USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 21
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David Cobb had but little opportunity in his boyhood to acquire an education, as he began work at the age of nine years. When he was seventeen, he was apprenticed to a painter in this town; and he served his time,
and thereafter worked at his trade. At the age of twenty-two he began business for him- self on the corner near his present store, which he bought later, and which he has man- aged ever since. During his residence here time has wrought great changes in the busi- ness outlook of Hingham, as he remembers when eighty vessels used to cast their anchors in this port.
In politics Mr. Cobb was at first a Whig, but he now affiliates with the Republican party. He has also been actively identified with the temperance movement, being one of thirteen who in 1835 organized the Sons of Temperance, which had a career of usefulness, and then disbanded. He now belongs to the Reform Club, which has temperance for its object.
Mr. Cobb married Mercy B. Fearing, who is now living at the age of seventy-six. They have four children - David, Jr., Henry H., Mercy F., and George W. David, Jr., is in company with his father, under the style of David Cobb & Son; Henry H. and George W. also live here; and Mercy F. is a resi- dent of New Bedford, Mass. Personally, Mr. Cobb, who is well known, is an energetic gentleman, hale and hearty, though he has passed his seventy-ninth birthday. He owns a tricycle with the latest improvements, on which he can ride eight miles an hour with ease; and he no doubt derives much benefit from this healthful and agreeable exercise.
RANK E. CONSTANS, M.D., of Brockton, Mass., a prominent physi- cian of the homœopathic school, was born in Blue Earth City, Minn., August 2, 1866. He is a son of Henry P. and Barbara Constans, both natives of the old French prov- ince of Alsace, and descendants of Huguenot
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and noble ancestors. His father's grand- mother was Countess von Grunbach, of Des- bach, in Alsace. Henry P. Constans, who studied chemistry in his native land, came to America when he was eighteen years of age and located in St. Paul, Minn. Here for two years he was in the commission business, deal- ing in lime, grain, hay, cement, etc. In 1856, with Lieutenant Governor J. B. Wake- field, he founded Blue Earth City, laying out and organizing the town. Now, at the age of sixty-four, he conducts the new Constans House, the finest hotel in Southern Minnesota. He has been actively prominent in the affairs of Blue Earth City for many years, and has held a number of public offices. Mr. Constans is a Deacon of the Presbyterian church, and a prominent Mason. He reared four sons, of whom Dr. Constans is the youngest.
Frank E. Constans graduated from the high school of Blue Earth City in 1882, and from Carleton College, at Northfield, Minn., in 1886. He then took up the study of medicine at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., from which he received his diploma in 1889. Then he took the competitive exami- nation for Ward's Island Hospital, the largest homopathic hospital in the world, where he had a year's practical experience as House Physician. In August, 1890, he opened an office in Brockton, where, from the beginning, his practice has steadily increased. Dr. Con- stans is on the Visiting Staff and Medical Board of the Brockton City Hospital, an insti- tution in whose establishment he was actively interested. He is a member of the Plymouth County Homoeopathic Medical Society, of the State Homoeopathic Society, and of the Metro- politan Hospital Association of New York. He recently received a diploma and degree from the National College of Electro Thera- peutics.
In March, 1893, Dr. Constans was united in marriage with Emily Foster Packard, a daugh- ter of Dr. J. E. Packard, of Brockton. The Packards are one of the old families of this city. Dr. Constans takes no active interest in politics. He is a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 27, Knights of Pythias, being assistant surgeon in the Third Regiment, Uniformed Rank ; a member of the Elks; the Phi Kappa, a college fraternity; surgeon to the Ancient Essenic Order; and a member of the Commercial Club.
OSEPH EBER BEALS is a descendant of John Beal, who settled in Hingham in 1638. He is active as one of the trustees of the Middleboro Public Library, and has been a disinterested worker in behalf of that institution during the past two decades, being one of the foremost men of culture in this town. A son of Eber and Lucy (Vaughn) Beals, both natives of Middleboro, he was born in this town, March 18, 1834. Eber Beals, who was a blacksmith, worked at his trade in Middleboro for sixty-seven years, and died here soon after his eighty-fourth birthday. His wife died in August, 1872.
Joseph E. Beals, the only child of his par- ents, attended the common schools of his native town and fitted for college at the old Peirce Academy. He learned the printer's trade, and after leaving school worked alter- nately at printing and teaching, taking charge of a school in the winter and working at the case in the summer. In 1862 he engaged with the Bay State Straw Works, with which he was connected some thirty years as clerk, perform- ing the duties of accountant, paymaster, and cashier. Mr. Beals has been Secretary and Treasurer of the Middleboro Co-operative Bank since its organization in 1889.
