Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 4

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger
Number of Pages: 924

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Granville Fuller, son of Jonatban and Mary, settled in Brighton about the year 1833, and for some years was a contractor and builder. In 1847 he engaged in the lumber business, being for a short time a member of the firm of Fuller & Barker; but subsequently he admitted his son, Granville Austin, to a partnership, under the firm name of G. Fuller & Son. He was one of the organizers and for over thirty years a director of the National Market Bank of Brighton, of which he became president, and held that position at the time of his death, which occurred on September 17, 1892. In politics he acted with the Republican party from the time of its formation, and for a num- ber of years was a member of the Board of Selectmen of Brighton. He was an active member of the Congregational church.

Granville Austin Fuller acquired his educa- tion in the grammar and high schools of Brighton. His business training was super- vised by his father; and, being admitted to partnership, as above noted, when he was twenty-three years old, he was thenceforward for thirty years and more associated with the elder Fuller, at whose death he became sole proprietor. The business, which is still con- ducted under the firm name of G. Fuller & Son, is located at No. 547 Western Avenue, Boston, and, in addition to lumber, embraces lime, hair, cement, plaster, and other building materials. He also has special facilities for furnishing complete building frames at short notice.

Mr. Fuller is a director of the National Market Bank, a director of the Citizens' Mut- ual Insurance Company of Boston, and a trus- tee and member of the Investment Committee of the Brighton Five Cents Savings Bank, and is regarded as one of the leading business men of the district. Under the old town govern- ment he was prominently identified with the fire department, was for fourteen years district chief under the Boston city government, and has held other important positions in that ser- vice, with which he was connected for thirty years. In politics he is a Republican. He has served two terms as Representative to the Legislature from Ward Twenty-five and one term as a member of the State Senate from the Eighth Suffolk District, serving on the Com- mittees of Finance and Taxation in the House and as chairman of the Committee on Drainage in the Senate. His fraternal affiliations are with Bethesda Lodge, F. & A. M. ; and he is a member of the Brighton Congregational church.

Mr. Fuller married January 1, 1860, Miss Roselle Simmons Henderson, of St. George, Me., daughter of Elijah and Catharine (Allen) Henderson. They have had five children : George Albert Fuller, born December 6, 1860, who is now deceased, Herbert Austin; Will Spencer; Ethel Louise, wife of II. U. True; and Granville Norton.

Herbert A. Fuller married Carrie March. They have one child, Carl Granville. Will S. Fuller married Elizabeth A. Spaulding ; and they have two children - Granville Benton and George Spencer.

JDMUND FRANCIS SNOW, a well- known merchant of Dorchester and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in North Bridgewater (now Brockton), Mass., July 15, 1841, a son of Martin and Anna (Wilbur) Snow. He is a grandson of Jonathan Snow, a representative of an old Colonial family of Cape Cod.

Martin Snow was born in North Bridgewater in the year 1800. During the early part of his active period he was a farmer, but later he engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

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He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church at North Bridgewater for many years. His wife, Anna, was a daughter of Isaiah Wilbur, of North Easton, and of an old Massachusetts family. They had ten chil- dren, of whom nine reached maturity. They were as follows : Julia Ann, who married War- ren Homes, of Dorchester; Olive L., who be- came the wife of Austin Packard, of North Bridgewater, and subsequently married Austin H. Snow, of North Bridgewater; Lucretia, who died at the age of two years; Harriet W., who married Benjamin K. Martis (now de- ceased), of Foxboro; Ellen Sabrina, who mar- ried Isaac Osborn, of East Bridgewater ; Martin Wesley, who died at the age of twenty- one years; Theodore Nelson, now a resident of Dorchester; Shepard Wilbur, now a resi- dent of Dorchester; and Edmund Francis, the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children died at the age of fifty-one years in 1853; and Martin Snow married for his second wife Mrs. Eliza Barnefield, by whom he had one child, Anna Maria, who died at the age of eighteen years. The second Mrs. Martin Snow survived her husband eighteen years, he dying in 1876 and she in 1894. She had two sons by a former marriage, namely; Thomas P. Barnefield, formerly City Solicitor of Provi- dence, R. I., who died in 1899; and Walter, of Pawtucket, R. I.

