USA > Massachusetts > Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts > Part 59
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On November 30, 1854, Mr. Kimball mar- ried Mary Ann Woolley, of Sag Harbor, N. Y. Her father, James Woolley, a ship master, married Julia Cone, a daughter of Barzillai Cone, and a descendant of the immigrant, Daniel Cone, who, in 1650, settled on an island in New York Harbor, which took his name, now well known as Coney Island. Mr. and Mrs. Kimball have four children living, namely : Helen Palmer, wife of Charles H. Ingalls, a shoe manufacturer in Lynn; James Woolley, clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, who married Nellie M. Har-
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wood, of Lynn; Lizzie Brown, wife of Charles O. Blood, of the firm of J. B. Blood & Co., grocers; and Alfred, lumber dealer, Boston, who married Mary Merrill Kimball, of Ips- wich, Mass.
T HOMAS SINCLAIR SPURR, of Win- chester, is a representative of an old Dorchester family, his immigrant pro- genitor, Robert Spurr, having settled in that part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony some two hundred and fifty years ago. Robert' Spurr (d. in August, 1703, aged ninety-three years) was a prominent citizen in his day, his life covering nearly the whole of the seventeenth century, and is said to have been more liberal in his re- ligious views than most of his contemporaries. He had two sons, Robert and John, the latter a soldier in King Philip's War.
Robert2 Spurr d. in 1739, aged seventy- eight years, served as Selectman in Dorchester eight years, Representative to General Court four years, and ranked as Lieutenant Colonel in the militia. He m. October 24, 1685, Elizabeth Tileston, with whom he lived more than half a century. Surviving her a few months, he d. in 1739, aged seventy-eight years. His will divided his property between his sons Thomas3 (b. 1687) and Robert (b. 1689). Thomas3 Spurr resided in Stoughton, formerly a part of Dorchester. At his death he was probably an octogenarian, as his will was proved in 1767. The will mentions his wife, Elizabeth, daughter Elizabeth, sons Thomas, Michael, and Elijah, daughter Sarah Shepard (wife of Ralph), and daughter Abi- gail Blackman, deceased. Michael Spurr mi- grated to Nova Scotia about the year 1760. Thomas4 Spurr, Jr., of Stoughton, m. Mary Redman in 1744, and had Redman, b. 1747; Jerusha, 1749; Thomas, 1751; Lemuel, 1752; Samuel, 1754; John, b. 1759; Sarah, 1762; Martha, 1765; Zephaniah, 1768. His will (1774) names sons Redman, Samuel, John, and Zephaniah.
In the printed records of the town of Stough- ton are found these marriages: Lemuel Spur and Elizabeth Cunningham, November 3 1774; and Samuel Spur and Olive Spurr,
both of Stoughton, 1780. Zephaniah Spurr d. in Boston, July 18, 1824, aged fifty-six years.
Lemuel5 Spurr, son of Thomas4 and Mary (Redman) Spurr, migrated in the latter part of the eighteenth century to the Connecticut valley, and settled at Greenfield, now the county-seat of Franklin County, Massachusetts. His will, dated November 15, 1826, shortly before his death, mentions wife, Abigail, son Otis (a physician in Granville, N. Y.), Lem- uel, Jr., Lucy Stevens, Phineas, Sally Scoby, Rufus, Stillman, Polly Curtis, Abigail Rice, and Margaret Merritt.
Administration on the estate of Samuel Spurr, of Colrain, Mass., who left a widow named Olive and a son Jesse, was granted in 1829.
Sally Scoby, daughter of Lemuel Spurr, was the wife of James Scoby, of Greenfield, to whom she was m. in 1807. (See Sheldon's History of Deerfield, Mass.) No descendants of Lemuels Spurr bearing the family name are now living in Greenfield.
