USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 63
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'REDERICK HOWARD, who, during his long and active career was one of the most esteemcd residents of Brock- ton, was born in this town (then known as the North Parish of Bridgewater), February 14, 1815. He is a descendant of John Howard, who came from England, and settled first in Duxbury, and later, about 1651, in West Bridgewater. John Howard is said to have lived, when a lad, in the family of Miles Standish. He was a man of great influence, and was one of the first military officers in Bridgewater. From him Mr. Howard's line of descent is traced through John, second, Robert (who held the title of Captain, and was one of the first settlers of the North Parish), Daniel, and Darius, our subject's father.
Darius Howard married first Sophia, daugh- ter of Jonas Howard, June 3, 1804, and by her had three children. His wife dying August 15, 1807, on June 5, 1808, he married for his second wife, Huldah, daughter of Jonathan Carey. Their family consisted of seven chil- dren, of whom Frederick was the fourth. The father, who died in 1836, was a prominent man in the town, serving at different times as Selectman and Deputy Sheriff.
Frederick Howard, our direct subject, was educated in the common schools of North Bridgewater. At the early age of thirteen he entered the employ of Lysander Howard, dressing and cutting shoes, for which he re- ceived only one shilling per day for the first six months. He remained thus engaged until he was twenty-one, and carncd in that time eleven hundred dollars, half of which he re-
tained, the other half going to his father. He then worked one year for Rufus E. How- ard, in the same 'business, having charge of the cutting department. In 1837 he began for himself in a small way, in the manufact- ure of boots and shoes, which he carried on six years, when failing health compelled him to relinquish it. From that time until his death he dealt in real estate, and also was en- gaged to some extent in the settlement of es- tates. He was a Director of the North Bridgewater Bank during its existence, from 1854 to 1865. A Republican in politics, he became prominent in town affairs, and held various positions of responsibility and trust. He was Selectman, Assessor, and Overseer of the Poor (one year, in 1849), and was Special County Commissioner nine years. Of a gen- erous and charitable nature, he expended thousands of dollars in acts of private benevo- lence. Though an octogenarian, and an in- valid for some time prior to his death, his mental powers remained bright, and he pre- served a cheerful disposition to the end. His memory will long be honored by the commu- nity in which he spent his life.
BED LINCOLN RIPLEY, the efficient Treasurer of the Rhodes & Ripley Clothing Company of Boston, and an esteemed resident of Hingham, Plymouth County, was born in this town, May 23, 1831, son of Ebed and Leah (Jones) Ripley. The family are of English extraction, the earliest- known ancestor being William, a weaver by trade, who came from England in 1638, and settled in New Hingham. The same year he had a grant of four acres of land, the greater part of which is still held by his descendants. By his first wife, whom he married in Eng- land, he had four children, who came with
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him to America. John, the eldest, married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Hobart, and they had seven children. He died at the age of fifty-two, and his wife at the age of sixty. Peter, their fifth child, and next in line. was born in Hingham in 1668. He was a cooper by trade, and became quite promi- nent in town affairs, serving as Constable in 1708. and as Selectman in 1725. He married Sarah Lassell, daughter of John and Elizabeth Lassell, of Hingham, and they had six chil- dren. The father died at the age of seventy- four, and the mother at seventy. Peter, their second child, born in Hingham, married for his first wife Silence Lincoln, daughter of Caleb and Rachel Lincoln, of this town, and they became the parents of eight children. He was prominent in town affairs, being Con- stable in 1735, and Selectman in 1738 and 1741. He died at the age of sixty-nine years. Nehemiah, their fifth child, married Lydia Hobart, daughter of the Rev. Nehemiah and Lydia Hobart, and they had seven children. He was a farmer by occupation, served as Constable, and died in his forty-third year.
Nehemiah, second child of Nehemiah and Lydia Hobart Ripley, and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Hing- ham in 1755. He lived on the homestead all his life, following agricultural pursuits. He married Priscilla Lincoln, whose mother's maiden name was Mary Burr, and they had nine children. They were members of the First Orthodox Church. He lived to the age of seventy-four years.
