Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 68

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 68

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).

bore a prominent part in the investigations relative to the source of water supply, as well as the final choice of the Ludlow reservoir, and in the carrying out of the enterprise by which the city secured its abundant and healthful sup- ply of water.

It was as the great economist of Springfield, however, that Mr. Harris rendered the most signal service, not only to the community, but to the whole country. In 1875, at the call for retrenchment, Mr. Harris took service in the common council from Ward Four, and for three years and during all the last year of Mayor Wight's administration he carried the government burden on his soul day and night. The shrinkage in values had only then just begun, and Mr. Harris incessantly and upon every occasion, in private and in public life, told men they would live to see Main street property selling for half what it was then held at, and that if taxes were not reduced, not only Springfield but New York and nearly all the cities in the country would decline into repudiation. He was regarded by many as a visionary and a dreamer, by others with dread, as they feared to face the truth; but time proved a cruel vindicator of his judgment, so far as the valuation of property is concerned, and the retrenchment which he advised saved the city from the alternative of repudiation. He devoted himself to the campaign of econ- omy with that thorough scholarship which was his ready resource. He analyzed the appro- priations for successive years, showed pre- cisely where the increase had been, and demon- strated the preposterous fallacy underlying valuations, by showing the absurdity of pre- suming any such increase in the accumulation of wealth per capita. He pricked the bubble of inflation estimates, courageously applied the knife of retrenchment to the twinging nerves of the public service, reduced expenditure and taxation one-half, and placed the city early amid her contemporaries on the hard-pan, ready to take advantage of a new era of pros- perity. He restored prudence to a spendthrift people and stayed the hand of the tax gatherer. Mr. Harris's labors were of a thoroughly pub- lic character. He often seemed personal, and there was no respect in which he was worse misunderstood or felt more keenly the popular misapprehension. If he was ever personal, it was because he made the public cause his own. He was wounded by personal spite and malig- nity freely made against him in connection with the controversy over the salary of an official, who, in his opinion, forced his services

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upon the city and then demanded compensa- tion for them. The settlement of the right principle involved was all he ever contended for. Not long before his death, in speaking of his amicable relationship with the men he had met in the world, he said: "I have been a man of fight. Since I was thirty years old and came to have responsibilities of my own, there has not been a day in which I have not had some controversy on my hands, some great litigation, some railroad, telegraph or insur- ance quarrel, or some public question ; but, fighting character as I am, I never raised my hand against a man, or had a hand raised against me, never sued a man nor have been sued, nor had any lawsuit in my private affairs." On public questions he fought alone as well as with a regiment, but no one can look upon his character and associate with it any rancor and selfishness, and the tranquil flow of his private affairs would show that such traits formed no part of his character, even if the generosity of his public bestowals and labors did not richly justify a more positive vindica- tion. That he was always solicitous to pre- serve amicable personal relations with those from whom he differed most radically, has been often exemplified by his sending for opponents, after the heat of the contest, to meet him socially. He was utterly devoid of the papish pretension which sometimes accom- panies great personal force. Going into the Republican office once in the early days of the Wight administration, he was met by Mr. Bowles, in his free and easy way, with a jovial hail, "Well, how are you, Boss Reformer?" Mr. Harris's deeply bronzed and leonine fea- tures blushed like a girl's at the compliment. and his momentary embarrassment revealed the inmate modesty and genuine self-abnega- tion of the man.

Mr. Harris was deeply concerned with the city library, and was president of the corpora- tion at his death. When the library building had been completed at an expense of $100,000, and there still remained a debt of $25,000 to clear, the task of raising the money was intrusted to Mr. Harris, and was done with his usual zeal and persistence. He was able to report at the next annual meeting that the entire amount had been raised. He gave $10,500 to the library fund. He was a liberal contributor also to the Wesleyan University, his alma mater, and was never slow to any public charity which he was convinced was doing good commensurate with the outlay.

