 1859, son of Solomon P. and Martha J. (Rollins) Mears. His great-grandfather, Samuel Mears, was an Englishman, who set- tled upon a farm in Essex. The grandfather, also named Samuel, who was a lifelong resi- dent of this town, tilled the soil, and followed the trade of a shoemaker during his active period. He married Sally Burnham; and his children were: Samuel, John, Solomon P., Asa, Rufus, Lydia, Mary Ann, and Martha. Rufus Mears served in the Civil War, and died in Libby Prison.
Solomon P. Mears, father of Charles W., was born in Essex; and when a young man he learned the shoemaker's trade. He followed it in connection with farming, and died in November, 1894. His wife, Martha, was born in Farmington, Me., daughter of Stanley and Martha Rollins, who were prosperous farming people. She has had six children ; namely, William Frank, Warren P., Charles W., Emma, Clara Belle, and Jennie M. Jennie died in 1875. William F., a shoe- maker, residing in Essex, married Emily P. Doty, of Hamilton, Mass., and has two children - Chester and Clifford. Warren P., a shoemaker in Newton, N. H., married
Nellie Knowlton, of Hamilton, and has three children - Ruby, Fred, and Leonard. Emma is the wife of Fred Berry, a farmer in Hamil- ton. Her children are: Ernest, Ralph, and Martha Jane. Clara Belle is residing at the homestead with her mother.
Charles W. Mears acquired a common-school education, and resided at home until he was eighteen years old. He then engaged as a farm assistant in Hamilton at twelve dollars per month. After remaining there eight months he entered the employ of the Winkley & Maddocks Ice Company, of Charlestown, Mass. With this firm he remained five years, having charge of its business in Essex, New- ton, and Wolfboro, N. H., for the greater part of the time. Then he spent six years engaged in the retail ice business in Essex. In that time he purchased the Brighton farm, which he has since carried on. In 1889 he sold his ice business in this town to Story & Story; and in the following winter he stored ice in Wolfboro, N. H., for speculation, sell- ing later to Winkley & Maddocks at a good profit. At the present time he is engaged in cultivating his farm of fifty-six acres, and also does considerable teaming and jobbing. Al- though he favors the Republican party in poli- tics, he is not a partisan, and votes for the candidates whom he considers best qualified for the public service. He holds the office of Street Commissioner, and the able manner in which he conducts the affairs of that depart- ment is giving general satisfaction.
On October 17, 1881, Mr. Mears was joined in marriage with Nellie M. Thurston. She was born in Wolfboro, N. H., June 9, 1862, daughter of Francis and Melissa Jane (Frost) Thurston, of that town. Her father died in 1889, and his widow is now residing with her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Mears have three children, namely : Ada Thurston, born August
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2, ISS4; Bertram Wallace, born October 7, ISS5; and Delmer Roland, born June 26, ISS9. Mr. Mears was the thirty-seventh man to sign the application for the charter of Fern- wood Lodge, No. SI, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Gloucester, which now has a membership of over five hundred. He is also connected with Starr King Lodge, No. SI, Knights of Pythias, of Essex. As one of the leading young men of this town he takes an active interest in its general welfare, and his progressive tendencies make him quite pop- ular. Both he and Mrs. Mears are members of the Congregational church.
R ICHARD DODGE, formerly a promi- nent resident and a native of Wen- ham, was born in 1804, son of John T. and Polly Dodge. His grandfather, Cap- tain Richard Dodge, commanded a company in the Revolutionary army. The Dodges were among the early settlers of Wenham. Having taken an active part in the political affairs of Wenham, Richard Dodge served as a Select- man for a number of years, also as Town Assessor and Overseer of the Poor. In poli- tics he was a Whig. He died in 1850. He married Mary A. B. Gammon, of Bath, Me. Four of their children are living; namely, Robert Frank, Mary A., Harriet E., and John T., all residents of Wenham. Mary is the widow of William G. Pingree, late of Wenham, Mass. ; and Harriet is the widow of the late Thomas P. Pingree, who also resided in Wenham. The father served as a Major in the militia, and was known familiarly as Major Richard Dodge.
