USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 51
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In 1850 the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Kelsey subsequently continued the business alone. In that year he went to Lewistown, Me., for a week's visit. This trip led to im- portant results; for he was induced while there to take the superintendent's position for build- ing the canals, dams, and mills at that city - labor that took seven years, during which time he remained in Lewiston. He also became largely interested in some of the mills. On returning to Boston, he resumed business here. The Free Masons of Boston, who at that time had their temple on the corner of Temple Place and Tremont Streets, purchased three dwelling- houses on the corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets, and employed Mr. Kelsey to remodel and enlarge them, and arrange them for the purposes of the order. When completed, the
lower part of the building was used as a public house, and called the Winthrop House, and the top floors were used by the order as a Ma- sonic Hall. Some years after, Mr. Kelsey tore down that building, and erected upon the same site the Masonic Temple that was partially burnt in 1896. This latter building was then torn down, and the present one on the same site erected, Mr. Kelsey being engaged as superintendent of the work, which lasted two years. This made the third building the erection of which he has superintended on that one site. In 1861 and 1862 he erected mills in Lewiston, Me. ; and in 1870 he was engaged in building mills at Waterville, Me., and built all the large ones there. He also built mills in Palmer, Mass., the American Net and Twine Mills at Cambridge, the mill of the Boston Manufacturing Company, and the larg- est mill in Waltham, Mass. ; also the largest cotton-mill in the Province of New Brunswick. In 1875 Captain Kelsey built the State Prison at Concord, Mass., completing it in the most careful manner, and having about forty-three thousand dollars left of the appropriation. Il superintended the building of the New State House Extension in Boston, which occupied five years. Upon the completion of this work he took a much-needed rest, going abroad for a number of months, and during his travels visit- ing Russia, with which country he was in many respects favorably impressed and greatly interested. After his return home he resumed his business, which he has carried on up to the present time, though less actively engaged now than formerly.
While in Minneapolis in 1859, Captain Kelsey's attention was drawn to the fact that the falls of St. Anthony, owing to the constant attrition of the water upon the river bed, were gradually creeping back, and promised at no distant time to seriously damage property in- terests on the water front. Seeing a way to remedy the difficulty, he brought his views to the notice of the authorities, and was given by them authority to put his plans into execu- tion. The work was subsequently approved by government engineers; since then there has been no further backward progress of the falls.
From 1842 to 1850, Mr. Kelsey was a mem-
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ber of the old Washington Light Guards of Boston; and he had the honor of commanding the battalion that acted as military escort at the obsequies of President John Quincy Adams in 1848, being at that time Senior Captain of the escort. While residing in Lewiston, Me., Captain Kelsey, at the request of Governor Garcelon, took command of the Lewiston Light Infantry, which position he held for about two years. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was appointed, by Governor Washburn, Colonel of the First Maine Regiment of Vol- unteers. Though not accepting this appoint- ment, he rendered useful service to Governor Washburn in the work of organizing the volun- teer force; and it was through his influence that Dr. Garcelon was appointed surgeon-gen- eral of the State at that time. Governor Washburn subsequently appointed him Lieu- tenant Colonel of the Third Maine Regiment, which appointment, however, Captain Kelsey declined to accept. He, however, took an ac- tive and useful part in assisting in the embarka- tion of troops and in performing other useful service.
Captain Kelsey was married March 2, 1837, to Charlotte Locke Upton, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Cowden) Upton, of Fitchburg. She died in 1890 at the age of eighty years. He has two children: Albert Warren, born October 30, 1840; and Charlotte Lucine, born January 15, 1847. Albert W. Kelsey, now a resident of Philadelphia, Pa., married Jeanette Washburn, daughter of the late Governor Cadwallader.Washburn, of Wisconsin, of wide renown as the founder and proprietor of Wash- burn's Flour Mills at Minneapolis, Minn. They have eight children, namely: Albert, born April, 1870 (who married Henrietta Allis, of New York, and has one child, Albert Washburn, born January, 1900) ; Charlotte, born October, 1873; Kate, born April, 1875; Mary, born June, 1877; Mabel, born October, 1878; Kadwallader, born July, 1880; Ethel, born August, 1882; and Bonnibel, born Feb- ruary, 1884.
Charlotte I. Kelsey is the wife of Joseph D. Estabrook, of Cambridge, Mass., and has five children : Harold K., born October, 1870; Robert Joseph, born February, 1873 (who
married Alice Arey, of Cambridge, Mass. ) ; Rena, born January, 1877; Albert Walter, born November, 1878; and Angus, born Au- gust, 1882.
