USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 14
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Alexander Gaston, above named, born in 1772, son of John and Ruth (Miller) Gaston, was a farmer at South Killingly, Conn. He was a Captain at twenty-six years of age in the
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Connecticut militia, and for several years a member of the Legislature, and prominent in all local matters. In 1838 he removed to Rox- bury, now a part of Boston, Mass., where he died February 11, 1856. He was a man of sterling integrity and great self-reliance. His first wife, Olive Dunlap, died at Killingly in 1814. His second wife, Kezia Arnold, whom he married in 1816, died at Roxbury, January 30, 1856. She was a daughter of Aaron and Rhoda (Hunt) Arnold, and was born in Bur- rillville, R. I., in 1779. Her father was a lineal descendant of Thomas Arnold, who came to this country in 1635, was made a freeman at Watertown, Mass., in 1640, and bought land in 1648, but about 1661 removed to Provi- dence, R.I. Thomas Arnold was a brother of William Arnold, who accompanied Roger Williams to Rhode Island, and was one of the fifty-four proprietors of that colony. Alexan- der Gaston had two children by his first wife, both of whom died without issue, and one child by his second wife.
William Gaston was the third child in his father's family. He was fitted for college at Plainfield Academy, Plainfield, Conn., having previously been a student at the academy at Brooklyn, Conn., and was graduated Bachelor of Arts, with honors, at Brown University in 1840, returning there and taking his degree of Master of Arts soon after. He pursued the study of law successively in the office of Fran- cis Hilliard, of Roxbury, and that of Charles l'. and Penjamin R. Curtis in Boston, and was admitted to the Norfolk bar in 1844. He practised in Roxbury 1846-65, and thenceforth in Boston, where till 1875 he was associated with the Hon. Harvey Jewell and the Hon. Walbridge A. Field, late Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the firm being Jewell, Gaston & Field. After that he was alone until October, 1879, when Charles L. B. Whitney became his partner. In 1883 his son, William Alexander, was ad- mitted to the firm, the name remaining the same, Gaston & Whitney. With the excep- tion of the few years in which he was in public life, he devoted himself diligently, till his retirement in 1891, to the duties of his pro- fession, his practice being large and lucrative.
For five years he was City Solicitor of Rox- bury and for several years president of the Bar Association of Boston.
In 1853, 1854, and 1856 he was a Represent- ative from Roxbury in the Legislature; in 1861 and 1862 he was Mayor of that city, showing himself stanchly patriotic and a firm supporter of the Union; in 1868 he was State Senator from the First Norfolk District; in 1871 and 1872, Mayor of Boston; and in 1875 he was Governor of the Commonwealth, having been elected on the Democratic ticket by a majority of more than seven thousand over the Republi- can candidate, Thomas Talbot. In religion a Congregationalist, he was an attendant of the New Old South Church. After an honorable and distinguished professional career he died at his home in Marlboro Street, Boston, Janu- ary 19, 1894, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.
What manner of man he was in private and public life may be judged from the spontaneous tributes of his old-time friends and associates that shortly appeared in print. Some recalled with pleasure his many admirable qualities, his uniform courtesy and kindness, his dignity, his graceful, forcible, and eloquent speech, his wisdom in counsel, and his watchful care over public interests. Said another, "He will be remembered as an upright man of good and patriotic intentions, with an earnest desire to perform the duties of his many high offices with singleness of purpose for the good of the people ; and even in the heat of partisan con- troversy the high-mindedness and integrity of Mr. Gaston were never questioned." As a law- yer he stood remarkably high in his conmu- nity, and before juries he had great talent and ability in presenting his case. He had the confidence of the court, and he never abused that confidence.
To one who urged him as Governor to take a certain course in the case of a noted criminal, on the ground that it would bring him votes, he indignantly replied, "I shall do my duty as my conscience directs me to do, and I would do my duty if every man in Massachusetts would vote against me."
Be it remembered he did it, too. So high- minded a man were an honor to any State.
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That he was not self-seeking he gave evidence by declining nomination to high office, when it was thought by some of its leaders that the interests of the Democratic party would be better served by another. While Governor of the Commonwealth he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University, his Alma Mater, and also from Harvard.
