USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 21
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Mr. Comstock is unmarried, his household being presided over by his widowed mother and his youngest sister. The homestead is situated on the boundary line between Massachusetts and New York state.
GEORGE AUGUSTUS FOXCROFT.
The late George Augustus Foxcroft, for many years a well known journalist of Boston, married into one of Berkshire county's historic families, his wife being Harriet Elizabeth Goodrich (see Goodrich family). He was descended from English colonial settlers of Massa- chusetts, and numbered among his ancestors soldiers of the patriot army in the Revolutionary war. Among his near connections was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and he was a cousin of that distinguished divine, Phillips Brooks. Mr. Foxcroft died in 1878, and his wife in 1884. Of their children. a daughter. Miss Emmeline Foxcroft, has long been a resident of Pittsfield. and is a member of the local chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
JOHN CHRISTIAN CHARLES BOHLMANN.
The life of John Christian Charles Bohlmann has been closely allied with the progress of the city of Pittsfield, where he has spent almost his entire life, and where he is highly respected. His father and mother came to this country about 1835 from the land of their birth, Germany, and located in the northern part of New York state. They afterwards settled in the village of Canaan, New York, where they lived a number of years. The father, Christian Bollmann, was a mechanic and millwright, and labored hard in order that he might give his family of three sons and two daughters a good start in life in this land of their future home.
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John Christian Charles Bohlmann, son of Christian Bohlmann, was born in 1849, while the family lived in Canaan, New York. He re- ceived a very limited education, and early in life was taught a trade- that of loom fixer in a woolen mill-in the Bel Air Mill, in Pittsfield, whither the Bohlmann family had moved in 1852, when he was only an infant. After leaving the Bel Air Mill he was placed in charge of the looms at the Pomeroy Mill, a position which he held for many years. In 1876 he resigned to engage in the liquor business, entering into a partnership under the firm name of Bohlmann and Smith, on North street. No man ever conducted a business which made him more liable to criticism than did Mr. Bohlmann, but he soon won the esteem of those who were opposed to the trade in which he was engaged, and was considered one of the best adapted and most cautious and careful men in his line in the city.
Early in his life Mr. Bohlmann was an admirer of Pontoosuc Lake, and was one of the pioneer summer visitors on its shores, having camped there when scarcely another cottage was seen on its shores. He bought several house lots there from time to time, when the land was finally put on the market, and many a day could be seen walking around its shores, noting the changes that had been made since his first view of that beautiful spot. He was large-hearted, generous, and public spirited, fond of society and most genial in disposition, which soon made him loved and honored by all who chanced to meet him, or had business dealings with him. He was a member of Berkshire Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and of Mystic Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He and his family were identified with the Lutheran church, and contributed largely to its support. In politics he was a democrat.
In 1875 Mr. Bohlmann married Miss Mary P. Kloseman, daughter of Henry and Mary Kloseman, natives of Copacke, Germany, who had
Tof Richardson
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also made their home in Pittsfield. Mrs. Bohlmann came to Pittsfield when only five years of age, where she was educated in the public schools. She had one sister and three brothers, two of whom were Henry and John.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bohlmann: Charles A., born in 1876, who is now conducting a hotel in the city of Chicopee, Massachusetts : and Jessie C., born in 1879, married John H. Adams, of Dalton, Massachusetts.
Mr. Bohlmann died August 2, 1902, of Bright's disease, leaving a widow and his two children. The touching remarks made by the Rev. William L. Genzmer at the funeral service were a glowing tribute to one who had risen high in the esteem of his fellow townsmen, in spite of material disadvantages.
HENRY HUNTINGTON RICHARDSON.
" These shall resist the empire of decay. When Time is o'er, and worlds have passed away- Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie, But that which warmed it once can never die."
Thus beautifully the poet sang of the dauntless spirits whose love of liberty gave birth to the greatest of republics, and such may well be the refrain for those equally valorous, who preserved the Union of States from dissolution. The sentiment applies with especial pertinency to that fortunately considerable number of brave soldiers whose lives were spared and spent through long years of usefulness in the development of prosperous communities.
