USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Essex County, Massachusetts > Part 8
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Fraternally, Dr. Worcester is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .; of King Cyrus Royal Arch Chapter; of Amesbury Council, of Newburyport Commandery of Knights Templar; and of the Knights of Pythias of Newburyport. He is medical ex- aminer of both the American Order of United Workmen, of Newburyport, Lodge No. 31, and the New England Order of Protection. He served on the Board of Trade, and he was on the Board of Health from 1890 to 1896. Since 1891 he has been a member of the School Board. On March 10, 1885, he mar- ried Miss Hattie C. Morrison, of Windsor, Vt., who is the mother of a son, Chauncy M.
APTAIN ELIJAH P. ROGERS,
born in Newbury, December 30, 1824, is a son of William and Jemima (Davis) Rogers. Gideon Rogers, the pater- nal grandfather, a prosperous farmer and a trader in cattle, was distinguished for his strong common sense. His son William, de- scribed as a good scholar and musician, was a favorite pupil of Master Longfellow, a connec- tion of the poet Longfellow. A kindly man, William was generally liked, He married
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Jemima Davis, and by her became the father of a large family. She was a daughter of Levi Davis, of Maine, who removed to Ohio, settling in Belmont County, where he became a successful farmer and a highly respected member of the community. He was a Revo- lutionary soldier, and his life was character- ized by great energy and activity. In relig- ion he was a leading member of the Society of Friends.
Captain Rogers commenced life in Newbury, in the shoe business with his brother Gideon. Some time afterward, in company with C. M. Noyes, he started in the grocery business. From this he changed to farming. He was a Selectman, and from time to time he served on the Prudential Committee of the School Board. He was deeply interested in educa- tional matters, and his faithful service was most acceptable to the community. For twelve or fifteen years prior to the Civil War he was Second Lieutenant in Company B of Major Ben Perley Poor's Rifles. When the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment was called out, Mr. Rogers took command of Company B, and went to Poolesville, Md., in 1861. Out on detached service when the skirmishing began at Ball's Bluff, Companies B and C at once returned; and the captains reported to their superior officers that there was about to be fighting further up the river, and that they would like to join the regiment. Captain Rogers reached Harrison Island just as Gen- eral Baker received his death wounds, and as- sisted in carrying the body of the dead general to the rear. At dusk of that day the com- pany, searching for food, discovered a box of bread, which all began eating. It was no- ticed that the bread was soft, as if moistened by the rain; but upon examination it proved to be soaked with human blood. This horri- fying discovery did not, however, deter the
hungry men from consuming the bread. From Harrison Island the company marched to Muddy Branch. From there the Captain was sent out with his company to take charge of the construction of a log fort on Seneca Heights, where he spent two or three weeks of the winter. Once, when upon his round of inspection, a light fall of snow covering the ground, the Captain fell from the top of the fort, and was badly injured. This caused him to return to his regiment and remain under the doctor's care for many weeks, after which he returned home on leave of absence. He went back to his regiment at Yorktown, Va., while still in a very weak state of health, and in this condition went heroieally through his duty amid many deterring circumstances. He afterward did duty with Captain Noyes outside of Washington in the Heavy Artillery. His health prevented him from taking command, and from this time until the close of the war he remained senior First Lieutenant of Heavy Artillery. They were placed at twenty-three different forts, and had most varied and excit- ing experiences. In the winter of 1864 Cap- tain Rogers encamped at Falls Church, Va., on the site of the present Camp Alger.
After returning from the war he took charge of a shoe shop in Haverhill, and was also in charge of a room in the Charlestown State prison for some years. Finally, he withdrew from business because of feeble health. 'He built a house after this, and dealt more or less in real estate. Then he spent a long period of time in the hospital, and underwent a suc- cessful operation, since which he has had somewhat better health.
Mr. Rogers has been twice married, first to Jane J. Noyes, a daughter of Colonel Sam- uel M. Noyes. After her death he married Susie E. Church, of Boston. He had three children by the first wife - Nellie P., Wins-
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low H., and Lewis M. (the two latter are de- ceased). Norman P., who was educated at the Putnam High School in Newbury and Col- lege of Pharmacy of Boston, is in business at Canton, Mass.
