USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 55
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Mr. Chamberlain was united in marriage on October 15, 1866, to Susan, daughter of Benjamin Eaton, of Brockton; they are the parents of six children - Carrie S., Alice S., Lily May, James F., Franklin N., and Clar- ence E. Carrie S. Chamberlain married Lu- cian McLoon, and resides in Tyngsboro, Mass. ; Alice S. was married May 18, 1896, to Frank Wade, son of Hiram Wade of this city, and died December 16, 1896. The sons, as before mentioned, manage the store. Lily May, the youngest child, is still under the paternal roof. In politics Mr. Chamberlain is a Republican.
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In 1880 he sold his property on the corner of Brett and Belmont Streets, and bought a lot of land on the corner of Belmont and Brook Streets; and since then he has been adding to this till it now contains nearly forty-four thou- sand square feet, with twenty-four tenements thereon, mostly built by himself. Mr. Cham- berlain also owns another lot on the north side of Belmont Street, which contains two tene- ments. He thinks it is within the reach of any man who is in health to have a good home.
BNER J. CLARK, a shoemaker and carpenter by trade, is now devoting his time to carrying on the old Clark farm in Middleboro, which was settled by Noah Clark, his grandfather, and which has been his own home since he was two years old. He was born at Middleboro, January 9, 1839, son of Zebulon L. and Abigail E. (Barrows) Clark.
Noah Clark, a native of the part of Middle- boro which is now Lakeville, was a son of Noah, Sr., and grandson of Ezra Clark. The father and grandfather of Ezra were Thomas and Thomas, Sr., the latter of Welsh descent, but a native of England, whence he came to this country at an early date. He married Martha Curtis in 1676, and had eleven chil- dren. Zebulon L. and Abigail Clark were the parents of four children ; namely, Maria A., Abner J., Alvira F., and Abbie A.
Abner J. Clark, the second child and only son of his parents, enjoyed but scanty oppor- tunities for schooling in his boyhood, and is, for the most part, self-educated, having taken up the active duties of life when but ten years old. He began with shoemaking, and later on engaged in carpentry, which he followed during the summers and worked at shoemaking winters, but Middleboro has always been his
home. There are about forty acres of land in the homestead, and he carries on general farm- ing with success. Mr. Clark is a member of Massasoit Lodge, No. 69, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican.
ERRIE A. ELDRIDGE, M.D., of Wareham, Mass., was born in the town of Harwich, this State, November 18, I 866. His parents were William Marshall and Hannah A. (Crowell) Eldridge, both of old Barnstable County families. They had five children, three of whom died in infancy : William A. ; and Jerrie A., the special sub- ject of this sketch, are the two now living. .
Jerrie A. Eldridge acquired the rudiments of learning in the public schools of Harwich. Before taking up his professional studies he worked in a drug-store for six years, becoming familiar with the nature and use of chemicals and medicines, and expert in putting up pre- scriptions. In 1887 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Philadelphia, and after three years of close and earnest study received his diploma from that institu- tion in 1890. He also attended lectures at Tufts Medical College, and was there gradu- ated in June, 1897. In 1890 he settled in Wareham; and he is now in command of a growing practice.
Dr. Eldridge is a member of the Massachu- setts Medical Society. In 1895 he opened a drug-store in Wareham, which is already the centre of a successful trade. Besides being town physician he is a member of the Board of Health.
He was married in 1887 to Miss Eva I. Despeaux, of Medway, Mass., daughter of Charles and Mary (Howard) Despeaux, and has three children : Fanny S., born June 26, 1889; Stephen M., born March 25, 1891 ;
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and Lydia, born May 11, 1892. The Doctor is very popular in society, and is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and of the order of Pilgrim Fathers. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees.
ALTER H. FAUNCE, one of the Board of County Commissioners of Plymouth County, and a widely known and respected resident of Kingston, is a scion of old English stock well rooted in New England soil. He was born in one of the oldest houses in this town, November 16, 1832, son of Charles C. and Amelia (Wash- burn) Faunce. His parents were natives and residents of Kingston, as were his ancestors on both sides for several generations; and he is descended through various branches from some of the original Plymouth colonists who came to this country on the "Mayflower." The Faunces are lineal descendants of John Faunce, who landed at Plymouth from the ship "Ann" in August, 1623. They have been active in the public affairs of this town, and many of them have worthily filled positions of trust and responsibility. John Faunce, of the fifth generation, born in 1747, an uncle of Charles C. Faunce, was for many years a Selectman, Treasurer, and Overseer of the Poor, and also a member of the State legis- lature.
