USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 60
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In 1816 Major William Bosson made a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, returning on horseback, and in August, 1818, the family emigrated to Cincinnati to be with the brothers living there. Soon after, in search of health for Thomas Mayo Bosson, the oldest of the brothers
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living, and of the Major's sons, they settled in Tennessee. Major William Bosson was loyal to the Union, and was driven from home because of his loyalty by the rebels in the Civil war, and the family records, which they buried with other valuables, were totally ruined. He was a member of the reconstruc- tion convention of Tennessee, and was for years in the senate and house of representa- tives of that state, and was state director for the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad system. He was in early life a Whig in poli- tics and naturally a Republican later. Major William Bosson died August 12, 1823, at Cin- cinnati, Ohio. His wife, Susanna (Mayo) Bosson, died February 15, 1826, at Cincinnati, Ohio.
(VI) William Bosson, born Roxbury, Sep- tember 29, 1803, son of Major William (5), married Julia Burnett, of Russel Centre, Ohio, daughter of Detroit Burnett and Malinda Munn. The Burnetts and Munns came to Ohio in 1815 from Warwick, Franklin coun- ty, Massachusetts. Children : I. Thomas Mayo Bosson, born February 13, 1856; mar- ried, October 20, 1886, Susan Farrow. 2. William Bosson, born June 30, 1857. William Bosson died April 7, 1887, and Julia Burnett Bosson, his wife, died at Indianapolis, Indi- ana, July 25, 1898, and both lie in the beauti- ful Forest Hill cemetery at Greencastle, Indiana.
(VII) William Bosson was born in White county, Tennessee, in 1857; graduated from Asbury University 1876; came to Indianapolis 1882, and practiced law until 1888, when he entered the Bank of Commerce as cashier, a position he held for many years. He married, September 12, 1885, Maragaret Hill. They have seven children: I. Margaret, born Aug- ust, 1886. 2. William, born January, 1889, is now in Wabash College, Indiana. 3 and 4. Richard Mayo, Robert N., twins, born Aug- ust, 1890. 5. Catherine, born, 1892. 6. John, born February 29, 1896. 7. Rosemary.
(V) Jonathon Davis Bosson, born June 14, 1762, youngest of the eight children of Wil- liam and Abigail (Partridge) Bosson, and the fourth son to be active in the Revolution. He enlisted in 1780. He married, Salem, June 18, 1783, Martha, daughter of Joseph Young, one of the volunteer company in the Revolution from Salem in 1778. Children : I. Martha, born Salem; married a Bicknell; and married second, a Cole; her daughter Rachel married Joseph F. Paul, Boston; she died July 15, 1895. 2. Thaddeus, born Salem ;
married, November 13, 1808, Abigail Fowler. 3. Jonathon Davis, born Salem, January I, 1786; married Lydia Palfray. 4. Jonathon Davis Bosson, the father, died on board the "Constitution" in Boston Harbor. He was accidentally killed just before sailing. From the old home in Roxbury he was buried in the old Roxbury burying ground, on the inclining hill-side toward Boston.
(VI) Jonathan Davis Bosson, son of Jona- thon Davis Bosson (5), was born in Salem, January I, 1786. He was educated in the com- mon schools, and learned the trade of tanner and currier, which he followed for some years at Salem, Massachusetts. About 1820 he removed to Boston and engaged in the leather and upholstery business. At one time he had a partner, Deacon Moses Grant. About 1840 he removed to Chelsea, establishing the mat- tress making industry, which for many years he followed with great success. He became one of the prominent business men of that city, and was well-known and greatly respect- ed and honored by his townsmen. In his later years his venerable figure was one of the most familiar of the older citizens of Chelsea. He was an active member of the Salem Cadets for a period of seventy years, and that organization was proud with good reason of his remarkable fidelity to the organ- ization and of that physique that made it pos- sible for him to take active part in the arduous duties of a military company for a per- iod unprecedented in the history of the militia. He served in the war of 1812 in a Salem privateer, the very effective form of navy then in use. After the service he resumed his connection with the Cadets, and was detailed with them often to duty as coast guard. He was one of the oldest admitted members of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church, though in his last years he was a Baptist. He died at Hudson, Massachusetts, February 15, 1880, from the effects of a fall, shortly after celebrating his ninety-fourth birthday. He was there visiting his daughter, Mrs. William Williams. He retained his health and activity to the end of his long life, and he was fond of outdoor life and active in his habits.
