USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 62
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HOMAS W. JAMES,* a machinist and respected citizen of Lawrence, was born in Deerfield, N. H., August 27, 1829, son of Ezekiel Worthen and Lucy (French) James. John James, father of Ezckiel Worthen, born in Deerfield, died there in 1834, after a long and well-spent life. He had four sons and six daughters. Ezekiel Worthen James, a native of the same place, born in 1774, died in 1850. He was a plain, honest, and well-to-do farmer, owning a three- hundred-acre farm. In 1805 he married Lucy French, who was born in 1780. Of their twelve children, six sons and four daughters grew to maturity, and four are now living, namely: Elizabeth Charles, in New Hamp- shire; Rawlin, in Haverhill; Thomas W., the subject of this sketch; and Samuel, in Phila- delphia, Pa. The mother died in 1862.
Thomas W. James remained on the farm until eighteen years old, receiving his educa- tion in the common school. Leaving home in 1847, he became an apprentice at the ma- chinist's trade, which he has followed with good success ever since. On May 31, 1850, he married Julia A. Bean, who was born in Deerfield, N. H. Her parents, John and Mary Bcan, were cousins. The father was a son of Joshua and Hannah (Stevens) Bean, of Not- tingham, N. H. ; and the mother, a daughter of Samuel Bean. John Bean, a farmer by occu- pation, served his town as Selectman, Col- lector, and in other important offices. Both he and his wife were members of the Free Will Baptist church. They had three chil- dren, of whom one other daughter is living.
Mr. Bean died May 26, 1888, aged eighty-one; and his wife died at sixty. At her marriage Mrs. James was seventeen years old. Both her children, a son and a daughter, are living. The daughter, Ella Frances, now the wife of Frank Hilton Chapman, has four sons and one daughter; while the son, John Frank James, a merchant grocer, married Myra Angie Smith, of St. Johnsbury, and has one daughter living, Alice Sophia. Besides their six grandchil- dren, Mr. and Mrs. James have one great- grandchild. Mrs. James is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
IRAM NEWTON HARRIMAN, for a number of years editor and propri- etor of the Georgetown Advocate and Town Clerk of Georgetown, Mass., his native place, was born May 22, 1837, and died suddenly of heart disease while attending to his official duties at the town hall on Octo- ber 31, 1897. He was the son of Hiram and Sarah (Spofford) Harriman. His father was born in Georgetown in 1804, and his mother was a native of Andover, Mass.
The immigrant ancestor of the Harriman family was Leonard Harriman, a native of England, who settled at Rowley, Mass., in 1638. Jonathan Harriman, son of Leonard, was born in Rowley in 1657, and died in 1741. John Harriman, son of Jonathan, was born in what is now Georgetown in 1703, and died in 1753. Enoch Harriman, son of John . and great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Georgetown in 1736, and lived to be past fourscore years of age. Enoch Harriman, sccond, grandfather of Hiram N., was born in this town in 1775, and died in 1844.
Hiram Harriman, Hiram N. Harriman's father, was engaged in the shoc manufactur-
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ing business in Georgetown during the active period of his life, and is remembered by many of our older citizens as an able and prosper- ous business man. He was instrumental in developing the principal industry of this town, and acquired an honorable reputation for in- tegrity and punctuality. He died in 1876. His wife, Sarah Spofford, was a daughter of Samuel and Deborah (Robinson) Spofford, of Andover, Mass., and a descendant of John Spofford, one of the pioneer settlers of Georgetown.
Hiram N. Harriman began his education in the common schools, later attending succes- sively the Bradford Academy and the Putnam High School, Newburyport, where he was graduated in 1856. After pursuing a further course of study at Comer's Commercial Col- lege in Boston, he went to the State of Illi- nois, where he resided a short time. Return- ing to Georgetown in 1862, he entered the United States recruiting service ; and in July, 1864, he enlisted in an unattached company, under Captain John G. Barnes. He after- ward re-enlisted in the same company, and in 1865 was commissioned by Governor Andrew Brevet Captain to serve in the Sixty-second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, com- manded by Colonel J. Harris Hooper. He was mustered out with that regiment; and upon his return to this town he engaged in the shoe manufacturing business, which he followed until 1872. He was appointed a Constable by Governor Claflin, was reap- pointed by Governor Washburn, and served in that capacity for about three years. He then entered the newspaper business, which he con- tinued to follow as long as he lived. Under his enterprising and judicious management the Advocate, an independent weekly journal, chronicling the local, county, State, and na- tional news, had a large circulation through-
out this section. In politics Mr. Harriman was a Republican. In all matters relative to the welfare and improvement of the town he took a lively interest. He was a trustee and a member of the Investment Committee of the Georgetown Savings Bank. He served as Town Clerk in 1877 and 1878, and thenceforth continuously from 1884; and at the time of his death he was Chief Engineer of the fire department.
