USA > Massachusetts > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901 > Part 65
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Mr. Pratt has served in the city government of Somerville as Councilman, and was elected as Alderman from Ward One in 1895 and 1896. He is a member of Soley Lodge, F. & A. M., and Mount Sinai Chapter, R. A. M., and Beth-
.
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
-
505
any Commandery, K. T., both of Lawrence ; also of the Knights of Honor and the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Pratt was first married in 1859 to Har- riet A., daughter of George and Vienna (Stet- son) Corliss, of Freeport, Me. Mrs. Harriet A. Pratt died in carly womanhood, leaving two children - Ambrose E. and Clara E. Ambrose E. married Ida Whittemore, of Sandwich, daughter of Judge Whittemore, and has two children, Lora and Everard. Clara E. is the wife of Dr. John B. Gough Pidge, a nephew of the once famous temperance advocate and lect- urer, John B. Gough. She has two children, John Gough and Rachel. Mr. Pratt married for his second wife, March 11, 1872, Delia A. Howe, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Ellis Howe, of Solon, Me. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt attend the Perkins Street Baptist Church of Somerville, in which city Mr. Pratt has resided since 1888.
ERMON BILL TEWKSBURY, a respected citizen of Winthrop, was born in that town (then a part of Chelsea), December 1, 1827, son of Bill and Martha (Belcher) Tewksbury.
His paternal - grandfather was John Tewks- bury, second, born in 1735 in the district of Rumney Marsh, Boston, in what is now Win- throp, formerly known as Pullen Point, who died in 1816.
John, second, was a son of John Tewksbury. first, born in Amesbury, Mass., 1707, who was the first of the family to come to Rumney Marsh, where he died in 1752. The first John Tewksbury married Sarah Bill, daughter of Joshua Bill. He was son of Henry, Jr., born in Amesbury in 1664, who was son of Henry, the first progenitor of the family in this country of whom there is any record. There is an existing record of the marriage in Boston, by John Endicott, Governor, in 1659, of Henry Tewksbury and Mrs. Martha Harvey, widow of William Harvey and daughter of William Copp, who with his brother owned Copp's Hill, the hill taking its name from he entered into business on his own the family. John Tewksbury, second, to- | as a retail dealer in milk. . .. ..: :
gether with his eldest son John, third, born in 1758, served in the Continental army, doing coast-guard duty. Ile married Anna Bill, who was born in Chelsea in 1739, a daughter of Jonathan, third, and Hannah (Bellamy) Bill. She was a grand-daughter of Jonathan Bill, second, whose father Jonathan, first, was a son of James, the emigrant ances- tor, who was born in England about 1615, and who came to Boston with his mother Dora- thie Bill about 1635. Jonathan and Hannah Bellamy Bill had ten children - John, Mary, Anna, Jonathan Bill, Thomas, Sarah, Hannah, Henry, Bill. and Phillip. Mrs. Anna Bill Tewksbury died in 1829. She resided all her life in the house in which she was born.
Bill Tewksbury, father of Hermon B., was born in Chelsea. February 16, 178o, and died February 15, 1855, when he lacked but one day of being seventy-five years old. His wife, Martha Belcher, was a daughter of Nathaniel and Martha (Humphrey) Belcher. Her father was a native of Chelsea, and her mother of Weymouth. The former was a Revolutionary soldier. She was born September 18, 1,84. and died January 23, 1850. She was one of a family of six children, two daughters and four sons, the others being Anna, John, Na- thaniel. James, and Joseph. Her paternal grandfather was Nathanial Belcher, second, who was a son of Nathaniel, first, whose father. Joseph, was a son of Jeremiah, second, and a grandson of Jeremiah Belcher, first, of Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Bill Tewksbury were the parents of nine children, as follows: Martha, who died at the age of about three and a half years: Anna, who died unmarried at the age of about thirty-three: Bill, who died in infancy: Bill. second. who also died in infancy; Samuel. why died in infancy: Martha, who died at the age of seventeen; John, who died when in his fifty-ninth year; Mary, who is now living: and Hermon Bill, whose name begins t .. > sketch.
