USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > Genealogies of some old families of Concord, Mass. and their descendants in part to the present generation, 1887 > Part 23
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HUMPHREY.
JOHN HUMPHREY1398, a graduate of Bridgewater Normal School, 1855, enlisted in United States Navy, at Charles- town, Mass., June, 1861 ; subsequently detailed to United States steamship " Cumberland," which started for the seene of action, stopping to bombard Forts Henry and Hatteras, and then proceeded to their station off' Newport News at the mouth of the James River, where they were placed with the United States steamship " Congress," to guard the river, and where the historic aetion took place between them and the rebel iron-clad " Merrimae," and where he fell, one of the first vietims ; his remains were not recovered.
WILLIAM S. HUMPHREY1478, of Bridgeport, Conn., engaged in 1835 in the india-rubber trade, then in its infancy. In 1849 he visited California. Returning in 1852, he became superintendent of a rubber packing and belting factory in Newtown, where he remained several years. In 1865 he established a business of making steam boilers in Bridgeport,
Com., a successful business, in which he continued until his death, which resulted accidentally from the falling of a tree.
HUNT.
REUBEN HUNT 5, a son of Simon and Mary (Raymond) Hunt. He was one of the founders of the Congregational Unitarian church in Charlestown; he died in 1816. During his life he had accumulated a large property. His wife was Rebecca Barrett 1850.
SIMON HUNTA6%, born in Concord, Mass., 1784. and re- moved to Camden, Maine, in 1806, where he resided until his death in 1865, a period of nearly sixty years. During the War of 1812, while a British squadron was riding at anchor in the bay, he ventured ont in a small boat to recon- noitre the English men-of-war. He was captured. and in- prisoned for one week. Ilis wife, Hannah B. (Roger-) Hunt, died in Camden in 1882.
SIMON HUNT997, of Hudson, Wis. He was born in Cam- den, Maine, in 1826, received an academic education at home, learned the trade of shoe-making in Georgetown. Mass., removed to Missouri, 1851, and is now engaged in business at Hudson, Wis. His wife, Jane C. (Arey) Hnut, a very estimable lady, died in 1883.
JONES.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS JONES-3 was born in Waketiekl, Mass. He was engaged in the hotel business all his life, hay- ing been some years steward of the old Winthrop House in Boston, before it was burned. He was proprietor of the Norfolk House for twenty-five years. It was his pride during many years to say that he was the second oldest hotel-keeper in Boston, Harvey D. Parker being the oldest. He was con- nected with the Masonic order, and a member of the Joseph Warren Counnandery of Knights Templars. Mr. Jones lived in Boston from 1836 to the time of his death. except- ing about two years spent in New York. He came to the Norfolk Honse in 1859. He married Isanna Brigham. and their only danghter married William Warren Davis of Boston.
ELNATHAN JONES4692 of Sonth Acton, Mass .. of the house of Tuttle, Jones & Wetherbee, which was established nearly fifty years ago, and now so well known in South Aeton and its vicinity. Mr. Jones was several years in the employ- ment of this house before being admitted to the partnership. He is a man of very successful business abilities, and of the highest integrity ; has held some of the minor offices in his town, and has been always deeply interested in the welfare of the Universalist society. His fellow-citizens would have often been glad to elect him to otliee. He has, however, dis- conraged all sneh prominence.
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OLD FAMILIES, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
LEWIS.
BETSEY L. (BARRETT) LEWIS2-17 of Lewiston, Wis. She married Edward F. Lewis, and in 1849 they moved to what is now Lewiston, her present home (the town taking its name from that of her husband). At that time the country was in the possession of the Indians, and was before the government had made its survey of the lands. She shared with her husband a conscientious and an active life, both in public and private stations. Mr. Lewis was elected sheriff of the county in 1857, and soon after the breaking out of the war was appointed provost-marshal of the congressional district, and held the office until the close of the war. He died in 1885.
