Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 35

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 850

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infancy; Mary Ellen, b. June 18, 1826, m. John Clark, of Williamsburg, N. Y., and d. in April, 1893.

The early years of Samuel Storms Houghton were passed at the parental home in Fairlee, Vt., where he received such education as was afforded by the district schools. Coming to Boston at the age of fourteen years to live with his brother George, who was engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business, he attended school two years, and after that was employed as a clerk in his brother's store. He first went into business for himself as a retail dealer in fancy goods on Washington Street, remaining there five years, and then removing to Tremont Street, opposite the Tremont House. He was associated with Mr. George Brooks for a short time, the partnership being dissolved by the death of Mr. Brooks. In 1858 Mr. Houghton went to New York City, and, forming a copart- nership with R. H. Macy, his brother-in-law, conducted a mercantile business for five years. Returning to Boston, he again went into busi- ness in the old Tremont Street store, in which while in New York he had retained an interest. The firm of S. S. Houghton & Co., of which he was the founder, eventually became Hough- ton, Dutton & Co. Establishing a department store on the north-west corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, they did an extensive and suc- cessful business. Mr. Houghton manifested great ability in the development of this enter- prise, and was the originator of many ideas which have been copied by the large depart- ment stores throughout the United States.

With the exception of the five years that he spent in New York City, Mr. Houghton was a resident of Melrose from January, 1849, to the date of his death, July 6, 1893. Much of his time during the summer seasons in the last ten or eleven years of his life was spent on his stock farm at Orford, N. H., on the Connecti- cut River, opposite Fairlee, Vt., his birthplace and boyhood's home. He bought this farm about the year 1882, and took great pleasure in its improvement. Among his valuable road horses was the famous stallion, "Guy Wilkes." Beside this country place he owned a large tract of land in Homosassa, Fla., with a fine orange orchard and excellent fishing and hunt-

ing grounds, which he enjoyed visiting in the winter months. Mr. Houghton contrib- uted liberally to the support of the Congrega- tional church of Melrose, of which he was an attendant. His political affiliations were with the Whig party and its successor, the Repub- lican.

He was married October 27, 1846, in Lyme, N. H., to Miss Mary Cross Converse, daughter of Marquis and Electa (White) Converse. He is survived by his wife and two children - Edward Howard and Mary Alice. Edward Howard, born June 17, 1851, was educated at Phillips (Andover) Academy. For some time after leaving school he was engaged with Mr. Dutton in the fancy goods business on Milk Street, Boston. At a later period for seven years he was with the mercantile firm of Wil- loughby Hill & Co., Chicago. Since his return to Boston he has not been in business. He is now travelling. Mary Alice, born April 28, 1856, was educated at Mr. Williams's pri- vate school in Boston and the Melrose High School. She was married October 17, 1877, to Harry Dutton, junior partner of the firm of Houghton & Dutton. Mr. and Mrs. Dutton reside in Medford. They have three daugh ters : Marion Houghton, born November 7, 1880; Mary Converse, born July 23, 1884; and Alice, born July 1, 1893.

Mrs. Houghton's father, Marquis Converse, of Lyme, N. H., was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Edward Converse, the im- migrant progenitor of one branch of the New England family of this name. The line as traced by Mr. Charles A. Converse, genealo- gist, of Philadelphia, is: Edward,' Samuel, 2 Samuel, Jr., 3 Thomas, 4 Joel, 5 Marquis6.

Edward Converse came to Massachusetts in Winthrop's fleet in 1630, and settled in Charlestown, Mass., where he was one of the Selectmen, and established the first ferry to Boston, being appointed its keeper by the General Court in June, 1631. The Court in October, 1640, granted the ferry to the college (Harvard). Edward Converse joined others in founding the town and in establishing the first church of Woburn, Mass. He built the first house and the first mill at Woburn, served as Deacon and Selectman, and in 1660 was

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Deputy to the General Court. He d. in Woburn, August 10, 1663.

