USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
William Francis Crafts, after receiving his education in the public schools, became clerk in the drug and paint business of Howe & French, and afterward, in ISSI, entered the employ of William H. Swift, manufacturers of heavy chemicals and dyestuffs. He is a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution and of the New England Historic- Genealogical Society. He was a worker with James M. Crafts (his sister Emily also being a helper) in compiling the excellent "Gene- alogical and Biographical History of the De- scendants of Griffin and Alice Craft," to which the reader is referred for further infor - mation concerning this old New England family.
LIVER ADAMS LIBBY, printer, Lowell, was born in l'aris, Me., Octo- ber 28, 1849, son of William E. and Martha (Adams) Libby. Mention of this name occurs in 1574, but its origin cannot be learned. There are many different ways of spelling it, but this branch of the family has adopted that in which it was spelled by the first American ancestor, John Libby, who emi- grated from England in 1630. From the lat- ter the line of descent is traced through his son Matthew, born in 1663; John, born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1698; Peter, born in
1736; Isaac, born in 1764; Alexander, the grandfather, and William E., the father, to O. A. Libby, who is of the eighth generation. Isaac Libby, Mr. Libby's great-grandfather, married a daughter of John Jose, who served in the Continental army.
O. A. Libby acquired his education in the public schools of Paris, Me., and Lowell, Mass. He was employed for a few years in the cotton and woollen mills of the last-named city, and at the age of sixteen began to learn the printer's trade with Thomas P. James. After serving his apprenticeship Mr. Libby worked as a journeyman in Lowell for more than one year, when he engaged in executing crayon portraits, for which he possesses a talent. At the expiration of two years he re- sumed his trade in the office of the Fitchburg Sentinel, where he remained until 1870. In that year he went to Brattleboro, Vt., where he was employed in the press-room of the Record and Farmer. He later engaged in the job printing business, also printing the Household for George E. Crowell, its proprietor, with whom he afterward became associated as a part- ner. He eventually relinquished the printing of the Household, bought Mr. Crowell's inter- est in the job printing business, and conducted it alone. Upon leaving Brattleboro he lo- eated himself in the town of Springfield, Vt., conducting a job printing-office there, and at the same time published the Springfield Bul- letin. He then returned to Lowell, where he is still engaged in the printing business.
Mr. Libby married Charlotte Parker, daugh- ter of Asa Parker, of Acton, Mass., and has five children : Marshall P. and Margaret A., twins, born in IS71; Oliver C., born in 1873; Charlotte A., born in 1874; and Edward C., born in 1876.
Politically, Mr. Libby acts with the Demo- cratie party. He has held various city offices, including that of Alderman, and an order re- lating to the repairs of the streets introduced by him in that body has proved so satisfactory that it has been adopted by other municipali- ties. lle was a candidate for the Executive Council in 1895. Hle is a fluent speaker, a forcible writer, and his contributions to the press have been widely read. Ilis fraternal
206
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
affiliations are confined to the Knights of Malta and the Redmen. He attends the Universalist church.
ON. JOHN LEWIS BATES, Lieu- tenant Governor of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts, is a native of North Easton, Bristol County. Born September 18, 1859, son of the Rev. Lewis Benton and Louisa D. (Field) Bates, he is a representative of the ninth generation of the family founded by Clement Bates, who with his wife and five children came over from England in the spring of 1635, and in September of that year received a grant of land at Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he made his home and has been succeeded by a numerous posterity.
From Clement' the line descends through his son Joseph,2 born in England about 1630, who married Esther Hilliard; Joshua, 3 who married Rachel Tower; Joshua, + who married Abigail Joy and lived in the second precinct of Hingham, now Cohasset; Joshua,5 who married Grace Lincoln: Levi,6 who in March, 1794, removed to Springfield, Vt., making the journey with his family on an ox sled; Lewis, 7 born in Cohasset in 1780, who was one of the founders of the first Methodist Society at Springfield, Vt., was ordained by Bishop As- bury in 1806, and for many years was a noted preacher and revivalist; the Rev. Lewis Benton," the father above named, now a resi- dent of East Boston.
The ancestral link connecting Lieutenant Governor Bates with that branch of the Lin- coln family, early settled in Massachusetts, which gave to the United States one of its most illustrious Presidents, is not to be over- looked by the student of genealogy. A word of mention may be here in place. Grace Lincoln, wife of the third Joshua Bates and mother of Levi, grandfather of the Rev. Lewis B. Bates, was a daughter of Elisha and Sarah (Lewis) Lincoln. Her father was son of Samuel, Jr., and grandson of Samuel' Lin- coln, the weaver, Hingham, 1637, who was the immigrant progenitor of Abraham Lin - coln, the descent of the latter being through
Samuel Lincoln's son Mordecai, brother of Samuel, Jr., and uncle of Elisha.