In 1858 Mr. Harriman was united in mar- riage with Sarah A. Hardy, daughter of Na- than Hardy, of Groveland, Mass. Mrs. Har- riman is the mother of two children: Augus- tus, born in 1866; and Mary L., born in 1872. Augustus was educated in the common schools, and was a printer in the office of the Advocate. Mary L. is a graduate of the Georgetown High School, and is residing at home.
Mr. Harriman was a charter member and a Past Master of Charles C. Dame Lodge, F. & A. M .; a member of King Cyrus Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Newburyport; and of Haverhill Commandery, Knights Templar. In 1888 Grand Master Henry Endicott ap- pointed him Deputy Grand Master of the Ma- sonic District of Massachusetts, and he held that appointment for two years. He was also connected with Protection Lodge, No. 147, I. O. O. F .; was president of the Union Club of Georgetown; was a Past Commander of Everett Peabody Post, No. 108, G. A. R., and served as its Quartermaster since 1884.
A LBERT CUSHING TITCOMB, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Newburyport, son of the late Francis Titcomb and his wife, Sally Dodd Titcomb, was born in 1831, and comes of a family famous in the founding and develop-
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ment of this town, and distinguished in the annals of the country as producing brave sol- diers and erudite professional men, who have been always ready to give their best service for the country wherever needed. The first ancestor in America, Captain William Tit- comb, came from Newbury, England, in 1634, on the ship "Hercules," and in company with the Rev. Thomas Parker, and other persons from the same neighborhood, settled on the banks of the Parker River, at a place called by the Indians Quascacunquen, which they nanied Newbury, for their old home. He was a man of means and education, was made free- man in 1642, Selectman in 1646, and Repre- sentative to the General Court in 1655. In the long contest between the Rev. Mr. Parker and his parishioners in regard to church gov- ernment, he supported the popular side; and, when the courts decided in favor of the pastor, Mr. Titcomb was fined.
The Titcombs early owned land in what is now the centre of the town, back of Oak Hill Cemetery, and on Greenleaf Street, where the B. & M. freight station stands; and in the course of time they had estates in parts of Byfield, West Newbury, and Newburyport. When the river front became the business centre, the Titcombs owned wharves and stores both below and above Market Square. William, for many years a revenue officer, was located just below where the custom- house now stands. Josiah was just above Market on Broadway, when it was in reality a broad way. He owned a splendid mansion at the head of what was then Titcomb's Wharf, and gave fashionable parties, at which silver punch bowls freely circled. This mansion was standing up to some forty years ago, when it was burned. Near by was the house of the gallant Colonel Moses Titcomb, and just opposite that the Hodge house, owned by
Michael Hodge, husband of Josiah Titcomb's daughter. On the east corner of Merrimack and Green Streets was the residence of Gen- eral Jonathan Titcomb. On Market Street was the home of the Hon. Enoch Titcomb, the birthplace of generations of Titcombs. Sam- uel, after whom Titcomb Street was named, lived on State Street, where the John Carr house now stands; and he owned the whole square from High to Harris and from State to Green Streets, with the exception of Wolf Tavern. He was very wealthy, and had es- tates in West Newbury, Pelham, and Salem. The family has spread to nearly all parts of the country, and has produced men of superior abilities and noble hearts, men eminent in Church and State, and ever ready to champion the cause of truth and freedom.
Colonel Moses Titcomb, born in 1700, was son of William Titcomb, Jr., and his wife, Ann Cottle, one of the beauties of the town, who formerly lived in Cottle's Lane, now known as Bromfield Street. Colonel Titcomb married Miriam Currier; and his daughter Miriam became the wife of Nicholas Tracy, whose house (in former times) is now the public library building. The Colonel had a blacksmith shop at the first wharf below Green Street. He was a man of fine physique; and when, during the siege of Louisburg, the sol- diers needed amusement, he could beat any man in his regiment pitching quoits, could throw any one in wrestling, or excel in lift- ing, and was as fearless as he was strong. Under General Pepperell's command he held commission as Major, and from his own means furnished a battery of five forty-two pounders, called Titcomb's battery. He returned from the victorious contest with high honors, bringing as a trophy the bomb-shell which now decorates the stone post at the corner of Middle and Independent Streets. While di-
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recting his men in a charge at the battle of Lake George, he was shot by an Indian; and his body was never recovered.