Hermon B. Tewksbury in his hoyben? .. tended the public schools of Chelsea .. .. . the winter, and assisted his father on !' in the summer. On attaining h:> !! ..
.
506
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
thus engaged for twenty years, sold out, and was subsequently engaged as a wholesale milk dealer for some years. He is now conducting a small farm, and keeps some cows, the milk from which he sells to local patrons. Mr. Tewksbury has taken some part in public affairs. He served as Selectman one year in the fifties and four consecutive years in the seventies, and was also Assessor for two years. He is a member of the Methodist church in Winthrop, of which he was steward for many years.
Mr. Tewksbury was married in 1859 to Charlotte M. Henderson, daughter of Dr. William and Mary (Radcliff) Henderson, of Dumfries, Scotland. Mrs. Tewksbury's father was a graduate of a medical college at Edin- burgh. He was married in Scotland, in which country his two eldest children were born. Afterward he went to England, where for some years he carried on a considerable drug business, and where two more children were born to him. Still later he emigrated to Nova Scotia, and there resided until his death. His wife, Mary Radcliff, was a great- grand-daughter of the Earl of Derwentwater, who was beheaded in England for his devotion to the house of Stuart and his leading the rising of the English Loyalists in 1715. Their children were: Jonathan R., William, Ellen, Charles Stuart, Gavenos, Margaret, Jane, Margaret H., Eliza M., John Henry, Clarinda Douglass, and Charlotte M. Jona- than and William were born "- Scotland, Ellen and Charles in England, and the others in Nova Scotia. The first Margaret died in infancy. All the sons but one were gradu- ated M.D., the other being a graduate in pharmacy.
Mr. and Mrs. Tewksbury have been the par- ents of two children -- Hermon Douglass and Alice Thornton. Hermon Douglass, born November 25, 1860, died June 24, 1894. He married Jane A. Gammon, and at his death left four children - Eileene Radcliff, Maud Beaumont, Erle Douglass, and Allan Win- throp, who are all attending public school. He was secretary and treasurer of the Bow- man Silver Mining Company of Nevada. Alice T. Tewksbury married Edwin S. West-
lake, a son of the Rev. Mr. Westlake, at one time rector of the Episcopal church at Win- throp. She has one son, Sherwood Vincent.
LVANO THOMAS NICKERSON, a prominent and prosperous citizen of Somerville, is actively engaged in business in Boston, on Commercial Wharf. He was born June 24, 1839, in Chat- ham, Mass., a son of the late Caleb Nickerson and a descendant, several generations removed, of William Nickerson, the line being as fol- lows : William, ' William, Jr., 2 Caleb, 3 Caleb, + Salathiel,5 Caleb,6 and Alvano T.7
William Nickerson, weaver, of Norwich, England, married Anne Busby, daughter of Nicholas Busby ; and in April, 1637, accom- panied by his wife, his four children, and his father-in-law, he embarked either at Ipswich, in the ship "John and Dorothy," William Andrews master, or at Yarmouth in the "Rose" (see Hotten's "Original Lists of Emigrants," page 289), and on the 20th of June arrived at Boston. He first settled in Watertown, whence about 1642 he went to Yarmouth, on the Cape. In 1665 and at later dates he purchased from the Indians large tracts of land in what is now the town of Chatham, Barnstable County.
William Nickerson, Jr., was baptized in Yarmouth, Mass., in 1646, but spent the greater part of his life in Chatham, where he was for a number of years the Town Clerk. Caleb Nickerson, first, a lifelong resident of Chatham, died in 1749. Caleb Nickerson, second, who likewise spent his entire life in Chatham, was born in 1735 and died in 1,94. He married Eliza Mayo, and had ten children, the second being Salathiel, who was born in Chatham in 1760, and died there October 7, 1847. Salathiel Nickerson was a man of great prominence in the community and highly suc- cessful in business. He was engaged to a con- siderable extent in ship-building, the last of his vessels having been launched in Chatham in 1838. Scrupulously upright in all of his dealings with his fellow-men, he was a firm friend and a wise counsellor. In his early life he served in the Revolutionary War, and after-
.
