USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 55
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Charles Woodbury was a prominent Meth- odist, being at one time a trustee and steward of the North Russell Street Church, of this city. He was a member and a trustee of the Wesleyan Association and one of the incorpo- rators of the Methodist Social Union. He belonged to the Revere House Corporation, was quite active in municipal affairs, and for several years served in the City Council. His death occurred June 20, 1891. His wife, who was born June 3, 1809, died October 19, 1879. They were the parents of six children : Charles Henry, who died at the age of eighteen years; Sarah Elizabeth, who died at the age of five years; Carrie A., who married Albert R. Whittier, of Boston, and died in January, 1895; Isabella Augusta, who was born July IO, 1845, and is now the wife of Dr. Joseph W. Cushing, of Brookline, Mass .; George Asa, born September 8, 1847, who lives in Standish, Me. ; and Edwin S., the subject of this sketch.
Edwin Standish Woodbury obtained his edu- cation in the Boston public schools. He began his business activity in the grocery trade, but shortly afterward relinquished that in order to accept a clerkship with Messrs. Rice & Hutchins, in whose employ he remained for six years. In 1874 he engaged in the manu- facture of boots and shoes, his factory being located in Marblehead and his salesroom in Boston. In 1888 a disastrous fire caused him to sustain a severe loss, but he immediately resumed business in a factory in Salem. Mr. Woodbury is held in high estimation both in Boston proper and the Dorchester district, where he resides. He was instrumental in building the Pilgrim Congregational Church, on Columbia Road, Dorchester. He is a Deacon of the church, and was formerly clerk
of the society and superintendent of the Sun- day-school. He is a member of the Congrega- tional Church Union, the City Missionary Society, the Congregational Association, and the Congregational Club. As a Mason he is a member and treasurer of Union Lodge. A. F. & A. M., Dorchester; of Dorchester R. A. Chapter and De Molay Commandery. Mr. Woodbury is a trustee of the Dorchester Savings Bank, and, with A. R. Whittier. is trustee of estate of Charles Woodbury. Politi- cally, he is a Republican.
In 1874 Mr. Woodbury was united in mar- riage with Miss Hione Frances Marcy, daugh- ter of William A. and Julia Frances (Colburn) Marcy, of West Brookfield, Mass., and a grand-daughter of the late Judge Marcy. Their children are: llione, born July 1I. 1877, wife of Hiram Benedict Myers, of Bos- ton ; and Grace, born October 10, 188I.
ARRY HOLBROOK COLE, a well- known resident of Dorchester, was born in South Boston, Mass., April 26, 1869, being the eldest son cf Jabez Burgess and Lucy Bartlett (Holmes) Cole. He is a grandson of Samuel Cole, a native and resident of Plymouth, Mass., and a farmer by occupation, who was of old Plym- outh Colony stock. Samuel married Hannah Burgess, and reared two children - Jabez B. and Alfred W., the latter now a resident of Boston.
Jabez Burgess Cole was born in Plymouth, September 30, 1839. He was brought up to farm life and labor, but early relinquished it for a more congenial occupation, when a young man going to Watertown, where he found em- ployment at the government arsenal. In 186: he came to Boston and became associated with his uncle, Job T. Cole, in the undertaking business, and on the death of his uncle founded the firm of J. B. Cole & Son, conducting a very successful business until his death, which cc- curred suddenly November 30, 1897. He was a man highly esteemed for his many admirable personal characteristics; and his loss was deeply felt by his relatives and a large circle of friends, both in business and social life.
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He was connected by membership with various fraternal and other organizations, belonging to Rabboni Lodge, F. & A. M .; St. Matthew's Chapter, R. A. M. ; St. Omer Commandery, K. T. He was treasurer and at the time of his death a director of Bethesda Lodge, No. 30, I. O. O. F., and a member of Mount Washington Encampment of I. O. O. F. He also belonged to the Knights of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor, the Royal So- ciety of Good Fellows, the New England Order of Protection, and the South Boston Citizens' Association. He attended the Phillips Congregational Church, and in poli- tics affiliated with the Republican party.
He was married February 1, 1866, to Miss Lucy Bartlett Holmes, of Plymouth, Mass., a daughter of Caleb Bartlett and Lucy Bartlett (Pryor) Holmes. They were the parents of five children, namely: Jennie Burgess, born January 25, 1867, who is the wife of Gorham L. Damon, of Boston; Harry Holbrook, whose personal history is outlined below; Arthur Holmes, who was born November 29, 1874, and died at the age of twenty-one years, March 22, 1896; Morton S., who was born October 28, 1871, and died September 9, 1872; Jabez C., born August 14, 1875, died July 21, 1876. Mrs. Lucy Bartlett Cole. is still living in South Boston.
