USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 49
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John Heald and grand-daughter of John Heald, who was an officer in the Revolution- ary Army. The Hon. John Heald was a typical New Englander, strong-willed and sensible. He held a number of town officcs in Carlisle, and represented the district in the legislature. Of the eleven children of Mr. and Mrs. Heald, seven daughters and three sons attained maturity.
James C. Crombie, the only son of his par- ents, was an infant when his father died. After that event his mother moved to Law- rence, and he was educated in the public schools of that city. Subsequently, at a pri- vate academy, he prepared to enter college; but ill-health compelled him to relinquish his purpose. Advised by Dr. Garland, who is now deceased, to seek outdoor employment, he obtained from Major Merrill the appoint- ment of letter-carrier, and subsequently spent thirteen years in the postal service. A stanch Republican, he took an active interest in municipal affairs from the time of his first vote; and, to quote a local paper, "his knowl- edge of the various city departments is prob- ably greater to-day than any person's not offi- cially connected with them." Mr. Crombie was elected ex-Mayor Rollins's successor on the School Board, when that gentleman moved from Lawrence. During his connection with that body he has never failed to attend a meet- ing. It was largely through his efforts that the handsome modern school building on Pros- pect Hill was secured. In 1890 the State Firemen's Relief Commission was estab- lished, and Governor Brackett appointed Mr. Crombie a member of the board. In the first year he served as secretary. Afterward, re- appointed by Governor Russell, he was unani- mously elected chairman, which office he still holds. He made several arguments before Legislative Committees in behalf of the
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GEORGE W. SARGENT, OF MERRIMAC, MASS.
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annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars, which his efforts were largely instrumental in securing. He is serving his third year as president of the Board of Trade. In 1892 he was advocated for Mayor of Lawrence; and the Sunday Telegram of November 13 of that year thus speaks of him: "His integrity is unquestioned, and his conduct of his own affairs proves that the city finances would be handled prudently, though not niggardly. He has a mind of his own, and, once having de- cided a question to be right, could not be swerved in the least." Mr. Crombie is a member of the Home Club of Lawrence. He was married July 17, 1895, to Miss Lillian E. Larrabee, of that city.
EORGE WASHINGTON SAR- GENT, a native of Merrimac, born November 25, 1819, and a prosper- ous farmer of this place, is a descendant of the old Sargent family, whose name since the days of the early settlement of the country has figured prominently in the history of the town and State. The extensive and well-cultivated farm owned by Mr. Sargent is located at his- toric Bear Hill, where, besides carrying on large farming operations, he is profitably en- gaged in lumbering. His remarkable success in business shows him to be a man of energy and executive ability combined with per- severance and good judgment.
On December 3, 1854, he was united in matrimony with Myra, daughter of Richard W. and Sally Sargent, of West Amesbury. The union has been blessed by the following children : Walter Heman, who married Lizzie, daughter of B. F. Huntington, of Amesbury; Homer R., who married Lydia A., daughter of George W. Hoyt, and has three children ; Edgar Porter; and George Allen.
ALVIN W. POOL, Town Clerk of Rockport, is a native of this town, born May 29, 1834. A son of Colonel William and Sophia (Tarr) Pool, he is a descendant of John Pool, who came to America from England, and was the second permanent settler in Rockport. John had a son Caleb, whose son, Deacon Abraham Pool, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Colonel William Pool, who was also born in Rockport, was an officer in the Cape Ann Regiment. He followed the business of surveyor, and took contracts for building roads. In politics he was a Republican. He served for two terms as Special Commissioner of Essex County, and was the first Town Clerk of Rockport elected after its incorpora- tion. After he was in the office twenty-nine years, his son succeeded him, so that the Town Clerkship has never been out of the Pool family.
