History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 78

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 78

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Silas Jones, the subject of this sketch, was born in Falmouth, Feb- ruary 25, 1814, and enjoyed the usual educational advantages that were afforded the youth of the town. At the age of sixteen he went to sea on a whaling voyage, with a view of adopting that arduous and hazardous calling as his professon for life. In 1835 he sailed from Falmouth in his ship Awashonks, Captain Coffin, for a four years' cruise in the Pacific ocean, in the position of third officer. This voyage was destined to be a memorable one. The vessel had a crew of about thirty men, including officers. When about twenty months out, while passing the group of Marshall islands, just north of the equator, the ship was hove to, near the island Namarik, for the purpose of getting refreshments. The natives came on board in great numbers, and seizing the cutting-in spades, commenced the work of slaughter upon the ship's company, and immediately cleared the deck, killing the captain, first and second officers and four seamen. Mr. Jones succeeded in reaching the cabin, with one sailor boy, named Charley Marshall, and

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securing the fire-arms, rescued the ship, after a hard struggle of about one hour. The charge of the ship now devolving on Mr. Jones, he made a direct passage to the Sandwich islands, and in fifty days ar- rived at Honolulu, and delivered the ship to the American consul at that port. He was offered command, but modestly declined accepting the responsibility until he had acquired a little more experience. But his promotion was not long deferred, and he continued to sail in com- mand of a Falmouth ship until 1864, when he retired from the sea.

In 1865 his fellow citizens of Falmouth elected him, by a large ma- jority, their representative in the legislature of Massachusetts, to which position he was re-elected the following year, serving both terms upon the committee on the Hoosac Tunnel. In 1857-58 he was a member of the board of selectmen and assessors, and for several years heretofore has served as moderator of the town meetings. In 1881, upon the decease of Hon. Erasmus Gould, he was chosen presi- dent of the Falmouth National Bank, of which he had been some years previously a director. These trusts, fulfilled with scrupulous fidelity, indicate the estimation in which Captain Jones is, and ever has been, held by his fellow citizens, and vindicate his title to be re- garded as a representative man of his town.

He married, May 19, 1845, Harriet B. Robinson, daughter of Joseph Robinson, of Falmouth. From this union were six children: George F., Rowland R., Lucy S., Nellie M., Mary R. (Doane) and Silas, jr.

Rowland R. Jones, son of Silas Jones, was born in 1850. His wife is a daughter of the late Dr. Norman C. Stevens of Boston.

B. Baylies King was born in Mansfield, Mass., in 1824. In early life he was a boat maker, afterward in the carriage business. Subse- quently he opened a livery stable in Sheldonville, and from there moved to Attleboro, where he engaged in the same business. He afterward bought a farm in Foxboro, and from there came to Fal- mouth in 1875. In the following year he became a dealer in lumber and builders' hardware. He is junior warden of Marine Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

Herbert H. Lawrence (Isaac', 1826-1879; Solomon, Joseph', John1) was born.in 1857. Isaac was a prominent resident here, filling at different times the offices of justice of the peace, tax collector and deputy sheriff. His wife, Hannah, was a daughter of Winslow and Hannah (Clark) Hall. Herbert H. Lawrence is at present engaged in Teticket in teaming, farming and milk business. His wife is Annie M., daughter of Mayhew Baker.

Hiram N. Lawrence, born in 1840, is a son of Charles C., grandson of Solomon, and great-grandson of John Lawrence, of English de- scent, who came to Falmouth from West Barnstable. Solomon Law- rence was one of a long-lived family. He lived to the age of ninety-

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five; one of his brothers lived to be one hundred years old, another ninety-four, and a sister lived to the remarkable age of one hundred years and one month. Hiram N. learned the mason trade, but for twelve years he took charge of a farm in Barnstable, returning to Te- ticket in 1879, to the homestead farm, where he still resides. His wife, Ellen, is a daughter of Alden B. Landers, of this town. They have one son, Austin, and one daughter, Susan, now Mrs. Joseph Nickerson.

John R. Lawrence, born in 1820. is a son of Solomon Lawrence (1790-1845). grandson of Joseph, and great-grandson of John Law- rence, whose father was Peleg Lawrence. Solomon was a master ship carpenter, building ships at Woods Holl for Elijah Swift. When John R. was but fourteen years old he gave his first note for a suit of clothes and went to Cape Horn. He followed whaling thirty-six years. Mrs. Lawrence was Harriet, daughter of Alex. Clark, of Nan- tucket, who later had a woolen mill in this town .. They have two sons-John Abbott and Harry V. Lawrence. Their only daughter, Lizzie, was Mrs. Dr. Lyman H. Luce, of Marthas Vineyard. She died. leaving one daughter, Bessie, now a girl of sixteen. Harry V. was married November 28, 1889, to Alice Forbes, daughter of Oliver C. and Sarah L. A. Grinnell. She was born on Naushon island July 18, 1868. He has a thriving business here as florist and seedsman.

