USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 23
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The founder of this important industry was a native of Bergen,
21
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New York, born April 10, 1838. He married, September 27, 1864, Fran- ces M., daughter of Rufus Wells, of Palmyra, New York. Mrs. Dibble, who now resides in North Adams, has two children, Edith Adele, a grad- uate of Rye Seminary, who married Harry A. Gallup, of North Adams, and has three children-Harry W., Kathryn F. and Harvey A .; and Rufus Wells Dibble, a graduate of Harvard College, associated in busi- ness in Boston with Lee. Higginson & Co., bankers and brokers, and a resident of Everett, where he married Miss Florence Evans.
ALFRED S. FASSETT.
Perhaps the oldest merchant now engaged in business in Berkshire county is Alfred S. Fassett, of Great Barrington. Mr. Fassett belongs to an old Vermont family which for a century and a half has been identi- fied with the history of Bennington. His grandfather, when a boy of fourteen, carried provisions from that place to the soldiers on the battle- field, and before the revolution there had been a Captain John Fassett in the Vermont militia. That the family has had a musical reputation as well as a martial one is attested by the fact that, for over a hundred years, the choir of the Bennington church has been led by a Fassett.
Benjamin Schenck Fassett was a farmer and harnessmaker, just in his dealings, and in all respects a good citizen and an upright man. He married Mary Campbell, a truly religious woman, whose life was an example of all the domestic virtues. They were the parents of three children, one of them, a son, Alfred S., mentioned hereinafter. Mr. Fassett died in January, 1865, leaving behind him the record of an in- dustrious and useful life.
Alfred S. Fassett, son of Benjamin Schenck and Mary (Campbell) Fassett, was born in 1849, in Bennington, Vermont, and received his
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education at the North Bennington Academy and at Bryant & Stratton's Business College of Rochester, New York. In Cambridge he was after- ward employed as clerk in a dry goods store, and later went to Kansas City, Missouri, as buyer for a mercantile house. Thirty years ago he went into business for himself at Great Barrington, and ever since has been at the head of a flourishing establishment. The circle of his con- nections has gradually widened, the scope of his transactions enlarged, and to-day no business house throughout the length and breadth of Berkshire county has a more assured standing than that of Alfred S. Fassett, built as it is on the enduring foundation of commercial sagacity and strict integrity. Mr. Fassett is one of the trustees of the Great Bar- rington Bank, and for twenty years has served on the board of invest- ment. He has always taken an active part in public affairs, and his townsmen have given proofs that the confidence with which they regard him as a citizen is equal to that which they accord to him as a business man. They have elected him to the legislature and also to the state senate, in each of which he has served two years. He was a member for the same length of time of the Republican state committee. He is the first vice-president of the Business Men's League, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity. He is a member of the Congregational church.
Mr. Fassett married, February 15, 1871, Sarah Culver, of Cam- bridge, New York, and of the five children born to them three are now living : David Henry: Mary, who is the wife of William M. Hepburn ; and Florence, who married Frank Strevell.
CHARLES HERBERT KEENE, M. D.
Dr. Charles H. Keene. actively engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born at Palmyra, Maine. Feb- ruary 8, 1875. He is a son of Herbert Norris Keene, for thirty years
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a leading leather merchant of Boston, Massachusetts, and now connected with the United States Leather Company.
Charles H. Keene received his initial schooling in the city of Bos- ton, Massachusetts, and this was supplemented by an academic and col- legiate course at Harvard, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1898 with the degree A. B., and from its medical department in 1902. His practical professional experience had its inception as house surgeon at St. John's Hospital. Lowell, Massachusetts, to which position he was appointed as a result of his success in the customary competitive examination. In 1903 he located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and at once established offices in the Wright building. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and one of the staff of surgeons of the Massachusetts militia by appointment of Governor Crane. During the Spanish-American war, Dr. Keene served as a member of the First Massachusetts Artillery. Dr. Keene is a member of Bethesda Lodge, of Brighton, Free and Accepted Masons; St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter, and De Molay Cammandery, of Boston. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, his eligibility being shown in the following genealogical resume, which connects in direct line with soldiers of the Patriot army: Charles H. Keene, M. D., son of Herbert Norris and Mary Florence ( Pratt) Keene: grandson of Charles Russell and Olive Anne (Sturtevant) Pratt; great-grandson of Nathan and Hannah (Shaw) Sturtevant ; great-great-grandson of Nathaniel and Betsy (House) Shaw, private in the Massachusetts militia, pensioned; great- great-great-grandson of Caleb House, private in the Massachusetts mi- litia; great-grandson of Gamaliel and Hannah (Curtis) Sturtevant ; great-great-grandson of Consider Sturtevant, private in Massachusetts militia ; grandson of Norris and Sarah Ann (Nye) Keene : great-grand- son of Snow and Saphronia ( Maxim) Keene (3) ; great-great-grandson
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of Snow and Sarah ( Bradford) Keene. Jr. ; great-great-great-grandson of Snow Keene. Sr., private in the Massachusetts militia. Sarah (Brad- ford) Keene, above mentioned, was a daughter of Wait Bradford, who was a son of Ephraim, son of Major William Bradford, whose father, William Bradford, was first governor of Plymouth colony.
