USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 26
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JOHN FOTTLER, SR.
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Marion, August 27, 1894. All these children, except the married ones, live with their par- ents at Stoughton.
Charles Hanson Pratt was born in Chelsea, May 21, 1851, and learned the carpenter's trade. He is a Constable, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and an auctioneer, having an office in Chelsea. Ile married in Chelsea, November 24, 1881, Ada Florence l'eart, who was born in Manchester, Mass., December 29, 1856, daughter of Francis B. and Martha R. Peart, of Chelsea. They have two children: William Francis, born January 26, 1883; and Chester Leonard, born Septem- ber 13, 1887.
HARLES E. EDDY, member of the Boston Common Council from the Dorchester district in 1898 and 1899, was born in-Cincinnati, Ohio, July 9, 1869, son of Forace M. and Esther .1. (Randall) Eddy. His father was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1834, son of Laban Eddy, also a native of that town. Ilis original American ancestor was Samuel Eddy, who, with his brother John, came over from Eng- land in 1630 on the "Handmaid," arriving at Plymouth on October 29, old style.
John Eddy, second, son of Samuel, born in Plymouth in 1637, a blacksmith by trade, was doubtless the first of the family in Taunton, where he is said to have lived in 1669, being one of the proprietors. Laban Eddy, above named, a descendant of Samuel several genera- tions removed, was connected with the iron industries of Taunton.
Forace M. Eddy, son of Laban and father of the subject of this sketch, learned the trade of a machinist, and while still a young man was engaged in the foundry business. In 1856 he went to Cincinnati, where he followed his trade until the beginning of the Civil War. Through the war he served as Quartermaster of a Kentucky regiment, United States army, and after the close of hostilities was stationed for a time in Michigan. Resuming his former occupation in Cincinnati, he remained there until 1872, when he returned to Taunton, where he has ever since followed his trade.
He was formerly quite active in public affairs, and served two years in the Taunton city gov- ernment. He is a member of the Masonic order. His wife, Esther A., whom he mar- ried at Cincinnati in 1866, was born in Rhode Island, daughter of Esther Randall, and went from her native State to Dunkirk, Ind. Of this union there are two sons: Leace W., of Dorchester; and Charles E., the subject of this sketch.
Charles E. Eddy was educated in the com- mon schools and the high school of Taunton. After working at various occupations he learned the carpenter's trade; and in 1895 he became associated in business with his brother at 283 Quincy Street, Dorchester, under the firm name of L. W. Eddy & Co. They carry on an extensive jobbing business, and are widely known as able and reliable workmen.
Some years ago Mr. Eddy evinced a lively interest in local political affairs, and, being chosen a member of the Republican Commit- tee of old Ward Twenty (now Ward Sixteen), was its treasurer for the years 1897 and 1898. In the Common Council in 1898 and 1899 he served with ability upon the Committees on Buildings, Printing, Assessment, Bath-houses, Weights and Measures, Fourth of July Cele- bration, and others of equal importance. Mr. Eddy is a member of the North Dorchester Club.
OHN FOTTLER, the elder of that name, has been one of Dorchester's best known citizens for a great many years. In 1830, or near that date, at about fifteen years of age, he came here with his parents, Jacob and Barbara Fottler, who were natives of Bavaria on the Rhine. They came from Europe with the intention of mak- ing a home in what was then considered the Far West, Indiana; and soon after their ar- rival here the Western journey was under- taken. Arriving at Cincinnati, Ohio, they were thence embarking on the ill-fated steamer " Moselle." The sinking of that steamer just as she left the wharf, owing to an explosion of her boilers, was a catastrophe then almost unparalleled, and to the present
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day it is often alluded to with horror by old residents of Cincinnati and vicinity. That accident cost hundreds of lives; and among those lost were Jacob Fottler, the father, one of his sons, and two young daughters. The others of the family returned to Boston, and here the mother, Barbara, died many years since, her age being over eighty years. The surviving children were: John, the subject of this sketch; Jacob; l'eter; and one sister, Elizabeth. At the present time John and Peter alone are living, the latter having re- sided at Ilingham, Mass., for over forty years.
At the age of nineteen John Fottler ac- cepted a position in Quincy Market, where he remained some three years. In 1838 he mar- ried Miss Mary Donald, a native of England, but of Scottish descent, her mother's maiden name being Mary Bell.
