USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 44
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Revolution. He is a member of the Congre- gational ehureh in Wenham.
'REDERICK WILLIAM SCHAAKE, a leading merehant tailor of Lawrenee, was born in Schwelm, Westphalia, Germany, June 2, 1826, son of Frederick and Catherine Wichlinghausen Sehaake. The father, who was also a merchant tailor, had a good business in his native land, where he died in 1843, leaving six sons. The subject of this sketch learned his trade in early boy- hood with his father, and secured a practical education by attending school mornings and evenings. In 1852 he came to this country, going first to England, and embarking in a sailing-vessel that arrived in New York after a voyage of twenty-one days. He followed his trade in the metropolis of the New World for two or three years as a journeyman, at the end of which time he went to Boston. Re- maining in Boston as a cutter until April 1, 1862, he came to Lawrence, and was first en- gaged here as a cutter for F. C. Drew, then a leading merchant tailor. On January 13, 1863, he purchased Mr. Drew's stock, and began business for himself, which he has conducted very successfully up to the present time, a period of some thirty-five years. He carries a first-class line of goods, embracing a large assortment of the newest designs and patterns; and his workmanship is unsurpassed. The business gives employment to about twelve or fourteen hands. Mr. Sehaake has oceupied his present stand in the Post-office Bloek since 1869, having begun the erection of the building two years previously. The post- office was established here shortly afterward. The building, which is one of the most desir - able business bloeks in the city, is a four- story edifiee, measuring sixty feet front and
ninety-five feet deep. It has a wide hall or lobby leading to the post-office. There are two stores on the ground floor, the upper stories consisting of roomy and well-lighted offiees. Mr. Sehaake oeeupies a large and commodious room on the second floor. Mr. Sehaake is also a stoekholder in the Kimball Shoe Company in South Lawrence. Politi- eally, he is a Republican, but has always de- elined office. He has been a Mason sinee 1866, and a Knight Templar sinee 1882.
In 1856 he was married in New York to Jane, daughter of Henry Todd, of Manchester, England, she having come to this country in 1850. She died in February, 1880, leaving five ehildren - Julius W., Margaret Ann, Jo- sephine Jane, Fred. H., and Albert Augustus. Julius W. and Albert A. are now with their father in the business, which is rapidly in- ereasing. Julius W. is married, and has a fam- ily of four children - three sons and a daugh- ter. Margaret Ann is the wife of Dr. Charles Crawford, of Lawrence, and the mother of two sons. Josephine Jane, who is unmarried, re- sides in Washington, D.C. Fred. H., who graduated from the Harvard Medical College in 1889, practised his profession in New Bed- ford for a time, and is now engaged in aetive practice in Lawrence. He was elected to the office of eity physician in 1896. Albert A. is married, and has one son. Like his father, he is a Mason and Knight Templar, having become a member of the commandery in 1894.
Mr. Schaake married the second time on December 2, 1883, to Miss Johanna Herr- mann, of New York City. Mrs. Schaake is a native of Silesia in Prussia and a daughter of Charles W. A. Herrmann, a noted mineralo- gist. Professor Herrmann, whose intelleet is still keen, was ninety-six years old July 3, 1897. He resides with two daughters in New York City.
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Mr. Schaake has a comfortable home at 84 Salem Street, in a handsome residence erected by him, and into which he moved March IS, 1879.
A LPHEUS GOODWIN, an enterprising meat and provision dealer of Pigeon Cove, was born in South Berwick, Me., February 1, 1842, son of Alpheus and Elizabeth (Goodwin) Goodwin. His parents were both natives of York County, Maine; and the Goodwin family is an old and repu- table one of South Berwick and the vicinity.
The subject of this sketch was reared upon his father's farm, and acquired a common- school education in his native town. Upon reaching the age of seventeen years, he went to Portsmouth, N.H., where he worked at the machinist's trade. While there he assisted in adjusting the machinery of the United States steamship "Kearsarge," the ship that after- ward became famous by sinking the Confeder- ate privateer "Alabama." He subsequently went to Chicopee, Mass., where he was em- ployed in the meat business for two years. Going from that town to Boston, hc next man- aged a grocery and provision store on Harri- son Avenue for several months, being subse- quently engaged in the same kind of occupa- tion for himself on Tremont Street. In 1876 he came to Pigeon Cove, and has since carried on a profitable meat business in this town. He also cultivates a good farm, and is a direc- tor of the Rockport National Bank. In poli- tics Mr. Goodwin is a Republican of the pro- gressive type, and an advocate of all practical measures looking to the improvement of the town or general community. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Blue Lodge in South Berwick.
