USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 40
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The father of Mr. P. Albert True was Jabez, born October 19, 1802, son of Elder Jabez and Ruth (Brown) True. He was a farmer, a highly esteemed and prominent citi- zen, and a Deacon of the Baptist Church of Seabrook. He owned a fine estate, and kept a large amount of stock, was a man of conserv-
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ative temperament and of very firm principles. He died in September, 1875. His wife, Annie, to whom he was married in December, 1826, died August 30, 1890. Their four children were: Caroline E., born April 18, 1831; Idaletta Louisa Maria, born July 5, 1845; Oliver A., born December 9, 1834; and P. Albert, whose personal history is given below. Caroline E. married Azor O. Web- ster, and had one son - Alfred C., born Feb- ruary 4, 1852, now treasurer of the Powow River Savings Bank, of Amesbury, of which his father is president. Mrs. Webster died September 20, 1860; and Mr. Webster mar- ried for his second wife her sister, Idaletta. Oliver A. True, who was a farmer, died Jan- uary 25, 1863, at the age of twenty-nine years. He was interested in the family his- tory and genealogy, and had planned to look it up.
P. Albert True was graduated at the Putnam Free School in 1860, and has since made his home on the True homestead. June 17, 1872, he married Sarah Emily Morrill, who was born November 19, 1841, daughter of John and Sally (Marston) Morrill, of Salisbury Plains. She is of the seventh generation of Morrills in Salisbury. Both Mr. and Mrs. True were baptized . March 3, 1895, by the Rev. William R. Webster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Salisbury, and were re- ceived into full communion with the church the following September. Mr. True is now one of the stewards of the society and a mem- ber of the committee on music and on the pas- tor's salary. He is active in every movement pertaining to the welfare of the town, and worthily represents the family. He was elected president of the Town Improvement Society at the time of its organization, and has held the office since. He is a stockholder of Commoners of Salisbury and clerk of the or-
ganization; has been Justice of the Peace for thirty-seven years, having been appointed by Governor Andrew in 1862, and successively reappointed by governors Claflin, Rice, Butler, and Brackett; has been trustee of Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport for several years; is a member and director of the Salis- bury Home for Aged Women; has been on the School Board for many years, and is Highway Surveyor, Auditor of Accounts, and member of the Essex Agricultural Society as well as trustee of several companies. For thirty-five years he has been engaged in writing legal documents and in settling estates. He is a warm Republican, and has written for the press. In 1893 he was appointed delegate to Chicago.
Mr. True's children are : Ralph Preston, clerk in the Powow National Bank; Florence Marston, formerly a student at Abbot Acad- emy, Andover, a fine musician and critic, teaching piano and violin and harmony ; Helen Webster, who graduated at the Putnam School in 1896; and Edward Parker True, a student in the Putnam School.
HOMAS FREEMAN PORTER, a
real estate dealer, insurance agent, and Notary Public of Lynn, was born Oc- tober 30, 1847, in Paradise, N.S., not far from the scene of Longfellow's immortal poem "Evangeline." His parents, Theron and Elizabeth Freeman Porter, were both born in the Province of Nova Scotia, where the father was for several years engaged in farming and carpentering. In 1852 they removed to Boston, and nine years later settled in Swampscott, Mass. For thirty years the father worked at his trade in that place, and then, with his wife, took up his residence with his son, Thomas Freeman, in
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Lynn, where they are enjoying the comforts of lifc.
Thomas F. Porter completed his education in the Swampscott schools, which he attended until about thirteen years old. When quite young he began his mercantile career as a clerk in a dry-goods store of Swampscott, and was afterward employed by various shoe firms in Lynn for a few years. Going then to Bos- ton, he was engaged as a clerk in the stores of C. F. Hovey & Co. and Charles C. Holbrook, remaining with the latter firm until the big fire of November, 1872. Returning to Lynn after this, he was connected with the firm of Porter & Taylor, grocers, and continued work- ing for them until 1874, when he was ad- mitted into partnership, the name being changed to Porter, Taylor & Co. Thirteen years later he purchased his brother's interest in the firm of Porter, Hanson & Co., grocers in City Hall Square, where he was in business for about a year. In 1888 he embarked in his present real estate and insurance business, which he has since conducted with success. He is vice-president of the Lynn Board of Fire Underwriters.
