History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 61

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 61

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Horatio B. Baker, born in 1851, is a son of Oliver K. Baker. He was married March 6, 1879, to Laura B., daughter of Benjamin P. Sears, and has two children: Horatio L. and Florence M. He was clerk in a store until 1872, and since that time has been a commercial traveler.

Reuben A. Baker®, (Reuben5, Reuben', Reuben3, Reuben', Ebenezer') was born in 1853. His mother, Polly H., was a daughter of Otis Baker. Since 1876 Mr. Baker has carried on a wholesale fruit, nurs- ery, and ice business. He was married in 1878 to Anna B., daughter of Nathan B. Burgess. They have two daughters: Hannah S. and Irene W.

Watson F. Baker was born September 20, 1847. He traces his an- cestry back to David and Thankful Baker, whose son, David, jr., was born June 1, 1746, and was the eldest of eight children. David, jr., and his wife Jane had eight children. Their fifth child, Free- man, was born June 14, 1777, and died August 22, 1841. By his wife, Susan, who died August 13, 1842, he had eight children. Free- man, jr., his eldest child, was born September 3, 1799, and died De- cember 31, 1841. By his wife, Diana, who died November 12, 1826, he had one son, Watson Freeman, born April 24, 1826, lost at sea De- cember 13, 1854. Watson Freeman and wife, Sarah A. (Studley), had

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

three children: Watson F., jr., Diana, born April 27, 1849, died De- cember 13, 1853; and Diana R., born February 11, 1855. John Baker, second son of the first named David and Thankful, died August 16, 1822. By his wife, Patience, who died January 14, 1840, he had ten children. Watson, his fourth child, was born De- cember 21, 1778, and died in November, 1811. By his wife, Huldah, who died March 23, 1857, he had four children, of whom the second, Diana, born November 13, 1804, married Freeman Baker, jr., men- tioned above. Lemuel Studley, died March 20, 1857, by his wife, Polly, who died July 4, 1845, had ten children. Their oldest child, Richard, was born September 2, 1794, and died in Charleston, S. C., September 4, 1830. He married Abagail, daughter of Moses and Sally Burgess. She was born February 25, 1801, and died May 23, 1886. Their only daughter, Sarah Ann, married Watson Freeman Baker, mentioned above. Their son, Watson F., has been a mer- chant at South Dennis since October 1874. He has been town clerk and treasurer since 1886, and is justice of the peace and trial justice. He married Hannah D., daughter of Caleb and Cynthia Kelley. They have two children: Mary Abba, born September 3, 1SS4; and Watson F., jr., born March 19, 1889.

William E. Baker, for several years deacon of the Congregational church of South Dennis, was born in 1828, and is the only surviving son of Josiah, and grandson of Jeremiah Baker. His mother was Polly Eaton. Mr. Baker followed the sea from the age of fifteen, until he was forty-five years old. He has been freight agent at South Den- nis depot five years. He was married in 1851, to Sarah A., daughter of Freeman and Sally (Myric) Snow.

CAPTAIN EDWIN BAXTER .- Early in the last century, this family name was prominent in the affairs of Yarmouth, and when Dennis was incorporated from the territory, here resided Reuben Baxter and his brothers. John, the son of Reuben, married and resided at South Dennis, rearing a family, among whom was Heman, who married Mary L. Baker, granddaughter of Judah Baker, and reared a large family, one of whom is the Captain Edwin Baxter, whose portrait ac- companies this article. His birth occurred January 8, 1833, at South Dennis, where he received a common school education, and at the age of twelve he shipped as cook on a coasting voyage. At seventeen he engaged before the mast, and following the business earnestly and steadily, arose to mate at twenty, sailing on foreign voyages the most of the time while acting in that capacity. In 1864 he was promoted to a captaincy, and for twenty-one years commanded various sail- ing vessels, without serious accident. He retired with a competency in 1885, and resides in his pleasant home at West Dennis.