General Jonathan Titcomb, born in 1727, son of Josiah and Martha (Rolfe) Titcomb, was a highly distinguished officer in the Revolu- tionary War. He was Representative to the first legislature after the evacuation of Bos- ton, and later was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention. He was first naval officer of the port of Newburyport, and was chairman of the Committee on Reception when Wash- ington was here in 1790. General Titcomb lived to be about ninety years of age. He was a devoted Presbyterian, and was one of the founders of the Second Presbyterian Church, and always its most liberal friend, giving one thousand dollars toward the church building.
Enoch Titcomb, born in 1752, son of Henry Titcomb, was a merchant in Newburyport. He served as a Representative in the legisla- ture, also as a State Senator, and for twenty- eight years in succession he was Town Treas- urer, declining a re-election at the end of that time on account of failing health. Enoch Titcomb died in 1814, aged sixty-two years. His son Francis Titcomb, father of Mr. Al- bert C. Titcomb, married Miss Sallie Dodd, of Salem. He was a silversmith, learning the business under William Moulton. Of his seven children, Mr. Albert C. Titcomb is the only one now living.
Albert Cushing Titcomb attended the "monitorial " school, under Masters Cool- idge, Caldwell, and Reed, graduating at the age of fourteen. Beginning life for himself, he was at first in the dry-goods store of Jo- seph F. Toppan on State Street, and then in Boston for two years. In 1849 he sailed for San Francisco in the brig "Charlotte," and reached the Golden Gate July 23 of that
year. After spending two years in the mines, he went to Relejo, Central America, and invested in the hotel business and in the coffee trade between that port and San Fran- cisco. When twenty years old, he came back to Newburyport, and went into the machine shop of the Bartlett Mills, agreeing to work six months without compensation while learn - ing the trade. At the end of two months the agent of the company was so pleased with his skill and industry that he put his name on the pay-roll at forty-two cents per day. Later on he worked at this trade in Roxbury, and in the Old Colony Railroad machine shops until 1855, when he became travelling salesman for Robinson, Potter & Co., manufacturers of jewelry at Providence, R.I.
He has since been connected with the dia- mond and jewelry business and has been lo- cated on the islands of St. Thomas and Cur- açoa in the West Indies and in San Francisco. He has travelled extensively, having made the journey to California forty times, and having been in nearly every State in the Union. He is now retired from business, and lives on High Street, in one of the finest residences in the city. In 1890 Mr. Titcomb became treas- urer of the Lamson Consolidated Store Ser- vice Company, which was at that time almost a bankrupt concern. He so managed its finan- cial affairs as to clear the entire debt, and to put the business on a paying basis.
In politics Mr. Titcomb is a Republican. He has twice been Mayor of his native city. Many municipal reforms have been originated by him, among them being the reduction of tax rates and the remodelling of streets. He also removed the poorhouse from Federal Street, established the system of sewerage, and had the school buildings of the city thor- oughly renovated. He was urged to accept the nomination for the Mayoralty in 1897, but
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declined to do so. Mr. Titcomb is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. While in San Francisco, he was one of the reincorpora- tors of the Y. M. C. A. there, and one of the stanchest friends of the organization. He aided Mr. Moody, the evangelist, in raising a debt of eighty-three thousand dollars that lay on its property. Mr. Titcomb has been a member of the Newburyport Board of Trade, and he is at the present time a member of the State Board of Trade. Fraternally, he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion; of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., of King Cyrus Chapter, and of Newburyport Commandery, K. T.
Mr. Titcomb has been twice married. His first wife, Ellen Graves, whom he married in 1860, bore him two sons - Albert and Will- iam Graves. The last named, William Graves Titcomb, was for some time in the office of the Waltham Watch Company at Bos- ton. He is now president of the New Eng- land Steam Brick Company of Providence, whose manufactory is at Nayatt, R.I. His wife, whose maiden name was Jessie Watson Shepard, is the daughter of John Shepard, of the well-known firm of Shepard, Norwell & Co., Boston. Their third child, Richard Spofford Titcomb, is named for an intimate friend of the subject of this sketch, the late Richard S. Spofford, who died in 1888, and is survived by his gifted wife, Harriet Prescott Spofford. Mrs. Ellen Graves Titcomb died in 1882; and two years later Mr. Titcomb mar- ried Hitta Louise, the accomplished daughter of Amos C. Clement, of Plaistow, N. H. By this union there is one son, Albert Clement, and a daughter, Ruth.
