USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Franklin County, Massachusetts .. > Part 32
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Town Clerk and other positions of responsibil- ity. He married Esther Newton, and reared a family of eight children, Mr. Bascom's father being the fifth son. Ezekiel L. Bascom was reared to farming, but relinquished that occupa- tion for the stone-cutter's trade, which he followed in this vicinity for a time, later, however, returning to the farm, of which he assumed charge during his parents' declining years, and, after inheriting the property, con- tinued to reside there until his decease, in 1876, at the age of fifty-six years. He was a Democrat in politics and a well-known man, serving as Selectman, Assessor, and Overseer of the Poor. He was a member of the Uni- versalist church. His wife, Theresa Ballard, was a daughter of Amaziah and Martha (Cur- tis) Ballard, her father being a farmer of Gill, son of Jeremiah Ballard, who died there at a good old age. Mrs. Ballard was a daughter of Thomas Curtis, a resident of Brattleboro, Vt., and was one of a large family of children. She and her husband were the parents of eleven daughters, five of whom are still living, namely: Martha; Mary, a resident of Gill; Maverett ; Pomona; and Laura, who resides at the old homestead, where the mother died. Mrs. Ezekiel L. Bascom reared two children : Lizzie, wife of Almon Hale, of Bernardston ; and Frank N., with whom she now resides.
Frank N. Bascom received a good education in the schools of his native town and at the academy at Bernardston. He was twenty years of age at the time of his father's dcath ; and he has since conducted the farm, which consists of about two hundred acres and is devoted principally to the dairying interests. He has erected his present handsome resi- dence, together with a spacious barn, and has made many other improvements.
In 1881 he was most happily united in mar- riage to Edna Dorrel, one of three children of
the late Harris Dorrel, of Leyden. Mrs. Bas- com's father died at Greenfield. Her mother is still living. Mr. Bascom and his wife have four children, as follows: Earle, Rene, Edric, and Alice. Mr. Bascom is a Democrat in politics. He attends the Unitarian church, his mother being a Universalist in her relig- ious belief.
ZRA FOSTER, a highly intelligent farmer and one of the oldest and best-
known citizens of Leyden, was born February 2, 1815, son of Ezra and Nancy (Smith) Foster. The father was a native of Bernardston, Mass., born September 21, 1779, and the mother was born in Chesterfield, N. H., October 25, 1781.
Ezra Foster's great-grandfather was one of three brothers who came to America from England, landing at Plymouth, Mass. He located in Middletown, Conn., in which place his son, Ezekiel, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born. The latter removed to Bernardston, Mass., when a young man. The country was then new, and there was an abundance of wild game of various kinds, the forests being tenanted by deer, bears, and wolves, and beavers abounding along the borders of the streams, in whose waters trout and other fish were plentiful. There Ezekiel Foster lived a primitive life, farming, hunt- ing, and fishing. In 1782 he settled in the northern part of Leyden, and in 1786-87 he was an active participant in Shays's Rebell- ion, so called from its leader, Daniel Shays, a native of Hopkinton, Mass. This, it will be remembered, was caused by the financial depression following the Revolution. Daniel Shays, who had been a Captain in the army, headed a body of the people who demanded the abolition of taxes and an issue of paper money for general use. Mr. Foster died at the age
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of seventy-five years. His wife, Chloe (Burn- ham) Foster, was also a native of Connecticut, and removed to Bernardston, Mass., where their marriage took place. She was over ninety years of age at the time of her death. Their union was blessed by the birth of nine children, of whom five sons and three daugh- ters grew to maturity.
Ezra Foster, their eldest son, the father of our subject, acquired a good practical educa- tion in the schools of Leyden. He chose the independent vocation of a farmer and became the owner of the homestead farm, which he cultivated with profitable results. He also took great interest in the welfare of his town. He was a man of sterling character; and that his fellow-men were not unmindful of his worth is evinced by the positions of trust and responsibility bestowed upon him, among which were those of Selectman and Overseer of the Poor. He also served as a Captain of the State militia. His wife, Nancy (Smith) Foster, bore him eight children: Nancy, Sylvia, Mary, Ezra, Joseph, Maria, Louisa, and Ransom. Three of these are now living : Ezra, Ransom, and Maria (Mrs. Warner), who resides in Greenfield, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Fos- ter spent their last years on the old Foster home- stead in the northern part of Leyden, the former dying March 1, 1864, and the latter, February 21, 1875, at the age of ninety-three years.
