USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 15
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Mr. Lloyd was married to Mary McKenna, a daughter of Bernard and Abigail (Perkins) McKenna. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Per- kins, Jr., was a soldier of the Revolution, having enlisted in the Continental army in July, 1775, and upon the expiration of his term of service re-enlisted in January, 1776. He was in the service until November 24, 1776, when he was honorably discharged. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd have one son, John Lloyd, Jr., born in 1847, who married Emma F. Rowe, and has three children. The latter are : Aaron, who was born in 1869; Mary P., who was born in 1874; and Edward, who was born in 1876. Aaron is a graduate of the Oriental School of Embalming in Boston, and is now engaged in business with his grand- father. He is a Mason of Tyrian Lodge, William Ferson, R. A. M., and the Bethlehem Commandery, and an Odd Fellow of Ocean Lodge and Cape Ann Encampment. Mary resides with her parents. Edward is a book- keeper in Gloucester. Mr. Lloyd, Sr., is a member of Ocean Lodge, No. 91, I. O. O. F., to which he has belonged for fifty years, and of which he is Past Noble Grand; of Cape Ann Encampment; Sea Shore Lodge; Tyrian
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DAVID S. PRESSON.
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Lodge, F. &. A. M., of which he is Past Mas- ter; of William Ferson Chapter, R. A. M. ; of Bethlehem Commandery, K. T. ; of Boston Consistory; of Salem Council, Royal and Se- lect Masters; of Salem Lodge of Protection ; Mount Olivet Chapter, Rose Croix; of Con- stantine Lodge, K. of P. ; and of the Improved Order of Red Men. He enjoys the full confi- dence of his fellow-townsmen and the good will of all who know him.
AVID S. PRESSON, the president of the Gloucester Mutual Fishing Insurance Company, was born in this city, August 5, 1838, son of Leonard J. and Caroline M. (Winchester) Presson. He is a descendant of William and Priscilla Pres- ton, of Beverly, Mass. Their form of the sur- name was retained by their son, Randall Pres- ton, who was born in Beverly, April 3, 1702. William Presson, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, born in Beverly, April 20, 1737, moved to Gloucester, where he fol- lowed the tailor's trade. On August 6, 1761, he was joined in marriage with Abigail Sar- gent, of Essex, Mass., and he died December 20, 1814.
William Presson (second), the grandfather of David S., was born in Gloucester, January 13, 1775. At an early age he became a sailor. When a young man he was the master of a vessel engaged in the foreign trade; and he continued to follow the sea until his death, which occurred December 8, 1830. He mar- ried Sarah Parran, daughter of Alexander Parran, of Gloucester. Alexander Parran was one of the first men to join Captain Warner's company, which marched from Gloucester to participate in the battle of Bunker Hill. In the memorable engagement he was struck by a musket ball, which lodged against his right
shoulder-blade, having broken his collar-bone in its passage, and which was extracted three months afterward. He rejoined the army at Cambridge; but on August II, 1777, as he had lost the use of his right arm, he was ap- pointed Third Lieutenant by the General Court, and stationed in Gloucester. He later sailed as superintendent of cargo on board a vessel having letters of marque, and bound for Guadeloupe. In attempting to pass a fort in the night, the vessel was fired upon and sunk, and he was drowned. Leonard J. Presson, the father of David S., was born in Gloucester, October 25, 1812. He began life as a clerk in a store, was for some time a civil engineer, from 1834 to 1839 the Postmaster in Glouces- ter, and a clerk and Deputy Collector of Cus- toms from 1849 to 1863. He died on January 5, 1864. His wife, Caroline, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Winchester, of this city, became the mother of seven children -- Har- riet, Caroline M., David S., Leonard J., Charles B., George R., and Mary E. Harriet, now deceased, married William A. Pew, of Gloucester. Leonard J. and Charles B. reside in Gloucester. Mary E. is the wife of John E. Somes and a resident of Gloucester. George R. lives in San Francisco, Cal. The mother was a member of the Baptist church.
David S. Presson was educated in the Gloucester public schools. While still young he was appointed to a clerkship in the custom- house, where he remained three years. He was subsequently employed as book-keeper by John Pew & Son for about four years, was in the fish business in St. Louis, Mo., a year, was book-keeper for Sinclair & Lowe, of Gloucester, for two years, and in Richmond, Me., he was engaged in ship-building for five years. Returning to Gloucester in 1867, he was employed in book-keeping by Brown Brothers for two years and by Clarke & Somes
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for twelve years. He was appointed Collector of Customs in 1885, holding office until 1890; and then he became the president of the Mut- ual Fishing Insurance Company. He is a director, the treasurer, and the clerk of the Gloucester Street Railway Company, of which he was one of the promoters and incorporators.