Calvin W. Pool attended the public schools of Rockport, and graduated from the Massa- chusetts State Normal School at Westfield in 1860. He taught for several years in Rock- port, then, on account of poor health, en- gaged in surveying, having learned the art from his father. During the Civil War he served in both the army and the navy. In the army he belonged to Company F, Thirty-fifth, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, attached to the Ninth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. During the six months he spent in the ser- vice he held the rank of Sergeant, was in the Maryland campaign, and fought at South Mountain and Antietam. In the navy he served for about ten months as paymaster's clerk on the monitor "Mahopac." This ves- sel was engaged in the bombardment of Fort Fisher, took part in the operations on the James River during the fall of 1864 and the spring of 1865, and was in Charleston Harbor
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when the city was evacuated. Since he re- turned to civil life, Mr. Pool has made sur- veying and engineering his principal busi- ness. He entered upon the duties of Town Clerk in 1869.
In politics Mr. Pool is a Republican. While serving for several years on the Rock- port School Committee, he has taken an active interest in educational matters here. In 1870 he was married to Ellen E. Tarr, a native of Rockport and a daughter of Asa Tarr, late of this town. Of his four children, William A. and Mary M. are living. The others, Helen B. and Bessie G., are deceased. Mr. Pool is chaplain of O. W. Wallace Post, No. 106, G. A. R., and has been Commander of the post. He is Deacon and clerk of the Congre- gational church, and has served for several years as superintendent of the Sunday-school. A well-known and popular man, he has the esteem and good will of his townsmen.
ON. SYLVANUS SMITH, a promi- nent business man of Gloucester, son of William Smith, was born in 1829, in what is now the town of Rockport. The father, an old-time fisherman and master mariner, was the owner and manager of differ- cnt vessels during his active life. He subse- quently lived in retirement for a period before his death, which occurred at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. His wife, Charlotte, a daughter of Caleb Pool, of Gloucester, bore him twelve children, of whom eight attained maturity, and onc daughter and five sons are living.
When ten years old, Sylvanus Smith began making short fishing trips. At the age of fif- teen he went on long voyages; and, when twenty, he was made master of the schooner "Eliza Ann," which he commanded during
onc season. When twenty-two years old, he had a vessel built for himself. Four years later he had another built, in which he was engaged in fishing and trading. In 1864 hc gave up seafaring; and in company with Jo- seph Rowe, forming the firm of Rowe & Smith, he was in business on Main Street for three years. Since 1867, as the head of the firm of Sylvanus Smith & Co., he has been prosperously engaged in the fishing business and that of real estate. He is also interested in the First National Bank and the Safe De- posit & Trust Company, of which, respec- tively, he is a director, and in the Gloucester Net and Twine Corporation, of which he is vice-president. He is the treasurer and a di- rector of the Gilbert Hospital. For thirty- three years prior to his retirement from the board in 1897, he was a director of the Gloucester Mutual Fishing Insurance Com- pany; and he was the president for seven years of the local Board of Trade.
A Mason of high standing, Mr. Smith be- longs to the local lodge, chapter, and com- mandery. While he has persistently declined all municipal offices, he was a Representative to the State legislature in 1892 and 1893, when he was chairman of the Fishery Com- mittee. In 1894 and 1895 he was a member of the State Senate, in which he was also chairman of the Fishery Committee, serving also on the Committees on Railroads, Liquor Laws, Harbors, and Public Lands. While he was in the Senate occurred the memorable fight regarding the withdrawal of the water charter from the old company, and in which the bill was pushed through by hard work. After that he served as chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners, and the treasurcr for two years. In 1896 he was Presidential Elector, being the first person to be chosen to that office from Cape Ann. In December,
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1855, he married Miss Eliza Rowe, of Rock- port. Of his twelve children, the survivors are: Mrs. E. E. Bradley, Howard, Eliza, Horace, and Sylvanus. Howard is in busi- ness with his father; Eliza is the wife of F. A. Fisher; Horace is the teller of the Safe Deposit & Trust Company ; and Sylvanus is engaged in the coal business in this city.
