USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Franklin County, Massachusetts .. > Part 16
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Ephraim Parker, familiarly known as Cap- tain Parker, the next in the line now being considered, of the State militia, was born August 18, 1793, at Fitzwilliam, N. H., and completed his education at the New Salem Academy, in this county. He was a mill- wright by trade, and, being quite a mechani- cal genius, made many inventions, some of which are in use to-day. He built mills at New Boston, from which place he removed to Fitzwilliam, where, in addition to milling, he served as Deputy Sheriff and Selectman for several years. After owning and operating mills at Ashby, Mass., and other places, he bought the patent right of the Woodruff plan- ing-machine, which he took to Richmond, Va., it being the first planing-mill in the South. He next went to Rock Island, Ill., where he lived a short time, returning thence to Massachusetts, where he purchased the land and mills on the south side of the river in Orange, the former being now occupied by the New Home Sewing-machine Company plant. Disposing of that property, he then bought a cotton factory at Athol, and, at once becoming identified with the local interests, was largely instrumental in getting the Vermont & Massa- chusetts Railway through that town. On De- cember 7, 1816, he married Lucy Stone, who was born June 3, 1795, a daughter of Captain David and Ruth (Miller) Stone, and who died while they were living in Rock Island, Ill., in 1852. He survived nearly thirty years longer, dying from the effects of a paralytic stroke while visiting his son in Orange, Oc- tober 24, 1880. He was a man of marked ability and enterprise, and always lived some- what in advance of his generation. The names of the children born to his household were as follows: Julia S., Alfred A., Edward N., Horace M., Eliza A., Charles A., and Ja- nette F.
Alfred A. Parker received his elementary education in the common schools of Fitzwill- iam, N.H., completing his schooling at the academy in Jaffrey, N.H. When sixteen years old, he went West with his father, and, being favorably impressed with the country, concluded to remain for a while. While in search of employment, he drifted down to St. Louis, Mo., where he finally secured work, being taken on trial as clerk for Nathaniel Phillips in a music store, and gave such satis- faction that he remained three years, when, wishing to visit his home friends, he sent for his brother to take his place. While at home, he assisted as superintendent of the Athol cotton-mill, and also attended the Leicester Academy for a year and a half. Returning then to St. Louis, Mr. Parker opened a store for the sale of gentlemen's furnishing goods, his reputation for business tact and ability having been previously so well established that he had no trouble in securing financial as- sistance. At the end of six years he had se- cured a competency; and, being burned out soon after, he took his insurance money, and at once erected a substantial, three-story brick building, which is still standing, and there continued his mercantile business. Subse- quently selling out to his brother, he em- barked in a wholesale dry-goods business, which he carried on successfully until the breaking out of the late Rebellion, when he disposed of it, and, sending his wife and fam- ily East, he enlisted as a soldier in the State militia of Missouri, being at first under the command of General Frank Blair, and later under General Lyon. He served until the close of the war, participating in many of the more important battles in the South-west. Returning to his family in Massachusetts, Mr. Parker formed a partnership with George Whipple, and for three years was engaged in
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mercantile business in Orange. Disposing of his interest in that store, he subsequently opened a stove and tinware shop; and by steady application and good judgment he se- cured an extensive trade in the town and sur- rounding country, continuing at the old stand nearly twenty-five years. He is now enjoying his well-earned retirement with his family at his pleasant home on Grove Street.
Mr. Parker was united in marriage March 30, 1857, with Miss Frances A. Whipple, who was born in Athol, September 19, 1834, and died November 6, 1891, being a daughter of John R. and Martha (Holbrook) Whipple. Four children - two sons and two daughters - were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parker. The daughters, Mary P. and Martha F., are now living. Alfred W., born January 2. 1859, died December 17, 1887. John R., born Sep- tember 9, 1861, died December 9, 1889. Mr. Parker is a man of strong convictions, a stanch Republican in politics, and liberal in his religious views. Mrs. Parker, whose death was a loss to the community, as well as to her immediate family, was a consistent and esteemed member of the Congregational church in Orange.