REV. CHARLES E. BURKE.
The present pastor of St. Francis' Roman Catholic church, North Adams, is a native of Massachusetts, and his birth took place in the city of Worcester, November 4, 1845. His parents, Patrick and Ann Burke, who were both natives of Ireland, immigrated to the United States during the first half of the last century, and settled in Worces- ter, which at that time was in the early stages of its development into the industrial importance it has since attained.
Charles E. Burke acquired his early education in the Worcester public schools, graduating from the high school in 1866, and his studies were continued at Holy Cross College, that city, from which he was graduated with the class of 1869. His theological studies were pursued at St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, New York, and at the conclusion of the regular course he was ordained to the priesthood in Troy by the Rt. Rev. Bishop McNeirny, May 25. 1872. He was almost immediately assigned to duty as assistant to Vicar-General Healy, at Chicopee, Massachusetts, from whence he went in the same capacity to St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, this state, August 15, 1872, and was subsequently appointed to the rectorate. In 1883 he was appointed rector of St. Francis' church, North Adams, to succeed the late Rev. Father Lynch, and for the past twenty-two years he has labored dili- gently and faithfully in behalf of the moral and religious welfare of
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the parish, which, under his fostering care, has expanded into large pro- portions.
Although not the oldest religious organization in North Adams, St. Francis' parish is undoubtedly one of the largest, and, as its present flourishing condition is largely due to the ability and progressive ten- dencies of Father Burke, a brief summary of its history may be rightly considered as coming within the province of this work. As early as 1825 several Irish families are known to have settled in North Adams, but the first Catholic resident whose name and date of arrival have been accurately preserved was one Michael Ryan, a native of Kildare, Ireland, who located here in 1832, and resided here for the remainder of his life, which terminated at the age of eighty years, September 10, 1880. Mass was first celebrated here in Mr. Ryan's house, the officiat- .ing clergyman being the Rev. Father Callahan, and in 1848 a mission was established here by the Rev. Edward Cavanaugh, of Pittsfield, who arranged to have mass celebrated once in three months in the houses of some of the Catholic residents. To a people so earnestly devoted to their religion, from the exercise of which, under the guidance of an authorized instructor, they had been by force of circumstances so long prevented from enjoying, these periodical visitations of the vigilant Pittsfield pastor were undoubtedly looked forward to with inexpressible reverence and delight by those steadfast devotees to their ancestral faith, and it would be difficult to imagine the spirit of piety and devotion dis- played at these gatherings. Father Cavanaugh was succeeded in the Pittsfield pastorate by the Rev. Patrick Cuddihy, who also took charge of the North Adams mission, and it was during his supervision that it became absolutely necessary to organize a broader and more efficient system of religious work in this locality. With this end in view the Galligan homestead, together with a lot on River street, was purchased,
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and a parish organization perfected. About the year 1856 the church edifice of the Methodist Society on Center street was secured for a place of worship. In 1860 the Rev. Edward Purcell succeeded to the Pittfield pastorate, having as his assistant the Rev. Charles Lynch, who in November, 1862, was appointed pastor of St. Francis' parish at North Adams, with missions at South Adams, Williamstown and the east end of Hoosac Tunnel. In 1865 Father Lynch purchased of J. H. Adams the residence property on Eagle street (afterward used as the parish house), and still later secured the adjoining land on Eagle and Union streets, the whole now being occupied by St. Francis' church and St.
Joseph's convent. The cornerstone of St. Francis' church was laid in the summer of 1867, and the edifice was completed and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in July. 1869. Through the interest and liberal- ity of the local manufacturers, notably Mr. John Harvey Arnold, a chime of bells was purchased and placed in the tower a few years later. After the separation of North Adams from Adams in 1878. it was found necessary to divide the parish. Shortly afterward the pastor had the pleasure of announcing to his congregation that the parish had oblit- erated all of its financial obligations, and encouraged by the fact that their church property was entirely free from encumbrances the parish- ioners gave liberally toward the needed improvements, namely, a paro- chial school and a convent. The site of the old parish house, which was removed to Union street. is now occupied by St. Joseph's Hall. a hand- some brick structure of modern architecture, and, although Father Lynch survived its completion, he was not permitted to direct its future career of usefulness, as he was summoned to his reward. Father Lynch died May 30, 1883, in the fifty-third year of his age, his death resulting from a paralytic stroke which had overcome him two days previous, while preparing to officiate at a requiem mass for the repose
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of the soul of one of his parishioners. He was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Charles E. Burke, the principal subject of this sketch.