Thomas P. Pingree was born in Salem, Mass., in 1830, son of David Pingree, who was also a native of Essex County. He was educated in the public and private schools of
Salem. Early in life he embarked in a mer- cantile business in his native town, and fol- lowed it with success until his death, which occurred May IS, 1876. During his last years he lived in Wenham. In politics he was a Democrat. His widow, Harriet E. Dodge Pingree, resides at the beautiful Pin- gree homestead in Wenham, where she holds a high social position, and is much esteemed.
HARLES E. PARKHURST, the manager of the Marine Railway and a highly respected citizen of Gloucester, is a native of Topsfield, Mass. He was born January 3, 1841, son of Charles and Elizabeth (Andrews) Parkhurst. The first of this family to come to America was Hugh Parkhurst, great-grandfather of Charles E., who left his home in London in consequence of a dispute with his father upon American politics. He arrived in New Eng- land about the year 1770, and settled in Gloucester, where, being a well-educated man, he soon found employment as a teacher in the public schools. At the battle of Bunker Hill he was in Captain Rowe's company. On the expiration of the time for which he had en- listed he returned to Gloucester, and shipped on the privateer "Yankee Hero." Subse- quently he was killed in an engagement with the British frigate "Milford," which carried thirty-six guns. He left an only son, Will- iam, the grandfather of Charles E. Parkhurst, who died here in Gloucester in 1853. Will- iam had five sons, who were engaged in the fishery business, and owned fishing-fleets.
Charles E. Parkhurst was educated in the public schools of Gloucester. Upon leaving school he entered the employ of his father, who owned a store, and engaged in selling supplies to fishing-vessels. The young man
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was kept busy for the fleet that his father then owned, numbering twenty-five vessels. In 1866 he and his father purchased the Marine Railway, of which he is now the manager. Mr. Parkhurst is a member of Ocean Lodge, No. 91, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1863 he married Mary J. Low, of Rockport, and has one daughter, Mamie B. Parkhurst, living at home.
LFRED S. JEWETT, Town Clerk of Manchester and the present chairman of the Board of Selectmen, is a native of Salisbury, Mass. Born on August 8, 1840, he is a son of Alfred W. and Abigail (Sargent) Jewett, the former a native of New- buryport and the latter of Pittsfield, N. H. The Jewett family originated with two broth- ers, Joseph and Maximilian, who came from England about the year 1636, and settled in Rowley, Mass., Joseph Jewett having been the direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch. Thomas Jewett, grandfather of Al- fred S., was a soldier in the War of 1812.
Alfred W. Jewett was one of the prominent citizens of Manchester and a thorough type of the old Puritan. When a boy he removed from Newburyport to Salisbury, where he eventually went into the furniture business. In 1844 he came to Manchester, and from 1846 to 1868 he was engaged in the manufacture of furniture in this place. He retired from business in 1868, and died twenty years later. Of his children, the survivors are: Edgar M., Alfred S., George W., and Orrin W. All reside in Manchester except Edgar, who is a resident of Portsmouth, N. H. The father had served on the School Board of Manchester and on the Board of Selectmen.
Alfred S. Jewett grew to manhood in Man- chester, and was educated in the public schools
of the town. Never losing the scholar's in- stinct, he has always been a reader and thinker, and is well informed on the general topics of the day. At seventeen he entered his father's shop and began to learn the trade of cabinet-maker. After working there for five years he enlisted for service in the Civil War in July, 1862, joining Company K of the Thirty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infan- try as a private. He served under General Banks in the Red River campaign and under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and fought in the siege and battle of Port Hudson, at the battle of Cane River in General Banks's retreat, in the battle of Opequan Creek, where Sheridan was victorious, and at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and in minor engagements. Excepting about six weeks during which he was ill of malarial fever in Louisiana, he was with his regiment throughout the entirc term of service, and was practically one of the twenty-five men in the regiment who were always on duty. He was frequently assigned to special duty and clerical work. After his discharge in July, 1865, he returned to Man- chester, and was for a time an employee of his father. In 1868, upon the retirement of his father, he and his brother, George W. Jewett, joined in the firm A. S. & G. W. Jewett, and continued the furniture manufact- uring business which had been founded by the elder Mr. Jewett. The firm has been in active business down to the present time.