The duties and responsibilities of life were

by no one more deeply felt and considered than by Mr. Harris. He was eminently reli- gious in his feelings, without being supersti- tious and bigoted. When he went to Spring- field to live he attended the First Church, but subsequently joined the South Church, and continued his connection with it to the close of his life. He was a member of Judge Chap- man's Bible class for several years until the Judge left the city, and then he became its teacher. His explanations of obscure passages were always plain and forcible, and the many young and elderly people who were at various times members of his class look back with pleasure upon their connection with it. In the latter part of 1871 he moved with others, for a better place of worship, and went earnestly into the work of soliciting funds for a new church edifice. He gave liberally of his own means, and was instrumental in securing many subscriptions to the building fund. He was appointed a member of the building commit- tee ; but as a more expensive building than to him seemed wise was generally desired he withdrew from it. He, however, continued to give such advice and assistance as was needed, and maintained friendly interest in the work until the building was finished. In 1874 Mr. Harris made a second trip to Europe, going to London to assist in the making a sale of the right to use the vacuum brake upon English railroads. His daughter Lillie and his daughter-in-law Ida accompanied him. They sailed from New York on August I, and embarked for home on September 15, having spent most of the time in London and Paris. His last visit to the Old World was in 1877, when he went out to get rest from business cares. He sailed from New York on July 18, and was accompanied by his wife, his daugh- ters Lillie and Etta, and Rev. Dr. Bucking- ham. He remained abroad throughout the summer months.

It seems hardly proper to close this article without quoting some of the things that have been said regarding Mr. Harris's traits of character. To those who met him for a special purpose, he appeared gifted as a talker. His statements were clothed in language which conveyed liis precise meaning, and were made without hesitation, but in reality his conversa- tional powers were not large. He could state a fact clearly, and easily express any conclu- sion he had drawn from it ; but he could not entertain a company as an after-dinner talker. He needed the inspiration of a great cause to quicken his thoughts. He seldom mnade a set

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speech before a public audience, but when called out on any question to which he had previously given thought, he could talk well. In this way he often surprised his friends by his array of facts and the diversity of his information. His taste for literature leaned strongly toward the substantial, from which he could gain information. That which served only to amuse had no interest to him. Scien- tific information he always treasured for the benefit it might be to him in the future. In business he was active and aggressive, and whatever he found for his hands to do, he took hold of with all his might. He was ready for a conflict whenever he considered the occasion demanded it, and the determined spirit which he manifested often misled his opponents and the public, who knew him only through the newspapers or from the reports of those who opposed his measures. It has been supposed that such a man must of necessity carry the same spirit to his home. In this instance nothing could be further from the truth. No one enjoyed his family more than he, or could be more yielding to their wants and wishes. The cares of business were laid aside when he left his office, and there came that genial flow of good feeling which made his home agreeable and delightful to all. He entered heartily into whatever interested his family. His wife bore this testimony of him : "I lived with him thirty-six years, and until he was sick I do not remember that I ever saw him impatient. He never spoke a harsh word to me, or complained of anything which I did. He was often very much in earnest, but I should never call him impulsive. He seemed to think twice always before speaking."

His stature was five feet seven inches, and his weight when in good health was one hun- dred fifty pounds. His eyes were gray, and his hair in early manhood was dark brown. He was always neatly and plainly dressed, and there was never any attempt at display in his personal appearance. He was remarkably systematic in his affairs. Papers relating to every business transaction were carefully pre- served, and placed where he could find them at any time. When he went to college, he made an inventory of every article in his pos- session, including clothing, books, etc., which is still among his papers. His accounts at that time were kept with strict accuracy, and they show the nature of each purchase. He did not believe in charging even small items as "Sun- dries." He began keeping a journal while in college, entering only the most important

occurrences. This habit he kept up to con- siderable extent through life. When he went on a journey he kept a record of all his experiences and observations. Wastefulness, wherever he saw it, even in unimportant mat- ters, annoyed him exceedingly. He was by no means penurious. Whatever was necessary was right; beyond that, all that was used he regarded as waste, and whoever showed waste- fulness in small things was sure to in larger ones. Mr. Harris was not what might be called a humorous man, though he appreciated keen wit. He could not see any fun where most others could. He never made puns or jokes; could not bear mimicry or imitation, and never encouraged it in any member of his family. He was choice in the use of language, and never uttered anything that even sounded like an oath. He never used a by-word or slang phrase, and "fudge" was the strongest term he used to express the utmost contempt. He never used tobacco in any form, having promised his father in early youth that he would not; and he never formed the habit of taking intoxicating drinks. He never spent any time idling in saloons and bar-rooms. His motto in regard to forming any bad habit was this : "It is much easier not to begin than it is to break off." He placed great confidence in those who had expressed friendship and given evidence of sincerity. Nothing grieved him more than to find himself betrayed by one in whom he had confided. The true Puritan spirit was largely represented in Mr. Harris's life and example, and the good such men do can not be measured by the generation familiar . with their works. The world counts success only from immediate results ; but the success which endures is that which comes with the maturity of time. His life was full of activity and usefulness-a bright and shining example ; and his good name will be an inheritance to the coming generations bound to him by the ties of kindred.