Mr. Gaston was married on May 27, 1852, to Louisa A. Beccher, born in Boston, De- cember 27, 1830, daughter of Laban S. and Frances A. (Lines) Beecher. Her parents were natives of New Haven, and belonged to old Connecticut families. Laban S. Beecher was one of the founders of the Eliot Church (Congregational) at Roxbury, Mass., where he settled in 1834. He died in consequence of an accident at Oshkosh, Wis., in 1876. He was .of the eighth generation in descent from John Beecher, the founder of the family in Connecticut, who died between the years 1651 and 1659. The line was John, ' Isaac, 2 John, 3 John, + John, 5 Eli,6 Benjamin, 7 Laban S. s
Ex-Governor Gaston is survived by his wife and two children, William Alexander and Sarah Howard. A son, Theodore B., died in 1869. Mrs. Gaston and her daughter occupy the family home on Marlboro Street, Boston.
William Alexander Gaston, of the law firm of Gaston, Snow & Saltonstall, was fitted for college at the Roxbury Latin School. and was graduated at Harvard in 1880. He studied law at the Harvard Law School, was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1883, and the same year became a member of the firm of Gaston & Whitney, as mentioned above. On the retire- ment of Mr. Whitney, in 1890, Frederic F. Snow became a partner, and in 1898 Richard M. Saltonstall. The firm has made a specialty of corporation law, and acted as counsel for many corporations.
Mr. Gaston was the first president of the Boston Elevated Railway Company. He is a member and one of the council of the Boston Bar Association; also a member of the Somer- set, University, Algonquin, Curtis Clubs, and other clubs, societies, and associations of Bos- ton, the Country Club of Brookline, and the Harvard Club of New York. . He is a trustee
and director in many of the leading financial institutions in the city of Boston.
In 1891, 1892, and 1893, with the title of Colonel, he was on the staff of Governor Will- iam E. Russell. He married, April 9, 1892. May D., daughter of the late Hamilton David- son Lockwood, of Boston. lIe has three chil- dren - Ruth, William, and John.
APTAIN SIIUBALL LYMAN NORTON, capitalist, resident alter- nately of Cottage City and Edgar- town, Dukes County, was born at Edgartown, October 26, 1824, son of Shuball and Sophronia (Smith) Norton.
An earlier Shuball Norton, his father's grandfather, born in 1733, was a merchant or trader and a lifelong resident of Dukes County. He is believed to have been a descendant of Nicholas Norton, who removed from the Cape to Martha's Vineyard, and was one of the first settlers on the island. Bayes Norton, son of Shuball, first, and father of Shuball, second, spent his life in the county, being engaged in agriculture. He married Rhoda Norton.
Shuball Norton, second, father of Captain Norton, was born in Edgartown, May 13. 1792. He was for some years a master mar- iner in the whaling service, from which he finally retired with a competency. Having inherited the Norton homestead, he added to it by purchase until he had upward of three hundred acres, including land that is now the most thickly settled portion of Cottage City. He died November 24, 1851, and his wife. Sophronia Smith Norton, died in August. 1852. They reared seven children - Julia Ann, Adeline, Shuball L., Rhoda, Sophronia. Louisa, and Henry Bayes.
Shuball Lyman Norton obtained his educa- tion in the district school and at Dukes County Academy in Tisbury. In 1843, at the age of nineteen, he began a seafaring life. making his first trip in the "Massasoit." a sailing-vessel in the merchant service, and going to Calcutta, where he lived on shore, acting as supercargo. This trip and his next trip, on the ship "Argo," also to Calcutta. each lasted a year. In the interest of his em-
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players he then sailed on board a trader for the Fiji Islands, whence he made two trips to China. After disposing of his second cargo in that country he loaded with tea and sailed for home, arriving in Boston in 1849. In the fall of that year he started for California as first officer of the ship "George Ryan," making the Voyage around Cape Horn, and arriving in San Francisco in the following May. Here he tormed a partnership with two others, and went to the mines. After digging gold for some time with fair success, they secured about one thousand acres of government land, including a valley three miles from Shasta City. They established a ferry across the river and also a ranch to board miners, horses, and mules. All provisions were selling at fabulous prices, flour being a dollar per pound. About six months later they secured another valley, where they began cutting hay, which they marketed at Shasta City at seventy-five dollars per ton. After remaining in California about two years, Captain Norton returned to Edgar- town, and resumed sailing in the merchant ser- vice, which occupation he continued until the breaking out of the Civil War for the time being practically destroyed American com- merce. His last trip was as commander of the ship "Union," bound to Calcutta. He had instructions to sell the vessel, if he could to advantage; and he did so in that port, together with the cargo. Just at this time an Ameri- can captain, who was commander of an Ameri- can vessel in the harbor, with an English cargo for Europe, died ; and the United States consul asked Captain Norton to take command ot the vessel, which was under contract. Cap- tuin Norton did so, and in it sailed to Bombay, where he discharged the cargo of sugar and rice, after which he went in ballast to Ran- soon, Burmah. There he broke the existing contract, and, instead of loading with lumber, loaded with rice and sailed for London, where be settled up his account with the owners, and returned home January 1, 1865. He now make up his mind to retire from the sea; and, being the owner of a large tract of land, in- «luding Oak Bluffs, Cottage City, he formed a syndicate to improve it and place it upon the .atket. Securing a good landscape gardener,
they platted about one thousand lots, and laid out Ocean Park, Captain Norton being elected president of the company and agent for the sale of the lots. The proceeds from the sale amounted to upward of three hundred thousand dollars. Here in a most charming spot Cap- tain Norton erected a beautiful residence for himself, which he now occupies. Enjoying the advantages of a healthful and picturesque location, with its natural features improved by art, Cottage City has since become a favorite resort for the better class of summer tourists, besides being the permanent residence of many persons of means and leisure who seek in its rural quiet and interesting surroundings, with its cool ocean breezes, freedom from the toil and care of business and the turmoil of city life.