The captain on the first of February, 1885, married Polly L.,

Edvin Barlin

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daughter of Joseph and Paulina Eldridge, and has one daughter, Ada, living at home, born July 24, 1867. Joseph Eldridge, the son of Thomas, was born and reared in a house situated back in the field to the east of Captain Zebina Small's, on the road between Harwich Port and the Center.

Since he left the sea Captain Baxter has mingled in the business, the social and the religious affairs of the town. enjoying a charter membership in Mount Horeb Lodge of Masons, and attending and supporting the services of the Methodist church of his village. In civil affairs he takes a keen interest, and in February, 1887, was elected by the republicans to the office of selectman; and in February, 1SS9, he was reelected to a third term. He is a director in the shoe factory in West Dennis, and is counted as being ever ready to assist in building up the interests of the community. Now in the meridian of life, after two-score years on the sea, he enjoys with his happy family, the fruits of his industry, possessing to the highest degree the confidence of his townsmen.

John Baxter, son of Heman Baxter and brother of Thacher T. Baxter, was born in 1835. He went to sea eight years, and at the age of twenty-one he began to learn the jewelers' trade, and has been engaged in it since that time. Since 1879 he has kept a jewelry store at West Dennis. He is a member both of the Masonic and Odd Fellow orders. He was married in 1860, to Mary E .. daughter of William Douglas, and has one son, John E.

Thacher T. Baxter' (Heman', John6, Reuben'. Thomas", Thomas3, Thomas', Thomas Baxter',) was born in 1840. His mother was Mary L. Baker. Mr. Baxter learned the trade of a harness maker. He kept a hotel on the European plan at Cottage City, and in 1868 he built the Baxter House there. In 1871 he returned to West Dennis, where he has since been a furniture dealer. He was married in 1863 to Mary P. Crowell. They have three children : Alpheus T., Lavina M. and Charles T. He is a member of the West Dennis Methodist Episcopal Church, has been Sunday-school superintendent about twenty years, and is President of Yarmouth Campmeeting Associa- tion.

William H. Baxter, born in October, 1857, is a son of Heman and grandson of Heman Baxter. His mother was Julia A. Baker. Mr. Baxter has been telegraph operator at South Dennis since October, 1875, and since 1885 he has been both operator and station agent for the Old Colony Railroad Company. He was married in 1887, to Nellie S., daughter of Ahirah Kelley. They have two children : Louise and Thomas.

Edwin Bray, born in 1845, in Yarmouth, is the youngest son of Joseph and Adaline (Ryder) Bray, grandson of Eben Bray, and great-

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY. -

grandson of Edmund Bray. He has been to sea since the age of fifteen, and since 1870 has been master of coasting and foreign ves- sels most of the time. He was married in 1875, to Lucy Isabel, daughter of George C. and Mary A. (Baker) Rogers. She was born in South Dennis in 1850. They have one son, Edwin Newell, born in 1883. Mr. Bray is a member of the Hyannis Masonic Lodge and of the Boston Marine Society.

William B. Brooks, born in 1853, is the eldest son of Calvin, and a grandson of Calvin Brooks. His mother was Mary J., daughter of Heman Baxter. Mr. Brooks was a mason for eleven years prior to April, 1883, when he bought the stage and mail route from West Dennis to South Dennis, and since that time has run the stage and kept a livery stable. He was married in 1876, to Mary, daughter of Joseph A. Baker. They have two sons : William D. and Henry W.

Alonzo Capron, born in 1838, is the eldest son of Luther A. and Delia (Howes) Capron, and a grandson of William and Betsey (Baker) Capron. He has one brother, Martin L. Mr. Baker followed the sea from fourteen to thirty years of age, and since that time has been a carpenter. Since 1883 he has kept a lumber yard at Dennis Port. He was married in 1859, to Eleanor Baker, and has two chil- dren : Alonzo E. and Nellie B. He is a member of the West Har- wich Baptist Church.

