USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 60
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men to retire into the timber. Here they were re-enforced by a company of one hundred men sent to Osawatomie by General Lane, Homer among the number. By the use of stratagem the men marched through the timber, and were able to approach unseen by the enemy within rifle range. The men were drawn up in line of battle near the edge of the wood, and poured volley after volley into the ranks of the ill- disciplined ruffians, who hastily retired, carry- ing their dead and wounded, and burning buildings and committing other depredations as they retreated. The company was next or- dered to Bull Creek, and on arriving found the darkness so great that they were unable to make the attack, and were ordered to retire to the battle ground of Black Jack, where the first battle with the ruffians had been fought by the settlers. Here they were re-enforced and re- freshed, and prepared to march upon Bull Creek at daylight the following morning, a distance of seven miles. Upon arriving, they found the border ruffians had left Bull Creek by reason of General Lane's stratagem, by which three hundred men had been made to appear like three thousand. Provisions, forage, and arms were left by the ruffians in their hasty move. It was after this experience that the young sol- dier was placed in the battalion of Fort Titus, and also of Ossokee, through the battle of Fort Franklin. He retired to Tabor, Ia., and served on the body-guard of his commander until he received his discharge on account of sickness incurred in the following manner : -
A squad of fourteen men were detailed to perform a duty at the city of Nebraska, which necessitated crossing the river by ferry six miles below the city. Thinking soon to arrive in camp, but little provision was car- ried, a meal of hard bread stowed away in the saddle-bags being deemed sufficient. Too late it was discovered that no path existed in the
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way they were to go, and that the grass grown fifteen feet high made passing impracticable. Hunger and exposure brought on sickness, and the entire number was stricken down with malaria or typhoid fever. The Doctor's com- rade, a young man from Ohio, was taken with him to the house of kind strangers, from which he was removed to the hospital, where he died of typhoid. Dr. Homer's case was malarial, and he recovered by means of roots and herbs and the kindly nursing of the family. As soon as his strength returned, he journeyed in the saddle a distance of three hundred miles, and immediately upon reaching Iowa City received his dismissal. He returned to the East in March, 1857. Entering Bowdoin College, he left it in 1862 for Harvard, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1865. Before his college days he had been much in- terested in pharmacy, and had been a drug clerk in Winterport. He was graduated at the Harvard Medical School in 1865. Much of the time prior to graduation was spent in earning funds to defray the expenses of his education, which he did by teaching school and by travelling for a business house. He became surgeon for the A. T. S. Railroad for the year 1872-73, and is still local surgeon for the Boston & Maine Railroad. As an inventor, the world has much to thank him for. Nu- merous surgical and mechanical implements have been originated by him, and are now rec- ognized as invaluable by the entire medical profession. Among these may be named the Harvard Emergency Splint, which is admira- bly adapted for use in case of a broken leg. Dr. Homer is a member of the Massachusetts Pharmacy Society, and is also connected with the State and American Pharmacy Association. He is one of the charter members of the Har- vard Medical School Association, and belongs also to the Harvard Alumna Association. In
municipal affairs Dr. Homer is also prominent. He is a member of the Board of Trade, of the Board of Health in Wakefield, and is now con- nected with the new Board of Trade and with the Veteran Artillery Company. He belongs to a number of secret societies, and also to the Young Men's Christian Association. He has lectured by invitation before that body and be- fore various medical societies. He is Pro- fessor of Surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, being a charter member of that organization in Topeka, Kan., formed in 1872. He is a member of the First Baptist Church.
Dr. Homer was married in June, 1856, and has one daughter, Josephine. He has recently erected a fine residence and store on his prop- erty at the corner of High and Summer Streets, and here on one of the finest sites in the city he conducts a drug store.
ILLIAM TAYLOR, superintendent of the Byfield Woollen Mills, was born in Huddersfield, England, May 30, 1852. His ancestors for several genera- tions were weavers and mill men, and he also was reared to that calling. He attended the common schools until reaching the age of nine years, when he began work in the mills; and his education, so far as books are concerned, was completed by evening study. In time becoming familiar with every branch of the weaving industry, he gradually worked his way forward to an advanced position, and later be- came associated with a Mr. Sykes in the man- ufacture of worsted goods. Finally selling his interest, he came to America, and first found employment in Ontario, Canada. He subse- quently became superintendent of the River- side Mills at Providence, R.I., where he re- mained four years, going thence to the Wash- ington Mills at Lawrence, Mass. He then
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paid a visit to England, and after his return was for a year employed in the Providence Worsted Company's Mills. From Providence he went to Vassalboro, Me., where he re- mained for a time, subsequently making a tour through the Western States, Manitoba, and British Columbia. In 1893 he entered upon his present position as superintendent of the Byfield Woollen Mills. During his long ex- perience he has displayed his mechanical in- genuity to good advantage by introducing vari- cus devices in the way of improvements, and several of his patents are now in use through- out the country.