Joseph T. Lawrence was born in 1849. His father. Thomas R. Lawrence, a farmer, was a son of Joseph and a grandson of John Lawrence. Thomas R. married Almira Bearse, who survives him, since his death in 1864. They had five children, of whom Lyman MI. and Joseph T. are the only ones residing in Falmouth. Joseph T. married Jennette Stevens, of Centreville, and has one son, Alfred C.

Lewis H. Lawrence, son of Thomas and grandson of Silas Law. rence, was born in Falmouth in 1823. Thomas and Silas were both carpenters. The business carried on by Thomas was in building houses-all but the frame-in Falmouth, and then taking them south and putting them up there. He died about thirty years ago. He had six sons and one daughter. The sons were all seamen, five of them shipmasters. The oldest brother was a painter by trade, but his health becoming impaired, he went to sea for a few years by advice of his physician. In 1849 he went to California and died there about 1865. Four of the sons, including Lewis H., and the daughter are still living. Lewis H. was at sea when fourteen years of age, and was master of a whaler at twenty-six. He was master on four voyages. averaging nearly four years each, until 1871. He is now doing an ice business here of about eight hundred tons per annum. His wife, Eunice F., is a daughter of Frederick Davis, of Falmouth. They have had four sons, two of whom are living: Augustus and Frederick Thomas.

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Oliver M. Lawrence, son of Ansel, grandson of Solomon, and great-grandson of John Lawrence, was born here in 1843. For six- teen years he did a shoe business in Lynn, Mass. He returned to Teticket in 1885, to care for his father, who has since died. His pres- ent business is farming and poultry raising. He was married while in Lynn, to Nettie Corey. Their daughter, seventeen years of age, is. Bertha C. Lawrence.

Solomon H. Lawrence, born March 15, 1847, is a son of Henry, now living, whose father, Solomon, was a son of John Lawrence, to whom the Lawrence family of Falmouth are now able to trace their ancestry, and who is believed to have been the brother of Joseph Law- rence, an early resident of South Sandwich. Solomon H. married Mary A., daughter of Simeon Childs, of Centreville. They have three children: Sidney W .. Howard F. and Edith A. Lawrence.

Henry C. Lewis, born in 1832, is a son of David, grandson of David and great-grandson of Jesse Lewis. His father, after following the sea for some years, enlarged his house, where Henry C. now lives, and carried on a grocery business in it for years. It is the building before mentioned as the hotel of the village for several years.

Thomas Lewis, born in 1806, was a son of Thomas Lewis, and grandson of Lothrop Lewis, whose emigrant ancestor, George Lewis, came from East Greenwich, county of Kent, England. In 1832 Thomas married Cynthia E. S., daughter of Frederic and Rebecca Parker, and they lived to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, in the old home. Their children were: Frederic Thomas, Sarah Butler, Mary Sanford, Charles Sanford and Rebecca Parker. From 1853 he continually held public offices until his death, May 30, 1884. He was. chosen a director of the Falmouth Bank in 1841 and continued in ser- vice forty-three years, and was secretary of the Board of Trustees of Lawrence Academy, which position he resigned. He united with the First Congregational church in 1842, of which he remained an honored and consistent member. He was a man of intelligence and staunch integrity and faithful in all the relations he sustained. His fellow citizens had full confidence in his administration of public trusts, relied upon his judgment and followed his counsel in matters of busi- ness.

William Thatcher Lewis, son of Thomas, grandson of David and great-grandson of Jesse Lewis, was born in 1830, at the homestead, lately burned, where his father lived. Thomas Lewis was a deacon in the Hatchville Congregational church, and a useful man in his time. He was the youngest son of David and Pheba (Crowell) Lewis, who removed from Centreville to Falmouth. William T. is now a painter by trade, residing at East Falmouth, where he is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, Martha, is a daughter of John Swift, and the widow of the late Isaiah T. Lewis.

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TOWN OF FALMOUTH.