RS. ISABELLA RUSSELL, a much respected resident of Green- field, widow of the late Francis B. Russell, is a daughter of Henry W. and Ann C. (Hilliard) Clapp. Her father was born in Springfield, Mass., in 1792, and was the eldest son of Parsons Clapp, who was born in 1772, and was married in 1796 to Phebe Wells, a memoir of whose father, Henry Wells, will be found appended to this sketch. Parsons Clapp was a resident of Springfield, and a man of some local fame, being Deputy Sheriff of the county. After some years' resi-
dence in Springfield he moved to Montague, and later to Wilmington, where he died Feb- ruary 27, 1854. Henry Wells Clapp was mar- ried to his first wife, Eliza Baldwin, in 1823, and to his second, Ann C. Hilliard, of New York City, on June 2, 1833. The latter, who was born October 5, 1807, was a daughter of Robert Bell and Sophia (Crane) Hilliard, her father's parents being Nicholas and Jane Bell Hilliard, and her mother's William and Ann Pennington Crane.
Henry Wells Clapp was a goldsmith, and conducted a successful business in New York City for many years, being a member of the firm of Palmer & Clapp, who commenced busi- ness on Reed Street, New York, in 1820. Retiring from the firm in 1835, he settled in Greenfield, at the corner of Main and High Streets, where he owned a large property. He became interested in real estate, and laid out Franklin Street - on which his daughter, Mrs. Russell, now resides - besides engaging in other enterprises. He was a large stock- holder in the Russell Cutlery Company, was President of the Connecticut Railroad, the Franklin County Agricultural Society, the Greenfield Bank, Franklin Savings Institu- tion, Greenfield Cemetery Association, and the Gas Company, and was always ready to support with financial aid and practical busi- ness ability any well-concerted enterprises that promised to be of benefit to the commu- nity. He was a prominent member of the Episcopal church, and gave liberally toward the erection of St. James's Chapel. He was a man of literary and artistic tastes, possess- ing a good knowledge of ancient and modern history, general English literature, and much genealogical information. He combined jus- tice with charity, and gave freely of his wealth, always using, however, a wise dis- crimination. His death occurred in Green-
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field on March 17, 1869. He had five chil- dren by his first wife, all of whom reachcd maturity, and became heads of as many re- spective families.
His daughter Isabella, Mrs. Russell, was educated in Miss Stone's school at Greenfield, and also attended Bent's private school in Worcester, Mass. Her marriage to Francis Burg Russell, son of John Russell, occurred July 15, 1863. Mr. Russell died July 4, 1870, he and his wife having been the parents of three children, two sons dying in infancy. The surviving child is a daughter, Kate Den- nison Russell, who resides with her mother. Mrs. Russell is a communicant of the Episco- pal church in Greenfield, where she has passed most of her life. She is a lady highly es- teemed in the community, and has many friends in Greenfield and elsewhere.
ENRY WELLS, third son of Obadiah and Mary (Conkling) Wells, was born at what is now known as Union, Essex County, N. J., June 14, 1742, and re- sided in New York City for a period of twenty ycars from 1746. He entered Nassau Hall, or the College of New Jersey, at an early age, and obtained his bachelor's degree at the age of fifteen, an uncle, who was five years his senior, having been a member of his class, to- gether with Nicholas Baird, of New York, and Peter Faneuil, of Boston. He studied medi- cine with Dr. Hull at New Haven, and in 1760 received the degree of A. M. from Yale College. On May 26, 1764, hc married Han- nah Stout, who was born in New York on February 19, 1747; and their married life ex- tendcd over a period of nearly half a century. In 1757 he moved to the then wilderness of Vermont, being one of the twenty-three orig- inal patentees of the town of Brattleboro, the
tract of land which he improved consisting of one thousand acres. There upon the brow of a hill, where the cemetery is now located, was erected the first church in that vicinity. Mr. Wells built a substantial frame dwelling, which stood for more than one hundred years, and in which he resided for a considerable period, conducting a large medical practice among the early settlers. Although his time was much occupied in professional labor, he found opportunities to serve in various public offices ; and his name appears upon an original covenant, second among the seventy-nine sig- natures, a document written upon parchment, which is still preserved at Brattleboro, Vt., it having been executed on November 12, 1770.
