USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 64
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Their son, Andrew Haskell, in early life was a civil engineer, and was engaged in rail-
road surveys in New England and in New York State. He was afterward a pilot on the government stcamers until he was made Superintendent of Streets in Newburyport. He is now the superintendent of the Plum Island property. By his wife Mary, a daugh- ter of James and Keziah (Lockwood) Nash, he became the father of several children - Mar- cus Conklin, William Fisher, John Mason, Mary Keziah, Moses, and Charles H. The eldest son is a prominent business man of Danvers; William F. resides in Amesbury ; Mary Keziah makes her residence in Boston; and Charles H., the youngest member of the family, is now attending Harvard University.
John Mason Pettingell, after receiving his education in the Newburyport schools, spent his first years of active employment at a lum- ber wharf. He then Icarned the shoe busi- ness in Lynn. In 1887 he became a member of the firm of Adams & Pettingell, shoe man- ufacturers of Amesbury. Making an espe- cially fine class of goods, they built up a large and profitable business, which was retained until the closing of the factory in 1896.
A prominent Mason, Mr. Pettingell is a member of Warren Lodge, F. & A. M., Trin- ity Chapter, Amesbury Council, Newburyport Commandery, Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine, Boston, and the Lynn Council, Royal Ar- canum. In his extensive travels he has vis- ited every State in the Union. On April 31, 1885, he married Miss Carrie Fowler, daughter of Richard Fowler, Jr., and Fran- cis (Lord) Fowler. She was born in Stock- ton, Cal., to which place her father had emigrated in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Pet- tingell are the parents of four children, namely: Andrew Fowler, born August 10, 1886; Laura Keziah, May 28, 1888; John Mason, Jr., May 26, 1890; and Caroline Frances, May 15, 1892. Having devoted
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much time to genealogical research, Mr. Pet- tingell has compiled records of fifteen hun- dred members of the Pettingell family, now scattered over various parts of the globe, and which it is his intention to publish in the form of a family history. Mr. Pettingell en- listed in 1898 for service in the war with Spain, being commissioned First Lieutenant, Company B, Eighth Massachusetts, United States Volunteers, and at the present writing is at Camp George H. Thomas, Georgia.
APTAIN ALBERT CHEEVER,* late a retired sea captain and ship- owner of Newburyport, was born in Castine, Me., son of Aaron and Phoebe (Courire) Cheever. His father, Aaron Cheever, was a native of Newburyport. The family is said to be descended from an ances- tor who entered England with William the Conqueror. The first of the name in this country settled in Danvers, Mass., early in the seventeenth century. Aaron Cheever, father of Captain Cheever, was for some time Government Inspector of Fish at Castine, Me. He afterward returned to Newburyport, where he worked at his trade of carpenter, and in partnership with his two brothers conducted a large cooperage business in this city. He married Phœbe Courire, of Newburyport," by whom he had two children.
Albert Cheever took to a seafaring life in early boyhood, and his first experience as a sailor was in a new pinky fishing schooner. At the age of fourteen he shipped for his first deep-sea voyage in the brig "Pocahontas," Captain James Coope, as able seaman. The brig loaded with arms and ammunition at Antwerp for Russian ports. A clean-cut, in- telligent, and ambitious youth, he rose rapidly from one position to another, until at an
early age he became Captain, and subse- quently sailed for seventeen years as master of the finest and largest ships sent out by the Cushings to foreign ports. His first com- mand was the eight-hundred-ton brig "James Gray," bound to Bordeaux with a cargo of tobacco, in which he made thirteen voyages. He left her for a larger craft, the "Lyra," in which he made voyages to India, China, and other countries of the Old World. Captain Cheever had a record of thirty-one successful trips to the Orient. In 1865 he took com- mand of the ship "Elcaldo " of fourteen hun- dred tons, in which he made seven voyages in three years' time. His last ship was the "Calumet," which he commanded from 1868 till she was lost in the harbor of Bermuda in 1873. The pilot in charge allowing her to run too close in shore as they were entering the harbor in a calm, the waves from a huge ocean steamer struck her, she lost headway, and drifted on to the rocks, where her bones still lie bleaching.
