History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 47

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292

USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890 > Part 47

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

The third store at Centreville was built in the fall of 1847 by Wil- son Crosby and his son, Frederick W. They continued a general trade until 1857, when the son went west, and Wilson Crosby contin- ued in grain and flour until his death in December, 1874; Enoch Lewis, his son-in-law, has continued the business since. James Cornish had a small store prior to 1857 near where he lives. Another store was started in 1868 by Moses F. Hallett, who in 1874 took his son, Samuel H., into partnership, and they still continue. The building has been enlarged from a smaller one-the shoe shop of Captain John C. Case. ,

A drug store was run by Sylvanus Jagger during the last years of his life, and the business is continued by Maria G., his widow. Among those of the past is the store of Nelson Phinney, in a building in which he had previously and for many years carried on considerable of a carriage business; also the little store of Job Childs at his house. Other industries here are the tinshop of Clark Lincoln, operated since 1860, and the harness store of A. B. Gardner.

An important feature in the mechanical department of Centre- ville's business is the part filled by Henry B. Sears. The shop was first started by Leander Gage, who sold to Clark Lincoln. William Jones purchased the shop and removed it to its present site, subse- quently selling to its present proprietor.

As a summer resort Centreville is preferred to many others. Its quietude and beauty, its shaded drives, fanned by the cool breezes from the sound, and other superior attractions, induce prolonged vis- its from people far and near.

Howard Hall is a fine building erected in 1877, at a cost of two thousand dollars, by a stock company. On the lawn near the hall is a library building, containing a large and well-selected library, free to its members, and only a small fee is required from others.

The old cemetery here was long ago supplemented by a later one near the church, and this in turn is now but little used. In 1855, No- vember 9th, a meeting was held by the citizens, and the Oak Grove Cemetery Association was formed. Five acres of suitable land were purchased just north of the village, on the West Barnstable road. This has been well fenced, and is the general burial place for the community. The officers for 1890 are: F. G. Kelley, treasurer, and Eli Phinney, clerk. Three directors are elected the first Monday in January of each year.

A post office was established in 1834, with Warren Marchant, post- master, from March 4th. He was succeeded, April 23, 1839, by Ferdi- nand G. Kelley, who has held it since, covering a period of over fifty years. Mr. Kelley's commission was signed by Amos Kendall, post -. master general.

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TOWN OF BARNSTABLE.

In 1837 Gorham Crosby began making his house a stopping place for travelers. The old house was replaced by a new one in 1859, where Aaron Crosby, the son, continues to accommodate the public.

CRAIGSVILLE is a beautiful resort, just southeast of Centreville- between it and Hyannis-and is famous for its camp ground. Its vis- itors, attracted by its beauty and novelties, may be numbered by thousands each season. A post office is maintained here by the gov- ernment during the season, a mail pouch being received from Hyan- nis. Miss Susie V. Aldrich was postmistress in 1889.

MARSTON'S MILLS is the Indian Mistic, and is pleasantly situated between Osterville and Cotuit. Its importance, early in the history of the town, is largely due to the excellent power for mills, which were erected very early on the stream issuing from the several ponds at the north, flowing into Cotuit harbor. A fulling mill, a cloth dressing mill, a jewelry establishment, a grist mill and blacksmithing existed liere at an early date. Here, as has been mentioned, was the ancient fulling mill of Thomas Macy-in 1689 -- on what was called Goodspeed river, for those families were the first here. This mill was used many years as a fulling mill. Benjamin Marston, through a long course of years, ran it. He was here in 1738, from which time it took its pres- ent name. In 1829 the former business of the place had dwindled to a grist mill, and to carding, cloth dressing, fulling, etc., by Robert Francis and A. B. Marston. Francis sold out in 1829 to Nathaniel Hinckley, who enlarged the building and added one of Copeland's first-class carders. He continued the carding and cloth dressing until 1852, when Rufus Churchill became a partner. They purchased cot- ton in Boston, and here made cotton batting until 1855, when the death of Mr. Churchill's son, for whom it was purchased, caused its decline. Neither party wished to purchase the share of the other; the old mill was subsequently removed, and the remains of the dam, on the land of Lilly Backus, is the only remaining memento of this important fulling mill, except this history.