November 28, 1872, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Eliza R. Eames, daughter of Ezra
Eames, formerly president of the Rockport National Bank. He has one daughter, Miriam by name.
HARLES SHATTUCK, latc a pros- perous farmer of West Andover, was born in this town, May 21, 1815, son of Peter and Susanna (Clark) Shattuck. The first ancestor of the family to settle in America was William Shattuck, who emi- grated from Scotland in 1660. Joseph Shat- tuck, Charles Shattuck's grandfather, a native of Andover and a farmer by occupation, was the father of twelve children.
Peter Shattuck, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Andover, in the vicinity of the farm where his son now resides. He was a shocmaker by trade, and passed his en- tirc life in Andover. His wife Susanna, who was a native of Chelsea, Mass., and a daughter of Daniel Clark, became the mother of eleven children, namely : Peter and Leon- ard; Susanna, the wife of George Bradley; Harriet, the wife of Alford Putnam; Frank- lin; William; Charles; Thomas; and three who died young.
Charles Shattuck attended the public schools of Andover, and completed his edu- cation at Phillips Academy. He learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed for a time. Afterward, succeeding to the home- stead, he gave his attention to the cultivation of his farm. Besides erecting a new resi- dence, he otherwise improved the property. Taking an active interest in public affairs, he served as Selectman and Oversecr of the Poor, and was Auditor for three years. His death occurred August 4, 1898. He was a member of the Congregational church.
On Junc 18, 1840, Mr. Shattuck married Rosetta Hopkins, a daughter of Chipman
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Hopkins, of Michigan. His children are: Frances Rosetta, the widow of Horace P. Beard, of Andover; Charles William; Frederic W. ; and Jennie, the wife of the Rev. Sidney K. Perkins, pastor of First Church of West Springfield, Mass. Mr. Shattuck was a sub- seriber for the Boston Journal from its estab- lishment in 1833.
OHN FOLSOM CHESLEY, of Ames- bury, was born in Lee, N.H., on June 25, 1820, son of Israel and Betsy (Fol- som) Chesley. He is of the sixth generation from Philip Chesley, who was known to liave been in Dover in 1642, and to have died be- fore 1685. From Philip and his wife, Eliza- beth, who bore him two sons - Thomas and Philip - the line of direct ancestry is through Thomas, Ensign Joseph, Thomas, Lieutenant Benjamin, and Israel, the last-named being the father of John F. Chesley. The first Thomas, who was born in 1644, and was killed by the Indians in 1697, married Eliza- beth Thines. She bore him eight children, named respectively: Thomas, John, George, Elizabeth, Joseph, Sarah, Susanna, and Mary. Ensign Joseph, who died in 1731, married Sarah Smith, and had three children - Jo- seph, Thomas, and James. The second Thomas, who was born in 1718 or 1719 and died in 1810, married Mary Hill, of Durham. His children were: Benjamin, Thomas, Na- thaniel, Joseph, and James. Lieutenant Ben- jamin was born in 1743, and died in 1831. He lived on a farm in Durham, a part of which is now owned by the New Hampshire College of Agriculture; and the old home- stead, which is now standing, is occupied by the president of the college. His wife, who was before her marriage Deborah Randall, of Lec, N.H., was born in 1747, and died in
1830. She was the mother of seven sons and five daughters, whose names follow: Abigail, Mary (or Polly), Miles, Deborah, Isaac, Su- sanna, James, Benjamin, Valentine, Nancy, Israel, and Thomas. To cach of the sons was given a farm. The Rev. Israel Chesley, father of John F., was born in November, 1788, and died in 1866. He resided on the Folsom homestead in Lee, N. H., which had previously been the property of Colonel John Folsom, his wife's father. His children were: Israel, Elizabeth, Mary Neal, John Folsom, Deborah G., and Hannah.
John Folsom Chesley received his educa- tion in the common schools and at Newmarket Academy. When a young man, he taught school for some years; but in 1840 he started in "trade" in Newmarket. After four years he removed to Newburyport, where he en- gaged in business. He built the store at the corner of Merrimac and Kent Streets in New- buryport, and continued there for five years. Going thence to Lee, N.H., he started busi- ness, to which for the next eleven years he devoted his full attention. At the end of that time he came to Amesbury, and bought the estate where he now resides. Shortly after the war he began the sale of carriages, his operations being confined chiefly to New England, with branch repositories at Lewis- ton and Bangor, Mc., and Watertown, N. Y. After a few years he retired from active mer- cantile life.
