Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 5

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

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John Kohr in his boyhood and youth attended the Boston public schools, winning the Frank- lin medal in 1862; and he also pursued a course of study at Dunton & Payson's Com- mercial College. At the age of sixteen he entered the employ of a firm in Boston engaged in the manufacture of hair-cloth, where, how- ever, he remained but a short time. His sec- ond position, which he held two years, was as clerk with Manley Howe, a druggist of South Boston; but during this time he enlisted in Company K, First Unattached Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in the Civil War, and went to Fort Independence, serving three months, and being honorably discharged July 27, 1864. He then became connected with the Winch Brothers, of Boston, wholesale boot and shoe dealers, and was subsequently advanced from that position through the different grades until he became general manager of the financial department of the business. His service with this firm covered a period of twenty-one years,

ending in 1885, when he retired from active business pursuits. Mr. Kohr became a resi- dent of Melrose in 1873. Although taking a warm interest in the prosperity and welfare of the town, he has never sought office nor cared to take an active part in the management of local affairs. In politics he is a Republican.

On June 25, 1872, Mr. Kohr was. united in marriage with Mary M. Murdock, daughter of Jacob Murdock, of Keene, N. Il. She died in 1893, leaving two sons - John W. and Albert. John W. Kohr, born in Melrose, was educated in the Melrose schools and at Bryant & Strat- ton's Business College, and is now in the

employ of the Boston Plate Glass Company. Albert Kohr, also born in Melrose, was edu- cated in the Melrose schools, and is now en- gaged in farming at Hudson, Mass. Mr. Kohr married for his second wife November 6, 1895, Emma Carmina Chamberlain, a daugh- ter of Carmi and Emily (Cutler) Chamberlain, of Barnard, Vt. The branch of the Cutler family to which Mrs. Kohr's mother belonged was first represented in America about 1635 by James Cutler, who was an original grantee of land in the northerly part of Watertown on the road to Belmont, and in 1649, with Na- thaniel Bowman, purchased of Edward Goff two hundred acres of land in Cambridge. In 1651 James Cutler sold his share to Mr. Bow- man for thirty-five pounds, and settled in Cam- bridge Farms, now Lexington, near Bedford. He was three times married, and had children by each wife.

James' Cutler, his son by his first wife, Anna, was born November 6, 1635, and died July 31, . 1685. lle married Lydia Moore Wright, a widow, by whom he had seven chil- dren, of whom the sixth was Thomas, born December 15, 1677. This Thomas Cutler married Sarah Stone, a daughter of Samuel and Dorcas Stone, and they were the parents of eight children. David Cutler, son of Thomas and Sarah, resided on the old Cutler homestead near Bedford. lIe was Selectman in 1749, 1750, and 1751. He married Mary Tidd, of Woburn.

Thomas Cutler, son of David and Mary Cut- ler, was born May 5, 1742, being the seventh child of his parents. He responded to the Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775, as a mem- ber of Captain Parker's company, and was one of the patriots who made so brave a stand at Lexington Square when the English officer ordered the "rebels" to disperse. He had in his employ a man named Brown, who was the first to see the English soldiers approaching Lexington, and who jumped upon a horse and spread the alarm. Brown was killed at Lex- ington, and his name is one of those engraved upon the monument at that place. Thomas Cutler long survived the war of independence, and lived to see the outbreak of the second war with England, dying July 3, 1812. Ile was

1.62729

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twice married. The maiden name of his first wife was Abigail Reed.

John Cutler, son of Thomas Cutler by his first wife, was born May 10, 1777, and died March 12, 1828, after a life spent upon the old homestead at Lexington. Ile married Al- mira Flagg, of Mason, N. H. His eldest child, Emily, born September 10, 1813, at the Lexington homestead, married Carmi Cham- berlain, and was the mother of the present Mrs. Kohr.

O.N. EBENEZER MARTIN Mc- PHERSON, president of the Secu- rity Safe Deposit Company of Bos- ton, was born in Shelburne, N. S., October 24, 1836, son of John and Elizabeth (Martin) MePherson. On his father's side he comes of pure- Scottish stock, whose origin is but dimly shadowed in the traditions of the past, the ancestral kin embracing, besides the McPhersons, other Scottish clans with whom they intermarried.