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In political preference he is a Republican. He has long been active in town matters, en- joying the confidence and respect of both par- ties. He has been elected to the Board of Selectmen, on which he served from 1890 to 1893, and to the Board of Water Commis- sioners, with which he has been connected since 1885, serving as Clerk of that body and Superintendent, which position he now occu- pies, taking full charge of all matters con- nected with the water service. With the Middleboro Public Library, an important and well-managed enterprise, he has been actively interested since its organization in 1874, twenty-three years ago performing many of the duties of a librarian ; and much of its success is due to his unfailing energy and good judg- ment. Mr. Beals belongs to a number of associations of different kinds, including the Middleboro Commercial Club, of which he was President in 1894-96; the New England Water Works Association, of which he has served as Vice-President; the New England Historic-Genealogical Society; the Town Committee on Local History, of which he is Chairman; the Royal Society of Good Fel- lows; and the Sons of Temperance. In relig- ious belief he is a Universalist.
Mr. Beals was married on March 18, 1863, to Miss Mary E. Leonard, of Bridgewater, who died on February 20, 1871, leaving one son, Walter Leonard. This son was graduated at Tufts College in 1890, and was employed for four years as a civil engineer. He is now connected with the illustrating department of the Youth's Companion in Boston. He mar- ried Miss Ella M. Lucas, daughter of Robert Lucas, of Manchester, Mass., and has one child - Austen Lucas, born September 8, 1895. Mr. Beals was married the second time on April 12, 1876, to Miss Harriet C. Barden, a daughter of Joseph S. Barden, of Middleboro.
A LBERT T. SHURTLIFF, a descend- ant of William Shurtleff, of Plym- outh and Marshfield, who married in 1655 Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Let- tice, and who was killed by lightning at Marshfield in June, 1666, is an influential citizen of his native town, Carver, Plymouth County, Mass., where he is engaged in the cranberry culture. He was born January 30, 1837, son of Albert and Lucy (Thomas) Shurt- liff, the latter a native of Middleboro, Mass. His parents had five children, two of whom died in infancy. The three who lived to maturity were: Lucy A., Eunice T., and Albert T., of this writing, who is the only one of his family now surviving.
Until sixteen years of age, Albert T. Shurt- liff spent his life on a farm, but at that period he decided to break the monotony of an exist- ence so uneventful as a farmer's must be, and secured a position on board a fishing schooner. Following the sea for four years, he then re- solved to become master of some trade that would enable him to earn a support steadily, and regardless of winds and tides, for he had found seafaring life subject to many condi- tions. Accordingly, he resigned his place on the ship's crew, and repaired to Providence, R.I., where he intended learning the jewel- ler's handicraft.
He was working at this when the war broke out, and with patriotic ardor he enlisted April 17, 1861, as a private in Company D, First Regiment of the Rhode Island Detached Militia. He was mustered in at Washington, D.C., and on the 21st of July, 1861, was at the first battle of Bull Run, where he received his first wound, a minie ball striking him on the right arm between the elbow and the shoulder. On the retreat that followed he fell into the hands of the Rebels, and after the expiration of ten days was taken to Libby
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Prison, where he was held until October 7, 1861, when with fifty-seven other Union pris- oners he was paroled, and delivered to the Union side at Newport News. His arm had been amputated on the third day after he received his wound. On his release he was sent to the hospital at Baltimore, and thence to Washington, where he received his dis- charge on the 30th of October, 1861. He then returned to Carver, and lived for two years in quiet. In 1863 he received an ap- pointment as a doorkeeper and watchman in the War Department at Washington. In this position he remained until 1866, when he was appointed to a clerkship in the Pay- master General's office, where he stayed twelve years. After these fifteen years of work for the government in Washington, he returned to Carver on account of his health, and two years later purchased the farm where he now re- sides. Here he raises cranberries, which are shipped to all parts of the country. On August 8, 1871, he was married to Maria Young Davis, daughter of James and Sophia (Smith) Davis, of Washington, D.C. Five children, two boys and three girls, were the fruit of this union. The eldest, Mary Eliza- beth, born June 28, 1872, married Alfred Allen Walker, of Washington, D.C .; the sec- ond, Walter Davis, born May 31, 1875, is now a medical student at Howard University, Washington, D.C .; the third, Lucy Thomas, born January 9, 1877, lives at the parental home; the fourth, Anna Kimball, was born January 6, 1882, ; and the fifth, Carlton, was born May 8, 1888. The two latter are natives of Carver, the other three of Washing- ton, D. C.