FRANKLIN FILLMORE LEWIS2631, of Portage. Wis., finished his education in the State Normal School of Wisconsin. He taught school for a time, and was principal of the public schools of Whitewater, Wis., and is now engaged in the manufactory with his brother at Portage, Wis.
JUDSON ADONIRAM LEWIS2828 enlisted in Company G, Second Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, at the beginning of the Rebellion ; being then under age. his name was taken from the enlistment. The year following, having gained his parents' consent, he again enlisted, and in Company C, Twenty-third Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers. He was with the regiment during its marches and engagements in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Mississippi. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, in 1863, and on May 22, at the time of a charge upon the enemies' works, he was shot. in the head and killed. He was color-bearer of his regi- ment at the time. He was buried with others of the killed by the enemy.
STEPHEN BARRETT LEWIS2630, of Portage, Wis., graduated from the State Normal School of Wisconsin, 1874. He was elected principal of the schools of Clinton, Wis., the same year, and continued in this position for nine years. After this he engaged in the woollen manufacture at Portage, Wis.
MILES.
C'APT. CHARLES MILES155^ of Concord, Mass .. the hus- band of Ruth Barrettisss, was in a company of ninety-four minute-men in the Revolution. He commanded his company in the " Concord tight," into which he said he " went with the same seriousness as if he were going to the house of God." He was also in command at Ticonderoga.
MARTIN.
MES. LIZZIE EDNA (JONES) MARTIN HAS. of Boston, Mass .. is an artist and teacher, well known to art lovers of Boston
and New York, having been engaged in the work for more than ten years. She has instructed pupils from all parts of the Union in oil, water-color, and china painting. Some of Mrs. Martin's productions have become celebrated, not alone in her own country, a few of her exquisite flower pictures having been collected by London houses to be lithographed for art studies.
MATSELL.
GEORGE WASHINGTON MATSELL2501, born in New York City, Oct. 25, 1811, and was a pupil of Coates Academy, in that city. At an early age, as a sailor boy, he made several voyages to the West Indies and China. In 1826, he was apprenticed, as designer of patterns, to Messrs. Barrett, Tileston & Co., of the New York dyeing and printing establishment of Staten Island. From 1837 to 1843 was major of the Sixth Infantry of the State of New York; in 1840 appointed police magistrate at the Tombs, New York ; after holding that position for five years, was appointed, in 1845, chief of police by Mayor Havemeyer, and under whose able administration he originated the first police sys- tem in the United States, bringing together all the informa- tion on the subject, from whatever quarters it could be found. From these sources, and from his own practical experiences and observations, was drawn up, in 1845, the first manual of rules and regulations of the police department in the United States. He held the office of chief of police, continuously,
under the mayoralties of Havemeyer, Meckle, Brady, Have- meyer (second term), Woodhull, Kingsland, Westervelt, and Wood. He was admitted as a counsellor of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In 1857 he retired to his farm in Iowa. In 1873 he was appointed superintendent of police, when the Hon. Wm. F. Havemeyer was re-elected for the third term ; and in the same year was appointed by him police commissioner, and elected president of the board of police. Ile died at his residence in Fifty-eighth Street, New York City, and was buried in Trinity cemetery on the bank of the Hudson River. His wife was Ellen M. Barrett2501, daughter of George M. Barrett2152.
NOURSE.
MAJOR BARNARD NOURSE 3 was born in Bolton. where he aftewards lived during his life. He was a farmer, and served for several years as a representative in the State Legislature, and held a major's commission in the militia of Massachu- setts. He married Hannah Barrett 742.
CALEB NOURSE750 of Bolton. He was a school teacher for many years, in the latter part of his life engaging in farm- ing. He held nearly every office in his town, - an honored citizen. He died in 1884.
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Charles F. Potter C
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Henry Poltio
OLD FAMILIES, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
PIERCE.