Edmund F. Snow, after completing his school studies in North Bridgewater, assisted his father in the boot and shoe manufacture till reaching the age of eighteen years. He then applied himself to learn the cabinet- maker's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. In 1862, having attained his majority, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Thirty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteer In- fantry, and with his regiment joined the Army of the Potomac. He participated in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Knoxville, Campbell Station, in the battles of the Wilderness, North Anna River, Spottsyl- vania, Cold Harbor, and the siege of Peters- burg, and was present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. At the mine in front of Pe- tersburg he received a wound in the head from a grape-shot which confined him to the hos-

pital for three months; but subsequently he rejoined his regiment, and was with it till the close of the war, receiving an honorable dis- charge in June, 1865. After his return home he resumed his trade, and followed it till 1876. 'In that year he started in the grocery business, which he followed for two years, and in 1878, in company with his brother, Shepard W., established a grocery store at the corner of Beach and South Streets. Two years later they removed to 176 South Street, where they carried on an extensive business for about fifteen years; and during this time they also established two stores in Dorchester and one in Dedham. In September, 1896, they gave up the South Street store. At the present time they have a large store at the corner of Park and Adams Streets, one at the corner of Norfolk and Edison Streets, and one on Iligh Street, Dedham. In their Norfolk Street store they have added provisions. Mr. Snow's suc- cess is self-achieved, and is the result of deter- mined and persistent effort directed by a wise foresight and a thorough knowledge of all the conditions governing the grocery and provision trade.

Mr. Snow has been called upon to take an active part in public life. He served in the Massachusetts Legislature' in 1883 and 1884, in 1883 being a member of the Committee on Military Affairs and in the following year chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs and a member of the Committee on Cities. In 1888 and 1889 he was a member of the Com- mon Council of Boston. Politically, he is a Republican of firm adherence to his party's principles. Among the societies and fraternal orders with which he is connected are: Post No. 68, G. A. R., of Dorchester, of which he was Commander in IS91; the Knights of Honor; the Royal Arcanum; and the Pilgrim Fathers. He has been president of the Chickatawbut Club of Boston, and is a member of the Shaw- mut Real Estate Association of Dorchester.

He was married December 25, 1868, to Miss Mary C. Weymouth, of Dorchester, daughter of Gilman M. and Martha Weymouth. The only child born of this union died in infancy. The mother died in 1872; and Mr. Snow mar- ried for his second wife, June 3, 1874, Miss

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Mary T. Woodman, daughter of Alfred Wood- man, of Portland. She became the mother of two children, both of whom died in infaney. Mr. Snow contracted a third matrimonial alli- ance October 15, 1879, with Cora A. Ruggles, of Quincy, Mass., by whom he has three ehil- dren : Florence Baker, born in 1881; Edmund Francis, Jr., born in 1884 ; and Robert Jordan, born in 1891. Florence B. was graduated from the Dorchester High School, and enters Wellesley College in 1900. The other two children are members of the Dorchester Gram- mar School.

B ENJAMIN LINDSEY, who was for many years identified with the boot and shoe interests of Marblehead, his native town, was born April 2, ISO7. He was a son of Captain Nathaniel Lindsey, born March 10, 1771, a ship-master in the merchant marine service of Marble- head, and a grandson of Nathaniel Lindsey, also of that town, and a great-grandson of Jo- seph Lindsey. His earlier ancestors settled in Marblehead in the seventeenth century, the first of whom there is any record being Christopher Lindsey, an Englishman who came to Amerien at an early date in the Colo- nial period.

Benjamin Lindsey was educated in the common schools, where he displayed that energy, perseverance, and intelligence which subsequently characterized his business opera- tions. By degrees he obtained a substantial business footing in Marblehead, and became closely identified with the boot and shoe in- terests of the town. His upright principles and sterling integrity gained for him the es- teem and confidenee of all with whom he came in contact. His success was essentially the result of his own individual efforts; and his death, which occurred June 11, 1872, removed from the community a substantial business man of the old school, who had succeeded in winning an honorable place for himself in both the business and social circles of Marble- head. For several years he was a member of the Board of Selectmen, and also served as an Assessor, and represented his district in the

State Legislature. In his latter years he sup- ported the Republican party. Aside from his public services he availed himself of evers opportunity to assist in developing the busi- ness resources of the town. He was a ci- reetor of the Marblehead National Bank, and was always in sympathy with the best inter- ests of the community. In his religious be- lief he was a Unitarian.'

