USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 50
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APTAIN ICHABOD F. ATWOOD, a prominent town officer of Middle- boro, was born in Fall Brook in this town, March 13, 1820. His parents were Nathaniel and Zilpha (Shurtleff) Atwood, and he is the only survivor of their five children - Flora, Gardener, Reuel, Polly, and Ichabod. He attended district schools and Peirce Acad- emy in his native town in his early years,
making such good progress in his studies that, at the age of fifteen, he began teaching. For more than thirty years he was engaged in this profession, and, with the exception of a single year, confined his efforts to Plymouth County. For several years he was connected with the mills at Fall Brook and Rock, where he has resided since 1866.
In politics Captain Atwood is a Republi- can, and he has been very influential in town affairs, serving in many important local offices, namely: as Justice of the Peace over forty-five years; Surveyor, forty years; Se- lectman and Overseer of the Poor, three years; School Committee several years; and also as Auditor and Assessor. Having an excellent knowledge of law, he was often called upon during his official term as Selectman to settle estates. He is a member of the Methodist church at Middleboro.
In 1841 Captain Atwood married Miss Abi- gail Thomas, of Middleboro. Four children were born of this union, and all of them are now living; namely, Emery F., Charles N., Harvey N., and Hannah Z.
LDEN ROUNESVILLE, a prosperous lumber manufacturer of Rochester, Mass., was born April 10, 1827, in Freetown, Bristol County, son of Alden and Cornelia (Ashley) Rounesville. When he was thirteen years old he went to Rochester to live, and there acquired his education in the district school and at Rochester Academy. At the age of sixteen he shipped before the mast on a whaling vessel bound for the Indian Ocean, and was out twenty-seven months. Although life on a whaler is a hard one, the travel and adventure, the excitement of the pursuit and capture of the ocean leviathan, pleased the lad, and he shipped for another
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voyage. This time he sailed over both the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, being gone twenty-five months and five days. On his return to New Bedford in 1849, he was in- terested by the stories of fortunes to be had for the taking in the gold fields of California, and at the first opportunity shipped on a sail- ing-vessel bound for the new El Dorado by the Cape route. Mr. Rounesville engaged in prospecting and mining with varying results, and remained until February, 1853, when he returned by way of the Isthmus. After stay- ing a short time in Rochester he shipped once more on a whaling vessel. During this voyage he was third mate, and was out one year. He next joined a vessel at Honolulu as first mate, prolonging his absence from home, and was on the sea some two and a half years more. On the next voyage, which was his last, he sailed as first mate. He was gone eighteen months whaling in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Having visited almost every known quarter of the globe, and met all sorts and conditions of men, he settled down in his present home in Rochester, among the friends and associations of his childhood. At first he engaged in the manufacture of lumber and grist-milling. His grist-mill was destroyed by fire in 1881, since which time he has de- voted himself mainly to the lumber indus- try. His chief products are box boards and shingles. He also carries on general farming, owning eleven hundred acres in the town of Rochester, and four hundred acres in other places.
In 1854 Mr. Rounesville was married to Miss Rosie Gammons, who has borne him five children - Frances, Arthur, Ella, Horace, and Albert. Ella is now deceased. Mr. Rounesville, who is a Republican in politics, and has served as Selectman of Rochester for twelve years, is widely known and respected.
ARREN B. STETSON, shoe manu- facturer, of Middleboro, Mass., is one of the prominent and influential citizens of this place, active in all movements of public importance. A son of David B. and Abigail (Spear) Stetson, he was born in Quincy, Mass., September 26, 1842.
David B. Stetson was born in Weymouth, Mass. He was in trade in Quincy for fifty- four years, and no other merchant in the place had so long a record. He died in Middleboro in 1895, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, Mrs. Abigail S. Stetson, died in 1864, aged forty-eight years. Five children com- pleted the household circle of Mr. and Mrs. David B. Stetson: Warren B .; Abbie E., wife of H. O. Studley, of Quincy; Arthur Lorin, who died when about four and a half years old, a remarkable child, who could solve on a slate the most intricate mathematical problems; Ella Lorin, who is now managing the store in Quincy, the business being still conducted, by his request, in her father's name; and Arthur Woodward, also living in Quincy.