Daniel L. Harris and Harriet Octavia Cor- son were married at the Mansion House, in Albany, New York, May 25, 1843, by Rev. J. N. Campbell, pastor of the First Presby- terian Church. She was born in Canastota, New York, January 18, 1824, and died in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 10, 1904, aged eighty years. Her parents were James and Sarah (Evans) Otis Corson. Eleven children were born of this marriage: I. Edgar Lester, July 26, 1844, died December 9, 1846. 2-3. Twin daughters, August 9, 1846, died August 10, 1846. 4. Corinne Lester, August 31, 1848;

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married Edward S. Brewer, of Springfield, June 2, 1869; children: Edith Clement, mar- ried Franklin Weston, of Dalton, Massachu- setts; Edward Harris, married Amy Waller, of Chicago; Maude Porter, married Howard Lang, of Boston. 5. Harriet Buckingham, September 15, 1850; died November 2, 1852. 6. Azariah, March 8, 1853, died February 7, 1892; married Ida C. Kibbee, of Springfield, July 4, 1874; children : Harriet Esther. mar- ried Edward Ritzenthaler, and lives in Auburn, New York; Ambia Boody, married James Hooker, and lives in Rochester, New York; Daniel Lester, died aged fourteen ; Margaret Ida, married Isaac Allison, and lives in Elmira, New York. 7. S. Jeannie, April 26, 1854, married, September 24, 1879, Henry Kingsley Baker, and lives in Springfield; chil- dren : Corinne Harris ; Kingsley, died October 29, 1903; Lester Harris. 8. Lillie Johnston, January 26, 1856; married Damon N. Coats, May 16, 1883, and died January 20, 1887; child: Sylvia Marguerite, married Robert C. Fenner, February 12, 1908, and resides in Brookline, Massachusetts. 9. Ambia Corson, May 28, 1859, resides in the old homestead. Io. Henrietta Clark, June 20, 1861 ; married, October 10, 1883, William Allen Harris, and resides in Springfield, Massachusetts; chil- dren : Henrietta Corson, William Allen, Ches- ley Gardner, Hart Lester, Daniel Lester, Ambia Harris and Harriet Octavia. II. Cor- nelia Hawkins, July 10, 1866; married, Octo- ber 10, 1889, Edwin R. Lancaster; no chil- dren ; they live in New York City.

(For first generation see preceding sketch).

HARRIS (II) William, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Harris, was a resi- dent of Charlestown, Rowley and Middletown. In 1652 he sold John Green- land fifteen acres left by Deacon William Stet- son, his stepfather. His wife, Edith Harris, was admitted to the church 30 (9) 1642, and died August 5, 1685. He married (second) Lydia, widow of Joseph Smith. Wyman makes no mention of this last. Savage says his chil- dren were: Hannah, Mary, Martha, Elizabeth and Patience.

(III) John, of Charlestown, who may have been a son of William and Edith Harris, has left no record of the date of his birth, marriage or death. The records show that in 1658 he was granted fifteen acres of woods and two and one-half acres of cow commons. He mar- ried Amy, daughter of Joseph Hills. She was

admitted to the church 9 (6) 1656. Their children were: Samuel, John, Thomas (died young ), Thomas and Joseph.

(IV) Thomas (2), fourth son of John and Amy (Hills) Harris, was born March 18, and baptized 29 (3) 1664, and died October 5, 1747, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, as appears on his gravestone. He was taxed 1727-1737, and his tax was abated February 5, 1739; he was also taxed 1741-1746. He appears as a party to three deeds. His will dated February 1, 1736, was probated October 19, 1747. He was a tailor. He married (first) February 25, 1686, Hepsiba Crosswell, born May 20, 1666, daughter of Thomas and Pris- cilla (Upham) Crosswell, who was baptized 6 (12) 1686, admitted to the church June I, 1718, and died December 3, 1718 (or as the record states-1717). He married (second) August 26, 1719, Eleanor Miller, who was admitted to the church August 13, 1721, and died September 8, 1734, as stated on the foot- stone at her grave. He married (third) pub- lished March 22, 1735, Mary Dana, who mar- ried (second) 1848, John Brewster. His chil- dren were: Thomas, Hepzibah, William (died young). Silence, Ebenezer, William, John, Abi- gail, Rachel and Elizabeth.