His paternal grandparents were Lauchland and Elizabeth (Urquhart) McPherson, both of whom came of prominent Scottish families. Lauchland MePherson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, or in the parish of Shotts, near that city. His wife, Elizabeth, was a native of Edinburgh. After their marriage they came to America, and settled in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, where they passed their declin- ing years.

Their son John, father of Ebenezer M. Mc- Pherson, was born at Jordan River, Shelburne County, N. S., March 12, 1801. He learned the trade of shipwright, which he followed for many years in his native place. His business gradually increasing to large proportions, he was eventually numbered among the most suc- cessful men of his town. In later life he removed to Bosten, Mass., where he died Feb- ruary 27, 1859, at the age of fifty-eight years. Ilis political principles were Liberal while he remained a resident of his native country. In the United States he favored the Republican party. His wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lyle) Martin, her parents being natives of Scotland.

Her grandfather, John Martin, Sr., a Scotch- man, married Agnes Russell. She was a sis- ter of John Russell, who became a resident of Plymouth, Mass., in 1766. From him 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, Sr., and Agnes. (Russell) Martin lived and died in the parish of Shotts, Scotland. John Martin, the younger, came to America about 1790, and settled upon a farm in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, where he died at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, Elizabeth Lyle Martin, lived to the age of eighty-one.

The MePhersons and Martins were stanch Presbyterians in religion, uncompromising in matters of faith and morals. They were hardy, energetic, and hospitable people, of whom their descendants are justly proud.

John and Elizabeth MePherson were the par- ents of seven children. Three of these are now living, namely : Elizabeth, who is unmar- ried; David, formerly Mayor of Halifax, N. S. ; and Ebenezer Martin, the subject of this sketch. The mother died September 3, 1878, aged eighty-three years. Ebenezer Martin McPherson acquired his education in the Boston public schools. He began his busi- ness training in the office of Henry Rice, stock and real estate broker. Afterward he entered the employ of Messrs. Peters & Chase, tea dealers. In 1867 he established himself in business as a dealer in bank safes and locks. For several years financial affairs have absorbed the major portion of his time, he being now president of the Security Safe Deposit Com- pany, a former director of the First Ward Na- tional Bank, and a trustee of the East Boston Savings Bank.

Mr. McPherson has long occupied a promi- nent place in the business, social, and political circles of Boston. He is one of the leading philanthropists of the city, and possesses an inherited zeal for promoting the moral welfare of the community. A Republican in politics, he has served upon the city and State central committees, represented his district in the State Legislature for two years, and was for

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the same length of time a member of the Exec- utive Council under Governor Ames, who appointed him a State Commissioner of For- eign Mortgage Corporations, in which capacity Mr. MePherson served for three years. For many years he has served as president, vice- president, and treasurer of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association ; was a director of the Associated Charities; president of the Home for Little Wanderers; and treasurer of the No-license League of Massachusetts. He is superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday- school, East Boston; and the firm religious faith that was a leading characteristic of his ancestors has been, perhaps, the most potent influence in the moulding of his own char- acter.

On June 8, 1863, in East Boston, Mr. Mc- Pherson was joined in marriage with Miss Emily Cannon Sturtevant, who was a daughter of George and Sarah (Cannon) Sturtevant. Of this union there are two sons: George Sturte- vant Macpherson, M. D., a prominent physi- cian of Boston ; and Henry Stephens Macpher. son, a successful Boston lawyer. Mrs. Mc- Pherson died in March, IS88. Mr. McPher- son's second wife, whom he married at Win- throp, Mass., October .9, ISS9, was Elizabeth Russell Drowne, daughter of William and Emily (Day) Drowne.

HILIP HORACE GOSS, a well-to- do resident of Boston, Dorchester district, engaged in the real estate, mortgage, and insurance business, was born in Lyndon, Vt., September 21, 1855, son of Horace Carter and Louisa (Hicks) Goss. His paternal grandfather was Philip Goss, who, it is believed, was a farmer, and who was certainly a man of some local prominence, as he served at one time or another in all the different town offices, besides representing his district in the Legislature. A man of devout life and Christian principles, he also took an active interest in the temperance cause, which he supported to the best of his ability and advocated at every favorable opportunity.