Warren B. Stetson, the subject of this sketch, attended school in Quincy, taking a high rank in scholarship, and graduated at the high school at the age of sixteen as saluta- torian. The storm of secession was brewing during his last years of study, and the firing on Fort Sumter aroused many of the Quincy school boys to take up arms for the Union. Young Stetson was one of these. On May 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Thir- teenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the Fourth Battalion of Rifles being the nucleus from which the regiment was formed. His term of enlistment was three years, but was cut short on account of illness. After the second battle of Bull Run he was in Fairfax Seminary Hospital, and when able to go about
Geo. Fr. Emery
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he was employed as steward, nurse, surgeon's assistant, and clerk in the dispensary ; but his health was very poor, and on December 31, 1862, he was discharged on account of dis- ability.
After a season of recuperation at home he offered himself again, but was rejected, being physically too weak for military service. He was then employed as travelling salesman for a large shoe firm in Boston, and subsequently acted in the same capacity for another house, giving some three years and a half to this line of effort. At the end of that time he started in business for himself, opening a re- tail shoe store in Stamford, Conn., which he successfully managed for thirteen years and a half. He then removed to North Middleboro, and later to Middleboro, buying in 1879 the business of E. E. Perkins & Son. In 1882 he established his factory at its present loca- tion. Mr. Stetson thoroughly understands the quality and make-up of shoes of all grades, and has been very successful in business.
He married Miss Margaret H. Hoyt, of Concord, N.H., and has five children - Will- iam W., Maybelle Howe, Ella H., Arthur O., and Edward L. He has been a Republican since qualified to exercise the right of suf- frage, and he cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. In local politics he takes an active interest; and for the past twelve years he has been in office, serving alternately as Chairman and as Secretary of the Republi- can Town Committee. He is now serving a second term as member of the Board of Regis- tration. As a Mason he has taken ten de- grees, and is a member of Union Lodge, No. 5, of Stamford, Conn .; Rittenhouse Chapter, No. II; and of Washington Council, No. 6, of the same place. He belongs to the Im- proved Order of Red Men; and as a Grand Army man he has long been active and promi-
nent. He is historian of E. W. Pierce Post, No. 8, and was Commander of the post during the erection of the beautiful Soldiers' Monu- ment in Middleboro, which cost about four thousand, two hundred dollars. Mr. Stetson was the originator and one of the agents in the movement to erect it, collecting funds, and working enthusiastically and successfully for its completion. He is a zealous member of the Central Baptist Church, and a teacher in the Sunday-school.
ON. GEORGE W. EMERY, now a resident of Marshfield, Mass., was the Governor of Utah, who so ably piloted the Territory through the most trying period of its history. He was born August 13, 1833, in Corinth, near Bangor, Me., son of Oliver Hubbard and Hannah Osgood (Por- ter) Emery. When he was six years of age his parents removed to Berwick, Me., his father's native town, and not very long after- ward they removed from Berwick to Medford, Mass., where the family lived for nearly fifty years, and where his father and mother died and are buried.
Mr. Emery comes of Puritan stock by both parents. On the father's side he belongs to the eighth generation descended from Anthony Emery, who came to Boston in the ship "James," June, 1635; while on his mother's side he is of the eighth generation descended from John Porter, who also left England in 1635, and settled in Hingham, Mass. Mr. Emery's mother was a daughter of Nathaniel Porter, a native of Ipswich, Mass., who was a Revolutionary soldier; and she was a kins- woman of the Johnsons, the Osgoods, the Put- nams, the Endicotts, the Woodburys, and the Dodges and Ingallses, of Essex County. The blood relations on his father's side were the
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Lords, the Hoopers, the Hubbards, the God- wins, the Chadbournes, and the Stacys of York County, Maine. Two of Mr. Emery's great-uncles served under the famous naval hero, Paul Jones, one being his sailing- master.
George W. Emery's preparatory course for college was begun at the Literary Institute in New Hampton, N. H., and continued at Colby Academy, New London, N.H. Here he was graduated in June, 1854, being the only pupil who had that honor. In the same year he entered Dartmouth College, where, after com- pleting a four years' course, he was graduated in the class of 1858. Without loss of time he then pursued a full course at the Law School at Albany, N.Y .; was graduated with the degree of LL. B .; was admitted to the bar in that State; and immediately entered the law office of the late General Benjamin F. Butler in Boston.