Shubael M. Norton, son of Constant and Harriet W. Norton, was born in Tisbury, in 1839. He early learned boot making and worked. in South Braintree. He enlisted in the Union army, August S, 1862, with Company B., Forty-third Regiment; re-enlisted August 28, 1863, as sergeant, Third Artillery, serving until October, 1865. He was several times promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct and participated with honor in many important engagements. In January, 1866, he removed to Woods Holl, and worked for the Pacific Guano Company. In 1867 they began the manufacture of sulphuric acid, in which department Mr. Norton has been and is still employed. He is a member of the Charles Chipman Post of Sandwich; has held various town offices. His wife, Mary J., is a daughter of Thomas Robinson, who died in California in 1850. They have three children.

The Nye family are the descendants of John Nye, who had two sons: John Nye, jr., of Sandwich, and Ebenezer Nye of Falmouth, born 1650. This Ebenezer settled about 1688 at North Falmouth, and had four sons: Benjamin, of Woods Holl neck; Meltiah (1682-1750), Elnathan and Bethiah. Meltiah had three sons: Solomon, Meltiah, jr., and Shubael, the latter of whom had three sons: David, Meltiah and Sylvanus.

Daniel B. Nye, born in 1815, is a son of Daniel B. and grandson of Nathan Nye, a merchant of Sandwich. He was born in Sagamore, where his brother Nathan now lives. He followed the sea from 1837 to 1871, in whaling, and was captain seven years. His present busi- ness is farming. His wife, Philena D., is a daughter of Joshua, grand- daughter of Elihu and great-granddaughter of Seth Nye. Joshua Nye had five children: Elizabeth F., of Providence; Eliliu, who died in 1882, his widow surviving; Dr. Alexander G., of Weymouth; Achsah B. Burnham, of Melrose, and Philena D.

David B. Nye, born in 1857, is a son of Thomas R. and grandson of Francis Nye. His wife, Ruth Annie, is a daughter of Rev. Benjamin L. Sayer. They have one daughter, Annie Brainard Nye. Mr. Nye in summer carries on a livery and passenger business at Menauhant.

Frederick F. Nye' (Samuel6, 1795-1888; Samuel5, John', Benjamin", John2, Benjamin1) was born in 1827. He followed the sea for five years prior to 1849, when he went to California, where he remained twenty years. While there he was married to a lady from Ohio. He is now engaged in farming at North Falmouth on a farm which was. owned by his father, a deacon in the Congregational church, who lived here for years. The old house was burned in 1879. Frederick's mother was Betsey, daughter of Captain William Handy of Bourne, a prominent man in his day. He was captured by the French in the trouble leading to the French Spoliation Claims. He built vessels at Red Brook in Bourne.

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Herbert F. Nye, born October 4, 1848, is a son of Francis A., grand- son of Francis and great-grandson of Samuel Nye. He was educated in Falmouth High School and Phillips Academy in Andover, and on leaving school he entered the employ of the Old Colony Railroad Com- pany. Three years later, in July, 1872, he became station agent at North Falmouth, where he is still employed. His wife is Adelia F .. daughter of Franklin and Pheba Nye.

Hiram Nye, born in 1842, is the only son of Alden, born 1814. whose father, Alden, was a son of Elihu and grandson of Seth Nye. Hiram went to sea before he was fourteen years of age, and followed the sea, in merchant service and whaling, until 1886, the last three years as captain of the ship Fleetwing from New Bedford. His wife. Lucy M., is a daughter of George Bonum Nye, of Marion. Mass. They have two daughters. Major Joshua Nye of 1812 was also a son of Elihu.

CAPTAIN ABISHIA PHINNEY was born May 1, 1821, in a humble cot- tage at Waquoit, and was the son of Asa and Annie (Bradford) Phin- ney. They named him in honor of his paternal grandfather, who was a son of Peter Phinney, one of the early white settlers of that portion of the county formerly included in Mashpee. Asa, whose wife was a descendant of the colony's second governor, was an active citizen in the first days of Waquoit, being its only merchant, a tavern-keeper, and its second postmaster. The family name, now scatteringly repre- sented on the Cape, has been a part of the industrial and civil history of the county for more than two hundred years, and is best known in Falmouth to-day by the resident whose name heads this sketch. He received the education afforded by the common schools of that day. and at the age of twenty-three he went to sea. After a brief experi- ence he became master of a vessel and he continued twenty-four years in the coasting and fishing business, coasting from Boston to Norfolk. Virginia, and cod-fishing. Salt manufacturing on the Cape opened a prosperous trade along Long Island sound and up the Connecticut river, and six years of his coasting were passed in this lucrative branch of trade. Over fifty sailing vessels from the Cape were thus engaged at that time in those waters, until steam vessels and the cars super- seded the slow sailing vessels.