At the time of the Revolution Levi Bates. then living at Cohasset, held the rank of Lieutenant in the State militia. He was called out with Captain Beal's company in March, April, and June, 1776, and with Cap- tain Peter Cushing's company in December.
The Rev. Lewis B. Bates began his life work at the age of seventeen as a religious ex- horter, entered the Providence Conference in 1850, and was transferred some twenty years later to the New England Conference, the scene of his subsequent labors. lle has re- cently closed a highly successful pastorate at the Bromfield Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston. He holds important official positions in connection with the activities of that denomination.
John Lewis Bates received his elementary education in the public schools of Taunton and Chelsea. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, was graduated at Boston University as Bachelor of Arts in 1882, and as Bachelor of Laws in 1885, in the meantime having had a year's experience in school teaching in Western New York. A member of the Suffolk County bar, active in his pro- fession, he had become known as one of Bos- ton's able and successful lawyers before enter- ing upon his political career, which he did as a member of the city's Common Council in 1891 and 1892. He served as Representative in the Legislature, one of two from East Bos- ton, 1894 to 1899, inclusive, in the last three terms being Speaker. Ilis attainment of that position, for which his personal qualities ad- mirably fitted him, was first sccured for him in 1897 by a unanimous nomination in the Republican caucus and a unanimous election in the House. He had previously served as chairman of important committees. In No- vember, 1899, he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with Winthrop Murray Crane, Governor.
The Ion. John I .. Bates is a trustee of Bos- ton University, of the Boston Y. M. C. A .. and of the Bromfield Street Methodist Epis- copal Church; is a director of the Columbia Trust Company, and a trustee of the Wilde;
-
-
Hox. JOHN L. BATES.
209
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Savings Bank. He is a member of Baalbec Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; of Zenith Lodge, I. O. O. F .; and of the United Order of Pilgrim Fathers, of which for three years he was the head. In 1894 he was president of the East Boston Citizens' Trade Associa- tion.
Ile was married in July, 1887, to Clara Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel C. Smith, of Jamestown, N. Y. Three children have been born of this union, and two are now living - John Harold and Dorothy.
O.N. MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER, PH. D. ,. LL. D., mer- chant and public-spirited citizen, at the time of his death, December 16, 1886, president of the New England Historic- Genealogical Society, president of the American l'omological Society, and senior member of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, was a native of Rindge, N. Il. Born September 22, 1798, son of Samuel Locke and Anna (Sherwin) Wilder, he was a grandson of Cap- tain Ephraim and Lucretia (Locke) Wilder, and was of the seventh generation in descent from Thomas Wilder, of Charlestown, Mass., 1640, who was one of the early settlers of Lancaster, Mass., 1654. The line was : Thomas'; Lieutenant Nathaniel, 2 who was killed by the Indians in 1704; Ephraim3; Ephraim, 4 who married Anne Wilder; Captain Ephraim, 5 whose wife, Lucretia, was the daugh- ter of Samuel and Rebecca (Richardson) Locke and sister of Samuel Locke, D. D., president of Harvard College; Samuel Locke6; and Marshall Pinckney, 7 named for the noted Federalists, John Marshall and Charles C. l'inckney.
From Sterling, Mass., formerly a part of Lancaster, Samuel Locke Wilder in 1794 re- moved to Rindge, N. Il., where he engaged in mercantile business, and in 1797 married Anna Sherwin, daughter of Jonathan Sherwin, a native of Boxford, Mass., and his wife, Mary Crombie, a native of Methuen, Mass.
Marshall P. Wilder received his early edu- cation in the district school, at the New Ips- wich (N. II.) Academy, and under a private
tutor, the Rev. Joseph Brown. At the age of sixteen, choice being given him, he turned his attention to farm work in preference to a col- lege course or employment behind the counter. Before very long his father needed his help in the store, and thus began his practical train- ing for the mercantile career in which he acquired the wealth that enabled him to do so much for the public good. That in after years he but worked out the plan that pleased his childish thought may be judged from his own words: "I think I can truly say that, from the day my sainted mother took me into the garden to help dress and to keep it, I have never seen the time when I did not love the cultivation of the soil." At twenty-one he was in business with his father. In 1825 he established him- self in Boston as a wholesale dealer in West India goods, being one of the firm of Wilder & Payson. Later on he was in the commercial house of Parker, Blanchard & Wilder, eventu- ally Parker, Wilder & Co., Winthrop Square.
