USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 22
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calling and took pride in it. The foundation of his success in life was laid in his law busi- ness. He was, first and foremost, a good law- yer, a brilliant advocate and a wise legal coun- selor. "He was singularly free from pedantry," writes his biographer, James E. Nesmith, "He could brighten a dry argument with flashes of wit. He understood human nature, and could reach and influence a jury ; he studied them individually, and was a good reader of char- acter. He understood his cases, and knew the salient points of attack and defense. He was logical, cogent and urgent in his arguments. He had a clear insight into the great under- lying principles of law ; consequently he un- derstood quickly the bearings of each indi- vidual case, its relation to those principles and the great body of legal precedents. He had no interest in the trivialities of law, its curiosi- ties and phrases, its quiddits and its quillets. Above all, he was always a gentleman, a courteous advocate, gracious to friend and foe. He was never unmannerly or rude on any provocation. Perhaps the highest compliment he ever received as a lawyer, and the most gratifying, was paid to him and the opposing counsel in court by Judge Aldrich. The com- pliment itself and the words that express it are worthy of a great judge. It was honorable alike to the judge and the counsel whose con- duct of the case called it forth. The following is an account. taken from one of the papers at the time: 'Messrs. Greenhalge and Lilley (now Judge Lilley) were trying a case before Judge Aldrich. When it was closed and his Honor took it up, he turned to the jury and said : 'Gentlemen, I can congratulate myself and you upon the manner in which this case has been tried by the two able counsels in it. The law has been presented ably and de- cidedly ; there has been an utter absence of wrangling between attorneys, and of brow- beating of witnesses, and it has been a rare pleasure to hear it. Seldom in the course of my judicial experience have I heard a case that has been conducted with so much legal ability and proper spirit; and for these two days it has seemed as if the sweet spirit of lofty jurisprudence had filled this court-room. I congratulate the gentlemen in the case ; I con- gratulate the jurymen who have had this rare privilege and I congratulate myself upon hav- ing the opportunity to sit and hear it.'" Judge Sheldon wrote of his legal ability and attain- ments : "As a lawyer, it was well said by one of our most able judges that he never found it necessary to give up candor and manners in order to fight hard and prevail. . He
did not fail to bring out the whole strength of his client's position, and he was never re- luctant to meet the hardest onset or the most obstinate defence that could be made by his opponent. His powers of oratory and dis- cussion were unfailing ; but he never sought by these powers to mask any unfairness of argument or any distortion of truth and justice. Utterly loyal to his client, he was unfailing in his loyalty to the court. He was eager to obtain victory for his client and he could toil terribly for this end, but he could not fight his forensic battles otherwise than fairly and honorably. He was a sincere man ; he could not deceive himself and he would not deceive others. He was a lover of justice, and he realized the fact, so often overlooked, that under our system of administering the law justice can best be obtained when the oppos- ing interests are each zealously supported and vindicated with the greatest acumen and pro- fessional ardor, with an impartial tribunal to hold the balance between them. So he sin- cerely and with an earnest zeal, but fairly and courteously, supported the claims of his clients, and expected and welcomed the same conduct from his opponent. If any unfair means were used against him, he was cap- able of an honest indignation that could trample upon such means and bring them to naught. He loved the truth; and his bearing, his demeanor, the tones of his voice, the very features of his countenance, his heart and mind manifesting themselves in all that he said and did, showed this love of truth so plainly that none could fail to see and appreci- ate it. He was successful as a lawyer. Early in his professional career he found that he had obtained a good practice, which was increas- ing yearly. There is no room for doubt that, had he continued in the active practice of his profession, he would have attained both wealth and that measure of fame which is within the reach of the practicing lawyer. He turned his attention to public affairs and his renown is the greater. But he was the same man as a lawyer that he was in other walks of life. His practice was a varied one, and he did all his work well: it was ever his habit to rise at least to the level of each occasion, and to discharge successfully whatever duty came to his hand. He was not inclined to magnify the pecuniary value of his services, or to con- sider his own emolument so much the object to be striven for as the welfare of his client. He desired professional success ; he was am- bitious to attain it; the contests of the bar suited his eager nature. His arguments to
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juries were strong and effective, just as in political affairs his speeches were influential and persuasive." He was associated until 1870 with Charles F. Howe ; afterthat he had no law partner. In 1874 he was made a special justice of the Lowell police court and served in that office ten years.