He married, November 29, 1810, Lydia Pal- fray, of Salem, daughter of Warwick and Hannah (Chapman) Palfray, and a descend- ant in the eighth generation of John Pickering, of Salem, whose descendants were, perhaps, as a whole the most distinguished family of that section of the colony and state; also lineal descendant of Peter Palfray, one of the
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founders of Salem, Massachusetts. She was born in Salem, December 4, 1791, and died in Chelsea, July 1, 1863 (see Pickering). They celebrated their golden wedding for which Rev. S. F. Smith, author of "America," wrote an appropriate poem. Children : I. Lydia, born January 1, 1813, died August 19, 1892 ; married, June 18, 1835, Nathaniel P. H. Willis ; six children. 2. Charles Proctor, born December 30, 1814; married Elizabeth Hobbs ; four children ; mentioned below. 3. William, born November 17, 1816, died 1899; men- tioned below. 4. Edward P., born September 29, 1818, died unmarried, June 29, 1866. 5.
Martha E., born July 25, 1820, mentioned be- low. 6. James W., born 1822, mentioned be- low. 7. Hannah P., born December 18, 1823, died March 30, 1891, in Chicago; married William Williams; five children. 8. George C., born October II, 1825, mentioned below. 9. Rebecca Palfray, born September 16, 1827, died of Asiatic cholera at Calcutta, India, March 27, 1856; married Captain Henry Reed (name changed from Goldman, when he came to America, to correspond with the change in name already made by his brother who pre- ceded him). 10. Henry A., born June 9, 1829, died unmarried, April 6, 1861. II. Benjamin P., born April 26, 1831, died December 30, 1864; married, September 4, 1853, Maria E. Lane; two children. 12. Mary P., born May 30, 1833; married Isaac N. Peabody ; resided t Newton; four children. 13. Jonathan Davis, Jr., born May 12, 1836; married, May 20, 1863, Almena B. Ellis; no children; both living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(VII) Charles Proctor Bosson, son of Jonathan Davis Bosson (6), was born in Salem, December 30, 1814. He married Eliz- abeth Sargent, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Sargent) Hobbs, of Boston. He was con- nected for many years as a writer, editor and reporter with the newspaper press of Boston. At the time of his death, December 9, 1866, in New York city, and for some three years pre- viously, he had been one of the editors of the Evening Commercial. He had also been con- nected with the Pilot, and for several years was editor of the Herald .. He was a very industrious man, and in his time performed a great amount of brain work. About 1830 he was connected with the agricultural ware- house of Mr. Barrett, North Market street, now owned by Joseph Breck & Sons Corpora- tion, and for a time he was editor of the Yankee Farmer, published at Portland, Maine, afterward removed to Boston. He was per-
sonally interested in agriculture, and visited France to study the manufacture of sugar from beets and he published his researches in a pamphlet. He also wrote and published several other works of importance on the sub- ject of potato rot, care of bees, etc. He was a contributor to a French periodical on horti- culture, and was an honorary member of one or more agricultural societies. The great and proposed work of Mr. Bosson's life was the publication of a "Statistical Account of the United States" similar, in character to the work of Sir John Sinclair upon Scotland. He had nearly completed this great work. He wielded a ready pen, and as a correspondent, reporter or editorial writer had few equals, while his contributions upon agricultural and horticultural topics were distinguished for unusual research and thorough, practical knowledge. His general good nature, genial- ity, warm heart and freedom from shams, secured for him friends in all walks of life. Children: Charles P .; George T .; Lucinda ; Elizabeth, married B. F. Larrabee.
(VII) William Bosson, son of Jonathan Davis Bosson (6), was born in Salem, Mass- achusetts, November 17, 1816, died in 1899. He married Mary B. Hawkes, of Wakefield, daughter of Benjamin and Fannie (Sweetser) Hawkes, May 20, 1841. They celebrated their golden wedding, it being the third golden wed- ding in the Bosson family within a year. The same lines which were written for Mr. Bos- son's father's anniversary by Rev. S. F. Smith were read on this occasion. Children: Mary B., William B., Lydia A., Frank U. and Edward P.
(VII) Martha Elizabeth Bosson, daughter Jonathon Davis Bosson (6), was born in Salem, July 25, 1820, died in Worcester, May II, 1885. She married Benjamin F. Dam, born in Shapleigh, Maine, and died in Chelsea, Massachusetts, son of Joseph and Sarah (Fur- long) Dam, of Shapleigh. He was a book- keeper and lived in Chelsea ; he was drowned, by falling from the wharf while waiting for a ferry boat. They had nine children.
