USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Franklin County, Massachusetts .. > Part 47
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Horace W. Field spent his childhood and early youth at home, acquiring his education in the district schools of his native town and at a select school in Leverett. In his seven- teenth year he enlisted as a private in Com- pany F, Fifty-second Massachusetts Regiment, and, after serving eleven months and having taken part in the battle of Port Hudson, he was discharged in August, 1863. He immedi- ately re-enlisted in the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, with which he saw some extremely hard fighting, being with Sheridan all through his famous Shenandoah campaign, during which he lost two horses, one being shot from under him and the other killed while standing in front of a skirmish line. He was present at the battles of Winchester and Cedar Creek, and was discharged at Fairfax Court-house on July 20, 1865, as a Corporal.
At the close of the war Mr. Field returned to Leverett, where he was for a time engaged with his father in farm work. He then pur- chased a piece of farm property in the east part of the town, and lived there for some time, or until he came to his present farm. Aside from farming, he was for a period of eight years engaged in the manufacture of boxes, and has recently taken up steel roofing with satisfactory results.
In 1873 he was united in marriage to Susan Hubbard, of Leverett, daughter of George Hub- bard, an extensive woollen manufacturer and a prominent citizen of the town. She had a
sister, who died while yet young. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Field was a daughter, Lucy Edith, who died at the age of eight years.
Mr. Field is a Republican in politics, and has served as Collector two years and as As- sessor seven years. He has been for the past nine years a member of the School Board, for eleven years a Justice of the Peace, and is at the present time Constable, Collector, and Assessor. He is a comrade of the Grand Army post at Montague, of which he has held the position of Officer of the Day. He is a member of the Congregational church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday-school. Mrs. Field is prominent in the various church societies.
J OSHUA BARON TOTMAN, an en- terprising farmer of Conway, was born at Colerain, September 2, 1820. His father, Jonathan Totman, was born in the same town on the same farm, in September, 1775 ; and his grandfather, Stoddard Totman, was a native of Plymouth County, Mass. Stoddard was a son of Joshua Totman, who, in all probability, was born in Plymouth County, as he came from there to Franklin County im- mediately after the Revolutionary War. He was an elderly man at the time of his removal, and died a few years later. Stoddard Totman acquired the trade of a shoemaker, and resided in Plymouth County until after his marriage. He then moved to Colerain, where he pur- chased a tract of land and erected the log house in which his son Jonathan was born. He eventually cleared a good farm, con- structed a substantial residence, and continued to follow agricultural pursuits until his death, or as long as he was able to engage in active labor. He lived to the age of eighty-eight years. He served in the Revolutionary War,
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and was a pensioner during the latter years of his life. His wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Cobb, became the mother of three sons and four daughters.
Jonathan Totman made the best of his op- portunities for obtaining an education, and in young manhood taught school at Colerain. He cared for his parents during their declining years, and, succeeding to the possession of the homestead after their decease, resided thereon the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-eight. He became prominent in pub- lic affairs, was a Selectman and Assessor, and served as Town Clerk for many years. He married Jennie Smith, daughter of Calvin and Anna Smith, of Colerain, and she died at the age of forty-two years. Their children were : Calvin S., Joshua Baron, and David S.
Joshua Baron Totman acquired his education in the district schools and the Shelburne Falls Academy. At about the age of twenty years he taught school two terms, but aside from this he has always followed agricultural pur- suits. He resided with his father and step- mother, and inherited the home farm in Colerain, which he conducted until 1869, when he sold the property, and, removing to Conway, purchased his present farm. He has dealt considerably in live stock, has fed as high as two hundred and twenty-five head of sheep, and now carries on a dairy which con- sumes the product of twenty cows.
Mr. Totman was married on June 18, 1846, to Hannah Hawkes, daughter of Oren Hawkes, of Charlemont, where she was born March 2, 1824. Oren Hawkes, a native of Charlemont, was the son of Rufus Hawkes, a farmer, who was also born in that town, his father, Gersham Hawkes, formerly of Deer- field, having been one of the first settlers of Charlemont. Gersham Hawkes served in the French and Indian War; he died
December 28, 1799. His wife was Thankful Corse, daughter of James Corse. Rufus Hawkes married Roana Nichols. Oren Hawkes inherited his father's farm in Charle- mont, and occupied it until his decease. His wife was Sophia Taylor, of Buckland, daughter of William and Experience (Totman) Taylor.
