USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 48
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LAVEL SHURTLEFF THOMAS, M.D., LL.D., was born at Hanson,
Mass., September 7, 1852, son of Isaac and Abby (Shurtleff) Thomas. By both par- ents he comes of old and distinguished ances- try. This branch of the Thomas family in America originated with William Thomas, born in 1573, who came here from England in 1637. He was one of the merchant advent- urers who aided in founding the New Plym- outh Colony; and he owned a grant of land,
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FLAVEL S. THOMAS, M.D., LL.D.
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comprising fifteen thousand acres, which in- cluded the Daniel Webster farm at Marshfield. A gravestone marks his last resting-place in the old Marshfield burial-ground.
His son Nathaniel came with him to Amer- ica. He had a son known as Colonel Na- thaniel, who, acting for himself and others in 1662, bought from the Indians a large tract of land, thereafter called the "Major's Pur- chase," and received a goodly slice of it in compensation for his services. Portions of that property are still in the possession of the family, Wampatuck farm - formerly a part of the Isaac Thomas farm - being owned by Dr. Thomas. The fourth generation was repre- sented by Lieutenant Isaac Thomas, born in 1682, who lived near Gordan Rest, Hanson ; and the fifth, by Captain Edward Thomas, born in 1713, who resided on the Isaac Thomas farm. After these came Isaac, the great-grandfather of Dr. Thomas; Josiah, the grandfather; and Isaac, the father.
William Shurtleff, a native of England, was the founder of the Shurtleff family in Amer- ica. His son Abiel had a son Benjamin, whose son Benjamin, second, was the father of Lot, Benjamin, Charles, Barzallia, Milton, Nathaniel. Samuel, Flavel, Abigail,. Ruth, and Hannah. Of these Samuel was a physi- cian. Benjamin, the third of the name, also a physician, endowed Shurtleff College at Upper Alton, Ill. Dr. Benjamin's son, Dr. Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, was Mayor of Boston, and a celebrated author and antiquary. Flavel Shurtleff, the father of Dr. Thomas's mother, was a graduate of Brown University, studied theology in Philadelphia, and preached in Hanson and several other places.
Flavel Shurtleff Thomas, having received his early education in the town schools of Hanson, subsequently studied at. Hanover Academy, Phillips Andover Academy, Harvard
University, Cornell University, Shurtleff Col- lege, Boston University, Boston Museum of Natural History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Montreal Veterinary College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Syracuse Uni- versity, Correspondence University, McGill University, and the National University. He began the study of medicine in 1871 with Woodbridge R. Howes, M.D., of Hanover, Mass., and subsequently attended thrce courses of lectures at Harvard University Medical School, and at McGill University, Faculty of Medicine. Having received his diploma from Harvard in 1874, hc entered upon the practice of his profession at Ithaca, N. Y., in the same year. After spending a few months in that town, he removed to Hanson, which has been his place of residence since. He has been town physician since 1879; was lecturer on comparative anatomy for the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, Boston, in 1883; has been physician to Gordan Rest Sanitarium, Hanson, since 1891 ; and physician to Maquan Sanitarium at Hanson since it was opened by him in 1894 for the treatment of chronic diseases, especially those of women. He is also examiner for the New York Mutual and the Manhattan Life Insurance Companies.
Harvard, as before mentioned, conferred on him his medical degree; Shurtleff College conferred the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws; the Montreal College, that of Veterinary Surgeon; Syracuse University, those of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science; McGill University, Doctor of Vcter- inary Science; and the National University, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Zoology. The last-named degree, Doctor of Zoology, was introduced from Europc into the United States by Dr. Thomas, who was also the first person to receive it from an American col- lege. He entered the National University as
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a post-graduate student and a candidate for this degree, and completed the necessary course of two years under the direction of Pro- fessor A. Birge, Ph.D. Previous to this zoology had been a favorite study with him; and he had performed the usual college work in the science and that in professional zoology required at the McGill and Harvard Medical Schools, and had also been a special and post- graduate student in zoology in Cornell, under Professors Law, Gage, and Wilder, in Syra- cuse, with Professor Underwood, and at Bos- ton Museum of Natural History, with Profes- sors Van Vleck and Hyatt. His degree of Doctor of Laws was received in 1892. On learning of the event, the principal of Phillips Andover Academy, under date of February 17, 1893, wrote him as follows: -
My dear Dr. Thomas,-I am delighted to see your honors crowned with the larger wreath. Your academic recognition is very nearly complete, is it not? The Rev. W. C. Winslow -the Egyptologist - is a D.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., LL.D., D.C.L., and L.H.D., I think; but you are ahead. You must feel that the satisfaction is in having earned them by your painstaking fidelity and public spirit.