His son William6 (not mentioned in the father's will) left the paternal roof when a mere lad, but large and strong for his years, and coming to Boston found a place to work, perhaps in the employ of his uncle Zephaniah, whose name is found in the Boston directory as early as 1798. William Spurr at length established himself in business as a dealer in ready-made clothing, his shop in 1803 being on Ship Street, as the lower part of North Street was then called. Two time-worn bits of paper, the one a receipt for two dollars, dated Boston, April 27, 1812, on Mr. Will- iam Spurr's "being admitted a member of the Washington Benevolent Society of Massachu- setts," signed Lemuel Blake, vice-treasurer, the other (undated) a receipt for three dollars, "the amount contributed by him to the fund for erecting a monument to General George Washington, M. Davis trustee," attest his interest in charitable and patriotic movements of his day.
William Spurr d. April 13, 1851, aged seventy-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Susanna Hedrick, d. April 13, 1859. Their children were: Eliza C., William, Jr.,
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Otis, George (d. in infancy), Henry C., Oli- ver H., Maria Russell, James M., John, War- ren, Harrison (d. in infancy), and George Washington. Of these the only survivor (1902) is Maria Russell, b. June 17, 1816, who m. Thomas S. Adams, and is now a widow living in Boston with her daughter Adelaide.
William Spurr, Jr., m. Mary Revere, grand- daughter of Paul Revere. Oliver H. Spurr, b. in 1814, was city messenger for twenty-five years. His son, Foster M., was assistant mes- senger the same length of time, beginning at a later date.
George Washington7. Spurr (b. April 17, 1825, d. June 20, 1890) during the active period of his life was devoted principally to mercantile pursuits. In 1855 he settled in Winchester, where he was subsequently called to serve as Assessor, Town Clerk, Collector, and Treasurer, holding the three latter offices at the time of his death. He was Worshipful Master of William Parkman Lodge, F. & A. M., and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Ar- tillery Company, having joined that famous organization in 1868. On January 3, 1844, he m. Mary Jane Sinclair (b. in Boston, July 26, 1829, d. March 27, 1899), daughter of Thomas and Mary (Acres) Sinclair, both na- tives of Boston. Thomas Sinclair (d. March 27, 1854, aged fifty-three years and one month) was a son of Thomas, Sr., and Mary Sinclair. He was a brass-founder. He had one son - John B. ; and two daughters, Mary Jane and Adelaide A. The children of George W. Spurr are: Mary Sinclair (b. November 5, 1849), now a teacher in the Gifford School, Winchester; Thomas S.8 Spurr, the subject of this sketch, and George W., Jr., who d. in infancy.
Thomas Sinclair8 Spurr (born in East Bos- ton, August 18, 1850) was educated in the Winchester public schools, and after the com- pletion of his studies accepted a clerkship in Boston, which he retained for about ten years. He then entered the employ of the Palmer Parker Lumber Company, first as book-keeper and later as confidential clerk, remaining with that concern some sixteen years. In 1892 he engaged in business for himself as a public
accountant and auditor. In June, 1890, he was appointed by the Winchester Board of Select- men to succeed his father as Town Treasurer, in which capacity he is still serving. He had previously served as a member of the Board of Auditors and as Tax Collector. He succeeded his father in the various chairs of William Parkman Lodge, F. & A. M .; is Past High Priest of Woburn Chapter, R. A. M .; Past Commander of St. Bernard Commandery, K. T., of Boston; and a member of Aberjona Council, Royal Arcanum, of Winchester. He has served upon the Standing Committee of the Unitarian church, and was treasurer of that organization during the building of the new church edifice.
On October 19, 1876, Mr. Spurr married Fannie Baxter Wood (born in Hyannisport), daughter of Browning K. and Abbie Smith (Chase) Wood, the latter of Harwich, Mass. They have one son - George Browning Spurr, now teller at the Middlesex County National Bank in Winchester.
AYNARD SUMNER PRESCOTT, of Woburn, was born in the town £ of Dunbarton, N. H., April 20, 1854, son of George Washington and Susan W. (Marshall) Prescott. He is a lineal descendant of James' Prescott, a native of Dryby, Lincolnshire, England, who came to America and settled at Hampton Falls, on the Exeter road, in Hampton, N. H., in 1665. In 1725 James Prescott removed to Kingston, where he d. November 25, 1728. His wife, in maidenhood Mary Boulter, was a daughter of Nathaniel and Grace (Swaine) Boulter. Her father, probably a native of England, was an early settler of Hampton about 1642, and was in Exeter in 1645.
