USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 61
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Edward A. Brown was educated at the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, where he took the course in civil engineering. During his school-days he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and of the Senior society of Cash and Garter. He went West in 1874, when the Black Hills gold fever was raging, and roughed it for the ensu- ing nine years, during which he was variously occupied. He taught school in the Black Hills, among pioneers who came from every
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State in the Union, with books of every pos- sible description. In Rapid City, So. Dak., he was County Superintendent of Schools. Then he prospected through various parts of the West, and followed his profession as a civil engineer in Montana, at Yellowstone Park, in Wyoming and Idaho. He returned to the East in 1884, and became interested in military affairs, joining the Amesbury Rifle Team, which is the best in the State. Mr. Brown is the clerk, treasurer, and a trustee of the public library of Amesbury. Deeply in- terested in natural history, he owns a valuable collection of specimens, many of which were picked up during his travels in the West. He has also done much in genealogy, success- fully tracing, not only the history of his own family, but also that of many other old fami- lies of this section.
NOCH SAWYER, a leading farmer and a native of Salisbury, was born Novcm- ber 27, 1841, son of Enoch and grandson of Jeremiah Sawyer. Jeremiah, who, born May 19, 1777, died April 19, 1854, was a Deacon in the Baptist Church of Salis- bury, and at the time of his death its senior officer. He was baptized in May, 1809, by Elder John Peak. His wife, Elizabeth Fitts Sawyer, familiarly called Betsey, was born February 23, 1780, and died April 21, 1859. She was an active church worker. By occu- pation Jeremiah was a farmer, and for some time kept a grocery store. His children were born as follows: Moses, October 21, 1808; Eliza, February 15, 1811; Josiah, December 16, 1813; Sarah, January 25, 1816; Jeremiah H., September 2, 1823; and Enoch, the father of the subject of this sketch, who was born August 20, 1806.
Enoch Sawyer, better known as "Deacon
Enoch," was warm-hearted and generous, yet very determined in any question of principle. He was the treasurer of the church society, and always took a prominent part in both foreign and home missions. Also he was a trustee of the Baptist church and of several funds. A close friend of Whittier, he was in full sympathy with the humane views of the benevolent Quaker poet. After driving a butcher's wagon for a while, being an excel- lent penman, he kept books for various firms, including those of Caruthers & Brown, Nahum Osgood, and Deacon Woodman. Being con- sumptive, he was never in robust health. On May 15, 1836, hc marricd Apphia Adams Kelley, who after his death married Colonel Joshua Colby, of Merrimac. Shc died March 19, 1896. The children of Enoch and Apphia Sawycr were: Susan C., born March 4, 1837; Joseph William, born February 5, 1839; and Enoch, the subject of this sketch.
Enoch Sawyer, Jr., worked as a shoemaker for a few years, and was then employcd in the packing room of the Salisbury Corporation. In 1861 he was made overseer in one of the. rooms of the Salisbury Mills Company, and had charge of sixty-five employees. After this he was assigned to the press room, in charge of fourteen hydraulic presscs, having the inspection of all the cloth turned out by seventy-five sets of cards. He held this posi- tion until 1876, in which year he was chosen to serve the district comprising Amcsbury, Salisbury, Mcrrimac, and West Newbury in the legislature. At the expiration of his term he resumed his work in the mill, taking again his old position and holding it until the mills wcre shut down. After this he spent a year in Lisbon, Me., and the following ycar in the Blcakie Mills at Hyde Park. When the Salisbury Mills opcned again, hc returncd and did the last piece of work performed in the
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woollen department in Amesbury. He then came to the earriage room of Biddle & Smart, where he remained but a short time. For the past ten years he has been engaged in farm- ing, raising large crops of both fresh and salt hay.
A Selectman for one year, Mr. Sawyer de- clined further service in that offiee. In Amesbury he was the foreman of the Union Engine Company, assistant engineer, and a member of the executive committee, having declined to become chief engineer. He was elected to the School Committee, but deelined to serve. In 1876 he served in the General Court of Massachusetts, and was on the Labor Committee with the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, now the head of the Labor Bureau. He has been a member of Powow River Lodge, No. 90, since May 31, 1869, has been through the ehairs, and frequently ealled upon to serve in various official eapaeities, as he was well versed in all the duties of every offieer. He has also been a Representative to the Grand Lodge. He married Mrs. Adelaide A. Pike Getehell, who had two sons by her first hus- band - Nicholas T. and Edward S. Geteh- ell. Nicholas married Bertha Merrill, and has two ehildren - Rnel S. and Ruth Apphia. Edward S. marricd Sally George and lives in Salisbury. Mrs. Sawyer has one son by Mr. Sawyer - Enoch Earle Sawycr. The latter, born December 1, 1883, now a pupil in the town sehools, is a lad of fine ability, and bids fair to worthily represent the Sawyer name in the years to come.