CAPTAIN DAVID S. CHAPMAN was born December 31, 1822, at Barn- stable, and departed this life September 17, 1882, at East Dennis, in the pleasant home where he had lived the last twenty years of his life. His father, Rev. Nathan Chapman, son of John, married Eliza Hopkins, and four of their ten children survive to perpetuate this line of descent from Ralph Chapman, the first of the name in Barn- stable county. With the limitations that surrounded the large family of a country pastor, the little son, David S., like a true Cape Cod boy,. went to sea at an early age, and, taking his place at the foot of the ladder, he patiently bided his time. Rapidly rising in the scale to commander of vessels, he engaged in important trade, and retired in 1862.

On the 18th of September, 1851, he married Sallie E. Sears, daugh- ter of Daniel and Lucy (Eldridge) Sears, he being a descendant of the original Richard Sears, along the line of Paul, Paul, Edmund, Edmund, and Jacob. They had no children of their own, but cared for those of other parents. About the year 1858, while the captain was on a voyage to Spain, a Spanish lad wished to accompany him to America .. He was taken into the captain's family, was cared for by his kind foster parents, grew to manhood, was naturalized in the Chapman name, married Mary E. Sears-one of the old family-and is now a prosperous merchant in Brockton, Mass. The captain's wife accom --

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David Pokapman

"R NT.

E. BIERSTADT

LATE RESIDENCE OF DAVID S. CHAPMAN, East Dennis, Mais

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panied him, in 1861, on a voyage to Florida, which at that time was attended with other than maritime dangers. The vessel, loaded with lumber, encountered difficulty in leaving Pensacola, and dared not on the passage home touch along the southern coast. When the captain reached Boston, Sumter had received its baptismal fire. Other ves- sels, loaded later, were retained by the confederates.

The beautiful home where the captain passed his last days was erected in 1859. Here he lived in that quiet and unostentatious man- ner which characterized him as the firm and successful shipmaster. He was intelligent and trustworthy, ever ready to accord to others the right he claimed for himself in the exercise of honest. individual opinion. His loss was deeply felt by a community who had learned to love him. On his monument in the cemetery is this tribute, by one who knew him best-his wife :

" Bound by no sect or creed yet good at heart, He strove through life to act an honest part ; He thought he saw in God's eternal plan, That he fulfills it best who helps his fellow man."

Time may efface the inscription on the monument-even crumble the marble itself-but never the monument erected from his virtues.

Horace Chase, son of Neri, and grandson of John Chase, was born in Harwich in 1828. His mother was Sabrey, daughter of Samuel Smith. Mr. Chase began going to sea at ten years of age, and from 1848 to 1887 was captain of coasting schooners. He was married in 1850, to Sophia A., daughter of Bangs and granddaughter of David Kelley.

Samuel A. Chase, the only son of Benjamin T., and grandson of Henry Chase, was born in 1851. His great-grandfather was Owen S., son of Deacon Abner Chase. His mother was Adaline, daughter of Samuel Ryder. Mr. Chase followed the sea six years and at the age of nineteen he began to learn the tinning and plumbing trade. In 1876 he opened a store in West Dennis, where he has since continued tin and plumbing and general hardware business. He was married in 1880, to Louisa H., daughter of Charles W. Weysser. They have two sons: Albert T. and Charles E.

Van Buren Chase, born at South Dennis May 9, 1844, is a son of James and Betsey Chase. The year before reaching his majority he began his life at sea, from which he retired in 1887 to take an appoint- ment as collector of customs in the Barnstable district, which position he filled until 1889. He was married in 1866 to Mary Ella Crowell of West Dennis. They have one daughter-Carrie May Chase.

Mrs. Rose B. Cobb is a daughter of Sylvester and Sarah (Kelley) Chase. She was married in 1858, to Theodore S. Cobb. They have four children: Grace S., T. Clifton, Annie S. and Charles P.

