USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts > Part 65
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Mr. Thayer was for several years a member of the Republican Town Committee, and ill 1885 represented the towns of Duxbury, Kingston, and Plympton in the Massachusetts legislature. His honorable record as a busi- ness man gives him a valuable prestige in mercantile centres, and his high standing in the community is the result of his natural ability and upright principles.
Mr. Thayer married Josephine B. Sampson, of Pembroke, Mass., and has two children, namely: La Forest, who is in business with his father; and Emily, who is residing at home. Mr. Thayer is a member of Kingston Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Whitman; and a comrade of Post Wadsworth, No. III, Grand Army of the Republic, of Duxbury.
RANK M. REYNOLDS, of Hull, Mass., a competent house painter, was born in Boston, September 12, 1861, son of Frank M,, Sr., and Elizabeth A.
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(Raey) Reynolds. His paternal grandfather, William H. Reynolds, was a native of Derry, N. H., where he lived on a farm. In politics he was a Republican. He and his wife, Ellen Adams, of that town, were highly re- spected members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They had four children.
Their son, Frank M., Sr., was born in Derry, and, after acquiring his education, went to Boston at the age of eighteen, to make his fortune. Until the breaking out of the Civil War he was engaged as a teamster. Enlisting in the Third Massachusetts Battery in 1861, he served till the close of the war, being in active service most of the time. Among the noted battles in which he took part were Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Lookout Mountain. On his return from the war he resumed his old business, teaming for the large market in Boston. He was a hard-work- ing man, and acquired a competency for those days. He married Elizabeth A. Raey, a na- tive of Portland, Me. In politics he was a Republican; and in religion he and his wife were of the Methodist faith, and were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died at the age of forty-nine, survived by his wife, who is a resident of Brighton, Mass., and in good health, and by Frank M., their only child.
After he was graduated from the Cambridge High School, Frank M. Reynolds learned the trade of house painter ; and in 1878 he settled in Hull, where he has continued the business ever since. He has been prominently identi- fied with town affairs, having officiated as Constable twelve years, and being now a mem- ber of the police force. For the past five years he has been Captain of the fire depart- ment ; and in 1894 he was appointed Post- master, which office. he still holds. Frater- nally, he belongs to the American Order of
Red Men of Boston and to the Pilgrim Fathers Lodge of Hingham. In November, 1884, he was married to Mary E. Fitts, of Charlestown, Mass. They have had three children - Frank M., Jr., Victor H., and Pearl G. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which they are active members.
HARLES SIMMONS at the present time is successfully engaged in gen- eral farming in a small way in Nor- well, Plymouth County, Mass., but in years gone by was prominently identified with the fire department of the city of Boston. He was born December 8, 1825, in Norwell, then South Scituate. His parents were Sylvanus and Elizabeth (Wheelwright) Simmons, who had seven other sons and two daughters.
The first fifteen years of his life Charles Simmons passed with his parents on the homestead farm, which he then left to try the life of a sailor for two years. He next went to Boston, and, after serving a five years' ap- prenticeship at the carpenter's trade, took up the ship-joinery business, at which he was profitably engaged for twenty-six years. For a like period, from 1848 to 1874, he was a member of the Boston Fire Department, be- longing to Hook and Ladder Division No. 2, of which he was foreman twenty years. This was the second fire company organized in the city of Boston. While connected with it, Mr. Simmons went through the great fire of 1873, which destroyed a large part of the business centre of the city. In 1876 he came to Nor- well, and purchased the forty-six-acre farm which he now owns and carries on. From 1884-85 he was a Selectman of Norwell. He has served five years as Highway Sur- veyor, and also acceptably filled the offices of
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Assessor and Overseer of the Poor. In poli- tics he is a Republican.
Mr. Simmons was married in 1847 to Miss Susan Seavey. They have had eight children, of whom six are now living.
ARREN PEIRCE, M.D., one of the leading medical practitioners of Plymouth, and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in Tyngsboro, Mass., September 21, 1840, son of Dr. Augustus and Alicia O. (Butterfield) Peirce.
Genealogists speak of this name as a com- mon one in England, and spelled in many differents ways, as Piers, Peirce, Peers, Pearce, Piercy, and other forms. The Earls of Northumberland, a very ancient house, de- rive their name "Percy," it is said, from Percy Forest in Normandy, their original seat. Several of the representatives of the Peirce family in America have been more or less celebrated. President Franklin Pierce, it is said, was a kinsman of Dr. Warren Peirce's grandfather, whose wife was related to Artemas Ward. The Doctor is also de- scended from the Farrars.