Mr. Titcomb's popularity with the residents of his own town is attested by the enthusiasm manifested whenever he has been a candidate for public honors among them. When he was
elected to the Mayoralty, he received a major- ity of five hundred and ninety-seven votes, which is the largest majority ever given to a Mayor of this city. He is of gentle and kindly disposition, possessed of large means, and is an active and public-spirited citizen, whose hand and heart are open to all unfortu- nates, and who has a pleasant smile for all whom he meets. There is no honor within their gift which his fellow-citizens would not gladly bestow upon him.
ON. ORRIN JAMES GURNEY,* a former Mayor of Newburyport, was born in this city, April 8, 1849, son of John and Mary (Knowles) Gurney. His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Gurney, followed the trade of wheelwright in New- buryport for a number of years, and died here at the age of seventy. Nathaniel married Maria Hastings, who bore him twelve chil- dren, of whom two are still living. He at- tended the old Harris Street Presbyterian Church. John Gurney, son of Nathaniel and father of Orrin James, was a harness-maker by trade, and carried on business for some years in Newburyport. He died when be- tween sixty and seventy years old. His wife Mary was a daughter of Jonathan Knowles, of North Hampton, N. H. She was the mother of three children, two boys and a girl. She died when her son Orrin was but two years of age.
After a limited course of study in the com- mon schools, Orrin J. Gurney began work at the age of eleven on a farm. He afterward worked for some time in the Ocean Cotton Mill. Subsequently, while still a youth, he was employed successively in a hat factory, a soap factory, and a barrel factory. When sixteen years old he was apprenticed to
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Charles Brown, a carpenter, with whom he re- mained for five years. He then, in 1873, opened a factory for the manufacture of wooden boxes, starting in a little one-story building on Kent Street. His business grew rapidly; and in November, ISSo, he purchased the old Baptist church on Congress Street, which he enlarged by adding a second-story and adapted to factory purposes, and where he is. at present located. He now employs a force of fourteen or fifteen hands, and manu- factures both wooden and paper boxes.
A Republican politically, Mr. Gurney served formerly as Inspector and Clerk of his ward. In 1883 he was elected a member of the Common Council. The next year he served on the Board of Aldermen. For five consecutive years, beginning with 1887, he was a member of the Council, which he left in 1892 to become Mayor of the city. This latter office he held for four years - a longer term than that served by any previous Mayor of Newburyport. During his administration he effected many important reforms. Among others he obtained a charter for the Newbury- port Water Company, compelling the old com- pany to sell at a price to be determined by a commission. He also cleared the city of the houses of bad repute, in spite of strong oppo- sition from an element that claimed such an undertaking to be impracticable. In 1896 Mr. Gurney was defeated by a majority of but fifty-six. He was, however, unanimously elected Park Commissioner, and was chairman of the board for three years.
A prominent Free Mason, Mr. Gurney was Marshal of his lodge for seven years, High Priest of the chapter for two years, and Com- mander of Newburyport Commandery, K. T., in 1894-95, attending the triennial conven- tion at Boston. The Newburyport Command- ery was really the first to be formed in this
country, although recorded as No. 3. It was instituted in 1795, but the original charter was lost. Mr. Gurney belongs to St. John's Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M .; Newburyport Commandery, K. T., No. 3; and Amesbury Council, R. & S. M .; also to Newburyport Lodge, Riverside Com- mandery, No. 52, U. O. G. C. (of which he has been a member sixteen years, and New- buryport Lodge, No. 512, K. of H. In 1895 Mr. Gurney became the first president of the Veteran Firemen's Association, which was then formed. In March, 1873, he married Miss Abbie A. Hunter, daughter of Michael Hunter, of Newburyport.
J OHN W. ALLEN, a well-known grocer of Newburyport, was born March 29, 1845. His great-grandparents on the maternal side of the family were carried off by the Indians, and were never heard from again. Their son, William Perry, was born in Newbury, near Turkey Hill. The loss of his parents in his childhood left him without a home, and he was bound out to the town. When of age, he enlisted, and took part in the Revolutionary War. He died soon after the close of the war. His wife, in maidenhood Eleanor Poore, lived to be ninety years old. They had two children.