Inheriting the military spirit of his ances- tors who saw service in the Indian wars, he rose to the rank of Colonel in the New Hamp- shire militia, and in 1856 was Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
Mr. Wilder was an enthusiastic Mason; a member of Charity Lodge, No. 18, of Troy, N. H. ; of Cheshire R. A. Chapter, No. 4; of Boston Commandery, K. T. ; and was advanced through all the degrees, being created a Sov- ereign Grand Instructor General of the thirty- third degree, and made an honorary member of the Supreme Council. Ile was Represent- ative from Dorchester in the State Legislature in 1839, a member of the Governor's Council in 1849, and president of the State Senate, 1850. A warm admirer of Daniel Webster, whom he styled "New England's greatest son," he voted the Bell and Everett ticket in 1860, and firmly supported the Union during the Civil War. He attended the Second Con- gregational Church 'in Dorchester, where he bought a country-seat and took up his resi- dence in 1832. Dartmouth College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1877, and Roanoke that of Doctor of Laws in ISS4.
For eight years ( 1840-47) he was president
·
210
·
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for twenty years president of the Norfolk Ag- ricultural Society, six years president of the United States Agricultural Society, and, from its organization in 1848, president of the American Pomological Society. In behalf of these organizations and the interests to which they were devoted his labors were abundant and fruitful. He was largely influential in the embellishment of Mount Auburn, also in the founding of the Institute of Technology and the Natural History Rooms in Boston. Of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society he was president from the date of his first election in 1868 to the close of his earthly life, almost the last act of which was the writing of his annual address for the meet- ing of January, 1887, published in the Regis- ter of that year.
Systematic in the use of his time, it has been said of Mr. Wilder that he gave all his leisure to agricultural and horticultural pur- suits, sparing no expense and resting from no labors to instil into the public mind a taste for such employments. Most famous was he as a pomologist, importing fruit-trees from England, France, Belgium, Germany, and exhibiting for inspection at Horticultural Hall from his own orchards as many as four hundred and four varieties of pears at once. The ban- quet tendered to him on his birthday in Sep- tember, 1883, has been spoken of as the crowning occasion of Mr. Wilder's long and successful career. Said Robert C. Winthrop, "He deserves grateful remembrance as long as a fine pear is relished or a brilliant bouquet admired."
As president of the Genealogical Society "he infused new vigor into every department of his work, and communicated his enthusiasm to the other officers and members. He did not spare himself in the expenditure of time and strength and money in its behalf." Said Dr. Peabody, his culogist : "We cannot but admire the diligence and breadth of his self-culture. He was ambitious, but his ambition was to be useful. He was generous; but, what was far greater praise, his liberal gifts were from what was rightfully his own, the pro- ceeds of faithful industry and honest enter-
prise." Mr. John Ward Dean, in the Bar State Monthly for January, 1884, speaking of him by his military title, Colonel Wilder being then living, said : "Few gentlemen have been called upon so often and upon such vari- ous occasions to take the chair at public meet- ings or preside over constituted societies. Few have acquitted themselves so happily. whether dignity of presence, amenity of ad- dress, fluency of speech, or despatch of busi- ness be taken into consideration. His per- sonal influence has been able to magnetize a half-dying body into new and active life. No one can approach him in doubt, in despon- dency, or in embarrassment, and leave him without a higher hope and stronger courage and manlier faith in himself."
The Memoirs in the New England Histori- cal and Genealogical Register (1867 and 1888), whence most of the foregoing facts are derived, are enriched by notable utterances culled from Mr. Wilder's numerous public addresses.
The following is from the posthumous ad- dress above mentioned : "Democracy ought highly to estimate the purpose and the prov- ince of genealogy; for the range of the sub- ject at once shows us that we must no longer confine our interest in humanity to the great ones of the earth, to princes and nobles. Gen- ealogy with us knows no distinction between the great and the small. It recognizes sim- ply the lineage of families limited by natural descent." Naturally progressive, he wel- comed, as a new branch of the study, heredity, whose "aim is to trace, through families, the transmission through continuous generations, or by recurrence of alternating generations. physical, mental, and moral traits and quali- ties.
It was his wish to be remembered as one who labored to adorn and improve the earth. to promote the pleasure and welfare of those who were to follow him. "Biography," he wrote, "is the school-master of all time - the past, present, and future. We are pupils of the past and teachers of the future, so the examples and principles which have influenced the world for good will be handed down from generation to generation."
