USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol I > Part 20
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Oliver Ellsworth Slocum, born in Tolland, Massachusetts, August 16, 1801, died March 7, 1884. He married, in Tolland, in 1821, Polly Mills, born May 17, 1800, died March 7, 1883, daughter of Cephas and Hannah (Easton) Mills. Cephas Mills, a soldier of the revolution, was a lineal descendant of Sir Peter Wales Van der Mulen, of Holland, who was knighted for his great service to the public in the improvement of the dikes and canals in Amsterdam. Sir Peter's eldest son, Peter Van der Mulen, born in Amsterdam in 1622, came to America in 1650 from Leyden, where he was studying for the ministry. The immigrant's son, Peter, second of the name in this country, married Dorcas Messenger, of Windsor, Connecticut, and died May 18, 1688. Their son Peter (3). born in 1663, married Joanna Porter, and lived in East Windsor until his death, in 1756. By an act of the Connecticut legislature in 1707 he had his name changed from Van der Mulen, which in Dutch means " The Man of the Mill." to Mills. His son Peter Mills (4), a tailor by trade. married Ruth Loomis, and died at the age of seventy years. Stone Mills, son of Peter and Ruth, married Miriam Wolcott, a cousin of Governor Wolcott, of Connecticut, and was the father of Cephas Mills above named. Cephas Mills was born at Ellington, Con- necticut, June 17, 1759: he married. March 23, 1778, Hannah Easton, who was born at Manchester, Connecticut, April 26, 1761, and in 1788 they removed to Tolland. Massachusetts. Mr. Slocum lived on a farm in West Granville, Massachusetts, and was an early abolitionist. Mr. Slocum was the father of eight children. The first was
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Hon. William Frederick Slocum, born in Tolland, Massachusetts, January 31, 1822, died September 4, 1896. After his graduation from the academy in Winsted, Connecticut, he studied law with Billings Palmer, in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the Berkshire county bar in Lenox, then the shire town, in October, 1846. He was engaged in the practice of his profession in Grafton from 1848 to 1865, when he removed his office to Boston and made his home in the suburban city of Newton. While a resident of Grafton he served as selectman and school committeeman, and represented the town in the state legislature in 1861. After removing to Newton he was trial justice for a num- ber of years. During a portion of his residence in Boston he was the partner of H. B. Staples, Esq. In 1871 Mr. Slocum received the de- gree of Master of Arts from Amherst College. He was a member of the Congregational church, in which he held the office of deacon. A sister of Mr. Slocum was the wife of the late Chief Justice Depue, of the New Jersey supreme court.
Hon. William Frederick Slocum married, April 21, 1847, Margaret Tinker, born in Tolland, July 4, 1827, died in Newtonville, January 25, 1888, daughter of Edward Day and Laura (Steele) Tinker. They had four children, namely: Winfield Scott, Edward Tinker, William F., and Henry Oliver, who died at the age of twenty-four years. All are graduates of Amherst College save the last named.
The emigrant ancestor of the Tinker family was John Tinker ( I), who came from England. Thomas Tinker and his wife and child were passengers on the " Mayflower," and all died during the first winter after landing at Plymouth. John Tinker came from England a few years later, and settled first in Windsor, Connecticut, was made a free- man in Boston in 1654. and was afterward town clerk and selectman. In 1659 he removed to Pequod, now New London, Connecticut, and
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became one of the most active and influential citizens of the place. His wife Alice died at Lyme, Connecticut, November 20, 1714, aged eighty- five years. Their son Amos, born October 28, 1657, married, at Lyme, June 1, 1682, Sarah Durant. Amos, Jr., married, January 17, 1716, Lucy Lee, who was born in Lyme, June 20, 1699. Martin, the next in line, born June 28, 1739, at Lyme, married Mrs. Mary Peck and was the father of Edward Lay Tinker, father of Margaret ( Tinker) Slocum. Edward Lay Tinker was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, October I. 1791, and died July 21, 1872. He married, November 28, 1816, Laura Steele, a direct descendant of John Steele, who was born in Essex county, England, and, on coming to this country in 1631, settled first in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and in 1635 became one of the founders of Hart- ford, Connecticut. His son, James Steele, was a trooper in 1657 in the Pequot war; in 1662 he was appointed by the general court to lay out lands of Hammanassett, and in 1675 was commissary in King Philip's war. He married Anna Bishop. Their son, John Steele, married Malathiah, daughter of Major William Bradford, of Plymouth. Eben- ezer, son of John, born in 1695, married Susan West, and removed in 1725 to Killingsworth. John (2), son of Ebenezer, was the father of Ebenezer, born August 5, 1753, who married Rachel Seymour, and died November 8, 1805. They were the parents of Mrs. Luara Steele Tinker.