Captain Kelsey has a comfortable residence in Cambridge, where he has made his home for the last thirty years. Though now in his eighty-ninth year, he is still active and ener- getic, and remarkably well-preserved both men- tally and physically. He is a thirty-third de- gree Mason, and is the only charter member of De Molay Commandery now living. He has been prominent in the order, and held many of its offices, though not that of Master. He also belongs to the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. He attends the Unitarian church. In politics he is a Democrat.
IIARLES JEWETT HAYDEN, treas- urer of the Home Savings Bank, Bos- ton, was born in this city, June 10, 1841, being a son of William and Susan (Kemball) Hayden and the eleventh of a family of twelve children, seven of whom at- tained adult age. He comes of Middlesex County stock on both paternal and maternal sides. Among his early American ancestors through different lines may be named Henry 1 Kemball, who came over in 1634 and settled at Watertown; Roger ' Wellington, one of the original proprietors of Watertown; and Mr. Wellington's father-in-law, Dr. Richard ' Pal- grave, one of the first physicians of Charles- town.
William Hayden, who was a native of New- ton, Mass., settled in Boston about the year 1820, and followed the trade of a carpenter or housewright until his death, which occurred in 1844. His wife, Susan, was a daughter of Henrys and Elizabeth (Wellington) Kemball. Henry 5 Kemball, son of John, was a prosper- ous farmer and at one time proprietor of the old Prospect House, Waltham. His wife was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Dix) Wellington, of Waltham. Mrs. Susan Kem- ball Hayden died February 1, 1899, lacking but three months of being a centenarian. Her longevity was probably inherited from her ma-
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ternal ancestors, as her mother lived to be ninety-four years old.
Charles Jewett Hayden was educated at the Quincy and Brimmer Schools, Boston. He began business life as clerk in a dry-goods store, where he remained three years. For the succeeding four years he was employed by George Gardiner at 5 Liberty Square; and from 1860 to ISSI he held the position of con- fidential clerk and book-keeper in the office of William Minot on Court Street. In the latter year he reorganized the old Howard Watch and Clock Company, taking the treasurership of the new corporation, which he retained until the spring of 1892, when he declined a re-elec- tion, and took an extended trip to the Pacific coast. He was one of the promoters and or- ganizers of the Highland Street Railroad Con- pany, established in 1872, and was a member of its Board of Directors until its consolidation with the Middlesex Company, of which he was also a director until the Middlesex became a part of the West End Street Railway Con- pany. In June, 1892, he was elected treasurer of the Home Savings Bank, in which capacity he is still serving; and he is also a trustee of that institution.
Mr. Hayden was a member of the Boston Light Infantry from 1861 to 1863. He joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1867, and for a number of years served upon its Financial Committee. He was a charter member of the Roxbury Club (1886), a mem- ber of the Board of Government of the Massa- chusetts Charitable Mechanic Association for the years 1887 and 1888, and of the Executive Committee of the Paul Revere Association for the years 1892 and 1893. He is also a mem- ber of Revere Lodge, F. & A. M .; St. Paul Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Boston Commandery, Knights Templar; and was a charter member of Boston Encampment, I. O. O. F, and for more than twenty years a member of Tremont Lodge, I. O. O. F.
On May 10, 1865, Mr. Hayden was united in marriage with Miss Frances Butler Shat- tuck, of Boston, daughter of Charles P. and Frances Ann (Butler) Shattuck. His chil- dren are: Charles Minot, secretary of the Ames estate; Jessie Duncan, who married Al-
bert H. Wiggin, now vice-president of the Park National Bank of New York City; and George W. Hayden, manager of the Roxbury telephone office.
REDERICK WESLEY PARKER, of the firm of Clement, Parker & Co., 0 stock brokers at 53 Devonshire Street, Boston, is a native of this city. Son of Jerome Wesley and Ann Eliza (Wright) Parker, he was born May 9, 1864, at No. I Joy Street. On the paternal side he is of the eighth generation in descent from Deacon Thomas Parker, who came to New England in the "Susan and Ellen" in 1635, the line of descent being: Deacon Thomas,' Nathaniel, 2 Obadiah, Obadiah,4 Phinehas,s Obadiah,6 Je- rome W.,7 Frederick Wesley. 8
Thomas Parker, the immigrant, settled first at Lynn, where he married, and in 1637 was made freeman. Shortly afterward he removed to Reading, making his home in the south part of the town, now Wakefield, and there aided in establishing the first church, of which he was chosen Deacon. He died August 12, 1683, aged seventy-four. He had several children by his wife Amy. His son Nathan- iel, born May 11, 1651, married September 24, 1677, Bethiah Polly, daughter of John and Susanna Polly, and settled in the West Parish, now Reading, where he was a prominent resi- dent. He died in 1737; and his wife, who was born February 2, 1658, died August 23, 1748. Their son, Ensign Obadiah, born in Reading, January 13, 1698, resided in Groton, Mass., and died there in November, 1758.