In 1874 Mr. Taylor was married in England to Clara Beaumont, a native of Huddersfield. Her father, who was a weaver by trade, and ran one hand loom for fifty years, died at the age of eighty-eight years. The hand loom above referred to was changed to a power loom, which he continued to run until he left the mill.
Mr. Taylor takes a great interest in public affairs, and last year officiated as chairman of a political caucus in this town. He has trav- elled considerably, and held responsible posi- tions in some of the largest mills in this coun- try. His knowledge of the cotton and woollen manufacturing industry has been gained by many years of practical experience and careful observation, and he is acknowledged to be an expert in his calling. He is a member of Peabody Lodge, No. 184, Sons of St. George, Providence, R. I.
OWLE & JOHNSTON, the proprietors of the Wolfe Tavern at Newburyport, are among the most enterprising and reliable hotel men of New England; and their hostelry is one of the most widely and favora- bly known to the travelling public. The tav-
ern, which was formerly occupied by Mrs. Philbrick, was purchased by the present pro- prietors and opened on April 11, 1892. Sub- sequently renovated and fitted with steam heating apparatus, it now ranks with the best hotels of its class to be found in this section. The house contains sixty rooms, with baths and all modern improvements. During the summer from fifty to three hundred bicyclists are entertained. Coaching parties frequently stop over night here. The hotel numbers among its regular or occasional patrons such well-known men as Mr. Warren, of Philadel- phia; John Sheppard and John Sheppard, Jr., of Boston; Fisher Eldredge, of Portsmouth ; Henry Cabot Lodge, General Cogswell, George Fred Williams, W. Bourke Cockran, and Sen- ator Hoar. Governor Greenhalge, Governor Russell, and the Rev. Phillips Brooks have also stopped here.
Daniel H. Fowle, of Fowle & Johnston, son of Stephen D. and Nancy (Cheever) Fowle, was born in Newburyport, June 10, 1858. His paternal great-grandfather, Colonel Fowle, served the cause of the American colonies in the Revolutionary War. Colonel Fowle's portrait, with that of his wife, was painted by the famous artist, Copley. Ste- phen D. Fowle, who was born in Newbury- port, conducted the Franklin House here for several years. He died when his son Daniel was only ten years old. Stephen and Nancy Fowle had four children, namely: Laura, who married Daniel Hamblet, the proprietor of the American House in Newburyport for many years; Robert, who keeps a hotel at Sioux City, Ia., and formerly conducted Hotel Fowle and Hotel Merchants in the same city and the Wentworth at Parker, Dak. ; Stephen D., who died in 1882, at the age of thirty- eight years; and Daniel H., with whom this sketch is more immediately concerned.
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Daniel H. Fowle was educated in the schools of Newburyport, including the high school. He then went into the catering busi- ness with his brother Robert at Lawrence, Mass., where he remained a short time. After that he became bell-boy at the Essex House at Lawrence, where he remained for seven years. At the age of twenty-one he found employment in the American House at New- buryport. In 1881 he went to Salisbury Beach, and opened the St. James Café, which was burned down in the following winter. He then came to Newburyport, and opened a res- taurant at the corner of Bridge and Merrimack Streets, where he conducted business for four years. At the end of that time he opened Plum Island Hotel as a summer resort. On finding sufficient business there, he kept it open also during the winter months, conduct- ing it for seven years. In May, 1889, he and W. R. Johnston opened a restaurant at 5 Inn Street, which was known as Fowle & John- ston's, and which they conducted until they purchased the Wolfe Tavern.
Mr. Fowle is a member of St. Mark's Lodge, F. & A. M. ; of King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M. ; of the Commandery, Lodge of Perfection ; and Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine. He belongs to both the Massachu- setts Hotel Association and the United States Hotel Association. By his marriage with Carrie F. Torrey, of Newburyport, he became the father of four children, of whom George Daniel is now deceased. The others are : James Eugene, who attends the high school in Newburyport ; Robert Stephen; and Laura Etta. The mother died June 7, 1890. Mr. Fowle subsequently married Mabel Gillett, a daughter of George E. Gillett, of Boston, a descendant of one of the patriots who took part in the famous "Boston Tea Party," and a grand-niece of Farmer Larkin, who gave to
Paul Revere the horse on which the latter made his famous ride.