Judge Edward Tinker Slocum was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, October 29, 1849. He graduated at Amherst College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1871, received the degree of Master of Arts from that college in 1874, and the same year graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Boston University Law School. In the mean- time he was engaged in civil engineering along railway lines, and in teaching the high school in Upton, Massachusetts. In early manhood he served three years in the State Militia. He was admitted to the bar
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at Cambridge, Massachusetts. December 24, 1874, and after practicing law for three years in Boston removed to Lee, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1881, when he came to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1881 he was elected register of probate and insolvency of Berkshire county, which office he held for fourteen years, when in December, 1894, he was appointed judge of the same courts, a life office. Judge Slocum took a prominent part in the movement for the adoption of a city charter for Pittsfield, and was elected president of the first council under city government, although the political majority of the board was against him. He was president of the Berkshire County Bar Associa- tion from 1903 to 1905, and is a member of the National Bar Associa- tion. Judge Slocum was appointed to represent the First Congressional District of Massachusetts as a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, one of the unique features of the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904. He has done much active work in religious and charitable organizations, as well as in civic affairs. From 1886 to 1894 he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Congregational church; for five years he was a member of the executive committee of the Massa-
. chusetts State Sunday School Association ; and he was the first presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was made a Ma- son at Lee, and admitted to Crescent Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pittsfield, and is a member also of Berkshire County Chapter, Berk- shire Commandery, and Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine. For four years he was president of the Business Men's Association, now the Park Club, and is a member of the Pittsfield Country Club and the Berkshire Automobile Club. He also holds membership in the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution. He has always taken interest in athletics, especially in aquatic sports, yachting and rowing, hunting and fishing, and has been a member of the various local organizations of that character.
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Judge Edward Tinker Slocum married, August 3, 1881, Harriet Olivia Palmer, daughter of Billings and Harriet Davis (Holbrook) Palmer, of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Billings Palmer was a prominent attorney of Great Barrington, and for some time a member of the house of representatives and of the state senate.
Mrs. Slocum is a graduate of Vassar College, and prior to her ยป marriage was assistant lady principal of that institution. Judge and Mrs. Slocum are members of the First Congregational church. Judge Slocum numbers among his ancestors Governor William Bradford, Mary Dyer, the Quaker martyr, and sucht early colonial families as the Wolcotts, of Connecticut, the Pitkins, the Allyns, Milles, Eastons, and Hulls.
WILLIAM B. MCNULTY.
That the subject of this memoir spent practically his entire busi- ness life in the employ of one company, the Boston & Albany Railroad, is a sufficient commentary on his ability, industry and integrity, and the fact that this career was a series of speedily won promotions leads to the inevitable conclusion that his untimely demise alone prevented his attainment to large responsibilities in his chosen vocation.
He was a Berkshire county boy, born in 1867 at Dalton, whence his parents removed in his early childhood to Adams, where William received a public school education and was for a short time thereafter in employ at Millard's news room.
This was followed by his appointment as baggage master at Ren- frew Station. In 1893 he was made station agent at Renfrew. He was next promoted to the charge of the station at Niversville, and one year later was transferred to the company's station at Hudson, New York, following which he took the North Adams office. Since 1903 he has
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occupied the office of station agent at Pittsfield, where he died suddenly on October 11, 1905.
Politically Mr. McNulty affiliated with the Democratic party.
He had a wide circle of friends and was held in especially affection- ate esteem by the fellow employees under his management.
ROLLIN H. COOKE.