(VII) James Winchell Bosson, son of Jonathan Davis Bosson (6), was born 1822. He married Nancy H. Fielding, who died No- vember 12, 1893, aged seventy-one, daughter of John and Abigail (Sawtell) Fielding. He was an upholsterer by trade, and lived at Bal- timore, Maryland. He enlisted August 15, 1862, in the Fifth Maryland Regiment in the Union army ; was wounded twice at the battle of Antietam, and after leaving the hospital
iii-26.
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was placed on detached service at Alexandria, Virginia, as chief clerk in the Second Division, and afterwards as record clerk at Washington, where he remained until discharged at the close of the war. Children: James, Alfred, Emma, Mary and Edward.
(VII) George Chapman Bosson was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, October II, 1825. While still an infant his parents moved to Boston. When he was about ten years old his father erected a house on Chestnut street, in the newly laid out Winnisimmet village, now Chelsea, and there the family took up its res- idence. At that time there was neither church nor school in the village, but a Baptist church was gathered the following year, and Mr. Bos- son was one of the constituent members of the Sunday school. About the same time a school was organized, which he attended until he was fourteen years old, learning there thoroughly the elementary studies which were then taught in the public schools; and acquir- ing a clear and beautiful penmanship, which his letters still evidence. At the age of four- teen he entered the employ of Eliphalet Baker & Co., then one of the largest importing 'houses of Boston, and became an inmate of Mr. Baker's home on Beacon street, Boston. He there acquired an extensive acquaintance, as well as a thorough knowledge of the trade. Just before his nineteenth birthday he was sent by the house to Europe to become famil- iar with the purchasing of foreign goods, and for a number of years thereafter made annual trips, buying goods for the firm.
In 1851 he went into the textile business for himself, and also acted as agent for domestic manufacturing concerns. He continued in this business until 1871, acquiring not only a reputation for intelligence and probity, but also accumulating a competence. With his partner, Robert M. Bailey, he organized and built the Arlington Mills at Lawrence, a pioneer in America in the manufacture of dress goods, and which is now one of the most important textile establishments in the United States. For nearly twenty years he was a director in the Merrick Thread Company, one of the most extensive manufactories of spool cotton in the country. He was also interested in the Hookset Manufacturing Company, the Gilmanton Mills, the Belknap Mills of Laconia, New Hampshire, and many other enterprises. In 1871 he became associated with the well-known commission house of Lawrence & Co., of which Amos A. Law- rence, the well-known man of affairs and phil-
anthropist, was the head. While connected with this firm and for nearly twenty years he was the managing director of the Gilmanton Mills and the Ipswich, Massachusetts, Mills. Under his direction the latter enterprise grew from a small struggling concern until it became a large and successful business. In 18- he retired from the active direction of manufacturing enterprises, retaining, how- ever, several directorships; and associating himself with his friend, Mr. George Reed, engaged in the fire insurance business, mak- ing a specialty of mill insurance. He became an important factor in underwriting circles in Boston, and his influence was widely felt to the time of his death.
He married, May 10, 1849, Mary Jane, daughter of Rev. Jacob and Sophia (Need- ham) Hood, who survives him. Children : I. Jennie Hood Bosson. 2. Albert Davis Bosson. 3. Harry Palfray Bosson. 4. Fred- erick Needham Bosson. 5. George Chapman Bosson.
At a very early age Mr. Bosson united with the First Baptist Church of Chelsea, and was one of the constituent members of the Cary Avenue Baptist Church of Chelsea, remaining a member of that church to the time of his death. He was always active in church and Sunday school work, and his genial kindness and presence impressed themselves upon all who came in contact with him in religious work.
In politics he was an energetic supporter of anti-slavery measures, casting his first vote for Free Soil candidates, and from the founda- tion of the party to the day of his death was a devoted and unwavering Republican. Al- thought frequently solicited to be a candidate for office, he preferred to serve his party in the ranks and his country as a loyal private citizen. His interest in education, however, led him to accept an election to the school committee, in which capacity he served the city of Chelsea for many years. During the Civil War he was an energetic supporter of the Government, making many sacrifices of money, time and business interests to the cause of the Union. Chelsea had no more liberal contributor to the various funds raised for the benefit of soldiers and sailors in the service.
In 1890 he removed to Reading, and there amid pleasant surroundings, in the company of his life-long companion, and in his com- fortable home he spent happily the last ten years of his life. There he frequently called
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around him his children and grandchildren, all of whom cherish precious memories of his handsome, well-preserved face and figure, his warm affection, his old-time courtesy ; in fact, all those qualities which are the characteris- tics of the Christian gentleman. Unselfish- ness, honor and loyalty were the dominant points of his character. He died, beloved by all who knew him, March 7, 1900.
