USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts > Part 26
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Oliver H. Curtis grew to manhood in Will- ington, Conn., and was educated in the schools of that town. He followed agricult- ure and other occupations until 1839, when he moved to Amherst, and bought the farm where he now resides. His property consists of one hundred and thirty-seven acres, which he conducted with satisfactory results until his retirement from active labor. He is a Republican in politics.
On November 14, 1837, Mr. Curtis was united in marriage to Emily Hills. She was born in Ellington, daughter of Leonard and Mary (Ladd) Hills. Four of her children are now living, namely: Chiara Ann, who resides in Florence; Emily A., who resides at home; Frank O., who is a resident of Amherst; and Samuel H., who resides at Hartford, Conn. Mrs. Curtis died March 27, 1888.
Mr. Curtis has been an energetic and suc- cessful farmer. He is highly esteemed by the community, and. is the oldest resident in his neighborhood.
YSANDER THURSTON, a well- known resident of Enfield and one of the most enterprising and successful farmers of the town, was born in Pelham, Hampshire County, on May 25, 1837, son of James and Maria (Gleason) Thurston.
Grandfather Thurston was a native of Litch- field, Conn; but both he and his father re- moved to Pelham, Mass., of which they were early settlers. James Thurston was born in Pelham, February 8, 1787. At an early age he turned his attention to agriculture, and engaged in it near his birthplace until about 1846, when he removed to Enfield, and settled on the farm now occupied by two of his sons. He died there on April 7, 1866. On relig- ious questions he was liberal. He gave con- siderable attention to town affairs, and served the town acceptably as Selectman and in other capacities. In 1843 he was elected to the State legislature. He cast the vote which elected Governor Morton, although at the time he was in a condition that made it neces- sary to carry him to the polling-place upon a stretcher. As a souvenir of that event his Democratic friends shortly after presented him with a cane.
He was twice married. Three children were born of the first union and six of the second. Six still survive; namely, Susan M., Olive, Almira, Royal G., Lysander, and Jason. Those deceased were: John T .; James; and Philander, who was born in 1837, and was the twin brother of Lysander. After graduating from Amherst College, Philander Thurston took a theological course at Andover Seminary. Soon after he engaged in preach- ing; and of his pastoral charges, all of which were in New England, the longest was that at Dorchester, Mass., where he remained for eleven years. During his lifetime he visited Europe. His last days were spent in Enfield, where he died, fifty-six years of age. His mother's death occurred on the same date as that on which his father died - April 7, 1866.
Lysander Thurston acquired his education in the public schools of Pelham and Enfield,
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after which he attended Monson Academy. During the next ten winters he engaged in teaching; but he has since confined his atten- tion to farming, in company with his brother Jason, who is three years younger than he.
They have two hundred and fifty acres of land, the tillage portion of which is kept in good condition. They raise a variety of grains, make a specialty of apples and other fruit, and also do a good dairy business. Their residence and general farm buildings are all in fine condition, and everything about the place betokens their thrift and enterprise. Neither of the brothers has ever marricd.
In politics Lysander Thurston is a Demo- crat, and was chosen a member of the legis- lature in 1890-91. He has also been active in town affairs, has been Assessor, and for nine terms has been a Selectman. Jason Thurston is also a Democrat. Regarding re- ligious questions, both brothers hold liberal opinions.
OSEPH HEBERT, contractor and builder, manufacturer of lumber, and dealer in all kinds of builders' mate- rials in Northampton, is a Canadian by birth and breeding, Montreal being the city of his nativity, and 1854 the year of his birth. He comes of French ancestry, his grandfather, Francis Hebert, having been a native of France, coming to Montreal as a government official, and being High Sheriff of the city of Quebec at the time of his death. He married Josephine Palmer, native of Boston, who lived more than a century, dying in Montreal at the remarkable age of one hundred and one years and two months, and retaining full possession of her facultics to the last. She bore her husband sixteen children, of whom her son Nelson was the father of Joseph Hebert.
Nelson Hebert was born in Montreal, Can-
ada, in 1826, and lived there during the ear- lier ycars of his life. He was a carpenter and builder by trade, and was engaged in these occupations in Northampton for some ycars, after which he went to Jamestown, N. Dak., where he established a successful business, building some of its finest residences and business blocks. Subsequently he returned to this city, where he died March 16, 1895, at the home of his son Joseph, leaving a hand- some property to his heirs. He married Christiana Derwent, a native of Montreal, born in 1827, who now makes her home with her son Joseph. She is the mother of ten children, one of whom died when a little lad of two years. The others are all married, and one son is a prominent resident of Dakota.