Rollin Hillyer Cooke, widely famed as a genealogist and litterateur, was a native of Connecticut, born in Winsted, in 1843. He was edu- cated in the schools of his native town, and entered upon a business career as a traveling salesman for his father, who was a manufacturer in that place of wagon axles, nuts, bolts, etc. At a later day he became a clerk in the private banking house of Gilbert & Gay, in Winsted. While residing in that village he married, and of his marriage were born two children, both of whom survived the father: Mrs. James Brasie, of Winsted, Connecticut : and Mrs. George D. Hurlock, of New York. His second marriage was to Rose Terry Cooke, a pleasing writer of both poetry and prose, and this event gave a different direction to the life of the husband.
Learning of an opening for a banking business in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and having had experience in that line, Mr. Cooke inclined to locating in that city, and his purpose was seconded with genuine enthus- iasm by his wife, whose artistic temperament made her an ardent ad- mirer of the scenery of the Berkshires. Upon first coming to the city, Mr. Cooke became associated with James M. Burns in the banking firm of Burns & Cooke. They continued in this business about a year, when Mr. Burns withdrew. Mr. Cooke remaining as sole manager. Shortly afterward, however, he abandoned the business to devote himself ex-
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clusively to genealogical and kindred research, fields in which he made for himself high reputation and contributed materially to the fund of knowledge along these lines. He was indefatigable in his investiga- tions, and not only made familiar acquaintance with record material in the court house of Berkshire county and the Berkshire Athenaeum, but repeatedly visited distant cities in his search for missing links in fam- ily chains, and his services were called into requisition by people of standing in all parts of the United States, scarcely a day passing but he received inquiries for information, or solicitation to enter upon some special genealogical work. About a year before his death, was issued from the press his " Genealogy of the Phelps Family," in two volumes. His most laborious and notable undertaking was that upon which he was engaged when he came to his tragic end-the "Genealogy of the Bradford Family." In the compilation of this monumental work he had obtained ten thousand names of descendants of the original Bradford, and their proper arrangement and relation involved incessant and most painstaking effort. At the same time he was giving editorial direction to the preparation of our present volumes, "Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts," and writing a portion of their contents. That he was not permitted to bring to a conclusion either of these works is to be deeply regretted, and by none more than by the publishers of that last mentioned, who treasure his memory as not only a careful and use- ful collaborator, but a sincere personal friend. That his labors along these his chosen lines were labors of love, is amply attested not alone by the enthusiasm with which he responded to every call, but by the dis- position he made of his genealogical and historical memorabilia. Real- izing the uncertainty of life, and determined to place these accumulations of a lifetime beyond the possibility of dispersion, a little more than a
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year before his death (October 15, 1903), Mr. Cooke presented to the Berkshire Athenaeum his most valuable records, accompanying his gift with a letter in which he said that it was his design that it should cover all of his papers and records, reserving the possession and use of them during his lifetime.
Mr. Cooke's published letters and articles upon special topics would fill a good sized volume. He was also author of a handsome brochure issued by the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, " Rides and Drives in Berkshire." He was an enthusiastic lover of nature, and the beautiful scenery of this region had no more enthusiastic admirer than he. He was the most noted pedestrian in Pittsfield, covering long distances with- out apparent fatigue, his walks frequently extending to his old home at Winsted, Connecticut, as well as to Norfolk and Canaan. Greylock Mountain was a constant source of pleasure to him. When winter be- gan to die and the snows to melt away, he would set off for the summit of " the great hill," and when he returned he invariably had a pleasant story to tell of his trip. Strange markings upon the mountain side were to him full of suggestion and interest, and as a naturalist he found much pleasure in identifying animals and birds by their footprints. It often occurred that he conducted parties on trips up the mountain to see the sun rise, and on such occasions his good comradeship was manifested at its best. Before others took mitch interest in Greylock Mountain, he blazed a way to its summit, and many of the subsequent improvements upon the reservation were directly traceable to his unflagging interest, enthusiasm and suggestion. He knew the needs of the mountain, and he wrote of them frequently, sometimes over his own proper signature, and again under a nom de plume. His interest in historical subjects also led him into arduous explorations, and he was recognized along these lines as the most eminently useful member of the local chapter of
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the Sons of the American Revolution. At the meeting of the Berkshire Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, held within a week before his death. he urged that the site of Easton's Tavern should be in some way indicated for the benefit of future generations. In his journeyings through the county on his errands of investigation, he made a rare col- lection of singular inscriptions upon old gravestones, many of them so nearly obliterated by the elements that their deciphering involved much time and patience.
