Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 8

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

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Nahum Ward was married September 13, 1829, to Miss Susan Gurney, daughter of James H. and Susan (Mallard) Gurney. She was born February 24, ISIT, in Roxbury, to which place her father had removed from Saco, Me. She died November 4, 1843, leaving one child, Francis Jackson Ward, whose name begins this sketch. On February 26, 1845, Nahum Ward married for his second wife Miss Ruth S. Gurney, a half-sister of his first wife. She was born April 16, 1814, and died Decem- ber 25, 1863. Of this union there were two children : Susan, born December 13, 1845, who was married in 1866 to Lyman J. Clark, of Royalston, Mass. ; and Ruth Humphrey, born January 9, 1849, who was married in 1870 to E. W. E. Tompson, of Brookline, Mass. Nahum Ward was a Jeffersonian Dem- ocrat in politics. In 1856 he served as an Alderman of the city of Roxbury. In company with Thomas Adams, he founded in 1853 the National Rockland Bank of Roxbury, of which he was a director until his death. He was a member of the Unitarian church of Roxbury.

Francis Jackson Ward was educated in the successful private school at Jamaica Plain taught by Mr. Stephen M. Weld, being grad- uated therefrom in 1848. For five years sub- sequently he followed the occupation of civil engineer and land surveyor, which he aban- doned, however, in 1855, to enter his father's office as salesman and book-keeper. Three years later he became a member of the firm ; and thenceforward the business was conducted under the style of N. Ward & Co. till 1881, when it was incorporated, with Mr. Francis J. Ward as president. This position in the firm he held until his retirement from the business four years later, when he was succeeded in the

presidency by his uncle, Sylvester L. The business was sold in 1896 to the American Glue Company, and is conducted by them at the present time on Spectacle Island, under the style of N. Ward Company. The original deed of Spectacle Island, dated May 1, 1684, when the island was purchased from the Ind- ians, is now in the possession of Mr. Francis J. Ward. He has also a plan of the island made in 1703.

Mr. Ward was a director of the National Rockland Bank from 1864 to 1889. Origi- nally a Democrat, he voted for Abraham Lin- coln at his second election; and since then he has been a Republican. He was a member of the city government of Boston from Ward Twenty-one in 1878 and 1879, serving on the Finance and Park Committees. In 1860 he joined the Old South Church, of which he re- mained a member till 1871, when he joined the Vine Street Church, the name of which was changed in 1877 to Congregational Im- manuel Church. Of this he has been a Deacon and treasurer since 1877. To the fund for the erection of the new building Mr. Ward was the largest individual contributor. In 1866 Mr. Ward and one hundred and fifty-two other per- sons petitioned the Mayor and Aldermen and the Council of the city of Roxbury that Longwood Avenue be extended from Parker Street to Western Avenue, a distance of three-quarters of a mile. Mr. T. B. Moses surveyed and planned the extension. The recommendation that the plan be adopted was signed by Mr. George Lewis, the last Mayor of the city of Roxbury.

The actual cost of this extension was ten thousand, three hundred and sixty-six dollars and fourteen cents, the city of Roxbury paying five thousand dollars, Mr. Ward five thousand, one hundred and fourteen dollars and fifty cents, and Mr. George S. Hilliard, trustee, two hun- dred and fifty-one dollars and sixteen cents.

In July, 1867, the Board of Aldermen ac- cepted the street as a highway.

Mr. Ward belongs to Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., and Mount Vernon Chapter, R. A. M .; is a charter member of Joseph Warren Commandery, K. T., in which he has held the office of treasurer for thirty

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years, having been the only member of the commandery to hold that office up to this date. Ile is also a member of the Massachu- setts Consistory, being a thirty-second degree Mason. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Congregational Club, a life member of the Bostonian Society and of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the New England Historic-Genealogical Soci- ety, and the Boston Art Club.

Mr. Ward was married in 1853 to Sarah W., daughter of James and Sally (Ward) Stratton, of Athol, Mass. She died six years later, leav- ing two children : Theresa H. S., born August 3, 1854, who died May 12, 1879; and Sarah Amelia, born September 18, 1858, who died July 1, 1877. Mr. Ward married for his sec- ond wife August 2, 1860, Ann Jane Felton, a direct descendant of the Rev. Samuel Skelton, the first minister of Salem, Mass., 1628. She was born in Barre, Mass .; July 25, 1840, being a daughter of Captain Benjamin and Ruth M. (Johnson) Felton. Of this union there were two children : Ruth Felton, born January 30, 1866; and Esther Humphrey, born April 8, 1870, who died in London, England, June 19, 1892. Ruth Felton Ward was married April IS, 1887, to William Alfred Paine, of Rox- bury, of the firm of Paine, Webber & Co., Bos- ton. She is the mother of four children, namely : Francis Ward, born August 1, 1888; Ruth Sargent, born October 22, 1890; Esther Humphrey, born November 30, 1892; and Stephen, born July 30, 1897.