It was in the following year that Boston's Public Garden was first opened, and Mr. Fottler delivered on those grounds, from the Dorchester hot-houses of the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, the first load of plants ever set there. After Mr. Fottler's marriage he took as a farm the greater portion of Dorchester's well-known "Savin Hill." At that time there were but two small houses on the entire tract of land. At the end of about two years he became superintendent of Hovey's Nur- series at Cambridge. During succeeding years he had charge of several large estates, notably that of John P. Cushing at Belmont, since known as Payson Park. He also for a time conducted a large farm belonging to the late Jacob Hittinger in the same town.
Many years ago Mr. Fottler had the unusual experience of turning over with the plough some seven acres of Boston's famous Common, and afterward seeding it down to grass.
Mr. Fottler is in all respects a self-made man, and very few have a more enviable record for public-spirited work. Away back in the seventies he was one of the first to conceive the grand idea of public parks for our city, and to no man, living or dead, is greater credit due for the establishment of our magnificent park system. The first dollar ever spent for the purpose of creating these pleasure grounds came from his pocket, and
he also gave much time and incessant work to this object until our parks were an accom- plished fact. His title as "The Father of our Parks " has never been disputed.
In later years he took up the matter of the widening of Blue Hill Avenue; and to his efforts, more than to all other combined in- fluences, is due the success of that undertax- ing. The first land for the widening and improvement of that avenue was presented to the city by Mr. Fottler. In recognition of his work a grand banquet was given in his honor, a beautiful watch and chain presented to him, and the Mayor of Boston presented to him the pen with which the city's order for the improvement of Blue Hill Avenue was signed.
Mr. Fottler's business for the most part has been the growing of vegetables and small fruits for Boston market, and he has also a most thorough practical knowledge of the treatment of plants under glass, including the growing of hot-house grapes. Besides these he has had much experience in tree planting. and is a thorough nursery-man. He retired from active business several years ago.
His family consisted of a wife and seven children. His wife and one daughter dice several years since. His children now living are as follows: Jacob, the eldest son, at pres- ent engaged in business at Quincy Market. has served the State as a member of the Gen- eral Court, and has also held various posi- tions in Boston's city government ; the secon: son, John, who has for many years been en- gaged in the seed trade on South Market Street, is a well-known resident of Dorches- ter; William, the third son, is a lieutenant of police, and has served on the Boston force many years; the other son, Charles, resides near his father in Dorchester. Two daugh- ters - Mary ( Mrs. J. F. Cook) and Belle (Mrs. C. M. Hickey) -are also living in Dorchester.
Mr. Fottler was born in 1815, the year of the battle of Waterloo, and is now in his eighty-fifth year. Very few men now living have witnessed so many great changes in the condition of Boston and its vicinity as he has seen.
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ORACE WILLARD BAXTER, a prominent business man of the Brighton District, was born in Quincy, Mass., November 21, 1824, son of William and Elizabeth (Arnold) Bax- ter. His parents were natives of Quincy, where his grandfather, William Baxter, Sr., was a resident. In Braintree, of which the town was formerly a part, Gregory Baxter, the founder of the Quincy branch of the fam- ily, settled about the year 1640, having re- moved thither from Roxbury. William Baxter, second, for many years was engaged in the provision business in Quincy.
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At the age of sixteen years Horace W. Baxter went to Brighton to learn the butcher- ing business with his uncle, Mottran V. Arnold, for whom he worked eight years. At the expiration of that time he was admitted to partnership under the firm name of M. V. Arnold & Co .; and four years later he became sole proprietor of the business, which he car- ried on alone with excellent financial results. He was also engaged fus a number of years in the wholesale provision trade. Under the town government he served with ability upon the Board of Selectmen for two years, the last year of which he was its chairman ; and he has frequently been solicited to accept other im- portant public offices, but declined, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs. He has, however, displayed a public- spirited interest in relation to the general welfare of the district and its improvement, and is a director of the National Market Bank of Brighton. Politically, he is a Republican.
On January 6, 1853, Mr. Baxter was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Corey Davis. She was born in Dorchester, Mass., August 7, 1827, daughter of John Amory and Charity (Murdock) Davis, natives of Roxbury. ller father died when Elizabeth was about four years of age. On the maternal side she is descended from the Dudley family of West Roxbury, who were residing there during the Revolutionary War. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter have five children : Horace Willard. Jr., born June 19, 1854; Mott Arnold, born May 29, 1856; Caroline Elizabeth, born May 4, 1858; Frank Herbert, born July 22, 1860; and Lincoln
Baxter, born July 18, 1863. Frank Herbert Baxter married Lucy Ellen Hill on July 6, 1 892. They have two children: Herbert Hill, born May, 1894; Katharine Elizabeth, born June, 1896. On March 11, 1885, Horace W. Baxter, Jr., married Emma Adelaide Cutter, daughter of Leonard R. and Mercy (Taylor) Cutter. Mrs. E. Adelaide C. Baxter died November, 1894. Lincoln Baxter mar- ried, September 19, 1893, Effie Frances Mon- roe, and has one child, Horace Monroe, born November 5, 1895.