During his residence in Pittsfield, Mr. Cooke performed efficient service in connection with various institutions and enterprises. Besides the Sons of the American Revolution, he was one of the best equipped and most active members of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific So- ciety, the Monday Evening Club and other organizations, and in the palmy days of its existence he was secretary of the Berkshire County Agricultural Society. He it was who installed the index system, so- called, which from that day has been used with excellent success in connection with local records. He remarked shortly before his death that the system so long used by him had just been copyrighted, and said, "I should have done the same thing; I might be rich now if I had." But he gave little thought to money-making. His occupations were to him fertile fields for labor which should have enduring value, for the good they would yield to others, not the compensation which would accrue to him.
He was an ardent Republican his life through, was at one time sec- retary of the city committee of his party, and performed a great deal of efficient service in the party ranks. To him the party represented much more than a mere name. He revered it for its principles and its tradi- tions. His first presidential vote was cast for the second election of Abraham Lincoln, whose memory he held in love and honor for his
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personal lofty character, his martyrdom, as well as for the noble princi- ples for which he stood, lived and died. His last presidential vote was for Theodore Roosevelt, whom he ardently admired, regarding him as one of the greatest products of his generation.
Mr. Cooke was in every fibre of his being a model Christian gentle- man. He detested shams, and with the lance of his good-natured sar- casm would pierce the shield of pretence and unreality. He was, how- ever, abundant in charity, and was wont to say that the perfect man does not exist on earth. Such a one, he declared, would be so lonesome that he would needs be relegated to a settlement of which he was the sole inhabitant. He possessed a fine literary taste, and his excellent library, containing many rare volumes, was his most delightful resort. He delighted in good fellowship, and enjoyed sitting by the hour with' congenial spirits, discussing current topics, old tales and old poems. His mind, alert and keen, was quick to grasp and hold the meaning of the beautiful and true. His humor was bright and sparkling. He enjoyed a pointed but clean story, and, like a true artist, could give one a clever telling. He was quick to discern an opening for a pun, and was an adept in such wit.
Until the death of his second wife ( Rose Terry Cooke) about eleven years ago, the couple occupied the Brewster house on East street, in Pittsfield. After her death he occupied apartments in the Martin Block, on Bank Row, and later in the Wendell annex on West street, where he sustained the injuries that resulted in his death, in the evening of Friday, December 9, 1904. Clad only in his underclothes, ablaze from head to foot, and crying piteously for help, he was found by those at- tracted by his cries, in the hallway in front of his room, and before assistance could be rendered was so severely burned that he died about midnight at the House of Mercy. to which institution he was hurriedly
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removed. Just how the accident occurred is not known, but the pre- sumption was that as he was about to retire a kerosene lamp exploded, scattering the burning oil over his garments, wrapping him in a sheet of flame, and practically burning the skin from off his entire body. His anguish was so unsupportable that he kept feebly saying to the physician who was endeavoring to alleviate his sufferings, " Please let me die."
The funeral services were held on Monday, December 12, 1904, conducted by the Rev. T. W. Nickerson, Jr., rector of St. Stephen's (Protestant Episcopal) church, of which Mr. Cooke was a communi- cant.
CHARLES DWIGHT SABIN.
Youngest of the six children of the late Dr. Sabin, of Williams- town, is Charles Dwight Sabin, born at Williamstown, July 22, 1849. He received his initial schooling under Professor Griffin, then taking an academic course at Greylock Institute, and entering Williams Col- lege with the intention of eventually studying medicine.