At a proprietors' meeting, February 13, 1704-5, at the request of John Stacy (or Stasye), the privilege to erect a dam on the Goodspeed river, or Cotuit, was given, if he would build a grist mill for the ben- efit of the inhabitants, and charge only two quarts to the bushel for toll. This dam was not to interfere or "damnifie or pen any back water to hinder the fulling mill already set up." Chipman Hinckley and Ebenezer Scudder subsequently owned the old mill, which was purchased in 1842 by Nathaniel Hinckley, who put it in order, adding a corn and cob cracker. Mr. Hinckley now made an unsuccessful at- tempt to put the two dams together, for the purpose of starting a pa- per mill to work the beach grass of the Cape into paper. The mill, in 1889, with its dam, was still to be seen as of yore, and Mr. Hinck-

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

ley, venerable in age and good works, was still seen passing to and fro between it and his residence. Not only do these mills render this hamlet of historic interest, but it was the home of Judge Nymphas Marston, who died in the house now occupied by Heman Thomas, on the knoll just west of the mill.

Early stores were established, but the first of which any record can be found was that of Nathan Hinckley, in 1820, in an addition to his house. He lived northeast of the present village, and this was for fifty years the leading store of that part of Barnstable. In 1826 Na- thaniel Hinckley had a store at the mills, which in 1833 he sold to William Marston, his clerk, who was in business forty years or more before L. N. Hamblin & Co. began business. George L. Hamblin now keeps the only store here, having succeeded the last named company.

The enterprising citizens erected Village Hall in 1859 for their own and public use, and it is well kept up by the stock company own- ing it.

Nathaniel Hinckley was the first postmaster and we find him in his office in January, 1828, at his residence, where he kept it until November 8, 1854. Charles Bassett was then appointed, who, with Russell Hinckley and John J. Backus, filled the time to 1879-the date of the appointment of Dennis H. Mecarta. Mrs. Harriet A. Mecarta has been postmistress since the death of her husband in 1885-6. Na- thaniel Hinckley has filled various offices of trust in the town. He was elected ten different years representative to the general court, and in the years 1836 and 1869 was appointed by the respective speak- ers. on the committee on revision of the public statutes. He has also been register of probate and sheriff of the county, and was appointed by President Lincoln commissioner of the board of enrollment during the rebellion.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

SIMEON L. AMES .- The family name of which this resident of Cotuit is a representative is found early in the last century, in the annals of Barnstable. The first record is of Thomas, who, December 30, 1746, married Mehitable Fuller, a descendant of one of the first settlers of the plantation. Enos, his son, born in 1759 in Osterville, was the father of Isaac I. Ames, who married Beulah Coleman of the same place. She was the sister of Nathaniel and a descendant of Ed- ward Coleman, one of the important additions to the settlers of Barn- stable in 1662. Isaac I. continued his residence at Osterville, raising a family of children, one of whom was Simeon L. Ames, born Decem- ber 6, 1822.

At the age of seven he was apprenticed to Deacon Munroe of Barn- stable, and the short period at the Osterville school previous to his

Simeon L Ames

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TOWN OF BARNSTABLE.

removal, and the three years he lived with the deacon constituted his school-boy days. At the age of ten he shipped as cook on the sloop Oysterville for a coasting voyage, and as soon as his age permitted, while yet in his teens, he was made master of a coaster. At eighteen he went one voyage on the Win. Pean as boat steerer. He returned to coasting and this profitable service he continued several years. In 1852 he was master of the steamer Osprey, plying between Boston and Philadelphia. He was ordered to go to Boston for sealed orders which, when received, only gave him sixteen hours to prepare for a voyage to St. Johns. Newfoundland, to the rescue of the passengers of the ill- fated steamer Philadelphia. Before his arrival at St. Johns the steamer Arctic was also wrecked there, and he returned to Philadelphia with the few survivors from the latter and about seven hundred from the former. He acted as master or pilot on steamers between the cities of the Atlantic coast for two years, and in 1854 he, with others in a company, had the tug William Sprague built for use in Boston harbor, where he continued in command until his retirement in 1856.