Joseph Hebert is the second son and the fourth child of Nelson Hebert, and attended the common schools of his native city until he was eleven years old, when his parents re- moved to Northampton, where he has since resided. When thirteen years old, he began working at his present business with his father and a Mr. Stetson, and has since con- tinued in the same occupation. Beginning to make contracts when a youth of sixteen years, his business faculties, which are naturally of a high order, have been well developed. By a strict attention to his business and honor- able methods in his dealings he has won an extensive trade, and accumulated a large prop- erty. He established his well-equipped lum- ber yard in the winter of 1883, building the three sheds, one of them three stories in height and two hundred and twelve feet long.
In 1887 Mr. Hebert built his fine brick office, and put in his steam-mill, with which he manufactures lumber, laths, and shingles. He keeps on hand a complete assortment of lumber and building material, and employs from one hundred to one hundred and seventy-
JOSEPH H. KINGSLEY.
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five men. Mr. Hebert has also other valuable property. He owns seventeen tenement- houses, besides two blocks in the business part of the city-one occupied by Lee's Hotel and the other by the Bay State House. Besides his own residence at 42 Cherry Street he has also two residences in Ware.
Mr. Hebert was united in marriage in 1874 to Delphine Beauregard, who, with her only child, died within a few years. He subse- quently married Mary Beauregard, a sister of his first wife; and of the seven children born to them but two are now living. These are: Rudolph, in college in Canada; and Paul, a little lad of seven years. In his politics Mr. Hebert is independent of party. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the St. John the Baptist's Society. Religiously, he is a French Catholic, being one of the founders and strong supporters of that church in Northampton.
OSEPH H. KINGSLEY is numbered among the intelligent and enterprising citizens of Southampton who are con- ducting farming operations with skill and suc- cess. He carries on general husbandry with extensive stock-raising and dairying, being a typical Hampshire County farmer. He was born on December 27, 1833.
His father, Zenas Kingsley, was a native of Westhampton, born in 1805, and for twenty- five years was engaged in the manufacture of woollen goods, owning a mill at Northampton. He subsequently removed to Stratford, N.H., where he carried on a successful lumber busi- ness until his death, in 1881. His wife, Susan Elwell, a native of Westhampton, died at the age of forty-four years. Nine children were born to them, namely: Susan Melissa, now the wife of H. M. Parsons, residing on a
farm in Westhampton; Edward W., also liv- ing at Westhampton; Joseph H., already named, of whom some further account is given below, and whose portrait also appears in this connection ; Cynthia S., deceased; Zenas, who lost his life while in his country's service in the war of the Rebellion; Nelson Howard, a ranchman in California; Ellen Victoria, the widow of the late Enoch Perkins; Justus Hol- land and Fidelia M., both residents of Loud- ville.
Joseph H. Kingsley was reared on the pa- ternal homestead, and assisted in its manage- ment for many years, living there some two years after his marriage with Elmina Norton, their union having been solemnized June 19, 1862. Mrs. Kingsley was born February 5, 1839, at Rochester, N. Y., whither her father, Horace Norton, had removed from Westhamp- ton, the place of his birth, afterward making his home in Loudville. Three years after his marriage Mr. Kingsley bought his present farm, then containing one hundred and twenty acres of land, and placed it in a tillable con- dition. The soil has responded to his labors, and yields bountifully of the productions com- mon to this section of the county, his more important crops being corn, tobacco, and hay. He has a large dairy, and realizes a handsome income from the sale of milk and cream. In recent years Mr. Kingsley has bought other land, his whole estate now aggregating three hundred acres, a portion lying in Westhamp- ton, and some of his landed property being in Minnesota.
The following is a record of children of Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley: Horace Norton, born in 1863, died the next year; Nellie Howard, the wife of Mr. Edwin Clapp, of Westhampton, having two children, Raymond and Roger W .; Dwight H., born in 1866, a resident of South- ampton; Edith Marian, born May 19, 1870;
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Arthur Zenas, born in 1875; Delia E., born in 1875; and Georgia E., born in 1883. Dwight H. Kingsley has been married twice, his first wife, Hattie Powers, having died in carly womanhood, leaving one child, Harry J. By his second wife, Florence Shelden, he has two children, Florence E. and Burton A.
Mr. Joseph H. Kingsley is a strong Repub- lican, being a firm believer in the principles sustained by that organization, and, though not an aspirant for political office, served his town most acceptably from 1886 until 1890 as Selcctman and Assessor. He and his wife are faithful members of the Congregational church.