Immediately taking up the work of improvement at the point where his predecessor had left it, Father Burke continued it along the same lines, interspersing his routine labors with the consideration and preparation of new projects, one of which was the purchase in 1889 of the Boland estate, and in 1904 he added thereto sixteen and three-quar- ters acres of land known as the Brown farm, for cemetery use. The property now occupied as a parish house was purchased in 1894, and was formerly the residence of Harvey Arnold, founder of the Arnold Print Works.
St. Francis' church is a modern brick edifice with brown stone trimmings, and has a seating capacity of eleven hundred. Its total membership now consists of about four thousand five hundred souls. Connected with it is a well equipped parochial school having an aver- age attendance of seven hundred, who are instructed by the Sisters of St. Joseph's Convent. Father Burke has as his assistants. Rev. James J. Donnelly, Rev. Thomas A. Kennedy, and Rev. Jeremiah Sullivan.
BABBITT FAMILY.
The Babbitt family, of which Mrs. Marie Antoinette Taylor, daugh- ter of the late Dr. Snell Babbitt. of Adams, is a representative, was founded in New England by Edward Bobit, an immigrant from Wales. who arrived in Taunton, Massachusetts, about the year 1643. He subse- quently settled in Berkeley, and was one of the original purchasers of that part of Taunton which was afterward incorporated as the town of Nor- ton. At the breaking-out of King Philip's war he removed his family to Taunton for protection, and on a visit to his deserted home in 1676
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(tradition says for the purpose of procuring a cheese hoop), he took refuge in a tree in order to escape the vigilance of some prowling savages, but the barking of his dog revealed his hiding place and he was killed. On September 7, 1654, he married Sarah Tarne, daughter of Miles Tarne, of Boston, and was survived by nine children, the yourgest of whom was Deliverance, born December 15, 1673.
Edward (2), eldest child of Edward and Sarah (Tarne) Bobit, was born July 15, 1655. His first wife, whom he married February I, 1683, was Abigail Tisdale, daughter of John and Sarah (Walker) Tisdale, of Taunton, the former of whom was killed by the Indians at Taunton in 1676, the same year in which Edward Bobit (I) met his death in a like manner. On December 22, 1668, Edward Bobit (2) married for his second wife Elizabeth Thayer, daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Harvey) Thayer, also of Taunton. His death occurred in 1727, and his will, which was made February 5, of that year, men- tions his wife Elizabeth, six sons and five daughters.
Nathaniel (3), son of Edward and Abigail (Tisdale) Bobit, was born in 1693. He settled in Norton, where he died February 25. 1759. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Snell (or Snellem), who was born in 1703, and died December 16, 1783. According to the Norton records they had eight children, and the same record states that Sarah Snalem died in Norton. November 13. 1746, which possibly may refer to Mary Snell or Snellem's mother.
Nathan (4), fourth son of Nathan and Mary Bobit, was born Oc- tober 8, 1730. He was in his forty-fifth year at the beginning of the war for national independence, and he served as a lieutenant in the Continental army during that struggle. He died August 31, 1794. His marriage with Abigail Cobb was published February 1, 1752. Abigail was born in Norton, March 5. 1731, daughter of Benjamin and Mary
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(Mason) Cobb, of that town, and she died there May 10, 1782. Nathan Bobit married (second) Mrs. Judith Newcomb, the mother of Anna Newcomb, who will be again mentioned. His children, all of his first union, were: Nathan, Levi, Snellem, Abigail, Edward, Sarah, and Mary. Nathan, born March 6, 1755, studied medicine and was a sur- geon in the Revolutionary war. In 1789 he settled in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, and practiced his profession there for the remainder of his life, which terminated in April, 1826. On June 24, 1779, he married Anna Newcomb, daughter of Judith, previously mentioned, and reared three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Nathaniel God- frey Babbitt, went to Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1858, and died at the home of his son, Clinton, March II, 1867. Levi Babbitt, born August 31, 1757, died May 8, 1795, was a lifelong resident of Norton. He mar- ried Betty Babbitt, daughter of Seth Babbitt, of Easton, Massachusetts, and she died April 9, 1800. They were the parents of six children. Abigail, daughter of Nathan (4) and Abigail (Cobb) Babbitt, was born March 31, 1764. She married Annis Newcomb, son of Judith New- comb, mentioned above, and had two daughters,-Abigail, married Ed- ward Babbitt; and Mary, second wife of Alvin Dunham. Sarah, daugh- ter of Nathan (4) and Abigail (Cobb) Babbitt, married Benjamin Wild, son of Dr. John and Anna (Hodges) Wild, of Norton; and Sarah's sister Mary married a Mr. Lincoln.
