History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 195

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 195

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More than eight thousand patients have been treated within its wards for their various forms of mental disease, of whom not less than thirty per cent. have recovered and returned to their families and society, while a still greater number have been much improved in their mental condition, and others, whose mental infirmities rendered them a burden to their friends, have found it a comfortable home.

The present trustees are Le Baron Russell, Boston ; Oakes A. Ames, Easton ; George Howland, Jr., New Bedford ; William C. Lovering, Taunton, and Simeon Borden, Fall River. Superintendent and Physician, John P. Brown, M.D. ; Assistant Physicians, William H. Gage and Marcello Hutchinson ; Treasurer, John Hittredge.

The Old Colony Historical Society 1 received its act of incorporation May 4, 1853, Nathaniel Morton, Samuel Hopkins Emery, Hodges Reed, their associ- ates and successors, being made such a corporation " for the purpose of preserving and perpetuating the history of the Old Colony in Massachusetts, and of collecting and holding documents, books, and memoirs relating to its history." Its first officers were : Presi- dent, Nathaniel Morton, of Taunton ; Vice-Presi- dents, S. Hopkins Emery, of Taunton, John Dag- gett, of Attleborough ; Directors, Mortimer Blake, of Mansfield, Samuel L. Crocker, of Taunton, Ellis Ames, of Canton, Henry B. Wheelwright, of Taunton, Wil- liam R. Deane, of Boston, Caleb Swan, of Easton ; Recording Secretary and Librarian, Edgar H. Reed,

of Taunton; Corresponding Secretary, John Ordro- naux, of Taunton; Treasurer, Hodges Reed, of Taun- ton. Of these twelve original members and officers seven are still living, three only in Taunton. The meetings have always been held in Taunton, and its collections are here, although its present resident membership of eighty are distributed through all the towns of the Old Colony. Interesting historical papers are expected at the quarterly meetings, and already two publications have appeared giving the outside world the benefit of these papers.

Its present list of officers are: President, Hon. John Daggett, of Attleborough; Vice-Presidents, Rev. Mortimer Blake, D.D., of Taunton (vacancy by death of Hon. S. L. Crocker, of Taunton, not filled) ; Record- ing and Corresponding Secretary, Charles A. Reed, Esq., of Taunton ; Treasurer, E. U. Jones, M.D., of Taunton ; Librarian, E. C. Arnold, Esq., of Taunton ; Historiographer, William E. Fuller, Esq., of Taun- ton ; Directors, Hon. E. H. Bennett, of Taunton, Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, of Taunton, Hon. John S. Bray- ton, of Fall River, Gen. E. W. Pierce, of Freetown, James H. Dean, Esq., of Taunton.

Public Library.2-The Taunton Social Library, Young Men's Library, and the Agricultural Library, numbering respectively four thousand and sixty, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and one hundred and seventy-three volumes, besides five hundred and seventeen volumes of public documents which had been donated to these libraries, all of which were transferred to the city, formed the nucleus of the collection now known as the Public Library of the city of Taunton. A city ordinance and an ap- propriation gave the library a formal existence in 1866. It will thus be seen that two years after the incorporation of Taunton as a city a public library free to all inhabitants had been established.

The Taunton Social Library, the oldest of the in- stitutions which were merged in the Public Library, was started in 1825. Among the names of prominent original shareholders we observe that of Theophilus Parsons, afterwards Dane Professor of Law in the Har- vard Law School. The proprietors were principally dependent for additions to the shelves to May-day festivals, and to that unfailing resource of young pro- prietary libraries, courses of lectures. The Young Men's Library Association was also aided in its en- terprise by lecture courses, as well as by fairs and levees undertaken by the ladies, and by the subserip- tions of public-spirited citizens, the late Samuel B. King, Esq., leading in this direction with several gifts of one hundred dollars each, and ending with the creation of the "King Fund" of one thousand dollars, the income of which was to be expended in the purchase of standard works. Since the transfer this endowment accrues for a like purpose to the benefit of the Public Library.