Harry Holbrook Cole received his education in the public schools of Boston, and after com- pleting his studies engaged in business with his father in South Boston. In 1889 he came to Dorchester, and founded a branch establish- ment, which he has conducted successfully up to the present time. On his father's death he associated with him Mr. C. F. Brown, of Bur- lington, Vt. ; and they have since carried on the business in both places, having an exten- sive patronage. Mr. Cole attends the Episco-
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pal church. In politics he follows in his father's footsteps, voting with the Republican party. Like his father, also, he is a Mason, belonging to Union Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Dor- chester Chapter, R. A. M. ; and De Molay Commandery, K. T. He is also a member of Mount Pleasant Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of the Old Dorchester Club.
He was married February 12, 1889, to Miss
Blanch Pearl Riley, a daughter of Joseph E. and Emma V. (Guptill) Riley and a native of Medford, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have two children - Dorothy and Mary Louise. The children attend the public schools of Dor- chester.
ILLIAM SMITH MESSINGER, re- tired merchant of Boston, residing in Roxbury, is a native of this city and a scion of English stock transplanted to the metropolis of the Bay Colony more than two hundred and fifty years ago, the family to which he belongs, founded by Henry Messinger, who immigrated about 1640, being one that early reared its roof and lighted its hearth fires at the foot of Beacon Hill. Son of Daniel and Mary A. (Smith) Messinger, born at the North End, in Salem Street, October 15, 1824, he is of the seventh generation in descent from the original Bostonian bearing this surname, the line being : Henry,' Thomas,2 the Rev. Henry,3 Daniel,4 Colonel Daniel,5 Daniel,6 William Smith.7
Henry Messinger was a joiner by trade and a man of substance. In 1658 he was a mem- ber of the Artillery Company. So far as known, he was the first proprietor of the land on Tremont Street, Boston, on which stands the building owned and until recently occupied by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and also a part of the site of the Boston Museum. In the ancient " Book of Possessions," supposed by Mr. Whitmore to have been compiled about the year 1652, may be seen on page 64 the fol- lowing entry : -
" Henry Messinger his possession within the limits of Boston.
"One house and garden bounded with the streete westwards: Richard Crychley north : Thomas Scotts and the burieing place on the south : Major Sedgwick east."
Ilenry Messinger died about 1681, leaving
. his estate to his wife, Sarah. The will of Sarah Messinger, dated 1694, and probated in 1697, provides that the land shall be equally divided between her two sons, Simeon and Thomas, Simeon to have the left-hand part, with all the housing thereon, also "the coat of arms," still further specified as "the Messinger arms
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hanging up in the parlor." What became of this emblazonment after the death of Simeon is unknown.
Thomas Messinger married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of John and Martha Mellows, of Boston. His son Henry, born in Boston in 1695, was graduated at Harvard College in 1717, and ordained as minister of the First Church in Wrentham in 1719. The Rev. Henry Mes- singer married Esther, daughter of Israel Cheevers, of Cambridge. Nine of his children grew to maturity, among them being : Mary, who married the Rev. Elias Haven ; Esther, wife of the Rev. Amariah Frost, of Mendon, Mass .; Sarah, who married for her second hus- band the Rev. Benjamin Caryl, of Dover, Mass. ; Elizabeth, who married the Rev. Joseph Bean ; Daniel, the fourth in the line now being traced ; and the Rev. James Messinger, minister of the Congregational church at Ashford, Conn.
Daniel Messinger, first, born in 1735, was a farmer in Wrentham. He married Mary Bras- tow, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Man) Brastow, and great-grand-daughter of the Rev. Samuel Man, first minister of Wrentham. Her great-grandmother, the wife of Mr. Man, was Esther Ware, daughter of Robert Ware of Dedham, the common ancestor of a number of eminent scholars and divines of the liberal faith. Horace Mann, it may be mentioned, was a lineal descendant of the Rev. Samuel Man, of Wrentham.
