USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 72
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rick was a farmer by occupation; a Roman Catholic in religion.
Thomas Bernard Fitzpatrick began his edu- cation in the public schools of Hopkinton, three miles distant from the paternal farm, and this distance the lad walked morning and even- ing. When fourteen years of age he had com- pleted the grammar school course, and entered the Hopkinton high school. He passed his freshman and sophomore years by diligent at- tendance, every school day walking to and from school, and at times, when his father needed his daily service on the farm, he not only performed the required labor, but he managed to keep up his studies at home by night application to his books, and with this and with frequent examinations with his class, he succeeded in maintaining his standing. He graduated as valedictorian in 1862, and he had the distinction of being the first Roman Catholic pupil to graduate from the school.
His education completed, he located in Bos- ton, 1862, where he learned the dry goods business in the store of E. D. Bell & Com- pany, his first wages being two dollars per week. Here he became intimately friendly with Oliver H. Durrell, a fellow clerk, and the two became naturally ambitious to master the dry goods business and engage as soon as pos- sible as partners in an establishment of their own. At the end of his first year's service with E. D. Bell & Company, the business was sold out, and young Fitzpatrick accepted a po- sition in the dry goods house of Schofield, Barron & Company, and he. was soon after- wards entrusted with the management of the New York branch office, remaining with the firm until its dissolution. He next accepted a position with the firm of Mason, Tucker & Company, Boston, who engaged him as trav- eling salesman, principally in the New Eng- land states, where in seven years he succeeded in building up a very large trade. This brought his business career down to July, 1872, when he secured a position as traveling sales- man with Brown, Dutton & Company, by which firm his friend Oliver H. Durrell was also employed. The great fire of November 9, 1872, destroyed the store occupied by the firm, which was thereupon dissolved by mu- tual consent, with the determination of Mr. Brown and Mr. Dutton to conduct separate establishments. This plan brought to both Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Durrell offers from each of the members of the old firm, and they both accepted the proposition made by Mr. Brown, and the firm of Brown, Durrell & Company was organized, with Messrs. Brown,
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Durrell and Fitzpatrick as practically equal partners. The combination proved a strong one, and although they had begun with small capital, the business increased rapidly, and the firm became the largest wholesale house in fancy dry goods in New England. No little credit for this result is due to the thorough business training and untiring energy of the junior member of the firm, now the senior by reason of the death of both Mr. Brown and Mr. Durrell.
His successful career as a merchant marked him as a useful and desirable man in large financial, political and religious undertakings. He was elected a director of the United States Trust Company, and president of the Union Institution for Savings and for the Puritan Trust Company of Boston, and he still holds all of these responsible positions. He was a founder and is a director of the Newton Co- operative Bank, and he is actively concerned in numerous other financial corporations. His earnestness in the movements for the better- ment of the Irish people, especially in their native isle, is on a par with his business career, and he became intimately associated with the great leaders of the Irish cause both in America and Ireland. His labors were indefatigable, and he was recognized for his effective aid in the affairs of that body. He has also served for two terms as president of the Catholic Union of Boston, the most representative Catholic organization in the city. He is a director of the Associated Chari- ties, the Working Boys' Home, St. Mary's Infant Asylum, the Child's Helping Society, and of the Catholic Summer School of Amer- ica. He also aided in organizing the Working Girls' Home on Union Park street, in charge of the Grey Nuns. He is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Charitable Irish Society, and of various other Irish pa- triotic and benevolent organizations. He con- tributed generously to the Catholic University, Washington, D. C. On April 2, 1905, the University of Notre Dame (at South Bend, Indiana) conferred on him the Laetare Medal in consideration of his eminent services in be- half of religion and the welfare of mankind, he being the first representative chosen from among the laymen engaged in mercantile pur- suits to be so honored. He has been treasurer of the United Irish League since its estab- lishment in America, and his support of the Irish struggle for constitutional rights for twenty years past is well known. He was a member of the distinguished commission sent to Ireland in 1907 in the interests of the con-
stitutional rights of the Irish people. He was a member of the board of aldermen of the city of Newton in 1900, in 1904 was elected to the board of education in Brookline, serving to the present time (1907), and in 1905 was appointed by Governor Douglass a member of the state board of education.