It is worthy of note that within a radius of one mile from the present home of Mr. Ward were born four generations of the family, as represented in his mother, himself, his daugh- ter, and his grandchildren.

The arms belonging to the Ward family of Yorkshire are thus described: azure; a cross baton, or; crest, a wolf's head erased, langued gules; mottoes, "Non nobis solum" and "Sub cruce salus.

Mr. Ward, with his wife and their two daughters, spent the year 1879-80 in extended travel through Europe. Ten years later, in the summer of 1889, Mr. and Mrs. Ward and their daughter Esther started west on a tour around the world, visiting many of the princi-

pal cities and places of interest on their way across the continent. They sailed September 21 from San Francisco for Yokohama on the Pacific mail steamship, "Rio de Janeiro," ar- riving October 10. The great ocean, in their experience, proved to be terrific, instead of pacific, as named; and its vastness and loneli- ness impressed them. For more than fifteen days not a sail was to be seen, and scarcely a sign of life on all the wide expanse save an occasional whale, a school of porpoises, and flying-fish, and the flock of wandering albatross (called by the sailors "goonies " ) which fol- lowed the ship, feeding upon the refuse thrown out after each meal.

The month and more of travel in Japan was one of uninterrupted delight. That wonderful country seemed a near approach to fairy-land or like some strange planet. New and inde- scribable beauty was constantly revealed to them throughout the length and breadth of the land.

Nikko, the Mecca of the Shintoist and Buddhist, with its exquisite temples and ait treasures, its innumerable streams and water- falls (more than four thousand feet above the sca) ; the beautiful Lake Chiuzenji, nestled among low hills, up which the ascent was made by zigzag path in chairs borne on the shoulders of men; Miyanoshita, where are famous min- eral baths and cascades of hot and of cold water falling side by side, flowing from natu- ral springs; and Ojigoku, or "big hell," a sleeping volcano, near Hakone Lake - these were a few of the many interesting places among the mountains. The journeys were made mostly by jinrikisha, drawn by coolies, an agreeable mode of travelling when one has be- come accustomed to it. The autumn foliage was more gorgeous than that of our own White Mountains and more exquisite, being more sharply cut and feathery. Exhibitions of chrysanthemums were given in several of the cities. Magnificent specimens, sometimes seven, eight, and even ten varieties, bloom from the same stem, some measuring fully a foot across, the petals of some being as fine as silk, of others two inches wide, some of richest color and shade, and others most delicately tinted. From Kobe through the Inland Sea to

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Nagasaki (where are the trees planted by Gen- eral and Mrs. Grant in honor of their visit there in 1879) and through the Yellow and China Seas they reached Hong-Kong, one of the finest harbors in the world, thence up the Pearl River to Canton, where strange customs, sights; and smells were encountered. En route to Ceylon they visited the islands of Singa- pore and Penang, belonging to the Straits Set- tlements. Perpetual summer reigns here ; and tropical foliage, fruits, and flowers are in their greatest luxuriousness. In this latitude they saw for the first time the brilliant constellation known as the Southern Cross.

Off Sumatra, while passing through the Strait of Malacca, the piercing cry of "Man overboard!" was heard. Instantly a boat was manned and lowered, a life-buoy thrown over, the engines reversed; and in less than twenty minutes the unfortunate Lascar sailor, whom the strong current had borne two miles or more from the ship, was rescued.

They reached Ceylon about the middle of December, and made several tours into the in- terior, visiting Kandy, where is one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world, and Neura Elliya, the noted summer resort for Europeans, in the mountains. The railroad leading thither is a wonderful feat of engineer- ing. The thermometer registered one hundred degrees on Christmas Day, as they sailed from Colombo for Calcutta. At Madras they were taken through the surf in native boats, made without nail or bolt, all the parts being sewn together with cocoanut fibre, and were carried ashore on the backs of natives.