Mr. and Mrs. Totman have five children liv- ing, namely, Margaret, Jennie F., Frederick, Walter, and Theron ; and they mourn the loss of four - Harriet D., Jonathan E., Calvin S., and Edwin J. Margaret is the wife of Baxter B. Noyes, and the mother of five children : Buffum B., Gertrude, Mattie, Winnie, and Mabel. Jennie Frances Totman married for her first husband Israel Boyden, and for her second, David Newhall (see sketch on another page). Frederick Totman married Jennie K. Brower, and has seven children: Francis, Sarah, Chester, Minnie, Hattie, Mary, and Ruth J. Walter, who married Jennie Willis, has two children: Ethel M. and Helen. Theron Totman married Myra Adams, and had one son named Rawson Joshua, who died at the age of eight months and twenty-seven days. Harriet D. Totman married Major Theodore Poole, of Syracuse, N. Y., now member of Congress from his district. Mrs. Poole died leaving one daughter, Harriet. Mr. and Mrs. Totman have twenty grandchil- dren living. Mr. Totman is a Republican in politics, is well-informed on current events, and is a very successful farmer.
OAH RANKIN, a chair and box manu- facturer of Erving, is one of the best- known citizens of the town, of which he has been a resident since 1854, and in which for many years he has been promi- nent in public affairs. He was born in Hiram, Me., November 19, 1835, son of
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Joseph and Lydia (Wentworth) Rankin, the paternal grandfather having been named Jo- seph, and a resident of the town of Hiram most of his life.
Joseph Rankin, the younger, was born in Buxton, Me., and was brought up to the lum- ber business by his father, with whom he worked for some years. He next engaged in business in the town of Hiram, where he accumulated some property, including a mill, farm, and store, all of which he operated suc- cessfully. In 1853 he came to Erving and purchased a store in the village, also buying an interest in the match wood business, which was carried on here for some years. He con- ducted both these enterprises until 1861, when he sold the match business and purchased the wood seat chair business of Hale & Gould, in which he remained engaged until his death, February 19, 1886. He was much respected as a man and citizen, and his death was a loss to the town in which he had lived more than thirty years.
His wife, Lydia Wentworth, was a native of Hiram, Me., a daughter of Jonathan Went- worth, a farmer of that place. She reared three children, of whom two are still living : Jane P., who married E. H. Sping, a farmer and coal dealer of Erving; and Noah, whose name appears above. Another son, Mark, laid down his life for his country in the great civil strife. He enlisted as Orderly Sergeant, Company B, Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment, in 1862, and went to the front. He took part in several hard-fought battles, and was taken prisoner May 12, during Butler's campaign on the James River, and conveyed to Libby Prison, whence after a two weeks' stay he was transferred to Andersonville Prison, where he remained until the latter part of August. He was then transferred to Savan- nah, and from there to Millen, Ga., where he
died December 1I, 1864, one of the vast num- ber whose blood has cemented the firm struct- ure of our great Union. The mother of these three children spent her last years in Hiram, and died there at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight. Both she and her husband were members of the Methodist church, in which he was a local preacher in his earlier years. He held several public offices, among them that of Selectman of Erving and Post- master of the town for several years. He was an antislavery man and a stanch Republican .-
Noah Rankin acquired his education in the district schools and in the academies at Par- sonsfield, Me., and Deerfield, Mass. He early learned something of farming; and he became initiated into business methods soon after leaving school by working as a clerk in his father's store, retaining this position until his father's death. He then took control of the store and chair factory, and managed both suc- cessfully until 1878, when he sold the store, but continued to conduct the factory, which he still owns and manages. In 1891 he added to his chair manufacture the making of all kinds of wooden boxes, in which business he has been more than ordinarily successful. He is the owner of some timber land, from which he gets the material needed in his box industry. His success is due to his industry and good business abilities, including a keen intelli- gence and an ample fund of strong common sense, which admirably fit him for public as well as private responsibilities. His fellow- townsmen have been quick to recognize his capacity as a man of affairs and one worthy of confidence; and he has been called upon to serve in various public offices, having been Town Clerk for eighteen years, Justice of the Peace since the age of twenty-one, and a mem- ber of the legislature in 1871. He has also served as Selectman fifteen years, having been
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FREDERICK H. SMITH.
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chairman of the board most of that time, Over- seer of the Poor, Assessor nearly thirteen years, and Postmaster nearly a quarter of a century, all of which positions he has filled with efficiency and fidelity to the public interests.
