Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 6

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

USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 6

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

David Parker was educated in Nantucket, and began at the age of seventeen years to assist his father in the store. After the death of his father Mr. Parker continued the busi- ness for about three years, and then sold out, since which time he has occupied himself in looking after his private interests. being prac- tically retired. He is a member of Union Lodge, F. & A. M. ; and of Nantucket Lodge, No. 66; I. O. O. F. Besides being a director in the Pacific National Bank, he is a member of the Investment Committee of the Nan- tucket Institution for Savings.

Mr. Parker was first married January 24, 1867, to Susan H. Bassett. of Barnstable. She died in 1868, leaving two children: Ger- trude, who died at the age of twenty-six years; and George, who resides in Sandwich. Mr. Parker married for his second wife, in 1878, Susan H. Chase, of Cleveland, Ohio, a daugh- ter of Robert B. and Hepsabeth (Macy) Chase, both natives of Nantucket.

OSEPH GRAVES, one of the pioneer shoe manufacturers of Marblehead, was born in this town, March 1, 1813, and here made his home until his death, which occurred after a long illness on No-

vember 9, 1884. The memory of his numer- ous excellent qualities as a man and a citizen still occupies a warm place in the hearts of the neighbors and friends, who through years of constant association best knew his true character and worth.

He was the son of Robert and Sarah (Worm- stead) Graves. His surname is an old one in Eastern Massachusetts, dating back to Samuel Graves, who settled in Lynn about 1630, and John Graves, of Concord, Middlesex County, 1640. Of Robert Graves it is said that, left fatherless when a small boy, he accompanied his widowed mother from Danvers, Mass., to Marblehead, where he grew to manhood and was married. He was a sailor, and died at sea.

Joseph Graves received his education in the schools of Marblehead, and then learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed as a journeyman. Having acquired a good knowl- edge of the business, he embraced the first opportunity to engage in manufacturing upon his own account, and his continued efforts in this direction were attended with good financial results. As a public-spirited citizen he took an active part in promoting improvements, but was particularly interested in the moral and religious welfare of the community, being a charter member of the Rechabite Society, whose labors in behalf of total abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors have been so far-reaching in their beneficial results; and in 1835 he was mainly instrumental in organizing the Universalist church, of which he was for some years a leading member. In polities he was a Democrat.

On September 10, 1835, Mr. Graves was joined in marriage with Miss Abigail G. Tucker, who was born in Marblehead, June 4, 1815, daughter of Thomas and Abigail (Teshew) Tucker. Her parents were natives of Marblehead. Her grandfather, George Tucker, was a Revolutionary soldier; and her maternal grandfather, John Teshew, who was born in the Isle of Jersey in 1750, served in the United States navy during the War of 1812. Mrs. Graves has two sisters now living : Hannah M., widow of Philip B. Tucker; and Sarah R., wife of Samuel Gardner. Three children were born to Joseph and Abigail G.

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

Graves ; and one, a son, Horace, is now living. The eldest child, Franklin, born June 12, 1836, who for twenty years followed the occu- pution of druggist, died March 4, 1874; and Addis, born March 13, 1841, died in infancy. On November 10, 1863, Franklin Graves mar- ried Martha Ann Lemon. They had one child, Corrinne Warren. She was born March 2, 1865, and died September 6, 1885.

Horace Graves, the second son, born Janu- Aty 12, 1839, is a graduate of Harvard Col- lege and Harvard Law School, and is now a lawyer residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. He mar- ried January 1, 1868, Annie Adelia Hall, of Cambridge, and they have two sons and a

daughter : Franklin P., born in Brooklyn, \. Y., July 23, 1869, who is now president of the University of the State of Washington ; Horace Cutler, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., who was recently graduated from Columbia Uni- versity, New York City; and Katherine Olivia, who was born March 18, 1872, also in Brook- In, N. Y., and was married to L. White Busby, the Washington (D. C.) correspondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, June 10, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Busby have two children : Leroy White Busby, born March 7, 1897: and Horace Carlton Busby, born March 18, 1900.

Frank Pierrepont Graves, above named, elder son of Horace, Sr., of Brooklyn, was graduated at Bachelor of Arts at Columbia University with highest honors in Greek and Latin in 15go. In 1892 he was assistant professor of Greck at Tufts College, and in 1893 he was rude professor of classical philology. A few war> later he accepted a call to the University ! the State of Wyoming, and from there he went to the University of Washington, as noted dove. He was married December 18, 1895, to llelen Hope Wadsworth, daughter of Alden B. Wadsworth, of Malden. They have one · hild, Catharine Bradford, born in Wyoming, March 18, 1897.