John2 Prescott, son of James' and Mary Prescott, was b. November 19, 1681. He m. August 8, 1701, Abigail Marston, daughter of James3 and Dinah (Sanborn) Marston, her mother being probably a daughter of Lieuten- ant John Sanborn, of Hampton. James3 was son of Thomas2. Marston (Captain William1) and his wife, Mary Eastow. John2 Prescott was in his Majesty's service in 1707, and also
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served in Captain Davis's scouting party in 1712. He d. in 1761.
The next in the Prescott line of descent was Jedediah, 3 b. June 1, 1719, who m. May 12, 1742, Hannah Bachelder, daughter of Samuel and grand-daughter of Nathaniel Batchelder, by his second wife, Mrs. Mary Carter Wyman. Nathaniel Batchelder was a grandson of the Rev. Stephen Batchiler, the founder of Hamp- ton. Jedediah Prescott resided for a time in that part of Exeter now known as "Brent- wood," then removed to Deerfield, whence he went to Monmouth, Me., where he d. July 24, 1793.
Jesse4 Prescott, b. September 24, 1763, son of Jedediah,3 m. Mary Whittier, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Clough) Whittier, of Salisbury, Mass., a representative of the fam- ily to which the poet Whittier belonged. He settled in New Sharon, Me., where his death occurred January 15, 1847.
Abel5 Prescott, b. June 22, 1793, m. Elea- nor Harvey, April 5, 1819, and settled at Andover, Mass. Going thence to Dedham, he was employed for a number of years as overseer in a woollen mill. From Dedham, Mass., he removed to Dunbarton, N. H., where he bought a farm and devoted himself to agriculture. He d. at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He and his wife Eleanor reared six of their nine children.
George Washington6 Prescott was sixteen years old when his parents removed to New Hampshire. Soon afterward he entered upon a seafaring life, and was engaged in the coast- ing trade for four or five years. Marrying May 2, 1842, he settled on the farm in Dun- barton, on which his wife had been reared. Not long afterward he went to Manchester, where he obtained employment in a mill, at the same time carrying on the farm and con- ducting a dairy business. Later, for four years (1858-1862), he kept a hotel in Amoskeag, afterward returning to the farm and residing there till 1890. He then went to Woburn and took up his abode with his son Maynard, with whom he lived till his death, October 21, 1897. His wife, Susan Walker Marshall, b. in Dunbarton, June 27, 1822, was a daughter of Moses and Rachel (Beard) Marshall, of
Dunbarton. She d. October 7, 1898. They reared five of their six children - Frederick, Susan, Maynard Sumner, Harriet Eudora, and Jessie Gertrude. Frederick d. at the age of fifteen years, and Susan at eleven. Harriet E. m. Dana K. Marshall, and d. at the age of twenty-six, leaving one son - Bernard Pres- cott. Jessie G. was educated in the public schools of Dunbarton, the high school at Man- chester, and the Bridgewater Normal, and is now principal of the Adams School at Lexing- ton, Mass.
Maynard S. Prescott acquired his education in the public schools of Dunbarton and at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, Manches- ter, N. H. At the age of twenty-two years he came to Massachusetts, and entered the em- ploy of Baeder, Adamson & Co., glue manu- facturers of Philadelphia, Pa., and Woburn, Mass., with whom he remained for five years. (William Adamson, of the firm, m. Eleanor Frances Prescott, sister of George Washing- ton.) In 1881 Mr. Prescott started his busi- ness, at Woburn, of a producer in poultry, which he has since carried on very success- fully. He was married October 25, 1888, to Marion Jane Parker, a native of Woburn and daughter of John Flagg and Martha Jane (Jones) Parker. Mrs. Prescott is a direct de- scendant of Deacon Thomas Parker, who sailed from London, England, March II, 1635, in the ship "Susan and Ellen." This early pro- genitor of the Parkers, after residing in Lynn a short time, went to Reading, where he se- cured land that now constitutes a portion of the central part of the town of Wakefield. He served as Selectman for several years, was active in building the first church in 1644, and was then elected Deacon. He d. August 12, 1683. The stone that marked his grave now stands in the old churchyard in Wakefield, probably at some distance from where he was buried.