Lieutenant Obadiah Parker, born April II, 1730, son of Ensign Obadiah and his wife Hannah, was one of the founders of the town of Mason, N. H., and was a leading man there in church, town, and State affairs. He mar- ried October 17, 1752, Ruth Stevens, who was born January 5, 1732, and died February 5, 1818. Ile died October 5, 1816.
His son Phinehas, born May 11, 1756, in Vermont, married December 8, 1779, Eliza- beth Swan, born July 24, 1759, daughter of Gustavus and Isabel (Wilson) Swan.
Obadiah Parker, third of the name in this
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line, son of Phinehas, born April S, 1783, died March 28, 1867, at his home in Andover, Vt. He married December 23, 1818, Sally Balch, who was born October 7, 1795, and died June 15, 1874. She was a daughter of Hart and Dorcas (Somes) Balch. Her father was son of Hart Baleb, Sr., and his wife, whose family name was Bourne (?) ; and her mother was a daughter of Isaac and Abigail Somes.
Jerome Wesley Parker, son of Obadiah and Sally (Balch) Parker, was born June 30, 1830, at Andover, Vt., and died at Augusta, Me., August 11, 1895. He married September 30, 1855, Ann Eliza Wright, who was born Oc- tober 20, 1831, and died November 9, 1879. She was daughter of Stephen E. and Nancy (Nason) Wright, of Arlington, Mass., who were married in 1824. Her father, a son of Chandler Wright, was born June 29, 1803, and died April 24, 1885 ; and her mother, a daugh- ter of Eliakim and Nancy (Pettee) Nason, was born July 31, 1799, and died October 30, 1884. Eliakim Nason was the son of Nathan- iel and Abigail (Hartshorn) Nason and his wife Nancy, daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Hart) Nason.
Chandler Wright, of Arlington, Mass., Mr. Parker's grandfather, born in 1769, died Octo- ber 27, 1824. He married in 1795 Susanna Ellis, born October 25, 1774, and died March 22, 1855. Her parents were Lieutenant Stephen and Susanna (Thompson) Ellis. Chandler Wright was a son of Isaac, Jr., and Faith (Chandler) Wright, of Plympton, who were married July 2, 1761.
Isaac Wright, Jr., was born September 12, 1731, and died in 1797. His wife, born July 30, 1740, died May 12, 1821. His parents, Isaac, Sr., and Mary (Cole) Wright, of Plymp- ton, were married December 19, 1717. Isaac Wright, Sr., died in 1766. He was a son of Adam and Sarah (Soule) Wright, and grandson of Richard and Hester (Cooke) Wright, his grandmother, Hester, being a daughter of Francis Cooke, of Plymouth, one of the May- flower passengers.
Richard Wright was born in England about 1608. He joined the Plymouth Colony in 1637, and married Hester Cooke in 1644.
From him the line of descent to Mr. Parker's mother is: Richard,' Adam,2 Isaac, 3 Isaac, 4 Chandler,5 Stephen E.,6 Ann Eliza (Mrs. Parker).7
Adam Wright, son of Richard, was born in 1644, and died in Plympton, September 20, 1724. Sarah Soule, whom he married about 1688, was born in 1656, and died in 1707. She was a daughter of John and Rebecca (Sim- mons) Soule and grand-daughter of George Soule, "Mayflower" passenger, who married Mary Becket in 1630, settled at Duxbury, and died in 1680. Rebecca Simmons was a daugh- ter of Moses and Sarah Simmons.
Mary Cole, wife of Isaac Wright, Jr., was a daughter of John and Susanna Gray Cole, of Duxbury. Her father, born in 1660, died in 1727, was the son of Hugh and Mary (Foxwell) Cole, of Swansey, and grandson of James Cole, of Plymouth, and his wife Mary. Su- sanna Gray, wife of John Cole, was a daughter of Edward and Dorothy (Lettice) Cole and grand-daughter of Thomas and Ann Lettice.
At the age of fourteen Frederick Wesley Parker, having obtained his education in the public schools, secured employment in a whole- sale mercantile house in Boston, and afterward was in New York in the same line of industry.
At nineteen he entered the employ of Messrs. Perkins, Dupce & Co., bankers, Boston; and four years later he became junior partner in the banking firm of Sawyer, Clement & Co. In 1892 Mr. Sawyer retired; and the firm name became Clement, Parker & Co., known to-day as one of the largest as well as most conservative firms in the street.