On September 26, 1833, Mr. Lindsey mas- ried Mary, daughter of James and Sara: (Martin) Oliver. He had a family of three children, two of whom are living: Mary Oliver and Benjamin James, both of whom are residents in Marblehead. Mr. Lindsey's absolute freedom from selfish interests was made all the more apparent by his quiet, ua- assuming manner; and his affectionate nature not only made a lasting impress upon the hearts of his children, but also lingers in the memory of all who knew him well. His wife survived him nearly twenty years, her death occurring January 2, 1892.

BENJAMIN JAMES LINDSEY, son of Benjamin Lindsey, above mentioned, was born Marblehead, August 3, 1842. He was edu- cated in the schools of his native town, in- cluding the high school and the academy. Entering the dry-goods business as a clerk a: the age of eighteen, he shortly afterward +ook a position in the same capacity with C. F. Hovey & Co., Boston. During the Civil War he was appointed a paymaster's clerk in the United States navy, and served as such ic: over a year in the vicinity of Mobile, Ala., on board of the tin-clad gunboat " Rodolph." which was subsequently destroyed by a tor- pedo. After the war he was employed at in- tervals by several large wholesale houses in Boston; and about the year 1869 he estab- lished himself in Swampscott, Mass., in the dry-goods business, which he followed success- fully some seventeen years, or until his re- tirement in 1886. He resided in Swampscott for several years, and for ten years served as Town Clerk. Returning to Marblehead after his retirement, he has actively interested himself in financial affairs, and is now vice- president and a trustee of the Marblehea .:

JOHN WARD DEAN.

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Savings Bank. He is a Master Mason and a member of Philanthropic Lodge of this town.

On December 7, 1871, Mr. Lindsey mar- ried Miss Sarah Elizabeth Pitman, daughter of Ilenry F. and Mary (Phillips) Pitman. Mrs. Lindsey's father was formerly a leading citizen and for a number of years a Selectman of Marblehead. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey have had three children: Alice Gertrude, born February 25, 1873, and a resident of Marble- head; Helen Oliver, born October 20, 1878, who resides with her parents; and Sarah Elizabeth, who died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Alice Gertrude, was married June 27, 1897, to Daniel Robert Stone, of Swamp- scott, and they have two children: Lindsey, born May 31, 1898; and Donald Pitman, born July 17, 1899.

OHN WARD DEAN, A. M., librarian of the New England Historie Genea- logical Society and editor since 1876 of the New England Historical and Gencalogical Register, is a native of Wiscasset, Me. Born March 13, 18:5, son of Charles and Patience T. (Kingsbury) Dean, he is a grandson of John, Jr., and Sarah (Bridges) Dean and great-grandson of John Dea's, Sr., of Exeter, N. H., who married Abigail Lord. The senior John Dean was son of Dr. Thomas and Deborah (Clarke) Deane and grandson of Thomas and Jane (Scammon) . Deane. Dr. Thomas Deane, who settled as a physician at Exeter, N.H., was born in 1694 in Boston, where his father, later a resident of Hamp- ton, N. H., was living in 1692.

Being the third John in direct line, as above shown, Mr. Dean was known as John Dean until July 13, 1857, when his name was legally changed, in happy remembrance of a remote ancestor, the Rev. John Ward, to its present form, John Ward Dean. Through Deborah Clarke, wife of Dr. Thomas Deane, he is of the ninth generation in descent from the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, some time of Ipswich, Mass., author of "The Simple Cobbler of Agawam " and father of the Rev. John Ward, minister of the church at Haver- hill. Mass., eulogized in Mather's "Mag-

nalia." Mary Ward, daughter of the Rev. John, married the Rev. Benjamin Wood- bridge; and their daughter Elizabeth married the Rev. John Clarke, and was the inother of Deborah, who was born in Exeter, N. H. The Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge was the son of the Rev. John and Mercy (Dudley) Wood- bridge, of Andover and Newbury, Mass., and grandson of Governor Thomas Dudley, from whom Mr. Dean is therefore a descendant of the ninth generation.

Mr. Dean's mother was a daughter of John, Jr., and Miriam (Place) Kingsbury and grand-daughter of John and Patience (Tappan) Kingsbury. Her grandfather was sixth in descent from Henry Kingsbury, of Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass. ; and her grandmother, Patience, for whom she was named, was the daughter of Abraham 3 Toppan and his wife Esther, daughter of the Rev. Michael Wig- glesworth, author of the "Day of Doom." Abraham3 Tappan, grandson of Abraham' Toppan, of Newbury, was son of Jacob- Top- pan, who married in 1670 Hannah Sewall, daughter of Henry, Jr., and Jane (Dummer) Sewall, and sister of the famous Colonial Judge, "Samuel Sewall, the good and wise." Charles Dean and his wife, l'atience, reared five children - Sarah Bridges, Mary Morse, Charles, John, and Jeremiah. Sarah was named for her paternal grandmother, who was a daughter of Moody Bridges, of Andover, Mass., who was one of the original proprie- tors of Bridgton, Me.