His son, Hananiah2 Parker, b. in Lynn, 1638, m. September 30, 1663, Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth Browne, of Inkberrow, England, Nicholas being a son of Edward Browne. Hananiah Parker was a farmer by occupation. He was an Ensign of the militia in 1680, and Lieuten-
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ant in 1684. He also served as Town Clerk, Selectman, and Representative to the General Court. He d. March 10, 1724.
John3 Parker, son of Hananiah, was b. Au- gust 3, 1664. In 1699 he purchased a farm in Reading (now Wakefield), at the north-east end of Lake Quanapowit, where he resided till 1712, when he removed to a farm in Lex- ington. He built on his farm a shop, where he manufactured furniture and farm tools, teaching his sons these trades. He d. January 22, 174I. He m. October 2, 1689, Deliver- ance Dodge, of Beverly, daughter of John and Sarah Dodge.
Lieutenant Josiah4 Parker, b. April II, 1694, son of John,3 was eighteen years old when his parents removed to Lexington. Join- ing the militia, he was made clerk of the com- pany and later Lieutenant. He served as Town Clerk, Assessor, and Selectman. He m. December 8, 1718, Anna Stone, daughter of John and Rachel (Sheperd) Stone, her father being son of Deacon Samuel and grandson of Deacon Gregory Stone, of Cambridge. He died October 9, 1756.
Josiah5 Parker, son of Lieutenant Josiah and a brother of Captain John of Revolutionary fame, was b. April II, 1725, on his father's thirty-first birthday. He was the first of the family to come to Woburn, settling here in 1749, on an estate that he bought in the west part of the town. He had learned the trade of joiner, and made wagons and farm implements as well as furniture. His death occurred April 18, 1774. He m. October 27, 1748, Mary Munroe, a native of Lincoln, b. March 18, 1729, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Merriam) Munroe, and a grand-daughter of William1 Munroe, an immigrant from Scot- land.
Their son, Josiah6 Parker, b. November 25, 175I, m. July 21, 1774, Hannah Gardner, of Charlestown, daughter of Henry, Jr., and Sarah (Noyes) Gardner, and a descendant of the immigrant Richard' Gardner. Josiah6 Parker was a member of the Woburn company of minute-men who marched to Lexington on the memorable April 19, 1775. He also served under Captain Wyman at Bunker Hill, and continued in the American service for
some time under Lieutenant Joseph Johnson. He d. January 20, 1830. His wife survived him eight years, dying January 14, 1838.
Josiah7 Parker, son of Josiah6 and Hannah, was b. November 6, 1774. He m. September 6, 1807, Abigail Carter, b. September 15, 1781, daughter of Simon and Susannah Carter. He was a progressive farmer and wheelwright. He removed to Wilton, N. H., and there spent the rest of his life, which closed November 29, 1852. John Flagg8 Parker, b. in Woburn, December 27, 1815, was but four years old when his parents moved to Wilton. He as- sisted his father on the farm, and worked in the shop till he was twenty years of age, and then, coming to Woburn, entered the employ of his cousin, a wheelwright. Subsequently he opened a shop of his own, and conducted a successful wheelwright business for a number of years. He now lives retired at the age of eighty-two, residing with his children. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Jane. Jones, was b. in Wilton, N. H., April 1, 1825, a daughter of Asa and Lucy (Flint) Jones. She was a fine soprano singer in her youth. Her grandfather, Joel Jones, went to Wilton from Hillsboro. Asa Jones was a tanner and shoemaker, having learned his trade in Mount Vernon, N. H. He purchased and for some time carried on a tannery in Wilton, and was also engaged in the manufacture of shoes. In 1830 he removed to Ashburnham, Mass., but returned in 1832 to Wilton, where he then purchased land and erected a brick house. He remained henceforth a resident of that town till his death, which took place January 26, I 866.