(V) Thomas (3), eldest child of Thomas (2) and Hepsiba (Crosswell) Harris, was born in Charlestown, November 13, 1686, bap- tized 6 (12) 1687, and died probably 1768. He was taxed as "Thomas Jr." 1727-1746, and as "Thomas" 1748-1766. His name appears on record both as grantor and grantee in vari- ous transfers of land, 1715-21-24-32-33. The last is a purchase with Mr. Brigden of Benja- min Lawrence of a wharf near the ferry. Administration of his estate was granted to his son John, April 15, 1766. The estate was assigned to son John and daughter Martha in 1768, but there is no invention or description of it. He married, June 3, 1708, Mary Dowse, born in Charlestown, April 17, 1686, daughter of Deacon Samuel and Faith ( Jewett) Dowse. Their children were: Martha, Mary, Thomas, Anna, John and Jonathan.

(VI) John (2), second son of Thomas (3) and Mary ( Dowse) Harris, was baptized June 1, 1718, in Charlestown, and died November 1, 1780. He was a potter, September 20, 1741, he was admitted to the church. He was taxed 1741-1773, and was the seventy-ninth in point of valuation in the town. He bought various parcels of land on Charles river. April 3, 1782, administration was granted on his estate

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to his son John; the inventory mentions man- sion and lane, two acres of pasture, and a large personal estate. He married, June 12, 1740, Mellicent Rand, born June 3, baptized June 4, 1721, daughter of Jonathan and Melli- cent (Esterbrook) Rand, of Charlestown, who was admitted to the church September 20, 1741. Her gravestone at Malden bears the Inscription : "Mildred, wife of John Harris, died at Malden, June 20, 1775. ae. 55." He married (second) March 19, 1778, Elizabeth Miller, of Medford, widow of Captain John Miller, of Charlestown. She married (third) Richard Devens, and died November 1, 1780, aged, as the gravestone states. sixty-four. John's children were: Mellicent, Mary (died young), Mary, John, Thomas, Jonathan and Hannah, all by wife Mellicent.

(VII) Captain Thomas (4), second son of John (2) and Mellicent (Rand) _Harris, was born in Charlestown. October 15, 1749, and died in Boston, June 14 or 15, 1814, aged sixty-five. He was a sea captain. He and his wife and five children are in the census of 1789. He married, August 18, 1776, Mary Frothingham, who was baptized in Charles- town, July 14, 1754, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary ( Whittemore) Frothingham. Their children were: Mary (died young), Thomas (died young), Thomas, John, Mary, Eliza, Sarah, George and Harriet.

(VIII) Captain Thomas (5), second son of Captain Thomas (4) and Mary (Froth- ingham) Harris, was born, as he has written, "in Boston, May 14, 1779, on the southwest corner of Winter and Common, now Tremont street. where the Witwell House now stands." He died in Brattleboro, Vermont, August 18, 1840. He was a sea captain and made many long voyages to various ports of the world, and was also a merchant. Among the quite numerous land transactions to which he was a party are a transfer to S. Knowles and Thomas Harris by Thomas Robbins, of a lot on the square in 1815. In 1816, S. Knowles and Thomas Harris granted the same lot to the town of Charlestown for the site of a town hall. After quitting the sea he was sent by certain marine insurance com- panies, in 1835, as their agent, to take care of and repair vessels damaged by storms, col- lisions, &c., on which they had insurance, hav- ing his residence in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. He filled this position till the panic of 1837 and then returned to this country and settled at Brattleborough, Vermont, where he

died. In a manuscript he left, Thomas Harris states, concerning his grandfather, Captain Thomas Harris, "He lived on a line between Copp's Hill in Boston and Bunker Hill in Charlestown, with a steep sand beach in front of his house, a little to the eastward of a creek that led into the Town dock, so called. He was a potter, and owner of vessels in the cod fisheries, and owned a number of stores; and in winter when the vessels could not go on the Banks, he sent them to the southward with earthenware and notions. *

* I believe he and Richard Devens, known as Commissary Devens, married sisters, for their second wives." Captain Thomas (5) Harris married (first ) Lucinda Smith Fales, published Decem- ber 2, 1804. He married ( second) Abigail Chapin, who was born in Orange, Massachu- setts, July 2, 1789, and died in Jeffrey, New Hampshire, August 3, 1870. She was the daughter of Oliver and Mary (Jones) Chapin, of Brattleboro, Vermont. She was admitted to the second (Unitarian) church April 7, 1833. Their children were: George Oliver, Charles Chapin, Thomas Edwin, Mary Chapin, Frederick Harper, Julia Jones, Frank Orne, Sophia Orne, all except the first baptized at the Second Church, March 17, 1833.