Taking a genuine interest in local affairs, Mr. Porter has served with prudence and fidel- ity in both branches of the city government. In 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888 he was a member of the Common Council, and served on the Printing, Public Property, Election, Public Grounds, and Finance Committees. In 1896 and 1897 he was a member of the Board of Aldermen, serving on the Commit- tees on Strects, Street Assessments, Educa- tion, Public Grounds, Claims, and Bills in Second Reading. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and in 1882 and 1883 was a mem- ber of the Lynn City Rcpublican Club. He was made an Odd Fellow in the Bay State Lodge, No. 40, of which he is Past Grand;
and he is a Past Chief Patriarch of Palestine Encampment, No. 37, I. O. O. F. ; a member of the Golden Fleece Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; of the Sagamore Tribe of Red Men, No 2; and of the Knights of Pythias. He is like- wise a member of the Advisory Board of the Houghton Horticultural Society, a member of the Lynn Board of Trade, the Lynn Repub- lican Club, and the Lynn Historical Society. For two years he was speaker of the Lynn Assembly, a debating society of some promi- nence. Possessing much literary talent, he has acquired quite a reputation as a writer of both prose and verse, his articles being pub- lished in some of the leading newspapers, periodicals, and magazines of the country.
Mr. Porter was married September 14, 1876, to Miss Emma E. Norris, daughter of Moses Norris, a well-known morocco manu- facturer of Lynn. Born in Charlestown, April 20, 1851, Mrs. Porter died April 30, 1891. She left one child, Chester H. Porter, who was born in Lynn, April 28, 1880.
AMUEL BROOKINGS, JR., the Assistant Postmaster of Newbury- port was born in Newbury, Mass., August 24, 1841, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Little) Brookings. He belongs to one of the old Massachusetts families. On the father's side he is of English descent. His great-grandfather, Samuel Brookings, came from England, and settled in Newbury. The grandfather, also named Samuel, born in Newbury and a member of the Old South First Presbyterian Church, was a merchant of the town for several years, and fitted out fishing- vessels. He married Eunice McIntire, of the same place, became the father of seven chil- dren, and died at the age of eighty. His wife died at seventy.
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Samuel Brookings, the fifth bearer of the name and the father of the subject of this biography, was born August 3, 1803. He followed the calling of navigator in the fisher- ies of the Bay of Chaleur. In his later years he became a shoemaker. He enlisted in the Union army in July, 1861, joining the Nine- teenth Massachusetts Regiment. At Har- per's Ferry he was injured, and he was honor- ably discharged in May, 1862. At the time of Banks's raid he re-enlisted, and went to Boston shortly after his discharge, but was sent back. Once more he enlisted, this time accompanied by his two sons, and entered Company A, Forty-eighth Massachusetts Regi- ment, under Colonel Stone. After this he was at Plain's Store, the siege of Port Hudson, and the battle of Donaldsonville. At this time he was sixty years old; but he dyed his whiskers, and re-enlisted as forty-four years old, rather than allow his young sons to go to the front without him. At the time of his death, October 27, 1888, he was the oldest member of the G. A. R., A. W. Bartlett Encampment, Post No. 49. On March II, 1823, he married Elizabeth Little, who was born April 22, 1805, daughter of Captain David Little, and who died December 12, 1869. Her grandfather, Colonel Moses Lit- tle, a Revolutionary soldier, fought at Bunker Hill. Her children were born as follows: Eunice McIntire, February 4, 1824; John Bag- ley, June 12, 1826; David Little, August 5, 1828, who died September 28, 1878; Melvin Fessenden, December 23, 1830; George Will- iam, September 17, 1833; Elizabeth Sarah, December 5, 1835; Mary Little, August 15, 1839, who died March 12, 1844; Samuel, the subject of this sketch, August 24, 1841 ; and Philip, September 4, 1843, who died January 13, 1845.
Samuel Brookings, Jr., was educated at the
public schools. Afterward for a few years he worked at the shoemaker's trade. While the Civil War was waging, he enlisted with his father and brother in Company A, Forty- eighth Massachusetts Regiment, Nineteenth Army Corps, Gulf Department, under General Banks, and was subsequently in the battle of Plain's Store, May 21, the assault on Fort Hudson, May 27, 1863, the siege of Port Hudson, and in the battle at Donaldson- ville on July 13, 1863. He then returned with the regiment to the old quarters at Baton Rouge, whence the latter was ordered home in August. On returning to civil life he resumed shoemaking. February 5, 1866, he was appointed to a position in the Post-office Department. In May, 1869, he was promoted from the position of carrier to that of clerk ; and on June II, 1877, he was made Assistant Postmaster, which position he has since held, having served under eight Postmasters.