I often think how little acknowledgment I have made for your interest in me and the school.
Yours, C. F. P. BANCROFT.
Dr. Thomas is largely devoted to literary work, which in his later years has been ehar- acterized by profound scholarship. Among his writings may be mentioned his graduating thesis on "Opium "; his "Lectures on Com- parative Anatomy," delivered at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Boston; his Doctor of Philosophy thesis, "Birds of Han- son "; a paper on "Insects Injurious to Vege- tation in Hanson," read before the Farmers' Institute of Plymouth County Agricultural Society; three papers read before the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, respectively named
"The Value of a Knowledge of Comparative Pathology to the Doctor of Medicine," "The Value of a Knowledge of Comparative Anat- omy to the Doctor of Medicine," and " Doctor of Medicine, What it is and What it should be"; a prize essay, "Liquid Manures," written for the Plymouth County Agricultural Society; contributions to the New England Medical Monthly, entitled "The Ideal Medi- cal School," "Medical Education," "The Best Preliminary Education for the Study of Medicine," and "A Few Words to Medi- cal Sehools"; "The Lecture System," an article published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal; "University Degrees," in the School Bulletin of Syraeuse, N.Y .; "The Physician " and "Medicines," in the Boston Journal of Health; "Veterinary Degrees," in the Journal of Comparative Medicine and Surgery ; "Life in a Puddle" and "Micro- scopic Pond Life," in Youth's Companion ; "Montreal Letters " and "Syracuse Letter," in Old Colony Memorial ; "Non-resident. De- grees " and "The Current Value of University Degrees " in the National Magasinc ; "The Medical Missionary," contributed to the Healthy Home ; "Doctor of Laws, Origin, History, Past and Present Use," and "Latin or English Order in University Degrees," in the University Magasine of New York; "A Study of the Present System of University De- grees, with Generalizations and Suggestions," and "Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science," in Education of Boston; and "The Best Course of Study Preparatory to the Study of Medicine," in American Journal of Ednea- tion of St. Louis. He is also the author of these pamphlets: "Lectures on the Science of Agriculture," "A Perfect University," and "University Degrees: What they mean, What they indicate, and How to use them." The department of University Degrees and
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Education in the " Standard Dictionary of the English Language," published by Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York, was edited by Dr. Thomas. The publisher also submitted proofs of the entire work to his inspection before sending it to press. The question re- garding a rule to be followed in printing the academic degrees of the two hundred and forty-seven editors of the dictionary, and other degrees therein, was left to his decision, which was that old titles, which centuries of use had crystallized in the Latin form, as Ph. D. and M.D., should retain that form, and that all modern degrees, such as B.S. and M.S., together with all others that have been written both ways, such as B.A. and M. A., take the English form. William T. Harris, LL.D., the United States Commissioner of Education, who is editing the "International Education Series," has recently invited Dr. Thomas to prepare a dictionary of university degrees for that work.
In 1879, July 9, Dr. Thomas was married to Miss Caroline M. Smith, daughter of Cap- tain Joseph Smith, C.E., of Titusville, Pa. Their two children are: Percival Shurtleff, born October 7, 1884; and Saba Drew, born February 27, 1893. At present the Doctor is serving the town of Hanson as a member of its School Committee, and is a Trustee of Plym- outh County Agricultural Society. He joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1875 and the Harvard Medical School Alumni As- sociation in 1891. A Mason of long standing in Puritan Lodge of Whitman, Mass., he was exalted to the Royal Arch degree in Pilgrim Chapter of Abington, Mass., on February 15, 1895; and he was created Knight Templar in Old Colony Commandery of Abington on Feb- ruary 3, 1896. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in North River Lodge of Hanover, Mass. It is not
necessary to say that Dr. Thomas is highly esteemed by Hanson people, who feel a war- rantable pride in having among them a man of his distinction.
Biographical sketches of Favel S. Thomas may be found in "Syracuse University Alumni Record," "Physicians and Surgeons of Amer- ica " (with portrait), and in History of Plym- outh County."
