USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 39
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During the years 1864 and 1865 Mr. Cur- rier was absent in Pennsylvania, superintend- ing a coal mine for a Boston company, of which his brother Gilman was president. Some time ago he retired from active business pursuits, and is, undoubtedly, the oldest builder in the city of Boston in point of ser- vice. In politics he was formerly a Demo- crat, but is now a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was at one time a member of the Shawmut Church, afterward worshipped at Tremont Temple, and is now a member of the Baptist Church in West Cot- tage Street.
On May 22, 1842, Mr. Currier married Miss Jane A. Safford, of Vermont. Of this union there were ten children, six of whom, three sons and three daughters, did not live to maturity. Those who did, and who now sur- vive, are: Francis E. and Henry A., both residents of New York; Anson H., of Boston ; and Arthur F. Currier, of Ellensburg, Wash. Mrs. Currier died August 22, 1896, after a happy married life covering a period of fifty- four years.
AVID LAUREN YOUNG, Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector of Orleans, Barnstable County, Mass., son of Jonathan and Mary F. (Rog- ers) Young, was born in this town June 20, 1848. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Young, first, who was a son of Nehemiah Young, was a native of this locality. The grandfather was a carpenter, and followed that trade for many years. Ile died at the age of seventy-two. Ilis wife, in maidenhood Eu-
nice Hurd, a native of Orleans, lived to the age of eighty years. .
Jonathan Young, second, father of David I .. , was born in the town of Orleans, June 27, 1808. Learning the trade of shoemaker in his youth, he followed it for about twenty years. He then engaged in mercantile business, which he continued up to 1870, when he retired, and was succeeded by his son David L. He died in 1891, at the age of eighty-three. His wife, Mary, who was born in Orleans, was a daugh- ter of Jonathan and Lucy (Snow) Rogers, and grand-daughter of Jonathan Rogers. Her father was a master mariner in the merchant- marine service, and made his home all his life in the town of Orleans. During the War of IS12 he was captured by the English, and his vessel burned in the bay near his home. Mrs. Young is now living, and in the enjoyment of good health, at the advanced age of ninety years. She has reared four children: Amos and Alfred (twins), Henrietta, and David L .. whose name heads the present sketch.
David Lauren Young was brought up and educated in his native town. He began when young to assist in his father's store, and in IS70 succeeded to the business, which he has since successfully conducted, carrying a well- selected stock of general merchandise. He is one of the directors of the Fitchburg Loan, Trust, and Safety Deposit Company of Fitch- burg. A Republican in politics, he has served for the last ten years as Town Clerk, Treas- urer, and Collector, the duties of which offices he has performed in a capable manner and to the general satisfaction of the towns-people. He belongs to Orleans Lodge, No. 1556, K. of H.
Mr. Young was married in March, 1870, to Miss Adeline Maud Brightman, a native of Fall River, Mass., and a daughter of John and Phebe (Marvel) Brightman. Mr. and Mrs. Young have reared two children: Robert Brightman and Edna Davis, who is still at school. The son, Robert Brightman Young. is now assistant-treasurer of the Fitchburg Loan, Trust, and Safety Deposit Company. Ile married, on June 20, 1899, Leah Ober, of Orleans, daughter of Gilbert and Priscilla (Iloward) Ober. Mr. and Mrs. Young are
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members of the Congregational Church of Or- lens, formerly the First Church of Eastham, which was established in 1646.
APTAIN GILBERT LAWRENCE SMITH, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Duke's County, was born at Vineyard Haven, February 11, 1832, son of Captain John and Luretta (Manchester) Smith. His father's paternal grandfather was Thomas Smith, a farmer, whose last years were spent in Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard. Zachariah Smith, son of Thomas and grandfather of Gilbert L., is sup- posed to have been a native of Tisbury, where he followed farming.
Captain John Smith was born, reared, and educated in the town of Tisbury. At a youth- ful age he went to sea in the whaling service, and, subsequently, continuing to follow sea- faring, he rose to be a master-mariner, com- manding several different vessels in succession. Ilis last years were passed on the island, his death occurring in 1842, when he was in middle life. His wife, Luretta Manchester Smith, was born in the town of Tisbury, a daughter of Captain John and Susannah Man- chester. Her grandparents, Thomas and El- eanor (Norton) Manchester, natives of Rhode Island, were the first of that family to settle in Martha's Vineyard. She died in 1860, in her fifty-eighth year, having reared four chil- dren ; namely, John Manchester, Gilbert Law- rence, Alexander, and Lucy C.