Irs. Graves, who resides at 119 Elm Street, V rblchead, is still bright, and active, and -Wer every indication of realizing the sincere . je's of her wide circle of friends and acquain- 'hices that she may remain with them for many irs to come. She is a member of the Uni- .: »ilist church.

LNEY THOMPSON MEADER, treasurer of the Guyer Hat Com- pany, 132 Hampden Street, Roxbury, was born in Meaderboro, town of Rochester, N. H., February 20, 1839, son of Hanson and Susan Lewis (Shaw) Meader. John' Meader, the ancestor of all of this sur- name in the United States, so far as known, was born in 1630, in England, came to this country in 1650, and married Abigail Follett in 1653. Their children were: John, Joseph, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Nathaniel. Nathaniel 2 Meader, a farmer, son of John,' born June 14, 1671, married Eleanor Hall. He settled at Oyster River (near Portsmouth, N. H.), and was killed by the Indians, April 25, 1704. His children were: Lydia, Daniel, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, and Eleanor. Daniel 3 Meader, son of Nathaniel, born November 3, 1698, married Elizabeth Allen, June 22, 1727. He was a Friend. His sons settled in Rochester, N. H. ; and that part of the town in which they settled was called Meaderboro. His chil- dren were: Joseph, Lemuel, Benjamin, Abi- gail, Nathaniel, Elijah, Jonathan, and Jedediah. Benjamin, + son of Daniel, 3 born April 25, 1736, died April 20, 1827. He married June 23, 1762, Patience Varney Hanson, daughter of Tobias and Judith Varney Hanson. They had eight children - Hannah, Mary, Tobias, Micajah, Hanson, Judith, Stephen, and Ephraim. Stephen 5 Meader, a farmer, son of Benjamin, born December 19, 1782, died March 20, 1858. He married Sarah White- house, and had eight children - Tobias, Han- son (father of Olney T.), Jonathan, Levi, James, Asa, Mehitable, and Benjamin. Han- son 6 Meader, son of Stephen, was born March 28, 1808, died September 13, 1869. He en- gaged in farming when a young man, and this occupation he followed in connection with various other industries throughout the active period of his life, which terminated in 1869, at the age of sixty-one years. His wife, Susan L., was born in North Berwick, Me., a daughter of Jeremiah Shaw, who was a rep- resentative of an old family of Sanford, that State. She became the mother of three chil- dren : Jonathan, who died at the age of thirty- four years; Nathaniel, who for many years has

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

been identified with the industries of Water- ville, Me. ; and Olney Thompson, the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Susan L. Shaw Meader died at her son's home in Boston, January 20, 1900, aged eighty-nine years.

Having acquired a common-school educa- tion, Olney T. Meader turned his attention to agriculture, and remained upon the home farm until thirty-one years old. Ile then came to Boston, and during the ensuing year worked at the blacksmith's trade. About the year 1873 he acquired an interest in the hat-manu- facturing firm of J. D. Guyer & Co. ; and, upon the retirement of the elder Guyer some three and a half years later, G. S. Guyer and Mr. Meader continued the business under the style of G. S. Guyer & Co. . Mr. A. J. Barnes, formerly with S. Condit & Co., of Change Avenue, Boston, was later admitted to the firm; and at his death, in December, 1895. the copartnership underwent a change by the concern being incorporated as the Guyer Hat Company, with Frank T. Barnes as president, O. T. Meader as treasurer, and John H. Meader as secretary. The stock is all held by members of the firm; and the products, which comprise gentlemen's headwear of the finest quality, are sold throughout the United States. They occupy a spacious building in the Roxbury district, in the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, and their continued prosperity is in no small measure due to the able business acquirements of the treasurer.

Mr. Meader has also invested advanta- geously in outside enterprises, and is at the present time interested in the Union Electric Light Company, of Waterville, Me. He is a birthright Quaker, or Friend, and worships at the Friends' Meeting. His fraternal affili- ations are with the Knights of Honor. On May 5, 1859, he married Miss Susan Hubbard Nutter, a native of Farmington, N. H., daugh- ter of Jonathan W. and Lucy (Whitehouse) Nutter. They have two children : Lucy Ellen, born October 17, 1868; and John Hanson, born September 5, 1872. Lucy Ellen Meader mar- ried Joseph D. Wood, of Boston; and they have one child, Louise Gertrude, born Febru- ary 25, 1893. John Hanson Meader is secre- tary of the Guyer Hat Company. He married

April IS, 1900, Nelle IIelene Wooton, daugh- ter of Rev. Isom P. and Margery E. Wooton.