Colonel Daniel Messinger, son of Daniel and Mary, was born on the Wrentham farm in 1768, the third in a family of twelve children. He came to Boston a lad of fifteen, and learned the trade of a hatter, serving an appren- ticeship to Nathaniel Balch, and then estab- lished himself in business in this city. His factory was a brick building in the rear of his dwelling, on the corner of Sheafe's Lane (now Avery Street) and Newbury (now Washington) Street. He was Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1804 and 1810 and Colonel of the Boston Brigade in the War of 1812. For several years he was a trustee and two years president of the Massa- chusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, of which he was an original member in 1795. In politics a Federalist and later a Whig, he
served as a member of the City Council, as Representative to the State Legislature, as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of IS20, and as State Senator in 1835. Daniel Webster in the early forties had no more sin- cere admirer than his " old friend, Colonel Mes- singer," who died June 21, 1846, and who was spoken of by his pastor, Nathaniel Frothingham, D.D., in a memorial discourse, as one who had been "much before the public eye, and ap- peared always to have enjoyed its favor ; for he could be relied upon for his calm judgment, his steady determination, his zealous patriotism, . his incorruptible integrity."
His wife, Susanna, died in 1843. She was the daughter of Captain Thomas Hinckley, who was a great-grandson of the Hon. Thomas Hinckley, the last Governor of the Plymouth Colony, and fifth in descent from Samuel Hinckley, who came from Kent, England, in the "Hercules" in 1634, and in 1639 settled at Barnstable, Cape Cod. The line was : Sam- uel,' Governor Thomas,2 Ebenezer,3 Ebenezer, 4 Captain Thomas.5 Mrs. Messinger's mother, the wife of Captain Hinckley, was Susanna, daughter of Dr. Daniel Hewes.
The children of Colonel Daniel and Susanna (Hinckley) Messinger were: Daniel, father of the subject. of this sketch; Eliza Avery, who married first E. T. F. Richardson and second Anthony Colby, sometime Governor of New Hampshire ; Mary Brastow, who married John Ayers, of Dorchester ; Thomas H. Hinckley, merchant, of New York, married Margaret Grimbly (an English woman) ; Harriet Hinck- ley, who married Richard C. Morse, of New York; Foster Cruft, twice married, who settled in Wilmington, Del. ; Susan H., who married William B. Lang, of New York ; Robert Hinck- ley, merchant, of New York ; and George Wash- ington, of Boston, merchant and genealogist, to whose contributions to the pages of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1859 and 1862 we are indebted for most of the foregoing facts concerning the Messinger, Man (or Mann), and Hinckley families. (See also Memoir of the Hon. Daniel Messinger, by John Ward Dean, A.M., Register, 1862.)
Daniel Messinger, third, also a hatter, son of Colonel Daniel, was born in 1796, and died in
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January, 1849, aged fifty-three years. A modest, retiring man, a good citizen and neigh- bor, he was universally beloved and respected. In politics he was an old-line Whig, in relig- ion a Unitarian. He married in 1820 Mary Ann Smith, daughter of Captain Benjamin and Dorcas (Silsbee) Smith. Her father was one of the most skilful and noted shipmasters of his day. He was Port-warden of Boston during the second decade of the century now closing. He was the son of Captain Benjamin Smith, Sr., who married Mercy Skillings, and a grandson of William Smith, who came to Bos- ton as a Lieutenant in the British navy, and who settled at Marblehead. William Smith and his sons James and Ebenezer were in the American army, under Washington at Cam- bridge, at the beginning of the Revolution.
Dorcas Silsbee, the wife of Port-warden Smith, was a daughter of Benjamin Silsbee, of Boston, cooper, who died in 1781. Her father was of the Salem family of Silsbee, being a son of Benjamin, Sr., and grandson of Na- thaniel and Elizabeth (Pickering) Silsby. Na- athaniel was a son of Henry Silsby, Salem, 1639. His wife, Elizabeth, was daughter of Jonathan and Jane (Cromwell) Pickering and grand-daughter of John Pickering and of Thomas Cromwell. Benjamin Silsbee's wife was Dorcas Adams.
Daniel Messinger, third, and his wife, Mary had four children - Daniel, William Smith, Susan Dorcas, and Helen. The mother died in 1868, at the age of sixty-nine years. Daniel Mes- singer, fourth, was born in Boston in 1821, and died in New Brunswick, N.J., August 12, 1882. At the age of eighteen, having received his edu- cation in the Boston public schools, including the English High School, he engaged in mercantile business in New York. Enlisting under the Union flag in November, 1861, he rendered signal service to his country in the Civil War, and, like his grandfather, attained the rank of Colonel. For a time he was Quartermaster on the staff of General John G. Foster. He was in Burnside's expedition at the taking of Roanoke and Newbern, N.C. Later, he was Provost Marshal of Newbern and afterward of Ports- mouth, Va. A man of superior abilities, noble character, commanding influence, and untiring
application, he remained in the South until his health failed ; and he was sent home an invalid. He married in July, 1863, Miss Elizabeth Nelson, of New York, and had one child, a daughter Emily, born September 10, 1868, who married William Dutton Dale, rector of St. John's Church, New Brunswick, N.J.