ARRY WYLDE, the superintendent of the print works of the Pacific Mills in Lawrence, residing on Tower Hill, at 979 Essex Street, was born in February, 1857, in Middleton, Lancashire, England, which is the birthplace also of liis father, Robert Wylde. The paternal grand- father, Peter Wylde, born in Tydsley, Lan- cashire, England, in 1789, when old enough served in the press gang under Wellington, and was afterward with Admiral Nelson on the high seas. A block-printer by trade, he was employed for many years in the Lan- . cashire Print Works. He married Ruth Aitkins, and with her reared six children, all of whom except one daughter are still living in the old country, the eldest being now eighty-three years of age. He attained the age of fourscore and four years, and his wife that of seventy-three.
Robert Wylde, born April 21, 1827, was employed as a calico printer during his active period. He is now spending his declining years in retirement, enjoying a well-earned leisure. On the first day of June, 1851, he married Sarah Thorp, of Lancashire. They reared eight children, as follows: Anne, who resides in England; William, who is an en- graver in England, and has a wife and three children; Francis, a textile printer in Law- rence, Mass .; Harry, the subject of this biography; Elizabeth, the wife of Henry Coogan, of England; Cornelius, who is an engraver, lives at North Adams, Mass., and has a wife and three children; Arthur, who is
also engaged in that business in North Adams, and has a wife and two children; and Fred- erick, who is an etcher and engraver.
Harry Wylde left school when a young lad, to become a block boy in the machine printing room of a textile-mill. Here he rose rapidly to the coloring department, of which he was an employee from 1876 until 1879. At the age of twenty-two years, being desirous of bettering his circumstances, he came to Amer- ica, a step that he has never regretted since. During the first three years of his residence in Massachusetts he was employed as second hand in the Hamilton Print Works at Lowell. In 1883 he came to Lawrence as second hand in the coloring department of the Pacific Mills. Here in the following November he was promoted to the position of overseer of the department; and in June, 1893, he was made assistant superintendent of the print works. After three years' faithful service as assistant Mr. Wylde was appointed superin- tendent of the print works, a responsible office, which he has since ably filled. The company employs from forty-three hundred to forty-five hundred hands in its various rooms. Of this large number, nine hundred are under the su- pervision of Mr. Wylde, who has won the sin- cere respect of those above and below him.
Politically, Mr. Wylde is a stanch Republi- can. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, in which he is a Knight Templar; to the A. O. U. W. ; and to the Royal Arcanum. He was chairman of the first meeting of the organizers of the Lawrence Co-operative Bank, which was founded in April, 1888, and of which he was formerly the president and is now a vice-president. He is a member of the St. John's Episcopal Church of Lawrence, with which he united soon after coming here. On the second day of May, 1889, he was married in Lawrence to Alice I. McClary.
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One of the three daughters of Andrew J. McClary, formerly of Strong, Me., now resid- ing in Chicago, Ill., she is descended from a prominent family of Maine, Fort McClary, in Kittery, having been named in honor of one of her near kinsmen. Mr. and Mrs. Wylde have five interesting children, namely : Rus- sell Arthur, who is in his eighth year; Oliver Andrew; Anna Elizabeth; Paul Linton; and A. Francis, an active little fellow in his sec- ond year.
AVID E. SMITH, a well-to-do resi- dent of Rowley, was born Scpteni- ber 18, 1810. A son of Moses and Mary (Jewett) Smith, he is a descendant of Hugh Smith, who emigrated from England to this country at an early day. The line of de- scent comes to him through John, Benjamin, Benjamin (second), Isaac, and Moses. Isaac Smith, who lived on the old Smith place, on the Georgetown1 road, had a large family of children. Three of his sons settled in Row- ley, three in Salem, and one in Hopkinton. Moses Smith, the father of David E., born October 1, 1773, died in 1855. His wife, Mary, who was born in 1776, died on June 10, 1855. She was well on Monday, yct she expired on the following Saturday. Their children were: Gilman H., Henry W., Moses, David E., Jacob J., Isaac E., and a daughter that died in infancy. Of these Gilman H. and David E. are living. Henry W., who was a carpenter, died in New Orleans, unmar- ried, on January 4, 1841, aged thirty-four years. Moses, a shoc cutter, died unmarried, in Rowley, at the age of eighty-eight. Jacob J., who was a farmer in Rowley, died in 1894. Isaac, who was a shoe manufacturer of Haver- hill, died on January 15, 1879.
David E. Smith attended the common schools of his native town, and subsequently
worked for his father at farming. Thrifty and prudent, he has always lived in comfortable circumstances. There has never been a mem- ber of the Smith family here who could not earn his own living, and none ever found it necessary to give a mortgage to raise money or for any other purpose. Mr. Smith's health has always been good, this fact being due, no doubt, to his regular habits and total absti- nence from intoxicants and tobacco. He says he is as well now as he was forty years ago. Habitually an early riser, he always retires early. Having never failed to pay his debts, his word has been as good as his bond.