507
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
ward he represented Chatham in the State Legislature. He was also Selectman for many years. In his religious belief he was a Uni- versalist and one of the founders of the .society of that denomination in Chatham. In politics he was a sound and consistent Demoerat. married Sabrina Nickerson on June 12, 1780; and they became the parents of sixteen chil- dren, Caleb being the youngest.
Caleb Nickerson, third. who passed his sixty-six years of earthly life in Chatham, was born in 1812 and died in IS78. He was a leading coal and lumber dealer of that locality, following through his life the occupation in which his father was engaged for several years. He married Julia A. Hamilton, daughter of William Hamilton, of Chatham, where she is still living, a bright and active woman of eighty-two years. Five children blessed their union, and four of them are now living, namely : Alvano T., the subject of this sketch; Julia Ann, wife of W. A. Crosby, of Chatham ; Emily ; and Hattie O., wife of J. K. Vincent, of Campello, Mass.
Alvano T. Nickerson obtained a practical education in the district schools of Chatham, where he lived until 1854. Starting then in life for himself, he came to Boston and worked for a short time in a ship-chandler and grocery store on Commercial Wharf. He then went to Chicago, Ill., which at that time showed but little promise of its present greatness, and was there in business several months as junior member of the firm of Ryder & Nickerson. In 1867 Mr. Nickerson returned to Boston to es- tablish himself in the lobster business, locat- ing at the old Charlestown Bridge, where he had a stand for thirty-three consecutive years. When the new Charles River Bridge was built, he removed to Commercial Wharf, where he is still carrying on a successful and remunerative business, being one of the best known trades- men of his line in the city. In ISS2 he be- came a resident of Somerville. He has here taken an active part in the management of municipal affairs, having been a member of the Common Council in 1888 and ISSo, one of the Board of Aldermen in 1890 and 1891. and since 1893 one of the Board of Health. In politics he supports the Republican party.
He is identified with various fraternal and beneficial organizations, belonging to the Paul Revere Lodge, I. O. O. F., is a director of the Odd Fellows Building Association, and a trus- tee for the Twenty Associates. He is also a trustee of the Somerville Hospital.
On January 3, 1863, Mr. Nickerson married Laurietta Nickerson, a daughter of Lumbert and Sarah (Bassett) Nickerson, of Chatham, who is of a different branch of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Nickerson are the parents of six children, five of whom are living, namely : Mabel E., wife of F. E. Houghton, of Somer- ville; Alvano T., Jr .; Lillian H., wife of Walter R. Champney, of Lexington, Mass. ; Walter L .; and Hattie H. Mr. Nickerson and his family attend the Universalist church.
ILLIAM IRVING RUGGLES, re- siding at 23 Grand Street, Read- ing, was born in this town, May 7, 1854, a son of Ira W. and Caroline J. (Leach) Ruggles. He is of the ninth generation in descent from his immigrant progenitor, Thomas Ruggles, who came from Nazing, Essex County, England, the line being: Thomas,' John,2 John,3 Edward,+ Edward,s Edward,6 Samuel Taft,7 Ira W.,8 and William I.9
Thomas Ruggles came to New England in 1637 with his wife Mary and their three chil- dren, Tohn, Samuel, and Sarah. He settled in Roxbury, who. his death occurred, November 16, 1644. His son John, who was born in England about 1625, and died in Roxbury, Mass., in September, 1658, married Abigail Crafts on June 24, 1650. John Ruggles, second, horn in Roxbury, was baptized January 22, 1654, and died December 16, 1694. He married first September 2, 1674, Martha Devo- tion ; and after her death he married, in 1679, her sister Hannah.