Ezra Foster received his education in the district schools of Leyden, at Northfield Acad- emy, and at Halifax, Mass. He remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, beginning at nineteen to earn a livelihood by teaching school, at which he was engaged for twelve years. He then decided to change his occupation, and, purchasing his first land, the farm where he now resides, he engaged in agriculture, and by hard work and good busi- ness ability commanded success.
Mr. Foster has been twice married. On May 6, 1846, he was united to Miss Sarah A. Wilbur, who was born in Leyden in 1818, and died June 4, 1862. Three children were born of this union: Frank W., who resides in Greenfield; and Edgar S. and Charlie, who died on the same day, September 26, 1869, aged respectively eighteen and sixteen years, and were buried in one grave. Mr. Foster's sec- ond marriage took place May 17, 1863, his bride being Miss Susan A. Mowry, a native of Leyden, born September 15, 1840, daughter of Manley and Jane E. (Wilds) Mowry, both natives of Leyden. Mr. Mowry, who was a hard-working and successful farmer in Leyden, died at the age of seventy-two. His wife still resides in Leyden. They were the parents of five children, of whom three are living, namely : Mary C., the wife of D. N. Carpen- ter, of Leyden; Mrs. Foster; and Haven A. Mowry, of Greenfield, Mass. Esther E. died in her thirty-seventh year, and Manley M. at forty-three years of age.
Mr. Foster has been a member of the Re- publican party ever since its formation. He takes an active interest in the welfare of his town, which he has served acceptably as Se- lectman and in minor offices; and at the pres- ent time he holds the State office of stock inspector. He and his estimable wife are in- fluential members of the Universalist church, of which he has served as secretary during the past thirty years.
RS. E. JOSEPHINE GOULD, now residing in Greenfield, but a native of Gill, where she was born Janu- ary 12, 1846, traces her paternal ancestry as follows: her father, Asa C. Howe, was a son of Elmer and Eliza (Osgood) Howe, and grandson of Asa and Esther (Bowker) Howe.
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Asa Howe, her great-grandfather, who was born in Sudbury, Mass., followed the occupa- tion of a farmer, owning a farm in Wendell; but in 1837 he and his son Elmer moved to Gill, where with his wife, Esther Bowker, he spent his last years on what is known as the Bates and Howe homestead. Elmer Howe, who was also a farmer, passed the latter part of his life in Gill, dying at the old homestead in 1853, in his sixty-eighth year. His wife, Eliza Osgood, was a native of Wendell; and they were the parents of five children. Dur- ing her last days she lived in Greenfield, where she died in 1876, at the age of eighty- eight.
Asa C. Howe, the father of Mrs. Gould, was born in Wendell, in 1814. His education was begun in the district school, and com- pleted by a course at Shelburne Falls Acad- emy. He remained with his father on the farın in Wendell until he came to the Bates and Howe homestead in Gill, where he died in 1891, at the age of seventy-six. He was a member of the Methodist church and very active in its affairs, holding office as Sunday- school superintendent, also as Trustee and Steward. Politically, he was a Republican, and for some years held the office of Select- man. Mr. Asa C. Howe married Almira Bates, who was born in 1819, daughter of John Bates and grand-daughter of Jacob Bates. Jacob Bates, great-grandfather of Mrs. Gould, was a native of Thompson, near Sutton, and one of a family of twelve children. He was at one time a sailor and ship builder; but the greater part of his life was passed in agricult- ural pursuits, his last years being spent on the Bates homestead, which he purchased as early as 1770. His wife was Bathsheba Pierce, of Winchester, the daughter of a hotel-keeper; and they had one son, John, who learned the shoemaker's trade, but at his father's death he
became the owner of the old homestead. John Bates was one of the best-known men of Gill, holding at different times various offices, among them those of Deputy Sheriff, Select- man, and Overseer of the Poor, as well as that of Assessor for many years. He was also prominent in Masonic circles, being Treasurer of Republican Lodge of Greenfield. Four children were born to Asa C. and Almira (Bates) Howe: Henry C., who married Maria Dennison, of Leyden; Lyman B., who married Frances Chapin, of Leyden; E. Josephine, the subject of this sketch; and Isabel, who mar- ried Leroy Park. The mother is a member of the Methodist church.