Horace C. Goss was born in Lyndon, Vt., and was brought up on his father's farm, and

made agriculture his life occupation. He was a man of a somewhat superior education, hav- ing attended Dartmouth College for two years, when he was obliged to give up his studies on account of ill health. Like his father, he was prominent in town affairs. He and his wife, Louisa, who was a daughter of Abram Hicks, were the parents of eight children ; namely, Eleanor, William, Philip H., George E., Lev- erett D., Martha H., Samuel F., and Mary L. Eleanor, who became the wife of John Daniels, is now deceased. George E. resides in East Burke, Caledonia County, Vt. Leverett D. is a resident of Canyon City, Col. Martha is now deceased. Samuel F. resides in Canyon City, Col., as does also Mary L.

Philip Horace Goss received his education in his native town of Lyndon, Vt. At the age of twelve years, being thrown upon his own re- sources, owing to the death of his father, he walked to Claremont, N. H., where he found employment in a book-bindery owned by the Claremont Manufacturing Company, and served an apprenticeship of three years to the book- binder's trade. Subsequently he worked as a journeyman in the same establishment, and applied himself with such diligence and skill that he was made foreman of the bindery. At the age of twenty he left Claremont, and, com- ing to Boston, entered the employ of the River- side Press, where he remained for two years. Then, in company with Mr. James A. Hearn, he started in business for himself as binder at III Milk Street, Boston, under the firm name of Goss & Hearn. This enterprise occupied him for three years, at the end of which he sold out to his partner, Mr. Hearn, and took a position with Robert Burlen, of 50 Arch Street, in whose employ he remained for two years. On September 1, 1889, he engaged in the real estate business, to which he has since given his attention. His operations include the development of desirable property, the repair- ing of dwelling-houses, and the management of trust estates, the collection of rents, divi- dends, and interest in Dorchester and vicinity, besides the accompanying transactions relating to mortgages and insurance. In all these he has been very successful, and through his busi- ness ability and unremitting industry has,

RICHARD C. HUMPHREYS.

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while looking after the interests of others, accumulated a good property for himself. Mr. Goss was married in 1882 to Miss Sarah Jane Atkinson, daughter of Sarah C. Atkinson, of Boston. He has two children : James Horace, who was born March 29, 1883; and Harold Carter, who was born May 3, 1885. The elder son, a graduate of the Boston public schools and Burdett's. Business College, is now employed in the Boston Chamber of Com- merce as clerk in the grain business. Harold C. is still attending school.

ON. JAMES EASTON, 2D, a much respected resident of Nantucket, was born in Providence, R. I., February 20, 1807, son of Nicholas and Dor- cas (Chase) Easton. He is a descendant of Nicholas Easton, first, who came to America from England, and was for a few years a mem- ber of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, being in 1634 at Ipswich, in 1635 at Newbury, later at Hampton, N. H. Receiving "license to de- part " thence, Nicholas Easton, first, removed in 1638 to the isle of Aquidneck, and there made his home till his death in 1675. He was a member of the Society of Friends.

Nicholas Easton, of a later generation, father of the subject of this sketch, followed the trade of cabinet-maker in Providence, in which city he died at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, Dorcas, was a native of Som- erset, R. I., and a daughter of Daniel Chase, a farmer of that place. She lived to an ad- vanced age, having reared five children -- James, 2d; Stephen; Nicholas; Daniel; and Elisha.

James Easton, 2d, was educated in the public schools of Providence, and stood at the head of his class when he left school, at the age of fourteen, to come to Nantucket to reside with Mr. William Hadwen, a jeweller. In Mr. Hadwen's store he learned the trade of jewel- ler, silversmith, and engraver: Applying himself diligently, he became a thorough work- man, and for many years did all the engraving in the island. For a number of years past he his lived retired, being engaged in looking atter his private interests.

A Democrat politically, he has voted at each national election since he became of age, hav- ing cast his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jackson. He has at different times served in all the various town offices. He also repre- sented his district for two terms as State Sen- ator, declining a third nomination.

Mr. Easton was married on October 23, 1831, to Sarah Coleman Wyer, daughter of Christopher and Priscilla (Coleman) Wyer, of Nantucket. They are the parents of one son, Benjamin Coleman Easton. He married Mar- garet G. Burnet, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and has one child, Horace Easton, who is a clerk in New York City.