In December, 1862, Mr. Rankin was united in marriage to Miss Polena L. Peck, of Royals- ton, Mass., where her father, Lyman Peck, was a prosperous farmer. Her mother was Lorina Davis before marriage, and Mrs. Ran- kin was one of eight children and the only daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Rankin have two children, namely: Pauline Lydia, who, after graduating from the high school at Athol, received a thorough musical education at the Conservatory of Music in Boston, and is now an able and successful teacher of the divine art; and Joseph Lyman, who obtained a sub- stantial business education at the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Boston, and is now employed by the firm of Fowle, Hibbard & Co. of that city, having been with them for eight years.
Mr. Rankin is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Masonic lodge of Orange. The family stand high in public estimation, ranking among the first in character and intel- ligence in the town of Erving.
REDERICK H. SMITH, the original of the excellent portrait on the adjoin- ing page, is an enterprising agricultu- rist and easily one of the foremost citizens of Ashfield. He was born in the adjoining town of Buckland, July 12, 1840, son of Hoyt and Content (Dodge) Smith, and grandson of Elisha and Diantha (Butler) Smith. Mr. Smith's great-grandfather, Elijah Smith, re- moved from Upton to Buckland, where he died at a good old age.
Elisha Smith was born September 6, 1785, and settled in the western part of Buckland, near the town of Hawley, on a farm of one hundred acres, now owned by Walter Smith. He cleared and cultivated the land, but was a carpenter by trade, and followed that occupa- tion much of his time. He served with the rank of Captain in the War of 1812. He was a Free Mason, a member of Republican Lodge, of Greenfield; and at the time of the Morgan excitement he was expelled from church mem- bership because of his refusal to renounce his Masonic affiliations. His death occurred Oc- tober 23, 1853. His wife, Diantha Butler, whom he married January 4, 1809, was born October 17, 1788, and died September 1, 1832. They were people highly respected for their many sterling qualities, and were the parents of the following children: Sarah, Hoyt, Elisha, Roswell, Diantha, Zenas E., and Caroline.
Hoyt Smith, the eldest son of Elisha, was born May 26, 1812, in the town of Buckland, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed through life. He also owned a farm and engaged to some extent in agriculture, being successful in both occupations. He was first married October 16, 1834, to Content Dodge, who was born November 3, 1814. She died September 2, 1852, leaving six chil- dren : Elisha, Charles, Frederick H., Abby, Emerette, Eliza. Mr. Smith's second wife, formerly Olive Howard, bore him four chil- dren : Frank F., Walter D., Henry A., and George Preston.
Frederick H. Smith, whose lineage we have thus traced, was educated in the schools of his native town and acquired from his father a practical knowledge of farming and carpenter work. In 1864 he married and came to Ash- field; and, after being for a time employed by his father-in-law, he bought an interest in the
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farm. His management of the property has been judicious. He has made many improve- ments by fertilizing the soil and erecting bet- ter and more substantial buildings. They are also the owners of five hundred and sixty acres of land near Chicago, where they have a fine stock farm, which is conducted by Mr. Smith's son, Luther Williams. Mr. Smith is a Re- publican in politics, and was a member of the legislature in 1884. He belongs to Mountain Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Shelburne Falls. He is also prominent in the Congregational church of Ashfield, where he has been Deacon for twenty years and superintendent of the Sunday-school for twenty-five years. Mr. Smith went to Dixie Land with the Boys in Blue in 1862, enlisting in Company E, Fifty- second Massachusetts Regiment, under Colo- nel H. S. Greenleaf, and going to Baton Rouge, La., with the regiment, which was attached to the hospital corps. He remained in the service until August 14, 1863, when he received his discharge and returned home.
Mr. Smith was married November 9, 1864, to Miss Priscilla M. Williams, who was born in Ashfield, on the farm where she now re- sides, daughter of Atherton and Sarah (Howes) Williams. Mrs. Smith has an interesting genealogical record. Her father, Atherton Williams, was born on the same farm, Febru- ary 1, 1819, son of David and Priscilla H. (Hall) Williams, and grandson of Ephraim and Mercy (Daniels) Williams. The parents of Ephraim Williams were Daniel and Rebecca (Hunt) Williams, the former being the son of Daniel and Mercy (Dean) Williams, who came to this country from England. Daniel, the immigrant, was born in 1679, and died in 1735. His wife, Mercy, was born in 1684, and died in 1776, during the Revolutionary struggle. Their son Daniel, great-great- grandfather of Mrs. Smith, was born June 25,
1718, at Taunton, Mass. His son Ephraim was born December 17, 1747, in Easton, Mass., and was a surveyor by occupation. He settled at Spruce Corners, in the town of Ash- field, in 1775, and assisted in surveying the town, then a wilderness, receiving for payment several parcels of land, so that in later years he gave to each member of his family a good farm. He died March 9, 1839. His first wife, Mercy Daniels, by whom he had nine children, died on April 13, 1793. By his sec- ond wife, Esther Packard, he had no child.