2 By E. C. Arnold, librarian.

1 By S. Hopkins Emery.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The sources of income of the library since it became a city institution have been annual appropriations and the dog tax from the city, the interest of the King fund, and the miscellaneous receipts of the library itself. It has been the regular recipient of publications from the Department of the Interior and other departments of the general government, from the Smithsonian Institution, from the district rep- resentative and other members of Congress, from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Cobden Club of London, and from various institutions and individu- als throughout the country. The largest donations of books from private individuals were those made by the Hon. Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D., S. O. Dunbar, Esq., and the late Mrs. Harriet Baylies Morton. Among early donors were the late Rev. Charles H. Brigham, who during his residence in Taunton and after his removal always manifested an interest in the prosperity of the library, the late Hon. Charles Sumner, J. A. Garfield, M.C., and also the late David Paul Brown, the eminent Philadelphia lawyer, who spent one year of his school life in Taunton.

A catalogue of the combined libraries was pub-' lished at the opening in 1866, and two supplements were issued in 1873 and 1874, each arranged alpha- betically under authors and titles. In 1876 a new catalogue, embracing an alphabetical arrangement of authors, with a classified index under thirteen gen- eral heads and two hundred and forty-six sub-heads, was undertaken, and was published early in 1878. To this a supplementary catalogue was added in 1881.

The library at the present time numbers nearly twenty thousand volumes. A careful examination of the catalogue we think will show a much smaller proportion of ephemeral literature than usual in such collections. Indeed, it has been the persistent aim of the officers not only to keep out books of an objec- tionable character, but to provide those which afford the healthiest stimulus to the reader both in his studi- ous and recreative moods. The annual circulation reaches nearly sixty thousand volumes, besides a large number of books which are consulted in the library building. The reading-room, which is sup- plied with files of the principal newspapers and periodicals of the day, is largely frequented.

The present officers of the library are: Trustees, ex officio, H. L. Cushman, mayor, president ; ex officio, George H. Rhodes, president of the Common Council ; Timothy Gordon, Esq., Charles W. Hartshorn, Esq., secretary ; Hon. William H. Fox, Charles H. Car- ver, Esq., Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D., Mortimer Blake, D.D .; Librarian, E. C. Arnold ; Assistants, Miss Hattie B. French, Miss Etta Shannon.

The Bristol County Bible Society,1 although not existing now, was for many years active in raising money for the American Bible Society, and supplying destitute families in the county. Its meetings were

generally held in Taunton, but its record book has disappeared with the society, and no full account can be given of its origin or its doings.

In an issne of the Bristol County Democrat, " Fri- day, September 6, 1839," on file among the papers of that enthusiastic antiquarian, Capt. J. W. D. Hall, I find a printed "report of the Taunton and vicinity Bible Society," at what is called its " first annual meeting," presented by "S. Hopkins Emery, Secre- tary." The receipts of the society for the preceding year had been $570.78. Its officers appointed for the ensuing year were Rev. Erastus Maltby, president ; Rev. Edward Neville, Rev. E. B. Bradford, Silas Shepard, Esq., Rev. Alvan Cobb, Wmn. A. Crocker, Esq., vice-presidents ; Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, sec- retary ; William Reed, Esq., treasurer; Rev. S. H. Emery, William Reed, Solomon Woodward, Jr., John R. Hixon, Hodges Reed, executive committee. The organization, as it was called, "Oct. 22, 1838," was really a reorganization, as there was a society in existence quite early in the century.

The Good Templars," as they are called, belonging to the secret order with the initials I. O. G. T., are organized for the promotion of temperance, and exist in two lodges, the Taunton and the Elizabeth Pool, the former, the oldest, with its headquarters on Main Street, nearly opposite Trescott Street, the latter, not long in existence but flourishing, owning the build- ing which it occupies in Hopewell, on Maple Avenue, out of Bay Street.