Educated in the Boston public schools, Will- iam Smith Messinger began active life as a clerk in the employ of Bingham & Tapley on Broad Street. In 1842 he became a member of the wholesale firm of A. P. Tapley & Co., boot and shoe dealers, being connected there- with until 1864, when he retired from business.
The Messinger dwelling on Walnut Avenue, Roxbury, secluded and comely, with its shaded grass-plot in front and its old-fashioned garden in the rear, was built by him and his brother in 1851, and has since been the home of the family, now consisting of Mr. Messinger, his sister, Susan D., and their nephew, William Howell Reed, Jr. For some years after the removal to Roxbury, in 1847, the family at- tended the Rev. Dr. Putnam's church. At a later date Miss Messinger and her sister united with Dr. Edward Everett Hale's church.
Susan D. Messinger was born in 1826. She has been a resident of Roxbury for half a cen- tury, with the exception of about two years during the Civil War that she spent with her brother Daniel and his wife in the South, shar- ing the hardships of the army, visiting camps and hospitals, dispensing books and fruits, writ- ing letters - in short, working for the soldiers in every possible way, her labors being largely among the privates of the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments. For ten years, 1866-76, their commodious house on Walnut Avenue was the seat of a private school for girls - known as The Conservatory and held in high repute - kept for seven years by Miss Messinger and her sister Helen and for three years by Miss Messinger alone. Aging with its elder occupants, the Messinger home is still the quiet centre of unwearied philan- thropie service.
Helen, youngest child of Daniel and Mary A. (Smith) Messinger, was married February 13, 1873, to William Howell Reed, of Boston. She died May 16, 1876. Gifted and accomplished,
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Helen Messinger Reed had endeared herself to many. It was said of her: "To the young and the old, to those within her own circle and to the very poor and dependent ones in society, she gave cheer and courage. ... Purity, seren- ity, constancy, and courage were the watch- words of her daily life. . To look up and not down, to look forward and not back, to look out and not in, and to lend a hand' together ' in His name,' were her expressions of faith and hope and love. With these upon her thought and, in her last conscious hours, upon her life, she en- tered heaven."
She left one child, a son, William Howell Reed, Jr., above named. He was graduated at Harvard in 1898, receiving the Master of Arts degree in 1899, and is now connected with the college as instructor in German.
ON. JOHN KENRICK, SR., late a respected resident of South Orleans, Barnstable County, was born in this town, August 9, 1819, son of John, first, and Rebecca (Sparrow) Kenrick. He was a descendant of Edward Kenrick, a native of Yorkshire, England, who, according to tra- dition, settled in the locality now known as South Orleans in 1640, being one of the earli- est white inhabitants there. A tract of land which Edward Kenrick secured from the Ind- ians is still owned by his descendants. The line of descent from him to the subject of this sketch is through his son Jonathan, Jonathan, second, and John, first, above-named. Jona- than Kenrick, second, married Hannah Cole, who, like himself, was a native and lifelong resident of South Orleans: His active period was spent partly as a farmer and partly as a sailor. He was a cousin of Captain John Kendrick, who was the first Cape Cod ship- master to circumnavigate the globe, and who also explored and named the Columbia River, previously discovered by the Spaniard Heceta. As the credit for naming the river has been generally given to Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, a brief account of Captain Kendrick's life, obtained from local sources, and in par- ticular of the voyage referred to, may be of in-
terest to historians as well as to the general public; and we accordingly insert it.