OHN S. BROOKS, of Hanover, who has been successfully engaged in busi - ness here for upward of half a century, was born in North. Hanover, Plymouth County, October 27, 1824, son of John and Amy (Mann) Brooks. His parents had ten chil- dren, of whom two died in infancy. The rest, who all attained maturity, were: John S., Levi, Warren, Thomas D., Emma, Sarah, Mary, and Hannah. Levi lost his life during the Civil War, in the Red River Expe- dition. John S. Brooks was the eldest. He obtained his education in the common schools and at a private school kept by Judge Harris, now of Brockton. Unable to attend school beyond his twelfth year, excepting dur- ing the winter, he began work at the shoe- maker's trade, which he followed continuously for fifteen years. He then purchased the store which he has since prosperously con- ducted, a period of forty-four years. He has a well-selected stock of general dry goods, groceries, etc. The place was a union store for some years.
Mr. Brooks has been twice married. His first union was contracted June 23, 1850, with Miss Nancy Binney, who died childless. On October 19, 1869, Miss Eliza F. Shurtleff be . came his wife. Born of this marriage are two children - John F. and Marion S. Since 1888 Mr. Brooks has had charge of the North
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Hanover post-office. He was elected in 1861 to the office of Selectman, and has served in that capacity altogether about five years. He has also been an Overseer of the Poor and As- sessor.
ATHANIEL HENRY CROSS, for - merly a well-known business man of North Bridgewater, Mass., where more than fifty years ago he was engaged in carriage manufacturing, was born in East Bridgewater, October 11, 1803. He was a son of Captain Nathaniel Cross, who had re- moved thither a short time previously from Exeter, N.H. In 1824, when twenty-one years of age, having acquired his education in South Bridgewater, and also mastercd the wheelwright's trade, Nathaniel H. settled in North Bridgewater, now Brockton. An in- telligent, well-informed man, energetic, and enterprising, he not only successfully carried on his business of wagon and carriage making, but dealt considerably in real estate in the vicinity, and was also somewhat interested in Western lands. He was a Democrat in poli- tics, and President Jackson appointed him Postmaster at North Bridgewater, which office he filled acceptably for a number of years. In religion he was liberal and progressive, re- garding belief as an "act of the intellect as well as the heart "; and he attended the Uni- tarian church, of whose pastor, the Rev. M. Goldsboro, he was an intimate friend. Strictly temperate from principle, he was an active worker in temperance societies. As was the custom in those days, he took part in the annual drill of the local militia, of which for some years he was an enrolled member. He departed this life on March 25, 1843, in the fortieth year of his age.
In October, 1824, Mr. Cross married Lucy Vose, daughter of Elijah Vose, of Boston.
She was born in Boston, April 9, 1807. At the age of twelve, being then an orphan, she went to Bridgewater to live, and there at- tended a private boarding-school. By her marriage she became the mother of six chil- dren, namely: Nathaniel and Henry, both now deceased; William W. Cross, a promi- nent manufacturer of Brockton; and Lucy, who married Charles C. Field, also a promi- nent business man of Brockton; Mrs. M. B. Burland, the wife of Dr. Burland, a well- known physician of Philadelphia; and Mrs. Susan Holbrook, of Brockton: The old fam- ily homestead in North Bridgewater, pur- chased by Mr. Cross in 1831, after his demise was occupied by Mrs. Cross until her death, on May 4, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Until within two years of her death she had charge of the estate left by her husband, and managed it very success- fully ; and, excepting the last year of her life, she was mentally active, able to attend to business and to read the newspapers. She was much interested in charities and reforms. In her younger days she belonged to various temperance societies, and at one time was president of a benevolent association. Later in life she bestowed several sums on various public institutions. She was a lady of quiet, gentle, and refined tastes and manners, and was much esteemed.
OHN JOSEPH SHAW, M.D., a well- known physician of Plymouth County, who settled in the town of Plymouth, was born August 11, 1842, in East Bridge- water, Mass., where his ancestors had resided for about two hundred years. Joseph Shaw, son of John and grandson of Abraham, of Dedham, was the first of the name in this country, having removed from Weymouth and
JOHN J. SHAW.
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bought a large tract of land in East Bridge- water (then Bridgewater), about the year 1698. The first Joseph Shaw had a son, the Rev. John Shaw, who was born in East Bridgewater in the year 1708, and was the grandfather of Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw, of Boston, and his cousin, the Hon. John A. Shaw, of Bridgewater. Joseph, first, also had a son born in 1711, Deacon Zechariah, who had a son Zechariah, born in 1751. He had Joseph in 1779, and in 1785 Alvan, who was a volunteer in the War of 1812.