Politically, Mr. Presson is a Democrat. He served as a member of the Common Council for the first two years under the city charter, and was a member of the School Committee from 1882 to 1885. A member of Tyrian Lodge, F. & A. M., he belongs to William Ferson Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and he is a Past Eminent Commander of Bethlehem Commandery, Knights Templar. His relig- ious belief is the Universalist. On August 8, 1866, he first married Augusta, daughter of Captain William E. Herrick. She died Oc- tober 16, 1869, leaving one son - John S. A second marriage, on July 25, 1877, united him with Ruthelia Allen, daughter of John P. Allen, of Manchester, Mass.
OHN BAKER, of Manchester-by-the- Sea, the popular and energetic super- intendent of the Essex County Club, was born in this town on February 22, 1858. A son of John and Nancy A. (Merrill) Baker, respectively natives of Ipswich, Mass., and Groton, N.H., he comes of an old family that has long given leading men to the district.
The Bakers came from England to Ipswich, Mass., then callcd Agawam, about the year 1638. Owing to faulty records, this branch can be traced only to John's great-grandfather, Ebenezer, who was born in 1741, and died April 22, 1794. Ebenezer in 1765 marricd Jemima Annable, who was born in 1740, and dicd December 17, 1823. Soon after his mar- riage he moved to Manchester, where his chil-
dren were born. The latter were: Joseph, Robert, Betsy, Bethiah, Polly, and Eben. Robert, the grandfather of John, born Novem- ber 19, 1767, married on October 12, 1795, Lucretia Burnham in Ipswich, where he rented a farm, and where his children - Lucrctia, Lucy, and John - were afterward born.
John Baker, Sr., whose birth occurred on September 26, 1803, died January 7, 1877. When a lad of fourteen his father moved to Manchester, and purchased the John Osmon farm, which is still in the family. He helped to found the Baptist Church of Manchester, was one of its supporters, both financially and morally, and a Deacon of it from its organization until his death. Prom- inent in the militia, he devoted considerable time to military practice. In politics he was a Republican. In 1857 he married Nancy A. Merrill, of Hopkinton, who survives him, and is now past sixty years of age. Their chil- dren are: John, Robert, Lucy, Eben, and Lorenzo.
John Baker grew to manhood in this town, receiving his education in the graded schools and high school. When fourteen years of age he was obliged to assume practically the charge of his father's business affairs, on ac- count of the poor health of the latter, having to look after the farm and saw-mill, and later to carrying on a milk business. In this last he was associated with his brother Robert for a number of years, after which he sold out, and thereafter for a time confined himself to teaming and gardening. Feeling convinced that larger opportunities awaited him in the West, he finally sold out his other interests to Robert and Lorenzo Baker, and went to Sanborn, Col. Herc he was for three years the superintendent for the Thurlow Land and Live Stock Company. Returning to Man-
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chester at the end of that time, he took his present position as superintendent of the Essex County Club, the grounds of which are devoted to golf, tennis, and other open air sports.
Mr. Baker was married first to Mary B. Dade, of Manchester, and by her has one daughter, Hattie Florence Baker. A second marriage united him with Hattie Francella Damon, of Reading, Mass., whose children are: John Irving and Harry Damon Baker. Mr. Baker is a Republican in politics, and has served one year as Constable of Manches- ter. He is an esteemed member of the I. O. O. F. Alive to every movement for progress, he is loyally devoted to the interests of the town.
AVID LOW, the well-known farmer and gardener of Essex, was born in this town, April 25, 1822, son of David and Betsey (Story) Low. The pater- nal grandfather, Thomas Low, owned and cul- tivated a farm situated in the northern part of Essex. He married Dolly Choate, and had a family of eight children - Thomas, David, Jeremiah, Joshua, Caleb, Josiah, Polly, and Sidney.