In 1865, after the close of the Civil War, abandoning the legal profession, Mr. Emery went to Nashville, Tenn., and engaged in planting and milling. The bitter feeling with which all Northern men were then, and for many years afterward, regarded in the South, was manifested in his case by the burn- ing of his mill in 1868. In 1869 he was appointed Supervisor of Internal Revenue. The district at first placed under his charge was gradually extended until it included the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. He had under him more than twenty-five hundred men, whose appointment came from Washington, D.C., and he had the care of six hundred and twenty-five registered grain distilleries in Kentucky alone, besides a large number of fruit distilleries. He had also a standing order from the Secretary of War, directed to the commanders of all the military posts in
his district, instructing them to render all the assistance he might deem necessary to enforce the law; and this required at times from five to ten squads of cavalry.
This enlargement of his authority was elo- quent testimony to his fitness for the office, whose duties no ordinary man could then dis- charge. It was in the "reconstruction times," when the civil agents of the Federal govern- ment were frequently resisted with outrage and murder, and the Kuklux Klan was pursuing its career of crime. Combining the executive ability desirable in a military leader with the tact and resource that should characterize a diplomat, while now and again compelled to call the troops to his aid, Supervisor Emery amply justified the confidence of . the national government. During his residence in Ten- nessee he was for several years Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of the State. While in the South he became per- sonally acquainted with many of the leaders of the late Confederacy, among them its Presi- dent, Jefferson Davis, with whom he often conversed.
President Grant was so well pleased with Mr. Emery's services as Supervisor of Internal Revenue in the Southern States mentioned, that, of his own volition, without a word of suggestion from Mr. Emery, he, in the spring of 1875, appointed him Governor of Utah.
At the time Governor Emery went to Utah all the elective offices in that Territory were filled by the Mormons, they being largely in the majority over the Gentiles, as they called all who were not of their faith. Three biennial legislatures held their sessions during his term of office. Every member of these legis- latures was a Mormon, and all but three were living in polgyamy. The Governor had the absolute veto power, Utah being the only State or Territory where that power existed.
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It was a current saying among members of the legislature that, "it was the Governor against the Mormons"; and it was only through him that the Gentiles could expect any legislation favorable to themselves. From the time of Brigham Young, who was the first governor, there had been a constant conflict between the Executive and members of the legislature, the result being that but little legislation had been enacted that was beneficial. The laws previously enacted had not been compiled. The session laws were published in pamphlet form, and tied together with red tape, this bundle of pamphlets containing all the laws that had been enacted, modified, or repealed up to this date. The consequence was that neither judges nor lawyers knew what the law was on any subject, especially that portion of the statutes relating to the criminal law, and as a further consequence there were then only three convicts in the penitentiary. Another untoward circumstance lay in the fact that the Territory was badly in debt. Territorial scrip had really no value except for payment of taxes at thirty-five cents on the dollar.
Governor Emery, however, did not disap- point the hopes placed in him. His success- ful administration is now a matter of history. Its earlier part was a stormy period- in Salt Lake City. Exercising his absolute veto power, he rendered nugatory more than half the legislation passed at the first session of the legislature under his governorship. The effect of this stern resistance was seen in the diminished aggressiveness of subsequent ses- sions, but the struggle continued for some time after. When Governor Emery left Utah, ter- ritoral scrip was as good as greenbacks; and instead of three convicts in the penitentiary there were eighty-seven. Several executions took place during his administration, among them that of John D. Lee, who was connected
with the Mountain Meadow Massacre, he being the only one of the participants that was tried and convicted for that offence.
The latter part of the Governor's adminis- tration, which lasted five years, was compara- tively quiet and pleasant for him. Among his visitors in Salt Lake City were President Grant and family ; a number of Senators and members of Congress; Dom Pedro, the Em- peror of Brazil; Lord and Lady Dufferin; Sir George Bowen, Governor-general of Australia; distinguished military men, among them Gen- erals Sherman and Sheridan; various lords and their ladies from abroad; and men eminent in science and literature. All these were guests of the Governor. Upon his departure from the Territory, he received from the representa- tive people a souvenir of his stay in the form of a valuable watch, bearing the inscription, "Presented to Governor Emery by his friends in Utah, regardless of party "; and some time after, the legislature testified its respect for him by giving his name to a new county.