For fourteen years, from 1879 to 1893, Mr. Shurtliff was Town Clerk of Carver, and for eight years he was Selectman, Assessor, and Overseer of the Poor. He has been a Justice
of the Peace for the last seventeen years, or since 1879, and at present he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Carver Public Library. He is a member of Conwood Post, No. 76, Grand Army of the Republic, of Plymouth. In politics Mr. Shurtliff is a Pro- hibitionist.
ALTER L. CLARK, who is suc- cessfully engaged in the dry-goods business at 202 Main Street, Brock- ton, is a native of Lawrence, Mass. He was born April 21, 1872, son of Enoch and Helen M. (Sears) Clark. The founder of the family came to this country with the Pilgrim Fathers in the "Mayflower." The great-grandfather of Walter L. Clark was the first settler of Fairmont, N.H. Enoch Clark, born in Went- worth, Mass., who is a carpenter, has followed that occupation with success, principally in Wentworth and Lawrence. He now resides in Lawrence, where, although sixty-five years of age, he does most satisfactory work in the capacity of pattern-maker for the Atlantic mills. He is a member of the Universalist church. His wife, Helen, who is a connec- tion of the well-known Sears family of Bos- ton, has borne him two children - Walter L. and Jennie S.
After completing the course of study pur- sued in the Lawrence public schools, Walter L. Clark went to Boston, and took a business course at Comer's Commercial College. He then entered the dry-goods store of A. W. Stearns at Lawrence as carpet-layer, but also served as a clerk behind the counter. IIe re- mained in one department a year, and after- ward worked in the other departments. Finally he was placed in charge of the drapery department. Five years later, in January, 1895, he came to Brockton, and opened the dry-goods store he now conducts.
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In politics Mr. Clark favors the Republican party. He is a member of Fletcher Webster Post. No. 13, Grand Army of the Republic. He is a member of the Baptist church, and of the Baptist Young People's Union, and was sent as a delegate to the National Convention held in 1894. He was a member of the Law- rence Young Men's Christian Association, where he served as Treasurer for two years; and he is now a member of the Brockton Young Men's Christian Association.
APTAIN EBENEZER NICKER- SON, who is well known as a former follower of the sea, but who has now retired, is a resident of Plymouth, Mass. He was born in the village of Dennis, Barn- stable County, Mass., February 18, 1827, a son of Ebenezer and Ruth (Chapman) Nicker- son. His father, who was a native of Dennis, was a seafaring man. He married Miss Ruth Chapman, a daughter of John Chapman, of Dennis, and they became the parents of ten children, of whom three only are now living. Mr. Ebenezer Nickerson, Sr., passed away April 2, 1858, his wife having died July 3, 1839.
At the age of nine years their son Ebenezer shipped on board a coasting-vessel as assistant cook. In his twenty-first year he was given the command of a vessel, and he engaged in the coasting carrying trade from Newfound- land to the State of Virginia. He followed the sea for nearly half a century, or until 1884, and he owned an interest in the vessels which he sailed. In 1861 he came to Plymouth, and soon after purchased the farm upon which he now resides. During the last decade, at different times he has engaged somewhat in painting.
Captain Nickerson and Miss Mary A. Lang-
ford, who was a native of Plymouth and a daughter of William and Betsey Langford, were united in marriage in January, 1853, and became the parents of one child, a daughter, Mary L. Nickerson, now the wife of E. R. Manter, of Plymouth, a dealer in wood, hay, and grain. Mr. and Mrs. Manter have two children : Grace, born August 7, 1886; and Anna, born March 26, 1889. Captain Nick- erson was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who died July 5, 1856; and on February 26, 1861, he wedded Miss Margaret B. Burgess, who was born in Plymouth, Sep- tember 5, 1832, a daughter of Captain Will- iam and Polly Burgess. Five children are the fruit of this union, namely: Charles A., born October 2, 1863; Lina B., born June 29, 1865; William B., born June 16, 1867, who is now the Postmaster of Chiltonville; John C., born August 3, 1869; and E. Elliot, who was born August 9, 1871.
Captain Nickerson is a Free and Accepted Mason. In political action he is associated with the Republican party. He and his wife attend the Congregational church.