Ebed, seventh child of Nehemiah and Pris- cilla Lincoln Ripley, was born in Hingham, November 15, 1793. He learned the trade of a box cooper, and was also land surveyor, which profession he followed through life. In politics he was at first a Whig and later a Republican. He was a hard-working man, and
left a good property at his death, which oc- curred at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, whose maiden name was Leah Jones, was a daughter of Benjamin Jones, of Hing- ham. She had three children - Mary Burr, Joan, and Ebed. Mary Burr Ripley married John K. Carthell, and died leaving three chil- dren - John G., Henry R., and Mary R. Joan Ripley became Mr. Carthell's wife after the death of her sister, and is now his widow. She has one child living, Ella. The father and mother were Unitarians in religious belief ; and the mother died at the age of fifty-eight.
Ebed L. Ripley was educated in the public schools and at' Derby Academy in Hingham. He then went to New London, Conn., where he was employed for one year, after which he returned to Hingham. He subsequently went to Boston, entering the employ of Fearing & Whitney, wholesale clothing dealers, with whom he remained seven years, finally suc- ceeding them as part proprietor, the firm name being changed to Rhodes & Ripley in July, 1855. Later the firm was known under the style of Rhodes, Ripley & Co., until 1896, when it was incorporated as the Rhodes & Ripley Clothing Company, Mr. Ripley becom - ing its Treasurer. Mr. Ripley is a Republi- can politically, and has twice served as dele- gate to national conventions, helping to nomi- nate Blaine and Harrison. He is President of the Hingham Water Company, being one of the prime movers in getting the power es- tablished; President of the Hingham Agri- cultural and Horticultural Society, having held that position for the past sixteen years ; President of the Hingham Cemetery Corpora- tion ; and has been President of the Hingham Co-operative Bank since its organization, hav- ing been actively interested in its establish- ment. He officiates also as Trustee of the Hingham Public Library.
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Mr. Ripley has been twice married. His first wife, Henrietta Hersey by maiden name, was a daughter of Seth S. and Betsy R. Hersey, of Hingham. She died in 1868, at the age of thirty-two, leaving no children. On January 3, 1871, Mr. Ripley married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Henry Mel- ville Hersey, daughter of Henry and Betsy Hersey, and a niece of his first wife. They have seven children, namely: Henry Francis, born March 2, 1872; Ebed R., born Novem- ber 6, 1873; William Ripley, born March I, 1876; Nettie M., born April 12, 1878; Alice, born August 3, 1880; Bessie W., born March 26, 1883; and Reginald L., who was born July 6, 1891. Mr. Ripley is a member of the Masonic order. He and his wife are believers in the Unitarian faith.
AMUEL HERVEY CHURCH, a prosperous agriculturist and highly respected citizen of Hanover, Mass., is a native of this town. He was born at Hanover Four Corners, September 15, 1830, and was the eldest of the seven children of Samuel S. and Sarah (Sylvester) Church, the names of the other six being: Timothy, Julietta S., Sarah E., Mary A., Robert, and Benjamin. Their paternal grandfather was Timothy Church.
After attending the district school and Han- over Academy, at the age of seventeen Sam- uel H. Church began working at the trade of an anchorsmith, at which he served a three years' apprenticeship with John Sylvester, of Hanover; and, after remaining with him another year as journeyman, went to East Wey- mouth. Returning to Hanover at the end of twelve months, he worked at his trade here for a few years, subsequently going to Somerset, and thence to Raynham; from which place,
four years later, he again returned to Hanover, and worked until 1868 at Curtis's anchor works. When the Hanover Railroad was started he held the position of assistant station agent here about ten months, after which he engaged in the coal and grain business for eight months. Mr. Church then sold out, and in 1870 he removed to the farm where he now lives, and is engaged in the saw and grist mill business in addition to his farm work. His homestead contains sixty acres, and he also owns other tracts of land, making in all one hundred and fifty acres.
In 1861 he was married to Miss Ellen C. Gardner. Their only child, a son, Edward G., who was born July 20, 1868, died March II, 1876. Mr. Church is a stanch Republi- can. He has served acceptably in various minor town offices, also as Assessor, Overseer of the Poor, and Selectman from 1877 to 1889 -twelve successive years.
APTAIN JOSHUA L. MACOMBER, an old and respected citizen residing in Mattapoisett, Plymouth County, is one of the large number of men in this lo- cality who, after many years of seafaring life, have engaged successfully in industrial pur- suits. He was born in Mattapoisett, January 16, 1829, and was reared in this town, acquir- ing a limited education. He went to work at the early age of fourteen, and for two years was employed as a clerk in a store in New Bedford. Then, when a lad of sixteen, he started on his nautical career, engaging as cabin boy on the ship "Roman," a New Bed- ford whaler.