Captain Cheever's life was an active and eventful one, and included many exciting ad- ventures on the deep and in foreign lands. On one occasion he was almost fatally stabbed by the ship's cook - an attack all the more atrocious because entirely unprovoked, and therefore unexpected. He lingered between life and death for weeks, and it was many months before he was able to walk the deck. In all, Captain Cheever sailed as a com- mander on fifty-six foreign voyages, hailing always from Newburyport. He had a part in- terest in all the ships that he commanded, and was a large owner in the "Lyra," "Elcaldo," and "Calumet." Captain Cheever was also financially interested in various Newburyport enterprises, including a hat factory and a cotton-mill. His last years were spent in re- tirement, and his death occurred in June,
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1898. He was a member of the Marine So- ciety of Newburyport and of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M.
Captain Cheever married Rebecca Newman, of Newburyport, in December, 1844. He had two daughters, one of whom is the wife of George W. Varina, of Newburyport.
ANIEL GLEASON,* one of the founders of the hat manufacturing business in Methuen, was born in Ilaverhill, Mass., in 1813, and died at his late home in Methuen, August 27, 1867. He was a son of David and Phœbe (Carlton) Glea- son, and was descended from early settlers of New England on both the paternal and mater- nal side.
The emigrant ancestor on the Gleason side was Thomas Gleason, who took the oath of fidelity at Watertown, Mass., in 1652, his name at a later date being found on the Charlestown records, and who died in Cam- bridge, Mass., in 1684. His son, Joseph Gleason,2 born at Watertown, was a Captain in the ten years' war, and married Abigail Garfield. Isaac Gleason, 3 born in Sudbury, Mass., married Martha Livermore. Isaac Gleason, + born in Sudbury, November 15, 1705, married Lucy Noyes. Isaac Gleason, 5 born in Sudbury, October 24, 1733, died in Waltham, Mass., March 18, 1791. His son, David,' father of Daniel, married Phœbe Carl -. ton, a daughter of Kendall Carlton, of Haver- hill, Mass., and the descendant of one of the original settlers of Essex County, Edward Carlton, who came from England to America in early Colonial times. Though Edward Carlton returned to his native country prior to his death, his son John, who married a Miss Rowell, remained here permanently, and be- came the founder of one of the leading fam-
ilies of this part of New England. David Gleason was a prominent hat manufacturer of Haverhill from early manhood until his death in middle life. His wife, whose death oc- curred about a year previous to his, bore him six sons; namely, David, Charles, Hiram, Kimball, Daniel (the special subject of this sketch), and John. These sons all located in Methuen when young men, and for many years carried on a substantial business as hat manu- facturers. One of them, Kimball, subse- quently removed to Laconia, N. H., where he began the manufacture of hats in one of the Belknap Mills, and founded an extensive busi- ness.
Daniel Gleason conducted a large and pros- perous manufacturing business in Methuen until 1865, when he retired from active pur- suits, being succeeded by his son-in-law, Mr. Charles H. Tenney. He married Miss Delia M. Kendall, who was born in Litchfield, N. H., a daughter of Timothy and Fanny (Sen- ter) Kendall, both descendants of early and honored New England families. Her great- grandfather, Nathan Kendall, lived to a ripe old age, as did her grandparents, Timothy Kendall and his wife, the former dying in August, 1867, aged eighty-nine years, and the latter when ninety-two years old. The parents of Mrs. Gleason reared nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom Mrs. Gleason and four sons are living, as follows : Germon Kendall, a resident of Litchfield, N. H. ; John Kendall, who lives in the South ; Samuel, who went to California in 1849, and still resides there; and David, a resident of Concord, N. H.
Mr. and Mrs. Gleason reared two children, namely : Fanny, wife of Charles H. Tenney ; and Imogene, wife of William R. Rowell, for- merly a leading attorney of Methuen, but who died in 1897. Both daughters were educated
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at the Abbott Female Seminary in Andover, Mass. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Gleason resides at her pleasant home in the village, or with her daughter Mrs. Tenney, who has a beautiful summer home not far dis- tant, besides a winter residence in New York City.
Charles H. Tenney, who began business life with but little capital, by energy, determina- tion, and the exercise of good judgment has accumulated a handsome estate. Succeeding to the manufacturing business of his father-in- law, he has greatly enlarged it in all its branches, and is now the largest commission dealer in hats in the United States, if not in the world. Some years ago he purchased one hundred acres of wild land in Methuen, and with the assistance of an expert landscape gardener has improved and beautified it so that it now resembles a veritable park. His large and attractive residence, built of brick, stone, and marble, stands on an eminence overlook- ing the quiet village of Methuen, and com- manding a view of Lawrence and the surround- ing country. It is reached from three direc- tions by wide and circuitous driveways, skirted by fine lawns ornamented with choice and rare shrubs. Mr. and Mrs. Tenney have one son, Daniel Gleason Tenney, a fine specimen of stalwart manhood, who was graduated from Yale College in 1891, and is now in business with his father in New York City.