AMUEL M. HALL, who carries on a thriving confectionery business in Plymouth, was born in Cam- bridgeport, Mass., December 27, 1829, son of Oliver and Jane (Brown) Hall. Mr. Hall's grandfather, Oliver Hall (first), who was a prosperous farmer of Sutton, N. H., resided in that town until his death, and had a family of twenty-two children. Oliver Hall, second, Mr. Hall's father, who was born in Sutton, acquired the stone mason's trade. He re- moved to Cambridgeport, Mass., where he fol- lowed his trade steadily for many years, and died at the age of fifty-six. He was a member of the Universalist church. His wife, Jane,
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bore him seven children, of whom Samuel M., the subject of this sketch, was the third born. All the sons have been successful in business. One of them is now janitor of Horticultural Hall in Boston. The mother was eighty- four years old when she died in 1894.
After receiving his education in the com- mon schools, Samuel M. Hall learned the con- fectioner's trade with Robert and Royal Douglass, of Cambridgeport, for whom he worked four years. For the next seven years he was employed by Luther B. Dow in Port- land, Me. At the expiration of that time he went to Roxbury, Mass., and worked in a store on Washington Street, kept by William Williams, with whom he remained for two years. Returning then to Portland, he spent three years in the employment of Green Sawyer, after which he returned to Mr. Dow, and continued with him until the latter's death, some years later. He afterward worked with Ferdinand Richards for about two years, and with Benjamin Pearson in the same city for one year. In company with his brother he now started in the confectionery business in Portland. Later, he admitted a brother-in-law named Johnson to the firm, which, under the style of Hall Brothers & Co., had carried on business for two years, when Johnson retired. At the end of the fol- lowing year Mr. Hall became sole proprietor of the establishment, conducted it for the suc- ceeding year, and then sold out. After this he entered the employ of the Wheeler & Wil- son Sewing Machine Company at Bridgeport, Conn., and remained with them for seven years. Resuming the manufacture of confec- tionery, he worked for a Mr. Mead in Bridge- port for about two years. He was employed by his brother, Jackson E. Hall, in the varnish and sewing machine business for three years. In 1877 he came to Plymouth to assist
H. A. Alden, the confectioner. One year later he purchased a store in Barnes's Block, which he conducted until December 16, 1889, when he moved to his present well-known stand, which was formerly occupied by Mr. Bowen. Here he has since conducted a flourishing trade. He also speculates in real estate to some extent.
Mr. Hall has been twice married. By his first marriage, contracted in 1850, he was united to Anna Rose, of Portland, Me. She died in 1864, leaving five children, two of whom are deceased. The survivors are: Ed- win F., a successful lawyer and prominent citizen of Bridgeport, who was formerly a member of the Connecticut legislature; Jennie M., a tailoress of Plymouth; and George W., the junior member of the firm of Holmes & Hall, carriage painters of this town. Mr. Hall was married the second time in 1872 to Eliza Gibbons, a daughter of Joseph Gibbons, of Pennsylvania. In politics he is a Demo- crat. He cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and he well remem- bers the political excitement attending the campaign, which resulted in the election of Andrew Jackson, having as a boy snuffed the candles used in celebrating that event. Both he and Mrs. Hall attend the Methodist Epis- copal church.
A LFRED GRIFFIN, a venerable and highly respected citizen of East Bridgewater, Mass., was born in Manchester, N.H., July 1, 1812, son of James and Jerusha (l'almer) Griffin, both of whom were natives of Manchester. James Griffin was a practical farmer, and he was also a boat- man on the Merrimac River, being well known in that vicinity as Captain. Griffin.
Until about thirteen years of age, Alfred
ALFRED GRIFFIN.
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Griffin remained with his parents on the New Hampshire farm, and during that time was an attendant of the common school. The meagre education thus obtained has since been supple- mented by the knowledge acquired in the school of business experience, and by reading, he having kept himself well informed on the general topics of the day. The remainder of his youth, after leaving home, was spent in a variety of occupations. For a time he drove a stage from Boston to New Bedford, Mass; and in 1833 he started in the livery business in Bridgewater, whence, six years later, he came to East Bridgewater, where he continued in the same line of enterprise until about 1886, when he retired, after over half a century of diligent and profitable occupation. He is a Republican in his political principles.
For his first wife Mr. Griffin married Har- riet N. Howe, of Bridgewater, Mass. She bore him two daughters, namely: Harriet J., wife of A. Harris Latham; and Fannie M., now deceased. Mrs. Harriet Howe Griffin died in 1875; and on April 14, 1881, he mar- ried his present wife, whose maiden name was Lucy A. Johnson. She is a native of East Randolph, Mass., but was reared in East Bridgewater, where, with the exception of a few years spent in Plymouth, she has since resided.