Snellem (5), third child of Nathan and Abigail (Cobb) Babbitt, and the grandfather of Mrs. Marie Antoinette (Babbitt) Taylor, was born December II, 1760. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, participating in the battle of Bunker Hill and in the siege of Bos- ton. In 1787, some five years after his marriage, he removed to Savoy, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he attained prominence in civic affairs, holding at different times all of the town offices, and repre-
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senting that town in the general court. Snellem Babbitt lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, and died in April, 1854. On De- cember 12, 1782, he was maried at Stoughtonham (now Sharon), Mass- achusetts, by the Rev. Philip Curtis, to Betty Blanchard. Of this union there were seven children: Snell, see forward; Ebenezer, Abigail, Bet- sey, Edward, Polly and Seth. Ebenezer, born November II, 1784, died in his youth. Abigail, who married Cromwell Goff, became the mother of seven children, among whom are Mrs. Elizabeth Walton, of North Adams, and Mrs. Mary Ingraham, of Adams. Betsey married Alvin Dunham, and had two children, Mrs. Mary Baker and Franklin. Ed- ward married Abigail Newcomb, and was the father of five children,- William, Andrew, Charles, Nathan, and Sarah, who became Mrs. Reed.
Snell Babbitt (6), eldest child of Snellem and Betty (Blanchard) Babbitt, was born September 9, 1783. He entered the medical profes- sion and establishing himself in practice at Adams, was widely known as the most skilful physician of that locality in his day. He also figured prominently in civic affairs and served as representative to the state legislature. Aside from his superior professional attainments his pop- ularity was in no small measure increased by his many commendable qualities, and his death, which occurred March 9, 1853, was the cause of general and sincere regret. In 1809 Dr. Babbitt married Miss Jael Edson, daughter of Abiezer and Rhoda (Peterson) Edson. Through Abiezer and Jael (Bennett) Edson, Josiah and Sarah ( Packard) Edson and Joseph and Experience ( Holbrook) Edson, she was a descendant in the sixth generation of Samuel Edson (1612-72), who settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, at an early date in the colonial period. Jael Edson was also descended collaterally from John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, John Howland and John Tilley, the Mayflower Pil- grims. Mrs. Jael (Edson) Babbitt died in 1866. She was the mother
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of ten children: Nathan, died in 1889, leaving no children; Erasmus, who resides in Bloomington, Illinois, and has three sons; Corydon (deceased), who left two daughters, Alice and Sylinda; John Quincy (also deceased), none of whose children are now living; Horace, a resi- dent of Philmont, New York, having one son, Horace Babbitt, Jr .; Henry and Byron, neither of whom lived to maturity ; Bidwell, who died leaving no issue; Marie Antoinette, who is still residing in Adams; and Adeline L., who married Albert G. Browne. Mrs. Browne died in 1888, and is survived by two sons, Charles and Isaac Browne.
Marie Antoinette (7) Babbitt, ninth child and youngest daugh- ter of Dr. Snell and Jael (Edson.) Babbitt, married Amory E. Taylor. She has three children, namely: Edward, Amory and Leila Taylor Plunkett.
SAMUEL MARKHAM GUNN.
Distinguished as the oldest resident of Berkshire county, this nono- genarian, who is residing in Lanesboro, is favorably known through- out that section and well remembered by the older citizens of Pittsfield, where he served as a civil officer for many years.
Gideon Gunn, Samuel M. Gunn's grandfather, married Sarah Dem- ming, who is said to have been the first white child born in Pittsfield (or Wendell's Town, as it was originally called), and they were the first settlers in East Pittsfield, where they resided for the remainder of their lives. Berkshire county was then but sparsely settled, and great precaution was necessary in order to protect the new settlements from the attacks of the hostile savages. Gideon Gunn was perfectly familiar with the country lying between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers, and during the Revolutionary war he served as a scout. The children of
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Gideon and Sarah (Demming) Gunn were: Reuben, Betsey, Lavinia and Calvin.