Sergeant Samuel2 Convers, son of Deacon Edward and his second wife, Sarah, who came with him from England, was baptized at Charlestown, March 12, 1637, and killed by an accident in his corn mill in 1669. He m. in 1660 Judith, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Carter, the first minister of Woburn.

Samuel3 Convers, Jr., only son of Samuel2 and his wife, Judith, was b. in Woburn, April 4, 1662. In 1710 he removed with his wife, Dorcas, and their three children to Connecticut, being the first settler in Thompson Parish, town of Killingly, where he d. about 1732.

Thomas+ Convers, b. Woburn, Mass., Octo- ber 28, 1699, was a farmer in Thompson, Conn. He was twice m., and he had nine children. His first wife, Martha Clough, d. in 1735. He m. in 1737 Abigail Fay, daugh- ter of Samuel and Tabitha (Ward) Fay, and grand-daughter of John Fay, of Sudbury and Marlboro, and his wife, Mary Brigham, who was descended from Thomas Brigham, a large proprietor in Cambridge, Mass., 1638. John Fay served in King Philip's War as one of the defenders of William Kerley's house at Marl- boro. William Ward, another ancestor of Abigail Fay, was one of the founders of the town of Marlboro. It may here be men- tioned that Thomas Converse, Jr., eldest son of Thomas and Abigail, was a Captain in the Seventh "Connecticut Line" during the Rev- olutionary War, serving under Washington at Valley Forge, where he was appointed sub- inspector. After the war he was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut.

Joels Converse, b. in Thompson, Conn., September 2, 1750, son of Thomas4 and Abi- gail and brother of Captain Thomas, removed in 1789 to Lyme, N. H., where he was a farmer, and d. there June 29, 1832. His first wife, Damaris Wilson, d. leaving three chil- dren. He m. secondly, in 1785, Elizabeth Bixby, daughter of Jonathan Bixby, of Thomp- son, Conn., and descended also from Joseph Underwood, one of the proprietors at Hing- ham (1637) and Watertown, Mass., and from Joseph Bixby (1637), who was one of the lead- ing men of Boxford, Mass., and who served in

Captain Samuel Brocklebank's company in King Philip's War.

Marquis6 Converse, b. in Lyme, N. H., July 12, 1789, d. there November 21, 1840. He was a teacher, farmer, Selectman, and an active member of the Congregational church in Lyme. He m. Electa White. They had ten children, the seventh being Mary Cross, b. in Lyme, N. H., July 8, 1826, who m., as mentioned above, Samuel Storms Houghton, whom she survives. Mrs. Houghton continues to occupy the Houghton residence in Melrose.

OLONEL WILLIAM THOMAS GRAMMER, a well-known and re- spected citizen of Woburn, and a Grand Army veteran, was born on Charter Street, Boston, January 12, 1822, son of Captain William and Nancy Bartlett (White) Grammer. His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Webber) Grammer, the grandfather b. in Philadelphia in 1750 and of German ancestry. Joseph Grammer, being a youth of an adventurous disposition, ran away from home, and adopted a seafaring life. During the Revolutionary War, being engaged in privateering, he was captured by the British and confined for a time in the prison ship "Dartmoor. " After his release he located in Boston, where he resided for many years, following the trade of calker and graver. Subsequently he removed to Malden, where he d. in 1833. His wife, Elizabeth Webber, who was b. in Boston in 1758, passed away a short time before her husband, dying in 1832.

William Grammer, son of Joseph and father of William T. Grammer, was b. on Charter Street, Boston, January 3, 1800. He learned the trade of calker, which he followed in Boston for a number of years. In 1822 he removed to Woburn, and purchased a farm in the vicinity known as "Black Horse Village," which is now included in the town of Win- chester. Besides superintending this farm he carried on a grocery store, which business at that time included the sale of liquors. His store was on the main road to Boston, and flourished at a time when farmers drove into that city with their produce from Vermont and

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New Hampshire. He d. in Woburn in 1833, his death taking place in the same year as that of his father. His wife, Nancy Bartlett White, was a native of Boston, a daughter of Samuel and Penelope (Cades) White, and a lineal de- scendant of Resolved White, brother of Pere- grine, the first white child b. in New England. She survived her husband many years, dying in Woburn in 1880. She reared two children -- William Thomas and Samuel Aspinwall. The latter, b. in Woburn in 1824, m., first, Caroline Gray, and second, Laurena Hyde. By his first wife he had three children - Betsey Bartlett, William Dow, and Charles Lund.