William R. Johnston, the other member of the firm of Fowle & Johnston, son of Patrick Johnston, was born in Newburyport in 1852. He is an esteemed Mason of the Mystic Shrine.
AMES S. WALLACE,* Postmaster of Rockport and an ex - member of the legislature, was born in this town October 17, 1846, son of David and Mary H. (Pool) Wallace. He is a representative of an old Gloucester family who originally spelled the name Wallis. His grandfather, Joseph Wallace, was lost at sea. David Wallace, who was a native of Gloucester, Mass., moved from West Gloucester to Rockport, where he became a prominent builder, residing here until his death, which occurred December 14, 1878. He was a highly esteemed citizen and a member of the Congregational church. Of the children of David and Mary H. Wallace, two are living, namely: David, a resident of this town; and James S., the subject of this sketch.
James S. Wallace came into the world and was reared in the house on Granite Street where he now resides. His education was ac- quired in the common schools. Beginning at the age of eighteen, he was engaged in the fishing industry for a number of years, making trips to North Bay, N. S., and along Cape Ann shore. Giving much of his attention to public affairs, he has been the chairman of the Democratic Town Committee for a number of terms; and in 1890 he ably repre- sented in the legislature the Eleventh Essex District, which comprises the town of Rock- port and the Second Ward of Gloucester. In 1893 he was selected as one of the three spe-
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cial Assessors appointed to make a revaluation of the town's assessable property. He was appointed Postmaster July 1, 1894, and has since conducted the business of the office with marked ability. He takes a deep interest in the general welfare of the community, actively supporting all measures for improvement. A liberal - minded, public - spirited citizen, he fully merits the esteem in which he is held.
On October 31, 1871, Mr. Wallace was united in marriage with Laura A. Haskell, a daughter of Halton P. and Olive (Tarr) Haskell, of Rockport. Mrs. Wallace's parents had a large family of children, six of whom are living, namely : Sally, the wife of Moses Longley, of Rockport; Jane, the wife of George W. Green, of East Gloucester; Charles, who resides in Rockport; Laura A., who is now Mrs. Wallace; John J. Haskell, of Gloucester ; and Ella F., who married John L. Thompson, of East Gloucester. For up- ward of twenty years Mr. Wallace has been identified with the Rockport Fire Department, and has acted as foreman of G. P. Whitman Hook and Ladder Company for the past eight years. He is a member of Ashler Lodge, F. & A. M., and was its Worshipful Master for five years.
ENRY HOBBS,* a prominent resi- dent of Wenham, is a native of what is now Rockport, Mass., born June 8, 1827. A son of Amos F. and Bethiah (Goodell) Hobbs, he counts among his ances- tors several loyal supporters of independence in the struggle of 1776. The founder of the family came from England.
Amos F. Hobbs was born in Wenham, Mass., son of Jonathan Hobbs, a native of Ipswich, Mass., who was a son of Abraham Hobbs, of Topsfield, Mass. Abraham had
several sons who served as Revolutionary sol- diers; while he was a member of the Consti- tutional Convention that met at Cambridge, Mass., and formulated the present State Con- stitution, and he subsequently served in the State legislature. Amos F. Hobbs was at one time a stone-cutter at Pigeon Cove, in what is now a part of Rockport, Mass. He was also engaged in general trade. The later years of his life were spent here in Wenham, where he was well known for miles around. His wife, Bethiah, was born in Salem, Mass.
Henry Hobbs, who was but two years old when his parents came to Wenham, passed his boyhood here, receiving his education in the town schools. When about nine years old, he began working at shoemaking; and he contin- ued to follow that trade until he reached the age of twenty-three. After that, for a num- ber of years, he was engaged in the express business, over the route from Wenham through Danvers, Peabody, and Salem. He subse- quently took up harness-making, which he fol- lowed with success for forty years. Mr. Hobbs is a public-spirited man. He appre- ciates the value of a good education, and is ever ready to do his part toward placing within the reach of others the privileges he was unable to enjoy. In . 1895 he presented the Wenham Public Library with seventy-six vol- umes, including many valuable works. He married for his first wife Harriet A. Goodell, of Wenham. Three children were born to them, of whom two are living, namely : Charles H., in Salem, Mass .; and Hattie A., at home. He married for his second wife Lucretia P. Dudley of Danvers, Mass.