With so many scholarly ancestors to endow him with mental gifts, his father also, a sad- dler by occupation, a man of literary tastes, and (as behooved the descendant of early New England divines and still earlier Old England clerical worthies here unnamed) especially fond of controversial theology, Mr. Dean was no doubt born a student, as he has been a lover of books from childhood. His enthusi- asm in this direction was first awakened by Benjamin C. Fernald, his teacher after the family removed to Portland in 1823.

His school days ending in later youth with four months at the Portland High School, he then learned the bookbinder's trade. Ilis reading in the meantime was of such literature

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as he could obtain : a set of the Atheneum, a periodical published in Boston early in the century, he was privileged to borrow number by number when he was about eleven years old. Rogers' "Pleasures of Memory," Young's "Night Thoughts," Thomson's "Seasons," were also enjoyed, and later, when he was able to buy it, . Aiken's British Poets, in which his favorite was Milton's "Paradise Lost." He could hardly have had a more congenial handicraft than his chosen one, which gave him opportunity to largely increase his acquaintance with books, and fa- cilitated the collection of his own library.

From 1835 to 1841 Mr. Dean was employed at his trade successively in the cities of Bos- ton, Providence, New York, and Philadelphia. He then went into business for himself at Providence. In 1844, as shown by the Boston Directory, he and his brother Jeremiah, book- binders, were located at 31 Cornhill, this city; in 1846 they were at 12 Water Street; in 1860 John Ward Dean was of the firm of Dean & Hill, stampers and gilders, Harvard Place. In 1872 he gave up business to take charge of the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, of which he had become a member in 1850.

From . the biographical sketch, carefully prepared from original sources by Ruth Wood Hoag, A. B., in the Gencalogical Advertiser for December, 1899, published by Lucy Hall Greenlaw, to which we are indebted for many of the foregoing facts, we condense the follow- ing paragraphs relating to the life of John Ward Dean in the last half-century, a life "centred," as Mrs. Hoag says, "about the New England Historic Genealogical Society."

No sooner had he joined the society than he began to take an active part in its proceed- ings. For five years he has been on the Com- mittee on Publications, two years he was treasurer, one year recording secretary, and three years corresponding secretary, from 1855 to 1889 a director. With the exception of three years, 1889-92, he has held the posi- tion of Librarian from the time of his first ap- pointment in 1872. His continuous editor- ship of the Register dates from 1876. To bim more than any one else is due its suc-

cess. He has held it at a uniformly high standard of excellence. As a result the so- ciety whose organ it is has become more widely known and of more valuable assistance to antiquarians than any similar association. Dartmouth College in 1869 conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.

A persistent gleaner in historic fields. Mr. Dean has at ready command a vast fund of knowledge of people and events of the Colo- nial period and of later times in America. and has always been ready to aid those seeking his assistance in research. His zest and energy communicating itself to others has led to the writing of valuable historical papers and books, an example being Mr. Bodge's "Sol- diers of King Philip's War," affectionately in- scribed by the author to Mr. Dean, in grateful acknowledgment of his initiatory suggestion, kindly advice, and helpful interest.

Of the Prince Society, organized in 18:3 for the purpose of publishing rare printed works or manuscripts relating to America. Mr. Dean is the only member who has held office continuously from its beginning to the present time, and for ten years he was its president.

Mr. Dean is a member of more than twenty. five historical societies, not all confined to the United States, and a charter member of one of the latest, the Medford; and he is a vice-pres- ident of the American Statistical Association.

The Gencalogical Advertiser sketch tains a complete list of the printed works ci Mr. Dean, including both his own writings (numbering to date, December. 1890. two bound volumes, seventeen pamphlets, and seventeen shorter articles) and - not the least important - the numerous periodicals. books, and pamphlets edited by him. Of the former class may here be mentioned as of peculiar interest and value the two in covers: Memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, author of the "Simple Cobbler of Agawam," with notes of his family. from which we have drawn in compiling the account of Mr. Dean's ances- try: and the Memoir of the Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, author of " The Day of Doom." another remote progenitor of Mr. Dean. Among the pamphlets and briefer papers we

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may name as samples: Descendants of Thomas Deane, of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (12 pages); Memoir of Colonel Joseph L. Chester (24 pages) ; Henry Kingsbury and Descendants, 1859; Epitaph of John Ward, of Haverhill, England, 1864; and Biographi- cal Sketch of the Rev. Luther Farnham, 1898.