ARON LORD, a prosperous and pro- gressive agriculturist of Ipswich, Essex County, Mass., his native town, was born on High Street, March 7, 1840, a son of Joshua and Martha (Willett) Lord. His father was a son of Captain Na- thaniel Lord and a brother of Caleb Lord, who recently died in the village. Further interesting ancestral history may be found in connection with the sketch of George Augus- tus Lord, elsewhere in this biographical work, he being the present occupant of the old Lord homestead, at the head of Manning Street.
Joshua Lord was born in Ipswich in 1806, and here spending his entire life of about forty-two years, dying in 1848. He was a fariner and fisherman. He married Martha Willett, who was born on the farm adjoining the one now owned by Aaron Lord, Oliver Smith being the present proprietor of that estate. They had eight children; namely, Martha W., Margaret B., Elizabeth B., Moses W., Aaron, Mary R., Hannah Ellen, and Ed- mund B. Martha W., who died in 1864, was the wife of George W. Langdon, now of Salem; Margaret B. is the wife of Henry F. Russell, of Salem; Elizabeth B. is the wife of Warren Boynton, of Ipswich; Mary R. is the wife of John M. Dunnells, of Ipswich; Hannah Ellen married John W. Newman, of Ipswich; Moses W. died in 1848, aged ten years; and Edmund B. died in 1848, aged
two years. Joshua Lord died in 1848; and Mrs. Martha W. Lord died in 1884, at the age of seventy-four years.
Aaron Lord early became dependent upon his own resources, his mother having been left a widow with several young children. At the age of eight years he began working for an uncle, George Willett, an expressman, de- livering papers and packages, making his home with this uncle, who was also his guar- dian, until sixteen years old, attending school a small portion of the time. He subsequently worked in a restaurant four years for William Lord, and he was afterward a clerk in the store of Asa Lord. He was next employed for some time as superintendent of a railroad section, being foreman of the section hands. Learning the shoemaker's trade, Mr. Lord worked awhile for Lynn shoe firms; and he then worked in the ship-yards of Lewis and Edward W. Choate three winters. Went from ship-yards to work for Ross & Lord, re- maining in their employ six or seven years, becoming foreman for them in the building of several wharves and bridges. May 15, 1877, while shingling a barn, he fell from the roof, breaking all the bones in one ankle, this acci- dent preventing him from doing any more bridge work; and he therefore gave up his sit- . uation. In the spring of 1878 he worked for Edward W. Choate, assisting in building the last boat built in this town, the little steamer, the "Carlotta," now running on the river.
On February 27, 1878, Mr. Lord married Catherine Elizabeth, daughter of Oliver and Catherine (Parkhurst) Underhill, and in June following settled on his present farm, previ- ously owned by his wife's father, then de- ceased. Mrs. Lord's paternal grandfather, Jeremiah Underhill, came to Ipswich from Chester, N.H., when a young man, and, mar- rying a Miss Appleton, settled on this farm,
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which is a part of the original Appleton homestead. Here Oliver Underhill and his wife spent their entire wedded life, he dying in 1877, at the age of seventy-six, and she in 1880, aged seventy-four. They had nine children, namely: the Rev. John Winn Underhill, who was educated at Amherst and Andover, Mass., and settled as pastor of the Congregational church of Amherst, where he died two years later in 1862, aged thirty-three years; Sarah Winn, who died at the age of twenty-nine years; Susan Appleton, who died at the age of forty-eight years; Jeremiah Choate, a coal and grain dealer in Hamilton ; Laura Parkhurst, wife of William Willcomb, of this town; Oliver Appleton, who died at the age of fifteen years; Catherine E., now Mrs. Lord; Nathaniel R., a farmer in Ips- wich; and William Perley, who died in child- hood. Sarah Winn was the wife of the late Peter Byers; and Susan Appleton was twice married, her first husband being James Byers, and her second, Henry Kendrick. Mr. and Mrs. Lord have four children. Martha Underhill, the eldest, now eighteen years of age, was graduated from the Manning High School in June, 1896, and has since been teaching; Everett Raymond, sixteen years old, is a student in the high school. The younger children are: Myra, aged twelve years; and Arthur Russell, ten years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Lord are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a strict adherent of the Republican party. He has been prominent in local affairs from 1888 until 1894, serving as Selectman, Asses- sor, and Overseer of the Poor. Fraternally, he is a member of Syracuse Lodge, No. 30, K. of P. Mr. Lord has but a small farm now, having within a few years disposed of a por- tion of his estate to Francis R. Appleton, of New York, who is anxious to secure as much
as possible of the original Appleton home- stead granted to the first settler of that name in this section of New England.