Augustus Peirce, son of the Rev. Warren Peirce and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in New Salem, Mass., March 20, 1803. His elementary studies were acquired under a private tutor ; and, when very young, he entered Harvard, where he was graduated previous to attaining his majority, being the youngest member of his class. During his collegiate course he displayed rare literary gifts, which attracted the notice of the profes- sors and the outside world; and he wrote while in his Senior year a humorous epic poem, entitled "The Rebellia," which had the honor of being mentioned by the Harvard Register. The original manuscript is now preserved at
the Harvard Library. He maintained through life a deep interest in literature, and was a frequent contributor to the New England Gazette. After graduating from college, he studied medicine with Dr. George C. Shat- tuck, of Boston, some time later locating for practice in Nashua; and in 1839, at the re- quest of Dr. Thomas, he removed from there to Tyngsboro, where he resided until his death, which took place May 20, 1849. He joined the Boylston Medical Society in 1822, and was also a member of the Massachusetts State Medical Society. Dr. Augustus Peirce was twice married; and by his union with his first wife, Mary Clark, a ward of the elder George C. Shattuck, of Boston, he had three children. His second wife, Alicia O. Butter- field, daughter of Joseph Butterfield, who was Deputy Sheriff in Lowell, Mass., for nearly fifty years, became the mother of five children, of whom Warren, the subject of this sketch, was the second-born.
Warren Peirce attended Winslow Academy, where he completed the usual course of study, later fitting for college under the tutorship of Nathaniel Cootheran; and, after spending some time with his grandfather in Lowell, he studied medicine for a year with Dr. Edward A. Perkins, of Boston. On July 29, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company K, Four- teenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, which later became known as the First Massa- chusetts Heavy Artillery; and three weeks after his enlistment he was detailed as Hos- pital Steward, in which capacity he served for nearly two years. He was then appointed Second Lieutenant in the Thirty-sixth United States Colored Infantry, stationcd at Point Lookout, where fifty thousand prisoncrs, in- cluding the Confederate, General J. B. B. Stewart, were confincd; and in July, 1864, his regiment was attached to the Twenty-fifth
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Corps, and ordered to the front at Petersburg. Lieutenant Peirce remained at the principal seat of operations, which finally culminated in the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Court-house; and, coming up in the rear of the Confederate Army, he was the third Fed- eral soldier to enter Richmond. His regi- ment was then stationed along the Weldon Railroad for a while, later going to Lincoln Camp at Light-house Point, from which place it was ordered to Texas, where it remained for a considerable length of time. Lieutenant Peirce received his discharge from the service October 28, 1866, having been in active duty nearly every day since his enlistment; and the only injuries he received were a slight wound in his little finger, and another in his leg. Upon his return from the army he resumed the study of medicine with Dr. John G. Met- calf; and after graduating from the Harvard Medical School, March 10, 1869, he in 1870 began the practice of his profession in Sterl- ing, Mass. Removing to West Boylston in 1873, he remained there until 1880, when he took up his residence in Plymouth, where he has practised with the most gratifying success for the past sixteen years.
On October 10, 1867, Dr. Peirce was united in marriage with Anna Warren Hastings, youngest child of C. P. Hastings, a prominent lawyer of Worcester County, and a niece of the Hon. William S. Hastings, formerly a member of Congress from this State. Dr. and Mrs. Peirce have two sons living, namely : Arthur W. K., who is now in South Africa, where he is electrical engineer at the Limmer and Jack Gold Mine, which is the largest of its kind in the world; and Thomas Hastings Gage Peirce, a graduate of the Plymouth High School, who is now with the Electric Light Company here.
In politics Dr. Peirce is a Democrat, and
while residing in Sterling he was a member of the Board of Health. He has been for several years a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of which he was at one time a Coun- sellor; was a comrade of James A. Pratt Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Sterling, which he named, later joining George A. Wells Post at Boylston; was connected with Centennial Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of West Boylston, and has advanced in Masonry to the Knight Templar degree, having been a member of Worcester Com- mandery.
ARREN A. HOWARD, formerly a shoe manufacturer, now a retired farmer of Brockton, was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, in Decem- ber, 1839. He is a son of Darius Howard, a prominent business man, who is still living here.