Edward Ruggles, son of John and Hannah, was born in Roxbury October 2, 1691. He mar- ried Anna Craft, June 24, 1716, and died at Cambridge, Mass., in 1765. Edward Ruggles, second, born in Roxbury, June 22, 1724, mar- ried Anna Sumner, and was the father of a third Edward, who was born in Pomfret, Conn.,
508
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
April 3, 1763. The first wife of Edward Rug- gles, third, died, leaving one child, Joshua. He married for his second wife Sybil Taft, and among the children born of their union was Samuel Taft, the grandfather of William I. Ruggles. Samuel Taft Ruggles was born in Pomfret, Conn., in 1794. When a young man he settled in New Hampshire, whence he removed to Dorchester, Mass. A few years later he established himself as a furniture manu- facturer in Reading, where he resided until his death in 1857. He married Almira White, of Walpole, N.H.
Ira W. Ruggles was born in Walpole, N.IL., July 3, 1817. He died in Reading, Mass., March 8, 1898, after a residence of threescore years in this town, having first come here as a boy of eleven years. He worked at the trade of a cabinet-maker in his early life, but subse- quently was proprietor and manager of a restau- rant. An intelligent, well-informed man, he took great interest in public affairs, and served as As- sistant Postmaster under his son, William I., from 1887 until 1891. He married Caroline Jackson Leach, who was born in Dorchester. February 8, 1819, and died in Reading, February 26, 1898. Her father, Lewis Leach, a resident of Dorchester, married Fanny Vose, also of Dor- chester, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris on December 7, ISO1. Mr. and Mrs. Ira W. Ruggles became the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, the others being as follows : Irene F .; Edwin O., who died March 8, 1900; Otis A., a florist, with J. Newman & Sons, Boston ; Helen I., who married Lucius M. Beebe, of Wakefield, and died July 21, 1890; and William Irving.
William I. Ruggles acquired his education in Reading, being graduated from the high school in June, 1871. The following year he was a clerk for the firm of Levi Boles & Son, Sud- bury Street and Haymarket Square, Boston, dealers in sash, doors, and blinds. Ile was sub- sequently assistant cashier two years in the New England office, Boston, of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, going from there to the office of the John P. Squires Pork Packing House, Boston, where he remained as book-keeper a year. For fifteen years there-
1
after he was employed by the Fitchburg Rail- road Company as contracting freight agent. Accepting then a similar position with the New England agency of the Lehigh Valley Railway Company, he has since retained it, his active energy and business ability rendering him a most valuable member of the company's force.
A Democrat in his political affiliations, Mr. Ruggles was appointed by President Cleveland in 1887 Postmaster at Reading, a position that he filled until April, 1891. For one year he served on the Board of Registrars. In 1895 he was elected Selectman and Overseer of the Poor, and has since been re-elected in 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, and 1900, serving as chairman of the board in 1896, 1897, 1898, and 1900. At the time of the two hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary of " Ancient Redding" he was one of the Executive Committee, having charge of the funds, expenditures, and the entire arrangement of the public exercises. Prominently connected with many of the leading organizations of Reading, he is treasurer of the Good Samaritan Lodge, A. F. & A. M. : is Noble Grand of Se- curity Lodge, No. 208, I. O. O. F. ; is president of the Odd Fellows Building Association ; and is one of the Governing Committee of the Read- ing Athletic Club. He has been auditor of the Reading Co-operative Bank since its organiza- tion in 1886, and he is one of the trustees of the Christian Union (Unitarian) Society.
On September 21, 1881, Mr. Ruggles mar- ried Mina Wright Hall, a daughter of Stephen M. and Elmina (Buckman) Hall, of Reading. They have two children, namely: Guy Hall, born August 12, 1885, and Helen Elmina, born June 20, 1887, both of whom are now pupils in the Reading High School.
Stephen M. Hall was born in Calais, Vt., December 23, 1812, and died in Reading, March 19, 1888. His wife, Elmina, was a daughter of David Buckman, who was a teacher of promi- nence in his day. Mr. Buckman by his first wife, whose maiden name was Asenath Stone, had five children, namely: Barbara; Emily ; Lucy Ann, now Mrs. Tiffany, of Claremont, Minn. ; William, and Elmina, who married Stephen M. Hall. By his second wife, Penelope Stone, sister of Asenath, he had three children : Anice, now Mrs. F. E. Marsh, of Hudson, N.H. ;
ยท
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
509
Agnes ; and Alvira, now Mrs. William Cowan, of Michigan.