Mr. Fitzpatrick married, January 13, 1876, Sarah M., born June 30, 1849, daughter of Martin Gleason, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and of the seven children born of this mar- riage four sons and two daughters made up the home circle in their elegant home on Wal- tham street, West Newton. Three of his sons -Francis G., Paul E. and Thomas M .- grad- uated at the Newton high school and Harvard University, another at the Brookline high school, and his daughters graduated at Eden Hall Seminary, near Philadelphia, a cele- brated school largely patronized by Catholic families. Francis G. graduated from Har- vard in 1902, and is now (1907) one of the instructors in the department of fine arts at Harvard. Paul E. and Thomas M. graduated from Harvard in 1904 and 1905, respectively, and are at present connected with the firm of Brown, Durrell & Company. As a resident of Brookline, Mr. Fitzpatrick's home is on Gardner Road, and his Boston office is with Brown, Durrell & Company, 104 Kingston street.
The surname Niles is found in
NILES the early records spelled in nu- merous ways, Nile, Nille, Nills, Nils, Noyles, Nyles, Noills, etc. It is an ancient Welsh surname, perhaps originating in Scandinavia.
(I) John Niles, the immigrant ancestor, is the progenitor of all the families, at least of the Colonial period, in New England, and probably of all. He was born in 1603 in Wales and was in Dorchester, Massachusetts, as early as 1634. In 1638 or 1639 he removed to Braintree, an adjacent town, and was ad- › mitted a freeman, May 26, 1647. His wife Jane died May 15, 1659, and his second wife Hannah died January 31, 1702-03. He died February 8, 1693-94, aged about ninety-one. Children: 1. Hannah, born February 16, 1636-37. 2. John, born March 4, 1638-39. 3. Joseph, born August 15, 1640, married, No- vember 2, 1662, Mary Micall. 4. Nathaniel, born August 16, 1642, married Sarah Sands ; progenitor of the Niles family of Rhode Isl- and. 5. Samuel, born May 12, 1644, married Mary Belcher, widow. 6. Increase, born De-
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cember 16, 1646, mentioned below. 7. Ben- jamin, born March 12, 1650-51. 8. Isaac, born April 2, 1658.
(II) Increase Niles, son of John Niles (I), was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, De- cember 16, 1646. Married, December 4, 1677, Mary Purchase. He resided in Braintree, and was a soldier in King Philip's war in Captain Johnson's company, in October, 1675. He died September 1, 1690. Children : I. John, born October Io, 1678, mentioned below. 2. Increase, born March 9, 1680. 3. Ebenezer, married, July 28, 1715, Sarah Littlefield ; he died May 12, 1752; she married (second) Noah Hayward. 4. Mary, married, August 17, 1719, Clark, who died May 17, 1752.
(III) John Niles, son of Increase Niles (2), was born in Braintree, October 10, 1678, and died there May 7,. 1752, aged seventy- eight. He married Margaret who died May 10, 1752. His home was in the up- per or southern part of the town, now Ran- dolph. He was a worthy citizen and honored with various offices. He was selectman in 1732. He was called "Cooper John" or "Jr." to distinguish him from his cousin John, son of Joseph Niles ; also "John 2d." in the list of members of the Second Church in 17II. He, his wife, two sons, a brother and a sister, six in all, fell victims within ten days to a "mortal fever that prevailed in several of our towns." The six are buried side by side and their graves are marked by a pathetic row of small stones in the old burial ground at Randolph. His brother Ebenezer died May 12, 1752, his son Peter May 14; son Nathan May 15, sister March, wife of Benjamin Clark, May 17, 1752. Children: I. Increase, born February 5, 1703-04, married Hannah Thayer. 2. Han- nah, born September 19, 1705, married John Niles. 3. John, born March 17, 1708, men- tioned below. 4. Nathan, born March 17, 1710. 5. Daniel, born October 12, 1712. 6. Bethiah, born April 2, 1715. 7. Sarah, born May 31, 1717, married John Hawes. 8. Lydia, born December 18, 1719, married Jonathan Rich- ards. 9. Peter, born March 27, 1722.