Mr. Smith is connected with the Orthodox (Lower) Church, and recently presented to the society a handsome church organ, costing thirteen hundred dollars. Now eighty-eight years of age, he is as keen and active as a man of thirty. Possessing a remarkably retentive memory, he can give dates and events con - nected with his boyhood with wonderful ac- curacy, and he can read and write readily without the aid of glasses.
A RETAS R. SANBORN, Registrar of Deeds for the Northern District of Essex County and an esteemed citi- zen of Lawrence, was born August 6, 1834, on the family homestead in Sanbornton, now Tilton, N.H., son of Jonathan Sanborn, Jr. He has sprung from an English family that traces its lineage back to the time of William the Conqueror. The emigrant ancestor, Will- iam Sanborn,' came from England to America with his widowed mother and his brother John in 1632. After living in Massachusettts for a while, he took up a large tract of wild land in Hampton, N. H., which now includes three townships. The next in line of descent was William Sanborn,2 whose son, William San-
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1
LORING GRIMES.
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born, 3 was the succeeding ancestor. The line was continued through Simon Sanborn 4 and his son, Jonathan Sanborn, Sr., 5 who was the grandfather of Aretas R.
Jonathan Sanborn, Sr., succeeded to the ownership of a portion of the original home- stead ; and there he and his wife, whose maiden name was Judith Crane, reared their family of three sons and four daughters. Of these chil- dren, all of whom married and reared families, Shadrach settled in Vermont, and Woodbridge was for many years a mechanic and liveryman in Boston. The mother, who survived her husband, attained the good old age of four- score years. Jonathan Sanborn, Jr., was born on the Sanborn homestead in 1792, and until his death, in 1866, was engaged in cultivating the soil. He married Polly Rowe, of Gil- manton, N. H., who survived him two years, dying in 1868, in the sixty-eighth year of her age. They had six children, namely: Au- gusta, now deceased; Jane, who resides in Tilton, N.H., the widow of the late Ben- jamin M. Durgan; Isaac S. R., who was a railway engineer, and died at Concord, N. H., in 1894; John C., a resident of Lawrence; Aretas R., the subject of this sketch; and Adoniram J., who, together with his wife and child, is now deceased. The homestead is still in the possession of the family, and is occupied by the sixth generation from the original proprietor.
Aretas R. Sanborn, having graduated from Bowdoin College in 1859, studied law with W. H. P. Wright, of Lawrence, Mass., and was admitted to the Essex County bar in 1864. Beginning the practice of his profes- sion in this city, he continued it until 1894, when he was elected to his present position as Registrar of Deeds. In 1890 he built his present residence at 9 Kendrick Street, and soon after its completion removed to it from
173 Jackson Street, where he had lived fifteen years. He is Past Regent of the Royal Ar- canum, Past Dictator of the Knights of Honor, and was for some time the president of the Lawrence Society of Natural History and Archaeology, subjects in which he is greatly interested. A Republican in politics, he formerly served as clerk of the Police Court. He is a member of Grace Episcopal Church, of which he was the treasurer during the rectorship of Bishop Lawrence.
In November, 1864, Mr. Sanborn married Miss Clara P. Black, of Danvers, Mass., a daughter of James D. and Sally (Fowler) Black, neither of whom is living. Respec- tively a brother and sister of Mrs. Sanborn are: Arthur M. Black, of Providence, R. I .; and Maria H., the wife of Frederick H. Low- ell, an apothecary in Cambridge, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Sanborn have lost four children. Of these, two died of scarlet fever, and were buried in one casket. The death of James B., a lad of eight years, occurred April 5, 1873, and that of Norman P. on the follow- ing day. The others were: Robert H., who died of diphtheria when eight years old; and Louis, a bright and promising lad of sixteen years, who died October 18, 1894. Agnes Rebecca Sanborn is the only surviving child.
ORING GRIMES, the president of the Rockport National Bank, is a native of this town. A son of James P. and Clarissa (Hoyt) Grimes, he was born March 10, 1840. His grandfather, Mark Grimes, who was also a resident of Rockport, came from England. The father spent his life in Rockport, which was also his native town. For a number of years he held the office of Tax Collector. Of his eight chil- dren, seven are now living; namely, James,
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George, William H., Loring, Moses H., Luther B., and Clarissa. William H. resides in Gloucester; Moses H., in Ipswich, Mass .; and the others in Rockport. The daughter, Clarissa, is the wife of William Grover, of this place.