Gilbert L. Smith was educated in the pub- lic schools of Tisbury. At the age of nine- teen he shipped on board a whaler as boat steerer, and subsequently rose through the different grades to that of Captain. The first vessel he commanded was the barque "Vine- yard," in which he cruised in the Northern Pacific and Arctic oceans. Ile continued in the whaling service until 1877. In that year he retired from the sea, and his business has since been confined to the duties of his present office. Captain Smith, who is a stanch Re- publican in politics, cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has long taken an active interest in public affairs, and served
many years as a member of the Board of Se- lectmen in the town of Tisbury, and also as Assessor and Overseer of the Poor. He served several terms as County Commissioner, before becoming chairman of the board. He belongs to Martha's Vineyard Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he has served for thirteen years as Master of the lodge. He has also been Dis- trict Deputy Grand Master for two terms.
Captain Smith was married in 1871 to Mary Hallett Cannon, a native of Fair Haven, Mass., and a daughter of John Clark and Betsey Rounceville (Gurney) Cannon. Captain Smith has no children.
AVID BENT McPHERSON, 2 native resident of East Boston, is a successful carpenter and builder. well-known and respected both as a business man and as a useful and upright citi- He was born October 19, 1855, his zen. parents being Lauchlin and Harriet (McPher- son) McPherson. On his father's side he comes of many generations of pure Scottish stock, connected by ties of blood with some of the most ancient clans of Scotland.
Lauchlin McPherson, of an early genera- tion, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the first of the family to come to America. He was born in Glasgow, Scot- land, or in the parish of Shotts, near that city; and his wife, Elizabeth, was a native of Edinburgh. After their marriage they left their native land, and settled in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, where they passed their later years.
Their son John, grandfather of David B. McPherson, was born at Jordan River, Shel- burne County, N. S., March 12, 1801. He learned the trade of shipwright, which he fol- lowed for many years in his native place. His business gradually increasing to large propor- tions, he was eventually numbered among the most successful men of his town. In later life John McPherson removed to Boston, Mass .. where he died at the age of fifty-eight years. His political principles were Liberal while be remained a resident of Nova Scotia; in the United States he favored the Republican party.
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His wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lyle) Martin, both her parents being natives of Scotland. Her paternal grandparents, John, Sr., and Agnes (Russell) Martin, lived and died in the parish of Shotts, Scotland. Agnes was a sister of John Russell, who became a resident of Plymouth, Mass., in 1766. From John Russell were descended the late Hon. William G. Russell and Judge Thomas Russell, the former of whom, at the time of his death a few years ago, was at the head of the Suffolk County (Massachusetts) bar
John Martin, the younger, came to America about 1790, and settled upon a farm in Shel- burne County, Nova Scotia, where he died at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, Eliz- abeth Lyle, lived to the age of eighty-one. The McPhersons and Martins were stanch . Presbyterians in religion, uncompromising in matters of faith and morals. Hardy and ener- getic, they exercised in large measure the hos- pitality for which their race was justly famed.
John and Elizabeth (Martin) McPherson were the parents of seven children, of whom three are now living: Elizabeth, who is un- married; David, a resident of Halifax; and Ebenezer Martin. Mrs. Elizabeth M. Mc- Pherson died September 3, 1878, at the age of eighty-three years.
Ebenezer Martin McPherson is president of the Security Safe Deposit Company of Boston, and is well known in business, social, and po- litical circles. A Republican in politics, he was for two years a member of the Massachu- setts Legislature, for two years a member of Governor Ames's Council, and for three years State Commissioner of Foreign Mortgage Cor- porations. Ile has done much work of a phil- anthropic character. His brother, David Mc- Pherson, is one of the leading ship-owners of Halifax, N. S., and was formerly Mayor of that city.
Lauchlin McPherson, father of David B., was born at Shelburne, N.S., in 1829. He learned the trade of ship carpenter in his native place, and was subsequently engaged in ship building there. Coming to Boston in 1848, he continued his business of ship build- ing till his death, which occurred in 1866.
His wife, who is a daughter of Donald Mc- Pherson, of Queens County, Nova Scotia, is still living, and makes her home in East Bos- ton. Their children living are: John P., born January 2, 1852; David B., the subject of this sketch; and Hattie R., born February 28, 1860. John P. married Blanch McPhie, and they have four children.