Lucy Flint, wife of Asa Jones, and grand- mother of Mrs. Prescott, was b. September 29, 1802, daughter of Nathan Flint (b. May 4, 1778) and his wife, Phebe Smith. Nathan Flint was son of Nathan Flint, Sr., who was b. at North Reading, May 8, 1716, m. Lydia Hutch- inson, and removed about 1774 to Amherst, N. H. He was a son of Ebenezer Flint, b. in North Reading, April 6, 1683, who m. Ger- trude Pope, and grandson of Thomas Flint, b. about 1645, a farmer and carpenter, who served in King Philip's War, and was wounded in the attack upon the Narragansetts in 1675. His
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second wife, Mary Dounton (daughter of Will- iam), whom he m. September 15, 1674, was the mother of Ebenezer. He was a son of Thomas' Flint, said to have been a native of Wales, who came to America and located in Salem, Mass., about 1650, and bought two hundred acres of land at Salem Village. His farm (now West Peabody) has always been in possession of descendants. She died Novem- ber 9, 1884.
Mrs. Prescott's mother d. December 31, 1898. . She reared two of her three children - Ella Evora and Mrs. Prescott. The only son, Everett L., d. at the age of five years.
ILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD EN- DICOTT was born in Salem, Mass., November 19, 1826, and died in Boston, May 6, 1900. He was the son of William Putnam and Mary Crowninshield En- dicott, and a lineal descendant in the eighth generation from John Endecott, who arrived at Salem in September, 1628, and was Governor of the plantation till after the coming of Win- throp with the charter, in 1630.
On his father's side his ancestors for five generations lived upon the "Orchard Farm" in Salem Village, now Danversport, which was granted to Governor John Endecott by the Court of Assistants on July 3, 1632. This estate, somewhat diminished in size from those early days, still remains in the family. His grandfather, Samuel Endecott, moved to Salem at the end of the eighteenth century, and led a seafaring life. At one period Samuel Endi- cott and his five brothers were in command of vessels bound from Salem to distant ports. It may be here said that the earlier spelling of the name was Endecott.
From John1 Endecott, who was Colonial Governor of Massachusetts for a number of years, and died in 1665, the line con- tinued through Dr. Zerubbabel2 Endecott, b. in 1634, and his first wife Mary; his second wife was Elizabeth Winthrop, daughter of Governor Winthrop, of Connecticut; he d. in 1684; Samuel3 Endicott, b. 1659, d. 1693, m. Hannah Felton, b. 1677, daughter of John and Mary (Tompkins) Felton, and grand-
daughter of Nathaniel Felton; Samuel+ Endi- cott, b. 1687, d. May, 1766; and his first wife, Anna, daughter of his uncle, Dr. John Endicott ; John5 Endicott, b. 1713, d. May, 1783, m. Elizabeth Jacobs, daughter of John3 Jacobs, and great-grand-daughter of George1 Jacobs, Sr. ; John6 Endicott, b. 1739, d. 1816, m. Martha, daughter of Samuel+ Putnam (John, 3 Nathaniel,2 John1) ; Samuel7 Endicott, b. 1763, d. May, 1828, m. in 1794 Elizabeth, daughter of William5 and Elizabeth (Putnam) Putnam, of Sterling, Mass. ; to William Putnam8 Endi- cott, b. March 5, 1803, d. March 1I, 1888 (Harvard College, 1822), father of the subject of this sketch.
The wife of Samuel4 Putnam, and mother of Martha, was Elizabeth, daughter of Tarrant4 Putnam (Captain Benjamin, 3 Nathaniel, 2 John1). William5 Putnam, of. Sterling, was a son of Colonel David4 Putnam, of Salem Village, b. 1707, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Perley, of Boxford. Colonel David4 was an elder brother of General Israel Putnam, they being sons of Joseph3 and Elizabeth (Por- ter) Putnam, and grandsons of Thomas2 Putnam (John'), of Salem Village. Elizabeth Porter was a daughter of Israel and Elizabeth (Ha- thorne) Porter, and niece of John Hathorne, the witchcraft judge. Williams Putnam m. Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Putnam) Putnam.