Of such was the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs. He was born at Belchertown, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, January 25, 1826, son of Nathan and Sophia ( Boutell) Richardson.
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Nathan Richardson was born July 26, 1785, in Gardner, Massa- chusetts, where he was farmer and shoemaker, and whence he removed to Windsor, and there continued to reside up to the time of his decease, January 17, 1849. He married, December 16, 1812, Sophia Boutell, born January 25, 1788. at Leominster, Massachusetts, and died at Palmyra, New York, February 25, 1872. Mrs. Richardson was a most active and consistent member of the Congregational church. She had eight children, two of whom died in childhood. The others were : Louise B. (now deceased), who married Charles Read (also deceased), of Southwick, Massachusetts; Charles, who died in 1843, at China Grove, Mississippi; Lorenza B., who married Claudius A. Hume, of Windsor, Massachusetts, and died in 1894; Jonas Bailey, who died in Indiana; Sarah E .. who married Ezra G. Chapman, of Genesee, New York, and died in 1902; and Henry H., the immediate subject of this review, who was the fourth of the children who attained majority.
Henry Huntington Richardson received his education in the public schools of his native place, and in that town also acquired his trade of carpenter, serving a four years' apprenticeship. He located in Pittsfield in 1848, where he followed his trade, as journeyman.
When a young man he joined the old Pittsfield Guard as a private, and was in course of time promoted through the different grades to that of lieutenant. On the formation of the Allen Guard he was elected first lieutenant of that famous organization, under Captain H. S. Briggs, son of ex-Governor Briggs. At the breaking out of the civil war Cap- tain Briggs, who afterward received a commission as general, was prac- ticing law in Boston. On the first call for troops the Eighth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry had but eight companies, and Captain Briggs urged Governor Andrew to allow the Allen Guard to join it. Consent being given, the young captain wired a message to Lieutenant
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Richardson, who received it at nine o'clock on the night of April 17, 1861, while he was drilling his troops, telling him to have the Allen Guard, with its new recruits, at Springfield the next evening to join the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment. Lieutenant Richardson was promptly on hand with his eighty men, and, with the regiment to which his com- pany had been assigned, went by the Connecticut River Railroad to New York on the train that bore General Benjamin F. Butler and his staff. Arriving in New York by daylight, the men were given breakfast at different hotels, and at eight in the morning were ordered to take cars for Washington, to join the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, which had preceded them a few hours earlier. At Philadelphia news of the Balti- more riots was heard, and intense excitement followed. General Butler concluded to remain in Philadelphia for a time, and, after supper at the Continental Hotel, the soldiers were camped at the Girard House, then unoccupied, for the night. At three o'clock in the morning two flank companies (the Allen Guard being on the left flank), were ordered to the depot for the purpose of protecting it, but, meeting with no trouble, waited there until the remainder of the regiment came up. when all went on together. A little north of Havre de Grace the two flank companies were ordered to load, and a few miles further on were ordered ahead to take a steamer thought to be loaded with supplies for the rebels. Find- ing the steamer all right, thic regiment subsequently boarded it and started for. Annapolis, where they found the old ship "Constitution." Taking out the guns from it in order to cross the bar, the two flank companies were placed as guard while the regiment was towed down the bay in the noted frigate. The Allen Guard went with General Butler, who assumed command of the navy yard, and the next day the Eighth Regiment was joined by the New York Seventh, and under Gen- eral Butler's command started for Washington. No locomotive in repair
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could be found, but, finding a dismantled engine, the General asked if anyone could put it right, and soon found sufficient capable machinists among the soldiers to make the needed repairs. Taking two guns on one car, and rails on another, the men marched ahead, and, as they found the road torn up, repaired it. The Allen Guard, however, went to Bal- timore on a tug, where in the night they cut out the "Allegheny," a re- ceiving ship, and towed it down without molestation to Fort McHenry, right under the guns of the enemy. Afterward they were stationed at Fort McHenry, on guard duty with the Worcester battalion for two weeks, then joined the regiment at Relay House, where they were on guard till July. Going thence to Baltimore, General Butler's headquar- ters, the Alien Guard was encamped on a hill outside the city until the expiration of its term of enlistment. While en route for home it was entertained in New York city by the New York Seventh Regiment, and later was mustered out of service on Boston Common. At Relay House, Captain Briggs having been promoted, Lieutenant Richardson was com- missioned as captain, and on coming to Pittsfield after being mustered out, he and his men were received by the citizens with a rousing wel- come.