(VIII) Jennie Hood Bosson, born Febru- ary 26, 1850; married, May 25, 1870, Chelsea, Massachusetts, Frederick William Hatch, born Bath, Maine, April 14, 1845, son of Captain William Boyd and Sarah (Hunter) Hatch. He removed to Chelsea, Massachusetts, when a young boy. For many years he was a mem- ber of the well-known shipping firm of Kilham, Loud and Company, of Commercial street, Boston, whose house-flag a quarter cen- tury ago floated over one hundred vessels engaged in foreign and domestic commerce. While a resident of Chelsea he served in both branches of the city government. In 1880 he purchased a summer residence in Reading, Massachusetts, which a few years later, on retiring from business, he made his permanent residence. He was a member of the board of selectmen of Reading several years, serving as chairman in 1894 and '1895. He, with Mrs. Hatch, travelled extensively in Europe. He also served as a visitor for the Associated Charities in Boston for several years. He took an active interest in all that promoted the material and moral prosperity of his adopted town, and his many acts of charity endeared him to the unfortunate. He was, while a resident of Chelsea, a member of the Review Club, and at the time of his death, a member of the Twentieth Century Club of Boston. He died in Boston, December 18, 1897.
(VIII) Albert Davis Bosson was born in Chelsea, November 8, 1853. He was educated at the Chelsea high school, graduating 1869; then at Phillips' Exeter Academy, where he remained from the fall of 1869 to January, 1871; then deciding to enter Brown Univer- sity, he entered the University Grammar School at Providence, where he finished his preparation for college, graduating from Brown University in 1875, taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and afterwards receiving from the University in 1878 the degree of Master of Arts. He studied law in the office of Brooks, Ball & Story, and also at the Law School of Boston University. He was admitted to the bar February 18, 1878, and immediately
commenced the practice of law in Boston. In 1887 he married Alice Lavinia Campbell, daughter of the Hon Charles A. and Lavinia (Hutchinson) Campbell ; two children: Camp- bell Bosson, born November 18, 1888, now a student in Harvard University; and Pauline Arlaud Bosson, born February 24, 1894.
In 1890 he was elected mayor of Chelsea, and while mayor reorganized the finances and various departments of the city. Having accomplished the purposes which he had in mind upon his election, he declined a re-nomi- nation. In 1882 he was appointed by Gov- ernor John D. Long special justice of the Chelsea court, and in 1892 was appointed jus- tice of the court by Governor William E. Rus- sell, which office he now holds. Mr. Bosson was the founder of the Provident Co-oper- ative Bank of Chelsea and of the County Savings Bank, serving the latter as president from the date of its incorporation, 1890, until the present time. He was one of the organ- izers of the Winnisimmet National Bank, and served it as director, vice-president and presi- dent. He is president of the Boston & Lock- port Block Company, the Hood Rubber Com- pany, and various other manufacturing cor- porations. He is a member of the Univer- sity, Saint Botolph, Harvard Travelers', Twentieth Century, Chelsea. Review, and other clubs. In college he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He was senior warden of St. Luke's Church, Chelsea, for several years and has been for many years a member of the ves- try of the Church of the Ascension, Ipswich. For purposes of business, health, or pleasure he has made frequent trips to Europe, where he has traveled somewhat extensively.
(VIII) Harry P. Bosson was born February 26, 1857. He was educated in the public schools of Chelsea, graduating at the high school. He married, April 26, 1883, Florence Richmond, daughter of James E. F. Eustis ; his children were Eustis Bosson, a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1907, born February 8, 1884, died December 29, 1907 ; George Chapman Bosson (3d), born October II, 1886; Genevieve Bosson, born August 14, 1890.
He has been engaged in the insurance bus- iness during nearly the entire period of his business life. He was the Massachusetts agent for the New York Plate Glass Insurance Co., and since 1900 has been associated with the firm of Obrion & Russell, of Boston. Mr. Bosson was the founder and since its organi- zation the secretary of the Reading Co-opera-
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tive Bank. He has been active in the Baptist Church, being a member of the First Baptist Church of Reading, and has been particularly active in Sunday school work, being superin- tendent of the Bible school in that church for many years.
(VIII) Frederick- Needham Bosson was born December 15, 1861, and was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduation he took up the work of mill and bridge construction, being the engineer in charge of laying the bridges on the line of the Massachusetts Central railroad. In 1888 he became an electrical engineer, and soon after entered in the service of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Co., for which concern he has been the electrical engineer to this date. He mar- ried, April 27, 1882, Caroline Augusta Good- rich, by whom he had one daughter, Amy Goodrich Bosson. His first wife died January 29, 1904. He married second, September 29, 1906, Miss Bessie M. Chambers.