Of English birth, John W. Allen came from Yarmouth, England, when a boy. He was the eldest of the family, which comprised three sisters and five brothers. A farm of one hundred acres in Newbury was his home until within the last twelve years. He owned six- teen cows, dealing largely in dairy products, and having a large milk business. Often- times, unable to procure reliable help, he was obliged to carry on the farm entirely un- aided. The care proved too much for him;
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and he removed to town, where he built him- self a handsome residence on High Street. Mr. Allen has always been active in town pol- itics. He was in the Common Council in 1890-91, and an Alderman in 1892-93. He has been chairman of various committees, and a member of fifteen at different times. That Mr. Allen is a popular man is shown by the large number of votes always cast for him, and the frequency of his nomination for different offices. He belongs to the Mutual Benefit Association, Merrimac Lodge, No. 31, A. O. U. W., of Newburyport. Also con- nected with the First Parish Congregational Church since the year 1876, he has been its treasurer and collector; and he has served on the Parish Committee. He married first Mary E. Plummer, of Newbury, on November 26, 1867. His second wife, Sarah E., whom he married June 15, 1884, was a sister of the first. There are three daughters - Elizabeth P., Caroline Frances, and Edith Greenleaf, all at home.
ARNARD STANWOOD, a retired farmer of Gloucester, was born in this city, July 15, 1815, son of Barnard and Hannah B. Stanwood. The fam- ily has been identified with Gloucester since 1653; and the subject of this sketch is a de- scendant in the seventh generation of Philip Stainwood, who came to Gloucester in 1653, served as a Selectman in 1667, and died here in 1672. He had four sons and four daugh- ters. Philip Stainwood, second, the next in the line, was twice married. His son Philip, third, born in 1690, was the father of Job, who changed the spelling of the name to its present form. Job Stanwood lost his left arm in the expedition against Louisburg, and was granted a pension by the General Court.
He married Hannah Byles, and his son Zebu- lon was Barnard Stanwood's grandfather. Zebulon Stanwood owned a large farm located at Stanwood's Point. His business was farm- ing and building vessels. He was twice mar- ried, and by his first wife, whose maiden name was Mary Rust, he had eight children; namely, Zebulon, Theophilus, Theodore, Winthrop, Job, Solomon, Mary, and Hannah. By his second union there were no children.
Barnard Stanwood went to live with his grandfather when quite young, his father hav- ing been lost at sea. At the age of twenty- three he inherited a part of his grandfather's farm, which he cultivated successfully for many years, or until appointed superintendent of the almshouse. The affairs of that institu- tion he managed with ability for thirteen years. Purchasing a farm of thirty acres on Washington Street, he carried it on until the growth of the city made it advantageous for him to subdivide his property into house lots; and in that way he has disposed of a greater part of it. Under the old town government he was several times elected Overseer of the Poor, and was chairman of the Committee on Public Property. He served as Chief Engineer of the fire Department in the days when hand engines were in use, and has been a member of the Board of Assessors under the city gov- ernment. He is a charter member of Ocean Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Cape Ann Encamp- ment, and has repeatedly occupied the impor- tant chairs in the first-named body. In his religious belief he is a Universalist.
Mr. Stanwood married for his first wife Harriet Knowlton, and for his second her sis- ter, Mary Knowlton. By his first marriage he had two children - Harriet N. and James Albert; and by his second he has two sons -- John J. and Frank. James Albert died young. Harriet N. married Daniel Fuller,
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of Swampscott, and died a few years later, leaving two children. She was a graduate of the Salem Normal School. John J. Stan- wood, who was born in July, 1851, is in the fish business. He married Fannie Proctor, daughter of George Proctor, editor of the Gloucester Daily Times, and has two children : Barnard, born in 1890; and Marjorie, born in 1892. Frank Stanwood, who was born Octo- ber 28, 1853, was with his brother for several years, or until 1890, when he bought a wharf. He is now carrying on business on his own account. He deals in all kinds of dried, pickled, smoked, and boneless fish, and has a specialty known as sandwich halibut. He married Maggie, daughter of Martin Evans, of Rockport, and has one son, Daniel B., who was born in April, 1896. Mrs. Mary K. Stanwood died in October, 1896.
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