Mr. Phinney's success on the Grand Banks was all that could be realized from the energy and industry of a seaman of his nature. He invested in shares of vessels and prosecuted the business vigorously for several years until 1868, when he retired. During twenty-four years of coasting and fishing, twenty-one of which he was master, no accident of a serious nature occurred. His small craft was run into Waquoit bay, but the major part of the vessels he was connected with made Woods Holl the home port.

Abishia Phinney

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While yet at sea he married Rebecca Briggs of Dartmouth, who at her death left two sons and one daughter. Of these only the daugh- ter, Pheba A., survives. She is the wife of Benjamin F. Crocker of New Bedford, a representative of that illustrious family on the Cape. Their children are: Rebecca F., Addie and Allen. For his second wife Captain Phinney married Hannah B. Crocker of Barnstable, one of the descendants of the well known and worthy Bourne family. From Richard Bourne her line of descent is through Shearjashub, Meltiah, Silas, Meltiah, Hannah, who married Zenas Crocker, and Zenas, their son, who had seven children, of whom Mrs. Phinney was the fourth. Many valuable and antique pieces of furniture belonging to the ancient progenitor of this family were willed to Mrs. Phinney, and are now held by her as heirlooms.

Captain Phinney is an active participator in the affairs of the town, and although declining office, has been the frequent representative of his town in republican conventions of the county. He has been through life a supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church of his vil- lage, and for the past twenty years has been a consistent member, aiding greatly in its material and spiritual existence.

The culture of eight acres of cranberries forms a portion of his business, and he still finds time to fill a large shop with material for manufacturing barrels. of which he has several thousand made annu- ally. He continues his avocations on land with that perseverance which characterized his career on the sea. He is prominent in all enterprises for the advancement of his fellow-men, and his counsel is sought in matters of church and state. He is a worthy connecting link with the days when the fishing and coasting business was the in- dustry of the Cape, and when Barnstable county in every manner took the highest award for efficiency on the sea.

Obed Pierce, son of Pardon Pierce of Dartmouth, Mass., and grand- son of Elisha Pierce, of Westport, Mass., was born in Dartmouth, Mass., in 1827, and in 1855 located at Falmouth, where he married Eliza J., daughter of Ephraim Lawrence. Between the years 1840 and 1876, Captain Pierce was in the whaling business in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, and was master on three of these voyages. His only son is Howard L. Pierce, and his only daughter, Grace L., is the wife of Professor S. A. Holton.

John Cleaver Potter, son of Daniel A. and grandson of Daniel L. Potter, who died in Middlebury, Vermont, was born in 1855. This family are in the same family line with Clarkson N. Potter and Bishop Potter of New York. John Potter's mother, Celia (Gifford) Potter, born in Teticket in 1831, died in 1861, was a daughter of James and Mary (Hatch) Gifford. James Gifford was a brother of Braddock Gifford, mentioned on page 68S. James Gifford's children were:

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Harriet N., Lizzie Y., James, Celia W., Isabella, Mary M. and Watson H. Gifford. Of these only Harriet, Mary and Watson are living. John Potter is now doing business in Boston. His wife is Christina Thomson Neill. They have one child living, Ethel May Potter. Their only son died in infancy.

Solomon D. Robinson, a son of Rowland and grandson of James Robinson, a descendent of Rev. Isaac Robinson, was born in Fal- mouth in 1828. He was a merchant in Taunton several years prior to 1866, when he came again to his native town. He is the efficient superintendent of Oak Grove Cemetery.

David L. Sanford, born in 1817, is a son of Ephraim and grandson of William Sanford, who with his two brothers, Samuel and Benjamin, came to this country from Wales. Benjamin was a soldier in the revolution, and subsequently customs officer in Falmouth. By trade he was a cabinetmaker, and there are many desks now in Falmouth that were made by him. David L. Sanford is a carpenter, and has done quite a business in putting up houses in the South. His first wife, Betsey L., was a daughter of Francis Fish of Falmouth. After her death he was married to a daughter of Isaac Buck of Barnstable. She is not living.

John T. Sherman, son of Charles and Mary (Baker) Sherman, and grandson of Benjamin Sherman, was born in East Falmouth in 1826. His mother was a daughter of Obediah Baker of this town. He is a mason by trade, and was engaged in this business, in New Bedford, for over thirty years. He returned to Falmouth about five years since. He is also engaged in cranberry raising, having three acres of made bog and some rough bog in preparation. His wife, Mehitable B., is a daughter of Andrew Baker. They have one daughter, Grace P., thirteen years of age.