E. Josephine Howe completed her education at Powers Institute, Bernardston, after which she taught school in Bernardston, Gill, and Northfield. On September 4, 1867, she was married to Lucius H., son of Hazeltine and Sarah (Farnsworth) Gould, of Dover, Vt., and grandson of Benjamin and Hannah (Hazeltine) Gould of the same place. Benjamin Gould was a farmer in Dover, Vt., at the time of his death. His wife, Hannah Hazeltine, was a native of Jamestown, N. Y. Hazeltine Gould followed the threefold pursuits of farmer, carpenter, and mason, living in Dover until the latter part of his life, which was spent in Swanzey, N. H. He and his wife, Sarah Farnsworth, were the parents of seven children : Lucius H. ; Susan H., who married Harvey Sargent; George A .; Emerson A. ; Abbie, who married Oscar Steadman ; Fannie M. ; and Frank. Four are still living. The mother was a member of the Baptist church, and died in Dover, Vt., in 1872. The mater- nal ancestry of Lucius H. Gould is traced as follows : his mother, Sarah Farnsworth Gould, was a daughter of Joseph and Anna (Nichols) Farnsworth, and grand-daughter of Deacon Samuel and Rhoda (Carpenter) Nichols. The
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latter was a daughter of Governor Benjamin Carpenter, who was the son of Edward and Elizabeth (Wilson) Carpenter, and was born in Rehoboth, Mass., in 1726. He was among the foremost of the early patriots of the State, being a Colonel in the Revolutionary service. He removed to Guilford, Vt., in 1770, and was a founder of the first Constitution and government of Vermont, being made a counsellor of Cen- sors in 1783, and a member of the Council and Lieutenant Governor of the State in 1778-81.
Lucius H. Gould lived on a farm till he was twenty-five years old. He was educated at Leland & Gray Seminary, Townshend, Vt., and at Powers Institute, and for a time taught school in Vermont and Massachusetts, and also in Iowa, where for three years he was princi- pal of Quasqueton Academy and Secretary of Buchanan County Board of Education. Re- turning East, he purchased a store in East Dover, Vt., which he run for six years and then sold, after which, in 1873, he moved to Bernardston, Mass., where he carried on a suc- cessful trade for sixteen years and where he lived until his death, which occurred on May 2, 1889, at the age of fifty-one years. Mr. Gould was a Republican in politics and was a man who took great interest in the welfare of his town, which he served as Selectman and Assessor for several years. He was superin- tendent of schools in Dover and a Trustee of Powers Institute and of Cushman Library in Bernardston. He was an attendant of the Methodist church, being prominent in church affairs. He is survived by his wife and one child, a daughter, Myrabel Josephine, who was graduated at Powers Institute as valedictorian of her class, and after teaching one year en- tered Wellesley College. Mrs. Gould is a woman of much intelligence and cultivation, is a member of the Methodist church at Bernards- ton, and when living there was connected with
various organizations, the Ladies' Aid Society, the Missionary Society, the Ladies' Reading Club, and the Chautauqua Circle.
ILLIAM A. MOORE, an energetic and progressive business man of the town of New Salem, living in the village of Millington, is a worthy representa- tive of the native-born citizens of the place, having won for himself an enviable reputation for honest integrity and straightforward deal- ing. He comes from excellent English ante- cedents, and is of substantial pioneer stock, the Moore family having first been represented in this country in 1635, when one of the name settled in Charlestown, Mass., going from there to Sudbury.
Asa Moore, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Sud- bury, and, in the words of the typical West - erner of to-day, was more of a hustler than the majority of his neighbors. He first en- gaged in business, consisting of farming, lum- bering, and operating a grist-mill at Leverett, Mass., where he was one of the early settlers. While residing there, he married Persis Knight, and they became the parents of nine children; namely, Levi, Otis, James, Lewis, Martin, Lyman, Jefferson, Garry, and a daughter who died when very young. In com- pany with one of the older sons he bought the mill property now owned by the father of the subject of this sketch at Millington, then owned by one Josiah Miller, and later on put his son Lyman in charge of the mill.
Levi Moore learned the miller's trade, en- gaged in business in several different places, and finally settled in Greenfield, where he died. Otis married Polly Montague, owned with his father a part of the mill at Milling- ton for a time, finally sold out, and moved to
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Frewsburg, N. Y., conveying his family and household effects by an ox team the entire dis- tance, much of the way through the wilder- ness, finding their path by means of marked trees. There he cleared up land, and engaged in farming, lumbering, and milling the re- mainder of his life. James, a millwright by trade, married Tryphosa Montague, settled at New Salem, owned for a time an interest in the mill business with his father, and died while a young man. Lewis married, engaged in the milling business in Leverett, where he spent his days, and reared a large family. Martin married Beulah Fiske, of Wendell, and settled on the old homestead of the Moore family in Leverett, but afterward moved to Montague, where he followed farming the remainder of his days.