HARLES FRANCIS HAW- THORNE,* a prominent real cstate dealer of Lynn, son of Henry G. and Hclen M. (Fay) Hawthorne, was born in this city, November 17, 1858. His mother
was born in Boston. By his father, a native of Salem, he eomes of distinguished Colonial stoek. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the eelebrated author, who was for many years a eustom- house offieer at Salem, was an own eousin of Henry G. Hawthorne. The latter, like the novelist, was reared in his native town. Soon after reaching man's estate he rcmoved to Lynn, where he resided for fifty-five years. He was a successful druggist and the proprie- tor of a large dry-goods store in West Lynn. He had good business ability, was progressive and enterprising, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.
After attending the public schools of Lynn for the usual period, Charles Francis Haw- thorne completed a course at Phillips Andover Academy, graduating therefrom in the class of 1874. Soon after leaving sehool he learned the plumber's trade, at which he worked for ten years in Lynn. During this time he be- eame very mueh interested in Lynn real es- tate. In 1885 he gave up his trade, and turned his attention exclusively to the real es- tate business, in which he has since been ex- tensively engaged.
Mr. Hawthorne takes an intelligent interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his na- tive city, supporting in various ways the pro- gressive ideas now dominant in the manage- ment of public affairs. In 1891 he aceepted the appointment of Scaler of Weights and Measures for the eity of Lynn, and was again appointed to the same offiee in 1896. In 1895 he was a member of the Lynn Common Council, and served in the Committee on Water Supply. In this committee he was successful in putting through the bill known as the "Stand Pipe Bill," a mcasure highly pleasing to his constituents of Ward Four. A strong defender of the principles of the Re- publican party, he is an active member of the
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Lynn Republican Club, and for several years was a member of the Republican City Com- mittee. He is also a member and vice-presi- dent of the Sealers, Weights, and Measures Association. On November 3, 1880, in Lynn, he married Miss Fanny E. Williams, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne have four children; namely, Harry C., Freddie J., Frank E., and Burt V.
ESSE A. TOWNS,* who was a resi- dent of Methuen for more than half a century, was born in Londonderry, N.H., in 1822. He was one of the five chil- dren, four sons and a daughter, of James N. Towns, all of whom are now deceased. When a lad, besides acquiring a practical, common- school education, he learned the carpenter's trade. On attaining his majority, he settled in Methuen, and was afterward one of the leading contractors and builders of this town for many years. He was a skilful workman, ingenious and inventive, and possessed good architectural taste. For about nine years he had charge of the wood-work department in the shop of Mr. Searles, a well-known architect and contractor. Though he began working at his trade when carpenters depended upon their own labor for doors, blinds, sashes, etc., he kept pace with the times, being quick to avail himself of all new and improved methods. By his industry and economy he acquired a good property. In addition to building the residence now occupied by his widow, he erected a tenement block on the same street.
Mr. Towns was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Hes- seltine, died in 1851. She left one daughter, Ella Grace, who is now the wife of Jackson Webster, of Haverhill, Mass., and has one daughter. Mr. Towns's second marriage was
made with Caroline, daughter of Thomas Lenfest, of Lewiston, Me. Mr. Lenfest, a ship-builder by trade, having spent his early life in Charlestown, Mass., removed to Methuen, where he was engaged in agricult- ural pursuits for nearly threescore years. He married Abigail Coburn, of Lowell, and became by her the father of nine children. Of these, two died in infancy, and five after reaching maturity. Those living are Mrs. Towns and her widowed sister, Mrs. M. A. Whittier, who resides with her at Mrs. Towns's pleasant home on High Street. Mr. Towns died at his home, January 24, 1896, aged seventy-three years.