After its discharge the Allen Guard was ordered to send in its arms, and Captain Richardson went to Boston to ask Governor Andrew to allow his men to keep their muskets. The Governor asked him, instead, to raise a company for the Twenty-first Massachusetts Regiment, and, having succeeded, he had his full complement of men at Worcester with- in two weeks, and they were sworn in as Company I, Captain Richard- son having as his lieutenant a son of President Stearns, of Amherst, and as major of the regiment, Professor Clark, of the same institution. On August 21, 1861, he started with his regiment for Washington, and later sailed with Burnside's expedition to Hatteras. From Hatteras he
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sailed February 5, 1862, to Roanoke Island, and participated in the en- gagement at that place. On March 16th, he was present with his men at the battle of Newberne, North Carolina, and was afterward sent by General Burnside with his company to New York with three hundred prisoners, whom he delivered safely at Governor's Island. A week later he returned with his company to Newberne, after which he was sub- sequently kept busy under McClellan, Pope, and other generals, in harassing Jackson and Longstreet at Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Alex- andria, Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and elsewhere. He was in many of the bloodiest fights of that entire campaign, and at one time, owing to the death of a captain who was killed in battle, he had the command of two companies. At one time he was ambushed; and on another occa- sion, when all the field officers were killed or captured, he was placed in command of the regiment. Returning with his regiment to Wash- ington, he was ordered up the Potomac by General Mcclellan, and, as acting lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, was near the front at the battles of Frederick and South Mountain, and on the extreme left at the battle of Antietam. He afterward served in the Shenandoah Val- ley, and was then sent to Falmouth, Virginia, to join the force pre- paring to head off Lee from Richmond, where, while waiting for pro- visions, he spent two weeks in putting up forts and breastworks. He stood near Sergeant Thomas Plunkett when he was hit by the shell that took off both his arms. After General Burnside assumed command of the army, the Twenty-first Regiment was assigned to the Ninth Corps, and sent first to Newport News, thence to the department of the Ohio, and was stationed in different places in Kentucky until July. 1863, when Captain Richardson was made provost marshal of Camp Nelson. On rejoining his regiment he participated in several engagements in East Tennessee, and suffered all the hardships of camp and field life, at one
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time he and his men being forced to subsist on three ears of corn a day. On January 6th, the captain, who in the meantime had been promoted to the rank of major, was given a month's leave of absence on account of having re-enlisted, and, starting for home, took with him four hun- dred prisoners as far as Cincinnati. At the end of the month Major Richardson joined Grant's army at Annapolis, and subsequently took an active part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, in the last named receiving a bullet wound in the thigh. After spending two weeks in Washington he came home and remained until his wound was partly healed, and then remained with his regiment at Annapolis until the expiration of his term of en- listment. While home on leave of absence, Major Richardson was appointed lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, but did not appear to be mustered in as such before he was discharged.
Upon his return to Pittsfield, Major Richardson engaged in con- tracting and building, and among the fine residences that he erected the first was a brick house on Wendell avenue (then Wendell street), and the last the elegant summer home of George H. Laflin (now deceased). Major Richardson employed many men, and built many public build- ings and other structures that stand today monuments to his business integrity. Notable among these edifices is the high school building. He retired from active business pursuits in 1891.
Politically he was a Republican of the stalwart type, and was recog- nized by his party as a man to whom important responsibilities might safely be entrusted and under the town government he served for sev- eral terms efficiently as commissioner of sewers; he was county com- missioner for three years, and served his ward in the city council. He was delegated to numerous conventions. He was a member of the committee having charge of the erection of the soldiers' monument in
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Pittsfield. His Grand Army membership was with W. W. Rockwell Post.