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

Jonathan Collins, born in 1821, is the eldest son of Seth, grand- son of Seth, and great-grandson of Samuel Collins. His mother was Betsey, daughter of Thomas Crowell. Mr. Collins went to sea at the age of sixteen, continuing until 1853, the last eighteen years as captain of vessels. From 1853 to 1861 he was commission merchant in Philadelphia, and thirteen years a farmer, in Sandwich. In 1874 he came to the old homestead in West Dennis and is engaged at the present time in making cranberry barrels and raising cranberries. His wife, deceased, was Elijah Baxter's daughter, Polly, to whom he was married in 1842.

Albert C. Crandall, born May 24, 1852, in New London, Conn., is a son of Clark D. Crandall. He began going to sea at the age of ten and continued until 1876, since which time he has been engaged in sailing yachts-since 1879 as master. He received a patent in 1SSS, on an extension spanker-boom, of his invention, which is now in use on several of the fastest yachts afloat. He was married in 1878, to Susan M., daughter of John and Susan B. (Whittemore) Perry. Mr. Perry died in 1SSS, leaving three daughters: Mrs. Crandall, Annie M. and Lillie B. Mr. Crandall is a member of Mount Horeb Lodge and Sylvester Baxter Chapter.

Calvin S. Crowell, son of Elisha and Olive C. (Howes) Crowell, and grandson of Elnathan Crowell, was born in Dennis, and is the eldest of four surviving children. He has been twenty-two years a commission merchant in Philadelphia. He was married in 1862, to Caroline M. Cornwell, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Their children are: R. Herbert, Arthur H. and Calvin F.

CAPTAIN EDWARD E. CROWELL .- We have already noticed John Crow as associated with Anthony Thacher and Thomas Howes in the purchase of old Yarmouth in 1639. Among the many descendants of this original John was Edward Crowell, brother of Thomas, who was born in 1753, after the family name had assumed the present form- Crowell. His son Edward, born in 1789, married Thankful, daughter of James Sears, of Yarmouth, and reared six children, of whom four- Sears, Edward E., Freeman, and Cyrus Crowell-are living.

Edward E., the third of the six, was born at Dennis, December 14, 1823, and is the Captain Crowell of this sketch. He attended the schools of his section of the town until twelve years old, when he went to sea. At sixteen he was before the mast, and at twenty was first mate under Captain Orrin Lewis, who died of yellow fever on a return voyage from San Domingo. After the captain was committed to the deep, the command and return of the vessel, with its precious cargo, devolved upon the young mate. Having himself been ill, the ship having lost its superior officer and several of the crew, and his seemingly helpless condition, were circumstances to have daunted a

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Eduklorowell

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young man of less resolution. He, however, hired men and resolved to deliver the vessel to her owners. The wreckers of the islands as- sured him he could not navigate the Crooked Island passage alone, but he declined their assistance. When they offered him a thousand dollars for the privilege of piloting the vessel, thus revealing their designs, he determinedly informed them that he would do his duty, even though he should go down with the vessel. He was forty-five days making the passage that usually occupied twenty-two, but safely delivered the cargo of coffee and specie to the proper owners. This circumstance reveals the fiber of the man, and is illustrative of the crises which arise in the mariner's career.

He continued his coasting and foreign voyages as master seven- teen years longer, and in 1860 built a tug at Philadelphia for towing vessels loaded with cotton over the bar at Charleston, S. C. This tug was sold to the merchants of the latter city, and subsequently was used in the rebel service. Returning in 1861 to West Dennis, he pur- chased the interest of Elisha Crowell in a store, which he successfully managed six years, and sold in 1867. With Obed Baker, jr., he went that year to Buffalo, N. Y., to engage in the shipping business by canal to New York city, and after three years returned to his former home, where he has since been actively and variously engaged. With others, he has built and fitted out many vessels. they having recently launched at Cainden, Me., a four-master, which will carry twenty- eight hundred tons.