Mr. Baxter erected his present residence on Foster Street in 1858. The family attend the Unitarian church.
B ENJAMIN DINNIS DIXIE, who for a quarter of a century carried on a profitable coal and wood business in Marblehead, was born in this town .. January 7, ISio, son of Edward and Mary (Hammond) Dixie. His parents were also natives of Marblehead, where several genera- tions of his ancestors resided.
The Dixies are an old English family. In "Wotton's Baronetage," volume iii., is re- corded the fact that the first of the name found "in the visitation of the heralds is Wolston Dixie, living about the reign of Edward III.," also that Sir Wolston Dixie, Knt., "a man of extraordinary charity," was Lord Mayor of London in 1585.
Another spelling of the name is Dixey. Savage in his Genealogical Dictionary men- tions two or three Dixey immigrants to New England : one, John Dixey, Salem, 1639; also a Thomas Dixey, Salem, 1639, who had baptized there: Mary, 1645; Thomas, 1654; Margaret, 1656; John, 1657; was of Marblehead, 1674.
Mary Dixey was a member of the first church of Marblehead in 1684, and John Dixey a member in 1701.
Benjamin D. Dixie acquired a common- school education, which was enhanced by con- tinuous reading and a retentive memory. The energy and perseverance which at an early age became marked features in his character proved exceedingly valuable to him during the gold-fever excitement in California, where he
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spent five years in the diggings; and his visit to the Pacific coast was attended with excel- lent financial results. Returning to Marble- head, he subsequently engaged in the coal and wood business on what became known as Dixie's Wharf (now occupied by William B. Stearns, the well-known boat-builder), where he carried on a successful business for the rest of his life. His interest in the general welfare of the town caused him to take an active part in public affairs, and for several years he served with ability as a member of the Board of Selectmen. Politically, he acted with the Democratic party. As one of the substantial business men of Marblehead, he became prominently identified with the finan- cial interests of the town, and was a director of the Marblehead National Bank. He was an Odd Fellow and a member of Atlantic Lodge. In his religious belief he was a Con- gregationalist, and held membership in that church.
On November 3, 1842, Mr. Dixie married Margaret Lamprell, of Marblehead. She was born February 4, 1813, daughter of Simon and Eleanor (Andrews) Lamprell, and was a grand-daughter of Benjamin Andrews, who served as a Corporal in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Dixey became the mother of two daughters: Martha Ellen, a resident of Marblehead; and Mary P., who died January 16, 1897. Benjamin D. Dixie died November 11, 1884, surviving his wife, whose death occurred April 16, 1879. The memory of both will ever be cherished by the entire community, which not only profited by their many kindly acts, but was made brighter by their presence.
HOMAS KEMP, secretary and treas- urer of the Wellfleet Savings Bank, was born in this town, September 2, 1830, son of Wells E. and Huldah (Bacon) Kemp. His parents were hoth natives of Wellfleet. Ilis maternal grandmother was before marriage Iluldah Holbrook. His pa- ternal grandfather was Robert Kemp, a mas- ter mariner, who came from Maryland to Wellfleet, and was Postmaster here during the
War of 1812. He married Anna Paine, of Wellfleet.
Wells E. Kemp followed the sea, first as a sailor and afterward as a shipmaster. He lived to be seventy years old, and his wife died at forty-seven. They were the parents of five children - Eunice R., Nancy A .. Thomas, John E., and Barzilla. Eunice R. married William Witherell, of Wellfleet. an.i died some years later, leaving two daugh- ters - Nancy K. and Mattie E. Withereil: Nancy A. Kemp died at the age of nineteen : John E., who was formerly a shipmaster. is now in the oyster business at Norfolk, Va. : and his brother Barzilla is associated with him.
Thomas Kemp was educated in the public schools of his native town. As a boy. he looked upon the sea as affording about the only means of occupation within his reach: and to him, whose only playground had been the storm-beaten shore of Cape Cod, there was no more danger or hardship on shipboard than upon the land. His experience as a sailor be- fore the mast was similar to that of most boys whose lot it was to begin their sea life at an early age; and, having acquired the necessary knowledge, he became a sca captain at twenty- four. For several years he was engaged in fishing and coasting as a master mariner; but in 1862 he decided to become a landsman. and, opening an outfitting establishment a: Wellfleet, in company with Warren Newcomb. he continued in that business for nine years. In 1872 he became associated with the Well- fleet Savings Bank, of which he has been sec- retary and treasurer for the past twenty-six years. He was for twenty-five years secretary of the Wellfleet Marine Insurance Company. and is a trustee of the Wellfleet Savings Bank.