(IV) John Niles, son of John Niles (3), was born in Braintree, March 17, 1708. Mar- ried (first) Dorothy Reynolds, of Middlebor- ough, Massachusetts : married (second) Ex- perience He died before March 30, 1759, and guardians were appointed for his children Keziah, John, Ebenezer, Judith and James. In the records this John is called "secundus or fourth" in one place, and often "Jr. or tertius."
Children of John, Jr. and Dorothy, born at Braintree: I. Jonathan, born May 22, 1730, mentioned below. 2. Isaac, December 4, 173I. 3. Dorothy, September 24, 1733. 4. Margaret, September 24, 1735. 5. Mary, November 5, 1737. 6. John, January 22, 1739. 7. Sarah, July 21, 1741. 8. Cuzziah (Keziah), Febru- ary 25, 1742. 9. Ebenezer, January 16, 1745. IO. James, April 2, 1747. II. Judith, October 23, 1748. Children of John, Jr. and Experi- ence : 12. Experience, February II, 1750, a daughter. 13. Dorcas, January 16, 1753. 14. Peter, November 20, 1755.
(V) Jonathan Niles, son of John Niles (4), was born in Braintree, May 22, 1730. He married Sarah -. A Jonathan Niles, of Machias, Maine, was a soldier in the Revolu- tion in Captain Stephen Smith's company, Colonel Foster's regiment (from Lincoln county) at Machias in 1777 ; also a private in the Continental army in 1779-81 in Colonel John Allen's regiment at Machias ; and was in the East Indian department at Machias, March 9, 1782. Jonathan and Sarah had a son John, born at Braintree, October 22, 1761. And others in Maine.
(VI) Varanus Niles, son of Jonathan Niles (5), according to the best evidence at hand, and descendant of the generations given above, was born about 1790. He settled in Jay, Franklin county, Maine. He married Mehitable Harris. He was a well-to-do farm- er, held various offices of trust and honor in his town and was representative to the general court.
Children : 1. Sullivan, mentioned below. 2. Jacob H., married Hattie Burleigh ; son Irv- ing. 3. Louvill Varanus, married Miss Brew- er ; children : Alice, Gertrude, Marion, Harold, graduate of Dartmouth, class of 1907. 4. Silas Harris, never married. 5. Eugene Man- ley. 6. Eunice, deceased, married a Miss Harlow, of Ayer, Massachusetts. 7. Harriet, married Granville Keyes, farmer, Maine ; chil- dren : three deceased and one living, assists his father on the farm; has two sons and a daughter. 8. Eliza, unmarried.
(VII) Sullivan Niles, son of Varanus Niles (6), was born in Jay, Franklin county, Maine, November 23, 1831, and was educated there in the district schools. He came to Boston in 1850 and worked first for John P. Squire in his meat business for about five years, leaving that concern to begin business on his own account. After a few years he admitted his brother to partnership and the business con- tinued to prosper under the firm name of Niles Brothers. The firm owned a stall in Faneuil
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Hall Market for forty-five years and a pork- packing establishment in North Carolina. This last-mentioned branch of the business was sold to E. C. Swift & Company of Chicago. The stall was sold in 1907. Mr. Niles has re- tired from business, but remains a director of the John P. Squire corporation. He is one of the best known men in the wholesale meat and provision business in New England. He is a member of the Universalist church.
He married (first) Abbie A. Stone, of Dix- field, Maine, daughter of Thomas Stone. His wife died June 28, 1905, and he married (second) Emelia Mackinster, widow, of Franklin, Massachusetts, June 21, 1907. She was the principal of Dean Academy for seven- teen years. They reside in a handsome home at 91 Washington avenue, Cambridge. He had two children by his first wife: Howard, who died at twenty-four years of age, and Edith, who married Herbert Weed, of Sand- wich, New Hampshire, and they have one child, Dorothy. Weed.