David Williams, grandfather of Mrs. Smith, was born December 6, 1776, in Spruce Cor- ners. He received from his father the farm of two hundred and fifty acres now belonging to his son Atherton and the subject of this sketch, it being at that time heavily timbered. He cleared off the timber, built a good dwell- ing, and became a very prosperous farmer. His death occurred June 19, 1862. His wife, Priscilla Hall, was born October 20, 1779, and died March 10, 1860. Their children were as follows: David, Seth, Mercy D., Ephraim, Samuel, Luther, Charles F., and Atherton.
The latter, Mrs. Smith's father, was born February 1, 1819, and was married July 7, 1842, to Sarah Howes. She was born April 15, 1820, and was a daughter of Kimball and Abigail (White) Howes, further mention of the Howes family being found elsewhere in this volume. Atherton Williams inherited the old homestead, to which he has since added more land, and in 1854 built a fine resi- dence thereon. He also built a saw-mill to prepare his timber for market, and dealt largely in lumber for some years, being still so engaged in company with Frederick H. Smith, his son-in-law. They have greatly improved the farm by the erection of a fine barn and other buildings, it being considered
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one of the finest farms in the town of Ash- field. They have also a large dairy, and own other property in Ashfield as well as in the State of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Atherton Williams had four children, of whom the only one now living is Priscilla M., Mrs. Frederick H. Smith. The others were: Luther E., Eliza I., and Lizzie A.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, as follows : Grace C., born August 1, 1868, who, after graduating from Smith College, became the wife of F. S. Cooley, professor in the State Agricultural School at Amherst, and has one child - Esther Belle; Luther Williams, born March 14, 1872, who graduated from the Amherst Agricultural College in 1893, mar- ried February 22, 1894, Carrie P. Wright, and, as above mentioned, has charge of the Smith & Williams stock farm at Manteno, Ill. ; Charles A., born October 29, 1876; and Belle W., whose birth occurred December 26, 1879. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and the family is numbered among the most intelligent and respected in the town of Ashfield.
AHUM JONES, who is now living in retirement at his home in Warwick, Mass., was born in Gerry, Mass., now called Phillipston, December 22, 1807, son of Colonel Amos and Louisa (Maynard) Jones.
According to a genealogy issued by William Blake Trask in 1878, the family are of Welsh origin and descend from Lewis Jones, who, with his wife Ann or Anna, about the year 1640 joined the church in Roxbury, Mass. Their names are recorded in the handwriting of their pastor, the Rev. John Eliot, the famous apostle to the Indians. Lewis Jones removed to Watertown about the year 1650. His wife died May 1, 1680. He died April
11, 1684. They had four children, one born in England, two in Roxbury, and one in Watertown. Later some of the descendants removed to Weston. They were generally en- gaged in agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Jones's grandfather, Jonathan Jones, was born in Weston, June 11, 1739, and died in Gerry, now Phillipston, August 2, 1803. His widow moved to Warwick, Mass., in 1815, and died there October 30, 1828. Mr. Jones's father, Amos Jones, was the third of eleven children, and was born February 14, 1777. He resided for many years on the old homestead at Phillipston. In 1814 he moved to Batavia, N. Y., where he died. He married Louisa, daughter of Gardner Maynard, of Gerry. She died October 15, 1809, aged twenty-six years. Her two children were : Nahum and Permelia Louisa. Permelia mar- ried Sylvanus W. Baker, M. D., and removed to Ohio, where she died February 12, 1859.