David Low, Sr., the father of the subject of this sketch and a lifelong resident of Essex, followed the butchering business in connec- tion with farming. He was a man of con- siderable prominence, took an active part in military affairs, serving as a Captain in the State militia, and was highly respected for his many commendable qualities. He died
June 16, 1870. His wife, Betsey, was a daughter of Michael and Betsey (Goodhue) Story. Her father, a farmer and a carpenter of this town, was accidentally killed in 1797 while assisting in raising a barn. Her mother was again married to Thomas Gid-
dings, by whom she had two sons - Job and Paul; and she died in Maine. David and Betsey Low were the parents of nine children ; namely, Elizabeth, Clarissa, Mary Ann, David, Michael S., Asenath, James O., Sid- ney, and Lydia M. Elizabeth married Daniel Hartwell, a teamster of Danvers, Mass., both now deceased. Their children - Elizabeth, Selinda, and Martha - are also deceased. Clarissa, now deceased, married successively Jonathan Story and Jonathan Lufkin. By the latter she had four children - Orvilla, Jona- than L., Jonathan L. (second), and Clarissa. Mary Ann is the wife of Ezra Burnham, of Essex, and has five children - Mary E., Ezra F., Lewis O., Sidney A., and Gardner. Asenath married J. W. Johnson, of New Gloucester, Me., a pedler residing in Essex, and had three children - Albert C., Walter, and Mildred. Both the parents are deceased. James O., who was born May 1, 1830, fol- lowed shoemaking early in life, and in his later years has been engaged in farming. On November 6, 1856, he married Abigail, a daughter of John and Lydia (Holmes) Burn- ham, of Essex, and who died in June, 1889. Her children were: Edna B., who married Frank Hardy, and died in 1881, leaving one son, Frank; Abbie F., who is the wife of Enoch Story, an ice dealer of Essex, and has one son, Enoch F .; Lydia H. and Betsey S., who are residing at home; Jennie E., who is the wife of Caleb M. Cogswell, a farmer of Essex, and has two sons - Marshall and Wil- bur L .; and James O., Jr., Susan, and Jessie, who are residing at home. Sidney Low, who followed the trade of a shoemaker besides tilling the soil in his native town, married Abbie H. Burnham, of Essex, and died at the age of forty-eight years, leaving two children - Elizabeth and Frances. Lydia M. Low married Daniel W. Burnham, a ship-carpenter
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of Essex, and has three children - Maria, Lillian, and Alonzo.
After receiving his education in the com- mon schools David Low, the subject of this sketch, learned the shoemaker's trade. This he followed as a journeyman for about nine- teen years, and then engaged in the manu- facture of boots and shoes upon his own ac- count, which he carried on profitably for twenty-five years. At the expiration of that time he retired, and is now residing at the old homestead. Here, keeping a hot-house, he gives his attention to market gardening, besides making a specialty of the raising of plants and flowers, including tomato slips and large quantities of pansies and violets. An- other source of income to him is his interest as a part owner of the well-known Centennial Grove in Essex, which is used extensively during the summer season for excursions and picnic parties.
On April 9, 1846, Mr. Low was united in marriage with Mrs. Hannah Maria (Low) Low, daughter of Warren and Mary (Babcock) Low, the former of whom was a farmer and a fisherman of Essex. Mrs. David Low became the mother of seven children - Asenath M., George W., Herbert, David E., Anna B., Gertrude, and Mamie H. Asenath M. mar- ried Washington Tarr, a ship-builder of Essex, and died April 10, 1887, leaving one daughter, Asenath T. George W., who is a farmer and gardener of this town, married Abbie Knowlton, of Essex, whose children and herself are now deceased. Herbert is as- sisting his father in carrying on the farm. David E., who is engaged in farming in Essex, married Annie Story, who died in 1896, leaving one daughter, Blanche. Ger- trude married Edwin H. York, of Rockport, Mass., who is a baggage-master on the Boston & Maine Railroad. Anna B. and Mamic H.
are residing at home. Mrs. David Low died in April, 1886. Politically, Mr. Low is an active supporter of the Democratic party, and has served with ability as a Selectman, besides holding other town offices. His genial and courteous manner makes him popular with his fellow-townsmen, who sincerely esteem him.
HARLES F. ELLIOTT, one of the leading contractors and builders of Wenham, Mass., was born in Bev- erly, in the south-eastern part of Essex County, on July 8, 1849, son of Charles and Abbie (Osborne) Elliott. He belongs to one of the old and respected families of this region, whose founder came over from Eng- land. His grandfather, John Elliott, was a soldier in the War of 1812. His father, Charles Elliott, who resides in Beverly, is now engaged in agriculture. He was formerly a shoemaker. Mrs. Abbie O. Elliott's mother, Mrs. Hannah Osborne, who is still living, is among the oldest residents of Bev- erly, being in her ninety-fourth year.