Stephen Hall, Mrs. Ruggles's grandfather, was born in Barrington, N.H., January 2, 1764. He served as a non-commissioned officer in the War of 1812. He subsequently united with the Shakers, remaining with them until his marriage with Anna Lougee, who was born in Exeter, N.II., in 1774.
SAIAH HOLBROOK HORTON, chair- man of the Board of Selectmen of East- ham, Barnstable County, was born in Wellfleet, Mass., November 14, 1835. His parents were Isaiah Holbrook, first, and
Rebecca (Higgins) Horton. His paternal grandparents were Barnabas and Betsey (Hol- brook) Horton, and the parents of Barnabas were Cushing and Abigail (Snow) Horton. Cushing Horton was a son of Samuel, second, and Mary (Cushing) Horton; and Samuel Horton, second, was a son of Samuel, first, and Hannah Horton, of whom the subject of this sketch is a descendant in the sixth gen- eration.
All of the above named were residents of Wellfleet, and the majority of the male ances- tors were mariners or fishermen. The children of Samuel and Hannah Horton were: John, Hannah, Nathaniel, Susannah, Abigail, Eliza- beth, Samuel, and James. Those of Samuel, second, and Mary Horton were: Abigail, Cushing, Susannah, and Laurania. Cushing and Abigail Horton were the parents of eight children ; namely, Barnabas, Cushing, Free- man, Samuel, Sparrow, Abigail, Reuben, and John. Barnabas Horton, the grandfather afore- mentioned, was in early life a master mariner ; and the rest of his active years he spent as a fisherman. He lived to be eighty-three years old. His children were : Thomas, Polly, Bar- nabas, Cushing, Perez, Betsey, and Isaiah Holbrook, first.
The elder Isaiah Holbrook Horton was born in Wellfleet, May 20, 1814. Leaving school while still in his boyhood, he went to sea, and at the age of twenty became master of a vessel , which was engaged in fishing summers and made coasting trips during the winter season.
He died April 29, 1874. His first wife, Re- becca, was born in Wellfleet, November 13, 1814, daughter of Isaac and Mehitable (Gill) Higgins. She died April 6, 1855; and he married for his second wife Mrs. Louisa Doane Brown. She survived him, and died Septem- ber 3, 1898. By his first marriage he had eight children - Isaiah H., Betsey II., Sarah A., Rebecca H., Reuben H., William H., Charles B., and Isaac II. ; and by his second, two children - Robert R. and Mary L. Betsey H., who resides in Eastham, married for her first husband Stephen Brown, of Wellfleet, and for her second Winslow T. Horton, of East- ham. Sarah A. died in childhood. Rebecca H., who married Joshua W. Higgins, lived in Eastham. Reuben H. married Cynthia Clark, daughter of Edward Clark, of Eastham. Will- iam HI. married Ella Hopkins, daughter of Asa Hopkins, of the same town. Charles B., who is a member of the firm of Brown, Horton & Co., furniture dealers, Boston, married Ada Brown, of that city. Isaac H. died in in- fancy. Robert R., who resides in Eastham, married Jennie Landerkin, of Wellfleet. Mary L. is the wife of George W. Mitchell, and is now living in Ottawa, Canada.
Isaiah Holbrook Horton attended the public schools until he was nine years old, when he took his initiatory sea voyage. He continued to follow the hazardous occupation of a mariner about twenty-three years. In 1867 he engaged in the in-shore fisheries, having numerous weirs along the coast; and he also carries on a farm in Eastham. He has long occupied a prominent place in the public affairs of the town, for the past seven years having served with ability as chairman of the Board of Se- lectmen, of which he has been a member for sixteen years. He has also served upon the School Commitee and as a director of the Eastham Cemetery.