During the latter part of his seafaring life. December 3, 1846, he married Miss Lucy Fessenden Crocker, who was born June 1. 1823, at Cotuit, and worthily represents the two historic families indicated by her name. Their marital relations have been blessed by a family of three children, of whom one daughter, Hattie S., born October 1, 1849, in Cotuit, died at the age of eleven in California. Of the two surviv- ing children. the oldest daughter, Carrie Crocker Ames, born Novem- ber 30, 1847, married Emerson O. Stratton on the 15th of December, 1870; they live in Arizona and have had four children: Mabel, Edith O., John S., who died at the age of five, and Elmer W. Stratton. The youngest daughter of Mr. Ames is Lucy S., born October 14, 1859, in California, and January 17, 1883, she married Elmer W. Lapham. Many pleasing coincidences are concealed in the histories of the ancient families of the Cape, and here one is unearthed. This young- est daughter, Mrs. Lapham, resides in the house of her mother's father, who was a Crocker. The home is known as the Ebenezer Crocker place, and is the birthplace of Zenas Crocker, Mrs. Ames. Rebecca Crocker and others; and among the smaller mementoes of the past the family have carefully preserved the diary of 1761, written while among the Indians of the Six Nations, by Rev. Gideon Hawley, who was also one of the ancestors of Mrs. Ames.

When Mr. Ames left the sea in 1856 he removed to California where he was engaged in a store until 1861, when he returned to Cotuit, purchased his present farm, erected his pleasant residence, and here he enjoys the fruits of his active and well spent life. His time has been spent in agricultural pursuits, and since 1870 more es- pecially in the culture of cranberries. Retiring in his nature, prefer-

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ring the home circle to the vicissitudes of civil life, he has not con- sented to fill any official trust beyond that of school committee for his own division of the town. Like many others on the Cape he is famil- iarly called "Captain," a title he has earned by years of merito- rious service on the seas as master, but he is entitled to a cognomen of equal significance for the masterly tacks he has made on land.

Ferdinand H. Bassett® (Gerry', Joseph6. Daniels, Daniel', Joseph3, Nathaniel", William Bassett',) was born in 1842, and was at sea from 185S until 1886, being sixteen years in command of vessels. Since retiring from the sea he has been in business at Hyannis. His wife, Caroline. is a daughter of Judah Baker, deceased, of South Dennis. Their three sons are: F. Clifton, Elisha B. and Winthrop D. William Bassett1 came in the Fortune in 1621. Zenas D. Bassett, who was born in 1786 and died in 1864, was a prominent man in the county. He was a son of Joseph Bassett6.

Charles L. Baxter, born 1833, is a son of John B. and a grandson of John Baxter. At the age of fourteen he began at carpentry and has since followed it as his principal business, although now also in- terested in cranberry culture. He built H. W. Wellington's house at Wianno Beach, the Colonel Codman and Wesson places at Cotuit Port, Zenas Crocker's residence at Cotuit, and in 1858 his own resi- dence there. His wife was Josephine Jones.

Captain Samuel S. Baxter, born 1828, is the youngest child of Shu- bael Baxter, who was a master mariner and privateer in 1812. Captain Baxter went on a coasting voyage when but eleven years of age; was in North Carolina and West India merchant service two or three years, then in United States mail line to California from 1853 to 1860. He was engaged in transport service during the civil war from 1861 to 1865, after which he made several voyages to New Orleans and Fer- nandina, Fla. He retired in 1866, and is at present residing near Marston's Mills and interested in oyster culture. His wife was a daughter of Luther Hinckley, a prominent Barnstable man. They have two daughters.

Asa F. Bearse, merchant at Cotuit, is a son of Alfred and grandson of Moses Bearse, formerly a house carpenter in Hyannis. He was at sea for seventeen years, fourteen years as captain. His wife, Sarah L., is a daughter of Captain Oliver Nickerson. Their children are: Elva W., Mabel (Mrs. Gilbert L. Coleman) and Alice, now in school.

CHARLES C. BEARSE .- The progenitor of this family was Austin (Augustine) Bearse, who arrived in the New World April 24, 1638, in the ship Confidence. He was twenty-one years of age when, in 1639, he came to Barnstable. He was admitted to Mr. Lothrop's church April 29, 1643, and the record says of him, "he was a consistent and esteemed member." His grandson Benjamin, son of Joseph, was the

G.G. Because

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first to erect a house in Hyannis, and was among the first interred in the burial place of that village. Among the subsequent descendants of these sterling ancestors was Charles C. Bearse, born April 2, 1812, at Hyannis, where his father, Moses, and his grandfather, Gershom, lived and died.

At the age of ten he went to reside with his uncle, George Hinck- ley, of whom he learned the carpenter trade, and at Osterville he ob- tained the education afforded by the commnon schools. He was married December 27, 1842, to Penelope P. Crocker, daughter of Braddock Crocker, who was a prominent merchant of Cotuit for twenty years prior to his death in 1840. Her grandfather Crocker, born in 1753, was one of that ancient family which has been for years identified with much of the prosperity and wealth of the Cape.