The most dangerous point known in naviga- tion, the "James and Mary," at the mouth of the Hoogly River, was safely passed (and Calcutta reached) on the first morning of the new year, 1890. The city was gorgeously decorated in honor of the visit of His Royal Highness, Albert Vietor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales; and the streets were thronged with native princes in gay- est attire, from all parts of India, ready to .join in the brilliant festivities. From Dar- jeeling (seven thousand one hundred and sixty- nine feet above sea level, in the Ilimalaya Mountains), they had an uninterrupted view

of Mount Kinchinjamga (twenty-eight thousand one hundred and fifty-six feet high) and a mio- mentary glimpse of the top of Mount Everest, said to be the highest mountain in the world (twenty-nine thousand one hundred and thirty feet). Here in the Darjeeling market were to be seen Bhutians, Thibetians, Nepalese, Chi- nese, Tartars, and other mountain peoples. Benares (the sacred city of the Hindus), Luck- now, Cawnpoor, Agra, with the wonderful Taj, Mahal Delhi - all connected with the history of the mutiny - Jeypoor, and many other places were visited. Jeypoor belongs to one of India's richest and most powerful Maharajahs, who has absolute power over his subjects. Here the elephant is in common use for transportation. At Bombay are many magnificent public build- ings and charitable institutions. Here are Towers of Silence, where the Parsees expose their dead to vultures; and the Pingra Pol, an endowed infirmary of the Hindus (believers in transmigration of souls) for animals, covering several acres, where all kinds of aged and diseased animals are cared for until death re- leases them. From Bombay they entered Egypt at Ismailia. From Cairo they visited the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx and most of the magnificent ruins famous in Egyptian his- tory on both sides of the Nile as far as the first cataract. In the spring of 1890 two months were spent in journeying through Palestine and Syria. The last of May they left Beyrout for Athens by Austrian steamer, and visited many of the islands and principal ports along the shores of Asia Minor, including Smyrna and Ephesus, reaching Athens carly in June. Then followed visits to Constantinople and countries of Eastern Europe. The long jour- ney ended in sadness. Mr. Ward's daughter, Esther, after prolonged illness in Vienna and in England, died in London. Mr. and Mrs. Ward returned home in 1892, after an absence of three years.

UDLEY PRAY, a late resident of South Boston, was born in Rochester, N. H., April 18, 1827, son of Ezra Ifinds and Hannah (Tibbitts) Pray. He was a great-grandson of Captain Joseph Pray,

DUDLEY PRAY.

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Jr., who is said to have come to America from England or Scotland in company with three brothers, two of whom settled in Braintree,_ Mass., and the other in Berwick, Me. This Captain Joseph Pray was a resident of Berwick in 1782, and was engaged in farming there. He and his wife were the parents of ten children.

Peletiah Pray, fifth son and child of Joseph, was born in Berwick. He was a schoolmaster and accountant, and resided in his earlier years at Berwick, Me., and later at Ossipee, N. H. Ile died at Andover, Mass., September 27, 1844, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife, whose maiden name was Joanna Fernald, was born September 1, 1782, married December 2, 1800, and died October 14, 1859, at the age of seventy-seven. They attended the Congre- gational church. They had eleven children, of whom but two are now living - Seaver Pray, who married Mrs. Susan Hayden, formerly Miss Susan Bates, resides in - Natick and has five children ; and Mrs. Marantha Hathaway, now residing in East Boston.

Ezra H. Pray, who was the third child and second son of Peletiah and Joanna Pray, was born in Berwick, Me., August 19, 1805. When a young man and before his marriage, he went to Rochester, N. H., where he resided for the rest of his life, engaged in farming. His death occurred December 13, 1866. He married Hannah Tibbitts, who was born in Rochester, N. H., May 24, 1806, a daughter of Jedediah and Dorothy (Tibbitts) Tibbitts. She died April 16, 1885. They had five children, namely : Dudley, born April 18, 1827; Charles, born July 27, 1830, and died December 28, 1852; Ezra, born March 13, 1832; Amasa, born April 23, 1838; and Lydia, horn Decem- ber 12, 1839. Mr. and Mrs. Ezra H. Pray attended the Methodist church.

Dudley Pray obtained his education in the schools of Rochester, N. II. After completing his studies he began an apprenticeship to the trade of machinist in the Seth Adams machine shop at South Boston, and remained there for three years. In 1849 he went to Cuba, where he erected a large amount of machinery on sugar estates. For about twenty years he spent much of his time on the island, going there in the autumn to spend the winter season,

and returning in the spring to spend his sum- mers in the North. In 1869 he retired after a very successful career. His death took place at his residence in South Boston, March 23, 1900, after a very short illness. Mr. Pray was a director in the Hersey Manufacturing Com- pany, of South Boston, also in the Commercial Towboat Company, and for the last twenty years of his life had been a trustee of the South Boston Savings Bank. He was highly esteemed in the business circles of South Boston as a man of rare business ability and foresight, and his judgment in financial matters was seldom im pugned. In politics a Republican, he served the city for some years as Assessor. He was a member of St. Paul's Lodge, F. & A. M., and St. Omer Commandery, K. T. He at- tended the Congregational church in South Boston.