On April 11, 1866, Mr. Emery was unitcd in marriage with Miss Marcia Ives Hall, daughter of Samuel and Huldah Barstow (Sherman) Hall, of Boston. He has one child, a son, Frank Hall Emery, who was born in Boston, May 6, 1867. Mrs. Emery's parents are now deceased. Her father was a distinguished ship-builder, and President of the Maverick Bank of Boston until his death. Both Mr. and Mrs. Emery affiliate with the Congregational church.
After leaving Salt Lake City for the East, Governor Emery settled in that part of Marsh- field called Sea View, where he has a beauti- ful country seat. The commodious dwelling, built by himself in 1885-86, is picturesquely situated on a sightly elevation near the shore, surrounded by extensive grounds, embracing several hundred acres diversified with trees
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and shrubbery, which form a part of his es- tate.
The IIon. George W. Emery is held in the highest cstccm by his neighbors in Marshfield. In politics he has supported the Republican party ever since he attained his majority. He takes a practical interest in farming, and was for several years President of the Marsh- field Agricultural Socicty. He is a Trustee of the New England Agricultural Society, and a member of the Marshall P. Wilder Club, the oldest dining-club in Massachusetts. He was made a Mason in Massachusetts Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Boston. He is also a mem- ber of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Ex-Governor Emery is a good illustration of the sagacious remark that the country will never lack for Presidential timber so long as we have our State and Territorial governments on which to raise it.
ARD LITCHFIELD, a representa- tive of one of the oldest families of Scituate, who died at his home in Egypt, Plymouth County, Mass., January 24, 1892, was born in Scituate, September II, 1819, son of Thomas and Mabel (Vinal) Litchfield. His parents were natives of Scit- uate, and his grandfather, Deacon Ward Litchfield, was in his day one of the best- known residents of this town.
Ward Litchfield was educated in the public schools of his native town. When fourteen years old he went to Quincy, Mass., where he served an apprenticeship of five years at the painter's trade, which he followed subse- quently as a journeyman in Boston. He was later engaged as a contracting painter in Quincy for a number of years, and in 1853 he cstablished himself in the same business in Scituate. For many years he conducted a
successful business, doing a large amount of contract work; and he also owncd and culti- vated a farm of forty acres. In politics hc acted with the Republican party, but his modest and retiring disposition prevented him from taking any active part in public affairs. His upright character and strict adherence to principle won the sincerc respect and admira- tion of his acquaintances, and his death, which took place upon the date above men- tioned, at the age of nearly seventy-three years, was the cause of general regret. On January 1, 1845, Mr. Litchfield was united in marriage with Miss Angeline Woods, who was born in Mount Vernon, Kennebec County, Me., a daughter of Henry and Hannah (Cram) Woods. Her parents were natives of Maine. Mrs. Litchfield still occupies the homestead, and is highly respected in this town. She has an adopted daughter, Ella F. She attends the Congregational church.
HILEMON W. MAGLATHLIN, one of the representative business men of Plymouth County, and a member of the firm of F. W. Maglathlin & Co., tack manufacturers of Kingston, was born in this town, July 12, 1844, son of Peter W. and Marcia G. (Bradford) Maglathlin. Thc family was founded in America by John Maglathlin, a Scotchman, who settled in Kingston during the Colonial period. He died here in 1772, and his mortal remains were buried in the old Kingston Cemetery. His son Joseph, who was born in Kingston, was Philemon W. Maglathlin's grcat-grand- father; and his son, Peter W., first, was Mr. Maglathlin's grandfather. He was a native of Kingston, and was a scafaring man.
The second Peter W. Maglathlin, son of the first, and father of the subject of this
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sketch, was born in Kingston; and his wife, Marcia G. Bradford, was a native of Maine. He learned the trade of a ship calker, and fol- lowed this occupation in connection with farming, making his home in Kingston until his death, which took place in the seventies. He was a man of considerable prominence in local public affairs, and served as a member of the School Committee. In politics he was originally a Whig, and later a Republican. He was twice married, and of his children the following survive: Harvey W .; Philemon W., the subject of this sketch; Onslow W. ; Edwin W .; and Horace B. - all of Kingston ; Angie, wife of Elliott Blanchard, of Turner, Me. ; and Helen A., wife of Barker Baker, of North Hanson, Mass.