On July 2, 1854, Mr. Kemp married Ruth Newcomb Atwood, daughter of Simeon A :- wood. They have two children: Effie T., born November 15, 1863; and Thomas E .. born December 10, 1865. Effie T. married Winfield Scott Rich, a native of Wellfleet. now a special teacher in the Malden llich School. Thomas E., who is collection clerk of the Second National Bank, Boston, married
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Laura E. Hargrave, of that city, and resides in Dorchester. Hle has one son, Emery L. Kemp.
Politically, Mr. Kemp is a Republican. lle is a Deacon of the Congregational church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday- school for the past seventeen years.
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R EUBEN GLEASON, a respected citi- zen of Boston, a resident in the Dor- chester District and a member of the firm of R. & E. F. Gleason, was born in Dorchester, Mass., August 13, 1846, a son of Sarell and Mary Ann (Howe) Gleason. His paternal grandparents were Reuben and Martha Gleason, of Topsham, Vt., concerning whom see sketch of his brother, Edward F. Gleason, published on another page of this volume.
Sarell Gleason was born in Topsham, Vt., in 1803, and died in Dorchester, Mass., on February 16, 1854. Brought up on a farm, he followed agriculture for some time, but in carly manhood came to Dorchester, where he learned the trade of tinsmith. He then opened the first tinsmith's shop in South Boston, which he conducted subsequently for many years, finally giving up the business on account of failing health. For some time afterward he acted as foreman for his brother Roswell, who was in business as a tinsmith and silver-plater; but, finding the work too confining, he engaged in teaming. His first wife, in maidenhood Sarah Bird, died not long after their union ; and he married for his sec- ond wife Mary Ann Howe, a daughter of Joseph and Mehitable Howe and a representative of an old Dorchester family. They had eight chil- dren - Sarell, Thomas Vose, Edward Francis, Mary Ann, Sarah Bird, Helen Maria, Reuben, and Edna Louisa. Sarell, who was for some time engaged in the silver-plating business, later established the undertaking business now carried on by the subject of this sketch and his brother, Edward F. (Further notice of the other children may be found in the sketch of Edward F. Gleason.)
Reuben Gleason received his education in the public schools of Dorchester. After
leaving school, he worked at various occupa- tions, for some time being employed in the manufacture of Britannia ware. Shortly be- fore he had completed his eighteenth year he enlisted in Company I, Forty-second Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, mustered July 19, 1864, and was with it subsequently in Vir- ginia till the expiration of his term of service. He was honorably discharged November, 1864, at Readville, Mass. ; and, returning home, he was engaged in railroad work for two years. and then resumed his trade, which he contin- ued to follow until the death of his brother Sarell on April 2, 1879. In partnership with his brother, Edward F., from that time to the present he has carried on the undertaking business very successfully, their business now being the largest of that kind in Dorchester.
Mr. Gleason was married April 20, 1871, to Miss Adelia A. F. Hathaway, a daughter of Elkanah and Elvira (Wood) Hathaway, of Westport, R.I. They have four children : Bertha Forest, born October 30, 1875; George Hathaway, born June 7, 1877; Mabel, born October 18, 1879; Reuben, Jr., born Novem- ber 14, 1883.
Mr. Gleason is a member of Norfolk Lodge, No. 48, I. O. O. F. ; Shalom Encampment, No. 12; and Canton Shawmut, No. 7, I. O. O. F. He also belongs to Post No. 68, G. A. R.
ILLIAM AUGUSTUS CRAFTS, clerk of the State Board of Rail- road Commissioners, belongs to one of the first families of the Roxbury District, Boston, being a scion of old English stock transplanted in early Colonial times. To be more explicit, he is a descendant in the sev- enth generation of Lieutenant Griffin Craft, who came over with Governor Winthrop's party in 1630, and settled a little over a mile from what became the village centre of Rox- bury.