REV. JOHN DAVIS PIERCE2690 of Ypsilanti, Mich. From the age of two years until twenty, he lived with a paternal uncle in Worcester, Mass. After this, obtaining employ- ment as a farm laborer, he saved one hundred dollars ; with a like sum, given to him by his grandfather, he started ont to acquire au education. The 14th of December, 1817, he walked fourteen miles, buying a Latin grammar on the way, and taking his first lesson in Latin that evening, under Rev. Enoch Pond. He entered Brown University the following September, and by close application, graduated in 1823, in the first eight of his class of thirty-six. He was settled as a pastor in Oneida County, N. Y., in 1823, remaining until 1829, when the Masonic and anti-Masonic contest rendered it necessary for him to close his pastorate. He received a commission from the Home Missionary Society in 1831; in July, of the same year, removed to Marshall, Mich., labor- ing there as a missionary until July 26, 1836, in which year he was appointed superintendent of public instruction. His first work in this office was to draw np a plan for the organization of the primary schools and of the State Univer- sity, and the disposal of the primary school and university lands. He presented this plan to the Legislature in Janu- ary, 1837, when it was adopted with very few amendments. He held this office for five years. In 1842, he returned to the Christian ministry, and continued therein until 1847, when he was elected to the State Legislature ; was chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations in the House. He in- troduced and succeeded in carrying a resolution instructing the Michigan delegation in the national Congress to oppose the introduction of slavery into the Territories. He also prepared and carried the homestead exemption law, the first law of this kind enacted in the United States. In 1850 was a member of the convention for framing a new constitution for the State.
POTTER.
DEA. CHARLES FRANCIS POTTER5211 of Boston, Mass .. born at Concord, and is a descendant from several of the earliest families that settled there ; of these, his grandmother was Lucy Hosmer. She was a daughter of Nathan Hosmer, whose wife was Bulah Hosmer, both descendants of James Hosmer. who first settled in Concord. His great-grand- father, Jonas Potter. married Persis Barrett, daughter of Col. James Barrett. Judah Potter, the son of Luke Potter and grandfather of Jonas, married Grace Brooks, daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Mason) Brooks. Mr. Potter is a man of high business integrity and perfect uprightness. Entirely free from all questionable indulgences, his moral and Christian character are without a stain. A Universalist in faith, he honors his profession, and devotes himself assid- nonsly to the promotion of church interests. As an indica- tion of the esteem in which he is held by his Christian acquaintance, it may be noticed that he has been an officer
in the Universalist Sunday-School Union, embracing nearly twenty different schools, for twenty-seven years, including the secretaryship for ten years, and all the subordinate offices at different times. He is now president of the Union, and has been often called to preside over other bodies. in which duties he displays rare abilities. Mr. Potter was a deacon in the Universalist church at Brighton.
HENRY POTTER56, of Cambridge, Mass .. was born in Con- cord, and was a resident of Cambridge for nearly half a century, and was always an active promoter of any enter- prise calenlated to benefit his city. One of the original charter members of the Cambridge Horse Railroad Company, and some time its president, it was mainly through his influ- ence and subscriptions that the North Avenue and Arlington branch of that road was built. He was also associated with the birth and growth of the Cambridge Gas Light Company and Water Works, and to the stock of both companies sub- scribed largely. Mr. Potter was likewise one of the organ- izers of the Cambridge Market Bank, of which he was president for many years. He was also president of the Harvard Manufacturing Company, and had held the offices of president and director in many institutions, but at the time of his death had relinquished all of these positions excepting the chairmanship of the trustees of the Cambridge Horse Railroad bonds and director in the Gas Light Company, the latter company stoutly declining to accept his resignation, but relieved him from all labor connected with the position. Mr. Potter is remembered as a very benevolent man, always ready to give from his means to the deserving poor, and bestowing his bounty liberally. He was also well known as a merchant of Boston, of the house of Potter & Demmon. Hle retired from active business in 1865. Mr. Potter mar- ried, in 1843, Abigail Livermore Giles, daughter of Capt. Benjamin and Nancy ( Williams) Giles, born in Beverly. Mass., Feb. 10, 1811 (see "Giles Memorial, " p. 69). Nancy Williams was a daughter of Elisha Williams, who was born 1757, "graduated at Yale College. 1775, received the degree A. M. from Harvard and Yale, and who served on Gen. Washington's staff for a time, and later in lite became pastor of the Baptist church in Beverly and died there. 1845" (" History of Williams Family," pp. 165-165, and Bond's " Watertown Genealogies," p. 349). Abigail Livermore, wife of Elisha Williams, born 1758, died 1817. She was oldest daughter of Dea. Elijah Livermore. 1730-180%, a native of Waltham, deacon, chairman, and seleetman for a long period. He removed to Livermore, Me .. in 1779. of which township he was chief proprietor and first settler. He was emphati- cally the father of that town, and a man of great worth. - Bond's Watertown. p. 346.