The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was John Faunce, of the fourth genera- tion, who married Mrs. Hannah (Bisbee) Cook. Their son, Elijah, the next in line, married Lydia Waterman, a daughter of Icha- bod Waterman, of Kingston. Charles C. Faunce, son of Elijah and father of Walter H. Faunce, was a prominent citizen of this town, and a leading spirit in public affairs. He
served as Town Clerk for fifteen years. His wife, Amelia, was a daughter of Seth and Sarah (Adams) Washburn. Her father, for- merly a well-known resident of this town, lived to the venerable age of ninety-two years.
Walter H. Faunce acquired his education in the public schools of Kingston and at the academy in East Greenwich, R.I. After finishing his preparatory studies, he engaged in educational work in his native town, where for fifteen years he was actively connected with the public schools, and rendered valuable services to the town as a member of the School Committee for twenty-five years, sev- eral years of which he acted as Chairman of the School Board. In politics he is a firm supporter of Republican principles. His con- nection with the Board of Selectmen and As- sessors of Kingston covers a period of twelve years, eight years of which he has presided over that body as Chairman. He is also Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Poor. In 1880 he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served upon the Committee on Insurance. He is now serving his tenth year as a County Commissioner, has been a Justice of the Peace for over thirty years, and was a member of the Republican State Central Committee for two years. IIe is actively interested in all measures cal- culated to improve the general welfare and development of the industrial and agricultural resources of this section, has acted as Vice- President of the Plymouth County Agricult- ural Society, and as Trustee of Marshfield Agricultural Society. He is a member of Corner Stone Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Dux- bury, Mass .; and also a member of Adams Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Kingston.
Mr. Faunce has been twice married. His
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first wife, Arabella Ryder, a native of Plym- outh, became the mother of two children, namely: Lucy D., who is residing at home; and Charles M., a graduate of Harvard College, and formerly an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. His present wife was before mar- riage Elizabeth Brown. She is a native of Smithfield, R.I.
ILLIAM W. COPELAND, station agent at North Hanson, was born in East Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass., January 10, 1856, son of Roland and Elizabeth O. (Osborne) Copeland. Hezekiah Copeland, his grandfather, was a native of West Bridgewater, and a carpenter by trade. In 1822 he moved to Acworth, N. H. ; and he died at the age of eighty-one years. He mar- ried Lucy Moore, of Acworth, N. H., and they had six children. Their son Roland was also born in West Bridgewater, where he attended public school until he was sixteen years of age. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged during the rest of his life. He and his wife Elizabeth had six children.
William W. Copeland, the youngest child of his parents, having acquired a common- school education, entered the employ of C. L. Howland, dealer in hay, grain, flour, and coal, as clerk. In 1879 he was appointed station agent of the Old Colony Railroad at North Hanson, which position he still holds. Mr. Copeland also carries on the business of Mr. C. L. Howland under his own name. In poli- tics he is a Republican. He has served the town capably as Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and Assessor. On October 15, 1890, he married Cora F., daughter of Aaron Healy, of Whitman.
ILLIAM J. WRIGHT, who has been a permanent resident of Dux- bury, Mass., for nearly thirty years, is a well-known member of the upper stratum of Boston society, belonging to the Somerset and other clubs of that city, and having many social connections -through the family of his mother, who resides in Boston. This lady is the elder daughter of the late John S. Wright, one of the merchant kings of Boston, for many years senior partner of the great dry- goods and commission house of J. S. & E. Wright. Mr. J. S. Wright, who was one of thirteen children, was a son of Dr. Ebenezer Wright, an eminent physician. He was de- scended from military ancestors, as evidenced by the records in the War Department at Washington and in the archives of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, from which sources of information the following extracts are taken : -
"At Squakheage ye 2nd of Sept., 1675, 8 men slayn. Samuel Write, Sergt." Mas- sachusetts Archives, vol. 68, p. 33. The Sam- uel Write here mentioned is the first of a direct line of ancestors of whom the grand- father of the subject of this sketch was the sixth, the others being: Elizur, second; Ben- oni or Benony, third; Moses, fourth; and Ebenezer, fifth. Of Elizur Wright no mili- tary record has yet been found, though the fact is known that he served in one of the Colonial wars. He was Town Moderator of Northfield and a leading man of that place.