Mr. Parker resides at No. 135 Highland Avenue, Somerville. He was a member of the government of the city in 1895-96. In politics he is a Republican. He is a director of the Somerville National Bank and a member of the following-named clubs and associations : John Abbott Lodge, F. & A. M., Royal Arch Chapter, and Orient Council, all of Somer- ville, and De Molay Commandery, K. T., of Boston; the Central Club of Somerville; the Exchange Club, the New Algonquin, the Bos- ton Art Club, and Massachusetts Club of Boston, and the Boston Stock Exchange; the New England Historic-Genealogical Society;
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the Somerville Historical Society ; the Society of Colonial Wars; and the Society of "May- flower" Descendants, being Historian of the Massachusetts Society. In religion he is a Unitarian.
Mr. Parker was married, June 15, 1887, to Nellie Elizabeth Blodgett, daughter of Elias and Elizabeth (Brown) Blodgett. She was born in Cambridge, Mass., September 13, 1864. They have one child, Mildred, born March 21, 1889.
IRAM BLANCHARD WARD, a prominent contractor and builder of Revere, has been a resident of that town since 1892, and during the greater part of the time actively identified with its leading interests. He was born in Doug- las, Hants County, N.S., in 1854, a son of Henry and Hannah (Kilcup) Ward. His pa- ternal grandfather was John W. Ward, and he is of English ancestry, his great-grandfather, William Ward, having been born in England, whence he emigrated when a young man to Nova Scotia ..
Henry Ward was born in Kentville, N. S., in 1825, and subsequently settled in the town of Douglas, where he was engaged in agricult- ural pursuits for many years. He married Hannah Kilcup, who was born in Windsor, N. S., in 1823, and died in 1895, in the seventy-third year of her age. Her father, William Kilcup, was a shipper of plaster in his earlier life, but was afterward engaged in general farming in Douglas, N.S., where he died in 1870, at the remarkable age of one hundred and two years. He reared a family of fifteen children.
Hiram B. Ward was educated in the schools of Douglas, living with his parents until 1874, when he came to Massachusetts in search of profitable employment. In 1878 he went to California, where he was interested in gold mining at the famous Bodie and Standard Mines, in Mono County. Subsequently he spent some time in Tucson and Harshaw, Ariz., engaged in various enterprises. At the commencement of the building of the Mexican Railway from El Paso to the City of Mexico
he and his partners, under the firm name of Ward & Tays, received the contract to run the boarding train and commissary car, of which they had charge for nearly three years. At the completion of the contract this firm re- ceived from the general superintendent and the company the highest commendations for their ability in handling and feeding the large num- ber of men, sometimes amounting to five hun- dred and fifty. In 1884 Mr. Ward returned East, and in 1889 again came to Massachu- setts. In 1892 he settled in Revere, since which time he has been actively employed as a contractor and builder, having erected several fine residences in this town and in other near-by places. He was also one of the con- tractors for building the Highland and Pratt- ville school buildings and the magnificent police building in Chelsea, likewise in mak- ing the addition to the Masachusetts Soldiers' Home in Chelsea.
Mr. Ward is a Republican in his political views and a strong supporter of the no-license ticket. He has always taken a keen interest in local matters, and was one of the committee to present the new town by-laws. For two years he was a member of the Board of Claims, and has served as Inspector of Buildings. During the past three years he has been a member and chairman of the Board of Health, serving with credit to himself and to the honor of his fellow-townsmen. A man of strong convictions, fearless in the advocacy of what he believes right, he is well qualified for a public official, and his services are well appre- ciated by the community.
On November 25, 1884, Mr. Ward married Amanda Morris, a daughter of Joseph Morris, of Lakeville, Kings County, N. S. They have two children: Clifford L., born in 1886; and Gladys H., born in 1890. Fraternally, Mr. Ward is a member of the A. O. U. W.
EORGE WASHINGTON HOL- BROOK, a veteran of the Civil War, residing in Provincetown, was born in East Boston, Mass., April 23, 1844, son of Samuel and Hannah (French) Holbrook. His father, a native of Weston, Mass., was for
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many years engaged in the clothing business on Richmond Street, Boston, his patrons being mostly sailors. Samuel Holbrook removed from East Boston to Wakefield, and, after residing there a year, went to Reading, Mass., where he purchased the Samuel Nichols place, which he made his home until his death in 1872. His wife, Hannah French Holbrook, died in 1845. She left five children - Sam- uel, Josephine, Lyman; Eliza, and George W. Samuel and Lyman are both dead. Josephine is the widow of George Nichols, and resides in Lynn. Eliza is the widow of Frederick Aborn, and is a resident of Wakefield.