On April 9, 1856, Mr. Horton married Rachel Doane Witherell, of Wellfleet, daugh- ter of Captain Whitfield Witherell, for many years a well-known master mariner of that town. They have nine children, namely : Os- good W., born October 1, 1857; Ernest R., born January 4, 1860; Betsey E., born August 21, 1861; Reuben W. and Obed W., twins,
510
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
born June 1, 1864; Rachel L., born Septem- ber 6, 1869; Almira S., born March 18, 1875; Isaiah H., Jr., born February 9, ISSO; and Lester G., born July 18, 1883. Osgood W. married Betsey Knowles, of Eastham; and his children are: Walter A., Whitman R., So- phronia H., Bessie E., Leon Blake, and Earl K. Ernest R. married Emma S. Whart, of Wellfleet, and has two children - Serena- S. and Lora B. Betsey E. is the wife of Agnew F. Toovey, an Englishman; and her children are Sidney E. and Helen H. Reuben W. married Jessie Bearse, of Eastham, and has two children - Clyde K. and Gladys B. Obed WV. married Carrie Smith, and has one daugh- ter, Bernice F. Rachel L. is now Mrs. F. Sugg, and has two children - Harry H. and Frances L. Isaiah H., Jr., is employed by Swift & Co., Boston. Almira S. and Lester G. are residing at home.
Mr. Horton belongs to Adams Lodge, F. & A. M., of Wellfleet, and to Longfellow Council, Home Circle. He attends the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mrs. Horton is a trustee of the Eastham Public Library, and has held that office for twenty-two years.
OSHUA CROWELL HOWES, a resi- dent of Dennis and president of the First National Bank of Yarmouth, was born in the town of Dennis, November 12, 1816, son of Elkanah and Lucy (Crowell) Howes.
The descendants of Thomas and Mary (Burr) Howes, who arrived from England about the year 1637, and settled in Yarmouth in 1639, are numerous ; and many of them are still re- siding on Cape Cod. Thomas Howes. died in Yarmouth in 1665, aged seventy-five years. He had three sons - Joseph, Thomas, Jr., and Jeremiah. Joseph Howes, who died in Janu- ary, 1694-5, married Elizabeth Mayo, and had nine children; namely, Samuel, Joseph, John, Nathaniel, Thomas, Amos, Mary, Elizabeth, and Hannah. Amos Howes, who died Febru- ary 16, 1718, married Susannah Hedges, May 22, 1701; and his children were: Mercy ; Elisha; Amos; Lemuel ; and Stephen, great- grandfather of Joshua C. Howes. Stephen
! Iowes married Thankful Hall, of Dennis, and was the father of Susannah, Mehitable, Stephen, Mehitable (second), Elkanah, Elisha, Ebenezer, and Thankful. Elkanah Howes, first, was born January 8, 1751, and died March 4, 1823. His wife. Desire Eldridge, of Chatham, whom he married in 1777, died April 29, 1841. They reared seven children; namely, Elkanab, Meribah, Henry, Tamar and Elihu, both of whom died young, Ensign E., and Elihu.
Elkanah Howes, second, father of Joshua C. Howes, was born June 8, 1778. He was a seafaring man, and also a farmer. His death occurred February 4, 1858. On January 15, 1801, he married Lucy Crowell. They had a family of seven children - Polly, Henry, Au- gustine, Augusta, Francis, Peter, and Joshua C. Of these the only one living is Joshua Crowell, the subject of this sketch. The mother died December 29, 1864.
Joshua Crowell Howes was educated in the town schools. He began to go to sea at the age of ten years; and when twenty years old he made his first voyage as a master mariner on the schooner "Deposit," from Boston to Havana. At the age of thirty he abandoned the sea in order to engage in business on shore; and for a number of years he kept a general store, fitted out vessels for the Banks, and cured fish for the market. From 1862 to 1871 he was Assessor and Collector of Internal Revenue for Barnstable County. He identified himself with the First National Bank of Var- mouth in 1870, was chosen its president in 1879, and from that time to the present has attended to the duties of that office, which he still holds.
Mr. Howes married January 11, 1844, Pris- cilla Howes, who was born in Dennis, Febru- ary 22, 1826, daughter of Abner and Hannah (Sears) Ilowes. Mr. and Mrs. Howes reared four children, namely: Flora, the only one now living, born June 12, 1847; Florence, born October 12, 1849; Wallace, born Sep- tember 15, 1851; and Priscilla, born March 24, 1854. Mrs. Priscilla Howes died in Oc- tober, 1899.