HENRY STAPLES POTTERSON of Boston, son of Henry and Abigail Livermore (Giles) Potter of Cambridge, is one of the leading merchants of Boston, his hoase stan ling at the head of the canning business in New England.
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OLD FAMILIES, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
SAMUEL POTTER5169. At the time of the "Concord fight," April 19, 1775, he was a lad about seven and a half years of age. ITis father lived about one mile from the centre of the town, and one and one half miles from the battle-ground. When the British soldiers were scattered over the town on their errands of destruction, as some of them approached the house where he lived, his mother took him and the other two children (both girls) back of the house and hid them in the bushes. Small boy though he was, he took his father's gun, and when the soldiers passed through the house and out at the back door, he raised the gun to fire at them. His mother was quick enough to put her hand under the hammer to pre- vent the gun from discharging, thus, probably, saving their own lives.
SAMUEL POTTERJEG was carly in life engaged in the manu- facture of powder, in which business his rare ability and skill have gained for him the reputation of being the most skilful manufacturer of gunpowder in the country. For nearly forty years he was superintendent of the American Powder Company's Works at Acton, Mass., and for many years was one of its directors. His hair-breadth escapes from death by the explosions at the works were many. Scores of instances could be recounted when he had just left or was about to enter a mill before an explosion took place, which would have blown him to atoms. He passed through all of these dangers, and lived to a good age AAll honor to his name and race.
SILAS WARREN POTTER 212 was all through the War of the Rebellion : he was left for dead on the battle-field of Shiloh, but discovered to be alive the next day by a passing straggler, a Massachusetts man, who had known him at home. He was a prisoner at Libby Prison, and in company with two other prisoners dug a subterranean passage and escaped. After- wards a captain in the Fifty-ninth Veteran Regiment of Massachusetts ; was severely wounded in the head at the battle of the Wilderness. His wounds and shattered consti- tution were afterwards the cause of his death.
RUSSELL.
JAMES SULLIVAN RUSSELL, A. M.5068, of Lowell, Mass., now nearly eighty years of age. He studied at Brown University ; from this institution he received the honorary degree of A. M. He taught school in the various towns in the State, finally becoming teacher of mathematics in the Lowell, Mass., High School; continued forty-three years, retiring in 1881.
WILLIAM LAMBERT RUSSELL, M. D.5064, of Barre, Mass., a graduate of Harvard College, is an educated physician ; his wife, Mary Ann Warren, is a descendant of Gen. Warren.
SAWYER.
JOEL SAWYER786 of Bolton, Mass., a watch-maker, which trade he has followed for many years; later in life he has given his attention to that of millwright, having achieved considerable reputation by the thoroughness of his work. Ile married Sarah Barrett7 6.
DR. LEVI SAWYER 9 was a native of Bolton, Mass. ; he studied medicine, and practised in South Carolina and Georgia ; afterward returning to Bolton, he continued his practice until his death in 1841. His wife was Hannah Norse 749.