William T. Grammer acquired the elements of knowledge in the public schools and at Warren Academy, Woburn. His mother being left in somewhat straightened circum- stances at her husband's death, he was obliged to earn his own living, although then ten years old, and accordingly entered the employ of S. S. Richardson, a pioneer shoe manufacturer of Woburn. While thus engaged he made several trips to Boston with two horses loaded with shoes consigned to Amasa Walker. After remaining with Mr. Richardson for somewhat more than a year, receiving his board for his services, he commenced at the age of twelve years to learn the trade of shoe- maker with another firm, and after a time was enabled to earn the munificent sum of two dollars per week. Later his wages were in- creased, and at the age of twenty-one he had by industry and economy saved three hundred dollars, with which he bought a piece of land on Warren Avenue, Woburn. After working a little longer as a journeyman, he started in business for himself as a manufacturer. At first he made, himself, all the shoes that he sold, but soon found himself obliged to hire two or three assistants. His business steadily grew till he had as many as seventy-five employees ; and he continued to carry it on up to 1875, since which time he has been serving in official positions, either national, State, or municipal. He has been a trustee of the savings bank, and director in the First National Bank of Woburn.

When a young man, Colonel Grammer be- came interested in the militia, in 1840 joining the Woburn Phalanx, In 1849 he was com-

missioned Lieutenant of Company G, Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia; and he subsequently rose through the inter- mediate ranks to that of Colonel, being thus commissioned in 1866. In 1862 he entered the service of the United States as Captain of Company G, Fifth Regiment, Volunteer In- fantry, which was attached to the Eighteenth Army Corps serving under General J. G. Fos- ter in North Carolina, and later formed a part of General Lew Wallace's command. In De- cember, 1862, he was detached to command a force to guard Forts Hatteras and Clark and the Cape Hatteras light-house. While in the army he attained the rank of Major, serving thus till 1864, when, his term of service hav- ing expired, he was honorably discharged. His position as Colonel of the Fifth Regiment he held from 1866 to 1868, when he resigned. He is a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. He belongs also to the Masonic order, joining in 1855 Columbia Lodge, F. & A. M., of Boston. Later he became a member of Hugh de Payen Commandery, K. T., and was Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge in the years 1870, 1871, and 1872.

Formerly a Whig in politics, Colonel Gram- mer later became a Free Soiler and afterward a Republican, of which party he has been a member since its formation. He has been four times Representative to the State Legis- lature, and while in the House served on various committees, being chairman of the committee on Military Affairs and that on Prisons. He was appointed a member of the Board of Harbor Commissioners by Governor Claflin, and reappointed to the same position by Governor Gaston, serving six years in all. Among the other members of the board at the time were Josiah Quincy, Chief Justice Mason, and Frederick W. Lincoln. He was appointed Postmaster of Woburn by President Arthur, and held that position for five years, or until the advent of President Cleveland. Colonel Gram- mer has also served the town and city of Woburn in various official positions. He was on the Board of Selectmen for several terms, was Assessor and also chairman of the Board of Assessors of the city of Woburn for twelve

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years, resigning the chairmanship in 1900, though still remaining a member of the board. For forty years he was moderator of the annual town meetings, being first elected in 1850; and he served in that capacity at the last town meeting (1889), at which time a municipal form of government was inaugurated.

In 1843 Colonel Grammer married Mary Elizabeth Wade, a native of Woburn, born April 19, 1825, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Reed) Wade.

