USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 41
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The last three years of her life Mrs. Packard spent in California with her children and was on her way back to her home in Boston when she met with an accident which caused her death. She was survived by six children - four of whom resided in California ; one son in Illinois, and another, Samuel W. Packard, a lawyer in Boston.
Mrs. Packard died in Chicago in 1897 at the age of eighty-one.
D. ORLANDO FISKE
D. Orlando Fiske was born March 18, 1821 in Shelburne, son of Deacon David Fiske and Laura Severance, granddaughter of Martin Severance. He married Laura, sister of Fidelia Fiske, as his first wife, and his second wife was Isabel, only daughter of Zerah and Clarissa Hawks. By this second mar- riage there were eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. The others were Harvey, Laura, Edward, Walter, Clara, Zerah, David, and Samuel.
His first home was on Patten Hill in the same
house in which Fidelia Fiske was born. Later he and his family moved to South Shelburne to the home of his wife's parents.
D. Orlando Fiske was familiarly known throughout Franklin County, having been a frequent participant in political meetings and prominent on public occa- sions. He served his town many years on the school committee, and represented his district in the Legis- lature for one term. He was elected president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society in 1876, and re-elected in 1877 and held other positions of trust. Anecdote :
As many people were in those days, D. Orlando was a great declaimer of prose, poetry, etc. One day amongst a gathering of people around the dining table of his home, he was reciting "Thanatopsis" with great gusto, when the little negro girl, Sylvia, a helper in the home, stuck her head through the door and uttered a loud exclamation! He was not a whit daunted, however, by the interruption.
JUDGE STEPHEN KELLOGG
Judge Stephen Kellogg of Waterbury, Connecticut, was one of Shelburne's most distinguished sons. He was born in Shelburne in 1822, the son of Jacob Pool and Lucy Wright Kellogg. His great-grand- father, Lieut. Jacob Pool, served under General Arnold when in 1775 Arnold led the expedition to Quebec, before the walls of which Lieut. Pool fell.
Mr. Kellogg's grandfather served during the last year of the Revolutionary War although only sixteen years of age at the time.
Judge Kellogg spent his early years on the farm in Shelburne, where he worked in summer until he was twenty years of age, and attended the academy during the winter. Then his father died, leaving to the young man the care of the widowed mother and three younger children. He attended Amherst Col- lege and also Yale Law School. He was admitted to the New Haven bar in 1848.
At this time he was elected Judge of Probate for the Naugatuck district. He soon developed an impor- tant practice in the higher courts.
In 1851 Judge Kellogg served as clerk of the Senate. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1860 and was a member of the com- mittee that drew up the platform upon which Abra- ham Lincoln was elected. He was also delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1868 and 1876. He was Presidential elector in 1900. He served as Colonel of the Second Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard from 1863 to 1866 and later as Brigadier General of the same organization.
Judge Kellogg was elected to Congress in 1868, '70 and '72 and served as chairman of the Committee on Naval Expenditures in the Forty-second, and of the Civil Service Reform Committee in the Forty- third Congress.
Mr. Kellogg declined the nomination for Governor of Connecticut in 1878. He attracted wide attention
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as a writer on political subjects. His death occurred in 1904.
JONAS K. PATCH
Article from the Springfield Republican, February 22. 1903: "Half-Century of Pho- tography." From our special correspondent, Greenfield, Saturday, February 21: "His Collection of Pictures and Sketch of his Life."
Jonas K. Patch of Shelburne Falls, a fine type of the old-school gentleman and for over half a century a photographer at Shelburne Falls, is one of the few surviving photographers who have practiced the fas- cinating art from its earlier beginnings to its present development. In his studio, which by the way, he has occupied continuously for over fifty years, is a collec- tion of daguerreotypes which take one back to the early days of photography. Dr. J. G. Holland, who was lecturing at Shelburne Falls many years ago, sat for Mr. Patch, and his likeness, old-fashioned stock and all, is in the collection. Hiram Powers' statue of the Greek Slave, which was exhibited around the country more than half a century ago, was photo- graphed by Mr. Patch, and is in the collection. Dr. E. H. Chapin, the noted Universalist divine, is there along with many past worthies of Shelburne Falls. Nathaniel Merrill and Henry Campbell, members of the famous Shelburne Falls band of former genera- tions; William C. Perry, first landlord of the Shel- burne Falls House, who came from Brattleboro; Wil- liam Sherwin, the first jeweler the village had ; A. B. Clark, principal of Franklin Academy, and others look benignly down from the daguerreotypes in the case, the impression apparently untouched by the hand of time and as bright as ever. A copper plate was used on which the photographer spread a deposit of silver. In the studio are patent ambrotypes, with double glass, balsam packed between. The contrast between these earlier methods and those followed by photographers today can readily be seen from the work in the studio.