Seven children were born to him previ- ous to 1781, when he relinquished his estate, which had cost him so much time and patient sacrifice to improve, and removed to Mon- tague, Mass., then a quiet agricultural town, where he won a wide reputation as a physi- cian, his practice extending far beyond the local boundaries; and he frequently received calls from Boston, Albany, and distant parts of New England. During the epidemic that occurred at Greenfield in 1802 he rendered such distinguished service as to receive the recognition of Dartmouth College, and he realized a handsome fortune from his profes- sional work. Hc was noted for his upright walk in life, his genial disposition, noble generosity, and kind consideration for the poor and needy, whom he was ever willing to assist both professionally and financially. His useful and honorable career was brought to a close on May 24, 1814, at the age of sev- enty-two years, his estate continuing in the family's possession for over eighty years.
Phebe Wells, third daughter of Dr. Wells, born at Brattleboro, October 28, 1777, was united in marriage on November 13, 1796, to
CHESTER W. SEVERANCE.
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Parsons Clapp, a son of Daniel and Abigail (Root) Clapp. Parsons Clapp was a farmer and a mechanic, who suffered from feeble health, and in middle life was crippled by an accident, but whose latter years were made comfortable by the thoughtful care of his children. The eldest son, Henry Wells Clapp, devoted his wealth unstintingly to the special object of bringing happiness to his parents' declining years. Mr. and Mrs. Par- sons Clapp reared a family of ten children - six sons and four daughters.
HESTER WELLS SEVERANCE, a highly intelligent farmer and repre- sentative citizen of Leyden, Frank- lin County, was born here, February 27, 1831, son of Chester and Martha Smith (Nash) Sev- erance. Chester Severance, who was a son of Matthew Severance, the date of his birth being April 20, 1799, was also a native of Leyden, where, after he had grown to man- hood, he was successfully engaged in the varied occupations of farmer, tanner, and shoemaker. His wife, Martha Smith (Nash) Severance, was a native of Greenfield; and her birth occurred March 31, 1793. Their union was blessed by the advent of three sons and four daughters, six of whom reached adult life, and four are now living, namely: Ade- liza, born May 5, 1823, the wife of John Thayer, of Rochester, N.Y .; William S., born March 24, 1829, a successful physician of Greenfield, Mass .; Chester W .; and Charles Earl, born August 27, 1833, a skilful medical practitioner of Brattleboro, Vt. The others were: Martha, born October 7, 1826, died August 23, 1828; Mary M., born Octo- ber 20, 1824, died September 20, 1871; Helen, born February 13, 1840, died October 14, 1865. Chester Severance, the father,
died December 3, 1884, having outlived his wife nearly a quarter of a century, her death having occurred October 29, 1860. In relig- ious views Mr. Severance was a Methodist, and in politics a stanch supporter of Republi- can principles from the formation of the party. He faithfully served his town as Selectman several years and in other offices.
Chester Wells Severance received his early education in the district schools of Leyden, which was supplemented in the academies of Bernardston and Shelburne Falls. At seven- teen years of agc he began teaching school, which occupation he followed for several years in Leyden and vicinity. He then conducted the Union Store at Leyden for a year. Up to this time he had made his home with his parents. He now took up the vocation of a farmer, and established a home for himself, buying in 1852 a farm of one hundred and fif- teen acres, where he still lives, having added to it by subsequent purchase, so that it now comprises about two hundred and fifty acres. His land and buildings are in good condition ; and he is successfully engaged in general farming, being energetic and a good business manager.
On November 25, 1857, Mr. Severance was married to Miss Catherine M. Wilkins, who was born February 10, 1840, youngest child of Dr. Willard A. and Laura (Stone) Wil- kins, the former of whom was a native of Guilford, Vt., and a successful physician. Dr. Wilkins died at the early age of thirty- nine years; but his wife, who again married, lived to be eighty-three years of age. They had three children : Joseph S., born September 12, 1831, died October 22, 1831; Daniel G., who was born December 25, 1832, and died December 5, 1880, was a druggist in Boston; and Catherine M. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Severance, of whom four
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are still living : Lillian L., born September 20, 1860; Willard W., born July 30, 1862; Etta May, born May 17, 1865; and Chester Gilbert, born September 29, 1869; Kate F., born Octo- ber 17, 1858, died August 28, 1878; a child born May 27, 1864, died in infancy ; Ulysses Grant, born December 15, 1867, died March 10, 1868; and George H., who was born Feb- ruary 2, 1873, died January 21, 1876.
Mr. Severance is prominent in local public affairs, and has frequently been called upon to hold offices of responsibility and trust; for thirty years he has served on the school com- mittee, and for sixteen years as Selectman. He has also most acceptably filled the offices of Constable and Collector, as well as other positions. At the present time he is Trustee of the library. He is a member of Republi- can Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Greenfield.