Mr. Chesley was married on August 17, 1853, to Abigail Emery George, of Amesbury, daughter of Nathaniel and Anna George. It is a family tradition that these Georges were descended from the family of Sir Ferdinand Gorges, who was prominent in the history of the early settlement of America. Sir Ferdi- nand was one of the company known as the Plymouth Bay Company, and as early as 1607
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sent out an expedition for the purpose of effecting a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec River. This proving unsuccessful, he urged a repetition of the attempt; and, when he found that he could not secure the co- operation of other wealthy men, he bought and fitted out a ship, which he sent to America, nominally for the purpose of fishing and trad- ing, but in reality for the purpose of making explorations, with an eye to future settlement. Trusted servants of his own household were on board the ship, and careful reports were carried home. In 1622 Sir Ferdinand, in company with Captain John Mason, secured from the crown a grant of land between the Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers; and the fol- lowing year a company of colonists were sent out. These formed two settlements on the Piscataqua River, one at its mouth, and the other at Cochecho, now the city of Dover, these being the first settlements in what is now the State of New Hampshire. In 1635 Sir Ferdinand obtained a separate title to that portion of the former grant lying east of the Piscataqua, and in honor of his native county gave it the name of Somersetshire. Here he organized a proprietary government, and was himself created Lord Palatine by the home government, having duties similar to those of the Bishop of Durham. From this time on the province was called Maine. In 1640 the first General Court assembled at Saco, and its members took the oath of allegiance to the proprietor. Thomas Gorges was created Governor of the province, and took up his residence at Georgeana, now the town of York, of which he was made Mayor. This was the first English city incorporated on this continent. When the trouble broke out be- tween King Charles and Parliament, Sir Fer- dinand, who was a warm personal friend of the monarch, actively championed the royal
cause, and therefore suffered imprisonment and loss of property. His death occurred in 1647, two years subsequent to his imprison- ment. A member of this family was Francis George, the "scout " or the "hermit," as he was called, whose heroism in risking an en- counter with Indians, in order to rescue some white children, was thought worthy of a mon- ument in Whitehall, London. James George, a direct ancestor of Mrs. Chesley, was a brother of this Francis. He was born in Amesbury, but came to Salisbury, one of the early settlers here, and lived the greater part of his life in this town, settling on the land called the mill division on the western side of Powow Hill. His great-great-grandsons, Nathaniel and John George, built the house in which Mr. Chesley resides. John never married, but spent his life in his brother Nathaniel's family. Nathaniel, prominent in town affairs and twice a Representative to the General Court, married Anna Brown, of Kensington, N.H. She was the mother of twelve children, four sons and eight daugh- ters, one of the daughters being Mrs. Ches- ley. The original house, built by James George, stood at the base of Powow Hill, about a half-mile distant from the present one; and the old well, the currant bushes, and the overrun garden may still be seen there. The present house, which was built in 1813, is on the estate which has been in possession of the George family for over two hundred and twenty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Chesley have been the par- ents of five children; namely, John Edwin, Monroe Berry, Annie Cornelia, Israel Folsom, and Mary Elizabeth. John Edwin was edu- cated at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Bates College. He now resides in Amesbury with his parents on the George homestead. Mon- roe Berry was educated at Northwood Acad-
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emy. He married Annie, daughter of the late Jonathan Osborne, of Amesbury. There were born to them three children - Annie Cornelia, John Osborne, and Bertha Annie. He resides on the David Challis estate, which has been in the possession of the Challis fam- ily for more than two hundred and fifty years. The house on the estate, which was erected in 1696, is one of the oldest in the Common- wealth, and is still in perfect preservation. Its huge oaken timbers are as sound as when they left the forest where they grew. Israel Folsom Chesley graduated from the Salisbury High School in 1877, attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and graduated from Amherst College in 1883. He is now in the wool business in Boston. £ He married Bertha, daughter of Solomon N. Russell, of Pittsfield, Mass. The names of their children are re- spectively : Solomon Russell, Israel Folsom, Franklin Russell, and Malcolm. Mary Eliz- abeth Chesley was educated at Miss Salis- bury's school in Pittsfield, and married Pro- fessor Fred P. Emery, of Dartmouth College.