PFEIFFER The family of Pfeiffer is of ancient German origin. The name is also found in Hol- land. In America an important branch of the family is located in Pennsylvania, descended from Dr. Francis Joseph Pfeiffer, who was born May 1, 1734, saile'd in the ship "Phenix" from Rotterdam, arriving at Philadelphia on November 22, 1752. Dr. Pfeiffer became a leading physician and one of the most promi- nent citizens of the town, and his family has been distinguished to the present time. The genealogy of this branch has been published.
Charros Pfeiffer, father of William Fred- erick Pfeiffer, was born at Schwerin, Ger- many, 1790. He was one of two children, the other having been a daughter, Ida. His father was a manufacturer of broadcloth. Charros Pfeiffer was also a manufacturer of broad cloth; he died when William F. was a year old; the mill was conducted by his widow until 1834; her death occurred in 1862. Char- ros Pfeiffer married, at Driesen, Minnie Eich- ler, who was born in 1800; their children : Al- bert Ernest, Ferdinand, Adolph Charles, Au- gusta, Frederick William (William Freder- ick), see forward.
William Frederick Pfeiffer, head of the family at Natick, Massachusetts, was born in Driesen, Germany, April 8, 1830, and was ed- ucated there in the common schools. When he attained the age of fourteen he began to learn the trade of shoemaking, and for several
years followed his trade as journeyman in various cities. That was the day of custom- made shoes, and a good mechanic found it easy to secure employment, and often moved from place to place to see the world and to gain a varied experience in their trade. Mr. Pfeiffer finally determined to seek his fortune in the United States. He came to Natick, Massachusetts, in 1853, and worked at his trade first for Mr. Cohn; then for Morse & Farwell, manufacturers of boots and shoes. Mr. Pfeiffer finally engaged in the manufac- ture of boots and shoes on his own account, building his shop at South Natick, on what is known as the Cape, in 1870. He began with six employees in his shoe business, which has steadily grown during the thirty-seven years in which he has been a manufacturer, until he employs one hundred and fifty hands. His has been one of the staple concerns in the shoe business, keeping the machinery in motion in good times and bad, not seeking to do all the business, keeping within the safe limits of his capital. Mr. Pfeiffer has displayed business sagacity in his affairs, and has built up an en- viable reputation for success along safe and conservative lines. His common sense and foresight are recognized by his associates in business and all his townsmen. In politics Mr. Pfeiffer is a Republican, active and influ- ential in the party councils for many years, often elected delegate to important nomina- ting conventions of his party, and an earnest supporter of the temperance movement and other efforts to advance the welfare of the town. In youth he was a Lutheran, like his ancestors. Since residing in South Natick he has been a generous supporter of the Uni- tarian church, the ancient Natick church at South Natick.
William F. Pfeiffer married, May 31, 1857, at Natick, Elizabeth Decker, daughter of Henry and Louisa (Lyon) Decker, whose children are : Christopher, Elizabeth, mention- ed above; Margaret, Henry, Jr., Louisa, born , April 11, 1846. Children of William F. and Elizabeth (Decker) Pfeiffer: I. Emma, born January 31, 1858, educated in the public schools of Natick; married, 1876, Frank F. Shuman ; has seven children ; resides in South Natick. 2. William Henry, born November 17, 1860, associated with his father in busi- ness ; resides at South Natick ; married, 1883, Margie Ida Yeager, of Natick ; two children : Frederick William and Ruby. 3. Charles Francis, born September 1I, 1862; married, at Natick, September 24, 1887, Victoria Boinay, born January II, 1865; children : i.
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Charles Harrison, born February 19, 1890; ii. Victoria Boinay, June 27, 1891; iii. Ralph, July 1, 1892 ; iv. Louise Margaret, November 27, 1896; v. Leslie Herbert, May 13, 1899; vi. Marion Elizabeth, September 17, 1903. Re- sides at South Natick. 4. George William, born December 25, 1863, educated in the pub- lic schools and business college; married, at Hyde Park, Massachusetts, 1889, Anna Mor- phit, one son. 5. Henry Louis, born January 29, 1865, married, February 25, 1904, Eleanor Bedell, born in Woburn. 6. Edith, born Jan- uary 30, 1867, married, 1885, Emert E. Tay- lor, of Natick; two daughters. 7. Elizabeth, born November 8, 1872, married, 1904, Rich- ard Richardson ; has one son. 8. Frank Har- ris, born December 25, 1875, married, March 13, 1897, Catherine Louise Neuschaffer ; two sons : Arthur Edison, born October 7, 1897; Frank Kenneth, March 13, 1907. 9. Ida, born May 13, 1877, educated in the public schools and the Walnut high private school, Natick, making a specialty of music.