Calvin Gunn, father of Samuel M. Gunn, was a lifelong resident of Pittsfield, and the active period of his life was devoted to general farm- ing. His death occurred in 1812. He married Betsey Markham, who was a native of New Hartford, Connecticut. She survived her husband many years, dying in 1850. Their children were: Betsey, Gideon, Samuel M., Calvin and Emily. Of these the only one now living is Samuel M., the principal subject of this sketch. Betsey, who was born in 1798, married William McAllister.
Samuel M. Gunn was born in East Pittsfield, June 7, 1808. De- prived of his father's support at the age of four years, he was, in com- mon with the other children, left wholly to the care of his mother, who, fortunately, was equal to the occasion and she reared her family in a most creditable manner. His boyhood and youth were spent upon the homestead farm, where he learned to make himself useful, and with the other children of the neighborhood he attended the district school dur- ing the winter season. Upon reaching manhood he engaged in agricult- ural pursuits, and was thus occupied for the greater portion of his active period. He was long identified with local civic affairs, serving as town constable for several years, was policeman for a period of twenty-five years, and for two terms held the office of deputy-sheriff. He is now residing in Lanesboro, having attained the unusually advanced age of ninety-seven years and six months, and, while not perhaps the only nono -- genarian, he is in all probability the oldest resident of Berkshire county, and is remarkably well preserved, retaining all his faculties.
January 17, 1838, Mr. Gunn was joined in marriage with Miss Lucy E. Brooks, and they have had four children, all born in East Pitts-
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field : Lester B., Louisa, Elizabeth and S. Herbert ; the last two named are deceased.
Lester B. Gunn was born February 5, 1839. From early manhood to the present time he has been engaged in general farming, and has given his special attention to the raising of poultry. He was married March 21, 1864, to Miss Thankful A. Sprague, daughter of Dyer and Mary (Palmer) Sprague, of Pittsfield. They have one son, Charles L. Gunn, who married Lottie C. Goodel, and has five children living.
Louisa Gunn married Sterling Milliman, of West Winsted, and they have one son, Elmer, who is living in Portland, Maine.
Herbert married Fannie Reed, of New York city, and they had one child, Marguerite, who resides in Oakland, California.
Elizabeth Gunn married Albert Nathan Chapin, of Pittsfield, and they have six daughters: Lucy M., married James Shepardson, and they have one son, Herbert; Mabel Estelle: Bessie, married Robert Pruyne, and they have one son; Bertha. Blanche, and Marguerite.
EDWARD JOHN SPALL.
Among the younger merchants of Berkshire county whose careers are of recognized substantial value in the business development of the county seat, the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs may Le appropriately numbered. He is also of that especially interesting group of men which this and most communities are fortunate in pos- sessing who may be described as self-made. Coming to Pittsfield, an entire stranger to the locality, less than twenty years ago, he was within a few years installed in a managerial capacity in an old established jew- elry business which he was successful in establishing upon a still firmer basis, and during the five years in which he has conducted a similar
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business upon his own account he has continued to evidence an especial capacity therefor by continued and constantly increasing success.
He was born December 21, 1866, in Hawley, Pennsylvania, son of the late Lewis J. and Elizabeth ( Stells) Spall, natives of Wayne county, Pennsylvania, of German descent. Young Spall received his education in the public schools of Hawley, and there found his first employment serving a three years' apprenticeship in learning the jewelry trade. In 1884 he obtained a position with R. N. Johnquest & Company. jewelers of Ansonia, Connecticut. In February, 1887, Mr. Spall, in response to an advertisement, came to Pittsfield to accept a position with the late George W. Edwards, then a leading jeweler of that place. Upon the decease of Mr. Edwards, in 1890, Mr. Spall was entrusted with the con- duct of the business and continued to be thus engaged for a period of eleven years, when he opened his own jewelry establishment in the Wollison block on North street. Mr. Spall is a business man of the active, aggressive type and keenly interested in all local trade interests. During the years of the Spanish-AAmerican war, when especial efforts were being made through the United States to introduce the giving of trading stamps by merchants as a presumably good method of gaining and retaining patronage, Mr. Spall was one of those who speedily ar- rayed himself in vigorous opposition to the very clever scheme of paying a bonus to strangers for transacting business with his own customers at the customers' expense. A Pittsfield Merchants' AAssocia tion was formed. of which Mr. Spall was secretary, and largely through the personal efforts of that gentleman the trading stamp was suppressed. In 1905 Mr. Spall was elected a director of the association representing the jewelry trade. His political affiliation is with the Republican party. .As a resident of ward seven he was the caucus nominee in 1897 for councilmanic service. but declined to accept. Similar overtures the fol-
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