Mr. Patch was born at Hawley seventy-eight years ago, the son of William Patch, a native of Groton, who, after residing in Hawley for several years, went to Charlemont in 1830, where he passed the remainder of his days. Mr. Patch went to North Adams as a young man and began as a clerk in the drygoods store of Smith and Homer. Thomas Johnson, a designer in the print works, had a camera in which Mr. Patch became interested, and finally a partnership was formed, and the two set out on a tour through the larger towns of Vermont, taking pictures in each place as long as business continued good. It was at Burlington that the Greek Slave was on exhibition when the photograph in the collection was taken. Mr. Johnson's resources failed, and for that reason he proposed the partnership be dissolved. His partner bought out the business while they were in Brandon in 1850. Mr. Patch went to Shelburne Falls, opened
the studio in the rooms he is still occupying to this day, although additions have been made to the rear. None of the men in business then in the village are alive save Gilbert F. Mitchell, who retired from active business several years ago. At the old stand the sign of J. K. Patch hangs out as it has for many years, and the treads on the stairs leading to the studio bear witness to the numbers who have faced the camera, getting good work, courteous treatment, and leaving with the kindest of feelings for the genial, dignified, and kindly man and his son, Henry, who is associated with his father.
REV. SAMUEL FISKE
Samuel Fiske was born July 23, 1828, in the house on Water Street owned by David Fiske, his father. A graduate with high rank from Amherst College in 1848, he taught for two years in South Hadley and the old Franklin Academy. After a two years' course in theology, he returned to Amherst as a tutor for two years, and receiving a license to preach, he began supplying pulpits in Franklin and Hampshire Counties.
In 1853 he made a trip in company with Prof. Tyler of Amherst through Europe and also into Asia and Africa. He was minister in Madison, Connecti- cut, for a few years and then enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers as 2nd Lieute- nant of Company I. He later became 1st Lieutenant of Company K, then Captain of Company G - the old Meriden Company.
Because of his diminutive size and youthful appear- ance, he was called the Boy Minister. This in no way affected the forceful impact he made on all with whom he came in contact. His strict discipline, deep con- victions, and strong principles made it impossible for him not to have enemies among people who differed with him where principles were involved. Yet, he so managed his life that he is remembered as jolly, practical, and loved by all his people and by the men under him. More than that, he had the respect of those who in no way agreed with him. As he dined with General Hays as a member of his staff, he immediately started in by asking grace, which then became a custom.
According to John E. Stannard of Springfield, Massachusetts, a member of Fiske's own company in the Civil War, Fiske was captured at Chancellorsville while on a mission to deliver dispatches. Trying to ride his horse through thick underbrush he made little progress; accordingly, he let his horse go and pro- ceeded on foot. In so doing he lost his way and fell into the arms of the Confederates, who confined him in Libby Prison in Richmond. Here he was one of twelve men held for ransom for the safety of a well- known Confederate officer. These twelve men drew lots to see which of them should die in case the officer was executed, but as he was freed, no one had to die.
Prof. Tyler of Amherst says that he took part in nearly all the great battles of the Army of the
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Potomac, including Gettysburg, saw his regiment cut to pieces, was himself taken prisoner and confined in Libby Prison at Richmond, and after his exchange fought on with the spirit of a hero and a martyr till on the sixth of May, the second day of the bloody Battle of the Wilderness, he received the wound which caused his death on Sunday, May 22, 1864.
One of his officers called him "a brave soldier, able advocate and sincere patriot"; but he also combined with these traits in an unusual way the charm of his literary graces and wit, so that it was also said of him by the same officer, "a brilliant light was extinguished when he ceased to exist."