ON. DAVID INGERSOLL ROB- INSON, ex-Mayor of Gloucester and the treasurer of the Atlantic Halibut Company, was born in Manchester, Mass., October 6, 1844, son of John and Sarah L. (Ingersoll) Robinson. On the paternal side he is a descendant in the eighth generation of Abraham Robinson (first), who, it is supposed, was a son of the Rev. John Robinson. Abraham (first) settled at Squam, and died February 23, 1645. Abra- ham Robinson (second), who was born about the year 1638, is thought to have died in 1740, at the advanced age of one hundred and two years. He married Mary Harrandaine, who, born in 1649, died September 28, 1725.
Abraham Robinson (third), born October 15, 1677, died December 28, 1724. On Feb- ruary 10, 1703, he married Sarah York, who, born in 1682, died August 9, 1718. Andrew Robinson, son of Abraham Robinson (third), and the next in line, was born in Gloucester, November 16, 1710. On January 1, 1736, he married Martha Gardner, who was born No- vember 5, 1713. Jonathan Robinson, son of Andrew and great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, born in Gloucester, April 21, 1742, died January 30, 1821. On January 10, 1765, he married Anna Batting, who was born in July, 1744. John Robinson, grandfather of David I., was born in Gloucester, July 10, 1784. He was a mariner, and died in the West Indies, September 27, 1809. On De- cember 21, 1802, he married Sally Riggs, who, born September 4, 1771, died in Alton, Ill., October 26, 1858.
John Robinson (second), David I. Robin-
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son's father, was born in Gloucester, April 4, 1806. He acquired a good education, and learned the shoemaker's trade, which he fol- lowed for several years. About the year 1851 he moved to Alton, Ill., where he was en- gaged as a teacher in the public schools for a number of years, and finally returned to Gloucester. For some time previous to his retirement he was engaged in missionary work under the "Saunders Legacy," being an active member of the Baptist church. He took a deep interest in temperance work, and at one time was Grand Worthy Templar of the Temple of Honor of the State of Illinois. John Robinson died August 18, 1892. On April 8, 1830, he married Sarah L. Ingersoll, who, born in Gloucester, January 26, 1807, was a daughter of David Smith and Sally (Butler) Ingersoll. She was a descendant of George Ingersoll, through his son Samuel, who was baptized July 12, 1696, when he was fifty years old, and was probably a twin brother of Joseph, born October 14, 1646. Josiah Ingersoll, son of Samuel, baptized June 10, 1694, on December 30, 1712, married Mary Stevens, who was born February 2, 1694. Josiah Ingersoll (second), the great-grand- father of Mrs. John Robinson, born July 21, 1716, died January 13, 1789. On April 11, 1740, he married Bathia Sargent, who was born June 18, 1724. John Sargent Ingersoll, the grandfather of Mrs. John Robinson, born July 6, 1751, on November 22, 1772, married Lydia Smith, who was born November 8, 1754. David Smith Ingersoll, Mrs. John Robinson's father, who was baptized March 13, 1774, in February, 1803, married Sally Butler. Mrs. John Robinson died in Alton, Ill., September 1, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. John Robinson were the parents of six chil- dren, five of whom grew to maturity, namely : John Smith Robinson, who served as a Lieu-
tenant in the Seventh Illinois Regiment, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Altoona Pass, Ga. ; Sarah Ann, who married Sylvester Lowe, both now deceased; Mary Eliza; Will- iam Lamson ; and David Ingersoll.