HARLES N. POWERS, a well-known farmer of Greenwich and formerly a prominent builder, was born in that town, December 10, 1821, son of Stephen and Rebecca (Manley) Powers. Mr. Powers's great-grandfather was one of the first ancestors of the family to locate in Hampshire County; and his son Stephen, Mr. Powers's grand- father, was an early settler in New Salem.
Stephen Powers, Sr., served as a Lieuten- ant in the Revolutionary War; and, after re- tiring from the service, he resided upon a farm within the territory now covered by the town of Prescott. He was a sturdy, industri- ous farmer, a prominent man of his day; and he died at the age of about eighty years. He married Elizabeth Hines, who lived to reach an advanced age. Their family consisted of six children, who severally became the heads of families, and of whom Stephen Powers, Jr., Mr. Powers's father, was the second-born.
Stephen Powers, Jr., was born in New Salem, now Prescott, in 1790. He was reared to agriculture; and, when a young man, he settled upon a large farm in the northern part of Greenwich. He was a stirring, energetic
man, and attained a position of comfort and prosperity. He died at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife, Rebecca Manley before marriage, who was born in 1789, became the mother of five children, as follows: Catherine M. Turtelotte, who died aged seventy years; Chandler M., who resides in Greenwich; Otis A., who resides in Westfield, Mass .; Philenia E., a resident of Worcester; and Charles N., the subject of this sketch. She died at the age of eighty-three. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Charles N. Powers, commencing his educa- tion in the schools of Greenwich, completed his studies at the select school in Prescott. He taught school for two terms, and then learned the carpenter's trade, which he fol- lowed as an occupation in connection with farming for many years. In the course of time he became a master builder, and erected many fine residences in Greenwich and the adjacent towns, which are still standing to bear testimony as to the excellence of his work. He succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead, where he resided for over sixty years; and he successfully conducted the farm until 1884, when he moved to his present home. He still retains possession of a greater part of the older property, which origi- nally contained one hundred and fifty acres. He is a Republican in politics, and has served with ability in various positions of responsi- bility and trust. He has been a member of the Board of Selectmen for several terms, was Assessor, Overseer of the Poor, and a member of the School Committee, and is at the pres- ent time serving as Town Auditor.
Mr. Powers married Rebecca W. Wood, a native of Prescott and daughter of Ira and Lydia Wood, whose ancestors were early set- tlers in that town. Mr. and Mrs. Powers have one son living - namely, C. A .- and
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an adopted daughter, Ella L. C. A. Powers is an enterprising business man of Greenwich, who has succeeded his father in the manage- ment of the farm. He is station agent, and also deals in coal, wood, hay, etc. He mar- ried Sarah Scott, and has four children, three of whom are living; namely, Harry A., Mar- ion R .. and Clara A. Ella L. Powers is now the wife of C. A. Wheeler, and resides in Athol, Mass. Mrs. Powers is now deceased; and Mr. Powers has retired from active occu- pation in favor of his son, and is now resting from the cares of a busy and useful life.
RANK R. MCLELLAN, a well-known farmer and blacksmith of Cummington, was born in Westbrook, Me., October 8, 1852, son of Samuel E. and Sarah E. (Babb) Mclellan. Mr. Mclellan's grandpar- ents, William and Mehitable (Libby) McLel- lan, were natives of Gorham, Me., the former of whom was a large land-owner and stock- raiser. He also engaged in lumbering, and became a prominent man. William and Me- hitable Mclellan died at an advanced age. Their children were: Hugh, Ishmael, Martha, William, John, Eunice, Samuel E., Alexan- der, and Arthur.
Samuel E. McLellan, father of Mr. McLel- lan, was born in Gorham, Me., and, when a young man, learned the trade of a blacksmith. He located in Westbrook, where he success- fully followed his trade for a period of forty years. He owned a residence and other prop- erty in the town. He also had a farm; and, as his sons grew up, they were trained to farming as well as to the blacksmith's trade. He be- came prominent in public affairs, serving as a member of the Board of Selectmen, and was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Samuel E. Mclellan's first wife,
Sarah E. Babb before marriage, was a daugh- ter of John Babb. She died at the age of thirty-three, leaving five children: Daniel, Henry, Frank R., William E., and Charles J. Samuel E. Mclellan married for his second wife Rosabel Bacon; and she had one child, named Winfield.