ICHARD CLAPP HUMPHREYS, a widely known and respected citizen of Boston, son of Henry and Sarah Blake (Clapp) Humphreys, was born on June 10, 1836, at his present place of residence, on the old homestead property which has been owned and occupied by the family for upward of two hundred and fifty years, or from the time of its purchase by Jonas Humphreys, the immigrant .progenitor, in 1637. He inherits through various lines the blood of seven generations of Dorchester folk, numbering among his ancestors not a few of the early settlers of the historie town, twin sister of Boston, of which it is now a part. From Jonas Humphreys' the line of descent is as follows : Elder James, 2 Hopestill, 3 Jonas, + Ilenry, 3 Deacon James,' Deacon Henry, ? Deacon Richard. 8

Jonas' Humphreys became a member of the church in Dorchester in 1639. His son James, who was born at Wendover, England, about 1608, was for many years Ruling Elder in the Dorchester church, three of his de- scendants, as above shown, being successively Deacons. . Hopestill, son of Elder James, was engaged in the Narragansett Swamp fight with the Indians in December, 1675. He married in 1677 Elizabeth Baker; and their son Jonas, + born in 1696, married Susanna Payson, by whom he had eleven children. Henry,5 born in 1726, third child of Jonas and Susanna, married Abigail Clapp, daughter of Ebenezer,

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Jr., and Hannah (Pierce) Clapp and grand- daughter of Ebenezer, Sr., and Hannah (Clapp) Clapp. Ebenezer Clapp, Sr., was a grandson of Nicholas Clapp, who came to Dorchester about 1633, and his wife, Hannah, a grand-daughter of Captain Roger Clapp, who came over in the " Mary and John " in 1630, and was one of the first settlers of Dorchester.

Deacon James,6 born in 1753 on "Monday, June 4, Artillery Election Day," served in the war of the Revolution, holding the rank of Sergeant. He married in 1777 Elizabeth Capen, daughter of Richard and Hannah (Clapp) Capen. The house in which he was married is now standing on Washington Street, near Melville Avenue. It was built before 1650. .

Deacon Henry Humphreys, twelfth child of Deacon James, was born April S, ISOI, on the family estate in Dorchester, and died in the same house, April 19, 1896. The tan- ning business conducted by him for a long period had descended in the family, and had been carried on from the time of Jonas Humphreys in 1637. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Blake Clapp, was born in Dorchester, near the spot where stood the first free public school in this country. She was a daughter of Richard and Mary (Blake) Clapp. Of the thirteen children born to her and her husband, three sons and two daughters are now living, Richard C. being the oldest survivor. Mrs. Humphreys died in 1850, at the age of about forty years.

The school days of Richard C. Humphreys began when he was four years old and contin- ued till he was fifteen, when he was graduated from the grammar school under Master Elwell Woodbury. At the age of sixteen he entered the employ of J. H. Upham & Co., grocers ; and, becoming a partner after nine years of faithful service, he remained in the business twenty years. Associated for the next eight years with Messrs. Holbrook & Fox, real es- tate dealers, Kilby Street, Boston, he then retired from commercial activities.

In these later years, he having received more than fifty appointments from the courts as executor, administrator, guardian, or trus- tee, his business interests have been mainly

connected with the care and settlement of es- tates, no small part of his time being given to philanthropic and educational work and other forms of public service. He was a member of the Boston School Board from 1888 to 1895 and of the Board of Overseers of the Poor from 1890 to 1898, president of the Dorches- ter Board of the Associated Charities and of the Dorchester Relief Society, treasurer (1899) of the Public School Association of Boston and the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-minded, assistant treasurer New Eng- land Hospital for Women and Children and of the Boston Home for Incurables.

In religion a Unitarian, he is a Deacon of the First Parish Church of Dorchester, organ- ized in 1630, now occupying its new house of worship on the old site, Meeting House Hill. He is also treasurer of the parish, treasurer of the Unitarian Sunday-School Society, treas- urer Christian Register Association, and was for twelve years president of the Norfolk Con- ference. He is a life member of the American Unitarian Association and a member of the Unitarian Club.

Mr. Humphreys married first March 5, 1863, Miss Sarah E. Beals, of Dorchester. She died in 1889; and on June 30, 1892, he married for his second wife Mrs. Susan M. Clapp, of Dorchester, daughter of Alexander Campbell, of Cherryfield, Me. He has one child, a son, by his first wife; namely, Clar- ence B. Ilumphreys, born in 1873.