George W. Holbrook, who was left mother- less when but a year old, attended school in his boyhood successively in Boston, Wakefield, and Reading. On October 30, 1861, he left his books to enlist in Company C, Twenty- fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, for three years. Honorably discharged on Decem- ber 16, 1863, he at once re-enlisted and served until after the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge for the second time on July 13, 1865, at Charlotte, N.C. While in the service he saw much hard fighting, partici- pating in the battles of Roanoke Island, New- bern, Kinston, Goldsboro, and Whitehall, N. C., and Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Va. After his return home he attended Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College for a time, travelling back and forth daily on the train between Reading and Boston. Taking a fancy to railroad life, he secured a situation as brakeman on the Western Division of the Bos- ton & Maine Railroad, where he remained about one year. He then entered the employ of the Old Colony Railroad, and for some time was on the Plymouth Division. In 1874 he was promoted to the position of conductor, which he has since retained, for the past seventeen years being attached to the Cape Cod Division. In ISSI he located in Prov- incetown, where he has a pleasant home on Carver Street, his house standing upon an ele- vation commanding a beautiful view of the harbor. Mr. Holbrook is a member of J. C. Freeman Post, No. 55, G. A. R .; King
.
Hiram's Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; and of Ne-
ponset Lodge, No. 84, I. O. O. F.
He was married April 6, 1871, to Sarah Ann Crowther, a native of Fall River, Mass., and a daughter of William and Sarah (Dennis) Crowther, both her parents being natives of England. Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook attend the Universalist church in Provincetown. They have no children.
APTAIN EDWARD EVERETT CROWELL, for many years president of the Cape Cod National Bank, Harwich, and a resident of West Dennis, was born in that town, December 13, 1824, son of Edward and Thankful (Sears) Crowell. He is a descendant, in common with all the Crowells of Cape Cod, of John Crowell, an Englishman who settled in Yar- mouth in 1638; and an account of his ancestors will be found in sketch of Henry G. Crowell, which appears elsewhere in this work. His grandfather, Edward Crowell, Sr., who was a seafaring man, died in Dennis at a good old age. Edward Crowell, Jr., his son, was born in Dennis in 1789. He followed the sea for a number of years, or until disabled by an acci- dent; and he then turned his attention to the cultivation of cranberries. He died in 1862. He married Thankful Sears, daughter of James Sears, of Yarmouth, and had a family of six children, four of whom are living; namely, Sears, Edward E., Freeman, and Cyrus. The others were Otis and Betsey. The mother died August 16, 1877, aged seventy-nine years, seven months, and eight days.
Edward E. Crowell was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native town. In his thir- teenth year he made his first sea voyage as cook on board the schooner "Jew," Captain Solomon Davis, from the Cape to Halifax, N. S. ; and prior to his twenty-first birthday he took command of the schooner "Francis Hallett." Just previous to the Civil War he built a towboat in Philadelphia, which he dis- posed of after running it for a year; and he continued to follow the sea until after the close of the Rebellion. For the next three years he operated a line of canal boats which were en- gaged in transporting grain from Buffalo to New York City. Returning to Dennis, he
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thenceforward gave his attention to the Cape Cod Bank, in which he had been for some years a stockholder; and he was chosen its president some twenty-five or thirty years ago. He is still interested in shipping, and owns shares in several paying vessels.
On February 4, 1845, Mr. Crowell married Emma Crowell, who was born in Dennis, No- vember 14, 1825, daughter of Benjamin and Patty (Small) Crowell. Her father was born in 1792, and died at the age of fifty-nine; and her mother, who was born in 1806, died De- cember 6, 1899, having lived to be nearly ninety-four years old. Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Crowell are widely and favorably known throughout the Cape, and in 189; celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding. They have had no offspring, but have reared and educated several children. They take an active interest in the moral and religious wel- fare of the community, and are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
EORGE BLODGETT HARRIMAN, D. D. S., one of the leading dentists of the city of Boston, of world-wide reputation as one who has contributed largely to the advancement of dental science, was born in Groton, N. H., March 18, 1837, a son of Arthur Livermore Harriman. His paternal grandfather was a resident of Plymouth, N. H. Two immigrants bearing this surname were among the early New England colonists. They were John Harriman, who settled at New Haven, Conn., and Leonard Harriman, of Rowley, Mass. John had one son, the Rev. John Harriman, who in the latter years of his life was pastor of a church in Elizabethtown, N. J. Leonard had two sons - Matthew and Jonathan, who married and left descendants, many of whom are to be found in Massachu- setts, New Hampshire, and other States.
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