Samuel Fiske is known as the author of "Dunn Browne in the Army" and "Dunn Browne in Foreign Parts," and was a famous correspondent for the Springfield Republican. It is related that on the night before the second day of the march into the Wilder- ness, where he received the wound which proved fatal, he was observed propped up against a tree writ- ing what proved to be the last of his reports to his paper.
His last words, perhaps spoken in delirium, were said to be "Forward, boys, to the last charge."
CAPT. JOSIAH A. RICHMOND
Josiah A. Richmond was born in Ashfield, April 10, 1828, later moving to Buckland. During the California Gold Rush in 1849 he made the trip by boat around Cape Horn, an experience which furnished material for many lectures. In 1851 he married Susan Whiting. Enlisting September 1, 1862, in the Army, he was promoted to be Captain of Company E, 52nd Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers.
In 1868 he bought the Sash and Blind Factory on State Street, which he conducted for many years. He was justice of the peace, selectman and assessor of Buckland at various times. As president of the day, he gave the address of welcome at Buckland Centen- nial in 1879. Later in life he lived on Main Street on the Shelburne side of the river. At the dedication of Memorial Hall, January 12, 1898, he gave the report of the building committee and presented the keys of the building to the chairman of the Selectmen, W. S. Ball. He died in 1904.
DANIEL WILCOX
Daniel Wilcox, well-known resident-minister, born in 1829, son of Abraham Wilcox and Laurinda Hardy, was called a "man of great influence." His early career as a Baptist minister in Green Bay, Wis- consin, furnished the foundation after his return here for a life of devotion to the local Baptist Church, where he labored unceasingly for the upbuilding of the church as a lay member and local preacher and farmer. He was scholarly in his habits, devoted to reading and walking, abstemious, and careful to be helpful by an example of rigid rectitude. He had two sons, Ernest, a physician of Pleasantville, New York, and
Charles of Springfield, employed at the U. S. Armory there. He maintained his habit of walking to an advanced age.
SARAH PRESCOTT KELLOGG (1829-1895)
The poems of Sarah Kellogg will always be loved and enjoyed by the people of Shelburne. Many a poem was written to add pleasure to the birthday or wedding anniversary of a relative or neighbor, or to give comfort and sympathy in time of sorrow. Her book, "Rhymes for all Seasons," contains many choice gems of poetry.
The beautiful baptismal font and vase given to the Shelburne Church by her brother, Steven Kellogg, are fitting memorials to her. He also donated money that flowers might be placed in the church on her birthday.
GEORGE ELIAS TAYLOR
George E. Taylor was born on the same ancestral farm to which his great-grandfather, John Taylor, came from Deerfield in 1759 and built a log cabin for his family. His early life was spent on the farm with his father and brother. He became interested in purebred Shorthorn cattle and purchased his first animal in 1848, thus commencing the first herd in this vicinity. In 1860 he purchased an adjoining farm, where he continued his farming interest.
He was an active member of the Franklin County Agricultural Society and exhibited his cattle there each year. He was a member of the State Board of Agriculture for one term.
Mr. Taylor served his town as selectman, assessor and school committee member. He was a loyal mem- ber of the church and Sunday school. The beautiful pipe organ, of which he was the donor in 1914, stands as a memorial of him. The large flag which hangs in the church was another of his gifts.
He was a remarkably well-read man and kept in close touch with the events of the time. He was especially fond of history.
He died in 1921 at the age of eighty-nine, being remembered as a quiet and efficient man ; a respected citizen, and a good neighbor.
GEORGE G. MERRILL
George G. Merrill was born January 25, 1836. His life was spent in this vicinity with the exception of a few years in Illinois. His education was in the public schools of this town and the old Franklin Academy. From his father, Ira, and grandfather, Thaddeus, he learned the business of stone work and contractor which he followed all his life. An authority on stone work, he built the Savings Bank Block which he owned, the second Congregational Church in Greenfield, and had charge of the contract for the masonry of the Holyoke-Hadley bridge, at the time the longest span in New England.
Gov. Washburn appointed him inspector for the
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stone work and bridges along the Troy and Boston Railroad from Greenfield to Hoosac Tunnel. He rode through the Hoosac Tunnel on the first trip. His work included contracts in Franklin, Hampshire, and Berkshire Counties. A man of honesty and integ- rity of purpose, his genial and social nature attracted many friends.