The second Joseph, who was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a man of energetic character, a competent farmer, and owner of a grist-mill. He was prominent in religious matters, and was a pillar of the old orthodox church. In the latter part of his life he retired from active work, and he died in East Bridgewater in his eighty-sixth year. He was twice married. His first wife was Olive, daughter of Samuel Dike, whose father, Samuel, was born in Scotland in 1782. Their only child was Samuel Dike Shaw, the father of the subject of this sketch.
Owing to precarious health, it was not deemed advisable that Samuel D. Shaw should go to college, as had been intended by his parents. His father gave him a grist-mill, and thus started him in the grain business, which, under his skilful management, in a few years grew into a large wholesale and re- tail trade in grain and flour, and all the re- quirements of a country supply store.
Mr. Samuel D. Shaw also controlled a mill for the manufacture of building lumber, and was at one time interested in tack manufact- uring. He has been a great sufferer from fire, having had no less than six separate experi- ences of this kind, each time with heavy loss. In spite of his close business application he has been a lifelong student, being especially
interested in the natural sciences, in which line he has acquired a high degree of profi- ciency. He was always a Whig in politics until the formation of the Republican party, since which event he has acted with that or- ganization; and at the time of the abolition movement he was actively interested in the suppression of slavery. He retired from busi- ness some years since, and now resides with his son. He was born on the old Bridgewater place on November 25, 1813, and married in 1839 Wealthy Stickney Estes, daughter of James Estes, of Brunswick, Me., and a de- scendant of Sir William Thompson, knight and baron of the city of London. They had two sons - Henry W. and John Joseph. Henry W., the elder son, died at the age of twenty-six.
John Joseph Shaw commenced his school life at the academy of William Allen in East Bridgewater, and afterward attended the com- mon schools of the town, and later the Bridge- water Normal School, where he was graduated in 1863. He began the study of medicine in 1864, graduating from the Hygeo-Therapeutic College in New York City in 1867. Contin- uing his studies, in 1872 he took a post-grad- uate medical course at Harvard, after finishing which he practised for two years in East Bridgewater. In October, 1874, Dr. Shaw located himself in Plymouth, where he has since been engaged in a constantly increasing practice. He is a member of the Massachu- setts State Medical Society and of the Amer- ican Institute of Homeopathy. Dr. Shaw is an original thinker and a clear and facile writer. He has written considerably for the lay and medical press and medical societies, and is the author of two monographs, entitled "The Scientific Basis of Homoeopathy " and "Why I am a Homoeopath."
Dr. Shaw married for his first wife Persis
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R. Kingman, of Keene, N.H., by whom he had a son, John Holbrook, who graduated in 1893 from Harvard Medical College, and in 1894 from Boston University, and is now in successful practice in Plymouth. Dr. Shaw's second wife is Edith Luella Aldrich, daugh- ter of the Rev. Jeremiah Knight Aldrich, of Warwick, R.I. Mr. Aldrich is a second cousin of ex-Governor Henry Howard, and ex- Lieutenant Governor Albert C. Howard, of Rhode Island. He is also a second cousin and intimate friend of James Burrell Angell, former minister to China, and now president of Michigan University. His ancestors were for many years the controllers of Rhode Island politics. The Rev. J. K. Aldrich has held pastorates in East Bridgewater, Groton, Rye, Nashua, and other places. He has now retired from active work, and resides on one of his estates in Hyannis. He has written extensively, and is author of a work of deep research and profound logic, entitled "Thc Day of our Saviour's Crucifixion." Dr. Shaw and his present wife have had two children, namely: Lillian Estes, born October 13, 1881; and Joseph Henry, October 9, 1886. The death of their daughter Lillian, which occurred May 16, 1895, was a terrible blow, from which they will never recover.
Dr. Shaw is a member of Mayflower Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and also of Patuxet Colony, Pilgrim Fathers, and Plymouth Rock Lodge, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is medical examiner of the two latter. He was town physician for two years. In the summer and fall of 1896 he visited Europe, going to London as a dele- gate of the International Homeopathic Medi- cal Congress, and afterward visiting Scotland, Belgium, Germany, the Rhine, Switzerland, and Paris. After his return Dr. Shaw re- mained for a time in New York City, where
he took a special course at the New York Post-graduate Medical College and Hospital.