Warren A. Howard, after attending public schools in his native town, completed his edu- cation at a private school in Medford, where he was graduated. Entering his father's factory in 1858, he remained three years; and in 1861 he began the manufacture of shoes, managing the plant alone for two years, then becoming associated with D. S. Howard, under the style of D. S. & W. A. Howard. Seven years later he built a factory on Crescent Street, where he remained twenty years, being one of the first men to introduce machine work in the city, using the first Mckay Sewing Ma- chine. In 1890 Mr. Howard retired to his farm, where he has resided ever since.
He was united in marriage with M. Agnes, daughter of Lorenzo Stetson, of Kingston, in I 862. They have three children, one of whom married Dr. Ripley. One son, a grad- uate of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, is now employed by the Erie Railroad
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as civil engineer. In politics Mr. Howard is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of Paul Revere Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Sa- tucket Royal Arch Chapter, and also Bay State Commandery, Knights Templars.
ERNARD GLANCY, one of the brave "boys in blue" who fought in the Civil War for the preserva- tion of the Union and the freedom of the slave, and who is now a resident of Middle- boro, Mass., is a native of this town, having been born here, August 25, 1842.
In his infancy Bernard Glancy was taken by his parents to Boston, where he grew to manhood and was educated. When sixteen years of age, he began working at cabinet-mak- ing, which he followed in Boston for nine months, and then in Springfield, Mass., for a like period. Returning to Boston, he was engaged in carpentering until 1861, when he enlisted in Company E of the "Roxbury Rifles." They first went to Fort Indepen- dence, and afterward were made a part of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Mr. Glancy subsequently joined Company D of the Eighteenth Massachusetts Volunteers.
The first engagement in which he took part was at Fairfax Court-house; and from that time on he was present at every battle in which the Army of the Potomac took part, until at Chancellorsville, May, 1863, he was made prisoner. He was taken to Libby Prison. After fifty-six days' confinement there, days of extreme privation and suffering, he and another soldier succeeded in getting out, and he rejoined his regiment the 5th of July. At the battle of Bull Run he received a bullet wound in the right leg above the ankle. A few hours later he was struck by a shell, and on regaining consciousness found
himself a prisoner. Hle was first taken to Robinson's tavern, where he remained three. days, then to Lynchburg for a few days, and from there to Orange Court-house. He was next confined in Downsville, N.C., and a few days later taken to Andersonville Prison, where he was kept from May I to September 30, when he again began his enforced journey- ings from one Rebel prison to another, going first to Florence. From there he succeeded in making an escape, but only to be recaptured and taken to Salisbury, N.C., and thence to Mobile, Ala. The same night of his arrival in Mobile, he again succeeded in eluding his captors, but was retaken. Undaunted by his former fruitless attempts, he made a third trial, which proved successful, and he wended his way on foot to the Northern Army, finally reaching it in safety.
After his honorable discharge, May 23, 1865, Mr. Glancy returned to Massachusetts, and went to Waltham, but was unable to per- form any labor until the fall of the next year, when he went to work in the Waltham woollen factory. In 1885 he came to Middleboro, and purchased the homestead on which he now re- sides, a farm of thirty-five acres. He is a re- spected member of Post No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic, of Middleboro; also of the Union Veteran's Union, in which he is "Colo- nel of the command."
LFRED HENRY HERSEY, a well- known summer resident of Hingham, Mass., was born in Boston, April 18, 1841, son of Alfred C. and Mary Ann (Barrett) Hersey. He is a lineal descendant of William Hersey, who settled in Hingham in 1635. Laban Hersey, father of Alfred C., was a native of Hingham and a tanner, his plant being located on the land now owned by
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Alfred Henry, the subject of this biography. In politics he was a Whig, and he served as Captain of the militia. He married Celia Barnes, daughter of Cornelius Barnes; and they had eight children. Laban Hersey died at the age of seventy-eight, while his wife lived to be eighty-nine years old. In relig- ious belief they were Unitarians.