Captain John Kendrick, who was a son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Atkins) Kendrick, was born in Harwich, Mass. He began a seafaring life when a small boy, and made several whal- ing voyages. In 1761 he was engaged in mil- itary service in Nova Scotia under Captain Jabez Snow, of Eastham. Tradition reports that he commanded an armed vessel in the Revolutionary War, and rendered important services to the cause of the colonies. In 1787 he was given command of two vessels, the "Columbia " and the "Washington, " engaged for a voyage of trade and discovery to the North-west coast. The "Columbia, " a ship of two hundred and fifty tons, built by James Briggs in 1773 on the North River, was com- manded by Captain Kendrick in person, with Joseph Ingraham as first officer. The "Wash- ington" was a sloop of one hundred tons, com- manded by Robert Gray, and went out as a tender. Sailing from Boston in October, they arrived in September, 1789, at Nootka Sound, where they spent the winter, having discovered on the voyage the river between the present States of Oregon and Washington. This river Captain Kendrick called Columbia, in honor of his ship, which first entered it. While in Nootka Sound, the sloop "Washington " was rigged into a brig, and was taken charge of by Captain Kendrick, who ordered the "Colum- bia," in command of Captain Robert Gray, to proceed to Canton and thence to Boston, where she arrived in 1790. Captain Kendrick pro- ceeded down the coast, visiting some of the Pacific isles to collect furs for the China trade. After spending some time on the Pacific, he sailed for China and thence to Boston, where he safely arrived, having circumnavigated the globe. It is interesting to note in this con- nection that, being at the home of his cousin, Jonathan Kenrick, soon after the birth of the father of the subject of this sketch, Captain Kendrick gave the child his own name. In a subsequent voyage Captain Kendrick lost his life on the North-west coast while in the act of firing a salute, and there the intrepid mariner was laid to rest.
John Kenrick, first, son of Jonathan and
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Hannah (Cole) Kenrick, was a master mariner in the merchant service for many years, and died at the age of sixty-seven. His wife, Rebecca, who was born in the town of Orleans, was the daughter of Deacon Richard Sparrow. Her father was a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster and of Richard Sparrow, a native of England, who was at Plymouth as early as 1632, and in 1653 settled at Eastham on the Cape. In line of descent from Richard were his grandson John, Richard, second, and others. Isaac Sparrow was father of Deacon Richard Sparrow. Mr. and Mrs. John Kenrick, first, reared three children - Sophia, John, and Re- becca.
The Hon. John Kenrick, Sr., direct subject of the present notice, was educated in the pub- lic schools and at Orleans Academy, which he attended for two terms.' At the age of nine- teen he began teaching during the winters and farming during the summers, being thus occu- pied for several years. In 1840 he engaged in mercantile business at his country home in South Orleans. In 1850 he sold out and again turned his attention to agriculture. In 1867 he once more became a merchant, purchasing his former business, which he conducted until 1891, when he was succeeded by his son John. He then lived retired until his death, which took place on December 26, 1898.
For many years Mr. Kenrick was active in public life. At the time of his death he had held the position of Postmaster at South Or- leans for thirty-three consecutive years, his com- mission bearing the date September 1, 1865. He was for twenty-five years a member of the School Committee of the town of Orleans, being for eight years its superintendent of schools; and for a number of years he was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Snow Public Library. For fourteen years he was one of the Selectmen, Assessors, and Overseers of the Poor of the town. He was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1852 and 1853 and of the Governor's Council in 1855 and 1856. He was a member and chairman of the Commission on the Protection of Province- town Harbor, which was appointed under a re- solve of the Legislature of 1857. He was one of the original members of the Executive Com-
mittee of the Barnstable County Agricultural Society, and was its delegate to the State Board of Agriculture for a term of years. From 1876 until his death he was a trustce of the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank. He was prominently identified with the First Uni- versalist Church of Orleans, being one of its Deacons and superintendent of its Sunday- school. In his latter days, though he was somewhat feeble physically, his mind was clear and his intellectual faculties active al- most to the end. Few citizens of this locality were more respected or better deserved respect.
Mr. Kenrick was married on July 30, 1843, to Thankful Crosby, daughter of Joshua and Sally (Freeman) Crosby, of Orleans. Her father served in the United States Navy in the War of 1812, and was on board the "Con- stitution" when she met and defeated the "Guerrière." He also served under Commo- dore Perry on Lake Erie. Mrs. Thankful Kenrick died on March 14, 1886, having been the mother of seven children - Sophia, Emma, Clara, Rebecca, Eva, Alice T., and John. Only two, Clara and John, are now living. On November 17, 1891, Mr. Kenrick married for his second wife Catherine A. N. Crosby, daughter of Nathan Crosby, of Brewster, who survives him.
ON. JOHN KENRICK, who is en- gaged in mercantile business in South Orleans, Barnstable County, was born in Orleans, October 25, 1857, being the only son of John and Thankful (Crosby) Kenrick, a separate sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. At an early age he began to work in his father's store, and in course of time acquired a thorough knowledge of the business, to which he suc- ceeded in 1891, and which he is conducting successfully at the present time in connection with a general insurance and real estate business.
The building he occupies stands upon land which his aucestor, Edward Kenrick, pur- chased from the Indians more than two hundred and fifty years ago; and in his office stands the
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