Mrs. Grammer, who was a grand-daughter of George Washington Reed, died November 12, 1884. She was the mother of five children (two of whom died in infancy) : Mary Elizabeth, born January 3, 1849; Caroline Gray, born in 1851; and Alice Maria, born in 1859, Mary E. is the widow of George M. Buchanan, and the mother of two sons - George William and Clifford Grammer. Caroline G. married John W. Johnson, Esq., a lineal descendant of Ed- ward Johnson, one of the first settlers of Wo- burn. She has had seven children - Edward, Edna, Ruth, Ralph, Robert, Elizabeth Wade, and John.

ON. SAMUEL WALKER McCALL, LL. D., Representative of the Eighth Massachusetts District in the Fifty- seventh Congress, serving his fifth term as a member of the House, is a native of Pennsylvania, but has passed the greater part of his life in New England, and for a number of years has been a resident of Winchester, near Boston. Born at Ray's Hill, Bedford County, Pa., February 28, 1851, he was fitted for college at New Hampton (N. H. ) Academy, and was graduated Bachelor of Arts at Dart- mouth College, Hanover, N. H., in 1874. His parents were Henry and Mary Ann (Elliott) McCall. Remote ancestors may be looked for in Scotland, as the Elliotts of the olden time were a well-known family of the Scottish bor- der, and the early home of the McCalls was probably in that vicinity.

Nine McCall marriages were recorded in Christ Church, Philadelphia, in the eighteenth century (Pennsylvania Archives, second series, vol. viii.), the earliest that of: Anne Mc-

Call and Samuel McCall, May 28, 1737. An- other was of Eleanor McCall and Andrew Elliot, October 31, 1754; a third, Samuel McCall and Mary Cox, January 31, 1759. A notable one was that of Archibald McCall and Elizabeth Cadwalader, May 3, 1792. Archi- bald McCall was a Philadelphia merchant en- gaged in the East India trade. His wife, as we learn from the "Genealogy of the Morris Family of Philadelphia," was a daughter of General John Cadwalader, a distinguished offi- cer of the Revolution and a devoted friend of Washington. Archibald McCall was the father of Major General George A. McCall, United States Volunteers, in the Civil War. Among the McCalls of Eastern Pennsylvania who served in the militia may be named a Samuel McCall who was commissioned Major in December, 1747; John McCall, a Captain in one of the regiments of Chester County in 1747 and 1748; Samuel McCall, Jr., a private in an independent company of foot of Phila- delphia in 1756; Captain William McCall, spoken of as commanding a scouting party in 1782. Samuel McCall, Jr., Esq., of Philadel- phia, was appointed January 31, 1756, by the Hon. Robert H. Morris, Lieutenant Governor, one of a company to adjust accounts relative to wagons and horses hired by the late General Braddock for use in his ill-fated expedition of the preceding year. (Pennsylvania Archives, vol. ii.)

Samuel McCall, of Glasgow, merchant, had a son Robert, who emigrated to Virginia. Robert had four sons, one being Samuel (above mentioned), who m. his cousin Ann; another, George,1 who settled in Philadelphia. In 1710 George McCall bought some ten thousand acres on Schuylkill River. He was a merchant in high standing, and acquired large wealth. He m. in 1716 Ann, daughter of Jasper Yeaton. His sons were : Jasper, 2 a merchant; Samuel, 2 b. 1721 ; George,2 b. 1724; and Archibald, 2 b. 1727. The last named, "the first East India merchant of his day," m. Judith Kemble, and was father of Archibald,3 b. 1767, who m. Elizabeth Cadwalader, and was father of Colonel George+ McCall, U.S. A. Archibald2 had also Walter, Peter, Henry, and other children. (Balch's Letters and Papers

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relating to the Provincial History of Pennsyl- vania. )