Nahum Jones came to Warwick when a child of scarcely eight years, in 1815, and had his home with his grandmother, working on the farm and attending the district school. At the age of twenty years he went to Athol, where he was for a time engaged in learning the trade of a tanner. He later went to Bos- ton and was employed by a dealer in hides, with whom he remained some time, and then began manufacturing boots and shoes. In 1834 Mr. Frederick Jones, a relative, entered into partnership with him and continued until 1849. For a few years Mr. Josiah M. Jones was a partner, and later the firm of Jones, Robbins & Co. was formed. This firm dissolved in 1859, and Mr. Jones continued the business alone. He was a large and successful dealer in boots and shoes for thirty years. He lost heavily by the Civil War of 1861-65, hav- ing dealings with customers in the Southern States. In 1871 he gave up business in Bos-
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ton and removed to Warwick, where some years previous he had established a boot man- ufactory. He retired permanently from busi- ness in 1880.
On February 27, 1830, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to his first wife, whose maiden name was Mary Murch. She was the daughter of Nicholas and Hannah Murch, and was born in Biddeford, Me. She became the mother of six children, three of whom are liv- ing, namely : James Alfred, who is married and has two children - James Alfred, Jr., and Grace Boyd; Louisa Maynard, widow of Henry Clinton Hall, who has a daughter, Ella Louisa; and third, Maria Jones, unmar- ried. Mr. Jones's first wife died at the age of thirty-seven years, and he wedded for his sec- ond wife Lucy Blake. She was the daughter of Samuel and Betsey (Fay) Blake, born in Boston. They have had four children: Lucy Ella, deceased; Gardner Maynard, librarian of the Salem Public Library ; Mary Frances; and Clara Augusta. Mary Frances married Ed- ward Blake Clapp and resides in Dorchester. They have four children: Frederick Gardner, Clifford Blake, Prescott Jones, and Chalmers Stevens.
Mr. Nahum Jones assisted in establishing the Warwick Free Library in 1871, and has held the various offices connected with it. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Unitarian parish. He is now in his eighty-eighth year. It has been given him to enjoy length of days with mental and physical vigor and serene content of life far beyond the common lot of man.
REDERICK H. KING, an influential and much respected citizen of Miller's Falls, engaged in the ice, wood, and lumber business, was born in Guilford, Vt.,
October 14, 1840, son of Joseph and Catherine (Bangs) King. Their original ancestors in this country settled in Long Island; but at the time of the invasion of the British the family, being obliged to bury all valuables and also to leave their home, removed to Connecticut. It was there that John King, the grandfather of Frederick H. was born and spent his life. Joseph King, son of John, was also a native of Connecticut. He removed from there, how- ever, and a portion of his life was spent in New York State; but his last years were passed in Guilford, Vt., where he died at the age of sixty-six. Joseph King's wife, Cather- ine Bangs, the daughter of a farmer at Mon- tague, Mass., bore him nine children, of whom three grew to adult life, and two are now liv- ing: Frederick H. ; and Frank R., of Guil- ford, Vt. The mother died in Guilford in her eighty-fourth year, April 24, 1885.
Frederick H. remained with his father on the farm until the civil strife broke out, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, Six- teenth Vermont Regiment, from which after nine months' service he was honorably dis- charged. Mr. King then returned to Guilford, but soon after went to Worthington, Mass., and purchased a farm, which he sold eight years later, in 1872, and came to Miller's Falls, where he erected his present home. He first purchased a stock of dry goods, ready- made clothing, and gentlemen's furnishing goods, selling out after eight years of suc- cessful trade. Mr. King next engaged in the livery business ; and, from a modest beginning with but one horse, his custom increased so that he had a well-equipped livery stable and thirteen horses when, after having engaged in this vocation eight years, he sold the business to his son-in-law. He then became a dealer in wood, lumber, and ice.
In 1862 Mr. King was married to Mary A.
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Albee, daughter of Albert R. and Mary L. (Austin) Albee, the former of whom was a native of Orange, but had removed to Erving, where the daughter was born. Mrs. King's great-grandfather, Asa Albee, was a native of Massachusetts; he died in Erving at ninety years of age. Her grandfather, Earle Albee, who was born in Milford, Mass., and who fol- lowed farming for many years, died in Erving in his eighty-fifth year. Albert R. Albee was long engaged in agriculture in Erving ; he was prominent in all town affairs, and was one of the best-known men of Franklin County. Among the offices of responsibility and trust that he was called upon to fill was that of Selectman, in which he served over thirty years. In 1854 he was chosen to represent his town in the legislature, and he was special commissioner for three years. He returned to Orange in the latter part of his life, and died there in February, 1892, at seventy-nine. He left a second wife, who was formerly Mrs. Martha C. Ward, by whom he had no children.
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