21I
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Mr. Wilder was three times married, and was the father of fourteen children. His first wife, Tryphosa Jewett, daughter of Stephen Jewett, of Rindge, and sister of Ezekiel Jew- ett, who served as Lieutenant under Scott at I.undy's Lane and as Colonel of cavalry in Chili's war for independence, also curator of State Museum, Albany, N. Y., geologist, conchologist, and numismatist (see Stearns's History of Rindge, N. II.); died in 1831 ; and he married in August, 1833, Abigail, daugh- ter of Captain David Baker, of Franklin, Mass. She died at Aiken, S.C., in 1854; and he married in 1855 her sister, Julia. His surviving children are: Nancy Jewett, born February 19, 1825; William. Henry, born March 17, 1836; Jemima Richardson, born June 30, 1845; Grace Sherwin, born April 23, 1851 ; and Edward Baker, born November 17, 1857. Nancy J., the eldest of the five, mar- ried the Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., of Boylston. He died in 1882 in Southboro, Mass., where his widow now resides. The Misses Jemima R. and Grace S. Wilder, the two younger daughters, reside at the Wilder homestead in Dorchester, which was first settled in 1832.
Captain David Baker, father of Abigail and Julia, was born in Franklin, June 5, 1782, and died there October 11, 1861. Ile was son of Abijah and Esther (Parker) Baker, and was of the sixth generation in descent from Richard Baker, who came to this country in 1635, the line being: Richard,' John, 2 Abijab, 3 Nbijah, ' Abijah, 5 David.6 John' was chris- tened April 30, 1643. Abijah, 3 born in Dor- chester in 1690, married Hannah Lyon. Abijah, + born in 1718 in Medfield, married in 1742 Esther Hill. Abijah, 5 born August 1I, 1749, died April 20, 1824. Ile married first, in 1775, Esther Parker, of Watertown. She died May 12, 1795, aged forty-one years; and he married April 17, 1798, Thebe Boyden, of Wrentham, Mass., who died November 19, 1821. He was a soldier of the Revolution.
Captain David Baker inherited and occupied the family homestead in Franklin. He held various civil or military offices. He married first, at Franklin, November 29, 1804, Jemima Richardson. She died July 26, 1845. lle
married September 15, 1846, Lucy Fairbanks, of llolliston.
William Henry Wilder, son of Marshall P. and Abigail (Baker) Wilder, is a resident of Brookline, and for many years was a member of the firm of Parker, Wilder & Co. He mar- ried Hannah Wallace. They have five chil- dren - Alice, Lizzie, William H., Jr., Han- nah Wallace, and Josephine Hall.
Edward Baker Wilder, of Dorchester, only surviving child of Marshall P. and Julia (Baker) Wilder, married September 16, 1891, Mabel E. Wheeler, of Salmon Falls, N. II .. daughter of Ezra H. and Amanda II. (Rowe) Wheeler, and has three children - Edward Wheeler, Mildred Mabel, and Richard Baker.
Mr. Edward B. Wilder is a life member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Soci- ety, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and the American Pomological Society.
DWARD BLAKE CLAPP, a widely known florist of Dorchester and a rep- resentative of one of the oldest and most respected families of that place, was born in the house in which he now resides, 169 Boston Street, on March 11, 1851. Son of Frederick and Martha Merriam (Blake) Clapp, he is of the eighth generation in de- scent from Nicholas Clapp, who with his brother Thomas came over from England and settled in Dorchester, probably in 1633. The line is: Nicholas,' Nathaniel,2 Ebenezer, 3 Ebenezer,+ Lemuel,5 William,6 Frederick, ? Edward Blakes. Nicholas Clapp married for his first wife Sarah Clapp, a sister of his cousin, Captain Roger Clapp, who came in the " Mary and John " in " 1630. Nathaniel : was the eldest son of Nicholas and Sarah Clapp. 'Lemuel 5 Clapp was a Captain in the Revolutionary War. William Clapp, grand- father of Edward Blake Clapp, was a son of Captain Lemuel by his second wife, Rebecca, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dexter, of Dedham.
Frederick Clapp, who was born on the old Clapp homestead, son of William and Eliza- beth (llumphreys) Clapp, was engaged in farming and fruit-raising, making a specialty
212
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
of the latter industry, which he followed ex- tensively for many years. He was one of the originators of the excellent variety of pear known as "Clapp's Favorite." He was a life member of the Horticultural Society, and served on the Prize Committee. His death occurred in May, 1874. His wife, Martha Merriam, was a daughter of Jonathan Blake, of Warwick. They were the parents of six children, of whom four reached maturity - Julia Elizabeth, Frederick Augustus, Mary Louise, and Edward Blake. Frederick A., born October 11, 1845, who established in 1871 the florist's business now carried on by the subject of this sketch, died November 11, 1874. Mary Louise is the wife of Frank N. Blake, of North Adams, Mass. Mrs. Martha M. Clapp survived her husband twenty years, dying in 1894. They were both members of the First Parish, or Unitarian church, whose house of worship is on_Meeting-house Hill.