He developed business ambition along mercantile lines, however, before matriculation, leaving college to enter the employ of Miller & Company, commission merchants, 82 Broadway, New York city, and subsequently became associated with McFarlane & Randell, produce commission merchants, 17 Front street, New York. Upon the retire- ment of the senior member of the latter firm, Mr. Sabin attained to the junior partnership, and three years later was sole proprietor of the business. From 1881 to 1891 a brother, Henry Sabin, was his busi- ness associate. Mr. Sabin is a member of the Produce Exchange, and was one of the board of managers during the erection of the splendid structure which is the home of that most important trade institution of the metropolis. Mr. Sabin served for six years as member and first
MED. mr. black
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lieutenant in the Twenty-second Regiment New York National Guard. He is a member of the Union League and New York Athletic Clubs, and the New York Chapter of Sons of American Revolution.
He married, September 18, 1890, Susie G., daughter of the late Henry A. Tilden, a brother of the late Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic leader and statesman. Mr. Sabin is the present owner of Samuel J. Tilden's farm estate at Gramercy Park.
Mr. and Mrs. Sabin's children are Elizabeth T., born October 9, 1892, and Charles D. Sabin, Jr., born December 4. 1895. The New York residence of the family is 175 W. 58th street, and the summer home on South street, Pittsfield. Mrs. Sabin is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, and the Mayflower Association.
GEORGE WINSLOW CLARK.
The traveling public has long since learned that there is no surer index of the prosperity of a community than the character and conduct of its principal hostelries. Given a center of population, great or small, whose hotels are devoid of attractiveness and that place will invariably be discovered to be in a state of business apathy. On the other hand such towns as have their visitors well cared for are characterized by a general progressiveness. It follows therefore that the up-to-date land- lord is an important factor in civilization. To the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs is due no inconsiderable measure of the credit for the substantial growth of Pittsfield during recent years. As a member of the firm of Plumb and Clark, proprietors of the New Amer- ican, Mr. Clark's managerial capacity has been eminently of the type that stands for progress.
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Mr. Clark is a product of that sturdy stock, the physical and mental vigor of which proved abundantly equal to the stalwart stand which it took against the tyranny of the Old and built up the magnificent cluster of commonwealths which constitute the New England. He is a repre- sentative of the fourth of the generations of the Clark family to hold residence in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, his paternal great-grand- father, Samuel Clark, a native of Haddam, Connecticut, having located upon a small farm in Lenox more than one hundred years ago. Sam- uel Clark was a revolutionary soldier and was one of the patriot pris- oners who while confined in the " Old Sugar House" in New York city were poisoned through drinking the water from the well at their place of confinement. Whether a dastard attempt to kill these prisoners by dropping poison into the well which supplied them was really made or the water was thus contaminated through other causes is a mooted question. Certain it is, however, that a number of victims perished as a result of a diabolical deed or equally criminal neglect, and that Samuel Clark narrowly escaped with his life and suffered a seriously impaired constitution thereafter in consequence. His wife, Hannay Way, was also a native of Haddam. Among their children was Joseph Rice Clark, who was born at Tolland, Connecticut, conducted a wagon making estab- lishment in Lenox, subsequently purchasing a farm at the same place, adjoining that formerly owned by Henry Ward Beecher. This tract of land Mr. Clark continued to cultivate for a period of fifty years. He died February 6, 1875. His wife was Susan Smith, a native of Lee, Massachusetts. Joseph Rice Clark was sergeant in a cavalry company enlisted for service in the war of 1812.
His son, William Marshall Clark, was born at Lenox, February 12, 1823, completed his education at Lenox Academy and soon there- after embarked in business by establishing a general store at Lenox,
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which he conducted with fair success up to the historic hard times of '57 when he was compelled to abandon this enterprise. He was there- after variously employed up to 1878 when he located at Pittsfield, where he has since resided. For eighteen years continuously Mr. Clark has discharged most efficiently the duties of the office of assessor, of which he is still the incumbent. He is a true gentleman of the old school of unblemished reputation, a man of unquestioned probity and generally recognized usefulness. He married in 1850 Irene, daughter of the late Ocran Curtis, of Lenox. Massachusetts. ( See Curtis Fam- ily, this publication. ) Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. William Mar- shall Clark, the eldest son. William R. Clark, is an assistant in his father's office, and Henry S. Clark, the youngest son, is a physician whose general education was completed at Williams College, who was graduated from Jefferson Medical College and has been engaged in the successful practice of his profession for nearly twenty years in New York city.
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