Mr. Brookings is a member of the A. W. Bartlett Post, No. 49; of the St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., since 1867; and of King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M., since 1878. The secretary of the St. John's Lodge since 1872, he is the oldest continuous incumbent of that office, except one, in the State. He has also been secretary of King Cyrus Chapter since 1878. He has been a member of Quascacun- quen, I. O. O. F., since 1872. On September 18, 1862, he married Abby W. Merrill, who died October 27, 1887. A second marriage in January 13, 1891, united him with Sarah N.
Berney, daughter of Benjamin Dutton, a ship- builder. Mr. Brookings is interested in city affairs, and was for three years in the early seventies a member of the Common Council.
From 1892 to the year 1894 he held the position of auditor in the Co-operative Bank. Since then he has been a director of the insti- tution. Always faithful to duty, honest, and
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industrious, Mr. Brookings has the sincere esteem of his fellow-citizens.
ENRY W. SAWYER was born in West Newbury, Mass., April 21, 1822. He was the youngest son of Stephen and Sarah (Brown) Sawyer, and was a lineal descendant of William Sawyer, who was born in England in 1613, and came to this country about 1640, and a few years later settled at Newbury, Mass., where he took the oath of allegiance and was made a freeman in 1678. Stephen Sawyer, son of William, was born in Newbury, April 25, 1663, and died June 8, 1753. Stephen Sawyer, Jr., great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Newbury, and died in 1765. Micah Sawyer, son of Stephen, Jr., and grandfather of Henry W., was born in New- bury, April 23, 1741, and died March 1, 1817.
Stephen Sawyer, third, Henry W. Sawyer's father, a tiller of the soil, was born in West Newbury, October 25, 1780, and died October 30, 1874, at the age of ninety-four years. His wife, Sarah Brown, was the daughter of Stephen Brown. She was born at Turkey Hill, West Newbury, in 1789, and died No- vember 26, 1871.
Henry W. Sawyer began his studies in the common schools of this town, and completed his education by a year's attendance at the Amesbury High School. He turned his at- tention to agricultural pursuits at an early age, and, being an industrious, exceedingly ca- pable, and thorough farmer, was successful in his chosen vocation. He was a man of stanch integrity, scrupulously honest in all his deal- ings. In politics he was a Republican. Although his forefathers were Quakers, he did not adhere to that form of worship, but attended the First Congregational Church
until his advanced years, when he became afflicted by deafness.
On June 10, 1852, he was united in mar- riage with Harriett D. Moulton. She was born in West Newbury, January 26, 1826, daughter of Colonel Daniel and Diedamia (Spofford) Moulton, both of . old Colonial stock. Her father was one of the prominent farmers of this town in his day, and for many years held a Colonel's commission in the State militia.
Henry W. Sawyer lived to be nearly seventy-two years old. His death, which occurred on February 15, 1894, was the cause of sincere regret in a large circle of relatives and friends.
Mrs. Sawyer, with two of their four chil- dren - Carrie E. and Henrietta M. - survives her husband. Their eldest daughter, Eleanor, born April 22, 1856, died in infancy; and their only son, Stephen, born May 12, 1860, died July 13, 1862. Carrie E., born Febru- ary II, 1858, was united in marriage with David H. Evans, of Haverhill, January 12, 1887. Henrietta M., born January 3, 1864, resides with her mother at the homestead, near Indian Hill, West Newbury. Mrs. Sawyer also has three grandchildren, as follows: Har- old Sawyer Evans, born in West Newbury, October 12, 1890; Ethel Moulton Evans, born June 6, 1892; and Alice Evans, born Sep- tember 21, 1896.
OSEPH O. PROCTER was for many years prominent among the men en- gaged in the Gloucester fisheries, and is now a representative business man of the city. Born here on May 4, 1829, he is a son of the late Joseph J. and Eliza A. (Gilbert) Procter. His paternal great-grandfather, Jo- seph Procter, settled in Gloucester in 1766,
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and established a fish business here. The same kind of business has been carried on by five generations, each successive proprietor bearing the name of Joseph Procter. The fifth of the name, son of the subject of this sketch, is at present engaged in the business. Mr. Procter's mother was a daughter of Jona- than Gilbert, a sea captain engaged in foreign trade and sailing from this port.
Having succeeded to the business of his father when the latter died, in September, 1848, Joseph O. Procter conducted it most suc- cessfully until January, 1878, when he passed it over to his son. He had often as many as fifteen vessels engaged in the fishing business, and employed one hundred and fifty men. In 1852 he was chosen a director of the Glouces- ter Mutual Fishing Insurance Company, and for the succeeding twenty years he exercised a dominant influence in the management thereof. For fifteen years he was both the president and treasurer of the company. Also for fourteen years he was a director of the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Salem, and its treasurer for two years. From 1858 to 1862 he was a director of the Cape Ann Bank. . In 1864 he helped organize the First National Bank of Gloucester, was a member of its first Board of Directors, and continued to serve in that capacity until 1896. During the last sixteen years of that period he was its president. He is a charter member of the Gloucester Water Supply Com- pany, and has been its president since its organization. He is also the vice-president of the Electric Company and a director of the Gloucester Net and Twine Company.