Captain Crowell has found time to fill the office of director in the Cape Cod National Bank, of Harwich, several years, and is now its president. He was at the head of the Dennis & Harwich Insurance Company, and was at one time president of the Cape Cod Savings Bank. He has steadily declined preferments of a political nature, although a prominent member of the republican party, and keenly interested in civil affairs. He is at present conspicuous as the heavi- est stockholder in the large shoe manufactory in the town, having been a prime mover in its establishment in 1887, and its president and treasurer.

He was married February 4, 1845, to Emma, daughter of Benjamin Crowell, of Dennis. They have no children.

Captain Crowell has for the past forty-five years proved himself an efficient member and supporter of the Methodist church in its every relation, of the Masonic Lodge and Chapter, and has been an important factor in the social, moral and business development of his community. Many young men have by him been fitted out for their first voyage to sea, and thus encouraged and started on a prosperous voyage over the sea of life, and in return the captain's cardinal vir- tues seem to have guided him in channels favorable to prosperity.

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

CAPTAIN ELEAZER KELLEY CROWELL .-- The grandfather of this branch of that ancient family was Freeman, the son of Hersey Crowell. Eleazer Crowell, born September 29. 1804, was the son of Freeman Crowell and was married December 4, 1828, to Mehitabel, a daughter of Ebenezer Paine, of Harwich, and resided on the east bank of the Bass river, where they reared four children: Emeline, Perry P., Mehitabel C., and Eleazer K. Emeline was first married to Leroy B. Baker, December 18, 1852, and second to Seth A. Howes, November 1, 1866, and survives both husbands. She had two children: Mary E. Baker, who lived to marry, and Eleazer C. Baker-both of whom are dead. Perry P. married Rosalie, daughter of Francis Small, and has one daughter, Sophia. Mehitabel C. married David A. Crowell, and at her death left one daughter, Lora May, who resides with her uncle Eleazer K.

Eleazer K., the subject of this article, was born in 1836, he married Laura A. Kelley, daughter of Bangs Kelley, December 15, 1859. The only child of this marriage, Eleazer H., born February 29, 1869, died May 25, 1870. The mother died January 7, 1879. The captain was again married February S, 1881, to Mary D. Chase, daughter of Ben- jamin F. Chase, of Harwich. At the age of twelve, he went to sea in the fishing business, as did his brother Perry, to help sustain a widowed mother, who was herself sick and surrounded by her small children. He early desired a knowledge of navigation and while young studied industriously, and by diligence in the forecastle he soon became pro- ficient. At eighteen he was mate, and at twenty-one was captain, which position he filled until his retirement in 1882.

For twenty-five years prior to his retirement, he commanded ves- sels in coastwise and foreign trade without accident or loss to the amount of one hundred dollars, having never asked the insurance companies for a single dollar. His attention to his duties, his pro- ficiency, his uprightness and his prudence have gained for him a high position among shipmasters and commercial firms. He now buys, sells and sails vessels as part owner, following the line of success that resulted from his active seamanship, both the outgrowth of excellence. The captain is also master in the cranberry business of his town, hav- ing nearly thirty acres of his own, besides several bogs of others, which he manages. His experiments in this line are noticed in Chap- ter VIII. He is a director in the Harwich Savings Bank, and a mem- ber of Mount Horeb Lodge. As a strong supporter of the Baptist society, the republican party, and of every good work in his town, he now enjoys, in the noontide of life, the confidence of his townsmen.

Elnathan Crowell, 2d, only son of Harvey and grandson of James Crowell, was born in 1827. He followed the sea from fourteen years of age until 1874, and died in 1880. He was married in 1857, to Eliza

Ellerwell

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Joshua Crowell

PRINT. E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.

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TOWN OF DENNIS.

M., daughter of Elijah S. Codding, of Providence. Their daughter, Ada E., is Mrs. Arthur L. Nickerson.