Mr. Dean and Lydia Emerson, daughter of John Scottow and Abigail (Dean) Emerson, of Boston, and a descendant of the Rev, Jo- seph Emerson, first minister of Mendon, Mass., were married in 1853. For five years they lived on Shawmut Avenue, Boston. Since 1861 their home has been in Medford. Mr. Dean's father, brought up in the Orthodox faith, was a Universalist by personal convic- tion. Mr. Dean himself is a Unitarian and still a regular attendant of the church ser- vices.

At the age of eighty-five Mr. Dean may yet be found daily in his accustomed place at the library of the Genealogical Society on Somer- set Street, maintaining a general oversight of the work in which his interest is unabated, but whose details he now entrusts largely to others.

ILLIAM JONES GRIGGS, a repre- sentative of one of the oldest fami- lies in Brookline, was born upon the estate he now occupies, June 6, 1821, son of Thomas and Harriet (Fuller) Griggs. The Griggs family, which is of English origin, «stablished itself in Brookline many years prior to the American Revolution ; and Mr. Griggs's grandfather, Samuel Griggs, was a native of this town.

Thomas Griggs, who was a lifelong resident. of Brookline and who lived to be over ninety- tight years old, was a prosperous farmer throughout his active period, and for several Weirs was .a member of the Board of Select- Jaen. lle was a highly esteemed citizen and . Deacon of the Baptist church. He married ILuriet Fuller, of Needham, Mass., and they w a family of seven children, six of whom te now living: Caroline, who is now Mrs. ' wlidge; William J., the subject of this seth; Mary J., who is now Mrs. Shailer;

Ellen, who is now Mrs. Saxe; Thomas B., who resides on Washington Street; Amanda, who is no longer living; and Frank, who re- sides in Davenport, Ia. All the survivors but Frank are residents of Brookline.

William J. Griggs began his education in the common schools of Brookline, and com- pleted his studies at the Worcester (Mass. ) High School. Turning his attention to farm- ing at an early age, he assisted his father in cultivating the homestead property until the latter's retirement from active labor, when he took the management of the farm : and after his father's death he succeeded to its ownership. The farm, which is kept in a high state of fertility, is very well adapted to market-gar- dening; and Mr. Griggs's residence on Har- vard Street is both desirable and valuable. When a young man Mr. Griggs was a leading spirit in public affairs, serving with ability as a Selectman for a number of years, including the exciting period of the Civil War; and he still retains a lively interest in the general welfare of Brookline, the development of which from a small farming community into the wealthiest and most beautiful town in New England he has witnessed with much satisfac- tion. Politically, he is a Republican.

Mr. Griggs married Miss Mary Jepson, of Newton, Mass. Their children are : Mary E .. who is no longer living; Sadie, wife of Charles Dyer; Frank; and Lulu, wife of Dr. Bowker - all of Brookline.

OHN KOHR, a well-to-do resident of Melrose, now retired from active busi- ness life, was born in Boston, Mas ... November 16, 1846, son of William and Martha (Linton) Kohr. He is a descend- ant in the sixth generation of John Kohr. a native of England, who was the first progenitor of the family in this country. William Kohr. father of the present John Kohr, was born in Lancaster, Pa., and died in Boston in 1886 a: the age of seventy-nine years. He was a man- ufacturer and builder of iron safes and vaults. which business he followed in Boston, going to that city when a young man. Ilis wife, Martha, who was a native of Boston, died May

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16, 1873, at the age of fifty-eight. Her father, Thomas Linton, was born in England, and was for a number of years an officer in the English army. He subsequently came to America, and settled in Boston.

William and Martha Kohr were the parents of eight children, five of whom are now living, namely : Thomas W., who resides in Illinois; Adaline D., now Mrs. John Hlealy, who re- sides in Candia, 'N. H. ; John, the subject of this sketch; Martha A., now Mrs. Edward Goodey and a resident of Boston, Mass. ; and Jennie, now Mrs. William A. Pickett, of Mel- rose.

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Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 4

Author: Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger Number of Pages: 924

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Boston, Graves & Steinbarger
Number of Pages: 924