ENJAMIN HALE, a prominent citi- zen of Newburyport, Mass., was born in Saco, Me., son of Benjamin Hale, D.D., and his wife, Mary Caroline King Hale. He belongs to a family that has been represented in Essex County from earli- est Colonial times. Thomas Hale, his great- great-grandfather, was the third in direct line born in this country to bear the name of Thomas. He became a member of the first Board of Selectmen of Haverhill. He was a Captain in the militia, and fought in the old French and Indian War. Captain Hale's son, Benjamin, first, fought for the American cause at Bunker Hill and at Saratoga. Although this patriot ancestor died before the close of
the war, he won the rank of Lieutenant, and was for a time Quartermaster. His son Thomas, who was born in Atkinson, N. H., re- moved to Newburyport, and became owner of a large hat factory, and was also interested in shipping, and managed a farm in New Hamp- shire. This later Thomas Hale married a daughter of Josiah Little, whose father, Colo- nel Moses Little, fought in the battle of Bun- ker Hill, and was later a member of Wash- ington's body-guard, and was very successful in raising troops. Ten children were the fruit of this union.
Of these, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Hale, who was born November 23, 1797, in Belleville, parish of Newbury, was the eldest. He began his school life when only three years old at Ma'am Fowler's school, and was known when very young as an unusually studious child. Later he was a student at Newbury- port Academy, under the principalship of Abiel Chandler, who many years afterward endowed the Chandler Scientific School of Dartmouth College. He fitted for college at Atkinson Academy when it was under charge of the Hon. John Vose; and in 1814 he en- tered Dartmouth, being the youngest in a class of thirty men. His health failing, he was obliged to take rest from study; and, when he was again able to continue, he en- tered the Sophomore class of Bowdoin College in 1816, when the Rev. Dr. Appleton was president. He stood high in a class of un- usual ability, and graduated in 1818 as saluta- torian. During the succeeding year he taught school in Saco, Me., and in the autumn of 1819 entered Andover Theological Seminary. At Bowdoin College commencement in 1820 he was appointed tutor, and in the fall he began to instruct the Junior class in natural philos- ophy and in Locke's "Essay on the Human Understanding," and the Sophomore class in
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mathematics and logic. At the same time he was continuing his theological studies. In IS21 he delivered a Latin oration, and received the degree of Master of Arts from Bowdoin College. Licensed to preach by the York (Congregational) Association in January, I822, he preached for a time in Brunswick, Me. In 1822 he was invited by R. H. Gardi- ner, Esq., to take charge of an institution at Gardiner, Me., for training farmers and me- chanics. He opened the Gardiner Lyceum, as it was called, which was in effect one of the pioneer schools of technology, and was in- stalled as principal, delivering an address, which was published. He managed the execu- tive department with great skill, and at the same time gave lecture courses in chemistry, mathematics, and natural philosophy, and in the winter on agricultural chemistry and on architecture. He also prepared a text-book on the elementary principles of carpentering, and it can scarcely be wondered at that his health failed under the stress of all this work. He resigned his position in Gardiner, and after a rest accepted in 1827 the position of professor of chemistry in Dartmouth College, and remained there until 1836. At Dart- mouth he laid the foundation of the present collection of minerals, himself presenting some five hundred specimens. Besides giving his lectures on geology and mineralogy and in the chemical department, he heard recitations in Hebrew and in other subjects. During the last three years he was president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. His portrait still hangs on the walls of the college library. In January, 1831, he was ordained a priest of the Episcopal church by the Right Rev. Dr. Griswold, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese. In 1835 Columbia College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity; and in 1836 he was elected to the presidency of Hobart
College, Geneva, N. Y., which position he filled with signal ability for a period of twenty-two years. Dr. Hale removed to Newburyport in 1859, and died July 15, 1863, leaving four sons and one daughter.
Benjamin Hale, Jr., was the eldest child of his parents. He was educated in Groveland, -at Byfield Academy, and at Hobart College, graduating from the last named institution in 1848, and entering the following autumn the Medical School of Harvard College. He also attended Geneva Medical School, and planned to fit himself for the practice of medicine; but his health failed, and he was obliged to en- gage in some occupation which should give opportunity for exercise in the open air. He went to farming at Newbury, Vt., on a farm of some six hundred or eight hundred acres, superintending the work himself. From his land he reaped an annual crop of two or three hundred tons of hay. In 1872 Mr. Hale came to Newburyport, where he owns several acres of land. He has been director of the Me- chanics' Bank for some years and a trustee of the Institution for Savings.