Frank R. McLellan was educated in the schools of Westbrook, and at the age of fifteen commenced to learn the blacksmith's trade with his father. When twenty-three years of age he came to Cummington ; and, after work- ing five years for C. D. Bartlett, he engaged in business for himself, occupying quarters in the Stevens Building, where he remained until burned out. After this he purchased the Cowen barn on Main Street, fitted it up as a shop, and has since carried on the principal blacksmith's business of the town. Subse- quently he bought the Congregational parson- age, where he now resides, and has since remodelled and otherwise improved it. He also owns the Lovell lot, a valuable piece of meadow land in Cummington, and a small farm in Chesterfield, which he uses mostly for pasturage and its hay crop. Mr. Mclellan is a Republican in politics, and is highly respected by his townsmen.
On June 30, 1873, he was united in mar- riage to Ida S. Stevens. She is a daughter of Nathan S. and Sybil (Cowen) Stevens. Mr. and Mrs. McLellan have two children, namely : Arlin S., who was born May 20, 1875, and is now a sailor in the merchant marine service ; and Leroy F., born February 23, 1877, who has charge of his father's farming interests.
HARLES E. HERRICK, a machinist and manufacturer in Northampton, was born here, January 17, 1843, son of Webster and Melissa (Strong) Herrick.
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His father, Webster Herrick, was born November 7, 1811, in Sangerfield, Oneida County, N. Y., but was reared in Worthington, Mass. From there, when a lad of fifteen years, he came to Northampton to learn the cabinet-maker's trade. He was one of four children born to Joseph and Jerusha (Parsons) Herrick, of Worthington. His father died in early life; and his mother subsequently mar- ried a Mr. Stowell, by whom she reared an- other family of children. She died in Peru, Berkshire County, at the venerable age of ninety-six years. Webster Herrick became very expert, almost an artist, in his cabinet work. Some of his handiwork is seen in the pulpit, communion table, and the chairs of the Edwards Church, which was dedicated in 1833. He travelled for some time, working at his trade when the opportunity offered. He was in Charleston, S.C., in 1834, and in South America in 1835 and 1836. Returning North he opened a machine shop on the site of the Lamb Wire Works, Northampton, in 1840. He remained there fourteen years, after which he built the large brick shop where his son, the subject, Charles E., carries on his business. He did a general line of mechanical and ma- chine work, putting up one of the very first cir- cular saw-mills in Massachusetts. He erected saw-mills in many different States of the Union, building about seven hundred in all, one year making as many as twenty-five to go South, in the interest of the American Machine Works of Springfield, Mass. He was married in 1840 to Melissa Strong, who died January 25, 1876, on the night of the Northampton Bank rob- bery, leaving but one child, Charles E., the subject of this sketch. Her husband survived her many years, dying August 2, 1892. He was a man of high moral principles and a strong advocate of the temperance cause. He was very patriotic and was prevented from tak-
ing an active part in the Civil War only by his lameness, from which he suffered from his boyhood. Both he and his wife were es- teemed members of the First Church.
Charles E. Herrick had excellent educa- tional advantages; but he did not choose to avail himself of them, preferring to enter his father's workshop, where he might exercise his mechanical talent and ingenuity. Succeeding to his father's shop and trade, he has continued the business, doing general jobbing and mak- ing a specialty of paper-folding machines and other devices.
The union of Mr. Herrick with Emma W., daughter of Roswell and Roxana (Hunt) Hub- bard, of this city, was celebrated in October, 1 864. They had two children: Edward W. and Annie. Edward W., who was graduated from the Boston School of Technology in 1888, is a mechanical engineer in New York City. Annie married L. B. Cipeland, of Omaha, Neb. ; and they have one daughter. The mother of Mrs. Herrick was a daughter of Luther and Eunice (Alvord) Hunt. She was a finely educated woman, being a graduate of the Ipswich Academy, and afterward a teacher in the Bridge Street School and later in schools of Mobile and Tuscaloosa, Ala. Of her union with Mr. Hubbard three daughters were born, namely : Anna, who died at the age of ten years; Helen, who died when fourteen years old ; and Emma W., wife of Mr. Herrick. She was for many years a singer in the choir of the Congregational church, having a very sweet and flexible voice. Mr. Hubbard was prominent in local affairs, and served as a member of the legislature. His wife outlived him many years, dying in 1892, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Herrick occupy the house at 20 Greene Street, in which her mother lived for upward of thirty years. Mrs. Herrick, who is an accomplished
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and cultivated lady, was educated at the Maple- wood Institute in Pittsfield, and has inherited the musical talent of her mother, being a fine pianist and, before she lost her health, a beautiful soprano singer.