Early in life he became an active and zeal- ous Republican. His public career began with his election to the Lowell common council, of which he was a member in 1868-69. He fol- lowed Charles Sumner into the Democratic party in 1872 and voted for Greeley, but his principles were always essentially Republican, and he never afterward bolted the nominations of the Republican party. From 1871 to 1873 he was a member of the Lowell school board. In 1880 and 1881 he was mayor of Lowell, elected first by a majority of eight hundred and fifty six and re-elected by an almost unani- mous vote, having the nominations of both the leading parties. He was an excellent mayor and won the public confidence and ap- probation by his straightforward, earnest and manly administration of affairs. In 1884 he was an Edmunds delegate at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, when Blaine was nominated on the fourth ballot. He was a representative to the general court of Massa- chusetts in 1885, and soon acquired the repu- tation of being the best debater in the house and became a conspicuous figure. He sup- ported the bill for biennial elections ; opposed the bill to pension judges of the supreme court ; favored the act to abolish the poll-tax as a prerequisite to voting ; was chairman of a committee to investigate the finances of the house and of the standing committee of mer- cantile affairs. To the general regret of the best editors and political leaders he was de- feated when up for re-election. The Lowell Courier said: "The result is to be regretted, Mr. Greenhalge would have been a leading man on the floor of the house. His remark- able talents and his experience would have been invaluable both to his local constitu- ency and to the Commonwealth."
He was elected to represent his district in the Fifty-first Congress, and served with abil- ity and unusual distinction for a new mem- ber. He was an active, forceful and persistent legislator, and contrary to the custom even during the first session spoke frequently on the floor of the house. He was on three im- portant committees-the civil service commit- tee, the committee on elections and the com- mittee on revision of the laws. He was especi- ally active in the work of deciding contested
elections. Soon after his return to Lowell he was selected as chairman of the Republican State Convention, one of the great prizes of politics, in point of honor, and it afforded him a magnificent opportunity for a great political speech. He was renominated for congress, but after a hot contest was defeated in the avalanche that overwhelmed his party throughout the country in 1890. He was suc- ceeded by a Democrat, Moses T. Stevens. He was city solicitor in 1888, before going to congress. In 1893 he was nominated for gov- ernor of Massachusetts by the Republican con- vention and was elected by a plurality of 36,- 677, after Governor William E. Russell had been elected on the Democratic ticket three years in succession before that. He made a vigorous campaign; was constantly on the stump, visiting all parts of the state. He was indefatigable. The political speeches of this campaign were his highest achievements in public speaking. His success on the plat- form was indisputable ; his energy and fire car- ried the people with him ; his speeches rose to the highest standards of political oratory.
Governor Greenhalge was a model execu- tive. He was re-elected by an overwhelming majority in 1894-95. He died early in his third term, after a brief illness, March 5, 1896. Not for seventy years before had a governor of Massachusetts died in office, and the whole Commonwealth mourned for a beloved and honored governor, one of the best in the long list of distinguished men who have been chief magistrates of the Old Bay State. His long training in the varied walks of public life, his contests in the court rooms, his experience in public speaking, his gifts as a writer and a poet, his term in congress, his administration of the municipal affairs of the city of Lowell, all these things were the education that fitted him to all but perfection for the multifarious duties of governor. His native wit, common sense, courage and force of character were the foundations upon which experience had built a worthy temple. He was as admirable in his office, considering legislation, vetoing bills, making appointments, attending to the import- ant routine of his position, as he was when, in the fullness of his great gift of oratory, he spoke for the Commonwealth. Of the present generation no governor of this state except Long had the training, ability and fitness of Greenhalge.