The name of Benoni Wright (or Benony, as it is sometimes spelled) occurs several times in the Massachusetts military archives, once in an account of the garrison soldiers at Northfield (The Third Soldiery), from May 31 to July 24, 1772, vol. 91, p. 30, and again as follows : -
"A muster roll of the company in his Maj-
WILLIAM J. WRIGHT.
و
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esty's service under command of Samuel Ber- nard, Captain. Benony Wright, Northamp- ton, July 24 to November 20, 1772, service I7 weeks, I day, for wages due £8, 1Is., 5d." Vol. 91, p. 48.
"An account of the soldiers' names under ye command of Capt. Joseph Kellogg, in his Majesty's service at Northfield - part of his company at Dearfield. Benoni Wright." Vol. 91, p. 100.
"A muster roll of the company in his Maj- esty's service under the command of Joseph Kellogg of Suffield, Captain, Benoni Wright, Corporal, Northfield, Nov. 20, May 19, 26 weeks." Vol. 91, p. 101. See also vol. 91, p. 237, and vol. 91, p. 240; vol. 92, p. 79; vol. 92, p. 161.
The name of Moses Wright, of Northfield, may be found in the military archives of Mas- sachusetts, where it appears (in vol. 92, p. 98) as one of a list of men posted at Fort Pelham under command of Samuel Child in 1747. On p. 116, same volume, it appears on the muster roll of the company under Captain Eleazer Melvin in 1748, his term of service being given as eleven weeks, and pay £5, 14s., 4d. It is also on the muster roll of Captain Phineas Stevens' company, October 21, 1748, to April 13, 1749 (vol. 92, p. 201), and on the roll of the "company in his Majesty's ser- vice under the command of John Carlin, Cap- tain," dated Deerfield, November 29, 1749. In a manuscript volume entitled "Minutes of Counsel of Appointment, vol. 1," in the cus- tody of the Regents of the State of New York, the appointment is recorded on October 24, 1778, of Moses Wright as Captain in the com- pany from Rockingham, Cumberland County, N. Y. (now in Vermont), belonging to the First Cumberland County Regiment of the New York militia, which regiment was commanded by Colonel Eleazer Patterson; also that said
regiment was employed in active service in the Revolutionary War. The records in the Rec- ord and Pension Office at Washington, D. C., show that Moses Wright served in the Sixth Company, Third Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel M. Jackson, Revolu- tionary War. His name appears on the com- pany muster roll for August and September, 1783, dated October 14, 1783, which bears the remarks: "Term of enlistment, 5, 22; time since last muster or enlistment, July 31."
The records in the above-named office also show that Ebenezer Wright served as a private in Captain Joseph Esterbrook's company, in Colonel Bedel's New Hampshire Regiment, Revolutionary War. His name appears on a pay-roll dated at Montreal, April 26, 1776, without remark. On the Revolutionary rolls in the archives of the State of New Hampshire the name of Ebenezer Wright appears on the "Pay roll of Capt. Joseph Esterbrook's com- pany in Col. Bedel's regiment raised by order of the Continental Congress in the Colony of New Hampshire in defence of the liberties of America. Joined the Northern Continental Army, 1776."
Thomas Russell, a great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch on the maternal side, took an active part against the British in the Revolutionary War, the records .in the Adjutant-general's office at Hartford, Conn., showing that he "marched from the town of Wethersfield as private for the relief of Boston in the Lexington alarm, April 1775; number of days in service, six." "Served as private in Captain Squire Hill's Company, Samuel McClellan's regiment. Arrived in camp July I, 1775. (This company engaged until March Ist, 1776)." The records of the State of New Hampshire at Concord show the name of Thomas Russell as a private in Captain Philip Putnam's Company, Colonel Nahum
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Baldwin's regiment, raised in September, 1776, and sent into the State of New York. This regiment was in the battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776, and was dismissed early in December, 1776. A roll-call of Colonel Benjamin Bellows' regiment of militia in the State of New Hampshire, which regiment reinforced the garrison at Ticon -; deroga when besieged by the British in June, 1777, mentions Thomas Russell as a private, engaged June 28, 1777; discharged, July 9, 1777. .