ESSE M. CUSHMAN, a successful merchant of Rochester, was born · here, November 27, 1826, son of Gilson and Susan H. (Purington) Cushman. Having ac- quired his education in the district school, he shipped as cabin boy at Mattapoisett for his first voyage, on board a whaling vessel, being then fourteen years old. The vessel was wrecked, and the crew cast away in the Arctic Ocean, near the northern edge of the Gulf Stream; but, fortunately, all were rescued. Undeterred by this experience, the lad, after reaching home, shipped on the brig "Amer- ica" from Wareham, Mass. This vessel sprung a leak when a few days out, and was obliged to return to port. He then engaged as cabin boy on the ship "Lagoda " of New Bedford, which was out twenty months, cruis- ing in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. By the time this vessel returned to port he was an ex- perienced sailor, and next went as able sea- man on the ship "Liverpool," which was out three years, whaling in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. On his fourth voyage he was the second mate of a merchant vessel sailing from Boston to the West Indies. With this vessel he was connected about three years.
Returning to Massachusetts in 1849, Mr. Cushman caught the gold fever then raging, and went to California. He was in Califor- nia from 1849 to the spring of 1852, prospect - ing and mining with moderate success. He then came back to Rochester, and purchased the store which he has since successfully con- ducted. Here he dealt in grain for twenty years. He now keeps a good stock of general merchandise. Having occupied his present stand for forty-four years,- he is one of the
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oldest and best-known business men in this section of the county. He was married Au- gust 2. 1853, to Miss Dorcas P. Swift. They had one child, who died in infancy. Mr. Cushman votes the Republican ticket. He was town liquor agent for one year. He is quite popular with his townsmen, and has many old friends among the seafaring men of the locality.
JDWARD M. SWEENY, a well-known member of the firm E. Phillips & Sons, of South Hanover, was born Septem- ber 11, 1834, in Plattsburg, Clinton County, N. Y., son of Felix and Margaret (Dunn) Sweeny. When he was four years old, he moved with his father and mother to Clinton- ville, N. Y., where he had the benefit of public-school instruction until he was twelve. Then he began to work for his living in the nail factory and rolling-mill of that place, and remained there four years. From Clinton- ville he went to Fairhaven, Vt., to learn the trade of nail-making of Messrs. Dewey & Cushman. Three years later, feeling the need of more education, he attended a private school for one winter. Subsequently, after a brief stay in Providence, R.I., he served a short period in the Parker mills at Wareham, Mass. Mr. Sweeny then worked at his trade for three years in Bridgewater. In 1858 he came to South Hanover to be employed by E. Y. Perry & C., now known under the style of E. Phillips & Sons. His efforts for them were so well appreciated that after a few years he was appointed foreman, and later superintendent. In 1886 he was received into the firm as a partner. Messrs. E. Phillips & Sons manufacture forty-nine different kinds of nails and tacks, besides sheet lead, zinc battery plates, glaziers' tools or points, and poultry staples.
On May 30, 1857, Mr. Sweeny was married to Lucy M. Thaxter, who has since borne him five children. These are: Henry L., Edward P., Ernest Franklin, Florence, and Rodolph IV. Henry L. is a medical practitioner in Kingston, N. H. ; Edward P. iş a book-keeper in New York City; Ernest Franklin is con- nected with the Strong Manufacturing Com- pany in Winsted, Conn .; Florence is at home; and Rodolph W. is attending school. In pol- itics the father is a Republican. He is a Mason of Phoenix Blue Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, and Old Colony Commandery; and he has also membership in the Knights of Honor. -
A NDREW DENHAM is one of the old and respected residents of Mattapoi- sett. He was born here, January 28, 1829, son of Andrew Denham, a me- chanic, and Artemesia (Besse) Denham. He was reared on his father's farm, acquiring his early education in the district school. The wider knowledge of which he is now the master was gained by personal observation and experience. Like most of the boys in his native town, he took to the water when quite young. At the age of seventeen he shipped as seaman on a whaling vessel, which was away cruising in the Atlantic and Pacific for three years, during which the lad saw a great deal of the world. One of the places visited was San Francisco, then a small town of ir- regular plan and architecture.
At the end of the cruise he decided that there was "no place like home," and settled on the farm where he had passed his boyhood. The estate, which has been owned by the fam- ily for a great many years, contains two hun- dred acres. Here for nearly half a century he has been successfully engaged in general farm- ing and dairying. He is now regarded as one
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