OSIAHI FOLGER, a retired merchant of Nantucket, son of Francis, Jr., and Re- becca (Dow) Folger, was born on this island, October 6, 1827. He is a lineal descendant of John Folger, who with his son Peter came to New England in 1635, and sc :- tled at Watertown, Mass.

In 1642 Peter Folger removed to Martha's Vineyard, where, besides teaching school and surveying, he assisted the Rev. Thomas May- hew in his missionary work among the Indians. Having acquired a knowledge of the aboriginal tongue, he acted as interpreter on the occasion of the purchase of the island of Nantucket from the Indians and its transfer to its white pro- prietors. In 1663 he was presented with one- half of one share in the island. which was equivalent to a one fifty-fourth interest. It is supposed that he settled permanently on the island at that time, for the latter part of his life was spent here. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Morrell. The line of descen: to the subject of this sketch is through their son Eleazer, born in 1648; his son Eleazer. Jr., born in 1672; Frederick, born in 1725: Captain Francis, born January 21, 1764: and his son Francis, Jr., father of Josiah.

The grandfather, Captain Francis Folger. was a seafaring man, and commanded a vessel in the merchant service. He died in the Wes: Indies in 1799, the year in which his son and namesake was born. His wife, in maidenhoc Susannah Folger, was born in Nantucket in 1765, and was a daughter of Peter and Judith (Burnell) Folger. At her husband's death she was left with three children to care for and but very limited means.

Francis Folger, Jr., son of Captain Francis. went at an early age to live with his uncle. Uriah Folger. While but a boy, in order to become self-supporting, he shipped on board a sailing-vessel and made two voyages. Then giving up the sea, he was engaged for some years in the grocery business, subsequent : which he followed teaming. He died at the age of sixty-seven. Ilis wife, Rebecca, was

EDMUND J. BAKER.

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

a native of Nantucket and a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Bunker) Dow. Her father was a son of henry and Abigail (Gardner) Chase Dow and a grandson of Samuel Dow. She died at the advanced age of eighty-seven.

Josiah Folger, who was the only child of his parents, received his education chiefly by pri- vate tuition. His store of knowledge has been much increased by extensive reading and study in later years. When a young man he learned the tailor's trade, but was subsequently obliged to give it up on account of his health. He then entered the employ of Mr. E. W. Perry, with whom he remained as a clerk for sixteen years, being then admitted as a partner in the business, which was of a general mercantile character, and included a trade in oil and whaler's supplies. The whole time of his association with Mr. Perry covered a period of twenty-six years, during which they were very prosperous and their trade extensive. Of late years Mr. Folger has lived retired, passing the time with his books and papers, and occupying the old Folger homestead, where the tall, old- fashioned clock, with its hanging weights, has steadily ticked off the hours for a period of ninety-one years. In politics he is a Repub- lican.

JDMUND JAMES BAKER, surveyor. P genealogist, and antiquary, late a resi- dent of Dorchester, was of the seventh generation in descent from Richard Baker, his first Colonial ancestor, the line being : Richard '; John,2 who married Pre- served Trott; John,3 who married Hannah Withington ; James, + who married Priscilla Paul; Dr. James3; Edmund 6; Edmund James. 7

Richard Baker, the pioneer of the Baker family in this country, landed in Boston from the Norsey (or North Sea) bark " Bachelor," of which he was second in command, Novem- ber 28, 1635. He settled at Savin Hill in Dorchester. On November 4, 1639, he be- came a member of the church in Dorchester, and about the same time married Faith With- ington, a daughter of Henry Withington, the Ruling Elder of the church. From the nu-

merous ancient deeds now extant in which he was a party, we conclude that Richard Baker was an extensive land-holder as well as a prominent and enterprising citizen. From early manhood to old age his name appears al- most every year among the officers of the town of Dorchester. In 1658 he joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.

James Baker, of the fourth generation from Richard, born September 5, 1739, and gradu- ated at Harvard in 1760, married Lydia Bow- man, daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Bowman, who was the first minister of the First Church of Dorchester, and a grand-daughter of the Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington. He was a physician of extensive practice in Dorchester. His homestead was on the corner of Washing- ton and Norfolk Streets, and embraced a large tract of land, a part of which is still owned by the heirs of Edmund J. Baker. It was formerly known as Baker's Corner. In 1772 Dr. Baker started the manufacture of chocolate at Dorchester Lower Mills, which business was pursued with great success by his son and grandson.