John S. Wright, son of Ebenezer Wright, M. D., was born June 30, 1788, in Plainfield, Vt., and started in business in Thetford, that State, when a very young man, his associate being George Peabody, later the famous banker (of London, England). In 1824 Mr. Wright went to Boston, and for a number of years he was engaged in the management of one of the banks of that city. In 1832, as a member of the firm of Parks, Wright & Co., he engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods, and the house established at that time became one of the permanent and reliable commercial concerns of Boston. Although, as the years went on, there were some changes in the firm name, which was at one time Wright & Whit- man and subsequently J. S. & E. Wright, the management included from the beginning one or more of the same partners, and Mr. Wright was always at the head. The firm controlled an immense business, representing seventeen large manufacturing companies; and its annual sales amounted to upward of fifteen million dollars. Having passed safely through the commercial crash of 1857, the house had an established reputation for financial solidity, and its mercantile credit was always remark- ably high. Mr. Wright was seldom absent from his counting-room in business hours, even during his last years, and was prompt and
methodical as he wished his clerks to be. Honest and upright, he was just to all men, and a kind and true friend. He required of no one what he would not have done himself under the same circumstances; and it was by his close and conscientious application to busi- ness that he accumulated his immense fortune - over two million dollars. He left his home in Brookline for his place of business Friday morning, June 27, 1874, and during the day was slightly indisposed. The trouble he at- tributed to indigestion, and expected to be able to resume his duties on Monday; but on Sunday he began to lose strength, and gradu- ally sank into the last long sleep, passing away apparently without pain. He retained his faculties and was able to recognize the different members of his family up to within a few hours of his death. His last day on earth - June 29, 1874 - closed his eighty- sixth year, June 30 being his birthday.
Mr. John S. Wright left three sons: John Harvey Wright, United States Navy; Eben Wright, of the firm of which he was the senior member; and George Wellman Wright, of Duxbury; and two daughters - Mary Eliza- beth and Esther Fidelia. John Harvey Wright was for many years Acting Surgeon in the United States Navy. He subsequently left the service and was on the retired list of the Medical Board until his death. Upon his retirement he became a member of the firm of J. S. and E. Wright & Co.
Mary Elizabeth Wright, the elder daughter, mother of the subject of this sketch, married Mr. Charles H. Todd, who was for years inti- mately connected with leaders of commerce on the north Atlantic coast, and who had an ex- tensive acquaintance in diplomatic circles in this country and Europe. His father sent out whalers and merchant vessels to all parts of the known world, from Newburyport, Mass.
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Equipped with a fortune Charles H. Todd started in business in Boston at the age of twenty-one as head of a dry-goods and silk house; but his inexperience led to failure, and in 1846 he accepted the position of special agent at Washington for the New England merchants in relation to the pending tariff bill.
His business kept him in Washington about a year, and while there he established an inti- mate personal friendship with Webster, Clay, Douglas, and other prominent men of the time which lasted actively for years. Returning to Boston after the tariff bill passed, Mr. Todd was engaged for some time in fitting vessels for whaling and the South American trade. In 1849 he went to California to make arrange- ments to send his vessels there; but the under- taking was too expensive for his resources, and in a year or two he returned east and became a member of the New York firm of which An- thony Bleecker was head, making his home in New York City.