Mr. Jewett married Jane F. Leach, of Man- chester. In politics he is a Republican. He takes an active part in the affairs of the town, and is in favor of any movement tending to the public welfare. Inheriting from a line of Puritan ancestry a strict regard for honesty and upright character, he is yet liberal in his views, and is inclined to look with charity on the shortcomings of others. He is a member
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of the Congregational church. Mr. Jewett has served his fellow-townsmen in nearly all the important administration offices. He has been auditor and treasurer pro tem., member of the Public Library Board and of the School Committee. Since ISSS he has served con- tinuously as Town Clerk, and since 1890 he has been chairman of the Selectmen and Over- seer of the Poor. He has been Commander of Allen Post, No. 67, G. A. R., of which he is a member; and he is at present serving as Quartermaster in that body. For years he has been a member of the Republican Town Com- mittee, and he also has been a Justice of the Peace.
BENEZER PARSONS, of Lynnfield, farmer, held in much esteem as a citi- zen and neighbor, and well known in liberal religious circles of Essex County, may be briefly characterized as one of that type of men who, by consistent devotion to plain, earnest living and high thinking, uncon- sciously elevate the tone of the community in which they dwell. He was born in Lynnfield July 28, 1832, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Hart) Parsons, and is the third in direct line to bear his name. On the paternal side Mr. Parsons is a descendant in the seventh genera- tion of Joseph Parsons, who emigrated from England about the year 1635, settled at Springfield, Mass., in 1636, was Cornet of a troop of Hampshire cavalry, and in 1655 was one of the founders of Northampton. Cornet Joseph Parsons married Mary Bliss; and the next in this line, their son Esquire Joseph Parsons, who was the third Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, married Elizabeth, daughter of Elder John Strong, first Ruling Elder of the church at Northampton, Mass.
The Rev. David Parsons, son of Esquire
Joseph and Elizabeth, was born in 1680, grad- uated at Harvard College in 1705, was set- tled over a church in Malden, Mass., for sev- eral years, and later was settled in Leicester, Mass., where he died in 1743. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Stebbins.
Israel Parsons, son of the Rev. David and great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born at Leicester in 1722, and resided there until his death, which occurred in 1767. He married a widow, Mrs. Lois Bancroft Wiley. She was a daughter of Captain Eben- ezer and Ruth (Boutwell) Bancroft, and grand- daughter of Captain Ebenezer Bancroft, Sr., whose father, Thomas Bancroft, came to Lynn- field in 1640, being one of the earliest settlers in what was then the North Precinct of Lynn. A deed to Thomas Bancroft, dated 1657, is now in the possession of the subject of this sketch.
Ebenezer Parsons, first, Mr. Parsons's grandfather, son of Israel, was born at Leices- ter, March 13, 1762. Left fatherless when he was five years old, he came to Lynnfield with his mother, and spent his boyhood upon the farm of his maternal grandfather, Captain Ebenezer Bancroft. At the death of the latter he became the owner of the Bancroft home- stead, and was a prosperous farmer of Lynn- field. He also kept the Sun Tavern for many years. He was a soldier of the Revolu- tion. In his religious views he was a Meth- odist, and he gave some land conditionally to the church. He died April 17, 1843. His wife, Nabby Smith, whom he married on November 18, 1787, was born in Lynnfield April 9, 1765, daughter of Amos and Abigail (Hart) Smith, and died May 16, 1849. Their children were: Nabby, Ebenezer, and Israel Augustus.