The vessel sailed for the whaling grounds of the Pacific Ocean, and was out from port thirty-two months and twenty-seven days. On his return to New Bedford the lad shipped
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again, this time engaging as boat steerer on the ship "Abraham Barker," which was out twenty-three months, cruising in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. His next voyage, which covered thirty-two months, was as third mate of the same vessel, cruising in the Arctic Ocean ; and he was subsequently first mate of the "Abraham Barker " during a forty-five months' cruise in the Arctic Ocean, the Okhotsk Sea, and the North Pacific. His fifth voyage was as first mate of the bark "Martha Q.," of New Bedford, which was out forty-eight months to a day, sailing the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. On his next voyage he left port as mate of the same ship, and, the captain dying when she was out some thirteen months, he was given charge of the vessel.
From beginning to end the voyage was a dis- astrous one. On June 29, 1865, the ship was burned in Behring Straits by the "Shenan- doah," one of the Confederate privateers which were fitted out in Great Britain, through the connivance of the British government, to prey on American commerce; and the crew, with the sailors from seven other vessels, making two hundred and forty men all told, were crowded on one vessel. This arrangement, however, was unsafe for the captors, and part of the men were afterward placed on another vessel. Captain Macomber landed at the Sandwich Islands, went thence to San Fran- cisco, and from there home. On this voyage he was injured by a whale, and his hurt was so serious that he decided to retire from the sea. Accordingly, he located in his present home, and engaged in the manufacture of lum- ber and shingles, establishing a saw-mill in Mattapoisett, which is still under his direc- tion.
Captain Macomber was married May 23, 1853, to Miss Sophronia D. Cowen, who died in 1874. She was the mother of two children
- Susan M. and Elizabeth, who are both with her in the world beyond. In 1876 the Cap- tain was united in matrimony with Miss Mary G. Hiller, who still presides over his house- hold. By this union he has three children: Joshua ; Chloe, a student at Providence Acad- emy; and Seth. A popular member of the Republican party, Captain Macomber has served on the School Board for twenty years, and officiated as Justice of the Peace for six- teen years. In religion he is a member of the Society of Friends.
EORGE E. DAVIS, a well-known resident of Hingham, Mass., en- gaged in business as an ice dealer and expressman, was born in Bombay, Frank- lin County, N.Y., July 11, 1851, son of George W. and Caroline (Jackson) Davis. His grandfather, George E. Davis, first, was a native of Wales, and lived there until he was three years of age, when his father, the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, emi- grated to Connecticut, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. Grandfather Davis married Eunice Butler, of Vermont, and they had ten children. He died at the age of sixty- five, while his wife lived to the advanced age of ninety-six years. His political principles were those of the Republican party, and he was liberal in religion. Serving as a private in the War of 1812, he was wounded, and he drew a pension for many years thereafter.
George W., his second child, and the father of George E., of Hingham, was born in Grand Isle, Vt. At the age of nine years he re- moved with his parents to Bombay, N. Y., where he grew to mahood, being largely self- educated. He studied law, and, besides doing a large business drawing deeds and set- tling' estates, became prominent in town
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affairs, serving as Custom-house Collector for fifteen years, being appointed in 1870. He also officiated as Justice of the Peace for many years. In politics he affiliates with the Re- publican party, and in religion he is liberal. Still a resident of Bombay, and somewhat ad- vanced in life, he is yet hale and hearty. He has met with excellent financial success.
He married Caroline Jackson, and five chil- dren were born to them; namely, Daniel C., James B. (deceased), Martha A., George E., and Laura A. Martha A. is the wife of Dr. H. S. Rockwood, of Bombay, N. Y., and has two living children - George and Henry. Laura A. married H. M. Bero, of Bombay. They have no children. The maternal grand- father, Eliphalet Jackson, was born in Hines- burgh, Vt. At the age of twenty-one he re- moved to Grand River, Canada, and was mar- ried to Martha Willsie. In 1882 they settled at Bombay, N. Y., where they reared a family of seven girls and two boys. Mr. Jackson at- tained the age of eighty-three years. His wife died at about fourscore.
George E. Davis received his early educa- tion in Bombay, N. Y., and from the time he was twelve until he was twenty worked on a farm. For a year and a half after that he was employed in a hotel in his native town. He then came East, and, settling in Cohasset, Mass., remained three years. In 1878 he came to Hingham, where he has continued to the present time, being engaged as an ice dealer and jobber, dealing in hay and grain. In 1881 he established an express route from Nantasket to Boston, which he also still runs. He began his mercantile career in a small way, but he has been so successful that he is now one of the most prominent business men in town. In politics he is identified with the Republican party, but he is not an office- holder. Fraternally, he belongs to the Old
Colony Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; the Old Colony Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; the Royal Arcanum, Warren Council, Boston ; the Hingham Lodge, Knights of Honor; and the Golden Cross organization of Hingham.