Mary Crowninshield, wife of William Put- nam Endicott, was a daughter of Jacob4 and Sarah (Gardner) Crowninshield. Her father was b. in 1770, son of Captain George3 and Mary (Derby) Crowninshield. His grand- father, John,2 was son of Dr. Johannes Caspar Richter von Crowninsheldt, who arrived in Boston in 1688 from Leipsic. Mary Derby was a daughter of Richard3 Derby (Richard, 2 Roger1) and his wife Mary, daughter of Gama- liel Hodges, of Salem. The Hon. Jacob Crowninshield was a prominent member of Congress from 1802-08, was appointed .Secre- tary of the Navy by Jefferson at the beginning of his second term in 1805, was confirmed by the United States Senate; but, though his commission as Secretary of the Navy is on file in the Department of State in Washington, he declined the honor, and remained a member of
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Congress until his death in Washington in 1808.
William Crowninshield Endicott was edu- cated in the public and private schools of Salem. He entered Harvard College in 1843 from the Salem Latin School, and was gradu- ated in 1847. Among his classmates were : Charles Allen, John Brooks Felton, Henry Larned Hallet, Richard Manning Hodges, and Edward Tuckerman.
Immediately after leaving college Mr. Endi- cott began to study law in the office of Nathan- iel J. Lord, at that time a prominent lawyer in Salem. In 1849-50 he was at the Harvard Law School, and in 1851 was admitted to the Essex County Bar. In 1853 he formed a co- partnership - Perry & Endicott - with Jairus Ware Perry, well known as the author of "A Treatise on the Law of Trusts and Trustees." For twenty or more years he was a leader of the bar until his appointment to the Supreme Court.
On February 23, 1873, the General Court of Massachusetts passed an act increasing the number of the Associate Justices of the Su- preme Judicial Court to six. At that time there was no Democrat upon the Supreme Court. Governor Washburn, a Republican Governor, appointed Mr. Endicott to fill the Judgeship recently created. The appointment was a surprise to Mr. Endicott - there was no solicitation of any kind for the office as far as he knew - and his first knowledge of the fact was when the offer was actually made. The Court at that time consisted of Chief Justice Chapman, and Justices Horace Gray, Jr., John Wells, James D. Colt, Seth Ames, and Marcus Morton. During the next nine years Mr. En- dicott devoted his time and strength to the work of the Court, and his opinions (three hundred and seventy-eight in number) are to be found in the Massachusetts Reports, vols. CXII .- CXXXIII. The methods of work in those days were far more laborious than at present, owing to the lack of employment of stenographers and typewriters. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Endicott went to Europe, and on October 31, 1882, he resigned his seat upon the bench, remaining abroad for some eighteen months. At the time of his resignation, Chief
Justice Morton alone remained of his original colleagues.
In politics at first a Whig, Mr. Endicott be- came a Democrat upon the dissolution of the Whig party. Though he never took a very ac- tive part in politics, he always interested him- self more or less in city and State affairs.
In 1852 and 1853 he was elected a member of the Common Council of the city of Salem, and again in 1857, when he became its presi- dent. From 1858 to 1863 he was City Solici- tor of Salem. In 1870 he ran for Congress as a Democratic candidate, for Attorney-general of the Commonwealth, but failed to be elected in both cases.
Mr. Endicott always took a deep interest in the welfare of Harvard College. He was a member of the Board of Overseers from 1875 to 1882, and from 1882 to 1884, and a member of the corporation from 1884 to 1895, when he resigned. In 1882 he received from his alma mater the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Mr. Endicott was president of the Salem Bank from 1858 to 1875, president of the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem from 1868 to 1897, president of the Essex County Bar Association from 1869 to 1873, trustee of the Peabody Educational Fund from 1869 to 1894, and trustee of Groton School from 1884 to 1896.
In the autumn of 1884 Mr. Endicott was Democratic candidate for Governor of Massa- chusetts. He accepted this nomination much against his will, and was defeated in the elec- tion. In February, 1885, Mr. Cleveland sent for Mr. Endicott, and offered him a place in his cabinet as Secretary of War. After con- sidering the matter for a few days, Mr. Endi- cott decided to accept the position, and was Secretary of War during the four years of Mr. Cleveland's first administration, 1885-89. After this Mr. Endicott led a retired life, and his public career was practically closed.
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