DWARD HAMMOND SMITH,# City Engineer of Lynn, Mass., son of the late John E. Smith, was born in this city June 4, 1858. His father, who was born and reared in Lynn, on the breaking out of the late Rebellion enlisted as Lieutenant of Com- pany I, Twenty-ninth Massachusetts Volun- teer Infantry, and went with his regiment as far as Baltimore, Md. Resigning while there, he returned to Lynn, where he raised a com- pany of men, which was attached to the Thirty-eighth Regiment as Company E, he being elected its captain. Captain Smith subsequently served with his comrades until the close of the war, taking part in many en- gagements. In July, 1865, he was mustered out of service in Boston. Thereupon he re- turned to Lynn, and engaged in his former occupation of a morocco finisher, being the senior member of the firm Smith & Oliver. From 1869 to 1875 he was a State officer on what is now known as the State District Po- lice. His death occurred on January 17, 1891. He married Mary E. Hammond, who was born
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in Salisbury, Mass. She was a daughter of Edward Hammond, who served on a privateer and in the regular naval service during the War of 1812. At that time he was captured and sent to Dartmoor Prison, England. After being confined there for a time, he was ex- changed, and returned to Marblehead. He subsequently took up his abode in Lynn, and died here in 1872.
Edward H. Smith was bred and educated in Lynn, being graduated from the high school in 1876. A bright, active lad at the time of his graduation, he had but little trouble in procuring a situation in the office of the City Engineer, where he remained until 1891. In that year he went into business for himself, opening a surveyor's office on Union Street, continuing there until 1896, when he was elected to his present office as City Engineer. His previous connection with this department had already made him familiar with the duties required of him, so that he came well prepared for the position, which he has since filled most creditably and satisfactorily.
Mr. Smith has been prominent in military organizations and the Odd Fellows fraternity, and has contributed his full share to the advancement of each. Entering the State militia in 1876, he was connected with Com- pany D, Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, for fourteen years, and filled all the grades from the lowest to that of Captain. He is a mem- ber and the secretary of the West Lynn Lodge, No. 65, I. O. O. F. ; a member and the treas- urer of Fraternity Encampment, No. 67; a member of the Ivy Rebecca Lodge, No. 49; a charter member and past secretary of Mount Sion Senate, No. 363, K. A. E. O. ; a mem- ber of the Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; and of the Grand Senate, K. A. E. O., of the State of Massachusetts. In politics he is a Republi- can. On February 21, 1883, he married Miss
Carrie W. Merrill, a native of Lynn, and a great-grand-daughter of John Knight, a New Hampshire man, who served as a soldier in the War of the Revolution.
HARLES M. LUNT, an extensive real estate owner of Newbury, and senior member of the firm of C. M. Lunt & Sons, contractors, was born in this town, January 27, 1836, son of Joseph and Ann (Knight) Lunt. His birthplace and that of his father and grandfather was the old Kelley house, which has long been owned by the Lunt family, and was the first dwelling that stood on the hill overlooking the Parker River settlement. The family originated far back in the Middle Ages, and its carly history is unknown to the present generation. One of the name was knighted for deeds of chivalry some time during the thirteenth century. The first ancestor in America was Henry Lunt, who accompanied a party of emigrants from England in 1635, and settled upon the banks of Parker River in the town of Newbury, whence he removed to what is now Newbury- port, where he owned land at the head of Fed- eral Street, his farm including the site of the residence of J. J. Currier. Records show that the Lunts of the Colonial period were sturdy, industrious people, and that they were influen- tial factors in town and church affairs. Many of them followed the sea, and several were pilots. During the stirring times of 1776, when the aged pastor of the Old South Church, Newbury, made an urgent call for volunteers to shoulder the musket and support the Dec- laration of Independence, members of the Lunt family were the first to respond. En- sign Cutting Lunt, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, is said to have been the only person to escape from the Old Mill
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Prison, where he was held a captive by the British ; and he made his way out disguised as the company's washerman. The sentinel was afterward shot for his negligence. Captain Ezra and Lieutenant Paul Lunt were officers of a company raised for the expedition to Can- ada, and the names of Ensign Cutting and John Lunt appear among those who manned whale-boats and captured a British man-of-war lying in Newburyport Harbor.
Nathaniel Lunt, grandfather of Charles M., was a miller; and his grist-mill, which was operated by horse-power, was the only one in this section during his time. He possessed a perfect knowledge of the country, and knew the name of the occupants of every house be- tween Newbury and Haverhill, a distance of twenty miles. His wife, Eleanor Clark, who belonged to a highly reputable family of Greenland, N. H., was a direct descendant of Bishop Clark.