A LBERT MANLEY, a well-known milk dealer of Brockton, was born here, July 28, 1857, son of Milo and Mary M. (Packard) Manley. Thomas, the earliest-known ancestor in this country, settled in Easton, Mass., where he married, becoming the father of a son, Daniel. His son, Daniel, Jr., came from Easton to North Bridgewater, now Brockton, when a young man, being a well-to-do farmer. He served his country in the Revolutionary War, and the town as Tax
Collector. His wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe Howard, was a native of Bridgewater. Twin sons, Salmon and Galen, were born to them here on Christmas Day, 1794. These sons became successful lumber dealers, and owned a great deal of land. Galen lived to be eighty years old. Salmon, the grandfather of Albert, the subject of this biography, married Isah A., daughter of Zephaniah Howard, of West Bridgewater, by which alliance there were five children. Salmon Manley was re- ligiously interested in the Methodist Episco- pal church, near Marshall's Corner, Brockton. His earthly career was unfortunately closed by an accident, when he was but fifty-eight years old.
Milo Manley, his second child, was edu- cated in the town schools and the Adelphian Academy. He then went to work on the farm, which he has enlarged and improved, being still active in the management thereof. He married Mary M., daughter of Nathan Packard, of Brockton. They have had seven children, all of whom were graduated from the Brockton High School. They are: Ellen and Albert (twins), Susan E., Bertha, Lowell, Alice P., and Weston. Ellen and Bertha are graduates of the Bridgewater Normal, and have taught school; Lowell, who was gradu- ated from Amherst Agricultural College, now superintends a farm in West Roxbury ; Alice P. is married, and resides in Brockton; and Weston is attending a commercial college.
Albert Manley, after completing his educa- tion in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College in Boston, returned to the farm, and in 1888 started in the milk business. He has an extensive route, and employs two men, his trade requiring one hundred cans daily. Mr. Manley resides on the farm once owned and occupied by his grandfather.
In politics he affiliates with the Republican
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party. Fraternally, he is a member of Paul Revere Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; is a Past High Priest of Satucket Royal Arch Chapter; and also officiates as Sword Bearer of Bay State Commandery, Knights Templars.
AVID CUSHING, a retired lumber merchant of Hingham, Mass., own- ing and occupying a pleasant resi - dence on North Street, was born in Freeport, Me., November 30, 1813, son of Pyam and Olive (Lovell) Cushing. He comes of a long line of English and American ancestors, the family, it is said, "being traceable in Eng- land for several generations before either Pil- grim or Puritan set sail for America."
Thomas Cushing owned land in Hingham, England, and other places in the fifteenth century. William, the eldest son of Thomas, wrote his will in 1492, beginning as follows : "In the name of god amen, the xx Day of the moneth of Septembr in the yere of or Lord God M'cccc lxxxxij, I William Cusshyn of Henghm in my hoel mend and good memory beying, make my testament and my last will, Declare in this forme Folloying "; etc. Will- iam's son John made his will in 1522. Thomas, son of John, died in 1588. Peter, son of Thomas, was buried in Hingham, Eng- land, March 2, 1596. He was the father of five sons and three daughters. Three of the sons - Peter, Theophilus, and Matthew -emi- grated to New England. Theophilus came in the ship "Griffin " in 1633, and resided several years at Haynes Farm, settling thereafter in Hingham, Mass. He lived to be nearly one hundred years old, being blind for the last twenty-five years of his life. It is not known that he had any children.
The progenitor of the family in America was Matthew, who came with his wife and five
children from Hingham, England, in the ship "Diligent," commanded by John Martin, and, arriving in Boston on August 10, 1638, settled in Hingham, Mass., in the autumn of that year. Mr. Cushing had several lots granted him prior to his arrival here. He built his first dwelling house in 1638. The Cushing property, situated below Pear Tree Hill on Bachelor (Main) Street, remained in the family for almost two and a half centuries, from 1638 to 1887. Matthew Cushing became prominent in public affairs, and was a Deacon of the church. He was married in England in 1613 to Nazareth Pitcher, a daughter of Henry Pitcher. They had five children - Daniel, Jeremiah, Matthew, Deborah, and John, all of whom were natives of England. The mother died in Hingham on January 6, 1681-2, at the age of ninety-six, and the father died September 30, 1660, at the age of seventy-one years.
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