Edmund Baker, son of James, was born April 20, 1770. He removed to Dorchester Lower Mills in 1791, and became sole pro- prietor of the chocolate mills, with the water privileges on the Dorchester side of the river. He built a house at the corner of Washington and Richmond Streets. He married first, September 29, 1791, Sarah Howe, by whom he had three children -- Walter, Charles, and Horatio. Mrs. Baker died January 29, 1802. He then, October 5, 1803, married Mrs. Eliz- abeth Lillie, daughter of Daniel Vose, of Mil- ton, and they had three children : Edmund J., the subject of this sketch; Lydia Bowman: and James Edmund. The second wife of Ed- mund Baker died March 28, 1844, and he died October 11, 1846. His son, Walter Baker, who was born June 28, 1792, and was gradu- ated at Harvard in ISti, was his successor in the chocolate business. He resided at the corner of Washington and Park Streets, Dor- chester, on the cstate formerly owned by Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver. A part of the Baker mansion now standing was built by Governor Oliver.

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

Edmund James Baker, the direct subject of this sketch, son of Edmund and half-brother of Walter, died January 15, 1890. He was born in Dorchester, November 15, 1804, and re- ceived a good academic education. His early manhood was occupied in mercantile pursuits. He subsequently became a surveyor, and one of his early surveys was that of the towns of Dorchester and . Milton, where he established the monument of 1830 for a general survey of the State. The map of the two towns, which is found in old collections, and is still re- ferred to as an authority in real estate opera- tions, was lithographed on the scale of one hundred rods to an inch and published in 1831. From year to year his business in- creased. He had made drawings of almost every piece of real estate in Milton and largely in Dorchester and the surrounding towns, and his plans were in great demand by those interested in real estate matters. For several years he was a resident of Milton, and in 1837 was the Representative of that town to the General Court. From 1838 to 1842 he was the Postmaster at Milton. Subsequently he removed to Dorchester, and took possession of the homestead at the corner of Washington and Richmond Streets, and by inheritance ac- quired land on Dorchester and Richmond Streets, and elsewhere in Dorchester, most of which has been in the possession of the family for two hundred years. In 1872 he removed the old house and built the mansion now belonging to the estate.

In addition to surveying he devoted much of his time, especially in later years, to the conveyance of property by will and the final settlements of estates. The probate judges in his own county and elsewhere marked him as an expert in such matters, and his probate business in time superseded his surveying. He was sought by rich and poor to draw wills and administer estates, and it was to the latter class he gave most of his time. If he could help the discouraged and suffering, it was enough, and the matter of pecuniary consider- ation was of small moment. There are hun- dreds, particularly widows and orphans, who have been made glad by him, and many still living can testify to this.

The above pursuits of so public a nature opened the way to a minute knowledge of in- dividuals and families; and this, coupled with a natural taste for investigation, led to an in- terest in genealogical research.

He was one of the founders of the Dorches- ter Antiquarian and Historical Society, and from 1873 to the time of his death was its president. With other members of this so- ciety he was engaged in the composition of the History of Dorchester issued in 1859, and several chapters are from his pen. The man- uscripts he has left contain sketches and brief genealogies of many families. In 1888 Mr. Baker compiled the genealogy of Richard Baker, with the line of descendants extending from 1635 to 1840. This was printed in 1889, and the edition is nearly exhausted. There is in manuscript an unfinished gene- alogy of the Vose family, upon which he spent much care, labor, and research.

On March 3, 1884, the citizens of Milton, in town meeting assembled, voted "that Ed- mund J. Baker be appointed as a committee for procuring the writing and publishing of a history of the town." This history, by the Rev. A. K. Teele, D. D., was issued in 1887, the entire manuscript being submitted to Mr. Baker for amendment and approval: and the volume takes its tone in no small degree from his apt and wise suggestions. The careful revision of the work while in process of con- struction by two of our most noted antiqua- rians, Edmund J. Baker and James M. Rob- bins, was a great satisfaction to the author.

Various other enterprises occupied the at- tention and service of Mr. Baker, and of these was the Dorchester Fire Insurance Company, whose president and treasurer he was for more than twenty-five years. He had an original way of expressing himself, and many of his sayings are still treasured by the officers of the company as unique words of wisdom.

He was the enemy of all pretence, shams, and evil doings. It was the aim of his life to help the poor. His instruction to his execu- tors and trustees was to deal carefully and gently with his debtors in limited circum- stances. Fair dealing, honesty, and integrity marked the whole tenor of his life, and when

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

he died the people inquired, "What shall we do ?"