Politically, Mr. Howes has acted with the Republican party ever since its formation.
.
-
RUFUS CUSHMAN.
-
513
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
He has held various town offices, including that of Selectman, and was Representative to the Legislature for the years 1856 and 1857. Being a descendant of one of the first settlers in his locality, and naturally taking a lively interest in the early history of Cape Cod, he devoted much time and labor to the compila- tion of the Howes Genealogy, which was issued by him in 1892. He is recognized throughout the Cape section as an authority upon all matters relating to finance. Ile is closely identified with the Methodist Episco- pal church, of which Mrs. Howes was also an attendant.
J OHN HARRISON WILKINS, who was for many years identified with the shoe manufacturing industry of Marble- head, was born in Salem, Mass., Feb- ruary 25, 1830, son of Zadoe and Sarah (Knox) Wilkins. His father was a native of Massa- chusetts and son of Zadoc Wilkins. His mother was born in New Hampshire. The father died in Marblehead, leaving a large family. The eldest of five children, John H. Wilkins at the age of seventeen years was in a measure thrown upon his own resources. He attended the public schools, and made good use of his limited opportunities for obtaining an education. When a young man he entered the shoe business, which he subsequently relin- quished to engage in the grocery trade. He later turned his attention to the shoe manufact- uring industry, in which be displayed excellent business ability, being regarded as one of the leading local manufacturers of his day. He was a member of Atlantic Lodge, I. O. O. F., and took a lively interest in all local institu- tions, both public and private. He died May 30, 1877; and his untimely demise removed from the business and social circles of Marble- head an upright, conscientious, and public- spirited citizen.
On November 6, 1861, Mr. Wilkins was joined in marriage with Miss Martha A. Pit- man. Mrs. Wilkins was born in Marblehead, a daughter of Henry F. and Eliza (Smith) Pitman, both her parents being natives of that town. Her grandfather was Thomas
Pitman, and she is descended from highly reputable Marblehead ancestry. Her father, who died July 21, 1885, was for many years a highly esteemed business man, and was at one time quite prominent in town affairs, serv- ing as a Selectman. He was an Odd Fellow and a member of Atlantic Lodge. He was twice married, and reared a family of eight daughters: Mrs. Amos E. Graves, Mrs. Will- iam J. Goldthwait, Mrs. Martha A. Wilkins, Mrs. Samuel G. Martin, Mrs. James C. Graves, Mrs. Samuel H. Brown, Mrs. Benjamin J. Lindsay (deceased), and Ellen M. (deceased). All are residents of Marblehead except Mrs. Martin, who resides in Malden, Mass.
Mrs. Wilkins has three children living : Henry F. P., who was chairman of the Marble- head Board of Water Commissioners; Sarah L., wife of William B. Graves, of Salem, Mass. ; and Edward H. Wilkins, of Marble- head. The late Mr. Wilkins possessed an affectionate disposition, which endeared him to the hearts of his family. His widow is also beloved for her true womanly qualities.
R UFUS CUSHMAN, of East Boston, a retired ship-builder, of large acquaint- ance and widely respected, was born at Middleboro, Mass., September 26, 1820, son of George and Judith (Weston) Cushman. He is a descendant in the ninth generation of Robert Cushman,' who came to America with his only son on the "Fortune" in 1621, having started the preceding year in the "Speedwell," which, after accompanying the "Mayflower" for a short distance, was found unseaworthy and put back to port for repairs. Robert Cushman's stay in the colony was short, as he returned on the same vessel to England, where he subsequently acted as agent and adviser of the colonists. He left at Plym- outh his son Thomas, then fourteen years old, in the care of his intimate friend, Governor Bradford.
Thomas Cushman 2 was brought up in Gov- ernor Bradford's family. On January 1, 1633, he was admitted a freeman ; and a year or two later he married Mary Allerton, third child of Isaac Allerton, the "Mayflower" Pilgrim.