David B. McPherson, after acquiring his ed- ucation in the schools of East Boston, learned the carpenter's trade, and soon after becoming a journeyman began business for himself as a contractor, thus continuing for about two years. He then formed a partnership with Mr. James Frame, under the firm name of Frame & McPherson, which continues at the present day. They have built up a most pros- perous business, one of the most flourishing in the line of carpenter work in East Boston, the firm being noted not only for the excel- lence of their work, but also for their general reliability and upright dealing.
Mr. McPherson was first married October. 1879, to Miss Sarah Hawkins, of East Boston, who bore him one child, William Henry, born March 14, 1881. Mrs. Sarah H. McPherson died February 10, 1887. On October 14. 1890, Mr. McPherson married for his second wife Lena M. Frame, a daughter of James Frame, his business partner. Of this union there have been three children, of whom two are now living: Helen, born September 17. 1891; and Marion, born February 3, 1898. The family attend the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. McPherson is a Republican.
ERNARD JENNEY, a leading busi- ness man of South Boston, president of the Jenney Manufacturing Com- pany, was born in Boston, Mass .. February 28, 1827, son of Stephen and Lu- cinda (Stoddard) Jenney. He is a lineal de- scendant of John Jenney, who came to New England from lolland in 1623, making the voyage with his wife and three children in the "Little James," one of the forefather ships. arriving at Plymouth in August.
John Jenney was an important man in the
BERNARD JENNEY ..
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infant colony. He served as governor's assist- ant in 1637, 1638, and 1639, as Deputy in 1641, and as one of the Council of War in 1643. Before leaving his native country, he had been a brewer. Some years after coming to Plymouth he built and run the first grist- mill in the colony, permission to build a mill tor grinding and beating corn being granted him by the court in March, 1636. He died at Plymouth in 1644. His marriage is thus registered at the Stadhuis, or City Hall, Ley- den (see E. Arber's "The Story of the Pil- grim Fathers," page 165) :
"1614. Sept. 5, November 1. John Jenne [y], Young Man, Brewers' Man, of Norwich, in England; living in Rotterdam; accompa- nied by Roger Wilson; with Sarah Carey, Maid, of Moncksoon, in England; accompa- nied by Joanna Lyons. " John and Sarah Jen- ney had five children, two of whom were born in Plymouth.
Samuel Jenney, the next in the line now being traced, was one of the three Jenney chil- dren who accompanied their parents to Amer- ica. By occupation he was a farmer and miller. He married Ann, daughter of Thomas Lettice, and had several children. His son, Lettice Jenney, who was one of the original proprietors of the town of Dartmouth, Mass., was the father of Cornelius, born December 13, 1697, who died at the age of eighty-seven, Oc- tober 12, 1784.
Levi Jenney, son of Cornelius and grand- father of Bernard Jenney, was born'in that part of Dartmouth that is now New Bedford, Mass., February 16, 1750, and died October 11, 1806, at the age of fifty-seven. He was a sea cap- tain for many years, but later in life retired to a farm at Fairhaven. He married Mollie Blossom. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom the eighth child and sixth son was Stephen.
Stephen Jenney, born at New Bedford, Mass., July 31, 1791, began business life as clerk for Josiah Marshall, of Boston, a whole- sale merchant and dealer in West India goods. Subsequently, with his brother Isaac, under the firm name of Isaac and Stephen Jenney, he entered into the same line of business, in addi- tion to which they engaged in the African
trade, were the owners of a number of vessels, and were very prosperous. In 1832 Isaac Jen- ney died; and Stephen subsequently, until within a few years of his own death, carried on the business of a commission merchant. Ilis last days were spent in Boston, where he died in 1877, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife, Lucinda, to whom he was united in 1821, was a daughter of Noah and Elizabeth (Sar- gent) Stoddard, of Fairhaven, Mass. Their children were: Stephen, Charles Stoddard, Bernard, Francis Henry, Mary Elizabeth, Ann Warner, and Noah Stoddard.
Stephen Jenney's early political principles were those of the Whig party. At one time he served as a member of the School Committee for the city of Boston. With his wife and family he attended the Unitarian church.