From an interesting historical and bio- graphical volume entitled "Schools and School-boys of Old Boston " is taken nearly verbatim the following appreciation of Mr. Humphreys: "He possesses in high degree that conservatism that was so striking a char- acteristic of the Puritan settlers, including his own ancestors, a manifestation of which may be found in the continued residence of the family in one place for so many generations. This quality, the balance wheel of individual character as of the entire social structure, he has never allowed to degenerate in his own person into an unreasoning resistance against true progress or the assertion of a fearless in- dependence. When his intellect has accepted a course of thought or action, the traditions of

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the past do not prevent him from following it; and, when his conscience and reason have de- cided that an old principle or method of ac- tion is better than some new and fickle alter- native, he cannot be moved. In business he is conservative, in politics loyal to the best traditions of his party (Republican), but in- dependent in his judgment of men and meas- tires. In social life he is amiable and popular."

OHN COLLEY, a retired business man, formerly a large vessel owner of Marblehead, was born in this town, May 23, 1821, son of John and Betsey (Devereaux) Colley. His father, who was born in 1791 and was the son of an earlier John Colley, also of Marblehead, was reared upon a farm, but became a mariner, and died at sea in July, 1825.

Mr. Colley's mother was the daughter of Benjamin P. and Elizabeth (Getchell) Dever- eaux. Her father served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was a descendant of John Devereux, who came to Salem, "perhaps in the fleet with Winthrop, 1630, a youth of sixteen," and was at Marblehead in 1648. Devereux railway station was named in honor of the Devereux (or Devereaux) family, which was among the most prominent of the old Colonial families of Marblehead. The origi- nal American ancestor of that branch of the Getchell family from whom Mr. Colley's mother was descended, through Elisha Getch- ell, was also a very early immigrant to Essex County.

Left fatherless in his fifth year, John Colley, the subject of this sketch, was thrown upon his own inherent resources at an early age; and his education, business training, and subsequent prosperity were acquired mainly thi ugh his own individual efforts. Habits of i gularity and thrift enabled him to accu- mulate a sufficient sum with which to engage in the fisheries industry; and in 1853 he pur- chased an interest in a schooner which was lost on Sable Island in the following year. Undaunted by this disastrous result of his first venture, he in 1855 became interested

with John S. Goodwin in the schooner "Caro- line," which they built at Salisbury, Mass., and which continued to make successful fish- ing trips to the Grand Banks for the succeed- ing twenty-four years, or until 1879, when Mr. Colley disposed of his share in the vessel. He built the "Betsey," of seventy- six tons, for the fishing business, and also ac- quired interests in several other vessels en- gaged in both the fisheries and coastwise trade; but in 1880 he disposed of all his shares, and permanently retired from active business.

As a public-spirited citizen Mr. Colley favors the promotion of public improvements, believing that advance in that direction is sure to be of benefit to the general commu- nity; and in politics he acts independently, supporting the candidate whom he considers best qualified for the public service. He is a member of Atlantic Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Marblehead; and of Naumkeag Encampment, of Salem, Mass. His business operations were conducted upon upright principles unre- tarded by selfish interests, and his sterling in- tegrity is fully recognized by his fellow- townsmen. Mr. Colley was a promoter and director in the Naumkeag Mutual Fishing In- surance Company, of Salem, Mass., which at one time did a flourishing business.

AVID PARKER, a director of the Pacific National Bank of Nantucket, was born on Nantucket Island, August 19, 1841, son of George and Lucy (Smallwood) Parker. His great-grand- father Parker, whose name he bears, was a resident and probably a native of West Barn- stable, Mass. David Parker, first, followed farming as his life occupation. He married Mehitable Hall.

Their son David, second, grandfather of the present David l'arker, was born in West Barn- stable and reared on his father's farm. near which he settled after his marriage. He re- mained in that vicinity until 1833, and then came to Nantucket, where he resided up to 1845, when he returned to West Barnstable, there to spend the rest of his days. He died

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at the age of eighty-five years; and his wife, Temperance Parker, who was born in West Bainstable and was a daughter of Isaiah and Sarah (Sturgis) Parker, died at the age of eighty-one. They brought up five children - Eleanor, Sarah S., George, David, and Eze- kiel. Eleanor is now living at the age of ninety-two years, and Ezekiel at seventy- three.

George Parker, after accompanying his par- ents, David and Temperance Parker, to Nan- tueket, was employed for some time in a candle factory. 'He subsequently went into the grocery business, which he continued to follow for fifty years. His death occurred in 1886. His wife, Lucy, who was born in Nantucket, died on the island in 1888. They reared four children - Eunice Macy ; Maria Luce; Judith Joy; and David, whose life history is outlined below.

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Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 5

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

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