Alfred C., their youngest son, was a native of this town. For the first few years of his commercial career he was engaged in the dry- goods business, thereafter becoming a ship- owner in Boston. and trading with the East Indies and Southern ports. He built two vessels in Hingham, at one time being owner in over forty vessels. In 1866 he retired, con- tinuing to spend his winters in Boston and the summers in Hingham, where he owned one hundred and fifty acres of land, and car- ried on farming. In politics he was a Repub- lican, but he was not prominent in political affairs. In his younger days he served as Captain of the militia. He was a Director of the United States Insurance Company, also a Trustee of the Nautical School Ship; and he built the South Shore Railroad in 1849, be- coming its first president, and being for seven years the largest stockholder. Mr. Hersey was also a Director of the Hingham Steamboat Company for several years. In Boston he was an extensive holder of real estate, being one of the largest owners on Commercial Wharf, where his office was located for twenty years ; and he was also lessee of Mercantile Wharf during that time. Financially, he was very successful, leaving a large property at his de- mise. He married Mary Ann Barrett; and they had one child, Alfred Henry. They were Unitarians in religion. Mr. Alfred C. Hersey died at the age of eighty-four; and his wife, when she was seventy-four.
Alfred Henry Hersey in his early years
attended Chauncy Hall School, Boston, and later completed his education at Dummer Academy in Byfield, Mass. He then entered his father's employ, remaining four years, when ill-health compelled him to seek past- ures new. He then began farming on the old homestead in Hingham, to which he gladly returns each summer from his home in Boston. He employs several men, who work the farm under his supervision. In politics Mr. Her- sey affiliates with the Democratic party. Fraternally, he is identified with various or- ganizations, among them the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Hingham, the Massa- chusetts Horticultural Society, the New Eng- land Historical Society, and the Bostonian Society. He is a Trustee of the Pilgrim So- ciety of Plymouth, Mass. Personally, he is a man of quick perception, and is a great lover of literature, owning a fine library, in which he spends considerable time.
On March 1, 1862, he was united in mar- riage to Mary H. Gibson, of New Ipswich, N. H., a daughter of Dr. Henry Gibson. By this alliance there were two children, both of whom are dead. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Hersey are of the Unitarian faith.
PRED L. SPRAGUE, D.D.S., a suc- cessful and popular dentist of Rock- land, Mass., is the only son of Frank- lin and Sarah E. (Farrar) Sprague, and was born in Boston. Franklin Sprague was a na- tive of Hingham, and his wife also was born in Plymouth County. They became the par- ents of two children: Helen Francis who is the wife of Charles Emsen; and Fred L. Dr. Sprague's father is at present living in Han- over, Mass., where he is a special agent for a large life insurance company.
Fred L. Sprague spent the greater part of
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.
his youth in Boston, where he enjoyed the best of opportunities for obtaining a good edu- cation. He was graduated from the grammar schools, and subsequently from the English High School of that city. Having marked musical talent, he was sent by his father to the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he studied for a long time, acquiring great profi- ciency in the art. Unfortunately, he now has little time to devote to this accomplishment. In 1889, the same year that he left the Con- servatory of Music with graduation honors, he began the study of dentistry at the Boston Dental College. On coming to Rockland, he entered the office of Dr. Saville, where he re- mained for a period of two years. He then opened an office of his own, and, establishing himself on an independent basis, has built up a successful practice within a very short time. He keeps abreast of all modern ideas and im- provements, and his business has increased to such an extent that he is usually obliged to employ two assistants.
Dr. Sprague is a stanch Republican in his political principles, although he will not con - sent to take any active part in politics. Fra- ternally, he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Rockland.
OBERT T. C. SPOONER, plumber, steam and gas fitter, with placc of business at 257 Main Strect, Brock- ton, was born in New Bedford, Mass., March 29, 1863. His father, Benjamin Spooner, was born in Newport, R.I. In his early man- hood he was a tallow chandler, and the latter part of his life was spent on a farm in West- port, Mass. He attended worship at the Bap- tist church. His wife, whose maiden name was Allen, is a native of Westport, Mass. She is the mother of two children, namely :
Robert T. C .; and a sister, who is marricd and lives in New Bedford.