Lyman, the grandfather of William A. Moore, was born in July, 1799, in Leverett, and there learned the millwright and miller's trade; and, coming to Millington, he took charge of the mill which his father bought, and which, by the way, was one of the first (if not the first) mills ever built in the local- ity. He soon succeeded his father in owner- ship of the property, and was possessed of the same at the time of his death, December 29, 1843, in the forty-fifth year of his age. He was a man of unusual merit and respected by all, a Democrat in politics, a Unitarian in religious belief. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Smith, was a faithful member of the Congregational church. She preceded him to the land of eternal joys, passing away January 26, 1841, aged thirty-nine years.
There were born to them a family of eight children; namely, Lyman E., Abigail, Jane, Hiram F., Maria A., Edward D., Lucian P., and Seraphine. Two of these, Abigail and Jane, died when very young. Hiram F., a millwright and general mechanic, married
Cordelia Parlin. They settled in Millington, and were the parents of three children, who, together with the mother, have crossed the river which bounds the life that now is. Maria A. married Otis H. Moore, of Frews- burg, N.Y., where they started in life to- gether ; and two children, Clara L. and Lucia E., were sent to bless them. Edward D., a mechanic, settled in Frewsburg, married Emogene Pope; and a son, H. Otis, came to them. The father died about 1880.
Lucian P. Moore, a tanner by trade, a busi- ness which he followed a great many years, has for several years found employment in some of the largest shoe-shops in the State, having entire charge of certain departments. He married Lucretia Clapp, of Montague, and to them four children have been born : Nellie, Lottie, Clarence, and Robert. Seraphine Moore, who died April 25, 1888, at Buffalo, at fifty years of age, married Elijah R. Sax- ton, of Montague, a man of extraordinary business qualification and ability, who settled in Buffalo, N. Y., where they resided many years, and, having accumulated a large prop- erty, retired from business. They had one son - Charles B. Saxton - who was educated at Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
Lyman E. Moore, the first named in the above list of the children of Lyman and Eliza (Smith) Moore, and the father of the gentle- man whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was born at New Salem (Millington), where he now lives, April 15, 1824, and re- ceived his education in the common schools and at Hopkins Academy at Hadley, Mass. After the death of his father he bought out the interest of the other heirs in the mill and house, and has since been engaged in the grain business, having built up an extensive local trade, which he now conducts. In 1858 he rebuilt the mill, putting in new machinery.
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The house is one of the oldest in town, and is in good condition, having withstood the blasts of one hundred and forty winters.
Mr. Lyman E. Moore has always been an important factor in promoting the interests of the town of his nativity, advancing by every means in his power all beneficial enterprises. Since 1866 he has served as Postmaster and Justice of the Peace, and he has been one of the Trustees of New Salem Academy for sev- eral years. He is a Republican in politics ; and, though he has steadily refused official honors, he served as Representative to the State legislature in 1869. He has been con- nected with the Masonic fraternity for over forty years, having first united with the Mount Zion Lodge at Hardwick (now of Barre), and is now a member of the Orange Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of Crescent Royal Arch Chapter.
In 1847 Mr. Lyman E. Moore married Elizabeth Thompson, who was born December 12, 1830, at Hardwick, Mass., and died December 4, 1878. Three children were born to them: Charles L .. who died when a child; Eliza A .; and William A. Eliza A. is the widow of Edwin N. Kellogg, of Orange, who died November 5, 1885. She has had four children, namely: Agnes E., who died in Sep- tember, 1885, at the age of sixteen years; Nathaniel P., who married Annie Durheim, of Ann Arbor, Mich. ; Grace E. and Charles L., who now reside in Orange.
William A. Moore, the leading subject of this sketch, was born September 15, 1859. He was educated at New Salem Academy, and, like the rest of the Moore family, learned the miller's trade. He married Della F. Wood, of Prescott, Mass., and resides with his father, caring for the business, which he now conducts. Socially, he, also, is a Mason, belonging to the Orange Lodge, A. F. & A. M.