Philemon W., the second son, as above named, acquired a good practical education in the public schools of Kingston, and grew to manhood in this town. At the age of twenty- two he went to Worcester, Mass., where he began to learn the mason's trade. After serv- ing an apprenticeship of over three years, he worked at the trade in Worcester for five years. He then became master mason for the Old Colony Railroad Company, and for twenty- three years had full charge of the work in his line completed by that company. In 1894 he erected and equipped a building in Kingston for the manufacture of tacks, putting in im- proved machinery, and organizing the firm of F. W. Maglathlin & Co., consisting of P. W. Maglathlin and his son, F. W. Maglathlin, has since carried on a large and successful business.
On April 26, 1863, Mr. Maglathlin married Mahala E. Bonney, of Kingston. She is a daughter of John and Mary (Maglathlin) Bonney, the former of whom was born in Han- son, Mass., and the latter in Pembroke. Mrs. Maglathlin's father is still residing in Kings-
ton, and her mother is no longer living. She has one brother, Charles F. A. Bonney, who is a resident of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Maglathlin have three children - Frank W., Elizabeth F., and Grace W.
In politics Mr. Maglathlin is a Republican, and has served with ability as a member of the School Committec. He takes an active inter- est in the general improvement of the town, and has an extended acquaintance throughout the county. He is a self-made man who owes his success in life to his own personal efforts, and he has every reason to be proud of the result. He occupies one of the finest residences in Kingston, situated on Summer Street, in the outskirts of the village, and the family enjoy cordial social relations. Mr. Maglathlin is a member of Adams Lodge, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows.
OSHUA WESTON, formerly in busi- ness as a ship-calker in Boston, now a retired resident of Duxbury, Mass., was born in this town, October 20, 1818, son of Asa and Eunice (Bradford) Weston. The family, which is of English origin, descends from an early settler in Duxbury; and Joshua Weston's grandfather, Asa Weston, first, is said to have served in the war for indepen- dence.
Asa Weston, second, Mr. Joshua Weston's father, was a native and lifelong resident of Duxbury. In his younger days he followed the sea, and for a number of years he was master of a vessel engaged in making fishing voyages to the Grand Banks of New Found- land. His wife, who was before marriage Eunice Bradford, and was a native of Dux- bury, became the mother of several children, of whom five are living, namely: Bradford; Joshua, the subject of this sketch; George;
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William; and Selina, wife of Daniel W. Symmes - all of whom are residents of Dux- bury.
Joshua resided with his parents. until he was eleven years old, and then went to live with his unele, George Bradford, in Vermont, where he remained for over three years. He acquired a common-school education, and after his return to his native town he was for some three years engaged in the fishing industry. He then learned the ship-calker's trade in Kingston, and later established himself in . that business in Boston, having for a partner Daniel T. Samson. The firm of Samson & Weston, whose office was located at 317 Com- mercial Street, carried on a large and profit- able business as shipwrights and calkers for several years. They finally admitted Syl- vester Goodwin as a partner, and some time later Mr. Weston withdrew from the firm, and conducted business upon his own account until 1886, when he retired. He had always made Duxbury his summer home, and since his re- tirement he has resided here permanently.
Mr. Weston has been twice married. His first wife was Olive A. Jones, a native of Monmouth, Me. ; and his present wife, whom he wedded in 1855, was before marriage Cor- delia W. Bailey. Her father was a native of Nantes, France, and served as a soldier under Bonaparte. By this union there are two chil- dren, namely: Annie W .; and Joshua B., who is now a merchant at 29 Arch Street, Boston.
During his business career Mr. Weston re- sided in East Boston, and for four years he was a member of the Common Council of Boston from Ward I. In politics he supports the Democratic party. He has advanced in Ma- sonry to the Royal Arch degree, and is a member of St. John's Chapter of East Boston. Like the majority of prosperous business men,
he has made his own way in life, and as the result of his industry is able to pass his de- elining years in rest and recreation in his na- tive town, where he is respected and esteemed by the entire community.
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