Robert T. C. Spooner was cducated in the common schools of Westport. He went to work at the age of sixteen as a farm hand in Westport, and after six months of agricultural labor began to learn the plumber's trade. He served an apprenticeship with Wood Bright- man, of Westport, remaining six months longer than the required time, and then en- tered the employ of R. G. Shepard, of Brock- ton, with whom he remained six years. Forming a partnership then with Mr. Fred Brown, under the name of Brown & Spooner, he was in business for six months on Centre Street. Then, purchasing his partner's in- terest, he removed to the building now occu- pied by the Brockton Times, and there for four or five years he managed a growing and prosperous business. On New Year's Day, 1895, he opened his present establishment to the public, who continue to give him a liberal patronage. When Mr. Spooner started in business he and his partner did all the work themselves. He now employs twelve men on an average, plumbing, gas fitting, and sct- ting up heating apparatus. Some of the larg- est contracts in the city have been awarded him, including the plumbing in the W. L. Douglas factory, and that in C. C. Merritt's new residence, for which he received two thousand dollars. A careful and reliable workman, he takes pains to satisfy his pa- trons, and the success which he has achieved is honestly earned.
Mr. Spooner was married on Thanksgiving Day, 1886, to Myra, daughter of Seth Delano, of East Fairhaven, Mass. Politically, hc favors the Republican party, but has inde- pendent views, and votes for the candidate best calculated to further the interests of the people. He is a member of Massasoit Lodge,
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No. 69. Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and belongs to the New England Order of Protection.
ENRY M. BOSWORTH, a repre- sentative citizen of the town of Hali- fax, Plymouth County, where he is engaged in farming and conducts a saw-mill, was born here, September 11, 1840. His par- ents were Martin and Susan (Post) Bosworth, the mother a native of Virginia. They had one other son, Daniel O., and the two brothers are in partnership. By a previous marriage with Miss Mary Churchill, their father had two children -- Mary E. and Seba S.
Henry M. Bosworth acquired his education in the public schools of Halifax and at Plymp- ton Academy. When eighteen years of age he went to work at the butcher's trade, which he followed for three years. He then settled on a farm near the Halifax post-office, remov- ing from there to a place near his mills, and a few years later coming to the homestead farm, which he has occupied for the past seventeen years. It contains about fifty acres, and he and his brother own together about six hundred acres, mostly woodland. Mr. Bos- worth purchased his saw-mill in 1878, since which time, in company with his brother, he has carried on a large business in getting out box-boards.
Mr. Bosworth was married in December, 1873, to Miss Julia Washburn. They have no living children, the only child born to them having died in infancy.
OTHROP C. KING, a retired master mechanic residing in Plymouth, Mass., was born in this town, Feb- ruary 3, 1815, a son of Obadiah and Nancy (Clark) King.
His father followed the trade of carpenter- ing at Manomet, Mass., for many years. He and his wife, Mrs. Nancy Clark King, had a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this biog- raphy is the only survivor.
Lothrop C. King passed his early years at the paternal home at Manomet, a part of the town of Plymouth, and obtained his education in the common schools. Commencing at the age of fourteen to work for his father at car- pentering, he continued with him for about two years. Energetic, capable, and ambi- tious, in his seventeenth year he embarked in a business career for himself; and at the age of twenty-one he migrated to the State of Louisiana, where he prosecuted his calling for five years. Returning then to Plymouth, he engaged in building and contracting for sev- eral years; and in 1854 he entered the employ- ment of the Russell Mills Company, in which he acted as the general mechanic of the factory until 1889. Since that time he has been liv- ing a retired life.
Mr. King wedded Miss Nancy P. Morton, and to them were born four children, all of whom are still living. They are as follows : Nancy P., Helen A., Mary L., and Clara P. In religious faith and sympathy Mr. King is at one with the Congregational church of Plymouth, of which he is a member.
EORGE J. FEARING, a success- ful farmer of Hingham, Plymouth County, Mass., was born here, Febru- ary 7, 1834, son of John and Mercy B. (Fear- ing) Fearing. His paternal grandfather, Abel Fearing, was a native of Hingham, where he was an extensive land-owner and farmer. John, the father of George J., learned the wheelwright's trade, which he followed for
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many years, until he lost his eyesight, there- after engaging in farming. In politics he affiliated for some time with the Democratic party, afterward became a Free Soiler, and later was identified with the Republicans. He was a Surveyor of Highways for many years. His wife, Mercy B. Fearing, died at seventy- eight years of age; and he, surviving her about a year, attained the age of fourscore. They were both members of the Unitarian church, and always able and willing to do all they could to promote its growth and prosper- ity. They had seven children, but three of whom are living - Mercy B., John C., and George J. Mercy married David Cobb, of this town, and has four children - David, Jr., Henry H., George W., and Mercy B. John C. Fearing married Mary S. Doane, of Scituate. They have no children.
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