RANK H. ZABRISKIE, M.D., junior member of the firm of Dean & Zabris- kie, physicians and surgeons, of Green- field, is winning a wide and favorable reputation as one of the most successful prac- titioners of this part of the State, and bids fair to attain a position of eminence among the best physicians of the day. He was born in Norfolk, Va., August 31, 1859, and is of Polish origin, the Zabriskie family having originated in Poland, whence they removed to Holland, where they abided for a while. In 1662 Albert Zabriskie sailed from Amster- dam, Holland, in the ship "Fox," and, com- ing to this country, settled in Hackensack, N.J .; and some of his posterity have since that time intermarried with the Dutch. He was accompanied in his voyage to the New World by his wife, whom he had wedded in Holland, and their five children. One of his descendants, Christian Zabriskie, born at Englewood, N.J., in 1787, son of Albert Christian Zabriskie, was an importer of dry goods, and carried on an extensive business in New York City. He married Jane Roome, who bore him six sons and four daughters, all of whom married and reared families, their son Horsburgh, who was born in New York City in 1822, being the father of the subject of this brief sketch.
Horsburgh Zabriskie was for many years an active business man in the city of his nativ- ity, being an insurance agent at 154 Broad- way. In 1847 he was united in marriage with Virginia Hartshorn, a native of Norfolk, Va., born in 1824, and they became the parents of two children, namely: Virginia A., wife of E. C. Sterling, a real estate dealer of New York City; and Frank H. Zabriskie. The father passed to his rest in 1891, but the mother is still living in New York.
Frank H. Zabriskie grew to maturity and
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was educated in the city of New York, attend- ing the public schools at first, and later the College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he was graduated in 1883, receiving the degree of M.D. In 1886 Dr. Zabriskie came to Greenfield, and, being favorably im- pressed with the place and the people, opened an office here. After a year's successful prac- tice he formed a partnership with Dr. Dean, with whom he has since been associated. A
thorough student of medicine, in the diagnosis and treatment of the various diseases brought to his notice he has met with unusual suc- cess, and has won his full share of the patron- age of the community in which he has settled.
The union of Dr. Frank H. Zabriskie with Miss Fannie Dean, daughter of Dr. H. C. Dean, was solemnized on the sixteenth day of June, 1893. They occupy an elegant resi- dence on Highland Avenue, erected by the Doctor in 1890. Politically, Dr. Zabriskie is a supporter of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Franklin County Medical Society and of the Massachusetts Medical Society, being quite influential in both societies.
ARL EMIL JULIUS WEISBROD, a prominent manufacturer of Green- field, Mass., was born at Coburg, Germany, in the month of April, 1843. His father, Carl Weisbrod, who was born in the same city in 1815, and also his grandfather and an uncle, were landscape gardeners upon the estates of King Leopold of Belgium, holding positions which lasted through life. Carl Weisbrod married Frederica Bernhardt, and their three children were: Caroline, widow of Mr. Zehner and now a resident of Coburg; Carl Emil, of this sketch; and Johanna, who married Albert Wright, of Greenfield. The parents both died in the old
country, the father in 1885, the mother two years later.
Their children received the benefit of a good education, and Carl Emil, as the result of a competitive examination, earned the priv- ilege of attending a university; but, prefer- ring to enter mercantile life, he began at the age of seventeen a four years' apprenticeship in the office of a large banking and manufact- uring establishment. During this apprentice- ship Mr. Weisbrod was a member of a well- known rifle club, which was fitted out by the Duke Ernst II. of Coburg, and instructed by a captain of Garibaldi's army; and on the occasion of a national festival at Gotha, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the club was invited, and entertained for three days at the Duke's palace, "Marienthal." After he had served there three years, the firm failed; and he was employed for part of another year to assist in closing up their affairs. In June, 1865, he started for the United States, having the promise of a situa- tion in New York City; but, stopping at Brussels to visit a friend of his father, he lost the steamer in which he had intended to take passage from Antwerp, and, being obliged to cross the ocean in a sailing-vessel, arrived at New York too late to secure the situation.
Thus finding himself alone among strangers without means of support, he readily seized the first opportunity for work which presented itself, and entered the employ of Alexander Levino & Co., pocket-book manufacturers, with whom he served an apprenticeship of three years, at first receiving one dollar per month and board, which was eventually in- creased to three dollars per week. Although the wages were small, the experience gained was valuable, as it placed him in possession of a trade, which he has since followed with success. In September, 1870, he established
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