Mr. Baker married September 1, 1847, Mrs. Sarah Howard Sherman, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bowman, of Augusta, Me. Of this union there were two children: Lydia Bow- man, born November 11, 1848; and Ellyn Lithgow, who was born February 16, 1850, and died November 27, 1867. Mrs. Baker died June 27, 1870. She had three children by her first marriage, to Mr. Sherman. Lydia Bowman Baker was married on October 1, 1867, to John H. Edwards, of Philadelphia, l'a. They were the parents of five children : Lydia Bowman, born November 7, 1868; Mary Gertrude, born August 14, 1870; Ellyn Lith- gow, born July 30, 1872; Edmund Baker, born July 1, 1875; and Elizabeth Rosalie, born September 27, 1876. Mr. Edwards died Feb- ruary 12, 1877, and Mrs. Edwards again mar- ried April 24, 1879, Orray A. Taft, Jr., of Providence, R. I., and from this union there are two children: Ray Baker Taft, born June 19, 1880; and Eleanor Baker Taft, born Feb- ruary 12, 1883. Mr. Taft died February 12, 1889. Mary Gertrude Edwards married Sep- tember 21, 1895, Eustace Lee Florance, of New York. They have two children : Eustice Lee, Jr., born in France, September 19, 1896; and Rosalie Nathan, born September 6, 1897.

OHN BUCK, for over fifty years a well- known and successful druggist and apothecary of Chelsea, where he died on December 30, 1899, was born in Mallen, Mass., July 11, IS19, son of Dr. Ephraim and Betsey (Thompson) Buck. His father was the sixth Ephraim in direct line of descent. The grandfather, Ephraim Buck, fifth, was born in Wilmington, Mass., in 1761, and during the Revolutionary War was known as Ephraim Buck, Jr. He enlisted in Wilmington in Captain Timothy Walker's company, Colonel Green's regiment, and marched on the Lexington alarm in 1775. lle was a son of Ephraim, fourth, born in Wilmington in 1731, who served in the Con- tinental army in Captain Nathan Cowdrey's company, .Colonel. Jacob Gerrish's regiment.

This fourth Ephraim was a son of Ephraim, third, born in Woburn in 1702, who was son of Ephraim, second, born in 1676, he being a son of the Ephraim who was born in Cam- bridge, Mass., in 1646. This first Ephraim was a son of Roger Buck, born in England in 1617, who came to America with his father, William, in 1635, on the ship "Increase," and settled in Cambridge, where he (Roger) died in 1658.

Ephraim Buck, sixth, father of the subject of this sketch, was a physician for forty-seven years. In 1845, 1846, and 1847 he was a member of the General Court of Massachusetts. In 1854 and 1855 he was president of the Suf- folk District Medical Society, and for many years he was a Deacon in the old Salem Street Church in Boston. He died in 1859. His wife, Betsey, born May 18, 1783, whom he married November 11, 1811, was a daughter of Ebenezer Thompson, who lived in the town of Waltham, and was of the same family as the famous Count Rumford, who was a Benja- min Thompson, of Woburn.

John Buck received his education in Malden public schools, Angiers Private School in Medford, and the Warren Academy in Woburn. He began active business life in 1836 as a buyer in Seth W. Fowle's drug store in Bos- ton, where he spent some five years. In 1841 he opened a drug store on his own account in Chelsea, which he carried on successfully and uninterruptedly until 1897. In ISSI he had taken his son, John L., into the store to learn the business, and in 1884 had made him a part- ner, altering the style of the firm to John Buck & Son; but in 1897, his health being so poor as to cause him to require the constant attend- ance of his son, the business was closed up, after having been conducted for exactly fifty- six years. Mr. Buck was a Deacon of the Congregational church in Chelsea, and at one time was a member of the Common Council of that city.

He was married in 1853 to Phebe Burnham Parker, daughter of Pierpont and Sophia (Howe) Parker and a native of Paris, Me. His children were three in number : Ephraim, who died young; Harriet Louise, born August 30, 1856; and John Lynam, born August 30,

AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES

1861. Harriet Louise married Henry Wyman Jeffers and resided in Chelsea, where she died May 30, 1886. She left two children : Robert B., born November 10, 1883 ; and Elsie W., born July 27, 1885 -- both of whom are attend- ing public school in Chelsea. John Lynam Buck married Marietta Buck, a native of Charlestown, Mass., and a daughter of Isaac and Maria (Fetherston) Buck. They have two children : Dorothy, born April 22, 1893; and Donald Fetherston, born December 13, 1894.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 6

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

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