ILLIAM R. ROWELL,* for some years an attorney in Methuen, Mass., where he died in October, 1897, was born in Troy, Vt., March 18, 1844, a son of Hon. A. J. and Lucy A. (Richardson) Rowell. A fuller account of his ancestry may be found in the biography of the Rowells of
Orleans County, Vermont, written in 1866 by Frederick W. Baldwin.
William R. Rowell in his boyhood and youth attended the village school and academy, and also took a year's course of study in the New Hampshire Institute at Fairfax, Vt. During the winter of 1860-61 he taught school in Masonville, Province of Quebec. The following spring he was appointed a cadet at West Point, on the recommendation of the Hon. Homer E. Royce, M.C., and in June entered the Military Academy. A few months later he resigned his cadetship to enter the Union army with his father, who was on the staff of General Grover. Returning to his home in the fall of 1862, he remained there a year, when he enlisted as a private in the Third Battery of the Vermont Light Artil- lery, and on January 1, 1864, was mustered into service as First Sergeant. The battery went into the camp of instruction, near Wash- ington, for drill and equipment, and in the early spring was sent to the front and attached to the Ninth Army Corps of the Potomac, with which it remained until the close of the war. Sergeant Rowell proved himself a faith- ful soldier, and erelong was promoted first to the rank of Second Lieutenant and later to that of First Lieutenant of his company, which hc commanded a portion of the time. The gal- lantry and efficiency of the battery at Fort Steadman, March 25, 1865, was mentioned by Captain R. H. Start in the Adjutant and In- spector-general's Report of Vermont, 1865, in Appendix C, page 50.
Mr. Rowell was a stanch Republican in pol- itics, and was a member of the State legisla- ture two years. The first year he served on the Committee on Taxation, and the second on that of Finances, Ways, and Means. He was Commander of the G. A. R. Post at Troy, Vt., and, coming to Methuen, in 1886 was made
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Commander of the Colonel William B. Green Post, No. 100, of this city. He was for a time Judge Advocate on the staff of the depart- ment commander of Massachusetts, and was an aid on the staff of Chief Commander Jack Adams. He was also a Master Mason. Mr. Rowell married Miss Imogene Gleason, daugh- ter of Daniel and Delia M. (Kendall) Gleason, of whom a brief sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume.
EORGE D. CABOT, a late and much respected resident of Lawrence, was born April 26, 1812, at Jamaica Plain, Mass., a son of John and Lydia (Dodge) Cabot. He was a representative of one of the oldest New England families, and is believed to have been descended from John Cabot, who made explorations along the Atlantic coast in the latter part of the fifteenth century, through his son Sebastian, although the line of descent has not been fully traced.
The founder of the Cabot family in America was John Cabot who emigrated from Wales, and in 1702 married Anna Orne, of Saleni, Mass. Their son, John Cabot, second, was born in 1704, and in December, 1732, married Sarah Higginson, of Salem, and settled in Beverly. John Cabot, third, grandfather of George D., was born in Beverly, Mass., Jan- uary 14, 1744, and married Hannah Dodge, of Salem, who died February 7, 1830, aged seventy-two years. Of their eleven children, only three grew to adult life: John, the father of George D. ; Lucy, who never married ; and Fanny, who became the wife of Judge Charles Jackson. John Cabot, third, was a man of influence and means, and during the Revolu- tion was a subscriber to a war vessel presented by Essex County to the government ; and he also advanced from his private purse money to
the town of Beverly for the payment of troops. A cousin of his, Enoch Cabot, son of Farnham Cabot, of Andover, Mass., was one of the three original settlers of Andover, Me., the others being a Mr. Poor and a Mr. Stephens of the same town. Enoch Cabot was born in Ando- ver in 1779, in the same house in which sev- eral of his ancestors had first drawn the breath of life. When he and his companions, brave and courageous young men, went to Maine, the country was in its virgin wildness; and their destination was reached by following a bridle- path marked by blazed trees.
John Cabot, fourth, was born July 31, 1782, in Beverly, Mass., in which town he spent his earliest years. He subsequently removed to Jamaica Plain, and became one of the success- ful business men of that place. He married Miss Lydia Dodge, of Salem, a cousin of Chief Justice Story ; and they became the par- ents of four children, three of whom grew to maturity, namely : John Lee Cabot, who was born November 7, 1810, and died November 21, 1837; George D., the subject of this sketch; and Lydia Dodge Cabot, wife of The- odore Parker, the Unitarian minister. Neither of the parents is now living, the father's death having occurred April 24, 1855, and the mother's May 5, 1863.