Of his oratorical powers Governor Green- halge made the fullest use. He delivered a multitude of speeches during his administra- tion and fell a victim to overwork in his at-
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tempt to meet the demands of the people upon him. Senator Hoar wrote to him of his Wor- cester speech in 1891 : "It seems to me nearly, if not quite, the best political speech I ever heard," and again in 1894, he wrote to the governor : "I trust there will be no indelicacy in my saying to you what I have said very often to other people; I do not believe you are yourself aware of the great qualities which you possess for becoming a consummate ora- tor. I do not know another person living in this country who seems to me to possess them to so large a degree. You havea beautiful, racy, fresh and original style, of great purity, and adapted to convey your thought without dim- inution of its clearness or force, into the minds of your auditors. You have the gift of pathos, of wit, and of stirring lofty emotion. I do not think the public, although they listen, as you yourself must know, with great delight to your public utterances, are as yet aware of the extent to which you possess this capacity. I hope you will not content yourself with an- swering satisfactorily the ordinary demands which come to you by virtue of your public station, but that you will do what our other great orators did-what Edward Everett, and Choate, and Sumner, and what Webster in his earlier years did-take such opportunities as may come to you for the preparation of care- ful and elaborate addresses on great themes which will take a permanent place in litera- ture, and which will contain the very best you can do with full and thorough study." No better testimony of the rank to which Green- halge was entitled as an orator could be pro- duced. Senator Hoar made a study of Ameri- can oratory and was himself one of the fore- most public speakers, especially during his last years. Governor Greenhalge, like Gover- nor Long, was a poet of some distinction. Some of his verses have been collected in the same volume with his biography. They show his careful thinking and wonderful vocabulary, as truly as the best of his speeches. He had deep religious feel- ings and convictions. His father's family be- longed to the Church of England, and in Lo- well joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, afterwards Greenhalge himself united with the Unitarians and regularly attended the Uni- tarian church at Lowell. In early life he was interested in private theatricals and displayed much dramatic ability. He had few business interests. He was for many years, however, president of the City Institution for Savings and trustee from 1876 to the end of his life. He was at various times president of the Lo-
well Humane Society, the History Club, the People's Club, and the Unitarian Club. He was one of the founders and first president of the Martin Luthers, an association to promote out-of-door sport among its members. He was trustee of Rogers Hall School for Girls, the Westford Academy, and the Lowell Gen- eral Hospital. In summer he lived in a cot- tage on the Scarborough, Maine, shore. His home in Lowell was at the corner of Wyman and Nesmith streets, built by him in 1878 on part of the land of his wife's father, and the house is near the old homestead where she was born. He loved his home and was always best contented among his books, and while sharing in the enjoyment of home life. His biographer says: "His beloved wife he rever- enced as a perfect woman, and the felicity of their married life was without a passing cloud. She devoted herself to him, and without am- bition herself, watched his public career with admiration and loyalty to all his best interests. To her counsels he listened and he depended much upon her sterling common sense and high ideals. Like the wife of Disraeli, she was a constant support to her distinguished husband. Her chief interest centered in the home circle; but where her husband's inter- ests were concerned she was always willing to sacrifice her own preferences, and, while never going much abroad, always gave to public questions that concerned him her undivided interest and attention."
He married, October 1, 1872, Isabel Ne- smith, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor John Nesmith. (See sketch of the Nesmith fam- ily). Children : I. Nesmith, born August 28, 1873, died July 25, 1874. 2. Frederick Brandlersome, born July 21, 1875. 3. Harriet Nesmith, born December 10, 1878, married L. H. Martin. 4. Richard Spalding.
Emily Greenhalge, daughter of William Greenhalge, and sister of ex-Governor Freder- ick T. Greenhalge, of Massachusetts, was born September 23, 1840, in Lancashire, England. She was brought to this country by her par- ents at the age of fourteen years, was edu- cated in the public schools of Lowell, Massa- chusetts, and for many years has taken an ac- tive interest in all things pertaining to the bet- terment and upbuilding of the community in which she resides. For half a century she has held membership in St. Anne's Church of Lowell, in the charitable and benevolent work of which she is a prominent factor, giving lib- erally both of time and money.
Martha Emma Greenhalge, sister of Emily Greenhalge, was born in Lowell, Massachu-
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setts, April 14, 1856. She acquired her educa- tion in the public schools of Lowell, is an ac- tive member of St. Anne's Church of Lowell and, like her sister, is actively and prominently identified with charitable and benevolent work.
GATES The Gates family is of English origin, and the author of the family history traces the line- age of the American immigrant back to 1327. The coat of arms is: Per Pale, gules and azure, three lions rampant, gardant, or. Crest : A demi-lion rampant, gardant, or. The fam- ily seats were in Essex and Yorkshire.
(I) Thomas Gates resided in 1327 in High- easter and sometime also at Thursteubie, Es- sex county, England. He had a son William. (II) William Gates, son of Thomas Gates (I), had sons Ralph, Christopher, and Sir Geoffrey, mentioned below.
(III) Sir Geoffrey Gates, son of William Gates (2), married Agnes Baldington, daugh- ter of Sir Thomas Baldington, of Aldersbury, Oxfordshire, England. Child : William, men- tioned below.
(IV) William Gates, son of Sir Geoffrey Gates (3), married Mabel, daughter and heir- ess of Thomas Capdow, of Higheaster, Essex, and his wife Ann, daughter and heiress of Thomas Fleming, of Essex, England. Chil- dren : I. Sir Geoffrey, mentioned below. 2. Anne, married Thomas Darcy, uncle to Thomas Lord Darcy, of Chicke.