Joseph Lunt, only son of Nathaniel and Eleanor Lunt, and father of Charles M., was reared to agricultural pursuits, and became a successful farmer. He owned and cultivated the home farm, and, like his ancestors, was noted for his progressive tendencies and gen- erous hospitality. He held various town and county offices, and in 1856 was elected to the legislature by votes cast irrespective of party lines, as he was a clear-headed man, and pos- sessed the ability and courage to forcibly ex- press his views. He married Ann Knight, a member of one of the oldest families in Newbury. They had two sons, namely : Charles M., the subject of this sketch; and J. Austin, a farmer of Newbury, who was born December 29, 1833, and died in December, 1878.
Charles M. Lunt acquired his education in the common schools and at Dummer Academy. At an early age he developed business ability
of a high order, and the active period of his life has been marked by a display of energy and progress which has enabled him to accu- mulate considerable wealth. For many years he has been at the head of the firm of C. M. Lunt & Sons, who do an extensive plumbing business, and are well known through this and other counties as experts in the boring of arte- sian wells. He has been engaged in other enterprises, and has invested quite largely in real estate. In that field he has been unusually successful, having bought several so-called worthless farms, upon which he planted fruit orchards, by so doing making each of them pay for itself in a few years' time. He has made a specialty of raising apples, and in all probability he grows a larger amount of Bald- win apples and Bartlett pears than any other grower in Essex County. He carries on the old homestead farm, which is still one of the most productive pieces of agricultural property in Newbury ; and he keeps an average of fifty head of cattle and ten horses.
Politically, he acts with the Liberal party, by which he was elected a Selectman and Overseer of the Poor for a number of years. His intellectual faculties have been exercised frequently in a literary way as a contributor of many readable articles to various newspapers ; and he has been appointed a member of two World's Fair Commissions. He belongs to the Newbury Farmers' Club.
Mr. Lunt and Ellen Pike Coleman, of New- buryport, were united in marriage on April 1, 1859. They are the parents of five chil- dren, as follows: Eleanor Clark, Mary Cole- man, Elizabeth Pike, George Warren, and Daniel Coleman. George W. and Daniel C. are members of the firm of C. M. Lunt & Sons. Eleanor C. is the wife of William Knapp, a druggist in Stockton, Cal. Mary C. married George Little, of Newbury, and has
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three children - Herbert C., Dorothy C., and George.
EORGE E. STICKNEY, JR.,* one of Newburyport's influential citizens, was born there November 6, 1865. The family is an ancient one. The ancestor, Robert Stickney, visiting in Boston, England, in the year 1658, was invited to a house built one hundred and fifty years before the time of his visit ; and he there saw a coat-of-arms of the Stickney family dating back to the Nor- man-French family of De Stickney in the thir- teenth century. William Stickney, grandson of one Robert, born December 30, 1558, mar- ried, made his will on October 3, 1582, and was buried on the 15th of the same month at Frampton. Amos Stickney, born in Eng- land in 1635, married in Newbury, June 24, 1663. His son, John Stickney, was born in Newbury, June 23, 1666. John Stickney, Jr., born there July 30, 1693, was the father of Caleb, who was born in the same place January 9, 1720. Caleb's son John, born there in 1750, was the father of Jacob, born July 28, 1774, the great-grandfather of George E.
Caleb Stickney, the grandfather, born Feb- ruary 9, 1811, was a shipbuilder and block- maker, and in business for himself for more than forty years. He was a prominent member of the Veteran Artillery Association, of which he was an officer and the band sergeant at dif- ferent times. He is now eighty years old. By his wife, Miriam M. Noyes Stickney, he is the father of two children - Mrs. Henry A. Wilson and George E. George E. Stickney, Sr., who was well educated for the times, is now an expert machinist with the Towle Man- ufacturing Company. He is an esteemed member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Miss Berry, one of the
seven children of James Berry, of Kittery, Me. As soon as George E. Stickney, Jr., graduated from the Newburyport High School with the class of 1882, he went at once into the Mer- chants' Bank as a messenger. Three years later he took the same position in the Revere National Bank of Boston. At the end of one year here he became assistant corresponding clerk. From this position he was rapidly pro- moted to that of head corresponding clerk, general clerk, and assistant receiving teller, which last he held for about eight years. From the Revere National Bank he went to the Old Colony Trust Company as receiving teller, in which capacity he is employed to-day. On March 9, 1888, he organized the co-operative bank at Newburyport, of which he is now the secretary and treasurer. The deposits of this institution have grown from one dollar in 1888 to one hundred and seventy thousand dollars in 1896. An Independent in politics, Mr. Stickney served in the City Council in 1890 and 1891; and he was an Alderman in 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895. He is a member of the St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M.