Ebenezer Parsons, second, the father above mentioned, was born in Lynnfield, August 17, 1794. He was a farmer by occupation,
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Never seeking publicity, he yet took a lively interest in town affairs, and served frequently on committees and in minor offices. He was married October 17, 1824, to Mary Hart, who was born December 17, 1792. She was a descendant of Isaac Hart, who was a resident of Lynn in 1640, and who served in King Philip's War. A deed to him of five hundred acres of land is in the possession of Mr. Par- sons. Isaac Hart's son, Captain Samuel Hart, by tradition a ship-master, and John, son of the Captain, were men of substance in what is now Lynnfield. John Hart married Mehitable Endicott, great-grand-daughter of Governor John Endicott. Mr. Parsons is descended from this couple through their son John and their grandson, Captain Ebenezer Hart, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and afterward a member of the General Court from Lynn, of which Lynnfield was then a part. Ebenezer Parsons, second, died April 17, 1853; and Mrs. Mary Hart Parsons died March 18, 1864.
Their son, Ebenezer Parsons, third, ob- tained his elementary education in the com- mon schools, and afterward acquired a knowl- edge of Latin, French, and German. He has taught private pupils in these studies, as well as in vocal and instrumental music. He in- herited, especially from his mother, a love of reading ; and, though he has not had a college training, he is well versed in many subjects. Fond of flowers, he is an authority on the plant life of the fields and woods of his neigh- borhood. Seeking the best culture books can give, he is abreast of the age in thought, and has written poems worthy to rank with many of those of acknowledged masters. Having naturally a remarkably fine voice and excellent taste in reading, and being an earnest liberal in religious belief, it was natural he should be urged to conduct services as a lay preacher
for the remnant of the First Congregational Society (Unitarian) of his native town. This he did, with the exception of one year which he spent in Troy, N. Y., for more than twenty years, occasionally giving a sermon of his own. For years he also led the musical part of the exercises. A Republican in politics, he has been a member of the School Commit- tee, one of the Selectmen, Town Clerk, vice- president of the Improvement Society, and is still frequently called upon to assist by read- ing or writing in other activities of the town. Still, his regard for what he holds to be dearer than office, dearer than the praise of his fel- low-townspeople -his ideal of truth and honor - is so high that he is not always with his party in town or State affairs. In other words, he is a genuine, conscientious Independent in thought and action.
On March 24, 1863, Mr. Parsons was joined in marriage with Mary Alvina Dodge. She was born in Ipswich, Mass., March 21, 1839, daughter of Nathan Dane and Sarah (Shep- herd) Dodge, and is a descendant of John Dodge, of Somerset, England, through his sons Richard and William. Nathan Dane Dodge, a good citizen and a loyal Christian, was named for his great-uncle, the Hon. Nathan Dane, renowned jurist and statesman, brother of his grandfather, Samuel Dane, who was one of the militia company from Beverly that responded to the Lexington alarm in April, 1775. William Dodge came to New England in 1629, and his brother Richard came in 1638. Both settled at Salem, after- ward Beverly. Mrs. Parsons's father de- scended through the male line from Richard Dodge, and, by intermarriage of ancestral kin (not, however, of first cousins), from William also. Among his other remote ancestors may be named "that honored old planter," John Woodbury, who came to Cape Ann four years
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after the landing of the Pilgrims, and John's brother William, who was one of the pilots of the expedition for the capture of St. John's and Port Royal. Mr. Dodge's great-grand- father, Livermore Whittredge, was a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety formed in Beverly in 1773.
Mrs. Sarah Shepherd Dodge, mother of Mrs. Parsons, was a descendant of the Shep- herds long ago living in Salisbury, Mass., whence her great-grandfather, Isaac Shepherd, removed to New Hampshire. His son Isaac served in the army of the Revolution, attain- ing the rank of Sergeant ; and after the war he became Major. He served as Representative to the General Court several years. Mrs. Dodge's maternal grandfather, Mark Howe, was a surgeon in the Revolution. He was a son of Lieutenant Howe, Deacon of a Con- gregational church in Ipswich, and his wife, who was grand-daughter of the Rev. William Perkins, of Topsfield. Dr. Howe married Mary, grand-daughter of the Rev. Edward and Elizabeth (Phillips) Payson, of Rowley. Mr. Payson's mother was Mary, sister of the Rev. John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians; while his wife's parents were the Rev. Samuel and Sarah (Appleton) Phillips, founders of per- haps the most illustrious line in New Eng- land, when one recalls the Phillips Academies of Andover, Mass., and Exeter, N. H., Wen- dell Phillips, and the Rev. Phillips Brooks, the good bishop. It may here be remarked that the last named was related to Mr. Dodge through the Woodbury and to Mrs. Dodge through the Phillips line.