The Taunton Reform Club is a temperance or- ganization of several years' standing, which aims at the reformation of the intemperate, and endeavors to protect reformed men. It meets in Cedar Street Chapel.

The Taunton Women's Christian Temperance Union, auxiliary to the State society of the same name, gives its attention particularly to the young, holding monthly meetings with them. These meet- ings are in Cedar Street Chapel.

The Taunton Humane Society2 was organized in 1871, and has for its object the prevention of cruelty to dumb animals and little children. Its president, Hon. Samuel L. Crocker, recently died, and the va- cancy has not yet been filled. Wilbur F. Allen, Esq., is its vice-president ; Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, secre- tary ; Mr. N. H. Skinner, treasurer ; Mr. Joseph Dean, auditor. Directors, the above named and Mortimer Blake, D.D., Rev. A. B. Hervey, Messrs. J. V. Liv- ingstone, Alden F. Sprague (and one vacancy by death of Charles R. Vickery, Esq.).

Mr. William E. Peck has been for some years the efficient agent of the society. The very existence of the society is a terror and a restraint to those who are inclined to be cruel.

Early Physicians.2-Dr. Ezra Deane sustains the same relation to the profession of medicine in Taun-

1 By Rev. S. Hopkins Emery.

2 By Rev. S. Hopkins Emery.

813

TAUNTON.

ton as Hon. Samuel White to the profession of law. He leads the list, in the order of time, so far as the record has come down to us. He died July 1, 1737, according to an old registry found in the Danforth family. He was a son-the eldest-of Ezra, the sec- ond son of Walter Deane, and was born Oct. 14, 1680. His mother was daughter of Deacon Samuel Edson, of Bridgewater. He was the father of the family remarkable for its longevity, eleven of his children living more than a thousand years. Whether the medical skill of the doctor had anything to do with prolonging these lives we are not informed. Theo- dora, who married Maj. Richard Godfrey, " died Jan. 14, 1813, aged 100 years, 14 days." She lived to see her children to the fifth generation, and was the mother of Dr. Job Godfrey.

Dr. Job Godfrey, the son of Richard and Theodora (Deane) Godfrey, inherited through his mother a taste for the profession of medicine. It had so con- duced, apparently, to the long life of her father's family that it had attractions for her son, and a very eminent member of the profession he became, so mo- nopolizing the business that he might well have been called the " town's physician." He acquired so much of a reputation that the fame thereof has come down to the present time. The inscription on his monu- ment at "the Plain" is trustworthy: "A man of great worth, whose physical, intellectual, and moral powers were remarkably adapted to his sphere of action. Fifty years of unexampled labor and suc- cess were testimonials of his excellencies in the heal- ing art, while his zeal to promote the general good was a proof of his benevolence. His heart was alive in all the relations of life. Honor, punctuality, and justice marked his steps. The voice of pain and dis- ease from the obscurest penury reached his ear and commanded his skill. He was justly entitled to the distinguished appellation of the disinterested physi- cian,-a father to the poor. He died Aug. 26, 1813, aged 70 years." His death was sudden, being found dead in his bed. His wife, Abigail Jones, of Rayn- ham, died Nov. 28, 1814, in her seventieth year. They had six children, two sons and four daughters, -Abby, married Abiathar Codding ; Betsey, married Elisha Padelford; Sally, married Gilbert Winslow, of Freetown ; Hannah, died single and bequeathed one thousand dollars to the noble object of suitably inclosing the burial-place on the Plain; John, the eldest son of the doctor, lived to be very old, and was for more than sixty years proprietors' clerk, better conversant with the early history of the town than any other man of his time. His predecessors in office had been Brig .- Gen. George Godfrey, Benjamin Wil- liams, judge of probate and judge of the Court of Common Pleas; Seth Williams, son of Samuel, the eldest son of Richard Williams, also a judge of the Court of Common Pleas; Thomas Leonard, also a judge, and whom William R. Deane, in his genealogi- cal account of the family, calls a " physician," and if so,

must have shared the practice with Dr. Ezra Deane, --- our list of proprietors' clerks, so far as discovered by us, beginning with that model town clerk, Shadrach Wilbore.