In religion Mr. Procter is strictly orthodox. Having united in 1858 with what is now Trinity Congregational Church, he was for several years a member of its Standing Com- mittee, for three years its treasurer, for
twenty-eight years its clerk, and for thirty years he was connected with its Sunday- school as superintendent, librarian, teacher, or secretary. He was active in promoting the formation of the Gloucester Y. M. C. A., and has always been a liberal contributor toward its support. He was named as a trustee of the Sawyer Free Library by Mr. Samuel E. Sawyer, and he has also been a di- rector for thirty-five years. He has been one of the directors and for thirty years the secre- tary of the Gloucester Fishermen's and Sea- men's Widows' and Orphans' Aid Society, which has distributed to its beneficiaries since 1862 an amount of money averaging five thousand dollars a year. Mr. Procter is a director and corporate member of the Glouces- ter Fishermen's Institute, and is now its pres- ident. From 1866 to 1890 he was the presi- dent of the Gloucester Board of Trade.
In politics Mr. Procter is a Republican. He was a member of the convention held in 1855 at Worcester that gave birth to the Re- publican party in Massachusetts, and since then he has been frequently sent as delegate to various party conventions. For two years he served as chairman of the Board of Select- men. He was County Commissioner for six years, during three of which he was chairman of the board, At present he is a member of the Gloucester Park Commission. He holds certificate No. I as an associate member of Colonel Allen Post, No. 45, G. A. R.
He has been three times married, succes- sively to Lydia A. Gaffney, of Gloucester, Mar- tha A. Morse, of Westboro, and Lucy Ann Evans. The present Mrs. Procter is a great- grand-daughter of Reuben Evans, who held a commission as Lieutenant in the Continental army. Mr. Procter's children are: Ella L., Joseph O., and Adeline W. Ella L. is a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, and
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Adeline W. of Smith College. The son married Florence Cunningham, and is now the father of five children, namely: Mabel D., now a student in Smith College; Joseph O., a student in Harvard University; Helen M .; Richard C .; and Dorothy K. The three younger children attend school in Gloucester.
AVID M. TUKESBURY, formerly a farmer and influential resident of Merrimac, born in Newton, N.H., in 1817, descended from a family of the name that came from England in the early days and settled in Essex County. His father, David Tukesbury, at one time a well-known cattle dealer and butcher of this locality, fur- nished beef to the garrison at Portsmouth during the War of 1812. In early life he was a preacher. He afterward purchased the estate on Bear Hill, where he died in 1850, at the age of sixty-three years.
David M. Tukesbury was educated at Dum- mer and Atkinson Academies and at the old academy in Amesbury. Upon finishing school he came to Merrimac, and worked upon his father's large estate. He became inter- ested in lumbering, especially in cutting ship timber, at a time when ship-building was a new industry in this country. He was also an extensive stock-raiser, having frequently fifty head of cattle. The farm yielded annu- ally fifty tons of hay, besides large crops of corn and other grains. Mr. Tukesbury also built and operated a saw-mill. At the out- break of the Civil War he was elected a Se- lectman, and afterward served in that capacity for twelve successive years. He was kept busy in filling quotas during the war, and such was his intelligence and good judgment that he was continually appealed to for advice
by his fellow-townsmen. He married Miss Olive Merrill, whose people were the New England Merrills of Revolutionary fame. By her he became the father of three children --- Gayton, Maria, and Anna.
Mr. Tukesbury died in 1891. His widow and two children survive him. Gayton, the eldest, was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and at a private school in Amesbury carried on by James Davis. He married Nancy T. Dodge, of Newburyport, and resides on the old homestead. Maria, who died May 7, 1877, married George Cur- rier, of Merrimac, and had three sons : Frank, who married Annie Baxter, of Merrimac Port, and has four children - Levi, Dudley, Alva, and Cecil; William, who married Jennie Car- penter, of Haverhill; and Fred, who married Mattie Heath, of Merrimac, and has one daughter, Olive Maria. The youngest child, Anna, married Francis Merrill, of Amesbury, and they have three daughters: Olivia, who married Charles Brazer, of Cambridge, and has one child, Frank; Cora and Ida, both re- siding at home.