In politics Mr. Hobbs supports the candi- date he considers to be best fitted for the office. Formerly, he was a Free Soiler. He has served as Town Collector; and he repre- sented the towns of Danvers and Wenham dur-
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ing the session of 1880 in the Massachusetts General Court, serving on the Committee on Banks and Banking. For a number of years he has been a trustee of the Essex Agricult- ural Society, with which he has been identi- fied for forty years, and each year has served on committees. He has the esteem of the community, and is beloved by the poor for his many charitable deeds.
ICHAEL MANN,* a former mem- ber of the Common Council of Lawrence, Mass., was born in 1826 in Limerick County, Ireland, where he learned the trade of a carder. When about twenty-five years of age, he emigrated to Amer- ica, making Lawrence his permanent place of abode. Here he secured work at his trade, and for nine years was connected with the Washington Mills.
Mr. Mann was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Casey, left two sons and one daughter at her death. His sec- ond marriage, contracted in 1868, united him with Miss Mary Kane, a daughter of William Kane, and who was also born and reared in County Limerick, Ireland. Mr. Kane, who was engaged in agricultural pursuits in the Emerald Isle, came to America with his wife in 1851, making the voyage from Liverpool to Boston in six weeks. He left his older chil- dren in Ireland with an aunt, who brought them to this country in 1853. At first he resided in Salem, Mass. Soon after he came to Lawrence, and obtained employment in the drying-room of the Bay State Mills, receiving seventy-five cents per day for his services. In 1862 he purchased a home at 36 West Street, where he afterward resided until his death in 1867, at the age of sixty-seven years and six months. He married Bridget Byron, who
survived him and died at the age of seventy- four years. Of their nine children, six grew to maturity, and four are now living. The latter are: Mrs. Mann; two other daughters that reside in Lawrence; and Timothy Kane, an assistant superintendent in the Lawrence Water Works.
By his second wife, Mary, Mr. Mann became the father of five children, two of whom died in infancy, and Mary at the age of five years. The surviving children are: Michael Joseph, and Thomas Davis. The father died in the prime of his life. Mrs. Mann labored hard to support and educate her sons after the death of her husband, who left her with limited means. She gave them such early educational advan- tages as were afforded by the excellent system of instruction in the city public schools, and has been amply repaid for years of toil and sacrifice by seeing them grow into honest and upright men, fully able now to care for her. She occupies the house which her father built on West Street. Her son, Thomas D., is now a type-setter on the Lawrence Sentinel. Michael J., born March 15, 1872, on Spring Street, beginning when a lad of fifteen years, worked in the Pacific Mills until recently, when he resigned in order to continue his ed- ucation at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., where he is a member of the class of 1901.
ALTER LAWRENCE RAMS- DELL, the present Mayor of Lynn, was born in East Bridgewater, Mass., June 16, 1860, a son of Joshua S. and Mary S. (Fuller) Ramsdell. Joshua S. Ramsdell was a native of Hanson, Mass., but was reared in East Bridgewater, where he worked at the shoemaker's trade until the breaking out of the Civil War. Intensely
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patriotic, he enlisted April 20, 1861, a day or two after the firing of the first gun at Fort Sumter, in the Bridgewater company of three months' men, but was not accepted. He sub- sequently enlisted for three years in the com- pany which was sent to Fortress Monroe, and which afterward became a part of the Twenty- ninth Massachusetts Regiment. He partici- pated in the Peninsular Campaign, and after the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31 and June I, 1862, was stricken with fever. Being taken to the Mill Creek Hospital in Hampton, Va., he died there ; and his body was tenderly laid to rest in the National Cemetery, hallowed by so many of the Union's heroic dead. His wife, Mary S. Fuller Ramsdell, who was from Yarmouth, Me., survives him. They had two children, namely: Walter Lawrence; and Lucie Luella, late Mrs. Thomas S. South- ward, of Cambridgeport.