Loring Grimes attended the public schools of Rockport for a time. Beginning at the age of twelve, he was engaged in various em- ployments until 1868, when he started in busi- ness for himself in Rockport. He then es- tablished a wholesale fish and oil business, which he has since successfully carried on. For several years he has been the president of the Rockport National Bank. He is also the president of the Cape Ann Isinglass Company at Rockport and a director severally of the Gloucester Safe Deposit and Trust Company, the Lanesville Granite Company, and the Sandy Bay Pier Company.
On New Year's Day, 1867, in his twenty - seventh year, Mr. Grimes was united in marriage with Rebecca N. Rowe, who was born in Rockport, daughter of Amos and Rebecca N. Rowe. Her paternal great-grandfather, John Rowe, was a Major in the Revolutionary army ; and two of his sons, one of them a Lieutenant, also fought for in- dependence. All three were at the battle of Bunker Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Grimes have one daughter, Clara R., the wife of T. T. Hunter Harwood, of Rockport, Mass. In politics Mr. Grimes is a Republican. He is a member both of the Masonic Society and the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows.
OHN Q. ADAMS, M.D., of Ames- bury, a member of the Adams family of Quincy, was born in Lawrence, this county, March 13, 1848. A son of Benjamin G. and Sophia (Nutter) Adams, his genealogy
for three generations in this country is iden- tical with that of President John Quincy Adams. The Rev. Joseph Adams, who was the grandson of the Rev. Henry Adams, an English clergyman, graduated from Harvard in 1710, and was ordained in Newington, N. H., in 1715. He was pastor in that town for sixty-eight years, dying May 26, 1783. It will be seen that a part of the family went from Quincy and Braintree to New Hamp- shire, and later returned to Massachusetts. The Rev. Joseph Adams and his sons had large grants of land in New Hampshire, but were driven off by the Indians. The sons later retook possession of them. Joseph, son of the Rev. Joseph Adams, was a practising physician of Barnstead, N. H. His son, Ebenezer, who was Dr. John Q. Adams's great-grandfather, served throughout the Rev- olutionary War, and at the time of the surren- der of Cornwallis was far in the South. From there, with other Continentals, he walked home. It is inferred from the fact that he must have been a young man then. He died in Barnstead in 1832.
James Adams, son of Ebenezer and the grandfather of Dr. Adams, spent his life on a farm in Barnstead. Though not a large man, he had remarkable muscular power, according to the many interesting tales told of his athletic feats. He was a leader in all sports, taking an interest in them even late in life; and he had no match in wrestling. It is re- lated of him that, long after he had passed middle age, he was challenged to wrestle by a young man. Going into the old muster field, they took their positions. The old gentleman placed his foot easily on his oppo- nent's shoulder, and, starting in that awkward position, easily threw his opponent. It is said that he could reach over backward and pick up a pin from the floor without touching
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hands. Benjamin G. Adams went to Ports- mouth when in his teens, and there learned the ship-carpenter's trade. He was subse- quently employed in the mills in Lawrence, and was overseer in a room on the lower floor of the Pemberton Mill in February, 1860, when the great disaster occurred. His knowl- edge of carpentry probably saved his life at that time. By the aid of an axe and a saw which were reached to him, he cut his way out; and with two sticks as support he reached home unassisted, though he was not able to stand again for six months. His wife, whose maiden name was Nutter, was a mem- ber of an old New Hampshire family. They had three sons - George G., Frank H., and John Q. George G., now an architect in Lawrence, married Miss May S. Leslie. Frank H., who is a shoe manufacturer in Amesbury, married Miss Fannie Pike, of New Hampshire.
After attending the Lawrence city schools and the Pittsfield Academy, John Q. Adams studied for his degree at Harvard Medical School, and graduated at Bellevue Medical College, New York, in 1872. Starting in professional work in Lawrence, he practised there for five years, serving as city physi- cian for two years. In 1881 he located in Amesbury, where he now has a large and very successful practice. Dr. Adams is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the North Essex Medical Association. While carefully keeping out of politics, he served on the Town Board of Health for a year. He is a member of Warren Lodge, F. & A. M., of Amesbury.