Captain Norton was married in 1849 to Phebe A. Davis, a native of Edgartown and a daughter of Benjamin and Elmira Davis. Captain and Mrs. Norton have reared three children - Susan A., Anna L., and Nellie A. Susan A. is the wife of Charles B. Smith, and has one child, a daughter, Jean Merrill. Anna L. married George B. Whitney, and died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving a daughter, Gertrude. Nellie A. is the wife of William B. Orswell, and the mother of three children - Harriet D., Annie L., and Norton Wood. Captain and Mrs. Norton are members of the Baptist church. In politics he is a Re- publican.
ON. EDWARD PAYSON SHAW, State Treasurer of Massachusetts for the years 1895-99, inclusive, is a resident of Newburyport, his native place. He was born on September 1, 1841, son of Major Samuel and Abigail (Bartlett) Shaw, and was named for the Rev. Edward Payson, D. D., a very popular Congregational minister of Portland, Me.
Major Shaw, who held the rank denoted by his title in the State militia, was a well- known stage-coach driver of the olden time, long in the employ of the Eastern Stage Com- pany. He was much respected as a man of piety and integrity. He was three times mar-
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ried, Abigail Bartlett being his third wife. She belonged to the old Essex County family of this name, being a descendant of Richard Bartlett, who came to New England in 1635 and settled at Newbury. Her father, Richard, of the seventh generation, if we mistake not, was the son of William Bartlett, a wealthy merchant of Newburyport, who contributed lib- erally toward the establishment of the An- dover Theological Seminary and founded a professorship therein.
Edward P. Shaw obtained his education in the public schools, continued his studies for a year under the instruction of Master George Titcomb, and completed them with a course at Loudon Academy in New Hampshire. Self- reliant and enterprising, intent on making his own way in the world, at twenty-two years of age he bought out Lovett's Boston Express. This he conducted as Shaw's Boston Express for the next eight years, selling out in 1871. He then "succeeded William H. Swasey in the firm of Sumner, Swasey & Currier, an old and well-established house doing a large business in flour and produce, having numerous connec- tions in other States and owning several ves- sels engaged in domestic and foreign trade. In 1879 he purchased Commercial Wharf in Newburyport, together with the business inter- est attached thereto. A few years later he established the People's Line of steamboats. In 1884 he organized the company which built the Black Rocks & Salisbury Beach Railroad, connecting it by steamboats with the Newbury- port & Amesbury Street Railroad, and with others running east, west, and south.
"Mr. Shaw was the first contractor engaged by the United States government in building the jetties at the mouth of the Merrimac and deepening the water on the bar, with the ob- ject of making Newburyport a 'harbor of refuge.' In the performance of this work he furnished about one hundred thousand tons of stone, which he took from a quarry opened by him in the upper part of the city in 1882. Having sold his interest in the Newburyport & Amesbury Street Railroad to parties in Boston and Salem in 1886, he immediately proposed to build a similar road to Plum Island and upon it. The project was undertaken. 1Ie
was chosen president of the corporation ; and in thirty days he had completed three miles cf the road on the island, had constructed a steam- boat pier extending into the Merrimac River. had the cars running, had remodelled and en- larged Plum Island Hotel, had rebuilt the bridge and draw connecting the island with the mainland, and was ready to begin laying the three miles of track necessary to reach Market Square and connect with the Amesbury trains. " About that time also he extended the Black Rocks & Salisbury Beach Railroad up the beach nearly to the Hampton River, and then built a line back to Salisbury, from there to Amesbury, then to Seabrook, and afterward to Newburyport. The system has been still fur- ther developed by connecting Amesbury and Merrimac with Haverhill, and now covers thirty-three miles of road.