EDGAR Edgar is an ancient Saxon prop-
er name, later used also as a sur- name in both England and Scot- land. The Edgar family of Berkshire, of the Red House, near Ipswich, county Suffolk, and elsewhere in that county, bears a coat-of-arms and has been prominent for some centuries. The Edgar family in Scotland settled first in Berwickshire. Two branches bearing arms evidently are of the same stock, judging from the similarity of their coats-of-arms. The Wadderly, Scotland, family bears: Sable a lion rampant argent. Crest-A dexter hand holding a dagger point downwards. Motto over the crest-"Man, do it." Motto below the arms -- "Salutem Disponit Deus." At Kit- hock, Scotland, the family bears arms : Sable a lion rampant a garb in chief and a writing pen in base argent. Crest-a dagger and quill in saltire. Motto-"Portius ingenio, Quam Vi." The family at Polland, Scotland, said by Burke, in his General Armory, to be de- scended from the Kithock family, bears arms : Sable a lion rampant argent between two garbs in chief the second banded gules and a bezant in base. Crest-A withered oak branch sprouting out leaves proper. Motto-"Ap- paret, quod latebat."
Malcolm, King of Scotland, had a son Ed- gar. Edgar was the clan name of a border clan in Berwickshire in 1590. John Edgar, of Wedderlie (Wadderly mentioned above), was a member of the Scotch Parliament in 1707 ;
Edward Edgar, of Edinburgh, in 1640-41, 1646-47, and Alexander Edgar, of Hadding- ton, 1696-97, 1702 and 1703-07. A branch of the family settled in the Protestant county of Antrim and the name is common at the present time in Antrim and Downs, but nowhere else in Ireland. This branch is Scotch-Irish and from it came the immigrants to Pennsylvania of this surname. In Pennsylvania the family was prominent before the Revolution, and James Edgar, a Scotch-Irish delegate to the convention to act on the federal constitution, was one of those who voted against its adop- tion in the form submitted.
The name is found among the Scotch mar- tyrs of 1685. Lieutenant-General James Doug- las with Lieutenant Livingston and Cornet James Douglas "surprised five men in a cave at Ingleston in the parish of Glencairn, being betrayed by Andrew Watson; their names were John Gibson, Robert Grierson, Robert Mitchell, James Bennoch and John Edgar, all which were at the command of the said Gen- eral Douglas, (a brother of the Duke of Queensberry), they were brought forth and immediately shot dead, without giving them so much time as to recommend their souls to God." They, with thousands of others, suf- fered death for being Presbyterians. On his gravestone the name is given Robert Edgar. Robert Mitchell and Edgar were buried under one stone, inscribed : .
" Halt, passenger, tell if you ever saw Men shot to death without process of law. We too, of four, who in this churchyard lie Thus felt the rage of Popish tyranny."
(I) John Edgar, of this Scotch family, was born at Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, about 1780. He was a farmer and gardener, and worked on many fine estates where gar- dening was the important feature. Among his children was William Wallace, mentioned be- low.
(II) William Wallace Edgar, son of John Edgar, was born in Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, July, 1816, and died at Waverly, Massachusetts, January II, 1899. He came of sturdy stock, and early began work as a gar- dener under his father's teaching, going to school also. When he was twenty-one he went to Liverpool and became gardener for Sir Wil- liam Brown, who at that time was the owner of many vessels plying between Liverpool and America. After several years with Sir Wil- liam, he removed to Nestor, Cheshire, Eng- land, and took charge of the estate of William Horton at Ashfield Hall, remaining as his head gardener for sixteen years. From here he went
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with his family to North Wales, where he was gardener for William Foulks at Denbeigh, re- maining two years. Next he was at Birken- head, Cheshire, and had charge for a time of the nurseries of William Henderson, and later became gardener for Richard Boult for five years. The following seven years were spent with Mr. Nichols at Oxton, and in 1881 he came to America, landing at Boston. He ob- tained a position as gardener for Charles Jones, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and remained ten years, and finally came to Waverly, where he was employed by his son, William W. Ed- gar, as florist, during his declining years. He was in the second Cheshire volunteer brigade for five or six years, while at Parkgate, work- ing for a Mr. Edwards. The force had been organized to guard the coast in case of an in- vasion from France.