He married, October 26. 1852. Maria L., daughter of Jabez L. Babcock, of New Lebanon, New York. Both Mr. and Mrs. Richard- son were members of South Congregational church, Mr. Richardson serving as a member of the finance committee for some years. Major Richardson died March 31, 1904. Mrs. Richardson resides on East Housatonic street, Pittsfield.
The following peroration of a tribute paid to the memory of Col- onel H. H. Richardson-a part of the funeral service in Pittsfield. April 2, 1904-is the estimate of his friends and neighbors :
" We liked that solid, square-set body, that face with its rugged lines of strength, that quiet masterfulness, that superb integrity. He dispensed charm somehow like magic. You and I sitting here, who knew him and felt the charm, are not doubtful that it was the heart of the man which won us. It would be a kind of ungentle exposure to handle that truth in public. We know it. we feel it, and that is enough. Simple. modest, straight. friendly, masterful soldier, soldier also, of Jesus Christ.
"'Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail, Or knock the breast: no weakness, no contempt. Dispraise or blame, nothing but well and fair.'
" Thackeray, describing the death of Colonel Newcome, says that he lifted his head a little and quickly said: 'Adsum, present!' and fell back. It was a word used at school when names were called. It is a soldierly word also. Colonel Richardson has answered to his name,- the simple, soldierly. unpretentious, 'Present ! '-and stands before his Master."
MICHAEL CONDON.
A few years since, no member of the Irish-American population of Berkshire county was more esteemed or more deservedly so than Michael Condon, then an old and respected resident of Stockbridge. His father. Patrick Condon, who was born in Ireland, married Mar-
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garet , a native of the same country, and they emigrated to the United States and settled on a farm in " the Berkshires." Their family then consisted of one daughter and four sons, one of whom was Michael. Mr. Condon was a hardworking, industrious man, who gave his children such limited educational advantages as were within his power, and re- ceived the aid of his sons in the cultivation of the farm.
Michael Condon, son of Patrick and Margaret Condon, was born in West Stockbridge, and obtained his education in the district school. In his youth he aided his father on the farm, and then, feeling a desire for another line of endeavor, went to work in the Hudson iron mines. The result proved that he had not mistaken his true sphere of action, for before many years had elapsed he became by purchase the owner of these mines, and about the same time bought the " old hotel property," in West Stockbridge, where for about fifteen years he conducted a gen- eral store. As a business man he was well and favorably known for his discreet and farsighted progressiveness. As a citizen he was highly respected and also extremely popular, serving for nine years as select- man, the greater part of that time as chairman of the board. He also filled the office of deputy sheriff under Sheriff Crosby, of Pittsfield, and held a number of important positions on various town committees. He was a charter member of District No. 2, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and was widely known in society circles. In politics he was a sturdy Democrat, and could have had any office within the gift of his party.
Mr. Condon married, in 1885, Elizabeth Morrison, and their chil- dren were: Mary, born August 7. 1887 ; Elizabeth, born June 25, 1889; Frances, born September 12, 1890; and Edward, born October 15, 1895. Mr. Condon's death occurred at the hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for brain fever. His loss was widely lamented, and his fam- ily were made to feel that in their affliction they received the sincere
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sympathy of many true friends. His affairs, including the store, were for a few years conducted by his widow, who was finally compelled by failing health to dispose of the property and move to Pittsfield, where she now resides with her children. Mrs. Condon is the daughter of Patrick and Ellen (Flynn) Morrison, of Lenox, Massachusetts. The family took up their abode in Lenox in 1834, and it is probable that they were among the first Irish residents of the place. Mrs. Condon has three brothers: Richard, who is employed at the Lenox Pumping Station : David, who is a mason-builder in Lenox; and John, who is in the west. She has also a sister, Nora, who is the wife of William Franley, of Pittsfield.
JAMES RYAN.