He married Emma Field, daughter of Zebulon Field. Three of his sons - George, Philip and Roy - continued the traditional career of engineering and masonry and, Edward, chemical engineering. Two children, Arthur and Alice, followed the career of their mother in teaching.
In 1858 he had the privilege of hearing the famous debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. During the trying days of the Civil War he assisted his father in building Goodrich Hall at Wil- liamstown and, incidentally, had the opportunity of meeting Mark Hopkins, Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Cullen Bryant. Throughout his life he re- mained an optimist about the future of the town, investing in real estate and aiding local industries. He died March 13, 1912.
JOHN STEVENS ANDERSON
The Anderson homestead, located one mile from Shelburne Center, commands a delightful view of hill and vale, forest and farm. It was here that John Anderson, great-grandfather of John Stevens Ander- son, undaunted at the high lands of Western Massa- chusetts, settled and cleared the farm a century and a half ago. A native of Scotland, he came to Colrain, Massachusetts, and then to the Shelburne farm on land granted by the Crown. He was succeeded by his son, James, who reared a family of seven sons and three daughters.
Alpheus, the youngest son, married Thankful Ste- vens of Baldwinsville, New York. Helen and John Stevens were born there. Alpheus died at an early age. Later. Alpheus' widow married an older brother, Joseph Anderson. Of this union there were three children - Susan, a well-known botanist, Dr. Mar- tha, and Mercy, a successful teacher. All were graduates of Mount Holyoke Seminary. Helen went to a young ladies' school in Rochester, New York, and later married Solomon Fiske of Shelburne. Joseph Anderson was said to be the first scientific farmer in Massachusetts and also a pioneer in the successful breeding of fine Shorthorn cattle.
In this profession John Stevens followed, and the Anderson herd is still well known. Mr. Anderson owned stock from the celebrated herd of Thomas Bates of England and the noted Cruickshank herd of Scotland. He was president and deeply interested in the Franklin County Agricultural Society. He at- tended the annual meetings for sixty-eight years in succession. Personally. Mr. Anderson was a fine example of the New England characteristics of cour- age, independence and honesty. His success was due
to the keen interest and unbounding enthusiasm which he gave to everything he undertook. He was always a warm friend of the church and interested in his town.
He lived the life of a strong New Englander and where can you find a higher type of character? He married Miss Clarinda Barnard, who was a very capable and judicious wife. They had four daugh- ters - Mrs. Eliza Dole, Mrs. Kate Payne, and the Misses Helen and Josephine Anderson. Mrs. Payne is the only surviving member.
What a center of friendliness and good cheer and hospitality this home has always been. Mr. Anderson was a speaker of ability and took a prominent part in the annual meetings of his town, which he served frequently and with ability as moderator.
John Stevens Anderson was born July 5, 1838. He died March 16, 1919. After a short illness the end came in a way befitting this strong man - with calmness, clearness of mind, and an unfaltering hope of the future.
REV. O. P. GIFFORD
Orrin Philip Gifford was born in Montague April 15, 1847, moving with his parents, P. R. and Par- thenia Gifford, to Shelburne Falls when he was two years old. At the age of eighteen he went to New York and obtained employment with the Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Company. After three years there, he entered school at Suffield, Connecticut, pre- paring for Brown University, from which he was graduated with honors in 1874. He immediately entered the Rochester, New York, Theological Semi- nary, where he graduated in 1877.
He held pastorates in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Warren Avenue Baptist Church, Boston; The old First Baptist Church, Brookline; Emmanuel Baptist Church of Chicago; and Delaware Avenue Baptist Church, Buffalo. While pastor of this church, he took an active part in cleaning the city of political corruption. Dr. Gifford led a force of clergymen who preached from street corners until the administration was overturned.
The Fifth Avenue Baptist Church (John D. Rocke- feller's church) called him while he was at Buffalo, but he declined to leave a church while it was strug- gling with debt ; but in 1907, he returned to the First Baptist Church in Brookline, which had just built a fine new edifice.
His wife, whom he married at Shelburne Falls, January 26, 1877, was Florence N. Lamson.
According to a Boston newspaper account, "Dr. Gifford never used a desk while conducting services and used no notes. He was an attractive speaker, say- ing what he had to say in an easy terse way that rendered his sermons extremely interesting. He never hesitated in expressing his candid opinion regarding any public question and was noted for his sympathy with labor."