In 1876 the Doctor was married to Miss Charlotte Morris, of Cheshunt, England. A musician of more than ordinary merit, she has led choirs in Catholic and Episcopal churches for a number of years. At present she is the
leader of the choir in the Episcopal church in Amesbury. Her friends declare that she can sing all day without tiring her voice. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have two children: Charlotte F., a beautiful girl of fifteen, attending the high school; and Benjamin G., a lad of ten, in the intermediate school.
AMUEL G. SARGENT, the well- known real estate dealer of Methuen, son of Edmund and Betsy (Gile) Sargent, was born in Amesbury, now Merrimac, on April 3, 1827. The paternal grandfather, a cooper by trade, spent the latter part of his life in Vermont, engaged in farming, and died there at the advanced age of ninety years. He is buried near Barrc, Vt. His wife, a Miss Patten, of Amesbury, before marriage, bore him twelve children, eight sons and four daughters. These, all now deceased, reared families, and lived to the age of seventy or more years.
Edmund Sargent, who was born in Ames- bury in 1790, was in early life a grocer and by trade a cooper. Later he became inter- ested in agriculture, and for many years con- ducted a large farm. He was also engaged in brickmaking. In the early part of his life he lost considerable property through too much kindness of heart. At his death, however, which occurred in this place in 1880, he left a comfortable fortune to his heirs, as well as the record of an honorable and useful life. His wife, Betsy, a native of Alfred, Me., and a daughter of Richard Gile, died in Methuen in 1876. They came to this town from Ames- bury in 1835. Both were devout and earnest members of the Congregational church. Of their children, four sons and five daughters, all of whom attained maturity, four are liv- ing. These are: Samuel G., the subject of
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this sketch; Lucy, who is the wife of Joseph Fulton, of Sunapee, N. H. ; Calvin Sargent, who resides in Methuen; and Nathan B., a teacher in West Boxford, Mass. The other children were: Sarah, who died at the age of twenty-three; Lodicy J., who died at the age of forty-four; Betsy J. Laney, who died in 1881, aged sixty-five; Mary J. Hibbard, who died in Montreal, leaving two daughters and two sons, one of the latter being now a lawyer in Pittsfield, Mass. ; and Edmund P. Sargent, who died in Methuen, aged sixty-eight years.
Samuel G. Sargent attended the district schools of Methuen. He subsequently gradu- ated at Atkinson Academy, after which he taught school in Methuen and elsewhere. Many persons recall with pleasure his able and energetic management of the Methuen Grammar School, of which he was the master for thirteen years. In 1869 he was appointed Postmaster of the village, which office he sub- sequently held for sixteen years. During the past twenty years he has been interested in the real estate business, and has donc con- siderable probate work in settling estates. He has bought and sold a large amount of real estate in Methuen and vicinity, and owns sev- eral places at present, is a director of the Broadway Savings Bank and a stockholder of the Methuen Bank.
Mr. Sargent was married in 1857, Novem- ber 27, to Sarah W. Emerson, of Methuen, daughter of Joseph and Sarah W. (Clement) Emerson. Of their seven children, Edward died at the age of eight ; Alice, at the age of seven; Annie, at the age of five; and May, who was a teacher of much promise, at the age of twenty-two. The others are: Sarah, who is the wife of William McGonagle, a promi- nent railroad official living in Duluth, Minn., and has two sons and one daughter; Charles, yet unmarried, and at present in the Klondike
gold region, who is a man of remarkable phy- sique, standing six feet two inches high, and correspondingly proportioned; and Bessie, the youngest daughter, who is a student in Mount Holyoke Seminary at South Hadley, Mass. Mr. Sargent is a member of the grange. In politics he is a Republican, and in religious faith he is a Congregationalist. He has been one of the Deacons of the Congregational church for some time. His residence at 5 Tremont Street, which was built in 1869, stands on a lot measuring about one acre and containing a fine apple orchard. A man of remarkably good health from his birth, reckon- ing from when he was sick of measles at the age of seven, he did not require the services of a physician for sixty years. Since he recov- ered from an attack of the "grippe " in 1896, his health has been unimpaired up to the pres- ent time, and it bids fair to continue so for many years to come.
HARLES U. BELL, who has been for the past five years city solicitor of Lawrence, Mass., was born in Exeter, N. H., February 26, 1843, son of the Hon. James and Judith A. (Upham) Bell. On the paternal side he is of Scotch-Irish stock. His immigrant ancestor, John Bell, was one of the early settlers of Londonderry, N. H., arriving there in 1720.
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