Contemporary with Dr. Job Godfrey, in the earlier period of his practice, were two distinguished names in the history of Taunton,-Hon. David Cobb, M.D., and Hon. William Baylies, M.D. But Dr. Cobb is better known to the world as " major-general, judge of the courts, president of the Senate, Speaker of the House, member of the Executive Council, and Lieu- tenant-Governor of the State," filling almost every office in the gift of the people during his eventful life, the story of which is familiar to every Tauntonian as a twice-told tale. The probability is Dr. Cobb was so busily engaged in public affairs that he little inter- fered with the practice of Dr. Godfrey. Gen. Cobb, of whom we write, the son of Thomas Cobb, married Lydia, the eldest daughter of the Hon. James Leon- ard. He graduated at Cambridge in 1766.

The Hon. William Baylies was also a man of affairs, -a judge, when doctors of medicine as well as of law were called to the bench as " common-sense judges." Dighton has a joint claim to the reputation of Dr. Baylies, as his residence the latter part of his life was there. The son of Nicholas Baylies, who married Elizabeth Park, of Newton, Mass. William graduated at Harvard University in 1760, and studied medicine with Dr. Tobey, of New Bedford. His wife was Bathsheba, daughter of the Hon. Samuel White, of Taunton. Their daughter Elizabeth married Hon. Samuel Crocker, of Taunton. Their son, Samuel White, studied law with Governor Sullivan, and fol- lowed his profession in Dighton, and died single. Hon. William Baylies, of West Bridgewater, also led a single life, and was eminent in the profession of law.

Their only remaining son, Hon. Francis Baylies, achieved a great reputation as a man of culture and learning, and his only child, Mrs. Nathaniel Morton, has recently died without issue. Thus the family once so prominent may be said to have become ex- tinet.

We visit the burial-places of Taunton to learn the names of other physicians who were in practice in the last century. Ou the Dighton road, half a mile south of the Weir, may be found the following inscriptions :

" In memory of Doct. Micah Pratt, died Decbr ye 31st A.D , 1758 in ye 67th year of his age."

" In memory of Mary, ye wife of Doct. Micah Pratt, died April ye 26th A. D. 1762, in ye 80th year of her age."

"In memory of Doct. Micah Pratt, died Oct. ye 5th, A. D. 1765, in ye 41th of his age."

"Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Sarah, widow of Doct. Micah Pratt. She died Jan. 26th, A. D. 1805, in the 83d year of her age."

These inscriptions prove, we think, there were two physicians by the name of Micah Pratt, father and son, who practiced medicine in Taunton during the last century.

"The Plain" holds among its other treasures the name of Samuel Caswel,-

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

" Here lies ye body of Samuel Caswel, M.D., who died Aug. ye 13th, 1755. Aetatis Suae, 35.

In Seventeen Hundred & Fifty-Five Relentless Death Did us Deprive of a very Useful Life To Neighbor, Friend, to Child & Wife He safely Did Administer.

as a Physician, Consulting more his patient's health, Than all extorted gain. We that do love his memory Would like him live, yt when we die We may enjoy felicity."

" The Plain" has another record,-

" William, son of M. D. Mckinstry, and Priscilla, his wife, departed this life on ye day of his birth Dec. 18, 1761."

Still another son, ---

" John, died Dec. 21, 1768, in ye 5th year of his age."

Another inscription reads,-

" Here lies ye body of Mrs. Elizabeth Mckinstry, basely munthered by a Negro Boy, June ye 4th, 1763, aged 28."

The woman " murthered" was Dr. Mckinstry's sis- ter, the details of which tragic event the aged people of the last generation were in the habit of narrating, as also how Dr. Mckinstry, the Scotchman and Tory, was forced to leave town, never to return.