(IX) Frederick Harper, fourth son of Cap- tain Thomas (5) and Abigail ( Chapin ) Harris, was born in Charlestown, June 22, 1823. He attended the public schools of his native city until his parents went to Cowes, when he accompanied them. Soon afterward he was sent to Hamburg, Germany, where he studied two and a half years, and among other things acquired a practical knowledge of the German language. On the return of his parents from Cowes he came back to America, and when a little more than fifteen years of age ( Decem- ber, 1838) he became a clerk in the old Spring- field Bank. He remained with that institution about six years, afterward became cashier of the Pynchon bank. He attended faithfully to his duties there till March 22, 1864, when the Third National Bank of Springfield was opened, when he became cashier, and from that time till now he has been connected with what is now ( 1909) the strongest bank in the city. and since 1886 filled the office of president. This bank, started in "War times," with a capital of $500,000, has, through the wise management of its officers, paid an annual dividend of ten per cent, and now has a surplus of over half a million, deposits of nearly four millions, and its stock sells at 225 per cent of

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its face value. Mr. Harris began banking seventy years ago, and has probably been longer in the banking business than any other man in the state of Massachusetts. His atten- tion has been chiefly to banking, but he has also taken part in the management of other concerns. He has been a director in the Spring- field Fire and Marine Insurance Company for about fifty years, and is now its oldest director both in age and in length of service. He was a director of the Connecticut River railroad for years, being elevated at the same time that Nehemiah Leonard was made president. He was a director of the Hampden Insurance Company, which broke in consequence of the great drain made on it to pay its losses in the great fire in Portland, Maine, in 1866. He was first a Whig and then a Republican, cast his first presidential vote for Henry Clay, and his first Republican presidential vote for John C. Fremont. He filled the office of alderman several times, but has never held any other political office. He is a member of the Nayasset, the Winthrop and the Country Clubs. In the course of years he has taken an occasional respite from work to devote to travel and recreation, and has visited many of the beauty spots and pleasure resorts of the United States including California and Florida, and the Bahama Islands, and portions of Canada.

Frederick H. Harris married, January 26, 1846, Martha Asenath Bliss, who was born April 1, 1825, and died January 22, 1890; she was the daughter of Theodore Bliss of Spring- field, born March 4, 1789, died December 13, 1844, and his wife Juliet Henrietta Mann, died April 9, 1879. (See Bliss). The children of this marriage are two: I. Mary Chapin, born in Springfield, March 19, 1847, died in Florence, Italy, January 28, 1900; she married (first ) February 18, 1873, Edward Whitney Lambert, merchant, of West Newton, son of Henry and Katherine ( Porter) Lambert. He died of consumption at Aitken, South Carolina, March 25, 1874. She married (second) September 26, 1877, Charles Theodore Farlow, merchant, of Newton, son of, John Smith and Nancy Wright ( Blanchard ) Farlow : he died in Flor- ence, Italy, February 4900. 2. Frederick, born September 26, ; married, September 3, 1879 Emily, eldest child of David M. and Eliza (Wright) Osborne, of Auburn, New York. They have two children : Florence Osborn, born in Springfield, November 12, 1882; Helen Osborne, born in Springfield, May 14, 1888. Mr. Harris is now ( 1909) cashier of the Third National Bank.

William Richard Cutter, author CUTTER and editor, is a direct descend- ant of Elizabeth (1) Cutter, a widow, who came to New England, about 1640, and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 10, 1663, (1663-64). In her will she gave her age as about eighty-seven years, but as she lived about two years longer, she was at death aged about eighty-nine. She dwelt with her daughter in Cambridge about twenty years. Three of her children emigrated to this country : William, who after living in Amer- ica about seventeen years, returned to his former home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in Eng- land; Richard, the founder of the . Cutter family in America; and Barbara, her daugh- ter, who came to this country unmarried, and later married Mr. Elijah Corlet, the school- master of Cambridge. In a relation Elizabeth made before the church she is called "Old Goodwife Cutter," and she makes a statement to the effect that she was born in some small place, without a church, near Newcastle-upon- Tyne. She "knew not" her father, who may have died in her infancy, but her mother sent her, when she was old enough, to Newcastle, where she was placed in a "godly family," where she remained for about seven years, when she entered another where the religious privileges were less. Her husband died, and she was sent to Cambridge, New England, and came thither in a time of sickness and through many sad troubles by sea. What her maiden name was is not known to the present writer. From her own statement the inference is drawn that her mother at least was in humble circumstances. She had with her in Cambridge a sister or a sister-in-law, a widow named Mrs. Isabella Wilkinson, who undoubtedly was from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. There is more known of the Cutters in Newcastle, where it is said an English antiquary has discovered the name of the grandfather of William and Rich- ard Cutter, and this information is as yet withheld from us.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 68

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924