(VIII) George Chapman Bosson, Jr., was born June II, 1865. He was educated in the public schools of Chelsea, and when still young entered the employ of the Arlington Mills of Lawrence, in which concern his father was a director. He went through all the depart- ments in order to familiarize himself with the business, afterwards spending some months in England, gaining a knowledge of textile man- ufactories there. In 1887 he married Mary Fisher, daughter of James Fisher of Law- rence, Massachusetts. In 1888 he became in- terested in the manufacture of leather board and artificial leather, in which business he has continued to the present time. He is a direc- tor in the International Leather Co., the Bos- son Manufacturing Co., of Middle Falls, New York, of which he is also treasurer ; the Amer- ican Shoe Finding Co., Bosson Fibre Board Co, and other manufacturing concerns.
An extant list of the military ancestors of the children of Mr. and Mrs. George Chapman Bosson gives twenty-five names. Of these two were of the "Old Planters," two served in the Royal navy; two in Indian wars; three in King Philip's war; three in the French war ; eleven in the Continental army of the Ameri- can Revolution ; and one in the war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain.
Hayes is the English form of
HAYES the Scotch surname Hay or Hays. Nearly all if not all the old New England families of the surname
Hayes are from three Scotch immigrants who came to America about 1680. They were re- lated and it is known that two were brothers. From the circumstances and date of coming it seems likely that the three were. George Hayes, born in Scotland in 1655, is said to have gone to Derbyshire, England, with an uncle with whom he lived for a time. From there he removed to London, and about 1680, certainly before 1682, he settled at Windsor, Connecticut. It is thought that the spelling of his name was changed to Hayes during his stay in England. Whether John Hayes, men- tioned below, was in England or not is un- known. He was Scotch, according to indis- putable records, and related to George Hayes ; the latter was ancestor of President Hayes. The Hay family is one of the most numerous and prominent in Scotland. The coat-of-arms of the Hay family of Inchnook, Scotland, is : "Argent, a mullet between three escutcheons gules. Crest-A dexter arm embowed holding an ox yoked proper."
In both the Windsor and Dover families the tradition has been independently preserved and is generally accepted concerning their origin, given below. This story, however, be- longs to the Hay family, and therefore, pretty conclusively establishes the fact that the Hayes family of New England is part and parcel of the Hay family of Scotland.
The story runs that in the reign of Kenneth III of Scotland, the Danes, who had invaded Scotland, having prevailed at the battle of Luncart near Perth, were pursuing the flying Scots from the field when a countryman and his two sons appeared in the narrow pass through which the vanquished were hurrying and impeded for a moment their flight. "What," said the rustic, "had you rather be slaughtered by your foes than die honorably on the field ; come, rally ! rally !" And he head- ed the fugitives, brandishing the yoke of his plow and crying out that help was at hand. The Danes, believing a fresh army was fall- ing on them, fled in confusion and the Scots thus recovered the laurels which they had lost and freed their country from servitude. The battle being won, the old man, afterwards known by the name of Hay, was brought to the king, who, assembling a parliament at Scone, gave to Hay and sons as joint reward for their valor as much land on the river Tay in the district Gowrie as a falcon from a man's hand flew over until it settled-which being six miles in length was afterward called Errol. The king being desirous to elevate Hay and
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his sons from their humble rank in life assign- ed them a coat-of-arms: Argent three escut- cheons gules (to intimate that the father and two sons had been the three fortunate shields of Scotland). The stone on which the falcon lit is still to be seen in the Carse of Gowrie in a small village called Hawkstone. The tra- dition, unchanged for many centuries, embel- lished perhaps by time and romance at an earlier date, has some foundation in fact. The lowly family of Hay certainly has borne for eight hundred years or more not only the escutcheons gules, but a broken yoke as part of their crest, two Danes in armor as their supporters (one of them with a plowstaff or plow paddle, as the Scotch call it). Motto: "Renovate Animos." There are other ver- sions of the story, but all agree to the effect that the name Hay, Hays or Hayes came from this incident. The family was settled before A. D. 1300 in Perthshire, Fifeshire, Peeble- shire, Banffshire, Wigtonshire, and has the titles : Marquis of Tweeddale, Earl of Errol, Earl of Gifford, Earl of Kinnoul, Earl of Kil- marnock in Scotland and Earl of Carlisle in England ; also Viscount of Dupplin, Viscount of Walden and Lordships of Hay and Kin- fauns.
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