Mr. Shaw is the "founder and president of the Newburyport Car Company, which is engaged in the manufacture of street cars. For several years he was president of the Newburyport Board of Trade. He was a director of the First National Bank of the city for fifteen years, and is now its president. Among the pieces of real estate improved by him is the Merrimac House, now bearing its original name, the Wolfe Tavern, which in IS8; he purchased, repaired, and refurnished. An- other valuable piece is Shaw's Hall, a large block erected by him upon the site of the house in which he was born, and now tenanted by nine social organizations. Woodland Place, which has been his residence since 1875, is one of the finest estates in the city."
On December 24, 1867, Mr. Shaw was married in Cambridgeport, Mass., to Annie Payson Trott, a daughter of James Fullerton Trott, of Bath, Me. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have six children now living ; namely, Edward Pay- son, Annie Bartlett, James Fullerton, Lizzie Sumner, Samuel Jaques, and Pauline. One daughter, Grace Hodgdon, is deceased.
"A Republican in politics, Mr. Shaw has taken a prominent part in public life. After serving in the Common Council of Newbury- port for two years, he represented the city in the lower house of the State Legislatures of 1881, 1882, ISSS, and 1889, and was a mem-
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ber of the State Senate in 1892 and 1893. In April, 1895, when H. M. Phillips resigned the office of State Treasurer, Mr. Shaw was chosen by the Legislature to serve in that capacity for the remainder of the term; and in November, 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898, he was succes- sively elected to the office on the Republican ticket for the current term.
OHN COTTON CLAPP, a representa- tive of one of the oldest families in Dorchester, was born in that town, June 30, 1837. He is a son of David and Mary Elizabeth (Tucker) Clapp, and is seventh in line of descent from Nicholas Clap, born in England in 1612, who was the founder of this branch of the family in America.
This early ancestor, who was the fourth son of Richard Clap of England (sce Genealogy of the Clapp Family), probably came to Dorches- ter in 1633. Ilis son Nathaniel, who is next in line of descent, was born in Dorchester, September 15, 1640, and died May 16, 1707. Nathaniel's son Jonathan, of the third genera- tion, was born in Dorchester, August 31, 1673, and died there January 2, 1723. He married Sarah Capen, of Dorchester, June 23, 1703. David Clapp, son of Jonathan and Sarah, was born in Dorchester, November 11, 1720, and died there, August 17, 1787. He married June 20, 1754, Ruth Humphreys. They were the parents of David Clapp, second, borr in Dorchester, November 30, 1759, who died there May 5, 1846. This second David was a Revolutionary soldier, serving at various times during the war. He married first, December 9, 1794, Susannah Humphreys, of Dorchester, who died leaving no children. He married second, July 28, 1801, Azubah Capen, of Stoughton.
Their son, David Clapp, third, father of John Cotton Clapp, was born in Dorchester, February 6, 1806. He served an apprentice- ship to the printer's trade with the Hon. John Cotton, of Boston, in whose office, at the corner of Washington and Franklin Streets, he continued for some years subsequently as a journeyman. Mr. Cotton was a direct de- scendant of the Rev. John Cotton, second min-
ister of the First Church in Boston, who came from Boston, England, and in whose honor the New England metropolis received its name. After a brief partnership, in 1831, with Mr. Hull, and also later with Mr. Cotton, in 1834 Mr. Clapp purchased the business, which he continued to carry on at the same location till 1861. Franklin Street was then widened at its head, and the printing-office, after remain- ing in that place for a period of thirty-nine years, was removed to 334 (in 1875 changed :) 564) Washington Street. Here it remained until 1883, when it was removed to 35 Bedford Street. In 1889 it was again removed, to 115 High Street, and in 1895 to 291 Congress Street. Mr. Clapp was married April 9, 1835 to Mary Elizabeth Tucker, daughter of Ather- ton Tucker, of Milton. She was born August 25, 1808, and was a descendant of Robert Tucker, of Milton, who came to this country from England early in the seventeenth century. and many of whose descendants have always lived in Dorchester and Milton. She died in October, 1893. They had six children, all of whom were living until the death of the youngest in 1896. Mr. David Clapp died in 1893.