Soon after his marriage Mr. Bearse erected the beautiful home at Cotuit, where he died February 24, 1889, leaving, besides his widow, two daughters. The eldest is Isabel T., born May 29, 1848, who, Jan- uary 12, 1SS1, married Julius Nickerson, a prominent merchant of Cotuit, and has a daughter six years of age, named Carol Isabel. The youngest daughter, residing with the mother at the homestead, is Nellie Bearse, born December 23, 1866.

The life and services of the deceased, through a period of three- score years of activity and usefulness in every phase of responsibility, leaves honorable testimony of his public and private virtues. Not content with the limits circumscribed by his trade, he established a large business in lumber and hardware at Cotuit, and became an ex- pert architect and builder. At the age of thirty-three, the confidence in his ability was manifested by an election to a seat in the general court for two years; and at the expiration of the term he was elected selectman and assessor of his town, which positions he filled most acceptably for nearly a quarter of a century. He declined, in 1871, to serve longer, and the citizens of Barnstable, in open town meet- ing, passed resolutions of thanks for his worthy services, and of regret at his retirement. These were not his only public duties. He served one term as high sheriff of the county; for many years, until his resignation, he was postinaster at Cotuit; and his services as justice of the peace, through repeated appointments here, termi- nated only by his decease.

In July, 1865, when the First National Bank of Hyannis was organized, he was one of its directors, which position he held until the board was reduced in number; but he was again chosen in 1887. The board, at his death, passed and presented to bis family reso- lutions of grief and condolence. He was also chosen one of the board of directors and investment of the Hyannis Savings Bank at its organization, and until the institution closed he was among the most earnest.

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

In none of the responsible duties required of this worthy citi- zen were his services more sought or his equity better demon- strated than in the settlement of estates in his own and adjoining towns. In the careful adjustment of the most complicated of these he excelled. Through his public and private life, those who had been associated with him for nearly half a century, themselves prominent in affairs, unreservedly attest to the pure Christian mo- tives, decisive opinions, excellent judgment and wise counsels of Charles C. Bearse.

While moss is growing over the granite, and time is making the marble gray, the good influence which he exerted upon the age in which he lived will still be widening; and the student of local history will hardly find, in the annals of inen, a more perfect instance of financial and political purity.

Nelson H. Bearse, born in 1844, is a son of the late Nelson Bearse, whose father, James, was a son of James and grandson of Lemuel Bearse. Nelson H. followed the sea from 1858 until 1878. His wife is Mary C. Ames of Osterville. They have six children, including a pair of twins, which is the ninth pair in this branch of the family.

Revilo P. Benson was born in Rochester, Mass., in 1845. His father, Ephraim Benson, was born in 1800. He located in Marston's Mills in 1874, where he still lives, carrying on a blacksmith business. His wife, Isadora G., is a daughter of Captain Josiah Hamblin, formerly of Falmouth. They have one child, Nettie M. Benson, born at Ware- ham, Mass., in 1874.

Simeon Lovell Boult, a retired sea captain, born 1819, is a son of Charles Boult, who came to this country when a boy. His mother, Rebecca, was a daughter of Simeon Lovell, whose house was in Oster- ville on the north side of the main road, near Crocker's Corners. Mr. Boult followed the sea from the age of fourteen until 1875, in the coast- ing trade. His wife, Rozilla A., was the eldest daughter of Nathan Coleman. She died November 30, 1SS2, leaving one daughter, Isa- bella C. Boult.

DANIEL P. BURSLEY .- As the only surviving representative of one of the branches of the ancient family of Bursley, the name at the head of this sketch composes an important element in the genealogical his- tory of the county. John Bursley, the progenitor of the family, was with the first settlers of Barnstable, and on November 28, 1639, he married Joanna, daughter of minister Hull. From this worthy ances- tor the lineage has been: John, jr., Joseph, Joseph, jr., John, Josiah and Washburn, the father of Daniel P. Bursley. The residence on the corner opposite the old Jabez Howland tavern, West Barnstable, was the homestead of Josiah, who reared to usefulness six children:

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RESIDENCE OF DANIEL P. BURSLEY.

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TOWN OF BARNSTABLE.