Mr. Pray was married October 26, 1868, to Jane Anna Malcolm, of South Boston. Mrs. Pray was born September 16, 1845. She died July 8, 1876, having been the mother of four children : Helen Lutgarda, born May 8, 1870; Clara Cecilia, born June 30, 1871; Jennie Malcolm, born September 23, 1873; and Dudley Malcolm, born May 9, 1875, now a chemist in Boston. Helen L. is the wife of Bela Lyon Pratt, of Boston, a noted sculptor, and has two children: Dudley, born in Paris, June 14, 1897; and Minot Whittlesey, Octo- ber 20, 1899.

LIVER HERBERT LINNELL, Deputy Sheriff of Barnstable County and a well-known business man of Wellfleet, was born in Orleans, Mass., September 28, 1849, son of Oliver Nickerson and Adeline Gibbs (Rogers) Linnell. His father was a son of Josiah Linnell and a lineal descendant of Robert Linnel, who settled at Barnstable in 1639. David Linnel, son of Robert, inherited his father's homestead. "Jonathan Linnel, son of David, born in 1668, removed to Eastham about the year 1695, and is the ancestor of the Linnells of that town and Orleans." (See Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families.) Josiah Lin- nell, who followed the house and ship carpen-

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ter's trades in Orleans for about seventy years, died at the age of eighty-nine.

Oliver N. Linnell, father of Oliver Herbert, was born in Orleans, August 5, 1816. After following the sea for fourteen years, he en- gaged in the marble business in his native town, and carried it on successfully for forty- five years, or until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-five years old. He mar- ried Adeline Gibbs Rogers, daughter of Free- man H. and Margery (Crowell) Rogers, of Orleans, and had a family of ten children; namely, Lucinda A., Hercelia G., Oliver H., Cecilia M., Addie E., Walter C., Arthur E., Addie B., and two who died in infancy. The mother is still living in Orleans, and is now seventy-four years old. Lucinda A. married Zebina H. Higgins, and has a large family. Hercelia G. died in 1848, and Addie E. died in 1861. Cecilia M. married Alberto S. Nickerson, and has four children. Walter C., who died at Orleans in 1898, was married to Laura M. Rogers, and had seven children. Arthur E. Linnell received his early education in Wellfleet. Then, going to Boston, he at- tended evening school, and was employed for a time by the Dennison Manufacturing Com- pany. For the last five years he has been chief clerk of the insurance department at the Mas- sachusetts State House. He is married and has three children - Harry E., Amelia, and Lizzie B. His younger sister, Addie B., mar- ried Weston L. Taylor, now captain of the Salisbury Beach life-saving station, and re- sides in Newburyport, Mass. She has five children - Linda, Elmer, Augusta T., and Weston and Easton (twins.)

Oliver llerbert Linnell was educated in the common schools of Orleans. From the age of sixteen until his majority he went to sea, and subsequently he spent a year in the dry-goods business at Taunton, Mass. He then returned to Orleans; and, after learning the marble- cutting business in his father's shop, he in 1873 established himself in that business at Wellfleet. In 1879 he bought the undertak- ing business previously carried on by Reuben C. Sparrow; and, uniting the latter with his marble business, he has conducted them both for the past twenty years, having a field of

operation which includes the towns of Well- fleet and Truro.

On November 25, 1873, Mr. Linnell mar- ried Augusta Tilden Knowles, daughter of Ephraim T. and Joanna (Hopkins) Knowles. They had two children, but were bereft of one: namely, Ada Afton, who was born January 2. 1876, was graduated with honor from the Well- fleet High School, and died November 6, 1893. The surviving child, Florence Irving, bern February 27, 1879, was graduated from the high school in 1896. Mrs. Oliver H. Linnell died November 3, 1889.

In politics Mr. Linnell is a Republican and a member of the Town Committee. He has been Deputy Sheriff for the past seven years, is now serving as a Constable, and acts as a Justice of the Peace. He is a Pas: Worshipful Master of Adams Lodge, A. F. & A. M., which he joined in 1878, and is also a Past Deputy Grand Master of Masons, and has been secretary of Adams Lodge for the past eight years. He is a Past Regent of Wellfleet Council, No. 946, Royal Arcanum. In his religious belief he is a Congregational- ist, and is a member of the Parish Committee.