Mr. Severance, being endowed with musical talent, which he has cultivated to a considera- ble extent, has been engaged as a teacher of both instrumental and vocal music, and since he was seventeen years of age has led the choir of the Leyden Union Church.
On an accompanying page will be found a portrait of this worthy scion of ancient Colo- nial stock, whose genealogy is further treated in sketches of other members of the family.
A LFRED SCHOFF, proprietor and manager of the Mansion House at Greenfield, Mass., is a genial, ener- getic, and keen-sighted business man, who in his character of host has won the respect and esteem of a large number of patrons. He was born in Newton, Middlesex County, Mass., November 8, 1851, and is a son of Stephen A. Schoff, a native of Newburyport, Mass., but now a resident of Greenfield, making his home at the Mansion House.
Stephen A. Schoff was gifted by nature with a taste for art, and when but thirteen years of age, in 1831, left his ancestral home, in order to cultivate his talent in that direc- tion. Going to Boston, he apprenticed him- self to Joseph Andrews, who was the leading line engraver of that time in this country. In order to attain greater proficiency in line en- graving, when about twenty years old, Mr. Schoff went to Paris, shipping before the mast as a common sailor, to defray the ex- penses of the voyage. After studying there three years, he returned to his native land, and opened an office in Boston, where he soon earned an enviable reputation for artistic work, and won many friends, among the more valued being the late William Morris Hunt, whose favorite picture, " The Bathers," he was engaged by Mr. John A. Lowell to repro- duce in the finest style of his art some time after the death of the painter. Mr. Schoff en- graved the Ralph Waldo Emerson portrait by Rouse, and for the past five years has done the engraving for the New England Insurance Company's calendars. He has given much attention to bank-note work, and stands very high in his profession, his portraits and vign- ettes being considered among the very best produced, some of the heads, " for delicacy, taste, and excellence of execution, being al- most unequalled in this branch of art." In 1845 he married Josephine Hastings, of Stow, Mass., and for some forty years there- after resided in Newton, where were reared the five children briefly mentioned below: A. H. Schoff, a woollen commission mer- chant in New York City, is senior member of the firm of A. H. Schoff & Co. ; Frederick, a manufacturer of machinery, lives in Phila- delphia; Alfred, in Greenfield; John I. died at the age of nine years; and Gertrude lived on earth but six years. The mother of these
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children passed to the higher life January IS, 1882, and was laid to rest in the Newton cemetery.
Alfred Schoff was educated in the schools of his native town, being graduated from the Newton High School in the month of January, 1870, and studied drawing with Charles H. Moore, now a professor at Harvard College. After engaging in the woollen commission business for a time, Mr. Schoff began his career in the hotel business, buying a part in- terest in the Kearsarge House at North Con- way, N.H., in January, 1884. Subsequently he bought the entire property, and carried it on for five years, when he rented it, and came to Greenfield to take possession of the Man- sion House, which had also been under his management for two years, he having leased it in January, 1886. This house is one of the leading hotels of the town, and under the con- trol of Mr. Schoff has a reputation for comfort and good cheer that attract the best class of the travelling public.
Mr. Schoff was married October 2, 1873, to Mary E. Keyes, a daughter of H. L.and Clara (Woodman) Keyes, of Newton. After a happy wedded life of a little less than seven years Mrs. Mary E. Schoff died, April 10, 1880, leaving two children, namely: Bertha, now an accomplished young lady of twenty years, already well versed in music, having studied it for fourteen years, and for four years been a successful teacher, but still pur- suing the study of the art in Boston; and Olive, fifteen years old, and now a student at Waltham. Mr. Schoff married for his second wife Miss Rose Sauter, who is of German parentage, being a daughter of the late Jacob and Christine Sauter, the latter a resident of Greenfield, where her married life was passed. Two children have been born of this union, namely: Christine, born March 13, 1883;
and Josephine, born January 23, 1895. Mr. Schoff was by birthright a Republican in poli- tics, but has so far departed from the faith that he now supports the Cleveland adminis- tration.