514
AMERICAN SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Their married life lasted fifty-five years, he dying first, on December 11, 1691, in his eighty-fourth year. She survived him nearly ten years. In 1649 he was Ruling Elder of the church at Plymouth. His son Thomas, Jr.,3 born in 1637, married for his first wife Ruth, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Tilly) Howland, both of whom came over in the "Mayflower " in 1620.
Robert Cushman, + son of Thomas and Ruth, was born October 4, 1664. His first wife, Persis, died at Kingston, January 14, 1743, aged eighty years. He afterward married Miss Prudence Sherman, of Marshfield, "a maiden turned of seventy." He died at Kingston, September 7, 1757, having been the father of seven children, of whom the sixth was Joshua.
Joshua Cushman & was born October 14, 1708, and died at Marsheld, Mass., March 25, 1764, at the age of fifty-five years and six months. He settled in Duxbury, to which town he came from Lebanon, Conn. His first wife, whom he married January 2, 1733, was Mary Soule, who was born December 6, 1706, daughter of Josiah Soule, of Duxbury. Her father was a grandson of George Soule, who came in the "Mayflower " in 1620. He married for his second wife, March 5, 1752, Deborah Ford, of Marshfield, who was born in the year 1718, and died July 1, 1789, at the age of seventy- one years.
Joseph Cushman,6 son of Joshua and Mary Cushman, was born at Duxbury in 1733, and died in 1822, at the age of eighty-nine. He resided all his life in his native town. He married Elizabeth Sampson, of Middleboro ; and they were the parents of eleven children, of whom George, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the eldest.
George Cushman7 was born at Duxbury, January 7, 1759. He was a farmer and resided on Powder Point, Duxbury. His wife was Annie Perry, by whom he had seven children, three boys and four girls; vis., George, Joseph. Briggs, Anna, Abigail, Betsey, and Hannah.
George Cushman, son of George and Annie Cushman, was born at Duxbury, August 1, 1791. He died March 1, 1875, in the eighty- fourth year of his age. From his boyhood until reaching the age of twenty years he fol-
lowed the sea. Afterward he settled on a farm in Duxbury, where he resided for the rest of his life, engaged in tilling the soil. He mar- ried Judith Weston, and had six children; namely, Rufus, Alden, John, Seth, George P., and Rebecca T. Mrs. Cushman died in Feb- ruary, 1868, aged seventy-three years. John Cushman died in 1895.
Rufus Cushman, the eldest child and the special subject of this sketch, acquired his education in the schools of Duxbury, and then learned the ship-builder's trade under Augus- tus Sampson. In 1846 he came to East Bos- ton, where for some time he followed his trade as a journeyman. He soon, however, went into business for himself in East Boston, and thus continued up to 1872, when he retired with a competence. He is widely respected in his adopted city as one who has achieved success by honorable methods, his character for probity having never been questioned. In politics a Republican, he represented his ward in the City Council in 1874 and 1875. He is a member of Mount Tabor Lodge of East Bos- ton, of which he is treasurer; also member of Council of R. S. M. ; William Parkman Com- mandery. K. T. ; and St. John's Royal Arch Chapter. Mr. Cushman is treasurer of each of these Masonic bodies, excepting St. John's Chapter. He has been a trustee and director of the East Boston Savings Bank since 1874.
Mr. Cushman was married in March, 1845, to Lydia Turner Guild, of Duxbury, Mass. Of this union were born four children, of whom three are now living: Lydia Guild, Frank, and Annie Jane. Lydia G. is the wife of George E. Harrington, of East Boston, and the mother of three children - William G., Isabelle, and Rufus C. Frank Cushman married Carrie Prince, of East Boston, and has three children - John P., Frank, and Leonard. Annie J. is the wife of Frederick W. Bowen, of Somerville, and has one child, Robert C. Mrs. Lydia T. Cushman died in 1890, at the age of seventy years. June 30, 1897, Mr. Cushman married for his second wife Cora Ada Elwell, of Rockland, Me., daughter of Ildo Kimball and Lucy Francis (Mason) Elwell. Mr. and Mrs. Cushman attend the Unitarian church.
5883H
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.