In politics Mr. Hale is a Whig. His first Presidential vote was cast in 1848 for Zachary Taylor. In 1882 he was elected Mayor of the city, and was made trustee of the public li- brary ex officio. This latter position he has held ever since, and has been trustee of the Simpson Fund. Owing to poor health Mr. Hale has withdrawn from active participation in public affairs, though he still retains his interest in them. He has been interested not only in business and political affairs, but in the social and religious life of the town. He was for many years a member of the Tuesday Evening Literary Club, and he has been ac- tively connected with the Belleville Congre- gational Church and a member of its Pruden- tial Committee.
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Mr. Hale married Lucy B., daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Hale, president of the Ocean Bank, of Newburyport. Mr. and Mrs. Hale have one son, James White Hale, a graduate of the Chandler Scientific School in the class of 1881 and now owner of several patents. Mrs. Hale's family is an old and honorable onc, tracing back on her mother's side to Winthrop Balch, a soldier in Crom- well's army, and to Benjamin Balch, who was born in 1629, and is said to have been "the first white male child born in Massachusetts," or, as another expresses it, probably "ye first person born in ye Colony of Massachusetts Bay." On the maternal side Mr. Hale is de- scended from Cyrus King, M. C. from Saco, Mc. ; and in other lines he traces back to con- nections with Governor Langdon, of New Hampshire, and Governor Sullivan, of Massa- chusetts.
ORACE G. LESLIE, M.D., a lead- ing physician of Amesbury, Essex County, Mass., was born in Haver- hill, N. H., on April 13, 1842, son of Alonzo Ransom and Martha (Clarke) Leslie. His mother was a descendant of Robert Jones, one of the first settlers of Amesbury. On the pa- ternal side he is of ancient Scottish stock, this surname having been borne by one of the oldest clans of Scotland. He is a representa- tive of the fourth generation of the family founded by the Rev. James Leslie, who in 1729, with his wife, Margaret Shearer, and their son George, then less than two years old, crossed the Atlantic, and came to Ipswich, Mass. James Leslie is spoken of in a history of Essex County as being a few years later a resident of Topsfield.
George Leslie studied with the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Topsfield, was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1748, and was settled as the first minister in Linebrook Parish, Ipswich, in 1749. He remained at Linebrook till 1780, when he accepted a call to Washington, N. H. He married October 26, 1756, Hepzi- bah Burpee, daughter of Jonathan Burpee. Eight children were the fruit of this union. The seventh, Joseph, who was born in Ips- wich, February 28, 1774, and died in Cor- nish, N.H., in 1852, was the Doctor's grand- father. He was a teacher, farmer, and car- penter, and was a writer of considerable merit. Many of his poems were published. Hc mar- ried in 1801 Rebecca Farrington. They had twelve children.
Alonzo Ransom Leslie, son of Joseph, was born in Cornish, N.H. He was a farmer for the greater part of his life, although, being of an active temperament and an ingenious turn of mind, he worked at various other occupa- tions. He owned a number of farms, and was in very comfortable circumstances. He was a man of remarkable physique, not tall, but with muscles like iron. The Doctor remem- bers having seen him take up a barrel full of cider, and drink from the bung. He was prominent in town affairs, and held various public offices. His church affiliations were with the Baptist society. Two children were born to him and his wife, Martha Clarke, namely : Horace G., of Amesbury; and Mary M., who married George G. Adams, the archi- tect of Lawrence.
The family removing to Topsham, Vt., when Horace, the subject of this sketch, was three years of age, he attended the common schools of that State, and subsequently New- bury Seminary, Norwich University, and the University of Vermont, located at Burlington. He attended medical lectures at Dartmouth College in 1863, but before his graduation he enlisted as assistant surgeon in the First Ten-
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nessee Union Regiment, and served until June, 1865, being largely in hospital work at headquarters. He was mustered out at Nash- ville, Tenn., at the close of the war, having gained experience, particularly in surgery, that has since been of invaluable service to him. He received his degree from the Uni- versity of Vermont, medical department, in the class of 1868, and in the following year settled at Amesbury. His practice soon grew to be large and prosperous, and his services were called for in many cases of special diffi- culty.
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