ILTON S. HOWES, a prosperous farmer and produce dealer of Swift River, and a member of the Board of Selectmen of the town of Cummington, was born in Ashfield, Mass., February 14, 1857, son of Jonathan and Betsey (Williams) Howes. Mr. Howes's grandparents were Micajah and Roxanna (Cranston) Howes.
Jonathan Howes, Mr. Howes's father, was born in Hawley, Franklin County, Mass., April 5, 1808, and received his education in the town of Ashfield. In company with Nathan Williams, his wife's brother, he pur- chased a farm consisting of one hundred and sixty acres situated in Ashfield, where he fol- lowed agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred on January 25, 1860, in the fifty-second year of his age. Jonathan Howes was originally a Whig in politics, but later joined the Republican party. He was a re- spected citizen and a member of the Congre- gational church. His wife, Betsey Williams, was born March 29, 1817, daughter of Nathan Williams. She became the mother of eleven children, all of whom are now living, and are named as follows : Annis, Roxanna, Betsey S., Willis W., H. Maria, Augusta M., Harlan P., John L., Micajah J., Isabelle E., and Milton S. Mrs. Betsey W. Howes still survives and resides in Ashfield.
Milton S. Howes attended the schools of Ashfield, and at the age of twenty went to Florence, Mass., where he was employed in a meat market for one year. He then returned to Ashfield and engaged in the produce busi-
ness with his brother John L., buying farm products, which they shipped to Holyoke for a market. In March, 1886, he sold his interest in that enterprise to his brother and came to Swift River, where he has since been engaged in the same business. He is one of the Direc- tors of the Cummington Creamery Association, and markets six hundred pounds of their prod- uct weekly. He conducts the J. Willcutt farm of three hundred acres, keeping twelve cows, some valuable young stock, and four horses which are constantly upon the road. His principal market is the city of Northamp- ton, where he supplies many families with fresh country produce. Mr. Howes is a Re- publican in politics, and has been a Selectman of the town of Cummington for the past five years.
On March 19, 1879, Mr. Howes was united in marriage to Linda E. Willcutt. She is a daughter of Jesse and Mary (Dyer) Willcutt, the former of whom is a retired farmer of Swift River. Mr. and Mrs. Howes have four children, namely : Jesse M., born March 2, 1880; Howard M., born February 23, 1884 ; Almon D., born July 7, 1887 ; and Bessie L., born February 6, 1893. In religion Mr. Howes is of the Baptist faith, and Mrs. Howes is a member of the Congregational church.
DWIN CYRUS MILLER, teller of the First National Bank and a highly re- spected citizen of Northampton, was born May 10, 1868, at Haydenville, on the old farm which has been in the family over one hundred and sixty years. He is a direct de- scendant of one of the oldest families of this county.
His great-great-grandfather, John Miller, was the first settler of Williamsburg, Mass. In his early manhood he spent considerable
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time in hunting and trapping. On his excur- sions for these purposes he became acquainted with the locality, where about the year 1735 he purchased nine hundred acres of heavily timbered land, paying one dollar per acre. He erected the log house which was his first home in the wilderness, on the hill near where a grandson and namesake afterward lived. A year or two later he built a frame house, the first erected in that town, and which stood until about 1879. Mr. Miller was a man of powerful physique, capable of great endurance and toil, and one who found keen enjoyment in the primitive frontier life which he had chosen. Of game, both large and small, there was an abundance; and the rivers and streams were alive with fish of various kinds. Danger, however, sometimes menaced his isolated home, for there were roving bands of somewhat hostile Indians; and some of his experiences were most romantic and thrilling. The Con- necticut Valley History of 1879 has a full and interesting account of the Millers and of Mr. Fairfield. Mr. Fairfield, who was the second to settle in the district, was a kinsman of the Millers. Coming seventeen years later, he established his home near theirs. Mr. Miller died September 7, 1792, aged eighty years. His wife, Martha Miller, died November 24, 1805, at the age of eighty-seven years. They reared four children: Stephen; John ; Cyrus; and a daughter who married Asa Wright, of Northampton. Their son Cyrus succeeded them on the old farm, where he spent a useful life engaged in farming, and died June 17, 1825, sixty-eight years of age. He married Miss Sarah Phinney, a daughter of Isaac Phin- ney, who came originally from Cape Cod, removing first to Hardwick and thence to Will- iamsburg in 1772, where he traded a side saddle for sixty acres of land east of the Hay- denville church. Mrs. Miller was thirteen
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