William McCall, the paternal grandfather of Mr. McCall of Winchester, was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. He was b. in 1770 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and he d. in 1865 at his home in the vicinity of Pitts- burg, whither he had removed in 1815. A farmer by occupation, he owned considerable property in coal lands. His wife was Barbara Shank, of Pennsylvania, evidently of German descent. Their children were: John, Will- iam, Christopher, Frank, Sarah, Henry, and Maria. Sarah d. in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-eight. Henry McCall, above named, son of William and Barbara (Shank) McCall, was b. December 23, 1808, in Ches- ter County, in the south-eastern part of Penn- sylvania. He was a farmer and a manufacturer of ploughs, stoves, and other hardware. He took a leading part in public affairs of Carroll County, Illinois, to which place he removed in 1853. He d. in October, 1877. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Elliott, was b. in Chambersburg, Pa., in 1818, and d. in 1864. He had eleven children, and was survived by six, namely : Henry, Jr. ; Elliott ; Samuel, the subject of this sketch; Catherine; Benjamin; and Elizabeth. One child, Susan, d. in infancy ; Mary d. at four, and William at about seven years of age; Isaac Franklin, b. October 24, 1844, d. at the age of nineteen ; and John, b. February 13, 1847, d. at the age of twenty-two. Henry McCall, Jr., b. in De- cember, 1840, m. Annie Sage. They reside in Chicago, and have one child, Harry Elliott McCall. Elliott, b. in January, 1843, and Benjamin, b. in 1855, both single, reside in Pittsburg, Pa. Catherine, b. in 1853, m. Jo- seph Schellenbarger, of Pittsburg, Pa., and, dying March 20, 1883, left two children - Howard and Alice. Elizabeth, b. July 7, 1862, is the wife of Harry G. Sharpnack. They live in Pittsburg, and have three children.

Samuel Walker McCall studied law in the office of Staples & Goulding, Worcester, was admitted to the bar in Worcester County, and in January, 1876, began practice in Boston. From May, 1888, to January, 1889, he edited the Boston Daily Advertiser. With this excep-

tion he continued active in his profession till called to his seat in Congress in March, 1893. In 1888, 1889, and 1892 he was a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature, in 1889 serving as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary and in 1892 as chairman of the Committee on Election Laws. In Novem- ber, 1892, he was elected to Congress from the Eighth Massachusetts District, and by successive re-elections he has been retained in this office for the reason that he has repre- sented the people of his district, as was well said at the nominating convention in Boston on October last, "with dignity, with ability, and with independence." The great principles of the Republican party constitute Mr. McCall's political creed. In regard to our colonial possessions in the Far East, the Philippines, he believes in giving them at once "the high- est degree of self-government consistent with their welfare and our own duty," and cherishes the hope that this will lead to "ultimate ab- solute self-government." As a delegate to the Republican Convention of 1888 in Chi- cago, he made an eloquent speech, seconding the nomination of General Gresham to the Presidency, that first called public attention to his pleasing powers as an orator, now widely recognized. At the recent Centennial Cele- bration (September 25, 1901) at Dartmouth College of the graduation of Daniel Webster, Mr. McCall gave the principal address, an elo- quent appreciation and eminently worthy the occasion. He received from Dartmouth on that day the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Mr. McCall has been a writer as well as public speaker. Among his various contribu- tions to the literature of the country may be mentioned the biography of Thaddeus Stevens in the American Statesmen Series. His most important committee assignments in Congress were on the Ways and Means, the Judiciary, and as chairman of one of the Committees on Elections.

Mr. McCall was married May 23, 1881, to Ella Esther, daughter of Sumner Shaw and Harriet Stark (Wiley) Thompson. He has five children : Sumner Thompson, born May 30, 1882, now in Harvard, class of 1903; Ruth,

L. M. HANNUM.

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born : Jan. 19, 1885, now in Mrs. Somer's school in Washington, D.C .; Henry, born August 24, 1886, now in St. Mark's School, Southboro, Mass. ; Katherine, born August 10, 1889; and Margaret, born July 20, 1892.