SEVER.
COL. JOHN SEVER1739 of Kingston, Mass. Col. Sever was a leading merchant, ship builder and owner. He was one of the originators and the first president of the Old Colony Railroad. He was very actively engaged in the construction of this road, his services in amicably settling land damages, and in other departments of the road, were valuable and duly appreciated. He was a successful business man, and had few superiors in Plymouth County. He was colonel of a regi- ment of Massachusetts militia.
MARTHA SEVERA54, with her sister, Ann D. Sever 1749, vol- unteered as hospital nurses in 1864. Martha died at the Military Hospital, Beverly, N. J., in 1864. The Grand Army Post of Kingston, Mass., is named in honor of her memory, -"The Martha Sever Post." Her name is also inscribed on the soldiers' monument erected at that place. Iler sister continned in the service at the hospital until it was abandoned.
SPALDING.
DR. EDWARD SPALDING 1039 of Nashua, N. H. A graduate from Dartmouth College, 1833. Studied medicine with his father and at the Harvard Medical School. Graduated an M. D., 1837. He has practised in his profession from that date to the present time in Nashua, N. H. Has several times been a member of the city government. Elected mayor in 1864; also elected a trustee of Dartmouth College in 1866. He assumed nearly the entire expense of publish- ing a history of his native town, Amherst, N. II. He mar- ried Dora Everett Barrett1039.
SWAIN.
CHIPMAN SWAIN1918. Until forty years of age lived in the house in which he was born, and for fourteen years was sheriff of Windham, his native county, in Vermont. 1842 to 1845 he was superintendent of the State Prison in Wind- sor, Vt.
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OLD FAMILIES, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
In 1855, at the age of sixty, he removed to Delton, Wis., and entered with much ardor in the work of making him a new home ; and thus his life was one of constant en- terprise and faithful activity until his death.
JOSEPH SWAIN1903 was son of Rev. John Swain, who was a noted divine of his day, and for the most part of his life was settled in Wenham, Mass. The great-grandfather of Rev. John Swain was Jeremiah Swain, Jr., who, with his father, came to this country and settled in Reading, Mass., about 1640. Ile was a major and a noted Indian warrior.
Elizabeth Chipman, the mother of Joseph Swain, was the daughter of John and Rebecca (Neale) Chipman. John Chipman was son of John Chipman, who came from Dor- chester, England, 1631.
Hope Howland, the wife of John Chipman, Sr., was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland.
John Tilley and wife and their daughter Elizabeth and John Howland came to this country in the " Mayflower."
PRESCOTT SWAIN1921 of Bronxville, N. Y. Mr. Swain, after the death of his brother James, assumed the name of James, and was known the greater part of his life as James Prescott Swain. He presented to the town of Concord, Mass., some relics of the Revolutionary War, at the cen- tennial anniversary of the " Concord fight," April 19, 1875 ; he was present on that day, when he contracted a severe cold, from which he died, April 27, 1875.
COPY OF A LETTER FROM JAMES P. SWAIN TO CHARLES THOMPSON, ESQ. BRONXVILLE, N. Y., March 24, 1875.
CHARLES THOMPSON, Esq.
Dear Sir, - About one hmidred and one years ago, Dr. Warren sent a young man, his nephew by marriage, Joseph Swain, son of Rev. Joseph Swain, of Wenham, to Concord, to take charge of the rebel armory. After repairing the guns generally in use, he attempted to make some new ones. For this purpose he returned to Salem to the edge-tool fac- tory of Mrs. Proctor, where he had previously had charge, and secured such tools as were to be had; and among them this anvil. which I now, through you, present to the town of Concord. On this anvil the first gun-barrel was wekled in Concord.