Bernard Jenney, after receiving his educa- tion in the schools of Boston, was employed for a while by his father as a clerk in the commission business. He was then occupied for a time in the chemical manufacturing busi- ness, and afterward engaged in the manufacture of alcohol for illuminating purposes, the busi- ness being conducted under the name of Ste- phen Jenney, his father- being interested with him in the venture. On the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861, they gave it up; and he then engaged in the petroleum refining business, meeting with marked success. Sub- sequently the business was incorporated under the name of the Jenney Manufacturing Com- pany, which style it has since retained. Mr. Jenney has been president of the company since its incorporation, and the concern is now one of the most substantial of the kind in the city of Boston. Mr. Jenney is a director in the Hersey Manufacturing Company of Bos- ton, and at one time, for a number of years, was a member of the Board of Investment of the South Boston Savings Bank.
Mr. Jenney's successful career shows him to be a man of good judgment, who keeps closely in touch with the varying conditions of busi- ness life, and who can be enterprising or con- servative as he sees his course clear and open or temporarily obscured. In politics he is Independent. He belongs to Rabboni Lodge, F. & A. M., of Dorchester; St. Matthews,
·
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R. A. Chapter; and St. Omer Commandery of K. T.
Mr. Jenney was married April 11, 1855, to Mary Frances, daughter of Jabez and Mary (Whiting) Coney, of Dedham, later of Boston, Mass. They have two children -- Walter and Bernard, Jr. Walter married Elizabeth B. Hedge, of Boston. They have four children -- Herbert H., Charles S., Walter H., and Malcolm. Bernard, Jr., married Mary Tufts, daughter of William F. and Matilda (Souther) Tufts, of Boston. They have four children : Mary Frances, born May 25, 1888; Bernard, third, born February 8, 1891; William Tufts, born May 2, 1896; and Reginald, born May 30, 1898. . Mrs. Mary F. Jenney died August 12, 1884, at the age of fifty-two years. Mr. Jenney attends the Unitarian church. He is a member of the Unitarian Club and the Boston Yacht Club.
ULIUS STIMPSON CLARK, M.D., these twenty years and more a practis- ing physician of Melrose, was born
March 22, 1838, in Bristol, Me., being the eldest child of Dr. Albert S. Clark and Ann Herbert Clark.
Three generations of his Clark ancestors made their home in Connecticut, the first of them being John Clark, who came from Eng. land in 1636, and settled at Hartford. The line was continued from John, ' through John, 2 Isaac, 3 Nathan, + and Elisha, 5 to Albert S.,6 the father above named.
John Clark, second, lived at Norwich, Conn. His son Isaac, also of Norwich, married in 1707 Miriam, daughter of Jonathan Tracy, whose father, Lieutenant Thomas Tracey, cmi- grated to New England in 1636, and was in Salem, Mass., carly in 1637, and afterward settled in Norwich, Conn. Thomas Tracy, it is said, was a lincal descendant of Egbert, the first Saxon king of all England, whose descent, in turn, is claimed from Woden, the Scandina- vian king. (See Walworth's IIyde Genealogy.)
Nathan, son of Isaac, married Abigail Sat- terlee, and removed to Bennington, Vt., in 1762. He was for many years a Selectman of Bennington. He was prominent in the con-
troversy with New York, being the author of many political papers, and was designated as the "pen and ink man." He was chairman of the Bennington Committee of Safety, 1776, and was complimented by General Gates for effi- cient services in collecting and forwarding supplies to his army. He was also a member of the State Council of Safety, who held their meetings in the famous Catamount Tavern. He was a member and speaker of the first Gen- eral Assembly of Vermont. He had five sons engaged in the battle of Bennington, the list including Nathan, Jr., who was killed; Will- iam, who was wounded; Sergeant Elisha, who was the first man to enter the enemy's works, and who for gallantry in the battle was pro- moted to the rank of Adjutant of Colonel Her- rick's Rangers, and at the close of the war took up his residence at Tinmouth; and Isaac, who was one of the efficient scouts dressed as Indians. Isaac Clark was afterward Gen- eral, and famous in history as "Old Rifle." He married Modena, the daughter of Governor Thomas Chittenden.
Elisha Clark, of Tinmouth, Vt., mentioned above, was subsequently Commissary of Issues and Paymaster-general. He was in the Cana- dian campaign and at the scaling of the Heights of Abraham. In 1781 he was a member of the Board of War, and in 1786 and for nineteen successive years he was Judge of Probate for Rutland County. He was three times mar- ried, first in 1741 to Mary Stewart by whom
he had one child, a daughter Polly. For his second wife he married Mrs. Spofford and had two children - Elisha and Harry. He mar- ried for his third wife, in 1791, Edna Mat- tocks, the nicce of Judge Mattocks and the cousin of Governor Mattocks, of Vermont.