ASA SHIVERICK .- This family name, illustrious through five gen- erations in Barnstable county, is well represented in Falmouth to-day by Asa Shiverick, of Woods Holl. He was born in East Dennis, Jan- uary 14, 1816, and that town justly claims the honor of his early citi- zenship and his enterprises, with those of his father, which we record in the Dennis chapter. The progenitor of all who bear this name was the Rev. Samuel Shiverick, of Falmouth, an early settler, a pas- tor and teacher. His son, David, was the father of Thomas, the grandfather of the present Asa Shiverick, whose father, also named Asa, removed to Dennis, where he married Susannah Howes, a de- scendant of the original Thomas Howes of 1639. Asa and his brother, Thomas, a resident of Chicago, and Sarah, wife of Richard Sugden, are the only surviving children of that generation.

During boyhood the subject of this sketch received a limited edu- cation in the primitive common school of East Dennis, and at the age

Ase Shiverich,

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of seventeen went to Boston to commence work in Lot Wheelwright's ship yard. In 1834, when eighteen, he went to Kennebunk, Maine, and worked during the summer, returning in the winter to enjoy a single term of school in the new academy, or select school, that had been established in his native village. After another season in Bos- ton, in 1836 he went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he worked one year. He returned to East Dennis in 1837 and engaged in building vessels with his father, who was then in that business. Asa and his brother, David, went into the copartnership at that date, and later, Paul and another brother joined them, the father retiring in 1849. From 1859, the date of the launching of the brig Giraffe, until 1854, when the schooner Scarsville was completed and launched, these enterprising men built a vessel each year, and in the year 1852 they built two. Between the years 1850 and 1862 they built eight ships, which were not only a credit to Mr. Shiverick, but are pointed to with pride by the citizens of his native village.

On the sixth of December, 1838, Mr. Shiverick married Mary Sears, sister of Nathan Sears. She died July 21, 1847, leaving one son, Charles. He then married Betsey C., the widow of Jotham Howes; she died November 13, 1855. These wives were sisters, and daugh- ters of Edmund Sears, a descendant of the original pioneer of that name. His last marriage was May 14, 1857, with Ruth Tobey, daugh- ter of Jonathan H. Tobey, also of Dennis, and their children are: A. Frank, superintendent of the guano works, Woods Holl; Arthur, Bet- sey C., at home; Lunette, who married W. O. Luscomb, Woods Holl; and Ruth, at home. Charles Shiverick died at Omaha, Neb., March 18, 1890, where he, with his younger brother, Arthur, had been en- gaged in furniture business. At his death Arthur became head of the firm.

Mr. Shiverick has led an active life and accomplished much, not in the political intrigues of the day, but in building up industries and institutions, which will remain a lasting monument to his memory. His excellent executive ability has been often sought in the affairs of the body politic, but he as often declined. As a thorough represent- ative of the Jeffersonian principles of democracy, when asked to rep- resent his district in the legislature, his ardent republican friends even admitted his worth; but he preferred the more social and con- genial walks of life. In 1886, after ten years of superintendency of the guano works at Woods Holl, he asked to be dismissed, and the re- quest was granted on condition that he would continue his valuable counsel in its business affairs.

His support is given to the Episcopal church, and although con- servative and unostentatious in all things, his long life has been marked with that charity and good will to man which has endeared

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him not only to those high in state, but to those in the most humble walks of life. In the enjoyment of the well merited confidence of his contemporaries, Mr. Shiverick lives as a marked type of the passing generation of nobility, to which, in every manner, the younger gen- eration is indebted for its prosperity and prospects.

Samuel F. Shiverick, son of Samuel and grandson of Samuel Shiv- erick, was born in Falmouth in 1828, and when sixteen years of age went to New Bedford and learned a cooper's trade. In 1847 he made the first of six whaling voyages. He has been in the government em- ploy since March, 1870, when he entered the employ of the Light House Department at the Woods Holl Buoy depot. He was in Cohasset depot, near Boston, four years and at Lovell's Island depot eleven years: returned to Woods Holl in 1885, where he is still em- ployed.

Hiram E. Small, born in 1837, is the only son of Arnold Small- born in 1800 at Waquoit-and grandson of James Small. Arnold Small removed to North Falmouth about forty years ago and resided there until his death. Hiram E. is a carpenter. His wife, Joanna, is a daughter of the late Captain Joseph W. Nye, who was a brother of Ferdinand G. Nye, previously mentioned.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 78

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