Edward Blake Clapp was educated in the Dorchester public schools, graduating at the high school in 1871. He then became asso- ciated with his brother Frederick in the florist's business, to which he succeeded on the latter's death. His greenhouses are lo- cated on the old farm, cover two acres, and contain nine thousand square feet of glass. He does a retail business exclusively, and is a successful representative of the floral inter- ests of Boston.
Mr. Clapp was married September 11, 1878, to Miss Mary Frances Jones, a daughter of Nahum and Lucy (Blake) Jones, a boot and shoe manufacturer of Warwick, Mass. They have four children living, namely: Frederick Gardner, born July 20, 1879, who is now tak- ing the geological course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston; Clifford Blake, born July 18, 1881, also a student at the Institute of Technology; Prescott Jones, born November 14, 1883, who is studying at the Mechanic Arts School: and Chalmers Stevens, who was born December 27, 1884, and is attending the Roger Clapp School in Dorchester. A son, Robert, died in infancy.
Mr. Clapp is a member of the Knights of Honor, Dorchester Lodge, No. 541, having been the Chaplain of the organization.
belongs also to the Boston Florists' Club, the Society of American Florists, and the Mass .. chusetts Horticultural Society. In politics he is independent, and in religion a Unitarian.
R EV. ARTHUR LITTLE, D.D., p.is- tor of the Second Congregational Church, Dorchester distric :. Bos ton, was born in Webster. Merri- mack County, N. H., May 24, 1837. son of Simeon Bartlett and Harriet (Boyd) Little. He comes of six generations of New England ancestry, the numerous representatives of which have, in general, been noted for the possession, in large measure, of the typical New England virtues of piety, reverence for law, stern and unbending morality, and indus- try.
His first progenitor in this country was George Little,' a resident of Unicorn Street, London, and a tailor by occupatior. who settled in Newbury, Mass., in 1640. This early ancestor, who appears to have been a man of enterprise and good judgment. soon acquired some of the most productive land in that town, of which a large part has ever since been owned and occupied by his de- scendants. He also bought land at Saco, Me., at Stonington and Quinebang, Conn., and in New Hampshire and New Jersey. The site of his last house, built in 1679 or 1680. is now marked by the residence of Deacon Joseph Little at Newbury. He died between March 15, 1693, and November 27. 1001. esteemed by his fellow-townsmen as a Chris- tian man and a good citizen. He was twice married. His first wife was Alice P. ore, of Newbury. She, at the age of twenty. with her brothers, Samuel and Daniel, came to that place with Mr. Stephen Dummer, on his second voyage to New England, in the "Bevis," Captain Robert Batten, which sailed from Southampton, England, in May. 163S.
She died December 1, 1680, at the age of sixty-two years, having been the mother of five children, namely: Sarah, born May s. 1052, died November 19, same year; Captain Jo- seph, born September 22, 1653, died Septem- ber 6. 1740, married Mary, daughter of l'ris
213
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
tram Coffin, Esq., of Newbury, Mass., October 31, 1677; John, born July 28, 1655, died July 20, 1672; Moses, born March 11, 10,57, died March 8, 1691; Sarah, born No- vember 24, 1661, married Joseph Ilsley, of Newbury, March 3, 1682. For his second wite George Little married July 19, 1681, Eleanor, widow of Thomas Barnard, of Ames- bury, Mass. She died November 27, 1694.
Moses Little,? the dates of whose nativity and demise have been given above, resided on the homestead at Newbury. His estate was returned to Probate Court, November 3, 1691, as amounting to one thousand sixty-five pounds and six shillings. He married Lydia, daughter of Tristram Coffin, Esq., of New- bury. Their children were: John, born Jan- uary 8, 1680, died March 25, 1753; Tristram, born December 9, 1681, died November 11, 1765 ; Sarah, born April 28. 1684, died De- cember 10, 1710, married Thomas Pike, Jan- uary 3, 1710: Mary, born January 13, 1686; married Colonel Joseph Gerrish, of Newbury {date of marriage publishment, February 26, 1703-4) ; Elizabeth, born May 25, 1688, died March 17, 1719, married Anthony Morse, Jan- niry 21, 1718; Moses, born February 26, 1691, died October 17, 1780, married Sarah Jacques, February 12, 1716.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.