In 1860 he went abroad as agent for a syndi- cate, and procured a grant for a ship canal through Denmark from the government of that country. In Copenhagen he became intimate with Mr. Buchanan, the representative of the United States government there. Stopping over in London on his way back in the spring, Mr. Todd was joined by Mr. Buchanan. The latter had allowed his salary to run for several months, and was afraid the government might refuse to pay it, as it was known that he was in sympathy with the South. Mr. Todd took him to Baring Brothers, who honored his draft for the salary due; and Mr. Buchanan was so grateful for this favor that he pressed social attentions on Mr. Todd and introduced him to Yancey, Slidell, Mason, and other Confeder- ate agents who were in London. The meeting with these gentlemen, however, resulted in trouble, for Mr. Todd was a strong Unionist
and sharp words passed between him and Yan- cey. Mr. Buchanan interfered, saying that, as Mr. Todd was his friend and the meeting was supposed to be merely social, he would resent any indignity put upon him; and, if Yancey wanted to fight, Mr. Buchanan was ready, in behalf of his guest, to meet him. No duel took place, however, though the gentle- men parted in anger. On his return to the States Mr. Todd reported the occurrence to Secretary Seward, and by Mr. Seward's re- quest to President Lincoln. The President asked Mr. Todd to remain in Washington, and in a few days Mr. Seward sent for him and offered to send him to England as the secret agent of the government ; but he pro- tested that he had no aptitude for detective work and must act openly if at all ; so the mat- ter was dropped. The Rebellion spoiled the plans of the syndicate for the Danish Canal ; and Mr. Todd resided in New York until 1869. In that year and the year following he had financial charge of the construction of the water works for the city of Portland, Me. The ensuing seven years he spent in travel with his wife. Their return voyage, in 1877, was his forty-fourth trans-Atlantic trip. Mr. Todd, who had a leaning toward liberalism, was especially fond of theological research, and left many writings to support his views, including a synopsis of the entire Bible, which he compiled. He died in Nyack, N.J., his place of residence for about a year, in Febru- ary, 1885, aged seventy-three.
William J. Wright was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., November 11, 1846, and was baptized on the United States sloop "Brandywine," on which his parents were passengers, en route for San Francisco. In that city he spent the first seven years of his life. In his fifteenth year he went to France, and, entering the In- stitut. de France at Asnières, a military
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school in the suburbs of Paris, took a three years' course of training, and was subsequently graduated. Returning to America, December 25, 1860, he was received as a cadet in the Highland Military Academy at Worcester, Mass. Here he took a four years' course, and attained the rank of First Lieutenant; also of Acting Adjutant, drilling the cadets and having entire charge in the absence of Captain Baxter. In the meanwhile, in 1863, while at this institution, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Forty second Regiment, Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, under General Burrell for a three months' term of service, and was with the army, campaigning in the Shenandoah Valley under General Auger, tak- ing part in a number of skirmishes and engagements.
Receiving an honorable discharge he re- turned to Massachusetts and for a number of years was associated with the Boston house of J. S. & E. Wright, being subsequently con- nected with their New York branch. For some time previous to his going to New York, Mr. Wright had spent much of his leisure time in Duxbury, and in 1868 he became a perma- nent resident of this town. He has long been actively identified with the town government and institutions, and his influence and knowl- edge of the world have had a marked effect on the progress of the place. He is a member of the Duxbury Democratic Committee, of which he was Chairman for a number of years; in 1890 and 1891 he represented in the State legislature what was the twelfth and is now the second district, serving on the Committee on Street Railways. He has always been influential in legislation, affecting State highways, and is Chairman of the board of that name in Duxbury. He is ex-President of Marshfield Fair, having served as President several years. He is a Trustee of Partridge
Academy, of Duxbury ; has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Duxbury Free Library ever since the founding of that insti- tution; and as a Justice of the Peace he has been for a great many years identified with important legal transactions.
Mr. Wright is a member of William Wads- worth Post, No. 165, Grand Army of the Re- public, of Duxbury, and of the Duxbury Yacht Club. Among the Boston social organizations with which he is connected are the Somerset Club, headquarters on Beacon Street ; the Al- gonquin Club, headquarters on Commonwealth Avenue; and the Easton Yacht Club. He is also a member of the far-famed Country Club of Brookline; of the Kingston Yacht Club ; and of the Old Colony Club, of Plymouth.
ARTIN HATCH, a prosperous box- manufacturer of Pembroke, was born here on August 29, 1833, son of Deacon Isaac and Lavina (Allen) Hatch. This highly respected family is of English ex- traction. William, the earliest known ances- tor in America, was a native of Sandwich, Kent County, England. He came to this country in 1633, and the records show that the same year he became a freeman of the incorpo- rated town of Plymouth. He went back to England, not very long after, and in March, 1635, returned to Massachusetts with his wife and five children, and settled in Scituate. His son William married Abigail, daughter of John Hewes, a Welshman, who formerly lived in Plymouth, but who in 1632 settled in Scituate.
Walter Hatch, another son of the first Will- iam, and the next in ancestral line now being traced, was born in England about 1625. He was a ship-builder in Scituate, having a ship- yard located a mile below Union Bridge; and
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