George D. Cabot pursued his elementary studies for a time in Waltham, Mass., under the instruction of Dr. Samuel Ripley and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was afterward a pupil in the school of Jonathan Homer, where he had as classmates James Freeman Clarke and his brothers. After completing his early education at the academy in Watertown, he began his life's work, when but fifteen years old, as a clerk in the counting-house of Mer- rick, Lee & Co., Boston, importers of dry goods. Within a year he was promoted to the office of book-keeper, taking a position at
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a nominal salary. Two and one-half years later he accepted a situation with Josiah Whit- ney, a cotton shipper, and a brother of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. At the age of nineteen years he was sent to Savan- nah, Ga., to attend to the buying and shipping of cotton from that point for his employer. In 1832 he became book-keeper in a counting- house in New York City; but on reaching his majority he returned to Boston, where, in com- pany with his brother, John Lee Cabot, he established a lively shipping business with ports on the Mediterranean Sea. In 1835 he engaged in the tea trade in New York City, and in 1838 went to Springfield, N. J. (now Milburn), where he had charge of a woollen- mill until 1845. Coming then to Lawrence, Mass., Mr. Cabot assumed charge of the office of the Essex Land and Water Power Company at the dam, and was connected with that organ- ization seven years, when, on account of fail- ing health, he was obliged to seek outdoor em- ployment. He then accepted a position with the Lawrence Machine Company, and at the same time took temporarily the agency of the Lawrence Gas Company. He soon, however, resigned the former position, and for thirty- three consecutive years devoted himself en- tirely to the last-named company, of which he was agent until 1884, when he retired from active pursuits. In 1846 he purchased the first building lot sold on Prospect Hill by the Essex Company, and in October of that year he had his residence ready for occupancy. The original lot was three hundred feet deep, with a frontage of one hundred and fifty feet ; but he later bought large additions, so that his spacious grounds, bordering on High and Pros- pect Streets, and containing more than sixty thousand feet, formed one of the most attrac- tive and desirable estates in the vicinity.
Mr. Cabot was prominently identified with
many of the more important projects that have proved of inestimable benefit to the city. He obtained the charter for the Duck, or lower, bridge, which he built across the Merrimac. In 1877 he was one of the organizers of the Essex Savings Bank, of which he was also vice-president and president. He was one of the promoters of the first street railway laid in Lawrence, and of the Archibald Wheel Com- pany, and while in New York assisted in organ- izing the Bissell Truck Company. He was for a number of years one of the trustees of the New England Gas Association, and for two years served as its president. He was a member of the Civil Engineers' Association of the United States and of the Lawrence Home Club, a popular social organization, which is always filled with its maximum membership of one hundred and seventy-five. He was for- merly a Whig, but subsequently a stanch ad- herent of the Republican party from its forma- tion, and was one of the first Aldermen of Lawrence. His death occurred January 18, 1898.
Mr. Cabot was married December 15, 1835, to Miss Harriet Story Dodge, who was born in Salem, Mass., March 20, 1814, and died January 10, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Cabot had six children, namely: Elizabeth Dodge, born November 13, 1836, who died January 7, 1898; Lydia D., born January 7, 1839, who married John F. Weare, and died in Chicago, Ill., August 22, 1879, leaving three children ; Charlotte Louise Cabot, born in 1841, who died in infancy ; Harriet Story, born June 15, 1843, who has had charge of the household since the death of her mother; Sarah Russell, born August 13, 1845, who lives in Cam- bridge, Mass., and is the widow of the late Edward W. Stevens, who died in 1891, leav- ing six children ; and John Cabot, M.D., who with his accomplished wife, also a skilful
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physician, is successfully engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in New York City.
EWIS EDGAR BARNES,* superin- tendent of the cotton-mills belonging to the Methuen Corporate Company of Methuen, Mass., has by long years of ex- perience acquired a thorough knowledge of his particular line of manufactures, and is well fitted for the responsible position he is so ably filling. He was born in March, 1860, in Lawrence, Mass., a son of William and Juliet (Waldo) Barnes, his grandparents on the pa- ternal side being John Busby and Lucy (Free- man) Barnes. Further information in regard to his ancestral history may be found else- where in this book, in connection with the sketch of William Barnes.