Mr. Stickney on December 18, 1894, ınar- ried Susan Coffin Adams, a descendant in a direct line of Francis Cooke, who came from England in the "Mayflower " in 1620. Jacob, son of Francis, settled at the Isle of Shoals. Samuel, the next in descent, was the father of Charles, who married Mary Caswell of the Shoals, and removed to Newburyport. Their children were: Zebidee, Willian, John, Charles, Elias, Sam, Betsey, and Sarah. John Cooke married Sarah Edwards; and they had four children - John, Charles, Moses, and Mary. The only daughter, Mary, married Richard Adams on May 3, 1818. Thirteen children were the fruit of this union ; namely, Sarah, David, Richard, John Quincy, Edwin,
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Xenophon, Charles, Mary, William, Ellery, Xenophon (second), Moses Cooke, and Benja- min. Moses Cooke Adams married Elizabeth Jane Disney, October 6, 1861. Their chil- dren were: Lizzie D., Carrie S., and Susan Coffin. Mr. Stickney's rapid rise in business gives promise of a still brighter future. His enterprise and energy, as shown in the organ- ization of the co-operative bank, suggest the possibilities of the future bank director and president.
EFFREY T. STANLEY,* one of the Selectmen of Manchester, Mass., and formerly Representative from the Tenth Essex District to the Massachusetts General Court, was born at Beverly, Mass., June 1, 1826, son of Paul and Mahala (Thistell) Stan- ley. Both his parents were natives of Essex County. Paul Stanley, the father, who was a general mason, resided in Beverly until 1826, when he removed to Manchester, where he remained until his death seven years later. Of his children, only two are living - Jeffrey T. and Rufus A., of whom the latter resides in Gloucester, Mass.
Jeffrey Stanley came to Manchester with his parents to this town when an infant, and his school-days were spent here. At the age of seventeen he began to learn the cabinet- maker's trade with George Procter, a furniture manufacturer of this town. He worked for Mr. Procter for about three years, and was subsequently employed for a time by Allen & Decker in the same line of business. In 1849 he went to the newly discovered gold fields of California, making the journey, which took about six months, by the overland route. He remained there for a time, and upon his re- turn came by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Since that time he has resided in Manchester.
In 1851 he engaged in business for himself in the manufacture of furniture, but subse- quently followed his trade as a journeyman for several years. In September, 1862, he enlisted in Company A of the Forty - fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was in service for over nine months. His regiment formed a part of the Nineteenth Army Corps under General Foster in North Carolina, and took part in the battles of Kingston, White- hall, Goldsboro, and others. He was honor- ably discharged in July, 1863.
Mr. Stanley was married on June. 18, 1854, to Elizabeth A. Edwards, of Manchester. Mrs. Stanley was born on May 10, 1830, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah J. (Allen) Ed- wards. She is descended on both sides from old and respected families of Manchester. Her father, who was a seafaring man, was only eighteen years old when he did guard-duty at Norton's during the War of 1812. Mrs. Stanley is a member of the Ladies' Sewing Circle of the Congregational church. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley have one son, Fred Stanley, a resident of Woburn, Mass. He married Lizzie Pierce, who bore him one daughter - Bertha E., now deceased.
Mr. Stanley has served as policeman of Manchester for one year, and as chief of the fire department. During the session of 1887 he was sent as Representative from the town to the General Court from the Tenth Essex District. In 1890 he was appointed Post- master of Manchester, and held that office over five years. He is now serving his third consecutive term as Selectman and as Assessor and Overseer of the Poor. He is also a mem- ber of the Board of Health. In politics he is a Republican; and he is a member of the Re- publican Town Committee, having been for- merly its chairman. He is also a member of the Congressional Committee from the Sixth
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Congressional District. He is present Quar- termaster Sergeant of Allen Post, G. A. R., which he has served for two years as Com- mander.
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