Mr. Davis and Ada M. Bero, daughter of Henry Bero, of Bombay, N. Y., were married on Washington's Birthday, 1881. They have five children - William Harry, George W., Veda May, Hazel A., and Warren P.
LLAN LINCOLN SHIRLEY, M.D., of East Bridgewater, is a graduate of Bowdoin College, and a thoroughly qualified physician and surgeon. He was born in Fryeburg, Me., February 15, 1865, son of Franklin and Emily (Page) Shirley, and comes of notable English and New England stock.
His great-great-grandfather, Edward Shirley, who was born in Burton, Devonshire, Eng- land, about 1743, was impressed into military service, and came to this country just before the breaking out of the Revolution. Dislik- ing his impressment, and sympathizing with the colonists, he left the British forces, and fled to General Stark. Fearing discovery and punishment as a deserter, he was kept in hid- ing when not assisting the General in building his house. Edward Shirley subsequently set- tled in Fryeburg, Me., and there Jonathan, Edward (third), and Franklin, respectively the great-grandfather, grandfather, and father of Dr. Shirley, were born.
In England the Shirleys were connected by marriage with the Washingtons. It is re- corded that Lawrence Washington, of Gray's Inn, ancestor of George Washington, who served as Mayor of Northampton, and in 1538 received from Henry VIII. the manor of Sul- grave, married a daughter of Shirley, Earl Ferrars. If this is correct, Shirley blood
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flowed in George Washington's veins. Eliza- beth Washington, grand-daughter of Sir Law- rence Washington, of Garsdon, Wiltshire, second son of the first Lawrence, married Robert Shirley, Baron Ferrars, of Chartley, afterward Earl Ferrars.
Franklin Shirley, Dr. Shirley's father, is a well educated man. For some time he man- aged a farm of six hundred acres in Fryeburg, his own property; and he was also in trade there, retailing general merchandise, and was engaged in the manufacture and sale of lum- ber. His wife, Emily (Page) Shirley, was a descendant of Cornelius Page, probably a na- tive of Dedham, England, who settled in Haverhill, Mass., about 1660. His great- grandson, Colonel David Page, the great- great-grandfather of Dr. Shirley, was one of the original seven who went from Pennacook (now Concord, N.H., ) in 1763, into the Maine wilderness, and settled "Seven Lots, " now the town of Fryeburg. He and others of the seven had been in the French War with Rogers, participating in the daring exploits of "Rogers' Rangers "; and in one of the lake fights he was wounded in the leg by a musket ball. Colonel David Page was for many years an acting magistrate of Fryeburg; and he was one of the first Trustees of Fryeburg Acad- emy, appointed in 1792. Dr. Shirley's great- grandfather and grandfather, Robert and Albion Page, lived and died in Fryeburg; and there his mother, too, passed her life, and closed her eyes in death.
It is, perhaps, from the maternal side of his family that Dr. Shirley inherited his bent for medicine. Dr. Horatio N. Page, formerly of Brewer, Me., and later of Chelsea, Mass., was his great-uncle; Dr. Alpheus F. Page, of Bucksport, Me., and Samuel Bradley, of Old- town, Me., whose mother was a Page, were his mother's cousins; Dr. William Page, of
Brunswick, Me., was his grandfather's cousin ; and the Hon. Jonathan Page, M.D., who prac- tised in Brunswick, Me., before the medical college was established there, and who also taught medicine, often having a large number of students under his instruction, was a son of Colonel David Page. He was an original member of the Maine Medical Society, and was Overseer of Bowdoin College for upward of twenty years. He was a statesman as well as a physician, a member of the Maine Senate in 1812, 1820, and 1821, and a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1819-20. His house in Brunswick was spacious, and his dis- position hospitable; and many distinguished guests rested under his roof. The celebrated Scotch anatomist, Dr. Alexander Ramsey, who gave courses of anatomical lectures in this country, illustrated by his own specimens, was entertained at Dr. Page's house when he lect- ured in Brunswick.