Lurana, Daniel, Washington, Washburn, George and Enoch P. Burs- ley. The fourth child, Washburn, was born October 5, 1812. and until his death, October 20, 1886, was an important factor in the growth and business of West Barnstable. He was a farmer until the advent of the railroad, when he established the express line to the south Shore, which for many years bore his name and still is known as the Bursley Express. Such was his punctuality that for over thirty years he never missed being at the proper trains; and during the whole period no storm or business kept him a night from his family.

He married, December 10, 1834, Deborah Lothrop Turner, who survives him. She is a direct descendant from Governor Prince. Their only child, Daniel P. Bursley, was born October 30, 1836, and married Hannah D. Linnell, of Centreville, November 7, 1858. She is the only daughter of Captain David Linnell, a direct descendant of Robert Linnell, one of the original members of John Lothrop's church, Barnstable, in 1639.

In 1854, at the age of eighteen, Daniel P. shipped before the mast in the merchant service of Crocker & Warren, of New York. His first voyages were in the ship Raven, in which he steadily arose in rank until he was appointed first mate in her voyage of 1864. He accepted the command of the Franklin in 1865, in the employ of W. F. Weld & Co., Boston, sailing to San Francisco, thence to China and around the world home. In 1867 he was master of the same ship on a similar voyage; and in 1869 of the Borneo; in 1870 of the George Peabody. In 1871 he was sent overland to the Pacific coast to bring home the ship California, loaded with logwood; and in 1872 made his last voyage to San Francisco, and thence to Europe, in the Belvidere. His wife not wishing to longer accompany him, and the declining health of his father, induced him, in 1875, to give up a sea-faring life. He and his wife have since resided in the Bursley homestead, and are the solace of the worthy mother. He has earned the soubriquet of "Captain," as he is familiarly called by his intimate friends.

He is prominent in the civil affairs of his town, and although an active, worthy member of the republican party, he declines every proffer of office. He has been the agent of the New York & Boston Despatch Express Company since its establishment, which, with his own complicated business, set forth in the history of his village, oc- cupies his time. Notwithstanding his many duties, he finds time for the social relations of life, and in the pleasant home circle enjoys not only the present, but many memories of the past. The beautiful homestead is historic from its site, and the fact that some of its tim- bers and covering were formerly in the residence of James Otis, the patriot. The front door step was once the hearth-stone in the parlor of Brigadier Otis, whose house near by has been taken down within

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his remembrance. He also points with pride to the backgammon board, two hundred and fifty years old, once the property of the briga- dier, and which is an exquisite piece of English inlaid mechanism.

The many years of successful service in an important branch of commerce, and the high esteem in which he is held in the social, civil and business relations of his native town, indicate that in Daniel P. Bursley, as one of the scions of that original band of settlers, the honor and integrity of the family is maintained.

John Bursley9 (William T .. 1832; Charles H.', 1801-1878; Heman®, 1770-1850; John5, 1741-1827: Joseph4, 1714-1778; Joseph3, 1686-1750; John2, 1652-1726; John', died 1660,) was born in 1859. John' bought a large land property at West Barnstable, including the farm now occu- pied by the eighth and ninth generations of his descendants. Charles H. Bursley? was the first secretary of the County Agricultural Society, acting fifteen years or more. John Bursley married Florence A., daughter of William H., granddaughter of Ezekiel H., and great- granddaughter of Isaiah Parker.

Alexander G. Cash, mentioned as a merchant at Hyannis, was born at Cotuit Port in 1840. His father, William Cash, was born at Matta- poiset, Mass., and was shipmaster in the whaling service from New Bedford and Nantucket from 1848 to 1864. His grandfather, Alexan- der Cash, was born at Nantucket. . Alexander G. was at New Bedford, Fall River and Brockton between 1857 and 1866, and from 1850 to 1855 was on the ocean and at Sandwich islands. He was deputy and special sheriff from 1878 to 1890. He has been twice married. His first wife, Rebecca A., was born in New Bedford. She left two chil- dren: William S. and Stanley A. His second wife, Phebe A., was born in Nantucket.

Dr. John Winslow Chapman, of Hyannis, was born at Philadelphia in 1828, and was educated there with Dr. J. M. Harris and at the Phila- delphia College of Medicine. His wife, Ella Dorr, is a daughter of Captain Nathan Coleman of Cotuit, a wealthy ship master. Dr. Chap- man began the practice of dentistry at Hyannis in 1846, and excepting eight years preceding 1857-when he was in New York-has followed his profession here.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 47

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York : Blake Number of Pages: 1292

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292