Mr. Edgar was a man of quiet manner, fond of reading and greatly interested in the topics of the day. He was well versed in history and was a good conversationalist. He was five feet, eight inches tall, of splendid proportions. In religion he was an Episcopalian and a Con- servative in politics, being a strong Beacons- field man.
He married Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Derbyshire, England, 1815, died at Waverly, Massachusetts, March 6, 1889, daughter of Josiah and .Hannah Blackwell, of Derbyshire. Children : I. James, born August 19, 1841, married Margaret Stoner, of Liverpool, Eng- land ; children : Alice, James, Sarah, Elizabeth. 2. William Wallace, born April 28, 1843, men- tioned below. 3. Elizabeth, born October 30, 1845, married Captain Michael Murphy, of Liverpool, England; children: Florence Mur- phy, Pauline Murphy, Kathleen Murphy. 4. Jane, born August 10, 1848, unmarried. 5. Ellen, born December 8, 1851, married Wil- liam Johnson, and had these children: James, William, Emily, John, Grace and Alice. 6. John, born October 5, 1854, married (first), November, 1879, Mary Ellen Ridley, of Ox- ton, England ; married (second) Ellen Hill, of Birkenhead, England, who died April 13, 1903; married (third) Eva Esther Whitman ; children of the first wife: i. Wallace, born Oc- tober 4, 1880; ii. Elizabeth; children of the second wife : iii. John Harold, born December 22, 1884: iv. Mary Elaine, born February 16, 1887, married, May 6, 1903, Thomas F. Lind- say, of Watertown, Massachusetts. v. Helen Jane, born January 1, 1888, died September 5, 1888; vi. Alfred Rowland, born February 16, 1889, died October 26, 1896; child of the third wife: vii. Mildred, born September 25, 1905.
(III) William Wallace Edgar, son of Wil- liam Wallace Edgar (2), was born at Neston, Cheshire, England, April 28, 1843, and died at his home in Waverly, Massachusetts, De- cember 18, 1907. He went to school in his native town until he was about thirteen years of age, when he started as an apprentice gar- dener, working under his father, from whom he learned every detail of the business. In 1867 he sailed for America, believing that the opportunities for a business career were great- er in the United States. He landed in Boston in April, 1867, and went first to Belmont, Mas- sachusetts, where he was employed for a time, but soon went to Newton, taking charge of the grounds of the beautiful home of Gover- nor William Claflin, "Old Elm." Here he re- mained seven years and subsequently entered the employ of a Mr. Galvin, one of the leading florists of Boston. He stayed with him but a short time, and took charge of the Powers estate at Framingham, Massachusetts, where he was the florist for a year. He later became identified with Thomas Dee, the Cambridge florist, remaining with him until 1885. He then removed to Waverly, where he bought two acres of land near the railroad station on Trapelo road. He erected a number of green- houses, besides a handsome residence, and has built up a very lucrative business. He had a natural love for the work, inherited from his father and grandfather, besides a thorough knowledge of the business in all its branches, and was especially well equipped to succeed. He became famous for his Easter lilies and chrysanthemums. The trade increased until the Waverly houses were inadequate to supply the demand, and about 1900 he purchased the place of Judge Nathan Morse in the northeast part of Waltham, just over the Waverly line, and erected two more greenhouses. He was the first florist to import gloria de loraine into this country, and in the exhibits of the Massa- chusetts Horticultural Society at Boston he was awarded several prizes. The present cul- tivating space of the Edgar plant is seventy- five thousand square feet, the greenhouses being of the best improved patterns. The firm has a large wholesale trade, and the present management and direction of the family inter- ests are under the W. W. Edgar Company, in- corporated.
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