Allan Lincoln Shirley in his boyhood at- tended the public schools of Fryeburg, and later Fryeburg Academy, where he was gradu- ated in 1886. Immediately after he took up the study of medicine with Dr. D. Lowell Lamson, of Fryeburg, a man of rare scholar- ship, a graduate of the University Medical College of New York City. A year and a half with Dr. Lamson gave the young man a broad insight into the theory and practice of medicine. His studies were continued at Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1890, and in the Maine General Hospital in Portland; for soon after entering college he moved from Fryeburg to that city. In September, 1890, he engaged in regular practice in East Bridgewater, succeeding Dr. Asa Millet (now deceased), who then retired ; and, though in professional work here but a short time, he has a large and lucrative prac- tice, and enjoys the confidence of his patrons.
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Dr. Shirley is an enthusiastic student, and embraces every opportunity to visit the Bos- ton hospitals, and study the different forms of disease, and the latest methods of surgery. He has been Chairman of the East Bridge- water Board of Health two years, and has been a member of that body for a much longer period; and he belongs to the Village Im- provement Club. In politics he is a Repub- lican.
ILLIAM L. CHIPMAN, clerk of the Fourth District Court of Plymouth, and an esteemed resident of the town of Wareham, was born November 2, 1836, in Randolph, Norfolk County, Mass., a son of Lloyd and Hannah R. Chipman.
Lloyd Chipman in his early life was a stage driver between Providence and Boston. After the completion of the railway between those cities he removed to Wareham, where he was proprietor and manager of a hotel until his death, in 1865. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah R. White. She bore him three children, as follows: William L., sub- ject of this brief biographical sketch; Sarah E. ; and George W., who died in 1884. The mother, Mrs. Hannah R. Chipman, died April 26, 1879.
William L. Chipman was reared to man- hood in the town of Wareham, receiving his education in the public schools and at Peirce Academy in Middleboro. He was subsequently employed as a clerk for his father in the hotel until 1860, when he was appointed Deputy Sheriff and Constable, an office in which he served one term. He then accepted the posi- tion of clerk in the office of Trial Justice William Bates, afterward continuing some years in the samc office with Seth Miller, Esq., who succeeded Mr. Bates as Trial Justice. In addition to his office duties, Mr.
Chipman was also Collector, as such having charge of a good deal of business. In 1874 he became clerk of the Fourth District Court of Plymouth, an office which he has acceptably filled for more than a score of years. Since 1872 he has been Notary Public and Justice of the Peace. In politics Mr. Chipman is an adherent of the Republican party, and is an advocate of the temperance cause, practising as he preaches in this regard, as he has never used liquor in any form. He has never been an aspirant for political honors, but served for many years as Town Auditor.
Mr. Chipman and Miss Hannah J. Hinck- ley, a daughter of Alpheus and Abbie (Bum- pus) Hinckley, of Wareham, were united in marriage on January 14, 1874. They have a pleasant home, and are the parents of three children; namely, George W., Abbie F., and Paul L. Chipman.
EORGE C. HOWARD, the popular and efficient Superintendent of Schools in the towns of East Bridge- water, West Bridgewater, and Raynham, who resides with his widowed mother in their pleasant rural home in West Bridgewater, is a native of this town. He was born October 2, 1860, a son of Elam and Keziah (Wilbur) Howard, the former of whom was born in West Bridgewater, and the latter in Bridgewater, Mass.
Elam Howard was a son of Thomas Howard, and was a lineal descendant of John Howard, one of the early settlers of West Bridgewater. A lifelong farmer, he died here in November, 1876, survived by his widow and several chil- dren, namely: Hepsie, wife of Elijah Smith; Ida, wife of Heman Stranger; Helen, wife of Josiah W. Foye; Edith, wife of W. H. Washburn; Grace, wife of M. A. Kingman;
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and George C. Mary A., who married Joseph Bullard; and Alice, formerly wife of William Michie, are deceased.
After acquiring a knowledge of the common English branches in the public schools of West Bridgewater, George C. Howard, having decided to devote himself to educational work, took a complete course at the State Normal School at Bridgewater, Mass., where he was graduated in 1882, having earned the money to defray his expenses during the last two years. For a number of years he was em- ployed as a teacher, being successively prin- cipal of the Sprague Grammar School at Brockton, and of the Mattapoisett High School, and all this time making a special study of the theory and practice of teach- ing. In April, 1895, he was elected Super- intendent of the schools of East Bridge- water, West Bridgewater, and Raynham, and in 1896 he was re-elected to the same posi- tion.
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