Among her ancestors were also Lieutenant Francis Peabody, of Ipswich and Topsfield, Francis Lambert, Ezekiel Northend, and Mark Prime, all of Rowley.
Mrs. Parsons was educated in Ipswich, en- joying the advantages of the high school and,
for a term, of the excellent Ladies' Seminary, when the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Cowles had charge of it. Afterward she was graduated from the Salem Normal School. She has taught in the public schools, and has had private pupils. Also she has written for newspapers and mag- azines. She is the author of "The Ancestry of Nathan Dane Dodge and of his Wife, Sarah Shepherd Dodge." She was an active mem- ber of the First Congregational Society, working earnestly for its interests during the fifteen years of her connection with it. She is greatly interested in temperance and educa- tion, and gladly forwards any intellectual movement among her neighbors. She is a member of the Lynn Historical Society, and has done a good deal of genealogical work. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons occupy a pleasant resi- dence at Lynnfield Centre. They are the parents of one son, Starr Parsons, born Sep- tember 4, 1869, now City Solicitor of Lynn. (For his personal history see next sketch.)
TARR PARSONS, attorney-at-law, son of Ebenezer and Mary A.
(Dodge) Parsons, was fitted for col- lege at the Boston Latin School, where he took high rank, having entered at the age of thirteen. He won the Franklin medal, be- sides several other prizes, and wrote the class song which was sung at his graduation in 1887. At Harvard University he was chosen a mem- ber of the Classical Club, also of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and was graduated magna cum laude in 1891. He taught a year in St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., was admitted to the Essex County bar by examination at Salem in October, 1892, and formed that year a partnership in the law business with Mr. Walter H. Southwick, of Lynn. Mr. Par- sons's ability soon placed him in the front
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rank of his profession in this city. On May 22, 1897, he was elected by the City Council to complete the unexpired term of J. R. Bald- win, late City Solicitor; and on the second Tuesday in July following he was re-elected to that position for the ensuing year.
He married June 26, 1894, Miss Minnie Cora Bickford, daughter of Charles M. and Laura A. (Ellis) Bickford. She was born July 2, 1869, in Belgrade, Me. Among her ancestors were Mark Frost, a soldier of the Revolution, and Benjamin Frost, a soldier in the second war with Great Britain; while both her father and his father were in the Civil War. Her great-grandfather, William Mor- rill, was the father of three State Governors, one of whom, the Hon. Lot M. Morrill, was Secretary of the United States Treasury under General Grant. Mr. and Mrs. Starr Parsons have one son, Eben, born March 10, 1896.
Mr. Parsons is a member and a Past Chan- cellor of Peter Woodland Lodge, No. 72, Knights of Pythias, a member of Euphrates Senate, No. 362, K. A. E. O., and also a member of the Park Club.
OHN LLOYD, a well-known business man of Gloucester and a native of the town, was born on January 14, 1825, son of John and Martha (Hoffain) Lloyd. His paternal grandfather, who was a Welsh- man, emigrated from his native land to Amer- ica, and settled in Virginia, whence he came with his family to Gloucester. Here his son John Lloyd, Sr., learned the rope-maker's trade, and worked at it during the rest of his life. Martha Lloyd, the latter's wife, was a daughter of Adam Hoffain.
After obtaining his education in the public schools of his native town, young John Lloyd worked for a time at rope-making under his
father's guidance. Later, however, he learned the business of a barber, in which he was engaged until 1869. In that year, in accord- ance with the advice of his physician, he gave up all business for a time, and devoted him- self to building up his health, which had become much impaired. In 1872, after re- ceiving a diploma from the Oriental School of Embalming in Boston, he started in his pres- ent line of business, that of undertaker and funeral director. Since then he has acquired an excellent reputation in this and the sur- rounding towns for skilful and painstaking work. It is stated that he has now the largest business of the kind in Gloucester.
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