David Ingersoll Robinson was educated in Alton, Ill. After teaching school for two years, he enlisted in Company H, One Hun- dred and Thirty-third Regiment, Illinois Vol- unteers, which was stationed at Rock Island, Ill. After leaving the military service, he was in a mercantile business in the West until 1869, when he came to Gloucester. Here he was engaged in the halibut business with Seth Stockbridge and William T. Smith, first as book-keeper and subsequently as a partner, under the firm name of Stockbridge & Co. He continued thus with a number of changes in the company until October 24, 1895, when the Atlantic Halibut Company was incorpo- rated, with Mr. Robinson as its treasurer. This concern is one of the largest dealers and shippers of halibut upon the coast, handling in 1896 five million, five hundred thousand pounds, which was marketed in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other places. He is also the manager of the Gloucester Fresh Fish Company, a corporation that commenced busi- ness on December 6, 1897, and which handles ยท upward of five million pounds of fresh fish annually.
In politics Mr. Robinson is a Republican, and believes in prohibiting the liquor traffic. He served as clerk of Ward One when Glouces- ter became a city, and was later elected to the Common Council, and became the president of that body. He was chosen Mayor in 1886, re-elected in 1887, and was again elected in 1895. The city having voted to license the liquor saloons, he demonstrated his consist- ency by resigning the Mayoralty in April, 1888, simply because he was averse to issuing
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the licenses which would legalize the sale of liquor in Gloucester. He has been a member of both the Independent Order of Good Tem- plars and the Sons of Temperance, and was formerly Most Worthy Templar, the highest officer in the Temple of Honor. He is also connected with the Masonic fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the United Order of the Golden Cross; and he is commander of St. Angelo Commandery, No. 224, Knights of Malta. For eight years he has been the superintendent of the Sunday- school connected with the First Baptist Church, of which he was formerly Deacon ; and he was one of the founders of the Glouces- ter Fisherman's Institute, a philanthropic organization established for the purpose of maintaining a reading-room and chapel, and promoting the moral and religious welfare of the thousands engaged in the fishing industry of this city. On January 21, 1869, Mr. Rob- inson was united in marriage with Helen Amanda Smith, who was born June 6, 1841, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Gott) Smithi. Mrs. Robinson is the mother of three children, namely : Will Austin, born March 8, 1874; Emma J. C., born November 8, 1875; and Helen Dunford, born November 9, 1882.
ERRY COLLIER, Mayor of Beverly, was born in the neighboring city of Salem, October 28, 1838. A son of John and Hannah (Troffiter) Collier, he is of Scotch lineage on the paternal side. John Collier, his grandfather, who was likewise a native of Salem, spent many years of his life there as a rope-maker. He and his wife Eunice were the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters. The elder son, John, father of Perry Collier, was born in Salem in 1794. He, too, was a rope-maker
by trade; and the active years of his life were spent in that calling with the exception of a period during the War of 1812, in which he served aboard a privateer. He was in France when peace was declared. In politics he was a Democrat. Hannah Troffiter, whom he married, was born in Salem in 1796, being two years his junior. He died at the age of sixty years, she at eighty-eight. Their union was blessed by the birth of thirteen children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest.
Perry Collier attended the public schools of Salem. After completing his schooling, he worked for a short time in a tobacco shop, next in a provision store, and after that as a salesman for twelve years in a furniture store. During the succeeding eight years he was employed in the upholstery department of Willard Goldthwaite & Co. He travelled through New England and New York State as salesman for a Salem house from that time up to 1868, when he started in a small way in the real estate business in Salem. Ten years later, in 1878, he removed to Beverly, since which time both these cities have profited by his operations in real estate, he retaining his in- terests in Salem, where he still owns prop- erty.