Charles F. Elliott grew to manhood in Beverly, and was educated in the public schools of that town. When eighteen years of age he began learning the carpenter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of three years. Having mastered the craft, he worked at journeyman's wages for a time, but in 1873 came to Wenham, and the following year started in business for himself as a contractor and builder. Diligent and progressive, Mr. Elliott has constantly increased the scope of his operations. He employs on an average six men the year round, but during busy sca- sons a larger number.
Mr. Elliott married for his first wife . Addie S. Wilkins, of Wenham. She died in Janu- ary, 1875, and Mr. Elliott has since married
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Mary E., daughter of Ezra and Sallie (Dodge) Conant, the father a native of Beverly and the mother of Wenham, both now deceased.
Mr. Elliott is a member of the Congrega- tional church at Wenham. In politics a Re- publican, he is public-spirited and alive at all times to the best interests of the town and the community. Fraternally, he is a member of the Order of United American Mechanics at Beverly; also of the Wenham Mutual Benefit Association, of which last organization he has been one of the directors. Mr. Elliott stands to-day as an example of the self-made man, the man whose place in society and in the business world has been won by hard work, conscientious business methods, and close at- tention to detail. He commands the respect of all who know him.
LFRED PORTER PUTNAM, D.D., a Unitarian divine, now residing in Salem, Mass., was born in North Danvers, Mass., January 10, 1827, the son of Elias and Eunice (Ross) Putnam. He stands in the eighth generation from John Putnam, who emigrated from Buckinghamshire, Eng- land, and settled in Salem Village in 1634. His great-grandfather, Edmund Putnam, who commanded one of the eight Danvers com- panies that marched to the battle of Lexing- ton, April 19, 1775, was Deacon of the old Salem Village church twenty-three years, and then became a pioneer Universalist in that region. His grandfather, Israel Putnam, married Anna Endicott, through whom he is descended from the old Puritan Governor, John Endicott, also from John Porter, Major William Hathorne, the Rev. Samuel Skelton, and other leading settlers of Essex County. His father was a shoe manufacturer, County Commissioner, State Senator, and Represent-
ative; his mother, a native of Ipswich, Mass., and daughter of Adam Ross, a soldier at Bunker Hill and during the Revolution.
In the following sketch of the life of Dr. Putnam we quote largely from a biography written by a Dartmouth College classmate, and published in the Danvers Mirror in 1897.
For about a year, beginning at the age of fifteen, he was a clerk in the village bank, of which his father was president. He attended the Literary Institute and Gymnasium at Pem- broke, N. H., 1844-45, and was employed as book-keeper of Allen & Minot in Boston, 1846-47, but, finally deciding upon a liberal education, was fitted for college in the acad- emies of Andover, Mass., and Springfield and Thetford, Vt., 1847-49. His first college year was passed at Dartmouth, N.H., where he was highly respected by the faculty for his manliness and maturity of intellect. He was greatly endeared to his classmates by his so- cial qualities, and with his peculiarly rich and musical voice easily ranked all as a pub- lic speaker. He was, however, induced to complete his course at Brown University, Rhode Island, which he did in two years, re- ceiving from that institution the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1852. Having taught a winter district school in Danvers before his college course and another in Wenham, Mass., during its progress, he resumed his labors in the latter town for six months as a teacher in a select school, and then entered the Divinity School at Cambridge, Mass., graduating in 1855. The winter previously he had received a license to preach from the Boston Association of Unitarian Ministers, and on December 19 following he was ordained as pastor of the Mount Pleasant Congrega- tional Society (Unitarian) at Roxbury, Mass.
On January 10, 1856, he was united in mar- riage with Louise Proctor Preston, of an old
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Danvers family, daughter of Samuel and Lydia W. (Proctor) Preston. Her death, which occurred June 12, 1860, was deeply la- mented by a wide circle of relatives and friends.
The sicknesses and sorrows of his first years in the ministry made it desirable that he should seek a change; and May 28, 1862, he embarked with a Cambridge classmate, the Rev. Frederic Frothingham, upon an ex- tended tour abroad. His travels resulted in a course of lectures to his people on the historic and religious aspects of the Old World, and had much to do with his subsequent studies and experiences.
He closed his labors in Roxbury in 1864, having received a unanimous call to settle over the First Unitarian Society in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was installed in September of the same year, and where he continued to labor for more than twenty-two years. De- cember 27, 1865, he was married to Eliza King Buttrick, daughter of Ephraim and Mary (King) Buttrick, of Cambridge, Mass., and born January 14, 1833. Mr. Buttrick was descended from William Buttrick and other early settlers of Concord, Mass., and was long a prominent lawyer at the Middle- sex bar.