ENRY H. DENNISON, of the firm of Wood & Dennison, general store- keepers at Griswoldville, in the town of Colerain, has reached his present po- sition of prosperity through his own personal energy and perseverance. He was born at Wilmington, Vt., October 4, 1861, and is the son of Charles H. and Mary W. (Jenkins) Dennison, his father having been a native of Marlboro, Vt., and his mother of Massachu- setts. Mr. Dennison's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dennison, was an early settler in Marlboro, Vt., where, having made for him- self a home by clearing a farm from the wil- derness, he continued to reside during his ac- tive life, dying in Wilmington at the age of seventy-six years, his wife, Sophia Dennison, having lived to attain ripe old age. Of their family, which consisted of nine children, all born in Marlboro, two are now living, namely : Holland Dennison, of Wilmington, Vt .; and Mrs. Melissa Harris, of Esperance, N. Y.
Charles H. Dennison was both a carpenter and a farmer; and subsequent to his marriage, which occurred at Abington, Mass., he pur- chased a farm in Wilmington, he and his wife having travelled thither by stage, the distance being one hundred and fifty miles. He re- sided in Wilmington, and continued to follow these occupations until 1878, when he moved to Colerain, and settled at Griswoldville, where one year later his residence was washed away by a freshet, carrying with it his entire worldly possessions. He continued a resident of Griswoldville until his decease, which oc- curred on December 22, 1892, at the age of
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seventy-nine years. His wife, who still sur- vives, and resides with her son Henry H. Dennison, was the mother of seven children, three of whom are now living, as follows: Adelbert E. ; Mary A., wife of William H. Norton ; and Henry H. - all of Griswold- ville. Those deceased were: Lysander A., Emma E., Alice M., and Charles A.
Henry H. Dennison, having secured his education in the public schools, at fifteen years of age entered the cotton-mills of the Gris- woldville Manufacturing Company as an opera- tive, and continued in that employment until 1880, at which time he was given a position as clerk in the company's store. In that ca- pacity he served faithfully and efficiently for fourteen years, or until October, 1894, when, in company with Mr. Wood, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, he pur- chased the business. They conduct a large and well-equipped establishment, carrying a stock valued at about five thousand dollars, their sales amounting to about twenty thou- sand dollars per annum.
On June 29, 1888, Mr. Dennison married Mary E. Call, of Colerain, daughter of Charles H. Call, who now resides in Shat- tuckville, Mass. They have two children : Leon Earl, born October 26, 1889; and Gladys May, born March 10, 1893. Mr. Den- nison is a Republican in politics; and both himself and wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, in which he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for one year and steward for several years.
HOMAS T. FYFE, M.D., an active practitioner of the homœopathic school of medicine, is one of the younger phy- sicians of Greenfield, and comparatively a recent comer, but has already won a good
reputation for professional knowledge, prompt- itude, and skill. He is a native of Scotland, and the date of his birth was May 18, 1860. His father, Hugh Fyfe, was born in Scotland in 1820, was there reared and married, and lived there until 1869. In that year he emi- grated to the United States with his wife and family, which consisted of twelve children - five sons and seven daughters - of whom but two of the sons and five daughters are now living. He was a civil engineer by profes- sion, and, after being employed in that capac- ity in several cities and towns, settled in East Bennington, Vt., but after two years moved to Blackinton, Mass., where he died in 1876. His widow, whose maiden name was Annie Downly, survives him, living at North Adams, Mass., and at seventy years of age is strong and active both mentally and physically.
Thomas was a lad of nine years when the family came to this country, and had obtained the rudiments of his education in the public schools of Scotland. After landing on these shores, he continued his studies in the graded schools of Cleveland, Ohio, being graduated from the high school in due course of time, and subsequently studying for his profession, and receiving his medical diploma at the Homoeopathic Hospital College of that city. In 1889, in the month of November, Doctor Fyfe settled in Greenfield; and during his residence here he has gained the good will and confidence of all with whom he has had dealings in a professional, social, or business way, and has acquired a lucrative practice.
Dr. Fyfe was united in marriage March 8, 1881, to Miss Elizabeth Ingraham, their nuptials being celebrated at the bride's home in North Adams, Mass. At their pleasant residence, which he purchased in March, 1893, on Federal Street, the Doctor and his
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wife exercise a genuine hospitality, entertain- ing their many friends with social converse and right good cheer. Dr. and Mrs. Fyfe are not connected by membership with any religious organization, but both are regular attendants of the Congregational church. In politics the Doctor affiliates with the Repub- lican party, being one of its stanchest allies.
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