OSES GILMAN SMITH, of Me- thuen, contractor and builder for works of stone masonry, was born in Rowley, in the eastern part of Essex County, Mass., on November 24, 1829, son of Gilman H. and Cynthia (Chaplin) Smith. His family was founded by Hugh Smith, an Englishman, who settled in Rowley in 1639, was made freeman in 1642, and died in 1656.
Benjamin Smith, a lineal descendant of Hugh the immigrant, was father of Isaac, who died at Rowley in March, 1816. Moses, son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Hibbard) Smith, settled in 1835 on a farm in Rowley. He died in June, 1855, being survived only eight
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days by his wife, who died at the age of seventy- eight years and eight months.
Gilman H. Smith, above named, was born in Rowley on October 21, 1804. He was mar- ried in 1827 to Cynthia, daughter of Jeremy and Eunice (Stickney) Chaplin, and by this union became the father of twelve children, ten of whom were sons. Three of them died in childhood, namely : Edward at the age of three years and eight months; Isaac, aged three years; and Orlando L., aged nine years and three months. Those who grew to matu- rity were named as follows : Mary J., Moses G., Henry W., Willard H., Luther A., Sylvester P., George H., Susan S., and Hugh Chaplin. Mary J., who was educated at Atkinson Acad- emy, taught her first term of school when eighteen years old, and was subsequently engaged in educational work for twenty years. For the past ten years she has been in failing health. She and her brother George reside at the old homestead in Methuen with their father. Henry died in California at the age of twenty-two, having gone there the year be- fore. Willard died in Lawrence at the age of fifty-three, leaving a wife. Luther is a merchant and teacher in Canada. He is un- married. Sylvester P. is engaged in the man- ufacture of shoes in Haverhill. He has a wife but no children. Susan S. died on July 25, 1896, unmarried. Hugh Chaplin Smith is a resident of this town.
Moses Gilman Smith completed his educa- tional course at an academy, and in his early manhood taught school for one term. At the age of seventeen he left home and went to Boston, where he engaged in pile-driving ; but two years later he began learning the mason's trade at Pelham, N.H. In March, 1854, he went to California via Nicaragua, being only twenty-seven days and five hours from New York City to San Francisco. Arriving on the
gold coast, he went to Siskiyou County and engaged in placer mining, having in company with others four claims. After remaining there four years he returned home with the snug sum of three thousand dollars, and, in partnership with John Mitchell and under the name of Smith & Mitchell, began the contracting business. His headquarters have been in Lawrence, but his field of operations has covered New England. Messrs. Smith and Mitchell had charge of much of the foun- dation work for the fine structures on Essex Street, also of masonry work in Wolfboro and Hanover, N. H., and in Boston, the Andovers, and Methuen. The partnership was dissolved after eleven years, and for the five succeeding years Mr. Smith was in business alone. At the end of that time Mr. Mahoney became associated with him, and Smith & Mahoney carried on a prosperous and lucrative business for a period of sixteen years. During the past three years, in which Mr. Smith has been practically retired as a contractor, he has been handling timber and masons' supplies in Me- thuen and Lawrence.
Mr. Smith was married on October 28, 1858, to Catherine Burleigh, of Boston, daugh- ter of Ezra and Lucy Burleigh, who came to Methuen from Boston about 1845. They were the parents of one son and five daughters. Mrs. Smith died in 1870, at the age of thirty- three years, leaving four children. Her in- fant daughter, Florence, died at the age of thirteen months. The living children are : Charlotte E., who has been engaged in the profession of teaching since she was seven- teen years of age; Mary B., the wife of Clar- ence Woud, of Malden; and Catherine L., wife of Tenney Morse, of Malden, Mass., and mother of Marion Francis Morse.
Mr. Smith is a Mason of thirty years' stand- ing. He votes the Republican ticket, and has
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served Methuen as Selectman for three years. His religious views are Orthodox, and he is a member of the Congregational Church of Me- thuen. He was the successful bidder for the building of the chapel, placing the figure at five thousand dollars against the nine thousand dollars estimated by his competitor. Mr. Smith has been most successful in his busi- ness career, and has never lacked for work. In 1858, previous to his marriage, he pur- chased his thirteen-acre lot, and built a house for a home. He has now six tenant places on his farm. After the death of his first wife he was married in 1872 to Martha J. Richard- son, of this town, daughter of Charles and Mary (Gray) Richardson, both of whom died at seventy-eight years of age. Mrs. Smith has one brother, Henry R., who is a farmer of Methuen, and a sister, Cassandana, wife of Amos Higgins.
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