Col. James Barrett and his son James had, during the French war, furnished, through the commissary department in Boston, oat meal and some other provisions. This con- tinued on until near 1774. It was a conunon occurrence for a young staff officer to come to Concord on this business, and while waiting a reply would amuse himself by talking loyalty with James Barrett's oldest daughter, Meliscent, to hear her rebel replies. He asked her what they would do if it should become necessary for the Colonies to resist, as there was not a person who even knew how to make cartridges. She replied that they would nse their powder-horns and
bullets, just as they shot bears. "That," says the young man, " would be too barbarous ; give me a piece of pine, and I will show you how." AAfter whittling the stick to the proper form, he took these scissors, which I now present to the town of Concord, and cut the paper for the pattern cartridge.
The sequel shows how apt a scholar she was, for all the cartridges were made under her superintendence by the young ladies of Concord ; her only male assistant was her younger brother, the late Major James Barrett, who drove the last load of cartridges from the house after the British came in sight ou the 19th of April, 1775. After the war, Joseph Swain returned to Concord and married Meliscent Barrett, and took these relies to Halifax, Vt., where I came in possession of then.
Yours, JAMES P. SWAIN.
This letter is copied in manuscript, and in a frame with the scissors mentioned fastened thereon, is now hanging in the Public Library at Concord.
TRUE.
DR. HENRY AYER TRUE1835. A graduate of Bowdoin Col- lege, 1832. Studied medicine with Drs. Esterbrook of Camden and MeLean of Topsham, Me. Attended lectures at Boston and Brunswick, at which latter place he received a medical degree. He was appointed assistant superintending physician of the MeLean Asyhun at Somerville, Mass .. and afterwards was a druggist at New York City. He removed to Marion, Ohio, where ill health obliged him to abandon an extensive medical practice.
TAYLOR.
J. S. D. TAYLOR1047. A graduate of the University of Ver- mont ; studied law, and admitted to the bar ; principal of an academy at Plattsburg, N. Y., and for some years before his death was associate editor and proprietor of the St. Albans Message. He died in 1873. His wife was Susan Hall Bar- rett 1047.
WHITE.
JOHN II. WHITE2751 of New York City, " who married Lucy E. Barrett2751, was a native of New Hampshire, but in his early boyhood his parents settled in Hoosie Falls, Rens- selaer County, N. Y., where he was brought up, and which he always regarded as his country home. He was a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy. N. Y. He was admitted to the bar in this city in the winter of 1845. In the fall of 1849 he was elected to the Assembly from the First Assembly District of this city, his first vote having been cast for Henry Clay. In 1850, Mr. White was elected
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OLD FAMILIES, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
school commissioner for the first ward. In 1852 he was the Whig candidate for the office of judge of the Marine Court, in 1854 for the office of recorder, and in 1856 for the office of city judge. People addressed him as Judge White, and he was very generally known by that appellation. He was the ouly Republican member of the Assembly from this city in the Legislature of 1870. He became a candidate only five days before the election, and it was universally conceded that he was the only Republican who could carry the Eleventh District, which he represented. Mr. White was an active and zealous member of the Republican party during the Rebellion and since that time. For ten years successively he was a member of the Republican general committee of this city. He was a member of the Union League Club, and was one of the founders of the Masonic Lodge known as Kane Lodge. Mr. White was frank, impulsive, sympa- thetie, generous, and magnanimous even to a fault. In his political, professional, and social relations he was always ready to take the side of the weaker, and to strike rapid and vigorous blows on that side, without pausing to calculate the chances. In his conflicts at the bar he often broke through technicalities and achieved victory, where others, of more erudition but less courage, would have failed. It was this trait of his character which attracted to his side such a host of warin friends and admirers from all classes of people, as was amply attested by the large attendance at his funeral. By his integrity and industry he built up a flourishing busi- ness, and left a competency to his family. Ile will long be remembered in the metropolis as an able lawyer, a loyal and upright citizen, a fearless enemy of injustice and oppression of every kind, a prompt and energetic man of business, a sincere and faithful friend, and a cultivated and conscientious Christian gentleman." - New York Daily Register.
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