(V) Sir Geoffrey Gates, son of William Gates (4), married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Clapton, Knight, of Kentwell, Sus- sex, England. Children: Sir John, married Mary Denny, daughter of Sir Edward Denny ; was Gentleman of the Bedchamber of the King; Master of the Horse to King Edward VI; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and of the Privy Council; lost his head for high treason in the matter of Lady Jane Grey. 2. Geoffrey, mentioned below. 3. Henry, was of Semer, Yorkshire, England; ancestor of the Gates family of that county. 4. William. 5. Dorothy, married Sir Thomas Josselyn, of Josselyn Hall.
(VI) Geoffrey Gates, son of Sir Geoffrey Gates (5), of Higheaster, Essex county, Eng- land, married Pascall, of Essex county. Children : I. Geoffrey, married Joan Went- worth. 2. Henry. 3. John, ancestor of Gen- eral Horatio Gates, of Revolutionary war fame.
(VII) Geoffrey Gates, son of Geoffrey Gates (6), married Joan Wentworth. Child :
Peter, married Mary Josselyn, and lived in London.
(VIII) Peter Gates, son of Geoffrey Gates (7), resided in London, England; married Mary Josselyn. Child, Thomas, mentioned below.
(IX) Thomas Gates, son of Peter Gates (8), was of Norwich, Norfolk county, Eng- land. He was the father of Stephen Gates, the American immigrant, mentioned below.
(X) Stephen Gates, second son of Thomas Gates (9), came from Hingham, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in the ship "Dili- gent," of Ipswich, England, in the year 1638. He settled at Hingham, Massachusetts, re- moving thence to Lancaster, Massachusetts, about 1656, and subsequently to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he died in 1662. In his will dated June 9, 1662, proved October 75. 1662, he bequeathed to Stephen, his eldest son, the house and lot at Lancaster. . His wife and son Simon received the place at Cambridge and his son Thomas was to remain with them at his pleasure. He married in England Ann Hill (according to the Chute Genealogy), and they brought two children with them when they came over. There was a controversy be- tween the Gates and Whitcomb families at Lancaster that probably influenced Gates to remove to Cambridge. His widow, Ann, married Richard Woodward, of Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1663, but after the death of her second husband, February 16, 1665, she resumed the name of her first husband. She died at Stow, February 5, 1682-83. Children : I. Elizabeth, born in England, died August 3, 1704, in Hingham; married, November 29, 1647, John Laselle. 2. Mary, born in England, married, April 5, 1658, John Maynard, of Sudbury, who died December 22, 17II. 3. Stephen, born about 1640, died 1706, at Ac- ton, Massachusetts ; married Sarah Wood- ward, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Hammond) Woodward, of Watertown. 4- Thomas, born 1642, mentioned below. 5. Si- mon, born 1645, died April 21, 1693, at Brock- ton, Massachusetts. 6. Isaac, baptized May 3, 1646, died September 3, 1651. 7. Rebecca, baptized May 3, 1646, died January, 1650.
(XI) Thomas Gates, son of Stephen Gates (IO), was born in Hingham in 1642, married July 6, 1670, Elizabeth Freeman. They re- sided in Stow, Marlborough and Sudbury, Massachusetts, and in 1703 removed to Nor- wich, Connecticut, to that part which after- ward became Preston. Children: I. Eliza- beth, born 1671, at Marlborough, married John Holmes. 2. Sarah, born at Marlborough,
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1673, died 1754 at Preston. 3. John, born 1678, at Sudbury, mentioned below. 4. Joseph, born March 16, 1680, at Sudbury, died 1742 at Preston ; married, 17II, Damaris Rose, of Preston. 5. Josiah, born 1682, at Stow, settled at Colchester, Connecticut. 6. Deborah, born 1684, at Stow. 7. Anna, born 1686, at Stow. 8. Abigail, born 1689, at Stow, died July 10, 1774, at Preston; mar- ried, May 21, 1713, Caleb Forbes. 9. Johanna. IO. Ruth, married, September 30, 1724, John Andros. II. Caleb, died September 3, 1774, at Preston ; married, 1716, Mary Forbes.
(XII) John Gates, son of Thomas Gates (II), was born at Sudbury, in 1678, and is said to have been the first of this name, after- wards common enough in the Gates family. He settled in Stow. Children: I. Hezekiah, born at Stow, married, February 17, 1729-30, Mary Sawyer. 2. Ephraim, born at Stow. 3 .. Samuel, born at Stow. 4. John, mentioned below. 5. Mary; born in Stow.