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FREEMAN L. DAVENPORT
Freeman L. Davenport was born November 18, 1847 at Catamount Hill in Colrain, one of nine chil- dren of Levi and Susan Davenport. This farm was made famous as the site of the first flag-raising over a public schoolhouse in the United States in May 1812.
For fifteen years he was an engineer on passenger trains of the Fitchburg Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad Company. He was considered expert in this work because of his thorough knowledge of steam engines. In this connection it might be men- tioned that he was interested in the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company, director of the Boston and Provincetown Steamship Company, and president of this company for a time. For twenty years he continued this work, often being called on to inspect the big boilers.
In 1896 he became interested with others in organ- izing a street railway between Shelburne Falls and Colrain. This project entailed frequent trips to the State House until the franchise was obtained, also frequent trips to New York to inspect the iron to be used in the tracks. He was one of the first to make the trip to Colrain in October 1896. Ten years later he was made president of the Street Railway Com- pany, an office he held until his death. He was made a director of the Shelburne Falls National Bank in 1891 and held this office the remainder of his life. He was also selectman of Buckland for two years during the period of his residence there.
His marriage to Miss Mary Lida Davenport of East Charlemont provided him with firm home ties after the loss of his parents. The marriage, a particularly happy one, was blessed with three children - Harold P., owner of the Capt. Richmond Shop; Elmer, a superintendent of schools; and Louise P., devoted nurse for her mother through seventeen years of ill- ness until her death June 21, 1955 at the age of ninety-four.
At the death of Levi Davenport, one thousand dol- lars was left to Arms Academy Trustees to provide free lectures on scientific subjects. Many fine lectures have been given, using the interest from this fund. One given by MacMillan, the arctic explorer, will be remembered by many.
His life is an example of what hard work, thrift, ambition, and interest in the welfare of the commu- nity can accomplish. He died December 6, 1923.
RUFUS T. COVELL
Rufus T. Covell was born in 1850, the son of L. T. Covell, who was one of four men who founded and ran the Covell Aqueduct Company which sup- plied water to a large section of the town. The others were Herbert Newell, Edwin Baker, and George Merrill. This company was capitalized at $10,000 and incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts.
As a young man, Rufus worked in his father's
grocery store, and also for Alanson W. Ward. He operated the Shelburne Falls Creamery for a time in 1894, then sold this business and built the Covell Grain Elevator, now the Potter Grain Company. He owned and managed this for some years, selling out about 1914. He was a faithful attendant at the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges. He was for many years a member of the Board of Selectmen and gave unsparingly of his time to that office. He died sud- denly December 16, 1916.
FRANK J. WOOD
Frank J. Wood was born July 3, 1857, the son of Theodore and Lucy Pratt Wood. By nature ex- tremely fond of horses, he early went into the horse business, which became one of the most extensive in New England.
About 1890 he took Ira Guilford into partnership, the firm being known as Guilford and Wood. They began buying horses in Canada and the West and Mr. Guilford opened a branch stable in Northampton. At Mr. Guilford's death in 1903 Mr. Wood closed out the business in Northampton and conducted the stables here alone. After some years, his son, Dr. F. Sidney Wood, a graduate of Cornell Veterinary Col- lege, returned to be associated with his father. Mr. Wood married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fellows. He was not a joiner, but was de- voted to his business and family. He died June 28, 1921.
Many anecdotes of his business career have been used in the column of the Springfield Republican called "Shreds and Patches," written by his son, Robert Fellows Wood.
MARY PHYLINDA DOLE
Mary Phylinda Dole was born in Shelburne in 1862. Her parents died when she was very young. She spent her childhood and youth in Ashfield in a happy farm home, with very kind relatives.
She was a student at Mount Holyoke Seminary when it became Mount Holyoke College. In 1940, while writing her autobiography, she was the oldest living graduate of that institution.
While at Mount Holyoke, she became interested in a medical career, and did work in anatomy and related subjects so that she was able to enter Balti- more Medical School as a second-year student, receiv- ing her degree in two years. She established a medical practice in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in December 1891. In November 1893, having saved ($1100) eleven hundred dollars, she went to Paris to study, especially at Pasteur Institute. After two years of study and travel she returned to the same office in Greenfield where she had a wide country practice, before moving in 1906 to a city office in New Haven, Connecticut.
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