Ezra Crowell, born 1823, is the eldest and only surviving son of Ezra, and grandson of Hersey Crowell. His mother was Tamsen, daughter of Zachariah Long. Mr. Crowell has followed the sea since he was twelve years old, and has been master mariner since 1846. He was married in 1847, to Caroline, daughter of Samuel Chase. They have two children: Mary E. and Euphema.

Freeman Crowell, 3d, born in 1830, is one of the ten children of Freeman and Elizabeth (Sears) Crowell, a grandson of Freeman and Sarah, and great-grandson of Hersey and Jerusha Crowell. His father and grandfather were fishermen, and he began going to sea at the age of ten, and since 1850 has been captain. He was married in 1852, to Desire, daughter of Elisha Kelley, granddaughter of Amos and Desire (Crowell) Kelley. They had one son, Elisha K., who died in August, 1887.

HON. JOSHUA CROWELL is the only survivor of that branch of that numerous family to which the good name of the Cape is largely in- debted. The descent in the male line from the original settler of 1639 is: John1, John2, John3, Christopher', Christopher, Nathan6, Joshua', Joshua". Joshua Crowell' married Olive N. Hamblin, of Sandwich, leaving at their death one son, the subject of this sketch, born October 24, 1843, on the home farm at East Dennis, where he passed his boyhood attending the common school and assisting on the farm. At the age of twenty-three, January 3, 1867, he married Sophronia H. Chapman, daughter of Isaac Chapman, a descendant of the first Isaac Chapman on the Cape; and their five children are: Olive H., born September 6, 1869; Seth, born March 12, 1872; William H., March 1, 1877; Edith, January 9, 1879; and Nathan, born Decem- ber 11, 1880.

Mr. Crowell's life has differed materially from most of his towns- men who early in life engaged in seafaring pursuits. He chose the social advantages of a life on land to those of the forecastle, and his earliest recollection is of wrestling with the cares of cranberry cul- ture, which he continues largely and successfully. He has conse- quently become conspicuously interested in, and conversant with the affairs of the body politic, and being a true republican politically and in his nature, his services have been sought by his townsmen. He is not a seeker of official trusts, but having once demonstrated his su- perior ability he has been steadily advanced to the highest offices of his representative district.

For eight years he served as selectman, acting as chairman of the board a portion of the time. In 1884 he represented his district in the legislature and for the next term of 1885, not a single ballot was cast against him at his reelection. Again in 1888, after a

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

change was made in the territory of the district, he filled this re- sponsible position and was returned in 1889 for a fourth term. Heis a director in the Yarmouth National bank, has served his town seven years as one of the school committee, and is always ready to promote the welfare of his community in social and moral advancement. In the various offices filled by him he has indicated that strong sense and practical knowledge which enables him to maintain an influential position and retain the confidence of his townsmen.

HON. SETH CROWELL .- This was a man of more than average abil- ity, who occupied a prominent place in the public service of Dennis and the Cape for nearly forty years. He was a brother of the late Joshua Crowell, above mentioned. Swift, in his Old Yarmouth, says of him: "At the age of eighteen Mr. Crowell commenced life, as many a Cape Cod boy did in those times, upon a vessel's deck; he steadily rose, by industry, application to duty and fidelity to the inter- ests intrusted to him, to high estimation by his fellow citizens. He was captured by the British, in the war of 1812-15, and made a pris- oner at Dartmoor. In 1835, and three years thereafter, he was elected a representative from the town; in 1841-2 a senator from the Cape, and afterward, for nine years, a member of the board of county com- missioners, most of the time its chairman. He was, in the meantime, a director of the Barnstable Bank, and its successor, the First National Bank of Yarmouth, for several years its president, and a director of the Barnstable County Mutual Fire Insurance Company for a long succession of years; also a member of the constitutional convention in 1853, and again a representative from Dennis in 1868. Mr. Crowell's death occurred April 1, 1873, and during his whole life the confidence of the public was never withdrawn from him.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 61

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