Walter Lawrence Ramsdell was educated in Brookline, Mass., whither his widowed mother removed in 1866, attending first the public schools of that town and later the grammar schools of Cambridge. At the age of seven- teen years, being almost entirely dependent upon his own resources, he began to learn the printer's trade, at which he worked for three years in various local establishments, master- ing it in all its branches. In 1879 he went West, and spent four years as a travelling journeyman, joining the Typographical Union in Omaha, Neb., and in Chicago becoming connected with the Knights of Labor. In 1883 he returned to Cambridge, Mass., and obtained employment in the well-known print- ing-office of Wright & Potter in Boston, where he remained three years. In 1886 he located permanently in Lynn, during the first three years of his residence here being foreman of the printing-office of Woodbury S. Prentiss, the principal establishment of the kind in the
city. He subsequently occupied a similar position in the office of the Lynn Daily Press until January, 1891, when he entered the com- posing-room of the Lynn Item. A short time later he became a member of the staff of re- porters and general writers of that enterprising paper, in which capacity he continued until June, 1893. He then severed his connection with the Item to accept the appointment of correspondent of the Boston Daily Globe, which position he has retained up to the pres- ent time, his contributions to that wide-awake daily being widely read and appreciated by the reading public.
Since 1892 Mr. Ramsdell has been one of the prominent leaders of the People's Party of Lynn. In 1893 he was its candidate for State Senator and for Mayor of the city, and in the following year was nominated for Congress from the Seventh District. Political success awaited him; for in 1896 he was elected Mayor of the city of Lynn, as a Democratic and Citizens' Reform candidate, by a large majority, the duties of which responsible office he performed with such eminent ability and satisfaction to the general community that he was re-elected in 1897. Brought to the atten- tion of the people of the Congressional Dis- trict, he became the acknowledged Democratic candidate for Congressional honors, and was nominated in the Democratic convention of the district held in 1898. Fraternally, Mayor Ramsdell is a charter member of the Peter Woodland Lodge, No. 72, K. of P .; is Past Chief of Essex Castle, Knights of the Globe; and is a member of the Park Club, Clover Club, and Press Club.
Mr. Ramsdell was first married August I, 1884, Miss Mary A. Chisholm, of Antigonish, N. S., becoming his wife. She died January 19, 1892, having borne him five children, of whom four are now living; namely, Joshua
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Kenneth, Lucy S., Eliza T., and Lawrence B. On December 1, 1894, Mr. Ramsdell married for his second wife Miss Catherine R. Parr, of Kempt, N. S., their union being solemnized in Brighton.
Mr. Ramsdell is a gentleman of pleasant address, possesses much personal magnetism, and is a most effective publie speaker. His political opinions have not been adopted as a means of self-advancement, but upon strong conviction founded upon mature reflection, and have the strength that invariably accompanies sincerity. With such opinions, so closely in touch with the most advanced thought of the present day and backed by earnestness of pur- pose and a mind well stored with living facts acquired by close study of men and books, Mr. Ramsdell seems to be a man marked out to accomplish still greater things than any he has yet attempted and to fill a career of still wider usefulness.
¡DWARD A. BROWN,* a well-known resident of Amesbury, is a descendant of George Brown who died in Eng- land, and whose widow, together with their sons - Henry, William, and George - came to America about the year 1630, settling in Colchester, now called Salisbury. William, who was a farmer and a weaver by trade, and became a Selectman and Constable of the town, married Elizabeth Mansfield, and set- tled on Brown's Hill in Salisbury. He had a large family, of whom Ephraim served as Se- leetman and in other offices, and was a sol- dier in King William's War. Ephraim's son by his wife Sarah, also named Ephraim, mar- ried Lydia Eastman. Their son Nathaniel was a master mariner, who traded successfully along the Atlantic coast, and whose account books are in the possession of Edward A.
Brown. Nathaniel, first, married Catherine Stevens. By his second wife, Judith Mor- rill Brown, was born Jacob, Edward A. Brown's great-grandfather, who, serving for three years in the Revolutionary War as En- sign, was with General Sullivan in his expedi- tion into Rhode Island, and was at Saratoga and Valley Forge. Jacob, after his discharge from the army for disability, became a Select- man and a Magistrate in the town. His son Enos, who was also a man of prominence, married Nancy Allen, of Bridgewater. Of their children, Leonard, the father of the sub- jeet of this sketch, was extensively engaged in the grocery and lumber business. He mar- ried, and became the father of five children, of whom Edward A. was the first-born. The others are: William, who is a teacher of vocal and instrumental music in Amesbury and Bos- ton; Leonard, in the carriage business, who married Mary I. Merrill, and has three chil- dren; Fred, a printer of Amesbury, who mar- ried Mary Bacheldor, and has four children ; and Forest, the principal of the Amesbury High School. After graduating from the Amesbury High School and Lindon Academy, respectively in 1887 and 1888, Forest entered Dartmouth College in the latter year, and graduated in the class of 1892. He has since received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater.
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