The first one in this vicinity to see the advantage of houses sold on the instalment plan, he built many residences in these places ; also factories, aggregating in value over one hundred thousand dollars. In 1888 he pur- chased an estate in Wenham, on which he erected a fine building, which he occupies dur- ing the summer season. In 1894 he labored untiringly to awaken public interest and pre- pare the petition to the Massachusetts legis- lature for a city charter for Beverly, and the success of the movement was largely due to his efforts. While Beverly was still a town, he
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was elected to many offices of trust, including that of Selectman in 1893 and 1894. In De- cember, 1897, he was elected Mayor of the city for the year 1898, and is the fourth occu- pant of the chair. Fraternally, Mr. Collier is a member of the Grand Lodge and Grand En- canipment ; of the Salem Encampment and of Essex Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Salem, in which he has held all the offices; of the Royal Arca- num of Beverly ; of Cabot Lodge, A. O. U. W., of Beverly; and of the Grand Lodge of the A. O. O. W. He was the organizer of the last two. He is the president of the social organization known as the board of Salem. On October 23, 1878, Mr. Collier married Emma F. Kimball. She was born in Charles- town, Mass., daughter of James and Alice (Foster) Kimball, now of Beverly. They have had three children, of whom Alice Ger- trude and Franklin Perry Collier are living.
AVID TULLAR PERLEY, who was for many years a prominent agriculturist of Ipswich, "was born January 17, 1824, in Linebrook, Ipswich. Representing one of the oldest families in this town, he was descended in the seventh generation from Allan Perley, who came from London in the "Planter " in 1635, and settled in Ipswich, where he died in 1675, aged seventy-five years. Timothy Perley, son of Allan, born in 1653, died in 1719. His son Stephen, born in 1684, died in 1725. The line of descent was continued through Ste- phen's son Allan, born in 1718, who died in 1804; Allan's son Allan, who, born in 1763, died in 1843; and the son of the latter Allan, Abraham, born in 1793, who died in 1861, and was the father of David Tullar Perley.
David T. Perley was educated in the Tops- field and Duinmer Academies, receiving better
schooling than most farmers' sons of his day. He succeeded to his father's home and busi- ness, and had one of the largest and most im- proved homestead estates in the west part of Ipswich. He added land by purchase to the original tract, increasing its extent to two hundred acres, which he devoted to the gen- eral purposes of agriculture, including stock- raising and dairying. He was also exten- sively engaged in cattle dealing, doing a large business as a trader, and supplying both dairy- men and marketmen. In all he owned five farms, aggregating about one thousand one hundred acres of land. While enterprising and thrifty, he was esteemed for his upright dealings. Though a stanch Republican in politics, he took no active part in local affairs. Mr. Perley was three times married. Miss Sophronia A. Plummer, of Newbury, became his wife in 1851. She died in 1853, leaving one son, Oscar Wentworth Perley, now of South Omaha, Neb. In 1861 Mr. Perley married Mrs. Abigail Searl Kent Stevens, whose previous husband had died, leaving her with one son, William Henry Stevens, now of West Newburry. Of this union there were three children, namely : David Sidney, born February 21, 1862; Roscoe Damon, born Au- gust 11, 1864; and Carrie Sophronia, born October 18, 1865. The mother died in 1879. In 1880 a third marriage united Mr. Perley with Miss Elizabeth Ann Lavalette, who was born in the same house that he was, she being a daughter of Nathaniel H. Lavalette. They had five children - Chester Garfield, Mabel Alice, Bertha Cheever, Harrison Otis, and Helene Louise. Harrison Otis died in child- hood. Mr. Perley died at his home August 16, 1891. A successful business man and a typical citizen, he was esteemed by all. Mrs. Perley resides in the village with her children, who are attending school. David Sidney Per-
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