During Dr. Putnam's pastorate in Brook- lyn he was assisted by his people to establish a third Unitarian church in the city and to build chapels for his own Sunday-school and a mission school, which he founded for the poor, engaging at the same time in other be- neficent labors. He was one of the founders and one of the Board of the Brooklyn Union for Christian Work, 1866 and onward; and in 1878, as secretary of the Brooklyn Theatre Fire Relief Association, he distributed a large proportion of the fifty thousand dollars raised for the numerous families that suffered
from that terrible disaster, and wrote the final report of the two years' work. He had been elected president of the Unitarian Sunday- school Society in 1863, and honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater in 1871. But under his accumulating duties his health became enfeebled, and he visited Europe a second time in the winter of 1883, returning in July; but, on returning home and resuming his parochial duties too soon, his health gradually gave way, and he was obliged to seek recovery by surrendering his post and retiring to his wife's ancestral acres at Concord, Mass. During his life in Brooklyn, Dr. Putnam was a member of many well-known clubs and societies, notably the New York Century Club, the Long Island Historical Society, and the Brooklyn Art As- sociation. In 1895 he removed to Danvers, his native town, and two years later to the adjoining city of Salem. During this period of his recovered health he has preached in thirty or forty towns and cities, and during his ministry has delivered lectures before vari- ous historical societies and other institutions, including courses at Tufts College and at the Meadville (Pa.) Theological School; while as president of the Danvers Historical Society his labors have proved more abundant down to the present time. Various biographical sketches of Dr. Putnam have appeared in different publications issued in the last twenty-five years, and the Memorial History of his Dartmouth College class gives a list of about thirty different book and pamphlet pub- lications of which he was the author between 1859 and 1894.
The family relations of Dr. Putnam have proved most congenial and delightful. The second Mrs. Putnam, greatly beloved by her many friends, still shares with him the joys and vicissitudes of life as a helpmeet indeed.
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They have five children, namely: Endicott Greenwood, born March 8, 1867, in Cam - bridge, now in business in New York City; Alfred Whitwell, born January 23, 1870, in Brooklyn, a graduate of the Boston Law School in 1896 and now a lawyer in that city, but living with his parents in Salem; Helen Langley, born January 18, 1872, in Brooklyn, a graduate of Smith College, who for a time was a teacher of English literature in the State Normal School, New Haven, Conn., but is now married to James Kingsley Blake, a lawyer of that city; Ralph Buttrick, born May 13, 1873, in Brooklyn, a graduate of Amherst College and now a teacher in the Cutler School, New York; Margaret Ross, born July 2, 1876, in Quincy, Mass., now a student in Smith College.
TON. J. LORING WOODFALL, State Senator for the Third Essex District for 1896-97, is a native of Rockport, Mass., where he now resides. He was born fifty years ago, September 15, 1847, being the second child of John and Elizabeth B. (Saunders) Woodfall. His parents have five sons and one daughter now living. His father was born in Bolton, England, and came to this country a youth under twenty years of age. His mother is a native of Sandy Bay, now Rockport, Mass. Her parents were Samuel and Lydia P. (Thurston) Saunders. Her mother was of the sixth generation in descent from Daniel Thurston, of Newbury, Mass., the immigrant founder of this branch of the Thurston family in New England, who was a trooper in King Philip's War. Samuel Saunders, Mrs. Woodfall's father, died at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.
J. Loring Woodfall was educated in the public schools of Rockport, including the
high school, leaving before completion of course to accept a position (at the age of six- teen years) in the United States Engineer office at Boston, with Colonel J. D. Graham, having charge of harbors in Massachusetts. There he was employed eighteen months as a clerk, until the death of Colonel Graham, when he returned to Rockport, and subse- quently became paymaster in the Annisquam Mills of that town, a position which he held for seventeen years. For the past thirty years, it may be said, he has been identified with the property interests of the concern. For a year and a half he held a clerkship in the office of John Pew & Son, well-known wholesale fish dealers of Gloucester, Mass., and after that he efficiently discharged the duties of book-keeper and paymaster for the Rockport Granite Company for about six years.
Mr. Woodfall is one of the eight men who were instrumental in bringing to the attention of the United States government the necessity for a harbor of refuge at Sandy Bay; and, as secretary of the committee chosen by the town to further the enterprise, much of the work connected with the measure was done by him, and to no one else is due more credit for its success. The harbor when completed will have cost five million dollars, nine hundred thousand dollars of which has been already appropriated by Congress. It will be the largest and most commodious harbor in the United States, if not in the world.
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