In addition to the names of Mckinstry, Caswel, Pratt, we have heard those of Ephraim Otis, a gradu- ate of Harvard University in 1756, who practiced in Scituate as well as Taunton, and of Dr. Macomber.

Dr. Charles Howe, in a notice of Taunton physi- cians, published in the Bristol County Republican in 1868, makes mention of Dr. Philip Padelford, son of John and Jemima Padelford, born in Taunton, 1753, graduated from Brown University, 1773, who studied with Dr. Tobey, of New Bedford, and who died Aug. 27, 1815, in the sixty-second year of his age ; married, first, to Mary Drown, who died in 1780; second, to Elizabeth, daughter of Elijah Macomber, to whom were born eight children. The doctor practiced in East Taunton and the vicinity, living on the Middle- borough road, just beyond the Congregational Church near the brook. He is buried in a private yard not far from where he lived. His son, Elijah M., was also a physician, born in 1785, and married to Mary Good- win. They had one child. Dr. Elijalı died Feb. 13, 1824, aged thirty-eight years, one month, two days. He is supposed to have succeeded to his father's prac- tice. His house was two miles beyond his father's, on the Middleborough road, at its junction with the Richmondtown road, near Chase's Station on the Taunton and Middleborough Railroad.

Dr. Howe also gives an account of Dr. Amos Allen, born in Providence, Nov. 7, 1783, the son of Amos and Mary (Macomber) Allen, graduated from Brown University in 1805, and who studied with Dr. Miller, of Franklin, Mass., practicing first in Franklin and Berkley, and afterwards removing to East Taunton in 1824. He died in 1836, April 23d, in his fifty-fourth year. He occupied the house of Dr. Elijah M. Padel- ford, and succeeded to his practice.

Dr. Foster Swift practiced as a physician in Taun- ton the earlier part of the present century. He was the son of a lawyer in Boston, and was gifted with much wit and good humor. He served for a time in the renowned apothecary establishment of Dr. Joseph Gardner in Boston. He married a Delano of Nan- tucket, and first settled in Dartmouth. On coming to Taunton, late in the last century, he opened an apothecary-shop opposite the northwest corner of the Green, not far from the present police headquarters.

Mr. Daniel Brewer had an earlier drug-store, coming to Taunton in 1785. Dr. Swift was one time very in- timate with the eccentric and somewhat erratic John Foster, but losing confidence in him, preferred charges against his ministerial character, seventeen in all. His wily antagonist escaped out of his hands. The doctor left for Boston, where he received the appoint- ment of United States Hospital surgeon, which he retained until he died in 1835, at the age of seventy- five.

Dr. Jones Godfrey was the son of Dr. Job Godfrey, so long the leading physician of the place. Graduated at Brown University in 1793. The son studied with his father, and was associated with him in practice for some twenty years, succeeding him another score of years nearly, when he died Dec. 11, 1831, aged sixty-one. He occupied the house of his father, . still standing, venerable for age, the second on the right beyond the Neck o' Land Bridge. Unlike his father, he never married, and had a contempt for riches, collecting no bills, and not troubling himself to keep any accounts with his patients. He had the reputation of a skillful physician and a most humane man.

Dr. George Leonard, the son of Samuel Leonard, Esq., of Taunton, was of patrician descent. His father was one of Taunton's most eminent citizens. He was an " enterprising merchant." The "Leonard house," at the " Four Corners" in Hopewell, was and still is one of the landmarks of the place. The father died in 1807. One of his daughters, Mary B., married Thomas Bush, Esq. One of his sons, Ezekiel B., was also a " merchant" in Taunton. Dr. George, who studied with Dr. Thatcher, of Plymouth, suc- ceeded to the practice of Dr. Foster Swift in 1806. He married Eliza, daughter of Judge Fales. Their home was at the corner of Broadway and Leonard Streets. Dr. Leonard was long in the profession, and had a large practice. He was considered a skillful physician. Born Feb. 12, 1783, he died Feb. 28, 1865. His wife died March 27, 1854. They had four children. The doctor lies buried on "the Plain," by the side of many other Leonards, thus rendering true the rhyme of olden time, found in the North burying-ground,-

" Even Leonards undistinguished fall,

And death and hovering darkness hide us all."