Griffin Craft served twenty years or more as Selectman of Roxbury, for a number of terms as Deputy to the General Court, and twenty- one years as Lieutenant of the Roxbury Mili- tary Company. Ilis first wife, Alice, and
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their daughter Hannah accompanied him to these shores. The birth of their son John, on July 10, 1630, is the first on the Roxbury records. They had six children in all, three sons and three daughters; and every one of them married, and left descendants. This is the line now being considered: Lieutenant Griffin,' Lieutenant Samuel,2 Ensign Ebe- nezer, 3 Deacon Ebenezer, 4 Daniel,s Major Ebenezer,6 William A.7
Lieutenant Samuel, fifth child of Griffin Craft, married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth ( Ballard ) Seaver. Their son, Ensign Ebenezer, born in 1679, married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Devotion) Weld.
Ebenezer, second, born in 1705, was a Deacon of the First Church of Roxbury, as his father, the Ensign, had been before him. A farmer and cordwainer by occupation, he became a large landholder. He owned sev- eral negro slaves, one of whom, a woman named Dinah, lived in the family for sixty years, a trusted servant, free to come and go at will. Deacon Ebenezer Craft married Su- sanna White, daughter of Samuel and Ann (Drew) White, of Brookline, and great-grand- daughter. of John White who came over from England.
Daniel Craft, son of Deacon Ebenezer and Susanna, born in 1752, was a farmer in Rox- bury. Ile married April 27, 1775, Abigail Kent, daughter of Josiah and Sarah Kent, of Harvard, Mass. Dying at the age of thirty- five, he was outlived by his father, his wife, and four children.
Major Ebenezer, son of Daniel, was born in Roxbury, January 12, 1779, in the old Crafts house built by his grandfather, Ensign Ebene- zer, in 1709. He inherited about fifty acres of the Roxbury farm, and also land in Brook- line. In the State militia he held the rank of Major ; and in the second war with England he was stationed for a time at Fort Indepen- dence, Boston Harbor. lle married June 29. 1806, Sarah Heath Spooner, daughter of Major John and Sarah (lleath) Spooner and grand- daughter of Major-general William Heath. At the time of his marriage he built, nearly opposite his birthplace, a large, substantial,
even elegant mansion house, designed by an English architect, Peter Banner. lIere he and his family lived for forty years, exercising a refined and generous hospitality. Mrs. Sarah Crafts was a lady of cultivated mind and great personal beauty. For a number of years Major Crafts was engaged with his brother-in-law, John Hayden, in the West India trade. Afterward he had shipping in- terests in connection with Elisha Hathaway. of Boston. Meeting with losses in the finan- cial crisis of 1837, he retired from business. and, selling his hill property, moved into the old house, and devoted his remaining years to carrying on the farm. He died on January 10, 1864. His wife died April 2, 1858. He was a director of the People's Bank and 2 member of the First Religious Society of Roxbury. Previous to this time the name had been spelled usually without the "s," which he added. Major Crafts had eight children, four of whom died between the ages of one year and sixteen. One son, John Spooner, died at thirty-three years of age: and Francis Daniel, the fourth-born, died in San Francisco in February, 1850. Susanna Hathaway, the seventh, married John H. E. Gallup. He died in 1848; and she died a widow in 1892, leaving one son, Charles Gallup, now living in New York City.
William Augustus Crafts is now the only surviving member of his father's family. He was born October 28, 1819. Attending suc- cessively the school of Gideon F. Thayer at Brookline and that of Stephen M. Weld at Jamaica Plain, he was fitted for college, and. entering Harvard, was graduated in 1840. He was class poet. He studied law in the Dane Law School at Cambridge, afterward in the office of Phillips & Robbins, Boston, and then practised for a short time in Boston and Rox- bury. In 1849 he established the Nortolk County Journal, a Whig paper, which he edited till 1857. Hle was a member of the common council, 1847 to 1851, and three years its president ; for twelve years on the School Committee; and three years, 1853, 1854, and ISGI, Representative to the Legislature. He was Assistant Clerk of the House from 1862 to 1869, and since 1860 has filled his present
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position, that of clerk to the Railroad Com- missioners of the State of Massachusetts.
In the fields of literature and journalism he has had successful experience, being the au- thor of several published volumes, including "A Campaign Life of Grant," "A History of the Southern Rebellion," and "Pioneers in the Settlement of America," and a contributor. to the columns of the current magazines. He married in May, 1842, Emily Doggett, daugh- ter of Samuel. and Lois (Currier) Doggett of Roxbury, a descendant in the seventh genera- tion of Thomas Doggett, of Marshfield, 1645. Their children are: Louise Augusta, born February 21, 1843; Samuel Doggett, born August 29, 1848; Mary Elizabeth, born Au- gust 21, 1851, died February 5, 1873; Will- iam Francis, born August 24, 1855: Emily Alice, born December 26, 1861.
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