Dr. Albert Stevens Clark, son of General Elisha and father of Dr. Julius Stimpson Clark, was born in Tinmouth, Vt., January 4. 1802, and was graduated at Castleton (Vt.) Medical College in 1823. The following year he settled in Bristol, Mc., where he continued in extensive practice (excepting the years 1840-45, when he was in Burlington, Otsego County, N. Y.) until 1862, when he entered the service of his country as Surgeon Major of the Eleventh Maine Infantry. From this he
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resigned in 1863, and located in the practice ot his profession at Waldoboro, Me., where he died June 6, 1864. He married in 1837 Ann Herbert, born in Acklam, England, May 20, 1818. The children of this union were: Julius S., Mary J., Emily M., and Edna A., all of whom are still living.
Educated in the public schools and Var- mouth and Lewiston (Me. ) Academies, Julius Stimpson Clark entered Waterville College in 1857. At the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861 he was one of the first to enlist from Lincoln County. He joined the Fourth Maine Infantry, and was at the battle of Bull Run and in some unimportant skirmishes in the following months. His regiment was one of the Third Corps, and participated under the gallant Phil Kearney in the siege of York- town, the battle of Williamsburg, and on the Chickahominy, at the battles of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines, and in the seven days' battles on the retreat to the James River. In August, 1862, his regiment was hurried to the Rappa- hannock to the relief of Pope, and was en- gaged in the two days' battles of the second Bull Run and the battle of Chantilly, and later at Fredericksburg.
In February, 1863, he was one of the first six commissioned in Ullman's Brigade, which was the first authorized organization of colored troops. He was sent to Louisiana, and was present at the siege, the assaults, and surrender of Port Hudson, and, after the surrender of General Lee, was in the expedition of General Sheridan up Red River. Upon the surrender of the Confederates of the trans-Mississippi he was appointed Provost Marshal and Super- intendent of Freedmen for a large portion of West Louisiana, known as the Attakapas country, where for one year he was in com- mand, protecting loyalists, organizing negro labor, establishing schools, and performing the anomalous functions pertaining to the govern- ment of a community of fifty thousand people, one-half of whom had been active supporters of secession and the other half former chattels. In the fall of 1866 he was assigned to the command of a battalion of the Ninth United States Cavalry, and upon the recommendation of General Sheridan was commissioned by the
President as Brevet Major; and in March, 1867, declining a Captaincy in the United States Army, he was mustered out, after nearly six years of continuous service.
In 1867 he resumed the study of medicine with Professor Thomas Antisel, of Washing- ton, D. C. ; and in 1869 he was graduated from Georgetown Medical College. In 1870, 1871, and 1872 he was one of the health officers of New Orleans, and in 1873 was City Physician of New Orleans and vice-president of New Or- leans School Committee. In 1874 he was appointed resident physician of Louisiana quarantine station, where he remained until May, 1877, when he located in the practice of his profession in Melrose, Mass. Here for several years he was United States Pension Examiner and for three years a member of the School Committee, and in the last year chair- man.
In 1874 he married Eliza Isabel, daughter of Judge H. T. Vennard, of New Orleans. Dr. and Mrs. Clark have had four children, three of whom - Anita B., Julius V., and Egbert Greely -- are now living.
ILLIAM A. SOMERS, proprietor of the monumental works near the en- trance to Cedar Grove Cemetery, Dorchester, was born in Boston, Mass., April 30, 1849, a son of George C. and Mary B. Somers.
George C. Somers, who was born in Ger- many, came to America when a young man, and engaged in plumbing and coppersmith's work, an occupation that his father had followed in Germany. He continued thus occupied until his death, which occurred in 1857. His wife had died five years previously, in 1852, leaving three children -- John Louis, William Albert, and Matilda Louisa. The last named is now the widow of the late John D. Kennen, of Boston.
William Albert Somers completed his educa- tion at the Brimmer School in Boston, where he was graduated in 1864. His apprentice- ship to the marble business began under Gar- rett Barry, Jr., with whom he remained till 1867. He then entered the employ of Joseph
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E. Carew, under whom he worked for two years, receiving instruction in his trade. He subsequently worked for several firms as a regular journeyman till 1873, in which year he established a business for himself in Stoughton, Mass., remaining there three years. In 1876 he settled at his present location in Dorchester, where he has since done a successful business in high-grade stone and marble work. He is known among the trade as one of the most ex- pert workers in marble to be found in Boston or the vicinity, and he commands a good share of the patronage of the best families.
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