Dr. Ebenezer Dawes was born in Scituate, Mass., March 1, 1791, the son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth

S15

TAUNTON.

(Bailey) Dawes. The father was pastor of the Uni- tarian Church in Scituate, a native of Bridgewater, the son of Samuel Dawes. Born in 1756, he grad- I uated at Harvard College in 1785, and studied the- ology with Dr. Wigglesworth, of Cambridge. He was ordained at Scituate in 1787, and married to Eliza- beth, daughter of Col. John Bailey, of Hanover, Mass., in 1789. Their children were William and Ebenezer, the father dying the same year Ebenezer was born, and a little more than two years after marriage. He was amiable and of excellent Christian character, but of delicate constitution. His widow was afterwards twice married,-first to John Lucas, of Brookline, Mass. ; second, to Dr. Williams, of Deerfield, Mass., whom she survived.

Ebenezer attended school at Hingham, Mass., Port- land, Me., and elsewhere. He chose medicine as his profession, and attended medical lectures in Boston in 1811.

The distinguished Usher Parsons, M.D., of Provi- dence, who was with him in the medical college, writes, "He was a diligent student and much es- teemed by the class for his close application and gentlemanly deportment, and highly respected by the professors." He opened his office in Taunton in 1813. He secured a large practice, which he retained for half a century. Dr. Dawes was married, March 7, 1822, to the widow of Oliver Shepard, merchant, of Wrentham, and brother of Hon. Silas Shepard, of Taunton. Her maiden name was Sarah Whitehorn Cooke, daughter of Daniel Cooke, who was the sixth son and tenth child of Nicholas Cooke, Governor of Rhode Island, 1774-77. Her mother was Sarah Whitehorn, of Newport, R. I. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Dawes were: (1) Sarah Elizabeth, wife of N. M. Childs, Esq., of Syracuse, N. Y .; (2) Ebenezer, present pastor of the Congregational Church in Lake- ville, Mass., who married Anna Maria Bosworth ; (3) James Lincoln, residing in Englewood, N. J., who married Eliza Franklin, of Providence ; (4) Daniel Cooke, who married Emily Matilda, daughter of Judge Morton, and resided in Brooklyn, N. Y., but is not living ; (5) Charles Edward, who died in infancy. The family homestead was on Washington Street, not far from Pleasant. Mrs. Dawes died of consumption Sept. 29, 1838, aged forty-nine.

The doctor died April 20, 1861, about seven weeks after he had completed his seventieth year. Dyspep- sia and lung troubles had required strict attention to diet, and the utmost prudence for many years. But he was devoted to his patients, much trusted and be- loved by them. Dr. Parsons, an eminent practitioner, said of him, "I often met Dr. Dawes in consultation. He was faithful, laborious and successful, and strictly fair, in his intercourse with professional brethren by whom he was greatly esteemed."

Writes his son, Rev. Ebenezer Dawes, " My father was very benevolent and kind-hearted. He visited poor families from whom he could not expect com-

pensation. In manners he was a gentleman of the old school. He was very polite, according to the best definition of politeness, 'benevolence in trifles.' He always possessed and evinced in all his language and deportment a delicate regard to the feelings of others. It seemed impossible for him to do a rude, ungentle- manly act, at least he was never known to commit one. In the sick-room especially his natural kindli- ness and gentleness, with the confidence reposed in his skill, made him most welcome. Seldom has a physician been equally loved by his patients." This son continues, " My father had always a great respect for religion, and contributed regularly and freely for the support of preaching, and so far as he could, at- tended divine service. He seemed to be greatly sus- tained and comforted in his last years by trust in God. Among his last words were these, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' "

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 195

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818