(XIII) John Gates, son of John Gates (12), was born in Stow, about 1715, married Mary -. Children, all born at Stow. I. Hannah, born September 6, 1737, died No- vember 19, 1814 .. 2. Josiah, born March 24, 1739, died March 30, 1757, aged eighteen. 3. Dorothy, born December II, 1740, at Stow, died August, 1813. 4. Damaris, born January 9, 1745-46, married, August 6, 1777, Asa Farnsworth, of Templeton. 5. John, born September 12, 1748, at Stow, died November 25, 1814, at Stow; married, February 19, 1778, Catherine Wetherbee, and she died June 13, 1834. 6. Caleb, born July 14, 1751, men- tioned below. 7. Mary, born April 25, 1753. 8. Thomas, born June 5, 1755, married, June 4, 1778, Lydia Hale; soldier in the Revolu- tion.
(XIV) Caleb Gates, son of John Gates (13), was born July 14, 1751, at Stow, died at Acton, Vermont, married, March 10, 1776, Mindwell Oakes, of Bolton, Massachusetts, who was born March 23, 1746, and died No- vember 22, 1826. Children: I. Achsah, born March 8, 1777, at Stow, died July, 1854, aged seventy-seven years, at Townsend, Vermont : married, March 19, 1807, Dennis Holden, who was born December 6, 1784, and died July 15, 1872. 2. Artemas, born April 25, 1780, at Stow, died young. 3. Josiah, born October 9, 1783, mentioned below.
(XV) Josiah Gates, son of Caleb (14), was born at Stow. October 9, 1783, died March IO, 1812, in his twenty-eighth year. He mar- ried Sabra Holden, sister of Deddis Holden. She was born December 23, 1782, died De-
cember 13, 1815, aged thirty-three years. He settled at Acton, Vermont, removing thence. to Reading, Vermont. Children : I. Artemas, born February 14, 1803, at Acton, Vermont, died September 13, 1859, married December 2, 1830, Sabra Dadman, who was born Sep- tember 10, 18II, and died April 7, 1875; settled at Westford, Massachusetts ; children : i. Edwin Artemas, born January 17, 1832, died March 30, 1872, unmarried; ii. Lydia Sarah, born December 23, 1833, died October 12, 1893 ; married, January 29, 1851, Timothy L. Griffin ; iii. Mary Elizabeth, born December 16, 1835, died October 2, 1837; iv. Mary Jane born August 17, 1838, died August 15, 1842; v. Eunice Sophia, born September 20, 1840, died August 19, 1842; vi. Willard John, born July 14, 1846, died July 29, 1867, unmarried ;. vii. Harriet Sabra, born March 17, 1848, at Tewksbury, married, August 7, 1890, Charles Henry Parker ; viii. Hannah Sophia, born De- cember 3, 1853, died December 23, 1854, ix .. Carrie Etta, born December 22, 1857, married, November 14, 1883, John Clinton Buxton. 2. Josiah, born August 31, 1805, mentioned be- low. 3. John Davis, born February 26, 1806,. at Acton, Vermont, died March 13, 1862, aged. fifty-six ; married Susan Evans who was born. July 25, 1803, and died October 20, 1852; resided in Grafton, Vermont; children: i. Josiah, died young; ii. Susan Augusta, born June 3, 1834, married, November 23, 1855, Abert Colton, who was born May 13, 1836; iii. Emily Amanda, born July 26, 1835, died Sep- tember 5, 1891 ; married, May 20, 1856, David. Stowell Farr, born December 12, 1830, died April 12, 1886; iv. John Emery, born March 29, 1836, married, March 4, 1866, Sophia Moultrop; v. Charles Jerome, born August 27, 1837, supposed to have been killed by the- Indians ; vi. Martha Maria, born May 7, 1839. married, February 6, 1862, Curtis William Davis.
(XVI) Josiah Gates, son of Josiah Gates (15), was born in Acton, Vermont, August 31, 1805. He was educated in the common schools of his native town. He learned the trade of tanner and worked for some years in the manufacture of leather at Townsend. In 1826, when he was twenty-five years old, he came to Lowell and was employed by Daniel Hurd and the Merrimack Manufacturing Company in their fulling mills, and after- wards became an overseer in the weaving de- partment of the Lowell Company's Mills. In 1845 he engaged in business on his own ac- count, opening a store on Dutton street, Lo- well, for the manufacture and sale of leather
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