Mrs. McCall's father, Sumner Shaw Thomp- son, was a. son of Jacob and Esther (Shaw) Thompson. He was b. at Halifax, Mass., in 1823, and he d. in 1889 at Frankfort, Mich. A large part of his active life was spent in Vermont. He was engaged in the construc- tion and management of railroads, was presi- dent of the Frankfort & South-eastern Rail- road, vice-president of the First National Bank of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and a director in other railroad companies. For a number of years he was a member of the Vermont Legis- lature, a Representative in the sixties, and in 1876 and 1880 a State Senator. He was a descendant in the sixth generation of John1 Thompson, who bought a house and garden at Plymouth, March 3, 1645. The line of de- scent was: John,1 Jacob,2 Barnabas, 3 Isaac, 4 Jacob,5 Sumner Shaw6. John Thompson m. December 26, 1645, Mary Cook, b. in 1626, daughter of Francis' Cook, one of the Pilgrim Fathers of 1620, founders of the Plymouth Colony. Mrs. McCall and her children, there- fore, are "Mayflower " descendants. Jacob2 Thompson m. Abigail Wadsworth. Barnabas, 3 b. in 1709, m. Hannah Porter, of Abington, sister of the Rev. John Porter, of Bridgewater. Isaac, 4 b. in 1749 at Halifax, m. Huldah Sturtevant; and his son, Jacob,5 m., first, Sally Sturtevant, and after her death, in 1805, m. Esther Shaw.

Sumner Shaw Thompson m. April 10, 1847, Harriet Stark Wiley, daughter of Myrick and Mary Carter (Chandler) Wiley, of Fryeburg, Me., and late of Bangor. Myrick was a son of Benjamin and Alice (Kilgore) Wiley. Mary C. Chandler, wife of Myrick Wiley and mother "of Mrs. Thompson, was a daughter of Joseph7 and Hannah (Farrington) Chandler, of Frye- burg, Me. Joseph7 Chandler was a descend- ant in the seventh generation of William' Chandler, who settled at Roxbury, Mass., in 1637, the line being: William,' Captain Thomas, 2 John, 3-4-5-6 Joseph7. Captain Thomas2 Chandler was about seven years old when he

came with his parents, William' and wife, Annis, to this country. He m. Hannah Brewer, and settled at Andover, Mass. Cap- tain John, 3 b. in 1655, m. his cousin Hannah, daughter of George' and Hannah (Chandler) Abbot, of Andover. Ensign John,4 b. in March, 1679-80, m. in 1701 Hannah, daughter of Samuel3 Frye, of Andover. Captain John, 5 b. in 1702, m. Tabitha Abbot, daughter of Na- thaniel3 and Dorcas (Hibbard) Abbot, of Con- cord, N. H. Lieutenant John,6 b. in 1730, m. in 1751 Mary Carter, and resided at Concord, N. H. He was on the Committee of Safety at Concord during the Revolutionary War. Their son Joseph,7 b. in 1760, m. Hannah, daughter of Daniel Farrington.

T HE HANNUM FAMILY, of New England, represented in Cambridge by the Hon. Leander Moody Hannum, was founded by William Hannum, who came from England and settled at Dorchester, Mas- sachusetts Bay Colony, previous to January, 1636. Selling his house and land at Dorches- ter to Jonas Humphrey September 10, 1637, he subsequently removed to Windsor, Conn. ; and in 1653 he went up the Connecticut River and established himself as one of the original planters - about twenty in number - of North- ampton, Mass. He d. there in 1677. By his wife, Honor, he had five daughters and one son, the latter named John. This son John,2 b. in Dorchester about 1636, settled at Northamp- ton. He was first m. in 1662 to Sarah, daugh- ter of Richard Willis. She d. in 1672, and he m., second, Esther, daughter of George Laughton. He and his second wife d. in the same year, 1712. By his first marriage he had six daughters, and by the second marriage five daughters and three sons.

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Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Part 35

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company Number of Pages: 850

Author: Hurd, Charles Edwin, 1833-1910
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 850