When but a year old, the subject of this sketch came with his parents to Methuen from Lawrence, where they spent two years only. He attended the public schools of Methuen until quite a lad, when he began work in the carding-mill of the Methuen company. A few months later he was promoted to the finishing- room, and was afterward sent to the office, where he was employed six years, first as a runner, and then as book-keeper. In 1889 he was made overseer in the Nevins Bagging Mill, and was subsequently connected with the Edison Electric Light Company of Law- rence for a year. The latter situation he re- signed to accept his present position with the Methuen Corporate Company. Since then he has resided on Osgood Street, in a house be- longing to the company. Mr. Barnes is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to the Lodge, Chapter, and (Bethany) Commandery (K. T.) of Lawrence. He is also a Knight of Pythias. In politics he has the courage of his convictions, and votes as his conscience
dictates, regardless of party lines. Ile has little time to attend to public affairs, but has served on the local Board of Education.
Mr. Barnes was married in December, 1889, to Miss Carrie E. Richardson, the only child of Monroe and Meda (Kimball) Richardson. Mr. Richardson, formerly a well-known resi- dent of Methuen, died in 1870.
OHN E. KNOWLTON,* for some years a prominent contractor of Rock- port and at present engaged in the life insurance business here, was born in this town, November 25, 1854, son of Azor and Martha (Turner) Knowlton. His parents were natives of Rockport, and his paternal grandfather, also named Azor, of Hamilton, Mass. The family is descended from early settlers of Essex County, to whose history further reference is made in the sketch of Eben Knowlton, which appears on another page of this volume. Azor Knowlton, father of John E., was a well-known mason and con- tractor in his day, and carried on business in Rockport until his death. In politics he was an active supporter of the Republican party.
John E. Knowlton, the special subject of this sketch, completed hi school education in the Rockport High School. At the age of seventeen he began to learn the mason's trade with his father, with whom he continued as a journeyman until the latter's death in 1880. Then, succeeding his father, he carried on a general contracting business for about sixteen years. In July, 1896, he gave up the busi- ness, and, establishing himself as a life insur- ance broker, has since been thus profitably en- gaged. In politics he is a Republican, and he takes an active interest in all measures for the good of the town and the welfare of the general community. He is a member of
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Ashler Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Granite Lodge, I. O. O. F. : and Priscilla Lodge, Daughters of Rebecca, I. O. O. F.
Mr. Knowlton married Catherine B. Barnet- son, a native of Leith, Scotland. He has two children - Arthur R. and Marion C. The family attend the Unitarian church.
OHN E. BAILEY,* contractor and builder of Newburyport, is a native of the town, and was born here, August 2, 1838, son of John Bailey. Mr. Bailey's great-grandfather, Isaac Bailey, was a car- riage-builder of West Newbury. He married a Miss Kendrick. Their son John removed to Newburyport, and became a prosperous car- penter and builder. His wife in maidenhood was Annie Pearson, a daughter of Simeon Pearson, of Newburyport. Of their three children, John, father of the subject of this sketch, followed his father's occupation, and was for forty-five years one of the best-known builders in this section of the State. Until 1855 he was in business with Mr. Towle, under the name of Bailey & Towle, and after that formed a partnership with John E. Bailey, under the name of John Bailey & Son, which continued until 1873. He died in 1877, aged sixty-four years. He was a mem- ber of the Common Council, and was for many years connected with the North Congrega- tional Church. His wife, who was a daugh- ter of Caleb Woodbury, of Salisbury, bore him two children.
John E. Bailey, who was the first-born child of his parents, attended the common schools of Newburyport, and later on the Brown High School. He then learned the builder's trade under his father's direction, and availed him- self of every opportunity of becoming an ex- pert workman. At the same time he was tak-
ing lessons in draughting. Mr. Bailey has from the beginning of his business career shown much nicety of workmanship, coupled with unusual ability for making plans and de- signs on a large scale, and practically apply- ing all known principles of architectural con- struction in such a way as to secure both solidity and beauty. Among the structures which he has erected are the Brown High School building, the Belleville Congregational Church, and the addition to the public library, built in 1882. He made also plans for the Eighth Regiment Armory, and remodelled the Ashland Street School-house. In politics Mr. Bailey is a Republican. He has served for five years on the Common Council, and for two years as Alderman, and has been a mem- ber of the Board of Health, and a director of the public library. He is a member of St. Mark's Lodge, F. & A. M .; and of Quas- cacunquen Lodge, No. 39, I. O. O. F .; also of the Merrimack Encampment, No. 7. He is a fine musician, and was organist of the Belleville Congregational Church - of which he is a member - for twenty years, resigning in 1893.
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