2) EORGE DEXTER, of Boston, banker. a representative of an old New Enz- land family, was born in Chart- ton, Mass., October 25, 1834, a son of John and Lucinda (McIntyre) Dexter. He is o: the eighth generation in descent from Richard Dexter, who came to New England in 1641. and was admitted as a townsman of Boston in December of that year. This is the line: Richard,' John,? John, 3 Samuel, + John .? Charles,6 John Bradford, George."

On December 7, 1663, Richard Dexter was granted a deed of forty acres of land in Malden, formerly Mystic Side, the farm sub- sequently increasing to two hundred acres. long owned and occupied by bis descendants. He signed a remonstrance to the Generai Court, May 16, 1643, against a proposed highway from Winnisimmet to Reading. He was a tithing-man of Boston, resided in Mis- ticke in 1652, and subsequently in Malden. and in 1678 was a resident of Charlestown.

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By his wife, Bridget, he had five children - Elizabeth M., John, Ann, Sarah, and Alice. In 1678 Elizabeth married James Melins, who was lost at sea; and she subsequently became the wife of Stephen Barrett. John Dexter, first, son of Richard, married and had chil- dren. He died in 1677. Ann Dexter mar- ried John Pratt; Sarah became the wife of Ed- ward Pinson, of Ipswich, in 1665; and Alice married Benjamin Muzzy.

John Dexter, second, born August 21, 1671, son of John, first, and grandson of Richard, was the next in this line of descent. He mar- ried Winifred Sprague, of Malden, a woman who bore a notable reputation for piety even in a God-fearing community. They had eight children, namely: John, who died in infancy; Winifred; Samuel; another John, who died early; Timothy, who died in infancy; Tim- othy, second; John, third; and Richard. John Dexter, second, the father, lived and died on a farm in Malden. He was a weaver by occupation. He was a Deacon of the church and a prominent man in the town, serv- ing five years as Selectman, and as moderator at the town meetings for a number of years. lle received from Governor Samuel Shute a Captain's commission, dated September 16, 1717.

The Rev. Samuel Dexter, son of Captain John, was born in Malden, October 23, 1700. He was graduated at Harvard in the class of 1720; and, after teaching school in Taunton, lynn, and Malden, he began preaching, re- ceiving at first no pay for his services. He was ordained as minister in the First Church at Dedham on May 6, 1724, and preached there till his death, which occurred January 25, 1755. He married July 9, 1724, Cath- erine Mears, daughter of Samuel and Maria Catherine Mears; and they had eleven chil- dren, among whom was John, born in Dedham in 1735.

John Dexter, of the fifth generation above mentioned, was a goldsmith, and followed that occupation in Marlboro, where he resided dur- ing most of his life, and where his death oc- curred on February 7, 1800. He married Mary How, of Marlboro, who was born April 15, 1746, and died February 4, 1822. They

had four children - Catherine, Charles, Mary Ward, and Elizabeth.

Charles Dexter, born July 2, 1773, was a farmer. He married Sarah Howe, of Marl- boro, born January 8, 1779, and they had nine children; namely, John Bradford, Richard Mears, Elizabeth Colborn, Mary, Saralı, Charles Colborn, Charlotte Chamberlin, James Munroe, and Alven Corbin.

John Bradford Dexter, son of Charles and father of George Dexter, the subject of this sketch, was born in Marlboro, June 24, 1798, and died November 24, 1867. He was mar- ried February 12, 1818, by the Rev. William Whipple, of Charlton, Mass., to Lucinda Mc- Intyre, who was born April 8, 1793, and died January 5, 1866. She came of a distinguished family dating back to the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1845 John B. Dexter removed to Worcester, where he en- gaged in business as a carpenter and builder, and was also active in city affairs, being a member of the city government. Politically, he was at first a Whig and later a Republican. He was an earnest temperance worker, and in religion a Universalist. He had seven chil- dren, as follows: Richard, born February 18, 1819, died December 9, 1885 ; John Bradford, born March 22, 1821, died February 4, 1864; William Henry, born January 11, 1823, now living; Phila, born December 14, 1825, mar- ried Mr. Lewis Truman Sampson, of South- bridge; Lucinda, who became the wife of Daniel Francis Andrews, and died April 22, 1874; George, the subject of this sketch; and Lorinda West, born May 25, 1837, who died July 16, 1840.

William Henry Dexter, an elder brother of George, is an enterprising and valued citizen of the city of Worcester, where he has been a member of the city government and of the School Board. He is much interested in ed- ucational affairs, and has made large dona- tions to the Worcester Academy, being a member of its Board of Finance. John Brad- ford Dexter, Jr., another brother, was a mem- ber of the City Council of Boston, and also served as clerk of the Municipal Court of Worcester for many years.

George Dexter, the date of whose nativity

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Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1901, Part 8

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

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