James Ryan, who is living retired, one of the pioneer Irish-Ameri- can citizens of Dalton, is a son of James and Ellen Ryan, who was born in Balline, county Limerick, Ireland, in March, 1828. In early life he was left an orphan, and spent his boyhood days with his uncle, Den- nis Ryan. Desirous of obtaining a good education he made the most of his opportunities in his native land, attending school when not engaged at farm labor and at teaming. Believing that America afforded better opportunities for business advancement, he decided to come to the United States, and July 2, 1848, landed at New York City, being then twenty years of age. He made his way to Syracuse, New York, where he had relatives, and found employment in connection with the salt in- dustry. Although a man in age and stature, he did not hesitate to im- prove the opportunity of attending school during his residence in Syra- cuse. On leaving that city he went to Albany, afterward to Pittsfield, and thence came to Dalton in 1850. Here he entered the employ of J. B. Crane, and with the exception of about eight years continued in 20
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the services of the Crane family until his retirement from business life. He was for seven years with the Carson family, and spent one year in traveling in the west, during that time visiting places in Minnesota, but gladly returning to the east. In Dalton Mr. Ryan also improved the opportunity of continuing his education in the public schools.
In October, 1861, occurred the marriage of James Ryan and Miss Ellen Grady, of Springfield, Massachusetts, whom he brought to the home which he had prepared for her in Dalton. They had three chil- dren : Henry J., born July 30, 1862, is a graduate of the Boston Uni- versity Law School, class of 1886, was admitted to the bar, and is now a member of the firm of Thomas & Ryan, practicing attorneys of New York city : Katherine E., born December 17, 1865, is a graduate of the Pittsfield high school. and for several years was engaged in teaching in Dalton : Thomas G., born July 18, 1867, is employed in the incandescent lamp department at the Stanley Electric works in Pittsfield, Massachu- setts. Mr. Ryan and his family occupy a very attractive residence on Curtis avenue, in Dalton, which stands as a monument to his life of thrift and enterprise. He is a Democrat in his political affiliation, and is a communicant of the Catholic church.
MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN.
One of the most intelligent and scholarly Irishmen in Berkshire county, Mr. O'Loughlin, a resident of Pittsfield for nearly sixty years, has interspersed his labors with study, thus cultivating his naturally su- perior intellect and placing him on an equal footing with those who ac- quired the advantages of a liberal education in their younger days.
Michael O'Loughlin was born in the county Galway. Ireland. Au- gust 1, 1816, that turbulent period in Irish history immediately following
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the rigorous suppression of the revolution of 1798, in which the people were still burdened with the hardships of British misrule. He acquired the rudiments of his education in his native land and resided there until he was thirty years old. His sister Catherine (who afterward married John Holland) came with him to the United States in 1847, the year of the memorable Irish famine, arriving on American soil after a passage of forty-nine days. and locating immediately in Pittsfield. Hardly had he set foot on the soil of Pittsfield when he was offered steady employ- ment by Governor George N. Briggs, which he accepted, and for the succeeding nineteen years he was in charge of the grounds surrounding Maplewood Seminary. Subsequently for a period of thirty years he oc- cupied the responsible position of chief gardener on the Leonard estate, having entire charge of the exterior decorations on that extensive prop- erty, during which time he labored diligently and faithfully in the interest of his employer. His regular habits, together with a natural inclination toward economy and thrift, enabled him to amass a comfortable com- petency, which has been the means of making his declining years a period of uninterrupted enjoyment.
As has been previously stated Mr. O'Loughlin interspersed his labors with study, devoting his leisure hours to the enrichment of a mind constantly thirsting for knowledge, and these studious habits, which he has never allowed to deteriorate, have partially if not wholly recompensed the restricted desire for learning experienced in his youth. Among the various studies pursued and mastered by him is the Celtic tongue, or ancient language of Ireland. and this he is able to read and write fluent- ly, an accomplishment which, prior to the inauguration of the present movement in America to secure the preservation of the Irish tongue among the living languages, was possessed by but few of his country- men. Nor is his knowledge of this subject merely superficial. as he has
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on various occasions made practical demonstrations of his superior learning in this direction, and has written a number of books in the ancient Irish language. Some time since he crossed the ocean accom- panied by his son, and visited his old home in Ireland. Although nearly ninety years old his physical and mental powers are remarkably well preserved, especially his mental faculties, and his memory is extraor- dinarily clear. In politics he is a Democrat.
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