John Cotton Clapp, though born in Dorches- ter, as were his five ancestors in a continuous line since 1640, was brought up from child- hood in South Boston, whither his parents re- moved in 1839. His first and second names were given him in memory of the Hon. John Cotton above mentioned. He was educated first in the old Hawes School at South Boston. which he left in 1849 to attend for a year or two a boarding-school in Newton Lower Falls, kept by R. B. Blasdell. In 1851 he entered Chauncy Hall School, located in Chauncy Place, Boston, which formed the northerly half of what is now Chauncy Street, a brick wall then separating it from Rowe Place, which formed the southerly side. It was at that time under the charge of Gideon French Thayer and Thomas Cushing. Here he remained three years. In 1856 he entered his father's print- ing-office. In 1864 he was admitted a partner (the firm name being David Clapp & Som). and since that time he has been actively and unremittingly engaged in the same business.
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At the present time he is in partnership with his brother, David C. Clapp, at 291 Congress Street, the office being now one of the oldest in the country. Some years ago he took out a patent for a numbering machine, which has since been extensively used for various pur- poses, and which was sold to a firm in the West. He also secured a patent on a brake for printing-presses.
For many years he has been connected in various capacities with St. Matthew's Episco- pal Church, South Boston. lle was for some time its treasurer, for thirty-five successive years its clerk, for the past eight years one of its delegates to the Diocesan Convention, and is now its Senior Warden. He has been a . member of the Massachusetts Charitable Me- chanic Association for the past thirty years, is now a life member of the same, and has served for three years as one of its Committee of Relief ; is a member of the Paul Revere Association of Boston; of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; of the Old Boston School Boys' Association; and of the Old Hawes School Boys' Association, of which he has been for some time treasurer.
He resided in South Boston until April, 1896, when he removed to Dorchester. Here he is now living on Jones's Hill, within a few rods of the house that was built by his grand- father in 1794, and in which both his father and himself were born. The old estate, which has been in the family for nearly one hundred and fifty years (being purchased by his great- grandfather in 1755), has lately been inter- sected by a street (on which he resides) run- ning from Cushing Avenue to Stoughton Street, called Salcombe Street, after the Eng- lish town from which some of the Clapps emigrated.
Mr. Clapp was married July 19, 1865, to Miss Julia Curtis, daughter of the late Horatio Nelson Crane, of Boston, who was descended in a direct line from Henry Crane, of Milton, Mass., born in England in 1621. She was born in South Boston, November 3, 1837. They have had four children, of whom only John C. Clapp, Jr., an architect in Boston, born in South Boston, October 27, 1870, is now living.
1 SAAC PRATT, JR., for many years 2 well-known and highly successful bus :. ness man of Boston, a leader in the in : trade, died on August 26, 1899, at hi, home in the Brighton district, where he ha: been for forty-four years a resident. He was born in North Middleboro, Mass., June 2 ;. 1814, son of Isaac and Naomi (Keith) Pra ::. On the paternal side he was of the eighth gen- eration in descent from Matthew Pratt, ca :.: settler of Weymouth, Mass., the line being: Matthew,' Joseph, 2 Joseph, 3 Benjamin, + Ben's- min, 5 William, 6.Isaac, 7 Isaac, 8 Jr.
Matthew Pratt is referred to in Cott :- Mather's "Magnalia " as a very religious man. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had several chit- dren, one of them being Joseph, 2 who was born in 1637, married Sarah Judkins. and lived =: Weymouth. Joseph, 3 who was born in 1663. and died January 31, 1765, settled in Bridge- water in 1704 or 1705. Benjamin, + born i 1693, son of Joseph3 by his first wife. Sara: Benson, married Sarah Kingman, daughter c: Henry and Bethiah (Howard) Kingman, c: Bridgewater.
Benjamin,5 born in 1719, married Lydia Harlow, and had ten children. He built ves- sels and engaged in the lumber trade between North Carolina and the West Indies. iam,6 born in 1746, married Mary King. He owned a farm of four hundred acres at Norte Middleboro, where he built a large house is 1782. He built a number of vessels, and was for a time a shipmaster. He also carried co : blacksmith shop and a shoe shop. He was a Captain in the militia.
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